Heart of the Dragon (Skeith & Wiki)

It had been ten years. Ten long and hard years since she had returned from town to watch her family's farm burn in the moonlight. Her entire life reduced to ash before her eyes. Everyone she had ever known and loved were gone. Not even bodies were left for her to bury. As she looked up, through tear stained eyes, she could see the silhouette of a dragon, flying away against the full moon. That would not be the last dragon she saw.

The decade that followed would be spent training her body and mind. Building her strength, honing her reflexes, mastering the sword, and learning all she could about dragon kind. With seven dragons having fallen to her sword, she had earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous dragon slayers in the known world. It was said reputation that would lead to her recruitment to a rebellion, made up of mostly untrained farmers and defecting soldiers, to rid the world of the Drakhen Empire. A terrible nation that had begun to employ dragons in their ranks to increase their dominion.

That day, late into the evening, the dragon slayer plunged head long into battle, aiding the rebels in their attempt to conquer one of the Empire's keeps. Rumor had it that a dragon had been brought here, and she would be the one who killed it. She wore black armor, complete with face concealing helmet, and a blood red cloak. She carved her way through enemy soldiers with ease. Her heavy two handed sword, designed to pierce dragon hide, cut easily through human weapons and armor. A grunt of pain, muffled by her mask could be heard as she fell to her knees. An arrow was protruding out of her stomach. Two more entered her body. One in her shoulder and the other in her chest. She forced herself to stand, facing down the archers and swordsmen who stood in her way. With a loud roar of anger she charged forward again.

Soon she emerged in the keep's courtyard. A trail of blood behind her from her many injuries. She froze at the sight of her prize. But it wasn't what she expected. She thought she would see a dragon, armored and ready for battle, with its rider on its back. What she saw was a dragon, chained to the ground, wings staked to the dirt. She hoisted her helmet off of her head as she approached, revealing her messy blond hair and striking blue eyes. She limped towards the dragon, lifting the blade above her head. She wanted to execute it. The dragon was female. A brood mother could birth many more dragons, killing it would be an incredibly victory for her. "I should end you." With a grunt, she let the blade fall to the side. She clutched her stomach, grunting as she panted. She struggled to keep herself standing as her vision blurred. "But, my battle can't end here." She looked back towards the sounds of battle. "I propose a pact. That is in your power to grant, yes? I'm not ready to die, and I suspect you aren't either." She grit her teeth as she heard the gates crash open and soldiers poor in to stop her. "Your answer, dragon! A pact with me or death!"

Blood, battle and death the only combination that mostly everything non human lived for, and being a dragon those rules had been set for her to follow until she would die fighting in battle than not for old age or other natural disaster instead. She had ruled for countless centuries as a dark beast of war, destroying and killing everything in her path as she moved from one place to another though her home was mostly in the eerie dark bowels of dangerous swamps and marshes where her dark destructive powers were the most strongest to grow more and more as long as she was alive.

Her last encounter being remembered as her still ever growing power swept through the night. The ending of yet another human settlement that didn’t seem protected or guarded at all from the outside, which made an easy target for her. The strange faint red colors of a barn, the dark yellow and orange of wheat fields soon disappearing as they were gone in ashes.

More centuries have past by and her continued onslaught of her power continued to sweep through more countless settlements and with it taking countless more human lives with no difference of innocent families of people or soldiers outposts from different kingdoms. Though finally seeing that the exact thing she killed would fight back and even threaten to end her life as easily just as she did theirs.

With overwhelming numbers and tactics gale had finally been caught and weakened even to the point where she could eventually not fight back anymore. Today would be no different as she was kept within the iron walls pinned down and still weakened where she couldn’t do anything to escape, hearing what seemed to be fighting outside as well as she looked at the human with the sword knowing she was strangely different than the others but knowing that she was too similiar in that she had the confined chance to end her which she now completely knew with the blade ready before already seeing more humans and deciding to take her offer of freedom as she gave a roar trying to struggle a bit before looking up at her before trying to struggle again. The dragon couldn’t even do anything even if she did agree to protect the new girl now as she hoped the other would know.

The human warrior turned away from the dragon to face the approaching warriors. She grit her teeth, groaning in agony as she bent over to pick up her sword again. She looked back towards the dragon. She could scarcely believe what she was about to do. What she had to do. She clenched her hands tighter around her blade before bringing it down on the first of many chains keeping the beast pinned to the ground. The chain snapped easily under the weight of the sword. She stumbled after swinging, exhausted from her blood loss.

She wondered, in the back of her head, what the pact would be like. She had heard legends of mortals and beasts forming pacts. The two gained great power, but lacking magical gifts of their own, it often came at a cost to humans. Some losing one of their five senses, others losing a piece of their soul. She could only imagine what price the dragon's price would be.

"She's freeing the dragon! Cut her down!" She heard one soldier yell. As they approached, she cut another chain, just in time to feel a blade enter her back. She cried out in pain, turning and cutting the soldier in half. She dragged herself forward, grabbing one of the stakes pinning the dragon's wing. With a loud groan she pulled it free. She continued trying to free the dragon while trying to fend off the soldiers. By the time the last stake was loosened, she had taken numerous more injuries, her body simply not having the strength to go on. She fell to her knees, coughing up blood. Her sword clattering to the ground.

She hoped that she wouldn't regret this decision, but as life began to fade from her, she could only assume she had. She fell forward, barely catching herself. She sat on her hands and knees, hearing the crowd of soldiers approach. "I've gone all in on you, dragon. I'm at your mercy." Her voice was barely a whisper. She closed her eyes, ready for the soldiers to kill her, or for blood loss to finish her off.

She watched with deep breaths at the humans struggle seeing the brutal nature of going on with so many injuries like that but seeing that humans had not much different feelings to do anything to survive than her or any other living thing. As she was finally freer the dragon slowly stood up as it’s body started to glow a purple aura along its deep black bruised scales before a stream of purple hellfire in an instant cleared the path of the soldiers with only momentary screams and ash left behind before disappearing off from the wind. With another roar the monster slowly opened its wings before folding them again as there was no energy and from her injuries that she could really do anything as gale stood up and picked up the girl in her hand before slowly using her other hand to reach and climb up, as she started to light the whole place with purple hellfire.

With the deathly smoke rising, gale soon disappeared off still holding the other into the distance. Finally she found a stream, setting her down against a tree as she shifted into her dark human form, getting some leaves and washing them before sticking them on the cuts. It would be good for now to stop the bleeding and protect it for a bit for now as the girl sighed standing there. “ jeez...” for now she would wait a bit, deciding to come back to that outpost once it got a little darker and see if she could follow the force that attacked back to their base, carrying her in her hand again and eventually walking back to check but being careful.

The warrior watched in wide eyed terror as the dragon reduced the enemy soldiers to ash. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the dragon reaching to pick her up. While unconscious, she relived that terrible night. Watching her home burn to the ground and watching the dragon that did it fly into the distance. As she began to regain consciousness, she could barely move. Her injuries were bandaged, at least mostly. Seemingly with leaves. The sky was dark and she could feel the wind against her face, which told her that she was outside, but she wasn't conscious enough to make out much less.

"Where am I? What the hell happened?" She mumbled to herself as she held her head in pain. She leaned her head back groaning heavily, trying to remember what had happened or how she had survived. She remembered the dragon, the hellish purple fire, and finally, the dragon reaching for her. Had the beast kept its word and saved her?

She could see that some still did not really leave and even some still beginning to leave as it seemed that of course for most of the day that they had to check out everything but not expecting that much time would really pass like that. Gale now started to fly up into the darkness again, her purple eyes and breath could be seen against her dark black form in the sky as she eventually follow some from the distance or be following for some that would run back for the camp where she eventually landed again a bit away from the camp and shifting into her human form before mostly dragging the other into the camp. She did not care if they tried to attack but at least if she was right they would take the other away from her so she would be in a better place as gale would mostly leave once she would drop her off but actually stay in the darkness of the camp to watch.

She realized as they landed just what was happening. She watched the dragon shift to the form of a human woman. She had heard of that particular gift, but had never watched it happen before. No dragon had ever assumed human form around her. As she was dragged back into camp, she continued to fade in and out of consciousness, at least until she heard the shouts of the other rebels. "Wait!" She yelled as loud as she could. The rebels came to a stop, lowering their weapons. "It's fine. She saved me."

Soon after she passed out again, only to wake up in a tent with other wounded rebels. A healer was leaned over her, stitching her wounds. "Where's the dragon?" She asked as she looked up at the woman treating her injuries.

"Dragon? I saw no dragon. A strange woman brought you here." The healer seemed confused but simply chalked it up to the warrior being disoriented from her injuries. "Here, drink some water. I'll let the others know you're on the mend." She stood up and left the tent, leaving her alone in the dark.

She carefully drank from a clay jug, laying her head back against the cot after she finished. She looked through the opening of the tent, out towards the rest of camp. She was still amazed that the dragon had respected her enough to save her, much less return her to camp. But where had she gone?

Gale still watched from the shadows, looking at her hand as she opened and closed it. This strange form that she never really took before...it was weird that it felt different but also feeling the same. Flying up to a tree she stood on top of it now, showing that she was just nearby since the others would see a figure standing on a tree if they were still on guard. She would at least try now to become better at using this form as her scales covered her breasts and most of her body, a black tail, purple wings and purple claws to show her dragon side with her human side. “ humans cling so much to their small lives...” continuing to stand there with crossed arms as she would see that people might have been staring at the figure of her just there.

To say that others watched her bizarre form in the tree would be true. These were but simple villagers and farmers turned soldiers. They had no greater understanding of magic or the gifts of dragons. For many, the idea that dragons were intelligent creatures capable of speech would probably come to many as a surprise. Among those who watched Gale in the tree was the healer. She watched her warily for a moment before walking off to find the camp's captain to alert him to the status of their resident dragon slayer.

The dragon slayer crawled out of the cot with a loud groan. She pushed herself up to her feet, carefully covering her nearly naked body with her tunic and slacks. She stepped out into the camp, clearly a little worse for wear since the battle. She looked around the camp, following the eyes of the crowd to the figure in the tree. "Hmm..." She limped a little closer, still watching her. "I'm surprised you're still here." She said, folding her arms across her chest. "I would have expected you to be on your way back to whatever it is you dragons do when you're not destroying our homes." She looked back to the people, waving them off.

She looked back to the dragon, smirking lightly. "All the same, you have my thanks. I guess this makes us even. My name is Scarlet. What of you?"

“ well things change...some will go back to being feral and go off to find other things to destroy...after sometime of thinking I wouldn’t want to waste any power on weak humans...but of course I will attack if they did. Most of the time to be honest I’m either destroying stuff or sleeping mostly. I don’t really start fights but I like killing...” giving a shrug with the somewhat odd answer as she looked down at the women. “ and now you have my attention if you have plans to help me take revenge on them of course....if you’ve heard the stories of a monster who was described as the shadows of the night themselves taking form and destroying everything around them then I am it, the darkness of the night itself born into a human form...or gale for a human name and we’re not even yet until you also heal me a bit...” giving a teasing smirk as she turned into a large black dragon shaped mist and flew down toward her, changing into her human form again and walking past her into the camp. “ hope it seems tougher than it even looks...”

Scarlet listened carefully as the dragon, now identified as Gale, addressed her. "I'm as interested in revenge as you are. We have a common enemy." Her stance tensed some as she transformed again, flying down towards her. She took a step back as she landed, watching as she transformed once more. She didn't understand what she meant by helping her heal. Would it be mutual? It wasn't like Scarlet had been restored by any kind of magic. Gale hadn't healed her or taken anything from her in exchange for the powers granted by joining their souls in a pact. She closed her eyes before giving a small "Hmph". She followed after her.

"So, are we going to do this or what? I still have my wounds. We've established no pact. You've taken nothing from me in exchange." She couldn't help but think about the smirk she had given her. What would her demands entail?

She sighed before turning around, growing into her large undead looking form as she gave a loud roar as she looked over at her. “ the souls become damned as they are cursed into dread of plight, consumed and taken as their hearts become dark as night the reigns of the dead shall become your hold as you command that who takes the dead...consume and take the hellfires might, survive and you will be reborn as the most unholy knight...” with that she started to fire her he’ll flames straight into her, a bright dark light burning her body, but the color slowly changing into a dark blue then black and finally purple as a whole case of obsidian covered her body completely now waiting to see if she could use her new power to break out of it, her body feeling completely new and healed as she was covered in dark obsidian armor with a new sword fallen to the ground.

“ we are completely connected now...you also have the power to see through my eyes and guide me through your dark voice from afar...the darkness is the only thing you will seek now and grow from. It’s power will grow by your will to become stronger and bend it even more to your will....” explaining as she gave another roar.

Scarlet watched in alarm as Gale turned to face her, transforming to her true form once more. She sighed softly as she spoke. "Poetry? Terrific." Then came the fire. She brought her arms up to shield herself from it. It was painful. At least at first. She grit her teeth against it, growling under her breath before she screamed loud in agony.

The camp around them was quickly roused by the unexpected presence of the dragon as well as its thunderous roar and hellish fire. The crowd had gathered watching in fear as the dragon slayer was consumed by her fiery breath.

As the fire subsided, a hush fell over the crowd. Encased in her Obsidian prison, Scarlet struggled to free herself. She grunted, trying to use brute force against it, but it was no use. She closed her eyes as she heard Gale speak. She had to seek the darkness to gain power? The Obsidian she'll began to crack before finally exploding off of her, her inhuman shout rising above the sound, resulting in gasps from on lookers. Her body shone with a purple fiery aura before it slowly settled. Her body felt more than new. She felt stronger. More powerful. She looked down at the new sword, carefully lifting it. She examined it before looking back up at the dragon.

"Such power... And what will you have in return for this gift?" She asked finally. She knew there had to be a catch. There always was.

“ you have already given me pawns to use...a permanent place for myself for now until the quest for vengeance is done, the ability to become even stronger with the death and anguish that these new battles will bring, possibly even subjects to rule if they prove useful...” showing her full intention, “ seeing others like you from the camp is what saved you...and woth the noises from earlier in the gate I knew there had to be someone who was not really a human to come and try to slay me...I’ve seen many like you but you oddly seem different from them...” soon gale gave another roar again before looking over at her and the crowd behind, “ I can already smell the death and fear...” as the dragon now started to laugh at the thought. “ you have become my human conduit of death power all that I want I have now...”

Scarlet felt the gravity of her decision in that moment. Gale sought power and subjects to rule. She desired conquest. Scarlet had entertained the possibility that perhaps she had been wrong to associate all dragon-kind with evil. That perhaps the one who torched her family's farm had been an exception. She saw now that Gale was no different, maybe worse than the dragon that had killed her family, and now, for better or worse, she was bound to her by this terrible and dark power. Something else Gale had said stuck out to her. "Someone who was not really human." She whispered the words to herself. Did that mean that Scarlet was different from other humans even before swearing this pact? She looked back up at the dragon.

"You said something about me needing to heal you. What do you need me to do?"

Killing off dragons instead of treating them as equals or objects above them for worship....humans deserve to know their place under us...but first I want to take revenge on that kingdom....I want to see the king beg for his life, I want to see men run away from the flames of damnation....I see that most of you already know your place. If not worship them at least stay out of their way and I respect that alternative. If these people are something you are trying to protect, then as my knight the only thing they have to be afraid of is my appearance..." Soon she collapsed on her knees again from her injuries, " if the healers helped you then I want them to help me....for now you do the planning..."

Scarlet's eyes widened as Gale stumbled. She moved to her side, hesitantly placing her hands on her shoulders. "Right, I understand." She looked back over her shoulder to where the crowd still stood. "Fetch the healers!" She helped Gale back to her feet. "Come, best to rest in the tent, away from prying eyes. You can find me once you're well. Otherwise, I'll send for you when I've decided on our next move."

She helped the dragon to the tent, laying her in the same cot she had previously occupied. "See to it that she's restored to her fullest. We won't stand much of a chance against the empire without her help." She instructed. She looked down at Gale again, still struggling to believe any of this was actually happening. Without a word, she departed for the command tent as the healers came to begin their work.

The girl couldn’t really move at all anymore as she was mostly dragged a bit or carried back to the tent and laid down as she rested, already passing out now completely even with her broken wings making her really weak and not really being able to really do anything at all. With that she very much just laid there for a long even as it would seem someone would have to get her then, being mostlyvulnerable now even if there were only healers there.

Scarlet would not send for Gale for a few days, allowing her to rest. She would plan with the others, mapping the route to the next Imperial Fortress they would attack, and from there, planning the attack itself. She would eventually return to the healer's tent, checking in on Gale. She stopped the healer at the entrance. "How is she?" She asked, looking towards the resting dragon.

"Oh, you mean our future tyrant you brought back with you?" She asked in a bitter tone. "She's on the mend, as much as I might prefer to smother her. She'll be fine soon."

Scarlet sighed before nodding her head. "Thank you." She walked past her to see Gale, sitting down on the cot beside her. "How are you feeling?"

“ I guess it was better to take you back than anything...” seeing as even if gale had protected her they would have both died anyway from their wounds if she didn’t make that smart decision. The girl gave a soft expression as she looked at Scarlet. “ jeez such an empty threat with stupid human...I wanna see her come back and try to kill me...” rolling her eyes with a sigh as she glance out then back to her. “ I still can’t do much of course so that will be boring mostly...” not minding just staying here for a little while then want to already go back to killing. “But mostly fine then...you seemed so reckless and monstrous like me that you didn’t care about your injuries and wanted to try to take that place anyway. I would have done the same if we were close to winning but I wouldn’t risk my life that badly..” making a comment as she closed her eyes again with a sigh.

"You might want to consider taking humans a little more seriously. I was one and made a career out of killing your kind." Scarlet gave a shrug at Gale's comment about her recklessness. "My life doesn't mean anything anymore. A dragon took everything from me. I didn't care if I died storming that fortress, so long as I killed one more dragon. But you were injured, as was I. Killing you without a proper fight would have been pointless. Maybe we are a lot alike."

“ would do the same anyway...” saying again as she could very much see them strong together with their common feelings and goals. You’ll be gone if I will...” seeing as their lives were much under the protection of the other and they had a lifelong burden to keep each other alive even at the highest risk of the other getting hurt or possibly even dying and making their problem unavoidable now most of the time as they would see. “ well they are all weak and stupid unless they can actually show me..even if you helping me wasn’t anything special than saving my life and the other fact of being famous, even if you weren’t you would have proven strong enough to have my attention to respect your strength..would there be then anything to eat?” Asking as the two now had some good respect for each other with their bond.

Scarlet was quiet as she considered Gale's points. She wasn't wrong necessarily. It certainly did leave her with more respect for the dragon. "Hmm?" Her last question only just registering with her. "Yes. I imagine you would be hungry by now." Even a god like beast of destruction had to eat at some point. Especially while healing. "I'll send for some food. Anything particular that would please you? As a dragon, I'm going to assume meat."

“ of course if it wasn’t that obvious at all..” being a bit playful as she gave a chuckle, “ you don’t have to talk so formally to me you know, well obviously since I am more of an equal to you now...and I mean I don’t feel that it really works since I’m not that strong at all right now....but if I hadn’t said it before...being here now and at least having one person like me I guess...well thank you...” as the girl was able to smile a bit now even for just a moment as she laid down again with a sigh trying to not move as much so she could rest fully.

Scarlet was a little surprised by what she heard. She hadn't really considered that Gale might have been lonely, though she supposed it made sense. Dragons were typically selfish and solidary creatures that she hunted like animals. She hadn't really thought of them in the sense that they were people with thoughts and feelings of their own. "I understand. It's been a lonely road for me too." She smiled a sad sort of smile. "I'll send for some food. In the mean time, just try to relax."

She stood back up and walked to the door of the tent. She signalled a soldier and relayed her request. A moment later the soldier nodded and departed. Scarlet gave a quick glance around the camp before heading back to Gale's bedside. "Food should be here shortly. Other than hungry, how are you feeling? Any better?"