Pride, Power and Promises Chapter 2: Part 2, a dungeons and dragons fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own D&DC nor am I making any money off of this, the memory of Megan and Drake are credited to me please ask if you wish to use them. Thanx to Amy who checked my grammar and plot holes.

Pride, Power and Promises

Part 2

Day Dreamer

Eric stood on a cliff above the village of Orcs he had discovered and was now in control of. It hadn't taken long to separate the sceptics from the loyal Orcs. To say this was 'Eric' was actually a lie. Eric was struggling to regain control of his mind but the spirit of Drake was much, much stronger than he was and had overwhelmed all his senses; heightening his skills to a level he never thought possible. When he spoke it was always a deep rumbling voice like thunder, an unearthly sound of the dragon the spirit used to belong to.

Drake had ridded himself of the old Cavalier clothes after leaving the rest of Dungeon Master's pupils. Now he wore black Elven armour, a chain mail shirt and trousers. The magic of the Elves made it as light as a feather so not to affect his agility. The Elven blacksmith that had made them had done especially well, and Drake was glad he had spared his life.

He had a leather scabbard hanging at his left hip, though the sword of Drake was always in his hand. Eric wore a helmet like that of a knight's but always had it closed, which made it easier for his followers to believe that he was the returned oppressor Drake. He was building up an Army to overthrow the demon warlock Venger and reclaim the Realm under the rule of Dragons.

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Hank pushed his blonde hair back with his hand. He and the rest of the Young Ones had continued heading for the mountains as Dungeon Master had told them despite his own urge to find Eric. It had been three days since they had last seen him. Dungeon Master had explained that what they needed to help Eric was in the quest on which he had already set them: 'Find the weakness and use it to expel the evil within.' That was the riddle they had been given this time. A few theories had been put forward to guess what this meant, but none of them seemed plausible. They were forced to leave their comrade behind but hope that this quest would release him.

It seemed to be, literally, an up hill struggle as they reached the base of Mount Speranza. Presto looked up. He could just make out the jagged peak high among the clouds covered in snow. "Why can't anything in this Realm be small?" he asked, slightly disgruntled. No one answered him.

Diana sighed, "We had best get climbing." She took the nearest and only path towards the mountain.

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Venger was watching the proceedings in a smoking portal in the floor to his castle. He grinned evilly, showing his fangs. "Shadow Demon!" he yelled to the glowing eyes in the darkness around him. "This new vessel that the spirit of Drake has possessed has a lot of anger deep down inside. This will aid in his destruction. The rest of Dungeon Master's pupils are climbing the Mountain of Hope."

The Shadow Demon gasped. "Mt. Speranza!" he exclaimed in a respectful whisper.

"Yes, you will follow them and inform me of any developments," Venger ordered. The Demon floated away obediently.

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Drake laughed maniacally from on top of his horse as he watched a horde of dwarves charging towards them to protect their territory; he pointed his sword towards them and yelled, "ATTACK!"

All his troops of Orcs, each one with a sword and a horse, leapt in to action. The poor dwarven warriors fought to the last man but they never stood a chance. Drake sat on his horse in the middle of the carnage, blood dripping from the sword in his hand.

"NO!" The familiar teenaged voice of Eric managed to push the spirit in his mind away long enough to utter this one word before Drake beat his conscience back.

"This is what you have to do, little Eric, to prove to Venger he can't get away with what he did to Megan," Drake hissed to the boy that fought bravely against the possession of his body. Drake's plan would go a lot smoother if he didn't have to constantly beat down the waves of protests from within.

"What does murdering dwarves have to do with defeating Venger?" Eric spat back into the recesses of his mind.

"You stupid boy! This land was the site of my castle many, many years ago. These stupid little barbarians were in the way," Drake told him. Eric had used all his strength in this little outburst and was forced to submit. Drake smirked to himself. That was better. He ordered his Orcs to gather the bodies of the fallen and to place them on a large fire. The smell of death was rancid in the air but the dragon loved that smell. It always meant victory for him. Drake roared, long and loud, his cry of triumph to warn all those who considered opposing him.

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Sheila turned around sharply. She heard something far away. Her hand had instinctively gone to her collar to tug up her hood if need be. But there was nothing there. She sighed. She guessed she was just edgy because she didn't know if Eric was safe. Who knew what crazy things he might do while he was possessed. She turned back around. The group had been climbing for hours over semi-rough terrain. They were still not sure what they were supposed to find when they reached the top.

"Shouldn't be long now, guys. We are almost there," Hank yelled to his companions to encourage them, though he himself was feeling disheartened. The path was getting steeper. They'd have to start scaling the mountain face soon.

Presto slipped off his hat and waved his hand over it. "Abracadabra abracadope what we need now is a length of rope," he chanted. He pulled out a coil of rope and smiled, thinking he had gotten it right. He unwound it to find it was less than 5 feet long. He frowned, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Aww, my hat and me have different ideas of a length."

"No matter, Presto, we'll be ok without rope," Diana comforted him with a pat on the shoulder.

The group carried on, trudging along silently, which was unnerving, reminding them that one wasn't with them. Eric always had a complaint or a snide remark and, strange as it seemed, they were missing that. Bobby sighed. He was even beginning to miss being called shrimp.

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Shadow Demon came floating back to Venger's castle and into the main hall.

"Well, Shadow Demon, what did you find out?" Venger asked in his booming voice.

"The children know nothing of the crystal hidden on Mount Speranza," Shadow Demon answered.

Venger smirked. "Good. That helps matters greatly." Venger spoke more for Shadow Demon's benefit than for his own. Though why he was concerned with his slave's ignorance of the Realm's legends he didn't know. "The crystal at the peak of the Mountain of Hope is the only thing that can reunite a soul with its body. As soon as the crystal is discovered, Drake will learn of its existence and seek it out in the hopes of being united with his body."

Shadow Demon moved soundlessly to let Venger past as he walked over to the mirror on his wall. The warlord placed a hand on the glass. The image distorted until the leader of the largest rebellion against him appeared. He smirked evilly. "As long as Drake never learns of the crystal he will be easy to crush."

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Drake was in a tent made out of animal hides. Inside it was lit by a single candle on an oaken table. A figure was hunched over it, staring intently at a map. Suddenly, he slammed his fist down on the hard wooden surface growling angrily.

"Where IS it?!" he hissed furiously. He was looking for something; what, exactly, he didn't really know. The only thing he did know was that it had the power to make all his dreams come true. His dream of being reunited with his body and taking complete control over the Realm.

An Orc came in with an announcing grunt, taking off his small helmet in respect. "Master Drake, the slaves have finished building the foundations to your castle. We are awaiting more orders."

"Isn't it obvious? Start building the walls, you imbecile!" Drake grit his teeth to keep from attacking the Orc for his incompetence. The Orc bowed quickly and hurried away. Drake sighed, lifting the flap of his helmet and placing his hands over his tired eyes.

"What I would give just to shed this disgusting human skin and stretch my wings again!" Drake muttered wistfully. He growled angrily, "I must find it!" staring back at the map.

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Bobby pushed Uni up on to the ledge before hauling himself up. He turned around, helping Hank to pull Sheila, Presto, and Diana up.

Diana dusted herself off. "Well now what?" she asked as she cast a wary eye over the surroundings. They couldn't go any higher. They were at the safest, but highest, point.

Presto leant against the mountain wall. "If Eric was here he'd say, 'What else? Find the thing we need to beat the monster and almost get sent home but have to close the portal instead,'" Presto answered, doing a pretty weak imitation of Eric.

"But the monster this time is Eric. What if, when push comes to shove, we can't beat him?" Sheila piped up with this worried remark.

"Oh, we can beat him sis! Eric isn't so tough! Even with a dragon spirit!" Bobby thumped his chest proudly, ever enthusiastic.

"Bobby," Hank replied gently, "What she means is can we face hurting Eric? We can't defeat the spirit without killing Eric. You heard what Dungeon Master said, no one has survived the curse" That statement put an exceedingly sombre mood on the group.

Diana shook her head. "Dungeon Master said we have to find the weakness and use it to expel the evil within" she repeated. "Does that mean Eric's weakness or Drake's weakness?"

Naturally, everyone looked to their brave leader, Hank, the Ranger. Hank sighed heavily. The strain of having failed to keep one of his friends safe weighed down on his already burdened shoulders. "I dunno! I dunno what it means! Urgh! This is god damned hopeless!" Hank cursed, thumping the rock face in frustration. A large crack appeared where he had struck.

Bobby gaped in amazement. "Hank! You broke the mountain!" he exclaimed.

They all froze as the crack widened enough for them to see a large diamond or crystal, pulsing with its own energy and emitting an aqua green light that glinted of any quartz in the rock.

Presto grinned. "We found it! We found it!……… Um, what did we find?" he asked.

Uni trotted cautiously forward and sniffed it as Sheila suggested,

"Maybe it's Drake's weakness."

"Only one way to find out," Diana responded, reaching for the crystal. Its light focused on the point she touched for a second before Diana drew her hand away with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well? What did it feel like?" Bobby asked impatiently.

"Weird, for a second there I felt my mind and body separated, then came back together. You know an out of body experience sort of thing," Diana explained.

They all gasped at a tremendous roar. It couldn't have been anything else but animal.

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Venger was standing at a large arched window of his castle. He heard the roar and sighed.

"Shadow Demon, assemble my army. Drake has learned of the crystal of Astral Projection. Those children have found it and even as we speak Drake is riding on his own flying Nightmare towards the Mountain of Hope," Venger ordered gravely as he spotted the flying steed and it's rider in the distance. Drake had tamed the beast like Venger had tamed his own. The Hell horse's eyes were red, as were all creatures of the dark, its midnight black hide so fine that it seemed to shine in the sunset. Its head was held high, almost regally, as it galloped effortlessly through the sky. The race of Nightmares were definitely an effective way of travelling, though Venger knew too well that Drake would do away with this mode of transport once he was reunited with his true dragon form.

As the dark shapeless Demon floated away, glancing back at his motionless master for the first time, he wondered if this time the archmage would be conquered and he would be forced to serve Drake again. Only this time the King of the Dragons would be immortal.

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Drake urged his steed faster and faster. "Come on, you lousy beast! Hurry! Hurry!" His hopes and dreams were in sight and nothing was going to get in his way.

Inside his mind, the spirit of the boy he had possessed was lying dormant. He smirked. It had been so easy to take him over. He just used the memory of his precious Megan and his hatred for Venger against him. Admittedly his pure heart had been a problem but once he had cloaked that with anger for the Dungeon Master the task had been complete.

As soon as the crystal had been discovered he knew exactly where to go and exactly what it was. It was called Magical instinct; everyone who had come into contact with any magic of any kind had it. Some stronger than others. Venger's Magical instinct was immensely strong and rivalled even his own. But strength-wise Drake was far, far superior and would defeat the warlord with ease.

"Then what will you do? What will happen to the Realm?" Eric asked him, speaking up for once.

"Don't be stupid boy? What do you think will happen?" Drake barked back. This conversation was of the mind; no other person could hear it. "I'll go and reclaim my crown as King of the Dragons and the I'll go after Dungeon Master. Once he's gone no one will stand in my way."

Eric gasped. No matter how nasty he was to Dungeon Master he didn't want to see him slain at the hands of this monstrosity.

"I won't let you!!" He grit his teeth in defiance.

Drake laughed. "You?" he mocked. "You, mortal, will not be around after I reunite with my body."

Eric's throat tightened up in fear. "Why?" he managed to squeak out.

"Because you are going to die. Anyway even if you do live no one will forgive you for what you have done for me," Drake answered with a self-satisfied smirk.

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Diana dug her Javelin under the crystal in hopes of dislodging it from its base but to no avail. "Nope, won't budge!" she told the group.

Hank sighed. "We need to think of something. I have a feeling we'll be getting a few visitors soon." He had the past experience to know that whenever something magical was found Venger wasn't far away. But this time they had an evil spirit trapped in the body of a friend. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle this one.

Uni bleated in fright as a rush of wind made them look up. On the back of a Hell horse with the sword that had started all this trouble held tightly in his hand was Eric…….no Drake, it wasn't Eric anymore.

"Give me the crystal of Astral Projection and I may spare your lives," the rumbling voice demanded.

"Hey, it's all yours if you can get it out! It's stuck tight" Presto answered with a shrug.

"Foolish weak mortals!" The smirk was evident in his voice although it wasn't possible to see it. He hopped nimbly down from his horse, which still floated in the sky. His eyes darted back and forth in case any of the Young Ones attacked. But they all, wisely, stayed still. Drake drove the tip of his sword underneath the crystal, prying it up with ease.

"Get him now!" he heard someone yell. He laughed as he back flipped landing perfectly on his feet. The three boys of the group crashed headfirst in to each other.

"Thank you so much for finding the crystal for me, but now I have no use for you or this worthless shell I inhabit," he told them.

The crystal glowed even brighter in his hand as he focused all his energy upon it. His whole body began to glow an unearthly dark light. All the Young Ones shrank away from him. A tear in the atmosphere appeared in front of them all. It opened into a portal through which they could clearly see the Dragon's Graveyard.

Bobby shook his head in disbelief, hugging Uni tightly to him, as one of the larger skeletons seemed to begin moving. Sheila covered her mouth in pure disgust as muscles and flesh began to regenerate, clinging to the bones. Organs began working, blood began flowing, bones re-fused together, skin and scales re-grew.

The black glow around their former friend started to break away from his body and passed through the portal slowly, bit by bit. It entered the motionless body of the regenerating dragon. When the last left Eric, he crumpled into a heap, crystal and sword clattering to the ground. The others didn't seem to hear, staring horrified.

The dragon began moving. He stood up, laughing in delight. He was much, much taller than Tiamat. His hide was a deep navy blue, not black enough to be black, not blue enough to be blue. He had a long head of white hair, almost mane-like, that extended all the way down his neck and ended between two magnificent wings.

He flexed his wings, both half as tall as the dragon and just as wide. Massive claws extended from massive hands and rows upon rows of gleaming teeth grinned at them. Spikes stuck up all down his spine to his tail, which swished like a contented cat. They were standing in the presence of Drake, the most powerful dragon that ever lived.

So it continued………..