Chapter 1
A/N: This fanfiction is based in the world of the Divinity series. It is set at the time of Divinity II. It does not follow the storyline of the actual game, but I built upon Larian Studios' ideas, used their world and some of their names. That's why I chose to put it in fanfiction not fictionpress.
I originally wrote this as my entry to a Writer of the Month competition, but have decided to use it for part of the storyline for an roleplay (RP) I am setting up on rpnation. It is titled "Legends of the Dragon Knights" and is set after Divinity II/this FanFic. I also might continue with the story if I find time between my other FanFic, the WOTM competition and my multiple RPs.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy my twist on Larian's story. Please review, I would really enjoy feedback.
"Slayer! Are you ok?" asked the woman, rather loudly.
The man on the floor groaned, opening only one eye, since the other was stuck shut with congealed blood. "Ugh… what happened?" groaned the man, his voice unusually deep and croaky.
"The dragon's spell caused you to get struck quite hard on the head during the battle. It then cast some strange spell. I never heard that spell before. Luckily I was able to kill it before we lost many more."
"Dragon? What battle? Lost more what?" the man grumbled. He had the worst headache in memory… in fact the only headache in memory.
"Don't you remember? You are probably majorly concussed. What is your name?"
"Uhh…" the man trailed off, nothing coming to mind.
"That is one serious concussion. I'll try reminding you of a few things. Hopefully that will help you remember. You are Amos, Dragon Slayer sergeant. I am lieutenant general Rhode. I was in charge of our group of a dozen Dragon Slayers. We came to hunt Thaliana, one of the last few Dragon Knights that has been plaguing our land. She was powerful and has managed to kill seven of us. Just before I beheaded the beast, it cast two spells. One made a shockwave. You were lucky, since that blast killed all of the other three Slayers caught in it. She then cast a spell, the purpose of which I am unaware. We are currently in The Broken Valley." The middle-aged woman in decorative armour then held out her hand to him and he took it, standing up. "Remember anything yet, Amos?"
"No," the Amos replied rubbing gingerly at his closed eye, trying to clear it of the blood sealing it, "Sorry."
"You knocked your head as you were sent flying by the blast. When we check in at the healers later, I'm sure they will get to work restoring your memories."
"Thank you," Amos could almost open his eye, but his head was killing him.
"I should be thanking you, you managed to stab it in the chest, turning the battle in our favour," Rhode nodded towards him in gratitude, "But let us be going. The sooner we get to the healers, the better."
Rhode began to walk and Amos looked behind him. He beheld a gruesome scene of carnage, a dragon with its head a few metres from its neck, wounds from arrows and blades marring the body. There were also seven human corpses baring various fatal injuries from charred and burned bodies to deep claw-marks covering their torsos. He shivered, a chill running down his spine at how dangerous a beast a dragon was, and turned to follow Rhode.
As they walked through the valley, Amos noted that everything seemed crystal clear to his senses. He couldn't remember, but somehow he got the feeling that he normally did not see, hear, smell or feel this much detail. Even the taste of blood in his mouth seemed different… Must be some effect of the concussion, he thought dismissively.
The woods in which they were walking began to gradually thin out, the trees becoming sparser and soon a town came into view. The five, rather beaten-up Slayers walked through the raised portcullis to be greeted by a crowd of citizens.
"The Dragon is dead!" announced Rhode, who received a roaring cheer as a response. Rhode turned to Amos and the other living Slayers, speaking above the noise of the crowd, "Come. We will be staying in the normal soldiers' barracks until a Zeppelin comes to fetch us. I will send townsfolk to fetch our fallen comrades for a proper burial."
They walked towards a large building, towering over many of the others, walking through what appeared to be a training ground with a drill sergeant shouting at the training soldiers. Amos caught several of the sentences between the hubbub of the slowly-dispersing crowd.
"Even my six year old daughter knows how to hold a sword better! I want three laps. Move it! Move it! I've seen less fat on a pot roast! If only the goblins could see you now, they would…" the shouts were lost as Amos stepped into the barracks itself and closed the door behind him.
An important looking man with ornate armour, though it was outmatched by the beautiful engravings of Rhode's, marched up to the five Slayers who lived and said, "Well done, lieutenant general Rhode. I am always in envy of you slayers. I don't know how you do it! I mean-"
Rhode cut the man off, saying "Captain Wittenberg, before you continue rambling on about how your general Augustus would be just over par with our Slayer sergeant Amos here, we need urgent medical attention from the healers, especially Amos. He has got major concussion and can't remember anything. See if the mind-delver can aid him. Also, please send men to fetch our fallen comrades. We were too injured and too few to carry them. They need a proper burial."
"Yes ma'am! Follow me, valiant heroes." Wittenberg saluted and lead them to the healers' room, where all five lay down on sick beds after removing their armour. Six healers soon entered the room to clean the blood off them and, of course, heal them. Two came to Amos and the one spoke, saying, "I am the mind-delver of this town. I will try restore your memories. To do that, I will need to put you to sleep now."
Amos nodded and the man began to cast a spell. Amos' eyelids soon grew heavy, and darkness consumed him.
"No! They'll find out!" a woman appeared in the darkness, standing before Amos.
"Who are you?" His voice didn't sound so gruff and strained anymore, smoother, but still deep.
The woman's form changed. A tail. Claws. Wings. Scales. Fangs. "Remember now?" her now-rumbling voice asked.
"Thaliana? But… but…"
The dragoness became human again. "Yes, I am dead. Rhode mentioned a second spell I cast. It was actually a few spells entwined. It is how I am going to save this world from destruction, and you Slayers aiding that destruction. I sensed something different about you, and purposely didn't kill you. You're more open than the other slayers. That's why you were one of, if not the, fastest promoted Slayers ever. Your openness to trying new tactics and techniques allowed you to move up the ranks fast. You are also still new enough to the order that their brainwashing has not completely taken you. I still have hope of enlightening you."
"You lie!" exclaimed Amos, "You Dragon Knights betrayed us and killed the Divine, the hero who was leading us in the war for Avelion, our world."
"At least you are remembering things now. I have to go now, before the delver comes to this part of your mind. But, let me just say for now, we did not kill the Divine. Our, and your, true enemy, the Damned one, Azwraith, corrupted a Dragon knight, forcing him to stab the demi-god in the back," the Dragon Knight woman paused, letting it sink in, "Whether you like it or not, I'm here. And I will change your perspective."
Thaliana faded into the blackness and Amos once again submerged into it, losing consciousness again.
"Shh… he's stirring," someone said in hushed tones.
Amos rolled over onto his side, noting his head did not hurt anymore aside from a minor throbbing. He felt that he was being watched, and decided to sit up. Rhode and the mind-delver were standing in front of Amos, looking at him.
Rhode said with her usual expressionless face, "You look a lot better, sergeant. Do you feel better? More importantly, do you remember things now?"
"Yeah, my head still is throbbing a bit, but I'm ok otherwise. I remember most stuff now, but there are a few things that I can't remember perfectly."
The delver nodded, saying "You'll remember soon. For some reason I couldn't reach a large portion of your mind."
"Does this happen often?" Amos asked, worried.
"Every now and then."
He's lying. They suspect something. Though I did stop the delver, Martin, from getting to your entire mind, said a voice from nowhere. Amos looked around, trying to figure out where it had come from. I must have hit your head a bit too hard. You can't see me, I'm in your head. Amos realised who it was and looked back at the two humans standing in front of him.
"Slayer, are you ok?" asked Rhode.
"Uh, yes... Still just a bit dizzy."
"Lie down. You need rest."
"Ma'am, would it be ok if I go outside to get some fresh air? I think it would do me much better." Amos found his mouth moving of its own volition. Then he realised that the dang Dragon Knight stuck in his head had done that. Thaliana stopped any panic from showing on Amos' face.
"That is an order, soldier. You need rest more than air. If you want air, open the window."
"Yes, ma'am." Thaliana manipulated Amos' body, moving it to the window, making him open it, then head back to the bed and lie down. The Slayer leading this expedition and the mind-delver left, leaving Amos, his 'friend' and one other Slayer alone in the room. The other Slayers had long since been healed and left, though Arnold had a rather serious injury.
What are you doing! Thought Amos, Leave me alone! This is my body!
Just keep quiet. This is for your own good.
How does this help me?! Amos tried to take control of his body, only managing to clench his hand before a bolt of mental energy jumped from Thaliana's consciousness to Amos'. He yelled mentally in pain, his body even shook, despite him not being in control.
Stay still and don't give me any trouble. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you make me.
Amos did as she said, resigning himself to watching what she did with his body, which seemed to be pretending to be asleep for the time.
A few minutes later, Thaliana sat Amos up, looking at the other sleeping Slayer. He silently got up, and left the room. Somehow avoiding everyone in the building, stopping every now and then, he left the building and, sticking to the bushes and back-routes, left the town. Once out of the town walls, he headed for the forest.
After an hour walking, having left the forest and passed the now-cleared battle scene long ago, Amos collapsed on the ground. Stars danced before his eyes from his head hitting the ground. He groaned in pain. Realising he once again had control of his body, Amos sat up dizzily. Amos could see the sun was far into its decline. Normally he would have been partying and celebrating the death of another Dragon with the other Slayers at this time, despite the injuries. Yet, for some reason, he was struggling to stay awake. His limbs were heavy and he needed sleep, but his curiosity and outrage pressed him to question his 'captor'.
"Why on Avelion did you do that?!" he asked, somehow managing to shout despite his weariness.
I needed to get you out of there before the magic settled and they detected it.
"What magic? Your spell… s? And what do you mean by 'settle' and 'detect'"
Yes, my spells. I have imbued you with dragon magic. Luckily for both of us, it takes some time to stabilise and take effect, giving us time to escape. Once it has settled, any skilled Slayer or other magic practitioner would be able to sense your draconic aura.
"What have you done to me?"
You, my dear Dragon Slayer, shall become a Dragon Knight.
"But I'm a human! I'm no dragon! And why me?!"
I have already answered why you in our previous conversation. You Slayers, in your efforts to destroy everything with any remote connection to dragons, have completely forgotten the difference between Dragon Knight and Dragon. The Dragons, the Ancients, empowered humans with their magic, granting abilities greater than any mere human. The humans were also enabled to take the form of a dragon. But we are not real dragons. We Dragon Knights were viewed as half-breeds. While incorrect, it was at least better than your Slayers' dogma. But enough chit-chat. It is the magic that is making you so tired and you need sleep.
"Won't the goblins kill me if they find me?"
Don't worry about them finding you. Now sleep.
"Okay… okay…" Amos lay down again. In the seconds it took him to fall asleep, he heard Thaliana saying the first time is always the most painful.
Amos was in his home town, Olanta. It was very foggy. Foggy days in his home town were extremely rare. Some said they predicted bad events, the foggier, the worse. Amos only remembered two, the earthquake and the second was worse. It was the day he had joined the Slayers. He got a feeling it was the second day.
A dragon had been sighted near the village, and a squad of Slayers had been sent to deal with it. Though, for some reason, it had seemed to disappear after they had arrived. For a few days the Slayers searched the area and the town for the dragon, to no avail. Then one morn, a thick mist filled the town, so thick that one could only see a few metres ahead of themselves. The elders had told the Slayer that this predicted that something bad was going to happen. They thought the dragon was going to wreck the town. The Slayers said it was nothing but superstition, yet called for reinforcements nonetheless.
Amos shook his head and walked into the village. He got lost in the heavy sense of nostalgia and wandered the town. A beautifully cultivated flowerbed caught his attention. He realised this was his parents' house. His mom had always been a great gardener. He looked up to realise a teenager was watching him: Himself.
This must be a dream… I've dreamed of this a couple times, but usually it is the other way round. And the person looking at the flowerbed was a woman… He looked down at himself. He was still male…
"Hello…" he said, before realising that was what the woman had said.
"Hello," said the teen, before walking away rather fast.
He followed the boy, wondering why he had run. He turned the corner and almost walked into two Slayers who were on patrol.
"Excuse me, I do apologise." He said, hoping they would not attack.
"Don't worry, it's the darn mist. You villagers seem very frightened," the one Slayer said.
"Why are you not inside like almost everyone else?" the second asked.
"I was just heading inside. I'll be going now." Amos started walking away, cringing as one of the Dragon Slayers called from behind him.
"Hold it!" the tall man paused, "There is something odd about you."
"What are you talking about?"
The Slayer who had stopped him drew his sword, soon copied by the other. "Something… Dragon."
"No, no… you're wrong. I'm not th-"
"THE DRAGON HAS BEEN FOUND!" A magically-enhanced voice yelled, followed by a blue flare-like spell shooting upwards from the tip of the man's sword.
"I guess you leave me no choice." Amos drew his sword and prepared to duel them.
Suddenly, time slowed. Amos fell to his knees as pain filled his body. It wasn't the men in front of him. They were moving a centimetre every ten seconds. The pain burned like he had jumped into a fire place. No, worse: a forge filled with liquid iron. He felt like he was the iron, and he was going to melt. His shape begun changing, but he was not melting… His skin was getting harder. His nails grew to claws. He almost cut his tongue on his teeth, but then it too toughened. He went from kneeling to standing- on all fours. It felt like red-hot pokers were being stabbed into his back in three places, but there was too much pain for him to determine where. He screamed so hard his already-hurting lungs felt like they would burst. Pain. Pain. Pain everywhere.
As quick as it had appeared, the pain vanished. Time resumed its normal pace and Amos had seconds to see the looks of shock on the strangely-small Slayers' faces before they rushed and attacked him. In a daze, his massive body moved on its own, swatting the Slayers like flies. He instinctively seemed to know what to do, fighting off the other Slayers that were arriving rapidly.
Yet, his mind was still stuck trying to figure out all of this. It felt like it was a dream inside a thousand other dreams. He felt both exhilaration and terror, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Time seemed to be making up for the slow-motion times ten, moving at an extremely fast speed.
The fight was a fight like no other, as often as he was knocked, flying backwards, crashing into buildings, he kept on getting back up. The Dragon Slayers trying to kill him also blocked the pillars of flame from his maw many a time. This was a fight for both sides' lives. Amos had the advantage of heightened senses in the fog, and eventually won.
By the time Amos' mind had finally caught up, at its treacle-like pace, to his body, four fresh corpses lay before him and one soon-to-be having just been impaled on a tail-spike. After what must have been dozens of minutes of fighting, it finally dawned on him that he was a dragon!
"Our reinforcements… will be here… soon Dragon. You'll pay… for what you did… to this innocent village."
As the Slayer breathed his last few breaths, Amos looked around with a bitter, gut-wrenching guilt. Not for the twelve newly-dead Slayers, they had tried to kill him. In his fight to survive, a large portion of the town had been destroyed. Scores of innocents were dead because of him.
Amos spread his wings and, flapping unrhythmically because of injuries, flew away from the village covered in a cloud of black smoke. The blackness followed him, quickly catching up and swallowing him.
Amos was in his normal body again. Thaliana was standing in front of him, looking downwards. Memories of the actual event flashed before his eyes.
"You were that Dragon! You destroyed my home-town! You killed my parents!" Amos accused.
Thaliana defended herself, "It was an accident. You saw that for yourself. Besides, the Slayers were no better. They threw me into buildings and their reinforcements took advantage of the renewed hate for dragons in that town. Many new recruits were made that day."
"You killed them!" shouted Amos, running at her, though he somehow didn't get any closer to her.
"When the Dragon magic settles, it chooses your most powerful memory of dragons for you to dream. You dreamed my side of that event. My regret was greater than your hate!" Amos backed off, seeing she was barely holding it together. After just less than a minutes silence where both parties cooled off, he decided to answer in a calmer manner before she mentally shocked him again.
"But how did I dream your memory? And was it exactly the same?"
"I brought my memories here. And it- Don't look at me like that. Would you waste a century and a half of knowledge and experience, including the spell to grant a human Dragon Magic? Now that you are a Dragon Knight your mind has room for plenty more. Anyway, it was not precisely the same, I hardly felt any pain when transforming, it gets less painful the more you do it, and also quicker. Also, you appearance and thoughts were not the same. But otherwise, you did pretty much the same in my situation."
Amos thought about it a bit, before asking, "What about your death? Wouldn't that be more powerful?"
"I guess it wasn't, because I had already transferred my consciousness to your mind when I was killed. And maybe the magic had a purpose for showing you the one of your home."
Amos sighed deeply, "Fine, so now you've cursed me to be a Dragon Knight, what are you going to make me do?"
"I'd say blessed, not cursed. Anyway, you are going to show the Dragon Slayers the error of their ways. You'll show them our true enemy, Azwraith, and convince them to aid you. They have squads at different towns, so if one squad refuses to believe you and tries to kill you, just make sure they don't spread the news to the other squads, so you have a new try with each one."
"I guess I have no choice but to do what you ask."
"Indeed. Now, wake up."