Authors Note: After going through the RIFT section I found that there weren't a lot of fanfics. This prompted me to go and try my hand at writing one. I thought it would be interesting seeing the general story of RIFT being played out from a dragon's perspective. I'll try to keep everything in sync with the story line, but be warned this is going to be AU. Some parts are going to be different and main characters MIGHT die.
Otherwise please leave a review if you enjoyed it. If you noticed any spelling mistakes just send me a message and I'll fix them. Any and all feedback is appreciated.
I am also getting used to the upload format, sorry for any issues.
"The dragons are just a metaphor for our own personal failings. Perfect yourself. Then you will conquer them as easily as I did." – Jospeh, Mystic of Sanctum.
The wind howled across a great snowy grassland field centered between dimensions. The sky was torn asunder by visions from the planes, but the tears of dimensions were blocked by a powerful spell, preventing anyone from accessing the dimension. Centered on a hill in the center of the dimension was a grand keep, its walls lined with towers. The walls had a steady growth of life on them as if they hadn't been trimmed for several years, along with spots of snow and ice along the walls. At the peak of the keep sat a white dragoness, who was busy looking over the state of her keep with her dark grey eyes.
"I'd better get around to trimming those eventually" the dragon thought as she surveyed the walls of her keep. "Best to look good in case I have company, if I ever have company."
Sighing she moved her head towards the sky, observing the tears in reality, saddened by what she saw.
"The world has changed considerably in the last two thousand years" she thought as she caught glimpses through the rifts.
Outside the dimension in the world of Telara, the divided forces of the world were waging a war against the planes. Guardians and Defiants battled against each other as they fought the forces of Regulos, the Dragon Lord of Death. Steadily, but surely both sides were losing the battle. The power of the gods for the Guardians and the technology of the Defiants were only slowing the pace of defeat. The world was being torn apart by the elements and the dragon, Carthilia, was trapped in her prison only allowed to watch the war as it was waged.
She was imprisoned by the gods of the vigil two thousand years ago in this dimension, forced to live a life of exile from Telara to protect her. She could agree with them though. Her own kind had caused the seeds of their own hatred by invading Telara for the sourcestones the world held. Carthilia had watched the war for Telara unfold thousands of years ago, taking pity on the races the dragons fought. While her sibling Crucia had been the storm, she was the eye, the peaceful center of balance. On a few occasions she aided Telara's defenders by manipulating battles to go in their favor, broadening her term of balance.
Her actions did not go unnoticed by the Gods, who gave her a place to hide when she was being hunted. She carefully staged her demise at the hands of the Mathosians and had been hiding in this dimension ever since. The gods had one condition upon letting her hide her though; she could not leave without their permission. She had trapped herself, but in doing so, she had helped to save Telara.
Now the war had begun again. Twenty years earlier Aedraxis Mathos had destroyed the ward keeping Telara safe from her siblings. In a foolish move to claim the throne of Mathosia from his brother Zeraph, he broke the ward calling upon Regulos's power, becoming a pawn to the dragon. The gods had a few surprises for Regulos this time though. The Gods of the Vigil revived dead heroes and fused their souls together to wage war against Regulos. The Ascended of the gods defeated Regulos before he could gain a solid foothold in Aedraxis's form.
In the titanic blast that followed the destruction of Aedraxis, the Ascended had disappeared. Where they were only the gods knew and they weren't telling. Other revived heroes were continuing to wage war against the dragons and Defiants, who replied in kind with mechanized weaponry to even the battlefield. It had only become worse since then.
Losing interest in the rifts Carthilia turned her attention back to her dimension, specifically the walls.
"I really need get rid of those vines, oh, who am I kidding? It's not like anyone will ever see them." she thought to herself.
That was when the unexpected happened. Out of the corner of her vision, her eye caught movement. She turned to get a better look at the source, surprised to find a figure in a cloak heading across the dimension to her keep at a steady pace. As the figure approached she noticed it was a man, Mathosian, with a long white beard.
Carthilia jumped off the main keep roof, landing on the walls over the main gate. The man continued to approach undeterred by the sight of the dragoness. As he neared the gate she noticed that he had an aura of magic about him and a tome in his hand. The aura felt familiar, but she couldn't place where she had felt it before.
Looking up at the dragoness, pausing at the front gate, he simply said, "The winds are rather vicious out here. May I come in?"
Carthilia just stared at him a blank expression on her face. Inside she was reeling; this was the first person she had seen up close in two millennia.
"You may." she replied in her scratchy dragon voice, unable to think of anything else to say. "Has the Vigil finally remembered me after all these years?"
She reached with her claw opening the keep's front gate before using magic to assume a different form. Her dragon features shrunk into a worn Mathosian traveler, strong and lean, but weary. Pure white hair dangled around her shoulders and she was clothed in a white mage robe.
She descended to meet the old man at the gate. As she approached him she noticed that his aura kept fading in and out, changing as he muttered something about "dragon squirrels".
Looking over at her he said, "Odd choices for blending in, those type of robes haven't been worn by mages in centuries dragon. At least your natural beauty carried over in that form."
Carthilia ignored the mage's compliment completely saying in a clear voice, "How did you get in this dimension, the only people with access to it are the Gods of the Vigil."
"I am as you would say, a messenger, yes, a messenger," was his reply.
"The Gods have decided to send me a message after all this time?"
"Yes, may we go inside so I can deliver my message in full? It's rather chilly out here for an old man such as myself."
"If you would kindly follow me," Carthilia said leading him through the keep's courtyard to the main building. Turning her head over her shoulder as she walked she asked, "I didn't get you name Mr.?"
"You can just call me Joseph," he replied with a chuckle.
"And you can call me Carthilia" she said with a smile.
They had reached the mains doors of the keep Carthilia opened the doors to the main hall. A large oval table sat in the center of the hall. Over to the left side was a roaring hearth heating the room to a comfortable temperature. Around the wall were a few scattered bookshelves and tables lined with magic objects. Over the center of the hall floating ominously was a glowing sourcestone, the one powering the dimension's magic. Power radiated from the sourcestone and droves and judging from a few slight tremors in the air, it was reacting to his presence, glowing brighter.
"You know Joseph, it has been a long time since I have had visitors to my keep. Tell me, what do the Gods of the Vigil want with me? I know they wouldn't have sent someone here if they didn't need me for something," Carthilia stated taking a seat.
"I assume you know enough about the war being waged outside in Telara?" he asked.
"Yes, I know that the ward has fallen, along with your ascended," she answered, a sad look crossing her features.
"You're wrong actually. The ascended are still alive and unharmed. They were saved by the gods from that explosion."
"And what does this have to do with me exactly? I'm pleased to know that you guardians still have a few tricks up your sleeves, but you are running out of them fast. Regulos already knows the power of the ascended and will make a move to counter them when you reveal them."
"Well that is why I'm here actually, you see the gods have one final trick left to perform against Regulos, something that can help the ascended in their war even more."
Carthilia's eyes widened ever further, "Surely, you can't be serious?"
"I am serious and don't call me Shirley. The last option the Gods have for dealing with Regulos, save direct intervention is you Carthilia. They need someone to accompany the ascended as they restore the balance of the planes. It is the only way to fix all the wrongs in Telara at the moment."
Carthilia paused for a moment, amused at the aspect of returning to Telara. It was one of her few desires to rejoin the world after isolation for so long, but there would be a catches. The mage's aura was slightly off, he wasn't explaining everything.
Eyes narrowing Carthilia said, "What are you not telling me?"
"In order for you to return to the mortal world you will not be able to take the form of a dragon. The Guardians and Defiants think you dead at this moment. The gods want to keep it that way."
"So I would have to assist the ascended as a Mathosian, that would be interesting…"
Carthilia paused in her chair thinking about it, only to realize that the decision was already made. The mage, Joseph was standing off to the side of the table grinning at her.
"You already knew I was going to answer yes didn't you?"
"One can never tell," He replied, still grinning.
"What is the first thing you need me to do when I get back into Telara?" Carthilia asked.
Sobering up Joseph immediately got to explaining the task at hand, "Regulos is the main threat here, but the Guardian headquarters of Sanctum is threatened by Greenscale and Maelforge in Silverwood. With the fall of Port Scion, Sanctum is the only base the Guardians can operate from. House Aelfwar also renounced their ties to the Guardians. We believe that Prince Hylas of House Aelfwar may be in league with Greenscale, but at the time the Guardians are unsure of what course of action to pursue.
Battles between House Aelfwar and minions of Maelforge are occurring in the north of Silverwood, Guardian forces have not intervened yet. Balance must be restored to Silverwood and House Aelfwar must be put in their place."
"That a monumental task," Carthilia stated.
"But it should be possible with you assisting the ascended," Jospeh stated.
"Tell me about these ascended, I've only seen brief glimpses of their battles with Regulos all those years ago."
"The three chosen by the Vigil are siblings from the first planar war. One died in battle fighting Maelforge, but saved a group of children who were in his path of destruction. The other two survived the war and died of old age, they all participated in the all the major battles towards the end except for the oldest who died two years before the war ended. They are all well trained and capable, two sisters and a brother."
"Anything else I should know?" Carthilia pressed.
"Yes actually, one of them is a fire mage; the two others have magic, but prefer weapons over magic as a means for killing. One is a ranger; the other is a warrior, a champion actually. With your help they should do just fine," he said nodding slowly.
"When do I leave?"
The old mage paused for a second before saying, "Right about now actually."
With a wave of his hand Joseph summoned a portal in the middle of the room filling it with bright white light.
"Oh and before you leave, it's dangerous to go alone, take this!" he said tossing her his tome.
Carthilia caught the tome in her hands and placed it on the table. Looking down at it the tittle clearly said "An Advance Guide to Wind Magics and Storms: Harbinger Edition". Looking up to thank the mage, she yelped in surprise. He had vanished in thin air.
"I hate it when mages do that."
She then noticed something in the book, a book marker! Reaching to the page the maker was on text was written saying, "If you ever need me dragoness, look for the squirrels that embrace the planes."
Carthilia stared at the words on the paper trying to figure out their meaning. After a few seconds she paused, her dragon instincts telling her she would find out when the time was right. Gathering herself she made for the armory off in one of the side passages. If she was going to be stuck as her current form, she would require a weapon to transmit magic though. Armor would also be nice.
After a few minutes she found a staff that would suit her, an old intricate metal staff that would allow her to channel magic, but it had another feature that she liked besides the fact it was made of metal. With a swift flick of her wrist she sent magic coursing through it transforming it into a wicked scythe that radiated storm energy. She twirled it around in her hands enjoying the feeling of wielding a weapon of the storm again, energy flowing through the blade.
With another smile on her face she began to review the armor that was mounted on the wall, pausing on a buff leather overcoat with a few metal parts on it to block sword cuts. It was called Warlord armor if she remembered correctly. Pulling the outfit on she took a moment to admire herself in the mirror, changing a few features here and there. Once she left the dimension she would be stuck in this form for a while, might as well be satisfied before she left.
After taking a few minutes to make sure she was prepared she returned to the main hall of the keep her scythe slung on her back. The portal was still there the portal was still there, energy radiating off of it. The world needed her again and it was time that she returned to it.
One thing worried her slightly, she would have to be careful around the ascended, if they found out what she was they wouldn't trust her. She would also need to be wary of the Guardians and to a further extent the Defiants. The Guardians would accept her if she was careful and if they like the ascended didn't find out what she was.
The Defiants were a completely different story; she would have to avoid them completely. If she was in the company of the ascended they would attack her. As for the dragons… She shuddered slightly at the prospect of encountering one of her older siblings.
She stepped into the portal a bright light blinding her vision. As she felt herself being pulled away she could have sworn she heard Joseph's voice saying, "Go now with the grace of the Vigil."