AN: Prequel/Tie in legend for The Great Dragon's Madness
Written with help of Freezingkaiju on Tumblr
There once was a peaceful nation, ruled by two great queens, the great dragon in human form and a witch-queen. But peace never lasts. The witch queen, a woman born of war with a heart of darkness, could not stand this peace. It drove her mad. This madness drove her to her studies, and away from the peaceful life her wife wished for them. She'd steal away to a place between worlds to practice her twisted magic alone, until one day, the dragon's curiosity got the best of her, and she followed.
The dragon-queen slipped away from the castle and followed her love into the portal she had been using to slip into the space between spaces. But the time difference of this space was just enough, a few minutes late. She stepped through the portal just in time for a blast of magic to slam into her. It was a dark pulse that tore through the dragon's body, leaving her stunned and weak.
The building that the witch once called home was in ruin, debris scattered from the epicenter of the blast. And in the very center, she lay, gasping for air as darkness started to overcome her. The dragon-queen ran to her lover, scooping her up in her arms.
The dragon held her close, attempting to stand and carry her out of the realm, back to reality, to a healer, but the blast had weakened her...she couldn't move. She could only watch as her wife wasted away, being consumed by her own dark magic.
The witch, in a moment of clarity, looked up at her lover, and spoke her final words. "...my love...it'll be okay...not even death will keep us apart." Her eyes and voice grew distant, and just before she could fade completely. "...I see...a distant sandstorm...you'll be there...waiting for me...I know you will."
The dragon let a silence fall before her love disappeared from her arms. Then a heartbroken wail ripped through the realm, shattering it...and the dragon herself. In her grief, the dragon was warped and changed. The once peaceful kingdom was thrown into chaos as madness overcame the dragon-queen.
Eventually, she was betrayed and driven away, her own blood taking her own sword and driving her away. This only drove her further into madness...until darkness is all she could see. Some say the witch queen will be reborn and return sanity to the dragon, and there will be peace once again.
Tharja closed the old tome with a sigh, her fingers drumming on the worn cover. It was nothing but a meaningless legend...something told to small children who wished to believe love and peace and soulmates. Tharja was much too old to believe in a time before Lord Grima, as the book spoke of...but something kept drawing her to that story, to the witch queen's final words. She glanced outside her tent, to the desert sands, and the vast dunes. "...a sandstorm..." she muttered absently, she could hear the winds beginning to pick up.
Then she shook her head clear and laughed to herself. "There was no time before Lord Grima…" she reminded herself. "Don't be silly. Dragon queen...witch queen...nothing but a child tale."
Tharja stuffed the old tome into her bag and laid on her cot. "...focus...they will be coming tomorrow to save their precious Exhalt...and I will have to fight." Tharja let out a long sigh as she rolled onto her side. "...this is pointless...but there's nothing to do until they arrive. Stupid archers trained on the camp..." Tharja grumbled about this and that as she curled up, before drifting off to sleep.