Roar!

An inhuman roar came from below. He struggled to contain his fear as he continued falling, helpless and vulnerable, naked in the elements. He looked, and in pure terror watched as a vortex of darkness formed in the storm began to take form. The first shape was of an emaciated skeleton, whose bony hands were massive and stretched outward to claw at him. He screamed again as felt himself no longer falling, but rather being held in the air by an unseen force. Shivering, trembling, and overcome with fear, he could only watch as the shadow creature swung its massive hand at him, clawing his back with such force it felt as if it would rip him apart. He wailed in pain, as the smoky creature growled in glee.

God, he cried, why is this happening?

Then.

Crash!

A bolt lightning struck a shadowy cloud monster, causing it to screech in pain as its form dissipated. With its death, he fell again, hearing a hissing sound as another creature formed in the storm. This time it was a large slithering dragon with glowing reds eyes and a long smoky mane. As before, his rapid descent was abruptly halted, as the creature encircled him, creating a swirling eye with no top or bottom. This time, instead of clawing him directly, the dragon eyed him menacingly as it circled around. Before he react, it snapped at him, biting his torso as if try and cleave him in two. He wailed and screamed, writhing in pain as the creature sank its jaws into his stomach. Just like the skeleton, this monster was nothing more than clouds, but yet even still the force from the blow was overwhelming and the sensation of actually being stabbed by its massive teeth were enough to drive the youth to the brink of insanity.

He screeched out a curse, bellowing he recklessly tried punching and kicking, attempting to try and pry open it jaws. A glint in the creature’s eyes caught him off guard, before it bit down even harder until he heard a familiar crunch.

His mind instantly went blank as his nerves were driven to their limits and a warm liquid began dripping down his sides.

Of course, he realized, this wasn’t just a storm creature, this was a real dragon, and it’d just bit down on his torso. He screamed, before convulsing as blood coughed up from his throat, tears streaming down his cheeks. His mulatto skin, the color of caramel, was plastered a dark red as several bones and ligaments snapped, hinting at internal bleeding.

“Oh god”, he wailed, “what can I do? Please help me.”

The creature growled and spat him out, leaving his naked body dangling and weak in the air, as it flew about.

He cried his eyes darting every which way, looking for an exit. The creature seemed to know this too, and before he could gather his thoughts, the boy cried aloud as the dragon swung its massive tail about and smacked him in his side, sending him flying towards the edge the eye. He yelped, and tried to steady himself as his floating slowed. He winced, gritting his teeth as he tried to grip his right arm, the bones shattered and his muscles unresponsive.

How, he thought, how am I supposed to survive this?

Fight.

“What?”, he gasped, looking about.

Fight back. It’s the only way.

A woman’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Who are you”, he cried out, “what d’you mean fight back?”

Fight back, you have the power to do so my baby. You can do this.

My baby?!

Wait…

He was shocked, before shouting out, “MOM!”

My son, my baby, you must fight back. You must tame the beast, if you don’t, it will kill you.

“But how?”, he cried out, “I can’t move, I’m in pain, it hurts so much.”

Tears rain down his bloodied, sweating face.

I know it hurts, my son, but pain is not the end. You have power, deep inside you. More power unlike anything you’ve ever realized.

But to access it, you must let go. Let it flow through you, let it merge with you.

You must let go.