The world, for all its advancements, was unprepared. The streets of every city, once bustling with life and noise, became silent as an unseen force approached.
No one knew what had happened, or how. One moment, the world carried on in its usual chaotic pace, and the next… it didn't.
It started in a corner of the world few paid attention to. In a small, nearly forgotten research facility tucked in the mountains, experiments had been conducted in the hopes of bridging gaps between worlds.
The scientists, ignorant of the dark forces they played with, thought they could control the magic of the realms. But they had no idea what they were dealing with.
The day they activated the portal was the day everything went wrong. The facility's cameras recorded nothing at first, only the sudden surge of energy as the fabric of reality tore. And then… it came through.
It wasn't the simple teleportation of an object, or even a creature. No, it was more. The dragon—the monster—had come from a place where magic and reality intertwined in ways the human mind couldn't fathom.
The researchers were gone within minutes, their screams drowned out by the sheer power of its arrival. The dragon stood tall, its massive wings unfurled and blocking out the sky. It was an ancient thing, its scales dark like the depth of a storm, eyes glowing with an intelligence both ancient and malevolent.
The scientists had never known what they had summoned. None could comprehend its scale. The dragon was immune to anything they threw at it. Guns, bombs, magic—it didn't matter.
It tore through metal like paper, its roar shaking the foundations of the world itself. There were no walls or forces that could contain it. It wasn't just a dragon—it was a force of nature, an unstoppable monster from beyond the edges of human knowledge.
And it marched. Step by step, it moved toward civilization, and with every step, the world crumbled. Cities burned, their streets flooded with panic, the ground trembling beneath the beast's colossal weight. Humanity, for all its power, was nothing in the face of such overwhelming destruction.
Rachel stood in the middle of the street, her hand gripping the phone tightly. She had no idea how long it had been since she last spoke to her family. Her heart pounded as the light in the sky flickered. People ran, shouting for help, but there was no help to be found.
She was used to handling situations. A crisis management expert—she had spent her life training for every disaster imaginable. But nothing, not a single scenario, had prepared her for this. She watched as a massive building, something that had once held hundreds of people, collapsed under the weight of the beast.
It fell slowly, deliberately, as though the monster was toying with it. The debris swallowed the streets, leaving only dust and death in its wake.
Rachel's fingers hovered over her phone's screen, searching for any sign of hope. The army was mobilizing. The military jets were launching in droves, attempting to confront the beast in mid-air. But Rachel knew it was pointless. Nothing would stop it.
She tried to make her way to the shelter, but every street was a dead-end. People ran past her, their faces blank with terror. She couldn't hear the words they screamed—only the deafening roar of destruction.
Rachel's hand shook as she walked through the desolation. She tried to call out to anyone, but it felt like a dream, a nightmare that no one could wake up from. There was a strange, unnatural quiet in the world now. It was as if the earth itself had paused, waiting for the end.
And the end was coming.
From the sky, the dragon descended, its massive wings stirring up the air with violent gusts. Its talons scraped the surface of the ground, sending a shockwave of destruction. Buildings crumbled, and cars were sent flying as though they were nothing but toys. The dragon landed in the center of the city, and it was then that Rachel saw it clearly.
Its eyes locked onto her. For a moment, everything else seemed to fall away—the chaos, the screams, the flames. There was only the dragon. And its gaze.
She ran. It was the only thing she could do. She didn't know where she was going, didn't know what she was hoping for. Every step felt like an eternity, as if the ground itself was trying to pull her down into the earth.
The city was no longer a place of safety. It had become a battleground, a wasteland. She stumbled through debris, trying to find shelter, but there was nowhere to hide.
And then, as if by some dark magic, the dragon appeared before her, its massive form looming like a shadow over the ruined city. The fire in its eyes seethed with malice, and the heat from its breath scorched the air.
Rachel screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the deafening roar of the beast.
She backed away, her feet slipping on the rubble. There was no escape now. The dragon's massive jaws parted, revealing rows of sharp teeth as it drew closer. Its breath came in short bursts, each exhale like the blast of an oven. She could feel the heat radiating from its body, its presence consuming everything around her.
Rachel's mind raced. She had faced emergencies. She had been prepared. But this? This was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. She tried to think—tried to find some way out. Maybe if she could get to the subway, she could hide.
Or maybe the military would somehow stop it. But then, she remembered the reports. The air force had tried. The missiles had failed. Everything they had tried had failed. Nothing could stop the dragon.
Her heart pounded, and her legs felt weak. The dragon moved closer, its claws digging into the asphalt, causing the earth to tremble. Rachel's breath became shallow, her body frozen in place. She tried to look away, to hide from its gaze, but it was too late.
The dragon's eyes burned into her soul. Its presence overwhelmed her senses, and for a moment, she felt as though she might suffocate under its power. The world around her seemed to vanish, leaving only the creature and its relentless hunger.
And then, it spoke. Not with words, but with the force of its being. She could hear it in her mind, a voice that made her feel small and insignificant.
It was no longer just a beast of destruction. It was something worse. Something older. It was as if Rachel had been made to stand witness to the end.
With a sudden, terrifying motion, the dragon swung its tail, knocking Rachel from her feet. She hit the ground with a sickening thud, her body crashing against the pavement. Pain coursed through her, but it was nothing compared to the terror that filled her heart.
The dragon towered over her, its massive form blocking out the sun. Its eyes glowed with fire, and its mouth opened wide. Rachel's body froze, and she didn't even have time to scream before the beast moved.
The end was quick. Not painless. But quick.
The world would never recover from the dragon's destruction. And Rachel, in her final moments, knew that there was nothing left for anyone.