Robert heard a sudden booming roar echoing from inside the castle. The vibrations of the shriek rang through his body back and forth like the clapper of a bell. Amongst the booming footsteps and intimidating growls of the majestic beast before him, he could hear the faint creek of a door slowly being pushed open. Slowly, the dragon emerged. Atop it was the man that he had once considered his greatest friend. Now, he looked into his eyes and couldn’t recognize who he had become. Draped in a cherry-red robe and a shiny silver suit of armour, the man seemed more unfamiliar to him than anyone. 

“Chris! Chris, down here, can you hear me?”

He knew Chris could hear him, but it was so clear that he was trying everything in his power not to notice his friend's presence. He looked around, making sure to awkwardly avoid Chris’ stern eye contact. He peered menacingly at the landscapers working on his beautiful green garden as they worked away, chopping and cutting every little bush in the most precise manner to complete the finishing touches on what Robert could only describe as the most vibrant and immaculate garden he had ever laid eyes on. 

The rows of tulips appeared endless, the proud green trees boasted plump ripe fruits, and not a single dead blade could be spotted in the vast green grass field that covered the entire property. The garden was a burst of color in a place that couldn’t have been more gloomy with the way Chris had handled his newfound power.

“Chris, chris! Don’t play dumb, I know you can hear me!”

Chris turned his head directly to Robert and stared deeply into his glassy brown eyes. Almost instantly, the dragon did the same, turning his outstretched neck over to Robert until their faces were mere inches away from each other. The beast let out another booming roar that pushed Robert backwards as a result its sheer volume.

“Don’t you see the crown, Rob? Call me your king! You know who I am, don’t ever disrespect me like that!”

Robert looked up at his former friend’s sparkling golden crown perched atop his puny little skull. It was crazy how a mere head ornament could give someone such an uncontrollable and outrageous ego. 

“So it’s really gonna have to end this way, huh?” Robert screamed out, reaching over his back and whipping out a long grey sword. 

Chris laughed. “You really want to fight me? Don’t you know who you are?”

Robert didn’t need to answer. He charged forward towards Chris, his legs moving at a million miles a minute. His body grew cold as gushes of wind flew by him as he ran, single teardrops rolling down his cheeks as memories of better, simpler times repeated through his head like a broken record.

Chris pointed upwards and he and his dragon sprung upwards into the air. Robert only had mere moments to react to the sudden movement before he saw a firey line of flames being shot towards his direction. He felt a strong burning sensation emerge from his left leg and quickly slapped in out. When he looked back up at Chris, he was gone from Robert’s line of sight.

He looked around, confused, before noticing that Chris had now nothing more than a mere speck in the distance. His dragon quickly flapped away, tail wagging and with a scowl of pure furioctiy glued to his face. Robert could hear the faint sound of Chris hollering something down to someone, but before he could figure out who, a swarm of hundreds of soldiers bursted out through the palace gates and carried him off. He swung his sword aimlessly through the crowd of glistening bronze suits of armour, desperately hoping to hit anyone or anything. He pushed and flailed as the men tied him up his limbs and plastered a vantablack square of tape over his lips. 

Slowly, the troops retreated, leaving Robert on the cold dirt ground of the Palace entrance. Blinded by pure unfiltered rage, he frantically kicked and rolled and wiggled in place, trying to do all that he could to release himself from the tight grips of the rope. 

“We aren’t done with you,” he heard one of them murmur as he strutted past Robert’s struggling body. 

Panting and sweating profusely, Robert’s attempts to escape quickly became less lively and effective. He stopped to take a deep breath and looked around once more at what Chris had turned his hometown into. The place felt like it came straight out of a movie - everything was so dark and gray, clouds of smelly smoke came out from the pipes of the roof, and the facility - albeit wildly impressive from an architectural standpoint - still gave off a sense of unwelcomeness.

Then, Robert heaved his body weight over his other shoulder, turning around whilst he lay on the floor and awaited his demise. He let out a gasp. The garden was in complete ruins - the troops had rushed through and destroyed everything that there had once been. The sole bright spot of this entire area was gone, just like that. It had vanished in the blink of an eye, and now, all that could be seen was absolute darkness.