Within the depths of the earth, far below the surface of the world that was blessed by living grass and golden sun, was an enormous cavern whose stone walls shone a bright orange, reflecting the fiery glow of the lake of molten magma with a stone island in the middle.
     Upon the single stone island was the most powerful of all creatures that walked the land: an enormous dragon, with dark scales blacker than night, crimson eyes more fiery than the glowing lava, and deadly fangs sharper than the sharpest swords.
     Standing before the beast was a single young man. He was hardly fit to be a warrior, as his arms could barely lift the blade made out of common steel, and he was only clad in the thinnest leather armor, wrapped in a tattered, brown cloak.
     As the great dragon gazed down upon its puny opponent, it opened its mouth to speak. “Tell me,” the beast growled in a low, guttural voice. “Can you face me?"
     The young warrior said nothing, staying in a low stance and breathing heavily as his fear was clearly seen through his shaking arms and legs.
     “Can you face me with such fear?” the dragon asked, stepping forwards as its heavy feet stomped on the stone ground.
     And then the young boy’s lips curled into a smile.
     “I will face you with courage,” he declared, even as the blade in his hands continued to shake uncontrollably.
     The dragon scoffed, its breath hot against the young warrior. “What courage do you have? You are shaking. You can barely lift your blade. You will surely die.”
     The young warrior continued to smile as he said, “who said that courage is being fearless?” As he drew up to full height and rose his weapon, pointing it at the greatest beast that existed.
     Squinting his blood-red eyes at the puny human, the dragon asked, “what is courage to you?”
     For the first time, the young boy’s arms stopped trembling. He stood tall and proud, and then shouted as loud as he could:
     “Courage is standing against all odds, even when you are gripped by fear! Courage is the will to continued fighting, even when there is no hope!”
     Then he gripped the steel blade tightly in his hands as he grinned widely, not with happiness or joy, but with confidence.
     “Courage is what I will face you with!”
     The dragon’s eyes snapped open as it rose to full height on its hind legs and spread out its wings, bearing its fearsomely demonic stature as it roared, its thunderous voice echoing through the cavern.
     “Then come at me, courageous fighter!”
     Within the depths of the earth, a legendary battle was about to be fought. It was not a grand duel between honor bound knights, or an enormous clash against mighty armies. Rather, it was a fight between the grandest beast in the entire world and a weak human. The young warrior was not clad in the most protective armor, nor did not wield the most deadly weapon. Instead, his heart was filled with a single emotion that would never falter:
     It was courage; the will to stand against all odds, even when fear gripped one’s heart.
     The young boy shouted:
     “En garde!"