Dragon Age: Dragon Rising
Notes: I love to play video games, especially RPG games like Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age. English is not my native language but I have always enjoyed reading and writing English, especially when it is about fantasy themes. This story is based upon my supposed entry in the Asunder Writing contest ( I missed the deadline, got stuck in the plot...). I decided to expand my tale and post it here. The story is written on the fly without much planning so I would expect changes in the future. This is my first ever attempt in writing a fanfic and I hope you would spend your time reading it and bashing me :D
Prologue : The beginning of an end
She opened her eyes.
Darkness, an eternal darkness.
It embraces her, wrapping itself around her, like the cloak of Death.
She began to regain consciousness.
A sudden, sharp pain pierced through her mind. She wanted to scream, scream as hard as she can into that void, hoping that the light would come and alleviate her torment. But then she couldn't.
She couldn't scream, she couldn't speak.
The unfortunate truth swept into her mind, quick, strong, like the angry wave of the sea.
Her tongue was cut.
And she was trapped.
In desperation she tried to move, tried to struggle, but chains held her down.
She cried.
She did not know what happened, moments ago she was still at her house on a small farm in the outskirts of Amaranthine.
But now, she was here, in a strange place, lying on what seemed like a stone tablet, chained, and she knew she was going to die.
Her cry was hard, violent, but silent.
Her memories suddenly flooded into her mind, from the beginning till the end.
She remembered when her and her brother fought over a small wooden boat.
She remembered when her mother held her in her arms, warm and safe, and made her forget all her nightmares.
She remembered the harvesting festival, where she danced received her first kiss.
She remembered the night a few months after the ending of the Blight, the night when hope was thought to have finally restored, when the evil was believed to have been destroyed, darkspawn swarmed over the land, emerging from their hidden tunnels, attacking the city, killing everything that moves. The road blackened with bodies and rivers ran red with blood. She saw her brother's body, deformed, bones chewed, with the marrow sucked dry. Her father collapsed in illness out of grief, and a fortnight after, she and her mother stood on the bald hill that overlooked their home, with the wind blistering, praying in front of a newly made grave.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
Suddenly, light appeared. It soon filled the room, forcing her to close her eyes and looked away.
A firm hand enclosed itself around her neck, twisting it, turning her head towards the light.
She opened her eyes. It took her some time to get adjusted to the light. She saw middle-aged man looked at her with apathetic grey eyes looking down on her. He looked peculiar, as if he has no emotion, a complete disregard for the comings and goings of the world. He wore an old robe, with its ornate decorations that faded with time. He examined her body, checking for injuries. He bandaged the cut on her left hand, the bruise on her leg. With a flask on one hand, he forced her mouth open, pouring a suspicious potion into her mouth.
She choked. The taste was foul. But it made her felt better. The pain was now gone, her mind became more clear. She twisted her head to observe her surroundings. She was lying on a stone tablet in the middle of a large and spiral room. On the top was the statue of a large dragon with its wings spread wide. It looked remarkably authentic. The dragon statue was held above the ground by ten enormous pillars, each decorated with ornate figures of vines and roses. A symbol, a strange one that she had never seen before, perched right under each of the dragon's claws. Large torches were kept on each pillar, the bright flames newly lit flicker as if they were dancing. A clanking noise brought her attention to the emotionless man looming before her. He tore out her ragged dress, cleaned her body with warm water, then clothed her with fresh attire. She looked into his eyes, trying to communicate but he left, not a word, not a gesture, and she was left there, in the nebulous gold light of torches.
Not long after, the large archway door where the strange man entered opened, the light of the sun crept in again, but now, more than one man stepped into the large room. She saw nine men, all clad black and elegant robes, decorated with the same symbol that appeared on the pillars. Their hoods were up, their faces hidden in the shadows. Each mage wore a strange large silver ring, with a dragon with ruby eyes seething flame on its tail. She knew that it was going to happen, that she would be sacrifice in a ritual to some god. She tried the desperate attempt of breaking the chains. Her tears were streaming out again. She looked at one of the men in despair, begging for mercy. His head shook slightly.
The men took their places in a circle, ignoring her futile attempt of escape. Then suddenly, she was lifted up by an invisible force. Her arms and legs were stretched to its utmost extent. She felt the pain and the coldness. She felt fear.
Maker preserve her.
The men began to chant. Their voices were coarse and scruff. They chant in an old language, long dead but its power is still potent. Each word rang like a thousand bells, its resonance shook the foundations of the room itself. There was a loud bang, like thunder, striking near her ear. She trembled in horror. "Magic!", she thought. What cursed fate had befallen her?
Above, a light appeared. Its luminosity, bright like the sun. Its color, azure like the deep sea.
The illumination grew larger and larger and soon, It swallowed her whole.
Then she felt pain, agony. Her wrist was cut. Her blood dripped onto the tablet, spreading across its surface in an unnatural speed. It diped down to the floor, filling the hollow tiles like water filling a moat. The strange symbol soon appeared on the surface, colored by her blood. However, it did not stop. The blood climbed above the columns, smearing it with pure bright red.
Then the inscribed vines moved, it ascended, slowly but firmly, to the top, reaching the dragon.
Then the dragon was covered in blood.
She watched in terror. What forces have captured her ?
A loud crack echoed through the room. Her blood had melted the chains that bound her, and the light now carried her up towards the ceiling. The chanting grew louder and louder, and soon after, the mages lifted up their hands, and from their fingertips appeared rays of violet light, connecting the mages to the strange orb that had consumed her.
The air crackled, and a tear appeared. It widened. An intense green flame bursted out of the rift, erupting, wrapping itself around her. The flame changed its form into an ethereal snake. From its forked tongue came a loud hiss. A voice boomed:
"Who dares touch my realm?"
Its voice was feminine, mysterious but fearful, slow and full of power.
"We are mages of the blood, mistress, and we greet you to our world."
"I have no need to visit this world of yours. It is a boring place filled with the weak, the corrupt, the coward, the easily tempted. Many took joy in manipulating these filth, but I do not. However, I believe you have taken your time in attracting my attention for a rational reason. What is it that you seek, mortals ?"
The nine mages spoke in unison voice of insanity, enhanced by unnatural means:
" WE DESIRE POWER, MISTRESS, POWER TO ENSLAVE THOSE WHO HAD ENSLAVED US, POWER TO WREAK HAVOK AND DESTRUCTION, POWER TO CONTROL, TO DOMINATE, TO KILL, TO SEEK RETRIBUTION, TO BRING JUSTICE TO BLASPHEMERS AND THEIR FAKE DIETY, POWER FROM BLOOD! GIVE US POWER MISTRESS AND WE SHALL BE YOUR SERVANTS FOR AN ETERNITY!"
The voice chuckled "You seek power, as any mage who dared to open the Veil. Tread carefully in your terms mage, for you may find me rather different from others."
" We seek to serve you, and rid you of your enemies mistress, if you would help us in destroying ours."
The voice laughed. A laugh that chilled her to the bones.
" Servants you will be then! Tribute I will need! Sacrifice for me, and your pleas shall be granted! PERFORM THE RITUAL!"
She heard the dreadful sound of blades being drawn from their sheaths.
The sound of death.
Nine slashes echos.
They all cut their wrists.
The stench of blood filled the room
The voice shouted: "GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD! BOUND YOURSELF TO MY POWER!"
The snake materialized, its emerald body twists around her, further encasing her in its touch. She felt herself burning, slowly drying away.
The mages resumes their chant. Streams of blood coming from their wrists, instead of falling, hardened into strings of red vines, shined with magic, wrapping itself onto the serpent and strangely, wrestling it further away from her.
The voice boomed again, this time, with anger, desperation, and fear:
"WHAT IS THIS MADNESS! UNHAND ME OR FACE….", the voice was cut off.
There was a loud scream. It pierced, like a blade, booming, like the cracking of mountains. The light, under the control of blood, was slowly drawn out, upwards into the roof, where it touched the dragon statue's head, still red in blood, and disappeared.
Silence.
For a moment she thought the danger had passed away.
But she was wrong.
The dragon statue moved.
It bursted into flames, red like ruby dipped in blood.
The mages bellow:
" LET THY LORD RETURN! LET THE AGE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION BEGAN! LET THEM TREMBLE AND FEAR!"
The dragon whipped its tails back and forth, cutting through solid stone like a knife carving through butter.
Its wings flapped and air was twisted, blowing like the wrath of the storm itself.
It roared, a fearsome roar that shook the earth.
Its eyes opened and it looked directly into hers.
Her soul burned.
Her body burned.
She screamed a silent scream, as its gaze disintergrate every fabric of her body.
Then it was darkness, an eternal darkness once again.