Hey, guys! It's been almost a year, but Divine Valor is back!

Following my last words, I decided to rewrite Tiamat (but I also decided to keep the original story up for those of you who enjoyed it). I realize now that the original was rushed and before I knew it, it was too late to clean up the mess.

This rewrite, Dragon Queen Rises, will follow a very different path than the original, Tiamat. Some elements will stay the same, but many events will deviate from the original storyline.

And now, on with the story in 3...2...1...Action!

Since ancient times, Dragons have lived as rulers of the land. Dragons roamed the sky without opposition and scavenged the earth freely. There was no creature that could hope to oppose these fearsome beasts. Even human kings were regarded as mere prey.

However, like the humans, Dragons revered only one among their own, for it was through that Dragon that their kind was born. Since ancient times, Dragons have conveyed the Dragon Mother Tiamat's will upon the land. When the Dragon Mother passed on from this world, her spirit was sealed and her subjects awaited the day of her rebirth.

However, with no ruler to lead them, the Dragons began to quarrel. One Dragon wished to abandon the ancient traditions and live in harmony with the humans. There were many that opposed this Dragon, but there were others who wished the same. Without the Dragon Mother to quell these beasts, the two factions declared war on each other.

The war ravaged countless countries and razed kingdoms to the ground. There was no end to the destruction that took countless lives, both Dragon and human.

This war became known as the Dragon King Festival, for one Dragon rose above all others and crowned himself the Dragon King.

Saber Tooth

Something must have happened within Fiore's number one guild. It wasn't everyday that wizards of Saber Tooth ran to the request board and tried to push each other out of the way for jobs.

"Really? A share of the treasure as the reward?"

"Read the flyer if you don't believe me, skeptic!"

"Move over, newbies!" A loud voice called from the back. "Let your superiors through!" Immediately, the group of wizards surrounding the request board parted for the Twin Dragon Slayers and their Exceed. Sting rushed over to the board and grabbed the flyer that caused such a ruckus.

Help with Further Excavation

The Archaeological Society has recently discovered an ancient temple that contains relics over centuries old. While the Society attempted to excavate the basement floor of the temple, several traps prevented further exploration of the premises. The Archaeological Society has reason to believe that an even greater treasure lies in store below the surface.

The nature of the traps, however, requires additional help from wizard guilds. 4,000,000 Jewels will be given to the wizards who succeed in helping the Society explore the basement of the temple, along with a treasure of their choosing.

"Take a look at this, Rogue," Sting said as he handed the flyer back to his partner. Rogue took the flyer and read it over, eyebrows rising at the reward amount.

"The reward is pretty high for an excavation job," Rogue noticed.

"Fro thinks so, too."

"Of course it's so high." Lector lightly hit his clenched paw against the head of Frosch's costume. "There's a bunch of booby traps to keep them from going any further, so they have to get help to disarm the traps. Right, Sting-kun?"

"Exactly," Sting agreed, rubbing his hands together. "But the guys who sent out this request are idiots, all of them! Do they even know how much the treasures in there are worth?"

"One thousand?" Frosch guessed.

"No way, Frosch!" Lector disagreed, hitting his paw against Frosch's head against. "They're obviously worth at least a million Jewels!"

"More than that, Lector. Everything in that temple is worth more than the reward, and they're allowing us to take one treasure!"

"But the flyer says that the nature of the traps is keeping the Society from going any further," Rogue pointed out as he held the flyer up for his team. "Even though the team of archaeologists on the site can use magic, if they sent out a request for help, then the traps aren't the type to be taken lightly."

"So that means we need another wizard to come with us," Sting said as he tried to fathom the kinds of traps that they might encounter. His idea of traps usually included ropes that dangled people upside down; a deep pit to contain intruders; and nets to hold people above the ground. While a part of him wished that the traps wouldn't be complicated, another part told him that the ancients wouldn't have designed their traps so simple. "Someone like—" Sting looked around the guild, searching for a certain wizard until he found him sitting at a table, reading a book. "Rufus!"

"Rufus?" Rogue repeated while Sting ran over to the masked wizard. It didn't surprise him that Sting would want to bring the Memory-Make wizard along for the job. Rufus' vast knowledge of magic was nothing to scoff at and his magical talent would probably help them disarm many of the traps. "He might help, but would he want to come?"

Sting reached the table where Rufus sat, though the Memory-Make wizard was too engrossed in his book to realize that Sting was there. Annoyed, Sting snapped his fingers next to Rufus' ear. "Hey, is anyone in there?"

"Hm?" Rufus looked up from his book, which he closed shut. "Is there something that you need?" he asked, setting aside Dragon Historia.

"Yeah," the White Dragon Slayer said, withdrawing his hand. "I need you to drop any plans you have tomorrow to come with us."

"Oh?" Rufus raised one questioning eyebrow, curious as to what could make the self-proclaimed "Great Sting Eucliffe" to request for him. "May I ask what you have in mind?"

Sting looked back and gestured for Rogue to come over with the flyer, which he promptly took when Rogue obliged. "This." The White Dragon Slayer waved the flyer in front of Rufus' face until the masked wizard took it from him for a proper examination. Dark green eyes skimmed over the details before they widened at the amount for the reward.

"There must be some kind of mistake," Rufus murmured as he set the flyer down do that he could rub his eyes. "Why would they offer to give us a priceless treasure that should be preserved in a museum?"

"Because they're idiots," Sting answered immediately.

"Desperate idiots," Lector added.

"Fro thinks so, too."

"So are you in?"

Author's note:

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first chapter of Dragon Queen Rises, the rewrite for Tiamat.

So...like it? Hate it? Leave your opinion and let me know how it was!

Divine Valor