Author's Note: I'm still very much on my Eragon obsession kick. Here is yet ANOTHER Eragon crossover. Yes, I crossed it over with a game… no I did not do another KH/Eragon crossover. Instead, I did Legend of Mana, a very fun game that has no exact set plot. You can do the missions in almost any order (the exceptions being when you must do one mission to trigger another, or the missions part of set plots such as the Dragon, Jumi and Faerie missions.).
I'm not sure how much of Legend of Mana I'll be putting in here. Definitely the Dragon missions' story, and the places that those take place. Might add in the Jumis. Not sure, needs to replay that part of the game.
Hawkeye is the name of the Hero I will only mention in passing. He will not be a real character in this story.
Now, onward, to the first chapter of the ficlet!
Three dragons protect the bonds of life, and the uneasy peace of Fa'diel. The Blue Dragon, Guardian of the Winds, Akravator, resides on Norn Peaks. Jajara the Bone Dragon built a fortress in the desert. Vadise the Dragon Princess has her liar in the White Forest. Each has a stone, a Mana Stone, containing crystallized Mana energy. Their dragoons serve them faithfully.
But, the balance that kept most worlds apart was about to be torn. The Dragons of Knowledge, wise and divine, could not do a thing, even if they knew of what was to come. They could only sit, and watch, waiting for either chaos to grip their world, or for who knew what would happen.
Lands drifted apart, and moved to new locations. What was happening, the Dragons realized, was that two worlds, kept separate before, were melding. They feared that the turmoil that would surely ensue would destroy their world. They also feared that the melding of the two worlds would allow a fourth Dragon to escape his imprisonment. For the Fourth Dragon, the Crimson Dragon, self-styled Dragon Emperor, was evil. He would subjugate all life, given half a chance.
They knew nothing, of course, of the conflicts of the other world. Vadise sent her dragoon, Sierra, to find Larc, and together investigate what they could. Jajara and Akravator remained reclusive, telling their dragoons not stray far from home. Not that their dragoons did so anyway.
A messenger, red in the face from running as fast as his legs would let him for a long period of time, interrupted Eragon's semi-casual conversation with Lady Nasuada. The two were talking about how ingenious it was to sell products in the Empire to fund the means of destroying the evil King that ruled it. Eragon was really quite impressed with it.
"So, let the people of the Empire fund the downfall of their King," Eragon was saying when they were interrupted.
"Sorry, Ma'am, Shadeslayer, but its quite urgent," the messenger gasped as he came to a halt. They were in the courtyard in front of the castle. Saphira was close by, as was Elva, the girl Eragon had accidentally cursed.
Eragon and Nasuada waited patiently as the man gasped for breath, and then he relayed his message. "A strange forest has appeared near Lithgow," the man gasped, his breathing not quite normal yet.
"Strange forest?" Eragon asked, perplexed.
"There weren't any trees where this forest is now," the man said.
Another messenger came running up, from a different direction. "A strange graveyard appeared south of here! Only a few miles away, too!" he told them, clearly frightened by it.
Nasuada took charge. "Go and eat and rest. Don't speak of this to anyone, either of you." The messengers left, grateful that their duty was done. "Eragon, go investigate. The graveyard first, since it's closer, I should think."
Eragon nodded. Saphira got up, and Eragon mounted her. Nasuada and Elva quickly stepped away, so that the dragon could launch herself into the sky. After a few wing strokes, Saphira was well away in the sky.
Heading south, Eragon spotted the new graveyard easily. The land around it was decaying, and the graveyard itself was very gloomy. Saphira landed not too far from the site, and Eragon began to walk towards the largest tombstone. The graveyard was small. In fact, it only consisted of half a dozen tombstones, the largest one near the center.
Larc and Sierra were talking when they saw the dragon in the sky. It landed not too far from them. Soon, all too soon, a man came, from the direction the dragon had landed. Larc pulled out his ax, and Sierra pulled out her knives.
The man stopped as soon as he saw the two beast warriors. Larc, the dog-faced dragoon, and Sierra, the unicorn warrior. Then both saw the man draw out a sword. Brother and sister stood their ground, unmoving. They were prepared for a fight, but they first wanted to know the man's intent.
The ground shook. Sierra and Larc barely kept their balance, and the strange man lost his. It was a bad shake, and it wasn't normal.
"Damn it. There's something wrong in the Underworld!" Larc growled to his sister.
"Blasted Drakonis! Vadise thought he'd try to escape," Sierra replied.
They didn't have time to talk much further, for the ground shook again. A distant roar could be heard, and an even deeper roar beneath them. Brother and Sister ran past the man, sheathing their weapons so that they could run faster. In front of the Macabre Tombstone, the ground split open, and a man with a turban stepped out. It was Drakonis in his weakened form. Larc and Sierra turned, drew their weapons, and prepared for a fight.
PDPDPDPDPDPDPDDPDPDP
Eragon stared in disbelief. How could anything like this happen?
Eragon! Saphira called. What's going on?
The ground split open, and a man with strange headgear came out, was Eragon's response.
"So, the dragoon who helped banish me again is here to see me rise yet again. And so is my old dragoon," the man said. Then the man seemed to notice Eragon for the first time. "Hmm. Yes, you would be worthy of being my dragoon. You've strength enough."
"Not so fast, Drakonis! We'll send you back to the Underworld where you belong!" one of the strange beasts said. Eragon knew it was the female, the one with the horn.
"I will take my rightful place as Dragon Emperor," Drakonis replied, laughing.
"You don't have the power to return to your original form!" the male beast said.
Eragon was very confused. What was a dragoon? It seemed he stumbled upon a conflict that was old. And what did the dog-faced beast warrior mean by "original form?" And what did the man mean by "Dragon Emperor?"
Saphira came charging in then, sensing her Rider's confusion. The reason she landed a bit away was to give Eragon space to explore by himself.
Larc and Sierra stared at the blue dragon a moment. Then they turned their attention back to their old nemesis. Drakonis seemed intrigued by the blue dragon.
"A dragon?" It was half statement, half question. "Not a dragon type monster, but not a Dragon of Knowledge either. Interesting. Then it must be true: our world has melded with another."
"We won't allow you to destroy the bonds of life!" Sierra yelled.
What happened next, neither brother nor sister could recall accurately. There was a blinding light, and Drakonis was gone. The other man had his sword raised, as if to attack the spot where Drakonis had disappeared from.
"Blasted Drakonis!" Sierra spat.
"I suppose you have to report this," it was a statement though a hint of a question was there. Larc did not want to leave his sister's company quite yet.
"Yes, I do. The Dragons of Knowledge are in danger, and I must warn my liege, at the least."
"I wouldn't be allowed near Norn Peaks or the Bone Fortress after last time," Larc said with a bitter laugh. "Or I'd warn at least one of the other two."
"It took me forever to find this place," was Sierra's response.
The two noticed then that the man had started to walk toward them. For the first time, Sierra noticed how smooth his face was, slightly angular, and the slightly pointed ears. Was this man human? His features suggested that he was, despite the smoothness and the pointed ears.
Fa'diel was home to many different peoples, from the pirate penguins to the digging dudbears. From humans to even fat chocobos who insisted they were canaries. From faeries to sproutlings. Fa'diel was very diverse. Sierra knew this, and wondered if the man, whose features were a little too angular to be a human, was a little something else. But what, she could not begin to tell, if so.
Even though he could easily read minds, his mind refused to accept that there were other worlds than his. It was just impossible. Just like the Underworld they were talking about was impossible.
He stopped a few paces away from the two strange warriors. The man with the weird hat, Eragon could sense right off how evil he was. But these two? They were a bit harder to read. The one with the horn definitely believed she was trying to save the world. From what? The man, Drakonis? And what of the strange conversation? What exactly was a dragoon?
"What's going on?" Eragon demanded. "What's happening?"
The two warriors looked at each other. The female sighed, and shook her head. The other just looked away again.
"I'm Sierra, dragoon of Vadise. I serve to protect the bonds of life," Sierra started, not sure to begin. "This is my brother, Larc. We are above the Underworld. The man you just saw was Drakonis, the Crimson Dragon. He's not actually a man, but when he was banished to the Underworld, he was turned into one."
"When I died so many years ago, I became Drakonis's dragoon. He was banished back then, too. I wanted to walk the land of the living again, to see… Sierra. I was foolish and naïve, thinking he would keep the bargain. The bargain was that I would slay the Dragons of Knowledge, and retrieve Mana from the Mana stones that the dragons had. Then, we would fight and only the victor would rise to the world of the living again. Unfortunately, Drakonis gave me his 'reward' first. He turned me into a centaur," Larc continued the narrative.
"A boy named Hawkeye and I defeated the centaur form of Larc. Then, Drakonis used the Mana energy he stole to rise again, in his castle. Hawkeye and I navigated through the castle, and we defeated Drakonis in his dragon form. Drakonis was banished once again to the Underworld, but…" Sierra continued from where Larc left off.
"I was cursed, doomed to wander the Underworld for a thousand years. But I didn't need a thousand years to break the curse," Larc said simply.
"Apparently, the melding of Fa'diel and your world have weakened the bonds that kept Drakonis in the Underworld. Larc and I must stop Drakonis, or warn the three at the very least," Sierra said.
Ask if they know who Galbatorix is. There's not a person alive in Alagaesia who doesn't know who that is, Saphira told Eragon privately.
Eragon relayed the question. Both brother and sister shook their heads, saying they've never heard the name. It was then that it suddenly became all too probable that there were other worlds, and that Alagaesia and the one these two came from had mixed.
"If you've never heard of Galbatorix, then you really can't be part of Alagaesia," Eragon said. Though how could two separate worlds mix, he had no clue… until he remembered why he was sent here.
The impossibilities of this will confuse everyone, Eragon told Saphira privately.
More than that, little one. Many will not believe, even when proof is walking in front of them, Saphira replied.
"I'm Eragon. I'm Saphira's Rider. I believe we have much to discuss, and much to do," Eragon said.