Fire in the Void

Chapter 2

Irukuku pouted. Her summoner was so mean. Not only had she forbidden her to speak when in the vicinity of humans, she had all sorts of other demands. Instead of sleeping at this early hour she had been sent to fetch some books from the nearest big human settlement. The clothing she had been forced to wear itched, too. She was unsure why she needed it in the first place.

'This isn't what I wanted. I could simply fly away…'

Then again, Irukuku didn't know where her family was in relation to her.

'Perhaps I shouldn't have entered the portal...'

The elders had warned her against doing such a thing, but she had always been curious about humans, knowing them only from tales. She knew the portals that appeared from time to time were gateways to the lands inhabited by them. When one appeared in front of her she had immediately entered it before one of the elders could do something about it.

She wasn't quite sure what had happened after that. From one moment to the next she had been surrounded by humans. The human girl closest to her had done something to her, her body had become all hot and runes had appeared on her paw. She had been very confused, but she knew better than to simply speak up in such a crowd.

Irukuku had still been overwhelmed by all the things happening when the big golden dragon appeared. Even Great-Grandmother wasn't that big. She had wanted to talk but couldn't with all the humans around. Then he had simply gone to sleep before she got an opportunity.

She had talked with her summoner Tabitha, though. The human had immediately known that she was a Rhyme dragon. She shivered. Her summoner had such a cold gaze. She didn't dare to act against her commands… which was the reason she was now on the way to a place were more humans lived while wearing a human form instead of sleeping. Fortunately her big sister had shown her how to use human clothing when she taught her the transformation some time ago. Otherwise she would still be sitting in the woods. Figuring out what went were with human clothing was hard.

Finally the human settlement came into sight. "Oh!"

Irukuku stared. It was so large and there were so many humans there. When she had been flying it had looked much smaller. Finally she had seen enough. With a spring in her step she continued on her way, getting in line with all the humans walking on the road to the settlement.

Half an hour later Irukuku was hopelessly lost in the maze of buildings and alleys. There was always something new to look at and she found the layout to be hopelessly confusing. Everything was so small and there were so many humans around.

'Did Tabitha say I should go left after the third intersection or was that right?'

A growl of her stomach interrupted her thoughts. She immediately searched through the bag Tabitha had given her, but there were only some metal discs and a piece of paper inside. She knew the names of the books were written on the paper, but she had no idea what the metal discs were for.

"I'm hungry."

"How about you take one of my rolls?" one of the female humans standing behind a stall nearby asked. "Only five sous per piece."

"Sous?"

The human hesitated a moment before pointing. "The silver coins you are holding in your hand."

Irukuku looked at the rolls. They smelled very edible. In fact, they made her mouth water. Another growl of her stomach decided the matter. She smiled brightly at the human. "Sure."

Two dozen rolls later Irukuku was on her way again, her hunger appeased for the time being. The nice human even gave her a detailed description of what directions to take.

Ten minutes later Irukuku's mood had soured. She had found the location where she was supposed to pick up the books, but the human behind the counter refused to hand them over unless she gave him a certain number of the metal discs.

How was she supposed to know that those discs had been intended to be exchanged for the books? The human had said something about 'money', but Irukuku didn't really understand what that was about.

"How can I get money quickly?" she wondered aloud as she slowly walked through the streets.

Suddenly a human approached her, followed by another one. "Hello there, lass. Me and my friend couldn't help to overhear you. Are you in need of money?"

Irukuku nodded. "I was sent to get books, but I don't have enough money."

Both humans smiled. "We can help you with that. You just have to come with us for a moment. We will give you all the money you want."

She returned the smile. "Okay."

Irukuku mused about her experiences while being led by the two. All the humans she had encountered today were so nice. She couldn't understand why her family had always warned her about them.

Finally they arrived in a backstreet. One of the humans opened a door. "After you, lass."

Irukuku entered the room. In the next moment her vision went dark when a bag was put on her head. Before she could react something wound around her, constricting every movement.

Panicked, she tried to reassume her real form. Whatever was constricting her didn't give, digging painfully into her body. She immediately aborted the attempt.

What had she gotten herself into?


Morning dawned bright and cold. Louise had a noticeable spring in her step when she got out of bed. This was the first day of her new life. Quickly going through her morning routine, she left the room with a speed just short of hurrying.

When Louise entered the staircase she heard a particular door opening, recognizing it by sound. She immediately hastened her steps even more. She didn't want to talk with Kirche. The opportunity to lord her familiar over the redhead would be too much to resist. Unfortunately Louise was pretty sure Kirche would somehow manage to get the upper hand or make some lewd insinuation that would leave her stammering. The Germanian always did.

The first location Louise visited was the academy gate. She came to a sudden stop when she stepped through the gate. "What are you doing?"

The three guards almost fell over themselves when they jumped away from her familiar. The dragon was still sleeping peacefully.

After exchanging glances the oldest of the three men addressed her, looking nervous. "Begging your pardon, Miss Vallière. We didn't mean any harm. It's just… you see… the morning's still cold, but since it's spring we don't get to use the coal brazier anymore… well, and we can watch the gate from over here… the dragon wasn't going anywhere… we thought… "

Louise blinked. "You used my dragon to warm yourself?"

The men nodded hesitantly. Louise was honestly at a loss at how to proceed. She couldn't exactly fault the commoners' train of thought. The guards on her family's estate acted similarly. On the one hand such behavior was disrespectful and went against the order Professor Colbert had given. Not to mention that it was dangerous. She doubted the men would have had much opportunity to get away if her dragon had woken up and chosen to take exception. On the other hand she had no direct authority over the academy's servants, although a complaint of her or one of her peers would easily ruin their life if she pressed the issue. That wasn't even mentioning all the stuff she could get away with as a noble student. Not that she would do that. True nobility came with standards of behavior.

'They are only commoners. They can't be expected to know better.'

In the end she settled for a simple "Don't let me catch you doing it again." The grateful expressions on the men's faces were almost painful to watch.

Her familiar didn't wake up even when she none-too-gently poked it. The scales seemed to have the consistency of hardened steel. She wondered if the dragon was even capable of noticing her poking.

Louise patted the still unnamed dragon's head. "I will be back later. I hope you will be awake then."

Breakfast in the Alviss dining hall proceeded much like dinner on the day before, meaning Louise got to eat in peace. Most of the students were still too busy with their own new familiars to pay her any attention.

The first class of the days was basic earth magic. Mrs. Chevreuse went over the basics again before she demonstrated the conjuration of a few clay pebbles and transmuted them into brass.

"Is that gold, Mrs. Chevreuse?" Kirche asked, leaning over her desk.

Louise had to suppress a snort of derision. 'How typical of Kirche not to pay attention. We went over this last year. Besides, gold looks different.'

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just..." Chevreuse gave a self-important cough. "A triangle mage..."

Louise's attention wandered while the class acted suitably impressed. 'I wonder what level I am.'

There were four different levels of magical advancement for a mage in Halkeginia to achieve. The higher the level the more elements a mage could stack, enabling the use of more complex spells. Willpower requirements for less complex spells were halved with each new level. Advancement was difficult and depended on many factors, purity of blood, natural talent, training and in-depth study of magic among them.

The overwhelming majority of people in Louise's class were dot mages, meaning they could use only one element for a spell. Everyone started on that level and many never advanced beyond it, especially among the petty nobility.

Less than a quarter of Louise's peers were line mages. They could stack two elements. Most mages never exceeded line rank.

Of all the students in Louise's year only Kirche and Tabitha were triangle mages, capable of stacking three elements when casting spells. Perhaps a fifth of all mages ever reached that level, often only in their later years. Considering that the academy catered to the high nobility it was likely that almost all of Louise's classmates would one day become triangle mages.

Square mages were few and far between, the epitome of magical prowess someone could reach. Perhaps one in hundred ever managed it. Both of Louise's parents belonged to that select group.

Louise's own level… well, since her spells never worked right nobody could determine it. Although it had contributed to her nickname of Louise the Zero. Zero elements. Zero successes.

'Not anymore. I did one thing absolutely right.'

Louise's attention returned to the classroom just when Mrs. Chevreuse called for a volunteer to demonstrate the transmutation spell. Guiche volunteered. After an unnecessarily long and flowery speech he changed the clay pebbles into his favorite material, bronze.

The lesson continued uneventfully and the morning slowly turned into noon until the student sitting closest the window suddenly pointed outside. "Hey, what's that? Isn't that Louise's dragon? It's flying around."

That brought the lesson to a crashing halt as everyone scrambled to the windows to get a look. It took some shoving and pushing and a few not-so-accidental elbows-to-groins until Louise managed to reach the window. It was indeed her dragon and it was circling around the academy.

"I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be able to fly with those wings. The wingspan is only as long as the body. It should be much longer." Malicorne de Grandpré remarked.

"Shows what you know, Malicorne the Common Cold." Claude de Lorraine haughtily replied. "The dragon obviously flies. Therefore its wings are large enough."

"My name is Malicorne the Windward!" the boy protested only to be ignored.

Louise was far too busy staring at her familiar. Her dragon could fly. It was quite fast, too. That was awesome. The dragon had been impressive while on the ground, but seeing it fly was another thing altogether. It looked… majestic. Yes, majestic was the right word.

"I wonder what it is doing." one student said.

"It looks like it's searching for something." another added.

In that moment the dragon changed its flight path. Instead of circling the academy as a whole it approached the tower they were currently in. A gust of wind hit the students when it passed the window. The same event repeated itself twice while the dragon looped around the tower.

When the dragon was about to pass the window a fourth time it stopped. Its wings spread wide, the dragon hung in the air and looked through the window. Time seemed to stand still while Louise stared directly into inhuman eyes of burning crimson.

Then, without warning, her familiar turned around, quickly gaining distance. Higher and higher the dragon soared, flying in great spirals. Finally it stopped climbing and headed off into the distance.

Only then did Louise realize that she had no idea what her familiar was intending to do. 'Where is that stupid dragon going?'


Irukuku was scared. She didn't know what was happening. It had been hours since the humans took her captive. Her captors had put her on a cart and moved her out of the city. Judging from the sounds she heard they were in a forest, but she couldn't see anything. The cart had stopped moving some time ago.

Once again she tried to break out, but the constraints remained unyielding. If she could only manage to transform she would bite the humans' heads off. Or rip them apart, she had not decided yet.

Suddenly the bag was removed. Blinking, Irukuku tried to make out anything against the sudden glare. They were indeed in a forest, in a grassy clearing to be more specific. Two horses were grazing a short distance away. One of the humans who had abducted her was trying to get a fire going.

Irukuku was picked up, but she couldn't see anyone doing it. Then she spotted the second human pointing a stick at her. She desperately tried to get free.

The human with the stick laughed. "Struggle all you want. The ropes are enchanted to be unbreakable."

She floated towards a log and was set down on the ground. "What do you want from me?" she asked, trying to not let her fear show.

"From you? Nothing." The man laughed again. "You, my dear, are only a trade good. You see, I and my friend Pierre here make our living by selling likely people to the Germanians. There's always a demand if you know the right people." He stepped closer and roughly grabbed her chin, forcefully moving her head left and right. "Especially for comely lasses like you. Some noble's bastard if the hair color is anything to go by. Or are you perhaps a noble in disguise? No, there's no way you would have left your wand behind."

She tried to bite off the man's fingers instead of answering, but he was quick enough to remove his hand in time. "You are a feisty one, aren't you? Well, no food for you in that case until you display better behavior." Laughing, the man stood up and walked towards his companion.

Without warning a lance of fire shot from the sky, enveloping the man and setting him aflame.

"Adrien!" the second man shouted. Before he could do anything a large golden shape dropped from the sky. Claws tore up the soil and the ground shook as the dragon stopped his momentum, his head striking forward. Immense jaws snapped shut audibly.

Irukuku could only stare as the severed head of the second man rolled towards her, the surprise still etched on the features. The horses went wild, but a tail swipe threw them against the trees with bone-crushing force before they could run off.

The burning human was still screaming and rolling on the ground. He stopped when the dragon stepped on him. Then the dragon turned towards her, looking at her in silence for a few moments with a curious expression.

Suddenly the ropes holding Irukuku unknotted and fell to the ground. She immediately transformed back into her real form. She didn't care that the clothes Tabitha had given her were ripped apart in the process.

Then she proceeded to tackle her rescuer, rubbing herself against him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I thought I would never get free."

"You are welcome."

Irukuku stopped moving. The words had appeared directly in her mind.

"I am Faldegorn. Could you please explain to me what is going on here? Why is everything full of lesser spirits?"


Tabitha hurried towards the part of the forest where she had seen her familiar land a few minutes ago, followed by Louise's big golden dragon. Something was wrong. She didn't feel the familiar bond anymore.

Finally she arrived at the clearing where she had left her familiar. A small lake bordered it. The big golden dragon occupied most of the clearing. Her familiar was sitting next to it, chewing on what looked to be the carcass of a horse.

Without any warning Tabitha's staff was wrenched out of her hands. Then something heavy collided with her head and she knew no more.

An indeterminate amount of time later Tabitha awoke. Her head hurt. Then she realized she couldn't move. A rope was binding her body tightly. Her familiar had not moved and was now sleeping. It didn't seem as if she had made any attempt to help her. The golden dragon had his eyes closed, too.

Careful wriggling revealed that the rope didn't give in the slightest. She recognized it as an enchanted rope. Those were almost impossible to get out of. Fortunately she had contingencies for such a situation. She tried moving her hands slightly. Then she noticed that the small enchanted knife she had sewn into her clothing had been removed.

The golden dragon opened its eyes and moved its head closer to her. "Hello Tabitha, or should I say Charlotte Hélène d'Orléans, Chevalier of the Northern Parterre? It seems we need to have a serious discussion of your treatment of young dragons. But first, let me tell you something about angels."

"What?" she managed to get out. The deep voice was reverberating in her head, each word accompanied by images that clarified the meaning. Somehow she knew that the dragon was male. Then she realized that the dragon wasn't moving his mouth when he spoke.

"There are three interesting facts you should know. Firstly, sometimes, when someone has made such a tangled mess of her life that there are no sensible options left, an angel appears and offers a chance to make everything right. I should like you to think of me as such an angel."

"What?" Tabitha asked again, but her thoughts were whirling.

"A confused mind might be ordered. A madness might be dispelled. A mother might be made to recognize her child again."

Everything seemed to freeze. "You… can do that?"

"I am Faldegorn. I can do many things."

Tabitha began to tremble.

"Now, the second interesting fact about angels is that you only ever get one. Choose your response wisely."

"And the third fact?" Tabitha forced herself to ask.

The dragon revealed his teeth. It took Tabitha a moment to realize that he tried to imitate a human smile. "Why, the third fact is nothing comes without a price."


Louise determinedly marched through the forest. Her stupid familiar had to be somewhere nearby. How such a big dragon could be so hard to find she didn't know, but somehow it managed.

She had seen the dragon returning to the nearby forest from a classroom window two hours ago. It had taken an enormous weight off her mind. For a time she had feared her familiar had simply left. Unfortunately she had been unable to leave the class immediately. It would have left a bad first impression on the teacher, not to mention her classmates. Instead she had acted as if she knew precisely what her familiar had been doing.

Now she was trudging through the forest in an effort to find it. Trying to use the familiar bond had brought absolutely no results.

Suddenly the foliage rustled. Louise tensed, her wand ready to deal with whatever it was. Then someone stepped onto the path. She relaxed when she recognized Tabitha. Normally the girl's eyes were coldly impassive, but this time they seemed to swirl with emotion.

"Hello Tabitha. Do you know where my dragon is?"

The girl pointed in the direction she had just come from.

"Thank you."

Tabitha nodded. Then she left in the direction of the academy.

Louise shook her head. 'Strange girl.'

Continuing on her way, Louise soon arrived at her destination. She blinked at the scene. Then she had to suppress giggles.

Her familiar was lying at the center of the clearing. Tabitha's familiar was there, too. The young wind dragon was sleeping and had cuddled up to her dragon. It was such a cute display. Well, at least as far as two dangerous magical beasts many times larger than her could be considered cute. What clinched it was the long-suffering look of injured dignity her familiar sent her.

Louise sat down under a tree near her familiar's head. "So, I see you made a friend."

The dragon snorted and exhaled a small cloud of smoke. She considered that a yes.

"I was worried. You can't simply disappear on me, you know."

Her familiar moved its head slightly. Following the direction, Louise spotted a heap of bones. Apparently her dragon had been away hunting. Louise was tempted to scold her familiar, but she remembered well what Mr. Colbert had told her about the temperament of dragons and how her mother dealt with her manticore. A lesser animal might be controlled and needed harsh discipline, but a powerful magical beast required a softer touch.

"Oh, so you were hungry? I guess that's okay then."

She could only hope her familiar didn't steal from some peasant. On the other hand, the golden dragon was remarkable enough that it would be easily tracked back to her once word spread. She supposed she would have to pay recompense for any damages it might have caused.

"How much do you eat anyway?" she asked. The dragon didn't react.

Dragons were expensive in upkeep, Louise knew. A cow per day or the equivalent weight in fish or pork, at least when the dragon was active. Less the more it slept. Considering her dragon's immense size it would need more food. Perhaps she would have to ask her parents for an increase of her allowance.

Louise yawned. The afternoon sun was so nice and the moss was comfortable. She was about to ask another question when her eyes shut and sleep claimed her.


Faldegorn looked thoughtfully at his sleeping summoner. The human's magic was strange, different from the other mages he had seen in this land. In fact, it looked more like a possession.

'First things first.'

Diving deep into the human's mind, Faldegorn explored memory after memory. It took him more than an hour to gain a sufficient appraisal of his summoner.

He considered revealing himself to Louise as he had done with Tabitha but discarded the thought. Different personalities required a different approach.

Looking out over the lake, Faldegorn considered his next steps. He was alone in a strange world with no way back. It would take him decades or perhaps even centuries until he learned enough to even try to leave this world using his own skills and find the way back to his own. Getting trapped in the void for a second time was an unacceptable outcome. He doubted he would be lucky enough to latch onto a convenient summoning spell again.

cold fire searing his body… empty eye sockets full of malice… fleshless claws ripping him apart…

Faldegorn shuddered and shoved the memory aside. He didn't look forward to the next time he had to sleep. The last time had been dreamless due to exhaustion, but that reprieve wouldn't last.

His first priority was to secure a place in this strange world. He was vulnerable despite all his power. Individually humans posed little threat to him. Few were truly worthy of his notice. Still, there were so many of them, here and back home. It was no easy thing to slay a dragon, but it could be done.

Posing as a familiar until he had a better feel for this world seemed to be the best course of action although it was demeaning. He supposed he could simply relocate to an uninhabited area, but that would lose him all easy access to the knowledge of these strange mages. He had to be very close to read their minds. At least until he learned how to change his shape into that of a human like Irukuku had done. That was a neat trick.

Faldegorn turned his head to look at the blue dragon cuddled up to him. Such behavior was highly disturbing. Dragons simply didn't act that way. Her mind was a strange mix of proper dragonhood and that of an immature child of the lesser races.

The golden dragon had never been a child. Naïve, boisterous and somewhat ignorant to the ways of the world, certainly, but he had never been this immature. Starting from the day he hatched he had been on his own, only led by the memories his mother had shared with him during the years she guarded the eggs. The world wasn't a kind place for a young dragon.

'To think that I am actually younger than Irukuku…'

That was something he didn't plan to share with her anytime soon. Their kinds obviously matured differently. He was in his late fifties and would not even be fully grown for three or four decades. Irukuku was a little over two hundred years old and still considered a child by her kind. Interestingly their potential natural lifespan seemed to be not that different.

Faldegorn sighed. The young dragon had latched onto him as some sort of replacement family, calling him big brother. Now he had to keep her safe, too, at least until he found other Rhyme dragons. Considering the number of human mages in this world and their general view of sentient dragons (namely something to be killed for safety and alchemical ingredients) that would not be an easy task.

That meant he had to build up a powerbase. He was still a bit young to keep his own mages, but circumstances left him little choice. One mage-knight he had already acquired, at least if he managed to keep his end of the bargain.

His eyes fell on the sleeping Louise. She was a member of one of the most prominent families of this country, a useful ally to be sure. Playing the familiar would be aggravating, though. The human might think she had the right to command him. No one did. Even his dear departed friend had politely asked each time he wanted Faldegorn to carry him.

'It will be interesting to see how long it takes her to figure out that I am not a dumb beast.'

That left the question of her magic. To her people she was a failure. That was unacceptable. He wondered if he could do something about it.

Faldegorn's own native magic was still largely unformed. His current skills were mostly focused on clairvoyance, communication and the manipulation of a living creature's attributes, strengthening or weakening them in different ways. He could create other effects by simply throwing astral power at the problem, but that tended to empty even his enormous reserves at an alarming rate and the end results were always somewhat unpredictable.

Still, he knew much about other areas of magic. His dear departed friend had been the best in counter-magic in all of Aventuria. He had travelled far and wide to take care of all sorts of problems. Faldegorn almost always accompanied him and learned much. It had been enough to sever the bond that connected Irukuku and Tabitha. No dragon should be subservient to a mere human.

'This really looks like a possession.' Faldegorn mused while he examined Louise again.

He had only Tabitha and rather short glances at other mages as a comparison, but Louise's astral body looked radically different. The lesser spirits that seemed to be ever-present in this world shied away from touching her, too.

It was the same for Faldegorn's end of the familiar bond. The thing looked more like a pustule than what had connected to Irukuku. Thankfully it had been unable to properly connect to him. Just like the summoning spell he seemed not to be a valid target. His resistance to magic probably played a role, too. He had been unable to explore it fully in the available time, but he had already identified elements of emotional manipulation.

Faldegorn wasn't opposed to the binding of creatures as familiars. He knew of enough magical traditions that did it. What he objected to was using dragons for that purpose. Besides, the thing clinging to him looked really unhealthy, just like Louise's astral body.

'Should I try to exorcise it?'

He knew from Louise's memories that she couldn't cast spells successfully despite all attempts by herself and her family. Nobody seemed to know what was wrong. She obviously had magic. That indicated this wasn't a natural condition.

Perhaps it really was some rare form of possession. Apart from summoning familiars these mages didn't seem to have any experience in dealing with summoned creatures, like demons or elementals. Under these circumstances a possession could go unnoticed for a long time. Judging from what he could see it seemed to work on a finer-grained level than the mages' elemental magic. They probably couldn't even affect it.

If Faldegorn cured that problem it would be very useful for his plans.

'More importantly, I owe the human a debt. Restoring her magic would be a suitable payment. I should at least try.'

Coming to a decision, Faldegorn focused on Louise. Then he let his magic flow.


PAIN

Louise jerked awake. Her heart was beating a staccato and she was sweating profusely. Her familiar looked at her worriedly.

"Did I have a bad dream?"

She didn't remember anything. The pain was gone and she wasn't even sure she had really felt it. Ever so slowly her heartbeat returned to normal.

Her familiar was still looking at her. "I'm fine, really." Louise said, patting the dragon's head.

Then she stood up, stretching her back. Judging from the position of the sun she had slept for one or two hours. She would have to return to the academy soon if she didn't want to miss dinner.

'There's something I have to do first. I can't delay it any longer.'

This was the moment of truth. Louise screwed her eyes shut and recited an incantation, waving her wand.

Immediately a rhythm started pulsating through her entire being. She felt as though knew the rhythm from somewhere. With every word of the incantation, the rhythm grew stronger, filling her with warmth. It was as if something was born inside her body, searching for a destination.

It was so very different from every spell she had ever cast. The first time she had felt something had been when she cast the summoning spell, but it had been a disharmonious mess. This… this was different. It felt right… and it matched what everyone said casting a spell of their favored element felt like.

'Is it really what I'm feeling? Me, who has always been despised for being a zero. Me, who was said to have no talent in magic by teachers, parents, sisters and students. Is this the real me?'

With a flourish she finished the spell, feeling the energy rushing out of her. Then she waited with baited breath.

No explosion was forthcoming.

Slowly opening one eye, Louise took a peek. A small ball of fire was drifting in the air in front of her wand. The spell had worked perfectly. The fire winked out when Louise stopped supporting the spell.

'It can't be.'

Not believing in her success, Louise tried a wind spell. The rhythm was different and not as clear, but the spell still came easily. When she finished the last word a concentrated gust of wind rushed out, taking some of the leaves of the surrounding vegetation with it before it lost cohesion over the lake.

Tears began falling from Louise's eyes when she cast an earth spell. The rhythm was different again and harder to make out. Touching her wand to a pebble at her feet, Louise watched in silence when the stone turned into copper.

A fourth time Louise began chanting. She could barely see because of the tears, but that didn't stop her. A fourth rhythm began pulsing inside her body, as hard to grasp as the earth-aligned spell. When she finished a spray of water erupted from the tip of her wand.

Louise didn't know how long she simply stood there in silence, tears streaming across her face before falling to the ground. Her mind was completely empty.

It was only when her familiar gently nudged her with its head that she snapped back to reality. Falling to her knees, Louise cried even harder.

Her magic was working. Her magic was working. HER MAGIC WAS WORKING.

Louise couldn't stop crying. Finally, after years of trying she had everything she ever wanted. She had summoned a magnificent familiar. Her magic was working. She was no longer a zero.


Far away, in what the humans of Halkegenia called the Holy Land, a group of elves was in a state of panicked flight. Colors not seen in any rainbow were racing across the sky. The ground beneath their feet shook violently, great rifts opening and closing in the blink of an eye. The spirits of the world were screaming in agony.

More than once an elf escaped being swallowed only by a hair's breadth. They were almost at the coast with their waiting ship. No one had dared to bring it closer to what they had been sent to watch.

Suddenly a great chasm opened between their feet. The majority of the group managed to escape, but three elves fell into the abyss before they could reach safe ground. A fourth, the leader of the group, found himself alone on a rapidly crumbling spire with no way to escape.

"Go! Tell them what is happening here!" he shouted at the remainder of his group. "Shaitan's gate is going mad!"


Author's note: And here is the second chapter, the last I wrote before I lost interest in the story idea.

What is The Dark Eye? TDE is a German pen & paper role-playing game, the one with the largest market share in fact. Unfortunately it has never been translated into English apart from a few isolated books. Some people might know it from the old Realms of Arkania trilogy of RPG computer games or the newer Dark Eye: Drakensang series of games (which I didn't play).

Think somewhat generic fantasy world with books upon books of detailed background and somewhat problematic game mechanics.

What/who is Faldegorn? An NPC who first appeared in the tenth TDE adventure module 'Die Seelen der Magier/The souls of the mages' in 1988. He's a very young emperor dragon, meaning he is a heavily armored, flying, fire-breathing multi-ton monstrosity with instinctive mastery of telepathy and telekinesis and a whole lot of magical power. He is smarter than most humans, too. Mental development is not really comparable to humans, but he would probably count as a young teenager in some respects.

Uncharacteristically for dragons he sought out a human archmage to befriend and has lived with him for more than half his life. He can be counted as the perhaps most human-friendly dragon in the setting.

During the Borbarad campaign he got ganked by what is essentially the setting's only dracolich. The player characters are supposed to find him while he's dying and he lives just long enough to give them information. Obviously the last part didn't happen in this story.

Why should we care? Why do you think it a good idea to put him into the FoZ setting? Several reasons. While Faldegorn is powerful he isn't an army-killer. He has a lot of buff/debuff spells, but nothing to cause inordinate amounts of damage or outright mentally control people. A prepared group of ZnT mages would be able to take him down, albeit with difficulty. Extraordinary single opponents like Karin or high-end elves might manage it, too, as would cannons.

Secondly, his interaction with the setting. In many ways he and his magic are an out-of-context problem, but that isn't obvious to anyone. For most people he is simply an unusually large dragon. He can't assume a human form at the current time.

Thirdly, he makes a wonderfully impressive familiar for Louise. She gets (nearly) everything she ever wanted. How that is influencing her character and interaction with others is something worth exploring.

… and then ZnT canon events happen and there is no void haxx to take care of a certain invading army.

Faldegorn wouldn't be involved in any romance. He isn't interested in humans in that way (and would probably get violently sick when he realizes what all those human females intend when they are hitting on a hypothetical human form of his).