Alternate

Aiden woke up, on his back, in immense pain.

“My whole body aches.” He winced as he tried to sit up, putting a hand on his head where it hurt. “Right, I hit my head.” He sighed. “What the hell even happened? And where am I?”

Looking around, he appeared to be in a forest. Which was strange because he wasn’t close to any forest that he knew about.

He suddenly heard yelling and what sounded like roaring. He shifted to look behind him, where four guys were trying to subdue a dragon.

“Wait… A dragon?” He did a double take.

“This one’s a fighter!” One of them yelled.

“I’ll use more magic!” Yelled another as red streams of light came out of his hand and wrapped around the dragon like chains.

“We need to get this thing to the cage so we can sell it.” Another said.

“Sell it?”

Aiden didn’t know what was happening, but what he did know was that this dragon needed help. He didn’t like the sound of it being sold.

“But… What can I do? I’m just a normal guy.” He thought while looking at the scene in front of him, “I guess a dragon isn’t normal, though.” He sighed, looking around to see if there was anything he could use. He noticed a big broadsword sticking out of the ground.

“Screw it.” He said aloud to himself as he quickly stood and rushed to the sword, pulling it out of the ground with more ease than he was expecting. He was able to hold it in just his right hand. So he held it behind him and started running.

“Hey, look!” One of them saw him running towards them, “Looks like we have help.”

But Aiden ignored them and cut through the magical red lights that were acting like chains and stood between them and the dragon. The dragon collapsed as it was finally able to stop struggling, utterly exhausted.

“Who says I’m here to help you?” Aiden asked smugly. He wasn’t the least bit cool in his old world, but this was a different world now.

“Is this your dragon?” One of the men asked him.

“No, but it doesn’t look like your dragon either.” Aiden spat back.

“I have no idea if I can fight these guys or not. Magic is even in play, but I can’t let this continue.” Aiden’s grip on the sword tightened. He never would have thought about harming anyone before, maybe it’s the fact that he feels… Different, since he woke up. He felt the need to help, in any way possible.

“Then there is no way we are going to let you get the gold for selling it.” The four of them were getting ready to fight.

“I can still try and scare them away.” He figured if he showed how easy he could handle a big sword, they would back down. So he swung the sword from left to right, only he didn’t expect what happened.

*WHOOSH*

“WHAT THE…!” One of the men started to yell out, but before he could finish

*KABOOM*

An arc of blue flame had shot out from the sword and made small explosions on contact. It blew them back, one being slammed into a tree. The others were knocked back much further, tumbling before coming to a stop.

“What the hell did I just do?” Aiden said in shock.

“Quickly, this way!” A smooth but stern female voice came from behind him.

He turned to see the dragon on all fours, getting ready to run. He looked back at the four guys, and they were all groaning in pain.

“Right!” He said, turning back around, and started running with the dragon.

They ran for about ten minutes. The dragon started slowing down, the aftereffects of struggling so hard. Somehow, despite not being very in shape before, he wasn’t tired yet.

“Should we stop?” Aiden asked.

“We are… almost there.” She replied, a little breathless.

It was only about another minute until they stopped at the base of a tall cliff.

“It is here.” She said before what would have looked like just walking headfirst into the tall rocky cliff. Instead, she passed right through the wall. He watched as the last bit of her tail disappeared.

“Guess I have no choice.” He shook his head and walked into the wall, passing right through like the dragon did. He looked back after passing through and could still see the outside, like a two-way mirror, and the light was still coming in.

*THUD*

He quickly looked back, and the dragon had collapsed once again.

“Thank you… For your help.” She said in between breaths. “I’m glad… You were okay… From the fall.”

“Fall?” Aiden asked.

She nodded.

“You came falling out of a blue and gold portal in the sky.” She took a breath, “I made sure you didn’t hit the ground… But you were unconscious… That sword followed soon after.”

That’s when he noticed her left wing, which had a huge cut. He put the sword down and went over to get a better look. There would be no way she could fly like this.

“This looks pretty bad. Should I find something to bandage it?” Not that he even knew where to get supplies, he just wanted to help.

“It will heal, in time.”

It was then that he was able to have a good look at her. So much happened that he didn’t get a chance to. Her body was about the size of a larger vehicle. Along with her long neck and tail, probably as long as two of them. She is all black with blue accents on the horns and spikes. Parts of her wings have a slight purplish hue on the thinner parts.

He sat down near her. He was still confused about how he got here.

“Did I die in that building or just get teleported?” He sighed, “Considering my head still hurts from when I slammed into the wall, I must have been teleported. Either way, I need to find out more about this world.”

“So, why were those guys trying to capture you?”

She looked at Aiden with a confused look.

“You do not know, do you?” She asked.

“I don’t, at all.” He replied.

“Why do you not know?” She asked.

“I might as well tell her. If she doesn’t believe me, there is nothing I can do about it.” He took a deep breath to ready himself.

“I came from another world. Unwilling, I might add. I’m still confused myself how I ended up here. We don’t have dragons where I’m from; they are a myth.” He braced for her reaction.

“Hmm…” She brought her head close to his, as if trying to peer into him to figure out if he was lying. “If I had not seen you fall out of that portal myself, I would not believe you. I have seen magical portals, but nothing like that one.” She moved her head back. “As for your initial question on why they were trying to capture me, I will tell you.”