Dragon's Dogma - A Forgotten Tale of the Arisen and his Pawn Chapter 6: The Red Dragon's Coming, a dragon's dogma fanfic

Chapter 6: The Red Dragon's Coming

He was exhausted, frustrated, irascible and every other little adjective that described his obnoxious situation. They were in the company of the Duke's soldier which didn't allow any privacy, he was sure it was clear to both of them that they wanted the same thing but he did not know when and how to approach the situation. Do you just go up to her and ask her or do you sneak off into the carriages and hope no one notices? Either way he chose, it didn't exactly suit the way he wanted it to be. He still remembered the day he went to fight off and finish the drake to free his pawn completely from its possession; shortly after tending to his wounds they both went after the drake to make sure no trace of the dragon's possession lingered in her body. Their bond was greater than before and killing the dragon was easy with their teamwork, no foe was too large for them, no challenge was too great, with the exception of the one they were facing. He was still wounded so she didn't try to force her master to do anything too strenuous, she waited until they got back to Gran Soren and got the best healer around which just so happened to be under the Dukes command. He healed quickly and was ready to get back to her, but the Red Dragon had been spotted near the catacombs far from the city; by the Dukes order he was to escort his army to the Dragons domain and slay the beast. He was happy to do it, but wanted her instead and his duties had given no time for a pleasing tryst, which was why he could not even strike up a normal conversation with the escort of soldiers, so he walked at the back of the army's line, behind the army of marching soldiers. She had noticed the irritation in her master but was still afraid to upset him further than he was, doubtful he would scorn her but concern and doubt got the better of her.

"Master, what's wrong? Are you still injured? Did you need more time to heal?" she asked him politely but he didn't know how to tell her the truth of wanting to be alone. He still gave the smile she was looking for but his words held back the truth of his situation.

"No, I am just concerned about the challenge ahead is all"

"Don't worry master I will try even harder to meet your expectations" he wasn't worried about her performance, the only performance he wanted from her was the one performed in private.

"Just don't die on me" he said softly

"Yes, master we will fell the beast together" she exclaimed happily. He was disappointed, he was trying to be romantic with her so she could come rushing into his arms, he wanted to express to her what he was really thinking but decided not to on account of so many ears listening to the Arisen' s conversation, he felt the love he had for her was only for them alone. Night drew closer and the army had settled into their camp, they would rest for a day before continuing their march on the Dragons domain. He sat by the fire thinking of the night he didn't make his move on her, he wanted it to happen again but there were no tents and no privacy to allow him to speak his mind. He had ordered his pawns to go fetch the army's chow that was being handed out; he had lost his appetite but wanted to be sure they ate properly. He waited by their own separate camp fire from the army's bond fires, he didn't feel like they were part of the company anyway.

"Here master" she handed him his portion even though he told them earlier he wasn't hungry.

"But I am not hungry" he knew she was thinking of him when she got it.

"Master you have not eaten, if you continue in this manner your stamina may be absent when we need it in battle" he was too embarrassed to say otherwise, so he took the food and ate it. The smile she had practiced countless times had become impeccably dangerous to him, and now their roles felt reversed; she had become the master while he her pawn.

"Master, your manner has become different ever since I raised my spells against you" she was referring to the day the drake had taken over her mind, fought, and was freed.

"I vow on my life, it shall never happen again, tis a promise master so please tell me, what ails you so?" she was worried about him, but he really wasn't worried about anything.

"Nothing is wrong, I am not worried in the slightest" he paused looked at his other two pawns that were looking into the fire with no emotion in their eyes.

He made a quick movement to grab her arm and pull her close enough to him so his words were only within whisper shot of her ear.

"We haven't had any time alone together", he quickly let go and pushed her away. He was almost expecting his pawns to smile and snicker as he made this quick movement but they just looked on into the fire without expression, only reacting to his commands when given.

Her expression didn't change, she looked into his eyes for a moment and proceeded to sit back down near the fire where her place was before, she did not say a word, just continued eating silently. He may have offended her, in his mind he cursed himself for acting on foolish impulse, now he just wanted to go face the Dragon as quickly as possible.

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It was getting late; the only tents made were for the few leaders of the army, sleeping outside in the open night air was the only option. He couldn't sleep though; he looked up at the flashing diamonds in the sky, wondering how he had become a love sick puppy chasing after its master attention. At this rate he may die before he gets a chance for some privacy with her, he looked around his area, seeing the few guards on watch in the distance and the stomped out fires from the large camp, he had become weary of this campaign.

He had laid down to rest, his eyes were beginning to close, but soon had his energy return as he felt arms quickly embracing his neck in the dim lights shining out to them from the camp. It was her; she didn't say a word but took her cloak to cover both of them for she wanted to shield them from wandering eyes. She got as close to him as possible trying not to make any movements that may attract unwanted attention from the camp or the sleeping pawns, their grip on each other became as strong as their embrace which had quickly become one single movement. There was no moon in the sky just the distant camp fires and the roaming guards in the camp that were awake. They were the only two that were alert which made their senses acute to any movement that was not their own, they didn't want anyone intruding on their moment but were not so bold as to continue their deed with an audience, for the bond between an Arisen and pawn is something only they can share.

He could feel her movements matching his, her breath covering his, her rhythm matching him like a symphony. He could not let her go, her pulse was getting stronger and her heart was beating hard, as was his, he could feel his heart beat loudly… from the sky?

This time he stopped his actions.

"Master?" she called out softly to him, wondering why he stopped as he turned his attention to the sky. He soon realized he had made a mistake again; his heart was in the sky which meant everyone's life was in danger.

He couldn't see the beast, but had no doubt the fiend that had stolen his heart was in the sky and closing in on them fast. He took the cloak aside wishing they would have continued, but dispersed with the thought and shouted to his pawns.

"Get up! Prepare for battle, tell the guards to prepare for an assault!" he was shouting to them in all haste as if they couldn't hear him. No time to explain or apologize for his sudden actions but he had no time to explain.

He was already shouting to the pawns and guards in the distance to sound the alarm. The pawns were following their masters orders running to the guards screaming to sound the alarm; they knew their masters warning was no idle threat to be ignored. Half the camp must have heard the alarm go off and donned their armor but it would have made little difference, the Red Dragon had eyes better than any predator in the sky and unleashed its hellish fire into the crowd of soldiers. The Red Dragon crushed the soldiers like bugs in the dust, the few soldiers that did not burn to ash; it crushed with its mighty foot. Jaws like steel, claws like swords, body like stone it used everything to send the pitiful ants to the pits of hell for he was the Red Dragon and the grim reaper was at its command. Charge or flee it mattered not which the soldiers tried to do, the Dragon would make sure to deter any threat toward its domain.

"GRIGORI!" the Dragon stopped its destruction upon the remaining soldiers and looked at the human that had called upon him. How dare a human use the Red Dragons name? They were not even worthy of gazing upon its might much less mentioning its ancient name.

"AAH, ARISEN" The mighty Dragon had stopped chasing after the fleeing soldiers, and begun to slowly make its way toward its new prey, like a lion when it's about to leap upon the helpless deer. The Arisen had stopped to look around for a moment, even though the Dragon was slowly coming for him; body parts and corpses lay everywhere, not even the horses and oxen's had been spared. A few soldiers had gotten away from the Red Dragons wrath but not even the third of the army had been spared. The Dragons might was great indeed.

"SO NICE OF YOU TO LEAD ME TO A BANQUET ARISEN, TELL ME, WERE YOU AND YOUR SERVANTS ENJOYING THEIR DEATH AS WELL?"

With the Dragon in front of him, he didn't know what to do. He was expecting an army to stand by his side at first but with the mighty behemoth in front of him, his mind and body froze in fear. "No" he cursed at himself for not being able to move, his enemy was right in front him, it was what he'd been waiting for, this moment, ever since that fateful day in Cassardis when it took his heart. So why couldn't he move? He could feel the Dragon looking into him as it laughed at his pitiful attempt to regain his composure, his pawns were at the ready waiting to unleash their force upon the Dragon the only thing they were waiting for was his command; yet he could not make a move.

"I SEE INTO YOU ARISEN, FEAR AND DOUBT STILL HAUNT YOU, IT TELLS ME YOU DO NOT WANT TO ABANDON YOUR PITIFUL LIFE." The Dragon had come within arm's reach of him, yet neither side had attacked.

"YET YOU WERE THE ONE THAT CALLED OUT TO DESTRUCTION, YOU WERE THE ONE THAT MADE THE DECISION AND NOW YOU WISH TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR RESPOSIBILITIES? YOUR ENEMY IS IN FRONT OF YOU, IT BEARS ITS FANGS AT YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU WOULD EVER HOLD DEAR, WILL YOU ABANDON YOUR RESOLUTION AND CONTINUE TO SEEK OUT AN END MEANT FOR MORTALS?"

The Dragon was looking into him; in the blink of an eye he saw his past, a past long before humans had coined him the Arisen.