Book 1 | Agent 34 and the Desert of Beasts

Chapter 3 | The Black Dragon

The elf walked across the dunes of the sand, the heat that the sun creating beading down on his forehead. Agent 34 grasped the assassin's sword tightly, holding it close to him to make sure he was safe from any threats.

Why had the assassin targeted him? That was a question that lingered in the elf's mind during his travel. There hadn't been any more threats after that, and he hoped there was no more.

It has been a day since Agent 34 woke on the sandy ground of the hot desert with amnesia, and no clues to his identity and why he was here. Night was approaching soon, and his dry throat craved water, his stomach growling for food.

Damn it, I should've checked the assassin's pockets for food and water! I'm an idiot for not doing that! The elf thought irritantly to himself.

Agent 34's only memory was one of the few things the elf could think about. Why was it the only memory he had? Why was it broken? What was inside the jewels? So many questions came with that memory. The crown had to play a role in this somehow, some way that crown was apart of Agent 34's amnesia.

The sun started to set, and Agent 34 sighed tiredly and stopped walking across the endless dunes of sand.

The elf laid his jacket down on the sand, and sat down on it, picking grains of sand off of it while doing so. Agent 34 laid down, his hair falling into the sand. The elf ignored the sand in his thick hair, and stared at the setting-sun.

He realized he was still holding his sword, and laid it down on the jacket beside him. Sleep tugged on his eyes, trying to convince him to go into its void. Agent 34 was convinced, but checked his surroundings before falling asleep to make sure there were no more assassins or any other things that want his head.

Then the elf shut his eyes, and drifted into the void called sleep.

~ ~ ~

Agent 34 awoke with the sun above him, and his sword had shifted a little in the night, no longer on the jacket, but on the sand under the jacket.

The elf stood up, and picked the jacket and sword off from the ground, brushing the sand off it. He combed through his thick hair, pushing the grains of sand out of his hair. Once Agent 34 was about ninety percent sure all sand was off his head, he continued his long walk back to civilization.

Tucking the jacket under his arm, he continued walking along the sandy desert. The elf grilled the sword's hilt tightly, and held it at his side. Agent 34 was completely awake and alert, ready to defend himself if needed.

Agent 34 heard a growl, and looked down to see it was only his stomach telling him he needed food. His throats was as dry as a rock, all moisture sapped from it. The elf continued on, ignoring hunger and thirst that was trying to push him off his course to safety.

The morning was pretty uneventful. Agent 34 covered what he thought was two miles in about an hour by running, and slowed down so he could regain his energy and walked for two hours.

Jerking his head up to the sky, the elf saw a bird fly overhead to where he was coming from.

Excitement filled Agent 34, and he followed the bird, all he could think of was food. But how might he get to it?

There was a loud roar in the air, and even thought the elf had amnesia, Agent 34 knew what is was.

It was a dragon.

Agent 34 started to run the other direction, away from the dragon roar , completely forgetting about his prey.

Why would a dragon be in the desert? Agent 34 thought to himself. If that beast reaches me I will be dead! There is no fighting something twenty times bigger than me!

Agent 34 picked up his pace, running faster than he was earlier when he ran the two miles. Hearing another roar behind him, Agent 34 ran even faster through the sand, and the elf didn't even know he could run this fast. Fear is a powerful thing.

Agent 34 assumed the dragon caught the bird for itself, even though it would barely satisfy it. Most dragons feed off bears and horses, and sometimes humans, dwarves, and elves.

The elf tripped, and fell face-first into the sand and somehow managed to drop the sword behind him. Agent 34 turned around to go get it, but saw a giant black dragon flying towards him on the horizon.

Horrified, Agent 34 grabbed the sword and ran away from the black beast that was following him. A roar erupted behind him once again, and it was getting closer to him.

Sweat dropped from Agent 34 and onto the hot sand, which soaked it up immediately. The elf glanced behind himself, and saw that the dragon was a feet yards away. 

There was a hole up ahead, and Agent 34 jumped into it and prayed the dragon would fly right over him.

His prayers were answered, and the dragon flew right over the hole in the sand, roaring above him.

Agent 34 let out a sigh of relief, and wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his brow. The elf climbed out of the sandy hole in the ground, and brushed himself off.

The elf just laid there for a little bit in the sand, rethinking about everything that has happened over the course of a day and a half. But, Agent 34's thoughts were interrupted when his stomach growled, and begged for food.

Agent 34 couldn't answer his stomach's calls, and it made hunger gnaw at his body in return. Thirst didn't help with that either, the elf's throat was getting even more dry.

Agent 34 pressed onward, and pushed his limits so he could make it back home and find the true answers.