He stood over Groza's already cold body, as cold as the air and snow around him. There were only a few patches of skin on him that weren't covered in blood. His clothes were reduced to bloody shreds, the white rubber of his mask had a brand new and unnecessary hole in it's forehead. Small silver plates hung from several small chains on his neck. Dog tags. Groza told him about them, and his memories revealed their significance. Dayaxa cringed a little when he was again reminded of the incident with their link.

The crystal Ravi was in was sent to a safe place in his domain, his followers were dead. Dayaxa was alone. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. What he was about to do required immense concentration. When he opened them again, the forest around him looked completely different. The thick smell of blood was no longer present, he didn't feel the freezing night air on his scales and the subtle whispers of branches shifting in the breeze couldn't be heard anymore. Everything around him had a grey tint.

Dayaxa noticed light directly in front of him. A creature stood over his fallen friend's body, see through and glowing blue. It noticed his presence turned to him. "So this is how dying feels like."

Groza's voice was deeper and smoother now, but it wasn't the only thing that had changed. Dayaxa was surprised to see the former human so calm. "That was quite a show you put on there, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of those things." He gestured to his claws with one of his wings.

"I'm yet again surprised how well you are taking all of this." Groza seemed like this was an everyday routine to him. "Considering how you died."

Groza's expression fell a little at that. "It hurt like a bitch, but we won didn't we? That's all that really matters in the end. Besides, I can't feel anything anymore. No pain, no cold, it's disorienting but nice at the same time." He winced a little after that. "No, wait, I have a killer headache"

"I don't mean just that, did you not notice how you look like now?" It was not unheard of in the days of old, that humans would get turned into dragons or dragons into humans. The problem with such change was that the person usually went insane, not being able to get used to a completely new body. There were, however, exceptions.

"Oh yeah, this," Groza looked over himself quickly, "I figured you would explain it to me once you finished fighting that dipshit you're unfortunately related to."

"You are right about that, but I better do that somewhere else before your soul is claimed by the earth." His glow was softly fading already.

"Before we go, could you take these for me?" Groza tried to pick up the blood drenched tags from around the neck of his dead body, but failed miserably.

Dayaxa carefully picked up the delicate chainlets and took a second to examine them before putting them with some difficulties on Goza's now substantially bigger neck. The tags and chains that held them immediately changed to match Groza in his ghostly blue color.

Groza curiously watched Dayaxa do something to the snow and when he looked more carefully he could see strange symbols and runes that he didn't know the meaning of. "There is a faster way, but this is significantly safer and comfortable for two dragons." He then instructed him to step beside him in the circle of runes as carefully as he could. That was a bit tricky, Groza wasn't used to taking a long spine covered tail into account while moving.

"Ready?"

"For wha-" Before Groza had the chance to finish his question, there was a flash of light. His already agonizing headache increased tenfold. He whined and clawed at his head in a futile attempt to relieve it. Thankfully Dayaxa was there to make at least some of it go away. Once his mind cleared a little again, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. They were in something that looked like the inside of a cathedral made of white stone.

He was once inside a cathedral during a supply run, and even though it was slowly falling apart, he was amazed by it. This one was at least five times as big and not falling anytime soon. There was one statue for every kind of dragon and some decorative pieces on the walls. Behind the massive windows Groza could see millions of white dots on an inky black background. They were at the end of the massive building before a raised platform that had a few cushions on them.

Dayaxa's happy sigh broke him out of his amazed trance. "Feels good to be home again."

Groza got a sense of deja vu as he thought about what to do now, he had so many questions. But first he wanted to see properly how he looked like now. "Do you have a mirror somewhere?" Dayaxa seemed to be most interested in the massive pillows that laid on the platform, but he broke away from them for a moment to snap his claws.

Out of thin air, a big enough mirror materialized in front of him. Groza took a long look at himself, mesmerized at what he saw. In the mirror, a dragon standing on his back legs and wings stared back at him with orange eyes and cat-like pupils. A mix of purple and black scales covered his body, along with metallic grey spines, a crown of horns with the same color jutted out of the back of his V shaped head.

It was then that something in his mind broke. Groza was taken completely by surprise as the pressure in his head popped and dissipated. Twelve years worth of memories rushed suddenly into his mind. That was what lurked at the edge of his mind when he met Dayaxa, when the god told him about all the species that lived in the world before Ravi hunted down every single one of them and when he saw the carvings in the ritual grounds. Those are the deaths Riv was talking about.

The memories brought a dull ache to his chest with them. Groza knew it was a life he lived, but it felt so far in the past that he couldn't find it in himself to feel too sad about it. And the knowledge that the one who was ultimately the cause of both his deaths was dealt with prevented the pain from truly taking hold.

Groza also wanted to know why he now remembered twelve years of being a dragon hundreds of years in the past. Was he more dragon or more human? That seemed like an easy answer. Thirty five years were noticeably longer than twelve, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

The mirror disappeared and he came face to face with Dayaxa again. "I assume you want to know why you're in the body of a Skrill." Groza nodded. "Remember what I said about what happens after death?" Another nod. "It seems that your soul wasn't willing to just fade away after your first death and every death that followed. I have no idea how many lives you lived before, but technically, you are ancient."

"Souls are the exact copy of their first bodies until they get absorbed by earth for their energy, so that is why you are now a Skrill." Groza was relieved by the amount of sense this made in such a short amount of time. Fortunately this answer didn't lead to any head splitting questions like many of Dayaxa's other answers often did. That didn't mean he knew all he needed.

"What will happen to me now?"

"I will revert the changes Riv made, we already talked about that. Unfortunately I won't be able to go far enough, so Riv's hunters will begin their purge and I will not be strong enough to get rid of them myself."

Groza connected the dots at that point and wasn't quite sure if it was all that appealing. "That's where I come in."

"Yes"

"What's in it for me?"

"If you succeed, then a second chance at a longer and better life."

Groza thought about this for a while. The last thirty five years were one big battle and he was honestly surprised he didn't go insane from it all, though he was pretty close to that at several points. Alex was essentially one of the very few good things that happened to him and he always wanted Groza to live the best life he could, even when the world around them was a glorified pile of radioactive ash. That ultimately didn't work as well as they both wished it would, and he got the feeling that if Alex was here with him, he would have tried to convince him about all the positives this promised.

A good life for a few more years of fighting.

"What's the plan?" A fresh start was far more tempting now that he carefully considered all the positives this could bring.

Dayaxa smiled at him, he could see how happy his answer made him. They then talked for a long time about the enemies he would soon be hunting all over the world. The majority of them were humans chosen by Riv himself to erase every bit of evidence that dragons ever existed. Some had more unique methods than others, some were more cruel than others. "The hunters chosen by Riv can't be reasoned with, you could try with the ones that aren't corrupted by his power, however unlikely that is to succeed."

Groza's targets weren't all humans though. There were some dragons that were too corrupted to be kept alive. Some quite sane and able to be set on the righteous path again, some with minds so broken that only death could help them. Temnota the Night Fury was the former case.

She was an interesting dragon. Despite the many atrocities she committed, Temnota and her army fought against the hunters as best as they could and slowed down their progress significantly. "Temnota turned fanatical in her devotion to me the older she got, eventually she got so desperate she tapped into the most forbidden uses of the power she possessed. I cannot with good conscience support blood rituals and sacrifices, no matter the reason."

"I would prefer you try to change her ways. But if she won't accept reason, you will not have any other option than to kill her." Dayaxa sighed. "Temnota's army would grow and soon she would try to achieve her goal of wiping out all of human life."

It wasn't all doom and gloom. There were some places where dragons and humans lived in peace with each other and some places that were neutral. Groza wasn't really surprised to see most of the European continent marked as hostile to dragons. That place was hostile to humans themselves just as it was to dragons. A real surprise was to see one of the Viking islands to be marked on Dayaxa's map as dragon friendly.

Sometimes during his supply runs he would find an intact history book or a school textbook. Groza was somewhat interested in history and so he always found a place for them in his pack. One book he once found was about Vikings. From what he read, he would never expect any Viking to ever consider a dragon as something more than an unholy abomination that crawled from the depths of Hel itself. The fact that area was, according to Dayaxa, absorbed in a three hundred year long war didn't make it anymore believable.

"That got out of control." Dayaxa sheepishly admitted. "The queen of dragons I put in place there had done exactly as I intended for long enough that I eventually turned my full attention to other matters."

"Now that I think about, that was probably Riv's doing as well. What was his goal? I honestly have no idea."

Dayaxa explained everything Groza needed to know without a hint of annoyance in his voice. During his soul's twelve years as a Skrill, he didn't learn that much about the dragon societies of the outside world. He, his parents and two siblings lived on an isolated island near what Groza recognized as Japan. Apparently they were one of the first dragons to die at the hands of Riv's hunters.

Riv's hunters. Why did he need them? If Groza remembered correctly, Dayaxa said his brother was as powerful as himself at that point in time. Couldn't he just use that to think all the dragons out of existence? Unsurprisingly, the dragon god had an answer for this.

"We can influence someone to do as we wish fairly easily, but ending a life like that is a very difficult thing. Simply killing someone the old fashioned way is a lot more easier and practical. But no matter how powerful you are, eradicating an entire species by yourself is an immensely difficult task."

Groza could think of several easier solutions that followed that rule, but there were some unseen complications with those as well for sure, and he wasn't about to give Dayaxa pointers on how to commit genocide.

"I think we both had enough planning for today, and you could use some rest." He was right, but that raised the question where was Groza supposed to sleep. A new cushion appeared on the platform. "There you go, although I wouldn't mind sharing for the time being."

It took a moment for him to process what he just said. "Just let me get used to being a dragon first," Groza quickly shot back before he somewhat awkwardly made himself comfortable on the big mattress or pillow or whatever it was.

Groza couldn't be sure how long he slept when he came back to the world of the conscious. The sky outside the giant windows looked the same as when he arrived and Dayaxa was nowhere to be seen. He had only his thoughts and dog tags of his long dead friends for company. Moving around was a little strange with two legs and wings instead of just two legs.

Speaking of wings. He tried stretching them in various ways and even flap them. It wasn't as hard as feared it would be, just unusual. Groza could also feel pressure in his chest, not uncomfortable, but noticeable. That had to be his lightning. He had a sudden urge to try it out, but quickly decided against it. His curiosity could wait a little while longer.

"Had a good sleep?"

Groza yelped and spun around. How did someone like Dayaxa manage to be so quiet? "Fuck, don't do that to me man."

He only grinned back at him. "I have something prepared for you today." Dayaxa said and turned around, using his tail to tell him to follow.

"I can't send you to fight a war for me without some proper preparations. Skrill are powerful, but Riv granted his own grunts some powers before he sent them on their mission." They arrived in front of a pedestal that had a strange glowing rock on it, just in the level of Groza's fanged maw. "Crush this in your mouth."

"What exactly will it do to me?" Last time he touched something like this, his life got significantly more complicated.

"It will make you able to draw your power from the moon the same way I and some gifted dragons do. You don't have this gift, so we will have to do a little shortcut." Dayaxa saw Groza was still a little hesitant, which was completely understandable. "During the day you will be slightly stronger than you would normally be, you will notice the biggest difference once the moon comes out."

"Heightened regeneration, stronger lighting and shorter recharge time, heightened physical strength and the ability to cast some simple spells will be available to you. The leaders of the hunter groups and their officers have the same abilities, but during the day." Dayaxa's tone got a little more serious. "Don't use all of your power. Your body won't be able to handle the sudden absence and your heart will stop."

Groza thought about this for a moment, and then grabbed the rock in his mouth. It was a lot easier to crush than he thought, it had the texture of a cookie more than anything. He sucked in a surprised breath and his eyes widened. He felt powerful. A sudden urge to tear something apart with his claws made itself known but he suppressed.

"How does it feel?"

"Amazing."

Antoher mirror appeared and Groza turned to examine his reflection again. Every once in a short while, light blue and glowing markings would appear with the shapes of lightning bolts. They seemed to stretch from the edges of his wings and framed his eyes. "Fuck I look good!"

Dayaxa smiled at his response and then urged him to follow again. "Now that we got that out of the way, I'll have to teach you how to fight properly." And he did just that. Groza knew a lot of the basics, but repetition was the mother of wisdom after all. Time passed weirdly in Dayaxa's cathedral, he didn't know if it were days or weeks that he spent there being trained by the god of dragons himself.

Every little bit of awkwardness that Groza felt with his body disappeared soon after they began training. He didn't even notice when it did. He learned everything Dayaxa was sure he would need in his quest. Complex flying maneuvers, fighting styles, survival techniques, nothing was left out. Sometimes his lessons got a little embarrassing, but nothing that Groza couldn't handle.

Groza really enjoyed sparring as a dragon, even more so than a human. Somehow fighting with lightning and claws was more enjoyable than with guns and knives.

Before him stood a pitch black dragon with bright yellow eyes They were sizing each other up, looking for an opening. Dayaxa was an amazing fighter no matter what form he took. The size of his forms, number of limbs or heads didn't seem to affect his speed in the slightest, Groza had to learn that the hard way.

Dayaxa struck first, aiming a bolt of purple plasma at his face. He ducked and fired a bolt of electricity at one of his front paws, intending on taking it out of the fight and throwing his opponent off balance. Dayaxa dodged, as he often did, and lunged forwards for his throat. Groza leapt forwards, pressed his stomach to the ground and lashed upwards with his tail. He had to grinn in satisfaction when he heard a pained roar from above and then behind him. Something warm splashed on his back. His back and tail was covered in incredibly hard and sharp metallic spines.

They fought to the first blood and their fights often lasted only seconds, both lost count of their sparring sessions long ago. They often left some nasty gashes on each other, but since they were in Dayaxa's home that was built on their power source, the moon, the pain was only momentary.

Dayaxa didn't waste a second and immediately casted another form for himself, this time a Stormcutter. They sparred many more times after that, until Dayaxa changed into his usual appearance.

"I think I can't get you more ready than this."

He let Groza rest and disappeared somewhere to prepare for the immensely draining process of undoing Riv's actions. Groza couldn't really sleep, he didn't feel tired at all. Instead he went over everything important that Dayaxa told him about how he should proceed in his hunt. Once he was down on earth again, he would be on his own. Dayaxa would be so drained that he wouldn't be able to help him in nearly any meaningful way.

That was alright. He was used to being alone in suicidal missions.

The sound of claws clicking on stone snapped him back to reality. "It's ready."

Groza nodded and got up from the place he used for the occasional wink of sleep. For a moment they simply looked into each other's eyes in silence before Groza broke the silence. "Thanks, for everything."

"You can thank me by not dying." Dayaxa chuckled. "Good luck."

Groza closed his eyes and felt Dayaxa's scaly palm between them. He could hear Dayaxa saying something before his mind went blank.

I always wanted to write a transformation/reincarnation fic. But I realized doing it the way many others do in this fandom wasn't going to work for me at all. I'm not sure if my take on it is original enough, but you can always prove me wrong in the reviews.

Originally, Groza was supposed to be a Night Fury, but when I saw how many people have Night Furies as their main characters, I decided a Skrill would be far more interesting. Besides Temnota, I don't plan on giving Night Furies any major roles in this story.

When I finish this story, I'll probably write down how I came up with this story and it's characters and post it for anyone interested. Believe it or not, I got the first idea for this story during my first playthrough of Metro Exodus.