Dragon

I remember reading this story somewhere a long time ago and it made a huge impact on me. I do not know where I read it and cannot find it anymore. Here I have tried to reproduce it as best as I can.

Long time ago in a far away land, there was a small kingdom nestled at the foothills of a large mountain. Behind the mountain was a deep dark forest where a strong powerful dragon lived. Every once in a while, the dragon would come down from behind the mountain, terrorise the people and steal all their treasures. Many warriors had gone up the mountain to kill the dragon but none had ever returned.

After a particularly horrendous raid, one warrior decided to go kill the dragon. With great difficulty he climbed over the mountain and faced the dragon lying among its treasures. The battle was long, hard and vicious. At the end the dragon lay dead.

As the warrior stood there exhausted on the piles of gold, reflecting on the beast he had just slain, he slowly saw himself turn into one.