Hello one and all, and welcome to my Dragon's Dogma fic. Been a while since I made a fic, so I've been working hard to get something done for a game I love a lot. I hope I do the storyline justice and would love to hear some feedback from all of you. without further ado, our tale begins...

No Way Out

"Take up arms... newly Arisen..."

These words, they seemed to repeated in the head over and over again, tossed about in the distance, faintly heard in the constant sea of blackness. But during the struggle for survival, his mind gravitated to the sound from across that dark sea, almost engulfing him with it's loud volume and piercing tone.

"Take up arms... newly Arisen..."

"No... where are you? Stop that..."

The voice now seemed to tear at him from the inside, rocking his body as the dark currants of the black sea in his mind continued to batter him to and fro. He pleaded to the voice to leave him be, but his cries for help and desperation could not be heard. It was like his voice was stolen, robbed of the right of speech as this demonic one tore him asunder as it saw fit. Until finally, it reached it's peak as the voice tore out his heart and bellowed once more...

"Take up arms! Newly Arisen!"

"Begone... stop... STOP!

"STOP!" He screamed. His eyes widened from fear and the sudden nightmare caused him to snap upright in a sitting position, breathing heavily. It was then, he took in the surroundings around him. Wounded men and women, from the dragons attack, the one he foolishly tried to stop with a rusty old blade that was no use to Duke nor bandit. Shaking his head violently, he tried to take the screams of his fellow fisher folk from his mind, but they wouldn't leave. It was at this point, he registered the redhead in the room. She stared at him, concerned expression on her face.

"Alice..?" He spoke, voice sounding almost faint. In spite of that sudden burst of energy, his body still felt weak, his voice more so.

"Bastian..." Alice spoke in response, kneeling down beside him as she could see the despair that ate away at him.

"I failed... I let everybody down..."

"What do you mean, Bastian?" Alice inquired, leaning a little closer to observe the state Bastian was stuck in physically.

"You know what I mean, Alice. Charging headlong without a plan as the dragon burned and clawed any unfortunate soul that was caught in it's vicious gaze. Stupid foolhardy rushing got me nowhere, and I almost died because of it. Face it Alice, I didn't do a thing right"

"You are wrong Bastian!" Alice protested, almost seemingly against her better nature to do so. "Drawing the dragons attention to allow others a chance to escape and save the village... it's a brave and selfless act. You mustn't bring yourself down, Bastian. Even if the dragon nearly killed you, you drove the dragon away from the village before disastrous damage could even be mounted, you'll still be revered by the people of Cassardis, I promise"

Bastian paused in his thoughts for a moment. While yes, he still thought that he was a failure, he did witness the dragon fly off and away from the village before his conciousness slipped away from him into a sea of black. Shifting his weight forwards, Bastian slowly clambered to his feet, partially assisted by Alice.

"It wont change my mind on the matter whatsoever, it's nice to hear such a sentiment... thank you" Bastian spoke... smiling towards his shorter friend. He glanced over towards a table, set upon it was weapons of different types. He took his first steps since the attack as he stumbled towards the table, feet feeling heavier with every step. He made it to the table, as he eventually regained his walking senses. He reached for the sword and fastened it to his belt before sliding the shield up across his forearm.

"Wait... where are you going?"

"Simple" Bastian uttered as he headed towards the exit of the room. "Gotta begin the quest to slay the dragon, but... I don't even know where one should start. Being an "Arisen" as the dragon calls me doesn't come with a list of instructions"

"Wait" Alice blurted out, eyes widening upon the mention of a particular word. "Did you just say... Arisen?"

"Well, yeah. I don't know how else one could explain having their heart ripped out by a dragon but not die as the dragon itself begins to talk to you in your head" Bastian responded a matter of factly to his red-headed friend, shifting his weight between his feet as he leaned against the wall. He caught the tail end of a conversation in the next room as the words drifted into his ears.

"But his heart, it's silent..."

Instinctively, Bastian's hand shot up to his chest as if to check. The place where his heart normally was began to glow as he heard the voice again, telling him to take up arms. He clutched his head in agony, as if the voice carried a weight that pressed in on his skull at every syllable. Swallowing his pain down, he trudged forwards into the next room just as Quina turned around into his path.

"Quina..."

"Bastian... you shouldn't be walking, you should be resting after the attack. This affliction that affects you, it needs removing forthwith"

"Quina, I'm fine. My strength is returning to me, I'm sure your healing magic played some kind of factor into that I'd wager" Bastian smiled, trying to reassure his childhood friend that he was in fact able to stand tall after all that had happened. "I plan on speaking to Chief Adaro, was he here just now?"

"Yes, yes he was... he's headed into town. Please, don't depart through the gate until we find aught to help you."

"I can't promise that, Quina. You should know me by now" Bastian chuckled lightly. He then strode forward, passing Quina on his way towards the door. "Tend to the others, some were coming too when I left the room."

Quina nodded and headed back through to the room as Alice stood by Bastian's side once. Letting out a drawn out sigh, Bastian placed a hand on the door and began to open it...

And that concludes chapter 1 everybody, I hope you all enjoyed it and will stick around for the next chapter. If you liked it, leave a review if you like of what you like or what needs improving or anything at all so I can make a better story for all of you. Thanks guys, and keep on rocking!