A/N: A chapter for the Dracolyte, as requested by AcaciaBlossom. Thank you for reviewing!

Dracolyte of the Dragonfire Peaks

Treason. Evil. Villainy. Words oftentimes used by those less aware of the ways of the world to describe those who are more so. One of the few laws of the universe is that power means everything. Whether that power comes in the form of gravity or fission or the outlawed worship of dragons doesn't really matter. Perhaps the Dracolyte (now ex-Dracolyte) Volvanna understood this better than her peers: they were constantly called evil for their pursuits of power, how ironic was it that they called her evil for doing the same thing?

Volvanna wasn't born a Dracolyte. It's likely that her name wasn't even Volvanna until she was taken in by the cultists, but that was at a time when she was too young to even remember. She had been kidnapped from her parents at birth and was raised among dragon worshippers all her life. For all intents and purposes, they were her family, and she didn't really seem to care how exactly that came to be, at least not until she approached adulthood. It was only then when she began to question whether her fate was intended to be like this. When she asked her superior Dracolytes, they dodged the question. When she asked the Great Dragon, he simply didn't respond. That, however, was to be expected, for he only spoke to prophets anyways.

At age seventeen, Volvanna was done asking questions. She was done searching for answers in things that had no intention to give them. Hell, maybe she was even done worshipping dragons. She already knew how to forcibly invoke their power, anyway. What benefit was it to stick around?

So, she took off. Alas, this was no simple stealth operation. She didn't spend weeks planning a sneaky escape or some kind of coup. She waited for her next expedition to the top of a volcano, said to be the prime place for draconic sacrifices. And, while the group of cultists walked to the volcano, Volvanna lagged ever so slightly behind. The distance between her and the group slowly grew, and just as she reached the distance that they would find questionable, she made clear her point.

"I'm done with all of you. I'm leaving, and you can't stop me."

The other Dracolytes took a few seconds to process what had happened. Did she say she was leaving? No, that was impossible, nobody left the Dracolytes. Couldn't have been what she said, right?

And then she started running. Suddenly it had clicked with all of them. One by one, then as a group, they all bolted after her. After all, they couldn't just let a Dracolyte out into the world. She could cause so much chaos, go against the will of the dragons, compromise the clan, or any other number of reasons that this could be a disaster.

Volvanna, on the other hand, saw only a golden opportunity. She could take back the life she was supposed to have, the one that was stolen from her all those years ago. She'd be punished, possibly executed, if she was caught. At this point, there was no turning back.

The Dragonfire Peaks are host to a mass number of dungeons and volcanic geysers, as well as hordes of wild beasts that would love the taste of cooked human. The terrain is rough and slippery like gravel, and any mistake could have lead to her capture. Understanding the gravity of the situation, she drew her staff and spewed flame at creatures in her way, staggering over gravel as she did. It was a rough escape route, but it was also difficult to chase her. Eventually, however, she found herself gaping at a great volcano that would take far too long to pass. She turned, only to find herself surrounded. A cultist pleaded, "Don't do this. Come back with us and you'll have a chance to live!"

Volvanna was already set on this path, the one she had chosen. It was too far now, she couldn't just turn back. With her back against the wall, she didn't have any choice left but to fight.

The groups sent to make a sacrifice would be composed of seven people: six Dracolytes and a kidnapped victim for the sacrifice. That meant that she'd have six opponents and a potential ally if things went right. The problem was that those six people were as strong as, if not stronger than, Volvanna, as they had been raised in the same environment. Didn't that strike any of them as wrong? "All of you! You've been stolen from the life that was meant for you, and you're just okay with that? You can't be! Life is meant for you to carve, to lead your own way, blaze your own trail! Why are you just laying it down like this?"

She didn't really expect that to help anything, but she could see some of them flinch. Some of them questioned their own path. But one of the cultists was utterly unfazed: the oldest and most powerful person in the party, no less. She guessed she couldn't have expected him to give up so easily. Magnus Black, an elder of the clan. She didn't know him personally, but everyone had heard of him and his faith to the dragons.

"Your life is insignificant. Every life here is insignificant, including my own. We live and breathe in service of our draconic masters. How dare you rebel, even after being raised under their grace?!" Magnus exclaimed. He began to change. His face slowly became scaled and his body began to grow. The Dracolytes, including Volvanna, looked on in awe. The Dragon Transformation, a final technique that was said to only be a myth. Had he truly achieved such an ability through his devotion alone? His transformation came to an end, as he towered several feet over the other Dracolytes. He unleashed a booming roar that echoed across the mountain range and carried enough force to throw them all off balance.

Volvanna attempted to step back, but slipped on the slope behind her. "Right," she recalled, "Nowhere to run…"

Magnus dropped onto all fours, growling, before he cocked backwards and launched himself through the air with his newfound wings. On a crash course with Volvanna, magma lurched from his mouth like an upset pitcher. She barely jumped to the side in time to avoid the impact, which left a hole in the ground from the force alone. He turned to face her, preparing to roar again, but his face was doused in flames from her staff. The fire had little effect on a dragon, but after a few seconds, something exploded. She had left a Burning Idol under her original position, a bomb triggered by exposure to flames. The explosion caused Magnus to stagger back on his hind legs, showing a softer underbelly as Volvanna staggered back onto her feet. He growled, nearly incomprehensible, but it sounded like he said, "How cute."

Volvanna was stunned that he could even speak, not moving for a moment. However, she felt something move just under her armor's shoulder plate. She snapped to look, thinking she was being ambushed, but was shocked to see an infant dragon squirm its way from the pauldron. She panicked, but it looked straight at Magnus. In its own little attempt to refute his attack, it spat a small fireball at his chest. Despite the small size of the projectile, it did cause a fair explosion against his softer scales. Alas, it only seemed to anger Magnus, who again charged at Volvanna.

She spewed flames from her staff as he approached. When he got close enough, she brought the staff upwards and slammed it diagonally across his face. He hardly flinched, before throwing out his left claw in an attempt to decapitate her. She ducked in time, but still heard the sound of impact. She looked back to see that he had swatted the baby dragon from her shoulder, launching it several feet to the ground. She snapped back to Magnus, infuriated, but he exhaled intense flames. She was blown back onto the ground with scorch marks on her armor. She had landed near another Dracolyte, the one who was holding the hostage. Apparently, he had laid the hostage on the ground, still wrapped in a binding linen. The Dracolyte stared at her, not in rage, but in shock. "V-volv… your face…" was all he managed to sputter out.

Volvanna reached up to touch her face, finding it to be rougher than usual. Almost like the scales of a dragon…

Magnus ceased his fire blast, slowly approaching through the smoke to finish her off. But the figure he was coming to kill wasn't quite the same silhouette as the one he was fighting. It was ever so slightly larger, and instead of the downed enemy he expected, she was charging towards him.

Volvanna again smashed the staff against Magnus' skull, this time with two or three times the force of her first attempt. He was noticeably blown back by the hit, but her attack was not over. She tossed a Burning Idol, blasting flames as it flew. On impact with Magnus, it exploded, successfully launching him through the air. Using his wings, he was able to regain control before landing, now an airborne target. But the silhoutte in the smoke was again changed. This one was still humanoid, a couple of inches taller than Volvanna… and had wings sprouting from its back.

She flew towards him in a blind rage. She had indeed forsaken the draconic path in her attempt to escape, but not in disrespect. She simply wanted to go her own route. For a mere dracolyte to cause such harm to only an infant dragon was sacrilegious. She swung at Magnus, but the hit was deflected by his claw. He spewed flames, but Volvanna flew left in the blink of an eye before literally returning fire.

The other Dracolytes stood in awe, having never seen anything like this. Fire streaked through the air and loud cracks of sound erupted as blows were deflected. The fight rose higher and higher into the sky, surpassing the volcanic clouds. After a minute or so of combat, they watched as a figure fell through the sky. At this point, they were all divided. Some were rooting for Magnus and some for Volvanna, but all were amazed as the figure descended. Not a dragon, but a human fell from the heights, black with pitch. They slammed into the ground with a bounce. A Dracolyte approached to look at Volvanna, but was surprised to see that, as the scales faded, it was a white-haired man. Magnus had fallen, breathing raggedly.

Slowly, the other combatant descended from the sky, flapping wings. Still more human than dragon, Volvanna looked like some sort of dark angel as she came back down to the earth. She landed, paying no mind to the other Dracolytes. She immediately made her way to the infant dragon. She kneeled, picking it up into her hands like a newborn kitten. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I'll take care of you." Her wings began to shrink, disappearing into her back, and the scales on her face seemed to recede under her black hair. When her face was visible again, they were all gone. The only draconic feature that remained was the tail, and that was just a decorative attachment to the armor.

She stepped up onto the stone where the hostage carrier was, intending to free them. To her own surprise, he had already cut the linens, freeing the would-be sacrifice. It was revealed to be a little girl, no older than eight years. Volvanna cradled the dragon in one hand and placed her staff on her back, before picking up the girl with her other hand and placing her over the shoulder. The carrier had backed away, now forming a crowd with the remaining Dracolytes.

"I insist upon all of you, for your own sakes. Leave this place. All of our lives have been stolen, and it's time we took them back. I'm not the youngest person here; Some of you still have even more of a life left to live than I do. And I'm not the oldest; some of you have more to teach the world. Carve your own path, and leave this forsaken land to itself."

She turned to walk off, but was greeted by a strange, angelic woman.