A Dragon Slayer's Heart: Chapter 3 - A Fateful Accord -
#3 of A Dragon Slayer's Heart
Thank you everyone for supporting me! This is going to be chapter three of my series known as "A Dragon Slayer's Heart"! Once again, thanks everyone, this is for you!
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Chapter 3: A Fateful Accord
After a few moments of gazing at his sleeping friend and mate, James turned around, wondering where his armor could possibly be? He had been saved from falling, but where had his armor dissapeared to? He wondered if she had disposed of it herself, but either way, it did not matter. He was someone happy to be rid of his armor, but the fact that he was vulnerable once again meant that if he were attacked by a creature, he probably wouldnt come back with only bruises.
He turned his head over his shoulder once more, looking over his sleeping love once again. In his heart, he knew that loving a dragon was a beautiful thing, but was it right...? He felt a sharp pain in his heart as he wondered what Sarah would say...
With a swift wave of his hand he dismissed it, beginning to walk towards something that caught his attention in the glow of the crystals lining the wall. It seemed to be his... sword?!
He took it in both hands and felt the dried blood that had formed on the edges of the blade, forming an almost rusty look on the blade. The sword he had once trusted so dearly, once again in his hand. Even though a weapon of war, he cradled it in his hands.
Then he realized what the purpose of the accursed blade was...to slay the dragons... just as he had to countless others... the very thought sickening him once again. He would drive a blade through another dragon's heart, but not of the innocent... only through the heart of his nemesis...Talon...
Anger overtook him once more, feeling it clenching his heart with a death grip, attempting to poison his mind once again with its dark embrace, tempting him with the thought of revenge... but was quickly overcome by the love he had for Alex... he would never betray her... nor would he ever let anyone hurt her.
James was unable to sheathe the weapon, there wasnt any sign of his previous equipment except the blade. Something bothered him however... why would Alex keep his blade...but not his armor? What was the purpose of keeping a blade that he had otherwise thrown away...? A haunting memento of his past...
As he quietly walked out of the large room and towards the cave entrance, he saw a magnificent sight. Great green rolling hills, whose tops were shrouded by misty clouds lined the landscape outside of the cave, as well as a misty rolling landscape, with a small lake radiating with an unnatural glow nestled in between two hills.
"The fish should be biting... If only I had a way to catch them..." he thought to himself as he carefully stepped out of the cave and onto the lush green grass below him. The Sky was a magnificent orange and purple color, the color of the sun bidding its final goodbyes as it slowly descended on the horizon.
When he had finally reached the lake, he noticed that the unnatural glow was a rather radiant light in the middle of the pool, illuminating not only the lake, but the bodies of swiftly moving fish in the water deep below, indicating that his calculation was correct...but only if he had a pole.
His first attempt at a solution was quite comical, attempting to grab them out of the water swiftly as an animal would do, but failed almost every time, his hand catching too much drag as it penetrated the water's surface. After a few more several tries, he succeeded, but was dragged under the water by the fish itself, overpowering him by sheer size.
After finally crawling out, he looked for his sword, wondering if he would be able to stab them, but the idea was quickly thrown away in fear of being drenched yet again.
After a long while he found a rather small sapling of a tree, its branches extremely flexible in its early stages of development. Without a second thought, he broke off one of the limbs and looked at it carefully, the tip being rather pointy.
An idea sprung into his head as he began to sharpen the tip even further with his sword, creating a barbed point, a smile sweeping across his face.
After several more hours, the sun had finally set, and the moon had taken its place, illuminating the landscape with its ghostly light.
James threw a fish over his shoulder, flopping against a rather handsome pile of fish that he had caught. He was rather proud of his own cunning, but something began to bother him. How would he be able to bring all of the fish back?
James frowned as he looked at all of the fish he had caught, then came up with an idea. He would spear them across his sword in almost the way one would with a kabob! Once again, his ingeniousness never ceased to amaze him.
Before he could do anything else however, he noticed the bright light beginning to glow brighter and brighter until it was almost a blinding wave of light, forcing him to shield his eyes lest be blinded permanently.
What he heard shocked him.
"James Xavier Beregard, you cannot fathom... what you have done..."
James looked around, bewildered, looking for the location from which the voice was emanating from, readying his sword in case of attack.
"Countless lives you have taken...Countless lives you have ruined...Countless tears have we shed for our fallen brethren... all because of the mindless slaughter driven by your own hatred..."
"Who are you?!" James shouted, his eyes wide with bewilderment.
"You... Have no idea how I wept for the countless helpless souls that have been sent to their second life, prematurely by your hand. And yet you dare show your face on such hallowed ground... to further destroy the lives and beauty of nature..."
"I ... only meant it for good..." James said quietly, wanting to have had given Alex a treat for helping him, this was his idea.
"You only add more lives to the ones you have already taken... but I see something else within you, Cyril..."
"Cyril?! Who are you talking about?" James shouted, still trying to find the source of the voice.
"Your destiny has brought you here... it is by fate that you were saved by your friend... and it is by fate... that the events that are about to unfold will be one to remember..." the voice said, finally showing itself as it stood silently on the surface of the water.
The voice was that of a large dragon, though transparent, he could see many star-like structures inside of the dragon's body, as if it were made of the heavens itself. A smile swept across the dragon's face as its pure white eyes focused in on him.
"I have seen what is to come... and you..." the dragon said.
"I do not wish to harm you!!!! Please.... I have changed..." James said solmenly, throwing aside his sword.
"My name is Aegis, the light bearer. I was the first dragon to have defeated the black dragon brood, but at the cost of my life. Now... they have resurfaced and once again powerful... and out of my control. I am the guardian of nature and the souls of dragons... Which of many you have taken..." Aegis said.
"I..." James said, falling to his knees.
"I see that there is something in you yet... you must defeat your hatred... only then will you be cleansed of your sins... face me now! And gain my blessing! Should you be able to defeat your own hatred, you will obtain my blessing... and a part of my strength... which shall enable you to go in my stead... and protect those I love... prepare yourself small one..."
James quickly ran to his sword and picked it up, getting into his battle stance the moment he had it in his hand. He had no idea what was about to be thrown at him.
At that second, Aegis dissapeared and a black cloud enveloped both him and his surroundings, red lightning flashing in all directions in an apocalyptical setting of which he had never seen before. He couldnt see anything in front of him, until the clouds parted...showing him what his heart screamed for... vengeance...
A large black dragon roared at him, its jaws twisted into a toothy grin, its eyes a blood red. It was him...Talon...
"You.....YOU!!!!!!!" James shouted, but then felt a sharp pain in his soul, as if he had been stabbed in the chest, but then regained his strength after wheezing for a few moments.
"Do not let hate control you!!!! It is the enemy you must overcome!!!! Do not let yourself be devoured by your own hatred!!!" Aegis shouted into his mind.
Talon's tail quickly sped towards him in a whip-like sweep, knocking the air out of him as he parried the attack with his sword, his feet creating a path in the dried ground underneath him as he regained his balance.
"You must not strike out of anger... but out of righteousness... Never let your hate guide you... let your heart decide what it wants!!!!" Aegis roared.
Again, Talon attacked, but this time, his claws came from the side, Jame nearly dodging them as he jumped into the air, plunging his sword deeply into the dragon's paw.
When he tried to retrieve it, he found that it was lodged into the bone and would not come out, causing the dragon to grin evily. With one swipe, he was sent flying away, thudding against the ground many yards away.
Three long gashes lined his chest, where the claws had broken through both the shirt and armor that he was wearing, blood quickly rising to the surface.
"Your heart is your most powerful weapon!!! Let it guide you!!!!!!!!!!!! Your sword should only be meant to protect.... to protect those that you truly care for... make no mistake...Listen to your heart!!!" Aegis roared.
James squinted in pain, his vision blurring as he stared into the deep red eyes of the beast several feet in front of him.
As he clutched his chest, his hand felt warm. As he brought it up to look at it, he found that his hand was soaked in his own blood, and the same had happened to his shirt and part of his pants.
"Agh..." James said, buckling down for a brief moment, breathing deeply as he heard the clicks of Talon's claws slowly approaching him...
He saw lights in the back of his head as he was slammed once again with something hard, he could not see what it was but it caused his ears to ring with intense pain.
"Remember...your heart is your greatest weapon... use it!" Aegis commanded.
James slowly rose to his feet, his chest bleeding profusely as he stared into the eyes of Talon, breathing through gritted teeth in pain. He would end it ... he would end it now.
James shouted out in pain as he began to run towards Talon, but was quickly overcome with a trance-like state as he heard nothing but his own breathing. He felt as if his body were moving on its own, and that he had no control over anything he was doing... his heart was guiding him.
Seeing this, Talon reared back and began to build a black flame in his maw, preparing to incinerate James. Seeing this, James closed his eyes, not knowing what was to happen next as he lept through the air... his soul glowing brightly inside of his chest.
Talon unleashed his blast of black flame. enveloping James completely within it.
James' skin burned intensely to the point where it felt that it would fall off of the bone, but instead... a bright flash of light engulfed everything around him, causing him to shield his eyes before his body made contact with that of Talon's.
He found himself wounded on the side of the lake once again, breathing deeply as his vision began to blurr. He felt like he was dying, and it was probably true, judging by the wounds he had endured from the encounter that he had just faced.
"You have done well..." Aegis said softly into his mind. Fear not young one... you will not die... but as for now... stand... find the strength within you to perform for me this final task..."
James breathed rapidly, trying to force his aching bones to stand, falling to a knee after rising too fast, and falling down once more.
He shout out in pain as his bones cried in protest, some already broken. The pain was more intense than anything he had physically endured before... and the thought of having to stand with broken bones seemed to turn his mind away from it even more... but after a few moments... he mustered the courage to do so, his teeth clenching down in pure agony as he stood.
"You have done well... you are truly the one..." Aegis said solemnly, his body seeming to radiate an even brighter glow.
"What do you mean?! What does all of this mean?" James shouted.
"You... are the one to end our suffering... it is by you that our kind.... and soon to be your kind...will find peace at last..." Aegis said.
"What do you mean 'soon to be'...?" James asked.
"Follow me... young one... do not fear the water...nature is guiding you... come... follow me..." Aegis said, padding softly towards the large glowing orb in the pool of water.
Hesitantly, he placed his foot on the water, but it sank in deeply.
"Trust her... as she trusts you... let her guide you..." Aegis said softly.
James nodded, closing his eyes, and at that moment, felt a gentle breeze, slowly pushing him forward and onto the surface of the water.
He began to walk forward as if he were walking on glass, his weight never falling through the surface of the water as he trusted the nature around him, following Aegis.
"You...have defeated your hate... its cruel embrace has vanished from your heart... look into the pool below you... Cyril... and find your destiny..." Aegis said, smiling.
As he looked down... he saw the image in the water become clearer.... he saw dragons playing in green fields, frolicking and living peacefully, as well as a calm, warm sense of feeling and presence washing over him. After a few moments... the image dissipated and he was left, looking at the head of a dragon in the water, its scales shining brightly in the moonlight. He could tell that it had blue scales, but its eyes... were an emerald green. And as he lifted his hand, so did the dragon lift his paw. This dragon was unlike any of the others that he had seen... and it seemed as if it were a dragon, but in the shape of a human... the head remaining natural... but stood like most humans! What was the meaning of this vision?
"Who is that...?" James asked, looking into the water below him.
"That...is someone that you will face on your journey... you will meet him eventually... but now is not the time..." Aegis said. "I see great things coming to happen through you my boy! You... are the one..."
"Aegis!!! What does this all mean!!!!?" James shouted back to Aegis as he began to float towards the skies above them.
"You... You are now a guardian and protector to those that you love... to our kind... protect us well...And never lose hope..." Aegis said, smiling. "Take my boon of strength, and from this point forth... be known as our Defender! You will not recieve such an exalted status amongst the others of our kin... foolishly fighting amongst each other... but know that I will always be with you... Cyril... Go forth... and fulfil your destiny..."
With that, the sword in James' hand began to glow with a bright light, slowly transforming into a larger, yet lighter weapon. He was forced to close his eyes in the sheer glow of the weapon until it was finished.
He looked down upon the blade and saw that it was no longer the sword that he had used to kill so many dragons with... but a white blade. The blade was long, but somehow felt light as a feather, and a large blue sapphire rested in the center of the pommel, socketed securely into the sword. The blade was lined with gold trim, and its luster shone brightly in the moonlight. It was as if the weapon was forged by a deity itself!
Then he felt it... a massive pain in his soul like he had never felt before... but he knew what was happening... Aegis was gifting him with his own power... the power to defend... not destroy...
He fell to the ground, light radiating violently from his chest as he began to undergo a transformation he never fathomed possible...
His vision blurred... unable to stay conscious.....
"James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he heard a voice screaming... but it was slowly drowned out by the sound of a large beast's flapping wings...
James smiled as he saw Alex swiftly flying to his side... he felt at ease once again...