Dragon Knight

by Oxnate

Disclaimer. Do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga

You DO NOT need to know anything about the game Dragon Knight Saga. Anything you need to know will be explained.

Inspired by I Was Somebody by TheDivineDemon in his fic collection Divine Ideas From A Demonic Mind which is actually a Dragon Age crossover, but I got confused when I started reading and ended up starting my own story. And just so you know, my fic will have almost nothing to do with the gameplay of Divinity 2. Just liked the idea of turning into a dragon. This was also started a long time before Dragon Commander came out, which stole several of my ideas.

Response to the Down the Rabbit Hole challenge. Challenge-7547 on TTH

Summary: Xander gets pulled into a war he didn't ask to fight and finds his strength. No knowledge of crossover needed.

Chapter 1.

"It's funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to." - Xander Harris, Season 1: Teacher's Pet.

Have you ever been so embarrassed that you wished that the earth would just swallow you up? Xander Harris was perfectly willing to admit that he had, from time to time, wished just such a thing. The reality, however, involved in the earth swallowing you up, was not as fun as he'd imagined. For starters, at the moment he was swallowed, he was driving down Highway 101 in his Uncle Rory's car – a car which was now badly damaged after bouncing several times off the walls of the crevice he had fallen into.

Now though, all thoughts of how his uncle might take the damage out of his hide were forgotten as he found there were no more walls to bounce off of and he was currently free falling through space. He knew he was unlikely to survive such a fall, even though he was wearing his seat-belt. After fighting vampires and demons for the past three years, dying in a car crash seemed almost anti-climactic to him. Good thing it was a magical car crash, or he'd be second guessing his luck with magic. He closed his eyes and said his last prayers – prayers for safety for his friends – then he waited.

Except that the sound of air rushing past his ears slowed. He chanced a peek to see that he was close enough to the ground to start making out details, but it was rushing up much slower than it had been 30 seconds ago. Another minute and his car touched down gently in a large meadow. Xander released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and pulled his cramping hands from their white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. He massaged his aching forearms as he took a look around.

He was in the middle of a clearing in the woods, with no roads anywhere that he could see. Around him was a rough circle of stones that looked like they were old enough to be part of Stonehenge, though the pattern they made was different. Xander looked all around him, but found no sign of any recent civilization. He realized that the car was – incredibly! – still running and turned it off.

After a few moments, the silence hit. A different silence than anything a city-dweller born in the 20th century would be familiar with. No jets overhead, no hum from nearby highways, not even the background buzz of powerlines which is one of those things you can't even hear until it's gone. He took his seat belt off then got out of his car and walked to the edge of the stone circle. The grass inside the circle was short and green; outside the circle, it was chest high and yellow like wheat ready for harvesting.

"Hello?" Xander called. Then a bit louder, "Hello!?"

"Over here!" a voice called from a distant treeline.

Xander looked and was pleased to see a human-looking head approaching through the tall grass. All he could see was the head poking over the grass, though he assumed there was a body connected with it. The first thing that stood out was that the man was wearing an honest-to-goodness wizard's hat in blue fur and covered in golden stars. Xander stepped back to allow the man to leave the tall grass. He had a long, white beard and blue and gold robes that went with the wizard's hat he was wearing. With a shake, all leaves and briars that had accumulated on his robes and beard just disappeared.

"Sorry I'm late," the wizard said. "I was ambushed by a pack of goblins on the way and it took longer than I would have liked to take care of them." The man frowned. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Zandalor. And you... are our prophesied savior," the wizard beamed.

"Ri-i-ight..." Xander let out disbelievingly. Obviously, he'd died in a car crash when the earthquake swallowed up his car. Even the wizard's name was a tell that this was his last dream ever. Xander... Zandalor. Yep. Dream. Ooh! Maybe he was in a coma! Maybe there was hope yet. Oh well. Best to play along and see where his dream went.

"Well, Zandalor. I'm Xander. I'll be the hero of this story," he quipped to his dream.

Zandalor knitted his brow for a second, then he nodded as a wry smile played across his lips. "Yes you will, my boy. Yes. You. Will."

-oOoOo-

Xander was hot, sweaty, tired, and thirsty. When Zandalor had said that the training grounds were three leagues away, Xander had been a bit confused. He didn't really know what a league was, only that 20,000 of them under the water meant you were pretty deep. It turned out that a league meant about an hour of walking. Xander wasn't exactly out of shape, but after the first hour, he was flagging. The wizard had only tutted in a very Giles-like manner and said that he would have to make sure 'they' worked on his endurance. Whoever 'they' were, Xander just hoped 'they' had water.

Finally, they reached their destination. Xander didn't hide his awe at standing in an actual castle. Everywhere around him, soldiers of both sexes in various armors trained with swords, spears, and bows. Off to the side, a man in a brown robe set a target on fire with what looked to be magic and then put it out again.

A man in armor approached. "Greetings, I am Gawain, the Captain and head instructor here at Deodatus Castle."

Gawain. At least it wasn't a play on someone Xander already knew, but he was pretty sure he'd heard the name Gawain or Gwain in connection with knights somewhere before. Not for the first time, Xander wished he had a better imagination. "Nice ta meet'cha Gwain!" Xander said cheerfully.

Gawain got a peculiar look on his face and took in Xander from head to toe before turning to Zandalor. "This is your 'Great Champion'? He's still a boy. And winded from walking here? He'll never make it."

Zandalor got a twinkle in his eye at that. "He's a peculiar lad; but I assure you, he'll surprise you if you give him a chance."

"Besides, the boy is right here. Also, he's thirsty," Xander spoke up. He didn't have to take this kind of abuse from his dreams. Then again, he still hadn't ruled out being in a coma and this all being a dream.

Gawain scowled at him. "Fine, boy. Lets see what you can do. Hansel, front and center!"

A man in his mid-20s jogged up. He was wearing a chainmail byrnie, a sword, and a shield. He also carried a spear.

"Zandalor thinks this boy has potential. So, take off your weapons. I want you to prove him wrong, but no killing him," Gawain ordered his soldier. Hansel immediately divested himself of his spear, sword, and shield before taking off his armor, leaving him in a padded undercoat. Gawain then led the way to a sparring ring. Xander snagged someone's canteen along the way and drained it as he was dragged to the ring by the wizard. Once both men were in the ring, and a cheering crowd had gathered, Gawain looked at each combatant before yelling, "Fight!"

Hansel charged in with a massive haymaker sure to knock Xander senseless. Except that Xander wasn't there when it landed. "I have to say, this has got to be the strangest dream ever. A terrifying free-fall, followed by a three hour walk, and then a slow motion fight," Xander said as he dodged three more punches and a kick. "Okay. That's enough for now. This fight isn't much fun." With the next punch, Xander ducked under it and gave a hard right to Hansel's stomach, then a left to his kidney, and finished with a right uppercut; laying Hansel out cold. The crowd fell silent.

Zandalor just smiled. "You see? I told you he'd surprise you."

"Wouldn't be much of a hero if I couldn't best a simple mook," Xander walked over to the wizard and snagged another canteen, draining it as well. Three hours of walking had left him really thirsty, he started looking around for another canteen he could steal.

"How did you do that?" Gawain demanded. "Hansel is one of our best unarmed fighters."

"It's my dream," Xander replied simply, still looking for more water. Of course it would be easy to take out a mook; it was his dream. Gawain just looked more confused if anything. Maybe it would be best not to tell the people in his dream that they were all figments of his imagination. Xander thought up a more believable story. "I fight monsters for a living. Since I was 15 I've been fighting things that are 5 times faster and 10 times stronger than a human."

"Remind me to apologize to Hansel once he wakes up," Gawain said to no one in particular.

"So, you'll train him?" Zandalor asked.

"What can I teach him?" Gawain wondered.

"Well, endurance for one, obviously. He was tired after walking only three leagues. Weapons for another. He'll need weapons and armor. And magic as well. And last but most importantly, teach him to command. He is going to be a great leader very soon."

Xander didn't particularly like the way the wizard said those last words.

Gawain took in Xander again as if really seeing him for the first time. "Where are your weapons and armor?"

Xander pulled out a hidden stake from his back pocket. "Here's my weapon. We don't use armor where I come from."

Gawain's mouth dropped open and he started to get a funny tick behind his left eye.

"Oh, and I'm not so sure that you should try to teach me magic. The last spell that was done on or around me ended up going horribly wrong. So, it would probably be safer for everyone if we just stick with sticking pointy things in monsters. I'm better at that."

"Give him at least the basics of instruction in magic," Zandalor insisted. "Anyway. I'm off for now. I'll be back in a few months. See you then, Xander, Champion of Rivellon." He bowed low to Xander before leaving.

When Xander heard the name Rivellon and couldn't imagine where his imagination got such a name, was the first time that he started to doubt that all this might not be a dream. He looked and Zandalor was gone already. His face took on a look very similar to Gawain's at that point, including the tick.

A/N: Mook: Anonymous foes in large numbers, readily dispatched by the hero.