Ivan panted deeply, exhausted by his recent battle against the dragon. It had been a long time leading up to this event, with Ivan training day after day to confront a dragon of this strength. The dragon terrorized Ivan's people for long enough, and Ivan was their champion sent to destroy the dragon. Armed with a magic sword and shield, Ivan was able to deflect the dragon's attacks and pierce its scaly hide. It took Ivan almost a week of traveling on top of 2 days of fighting through the dragon's lair before he finally reached the beast; the scars of battle were apparant on Ivan, but he shrugged them off, focusing on his target. After hours of heated combat, Ivan finally felled the beast, striking at its heart with the blade in a climactic finish.
As Ivan stood over the felled dragon, he was amazed at how large the beast truly was. The beast was easily 5 times the size of Ivan - almost 40 feet long including its tail with claws as big as Ivan's head. The sword laid stuck in the beast's chest - it was glowing with a strange blue light. As Ivan pulled out the sword, a wave of blue light released from the wound, blinding Ivan and knocking him down. When Ivan opened his eyes, he saw a ghostly apparition of the dragon floating overhead, staring at Ivan.
"FOOL! YOU THINK MY DEATH WILL END MY REIGN!? I AM IMMORTAL, MY DEATH IS ONLY THE START OF MY NEW LIFE!!" The spirit roared.
Before Ivan had a chance to draw his weapon, the spirit flew at Ivan. Ivan braced himself for the worst, but felt a strange electric sensation course through him and another flash of blue light. When Ivan regained his vision, he checked himself for any wounds and saw he wasn't harmed by the dragon's last attack. He also couldn't find where that spirit went. Assuming his magic shield defended him from the dragon, Ivan gathered himself and prepared for his journey home. As a symbol of his victory, Ivan only removed the dragon's crest atop its head - it was a luminescent jewel which glowed with an indescribable color. Such a trophy would prove the dragon's demise and also make for a wonderful accessory while not being too heavy to carry home.
It was already sun down after Ivan slayed the dragon, so it would be best he just spend one more night in the dragon's lair before he ventures out. Setting up a campfire, Ivan was treated to an unusually quiet night - the dragon and it's minions were gone and the lair was finally empty. As Ivan fell into slumber, he had dreams of dragons; he saw himself flying in the sky amongst other dragons, the group then landing in the very lair he slept in. After he landed with them Ivan noticed he himself was one of the dragons. The other dragons began to nuzzle close to Ivan and he felt a strange warmth spread through him.....
....Ivan's dream ended abruptly as the sunlight beamed into his eyes. Ivan got up, confused about his dream of being a dragon. Ivan resented the beasts and found it strange he would dream of being one. Oh well, dreams are meant to be dreams.
As Ivan started his adventure home, he felt his gut jutting out ever so slightly more than usual. He must have eaten a bit too much last night - it is nothing.