Short stories

ok yall, here is Hope (unedited)!
hehe, have fun! please comment on it below! :D

Hope
The moonlight carved a path through the treetops and shone brightly on the beaten down path before him. Squinting through the shadows, John stepped forward lightly, treading as if he were hiding from an invisible foe.
“You won’t escape me, for I can see you in the shadows… for I am part of the darkness…” the hissing voice spoke suddenly and without warning. He looked around, but he was unable to find the source, though he knew full well who it was.
He continued forward, walking a little more boldly than before. After he had walked a few minutes in silence, he cleared the tree line and stepped into a spacious clearing.
Glowing green eyes surveyed the field as John glanced around. His eyes came to a rest on a black dragon laying about 200 yards away on the other side of the meadow.
The two stared at each other for a few moments, and sizing each other up, looking for weak points, studying each other stances.
The dragon stood and started to slowly walk forward. The voice returned, this time coming from the dragon itself.
“I will crush you, and with you, the entire world. For without you, the world will destroy itself. You know this, yet you face me, your imminent doom. You are a fool.”
White robes moving with the fluid motions of his body, John stepped forward a few paces. Reaching behind his back, he grasped the polished white handle of a sword.
“I think not; for even without me, the world will still have light, still have hope. I am just an instrument used by the One to broaden the reach of the uplifting powers of hope.” John said, his clear voice carried by the breeze so that it rang loud and clear.
The dragon growled and launched itself into the air, wings beating powerfully to gracefully lift itself off the ground.
As the dragon raced toward him, John paused. After saying a short prayer for strength and guidance, he slowly drew his sword.
When John raised the sword into a defensive position, it started to glow faintly. If anyone had been watching, it would have just looked as if the moonlight was glinting off the surface.
As the Dragon circled around, he took a deep breath and held it as his chest muscles grew tense. Anticipating what was going to happen next, John looked around for cover. Finding none, he raised the sword and started to pray once again.
The dragon unleashed his fury in the form of a black tidal wave of flame. It shot toward John like a swarm of angry hornets bent on his destruction.
John did not move, but rather, he stood his ground. His sword started to glow brighter and brighter until it was almost as bright as the sun, but not painful to look at.
The dragon Howled as the light hit him though, and he steered away, shutting off the flames venting from his mouth.
The black mass of flame that had been spewed at John hurtled toward him, but the seemed to splat against a translucent wall.
The light died down once again and the dragon swooped high into the sky, trying a different tactic. He spat 3 quick balls of flame that hit the ground around John, causing the grass to catch fire and trap him.
he covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve as black smoke seemed to circle around him, threatening to close in and envelope him.
As he raised his sword to try to ward off the black cloud of smoke that started to close in, the dragon screeched at him. Distracted, John glanced up at the dragon and lowered his sword.
The light that had just started to emanate from the sword vanished. The smoke, seeming to sense that the light was gone, rushed in and enveloped John.
He gasped and chocked on it, falling to his knees and letting the sword drop to the ground, John desperately tried to not faint
The ground shook and quivered as the Dragon landed on the ground in the midst of the flames, seeming not to care about the intense heat.
“And now you fall, John, and the world will fall into darkness. Many people will perish in the time it takes for Him to find a replacement for you. Many will fall into the dark pit and suffer for all eternity. Ha! Look at you! You look like a fish that was left on a dock or beach, floundering for air.” The dragon said; his laugh rumbling through the air like thunder.
John withered on the ground, hands around his throat. His mind was practically paralyzed by the darkness invading his body. He could breathe pretty easily. But when the smoke entered his body, it went straight to his soul, his mind, and grasped the light that presided there. Some of the light had a firm hold in him, and would not die. And even more shocked the fingers of darkness that touched them.
Despite all of this, the darkness managed to find some light and and strangled it. Light that represented his family, his friends, everything that he held dear eventually took a while, but they were uprooted as well.
When they did, despair replaced the light, the hope that had withered. And the effect devastated John. He started to weep as he curled into a little ball, trying not to give up all hope.
The Dragon observed this with interest, and then he laughed again. “HA! I am victorious! No one can defeat me! For I, The destroyer of Hope, will never be conquered!”
The moonlight that had once shone as brightly started to fad as smoke rose into the heavens and formed massive clouds of darkness.
There was one opening in the clouds that allowed the some of the light to reach John, as he clung to his last shred of hope.
John lay there trembling, thinking all was lost, when he heard a faint voice whisper in his ear.
“John, what are you doing? Stand up I say! I chose you to be my bearer of Hope, do not give up so easily!”
Startled, John coughed and looked around. “Lord, is that you? I am sorry, but I have failed…”
The voice did not answer for a time, and John feared it would not speak again. But then he heard it, even fainter than before.
“My son, I could have chosen any one out of the billions of people in this world, and yet, I chose you. “Why is that?” you wonder. It is because I know you can do it, the world is counting on you John, and that is a heavy burden to bear. But I chose you because I know you do not give up. Now GO! FIGHT! Defeat this monstrosity and shine forth the Light which ye have been given!”
By now, John was no longer weeping, instead, he was on his hands and knees, struggling top stand. The dragon saw this and mocked him.
“What now, John? Are you going to try and defeat me? Ha! You are too late, you have not the strength, and the world is falling!”
John took a deep breath and found fresh air instead of the inky black smoke. A small breeze had swept through the trees and then into the meadow, blowing some of the smoke away from him.
“I have been chosen to bear the Light, and it is my duty to spread it throughout the earth. No man, beast, or demon will hinder me from my task!”
Again, the faint voice came as a whisper carried by the slightest of breezes.
“I will give you all the courage and strength you need John…take up your sword, and show him the true power of the light… of hope…”
John noticed that a light was shining brightly in the turf besides him. He glanced over, surprised to see his sword glowing all on its own. Light streamed from it and carved intricate patterns in the air around it, appearing to weave a garment of light around itself.
John tentatively reached out a hand and grasped the hilt. When he did, he shouted from shock as the light went from the sword and flowed across his body, finally entering his body through his mouth. The effect was wondrous.
The light traveled through his body, making him feel warm and energized. When the light finished traveling throughout the body, it went into his mind and soul, repairing all that the inky smoke had done.
When the last string of light had been replaced, the light started to shine brighter and brighter until his eyes seemed to glow.
The dragon watched this turn of event curiously before he snorted, apparently unimpressed. He flew higher into the air and then started to dive toward the shining figure below him, intent on burning him to a crisp.
The glow around him faded slightly and John glanced around, wondering what could have caused it. He finally saw that he had let the sword slip from his grasp and it was now lying on the ground. He gazed at it as it beckoned to him, whispering to him to pick it up once again. He did so, and immediately the surge of light came back. He raised the sword with one hand to the sky and lightning erupted from the sword into the sky. The Lightning, Pure white in color, and thick as streetlight poles, was absorbed by the storm. More lightning went up, and the storm appeared to retreat.
Then John saw the dragon hurtling toward him so fast he looked like a blur of darkness that had been spit out of the storm. John wondered what to do and glanced around, but just as he was about to raise his sword up against the beast, he heard the voice, loud and clear now as if it were in his head.
“John, the light inside of you, not the light you get from my sword. You have enough light to cover the world; you just need to know how to use it. Have faith, Endure through love, and always Hope.”
With those last words, “Always Hope” echoing through his mind, his heart, and his soul, John started to tremble as the light inside grew in intensity, size, and strength. He felt like he was going to burst as all these feelings were seemingly drawn out by this light; feelings of unrestrained joy, happiness, and love. Many more flowed through, but these were feelings he could not identify.
He trembled once more, and found he could not stop. He let the sword slide from his hand and thud to the ground. As he did so, His trembling increased immensely, and he could contain it no longer.
John did the only thing he could do. He turned his gaze to heaven, eyes closed. He let a smile grace his face as he opened them, and the pent up light seemed to explode from his as he did, creating a shockwave of light all around the globe.
The dragon never knew what hit him. First he was taking a deep breath to turn that man into a burning torch, and then he had seemingly exploded. Now, as he looked around, he saw that he was back in Hell. Roaring at the ground, he slammed his fist into it, but it was not ground he soon realized, it was a lake.
His momentum caused him to swing forward, diving headfirst into the black fire that engulfed him instantly.
John shivered one last time as he felt that the last of the light had been expelled. He sighed contentedly and picked up the shimmering sword that sat in the bright green grass.
Indeed, it seems that Hope does more than one thought it would. He thought, half smiling and sliding the sword back into its scabbard on hit back. He then glanced around, knowing that he had more work to do, and very little time to do it.

The End :)