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Glory to my Proofreader: Solare. For he is one who points out mistakes and acts as my favourite wall to bounce ideas off of.
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"The name's Blaidd," the Half-Wolf said, his greatsword slung across his shoulder. "I'm looking for a man who goes by 'Darriwil'. What's your name, dragon warrior?"
John's grin stretched ear to ear.
"I am Ranni's future husband," he declared with unflinching bravado. "Name's Johnathan, but as her sworn Shadow and my future brother-in-law, you may call me John."
There was a heavy pause as Blaidd blinked with shock and confusion in equal measure.
Then he barked out a laugh, his voice echoing through the ruined Mistwood. "Hah! By the stars, you're an interesting one! Eccentric as a Demihuman in moonlight, but I like your spirit!"
Marika, floating just behind John in her wisp of golden light, dragged a hand down her face. "Truly, I should no longer be surprised by the depths of thy shamelessness… and yet, I find myself appalled all the same."
Melina's jaw had dropped slightly. Her hazel eye was wide in something between shock and something unspoken. A tight pout formed at her lips, and a vein on her temple throbbed.
Millicent burst out laughing, her one hand clutching her side as her steed snorted beside her. "Wait, Ranni? The Demigod you all told me about yesterday?! The one with the four arms and a hot voice?"
John spun toward her with a theatrical flourish, giving a hearty thumbs-up and a grin that could've outshone the Erdtree. "That's the one! Met her a few nights ago under the stars. She stole my heart before I could even say 'hello'."
Melina's eye twitched visibly. Her mouth pressed into a line of pure annoyance, and her arms crossed tightly under her chest. That vein throbbed harder. She didn't say anything, but the dangerous heat in her glare was enough to ignite the trees.
Blaidd's ears perked as realization dawned. He snapped his fingers. "Aha! You're that Tarnished! Ranni mentioned you just days past. Said some bold fool called her 'wife' on a whim and never backed down. Guess you weren't just pulling her leg, eh?"
John's smirk turned smug enough to melt stone. "Of course I wasn't. I never joke about my devotion."
Melina's jealousy hit critical mass. Her glare went from ice to atomic. She was quiet, still… and suddenly having a very violent internal fantasy that involved separating a certain Lunar Princess's head from her shoulders.
Blaidd and Millicent both howled with laughter, clutching their sides. Even Torrent gave a snort that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
Meanwhile, Caelan, who had been awkwardly lingering near his horse, clearly uncomfortable with how weirdly personal this encounter had become, quietly started inching toward his saddle. His boot had just slipped into the stirrup when a loud sound made him freeze in place.
"A-Ahem."
John coughed pointedly into his hand without turning. The sound hit Caelan like a lightning strike. He froze mid-motion, comically wide-eyed like a child caught sneaking dessert.
"…Right," he said, stiffly turning to face John again like a soldier reporting for punishment. "I… I'm still here."
John raised a brow and leaned ever-so-slightly forward in his saddle, his voice dropping to something low and razor-sharp. "Remember our deal, Caelan. If I find out you backed out… if you let Godrick's men hurt those villagers before I come back…"
He dragged a gauntleted thumb slowly across his throat, his draconic eyes gleaming like molten gold.
Caelan nodded so fast it looked like his head might detach. "R-right. Yes. Of course. You have my word."
Then he bolted, mounting his steed and galloping off like his armor was on fire and death itself was chasing him.
John leaned back slightly, sighing as if that cleaned his conscience.
"So…" He sighed out, turning to Blaidd with a grin. "You mentioned a guy named Darriwil…?"
Blaidd chuckled low in his throat, adjusting the weight of the greatsword resting across his broad shoulder.
"Aye, I did," he said, voice suddenly laced with grim resolve. "Darriwil… was naught but a traitor to my Lady Ranni. He turned against her, and now, he is in dire need of a fitting end to his tale."
He tilted his head slightly, ears flicking in thought. "I'd heard whispers of a Bloodhound Knight in Limgrave. Thought it best I come and see for myself."
John's grin returned with full force, draconic eyes gleaming in the low forest light. "I might just know where the mutt's hiding. And I'd be more than happy to help my future brother-in-law with a little cleanup."
He gave Blaidd a cheeky wink. "As long as you put in a good word with my wife~!"
Blaidd blinked once. Then he burst into laughter, throwing his head back with a delighted bark.
"Stars above, you're a madman!" He barked out between chuckles, wiping a tear from the corner of his beastly eye. "But aye, I'll do my best."
John clapped his gauntleted palm with a clenched fist. "That settles it! We'll help you with Darriwil. But first, a quick pit stop."
Blaidd raised a brow, intrigued. "A pit stop? For what, exactly?"
John turned, his smirk widening into something damn near wicked, remembering Yura's warning and his previous knowledge. "I heard from a friend that a dragon's taken up roost in Agheel Lake. Thought I'd swing by and kill it real quick."
The Half-Wolf's eyes went wide. "A dragon? You're going out of your way to fight a dragon?"
Millicent chuckled behind him, adjusting her saddle. "He's a dragon hunter. Likes to eat their hearts. Says it makes him stronger."
John glanced back at her with a helpless smile. "Am I really that predictable already?"
Marika scoffed from her perch above, her golden form lounging on a soft cloud of Grace. "Predictable? One needeth only half a brain to see thy intentions, fool."
John winced, turning to Melina for backup. Only to be met with a huff, an annoyed pout, and her turning away from him entirely.
"Go to your 'wife' for support." She muttered dismissively. "You don't need your maiden's help, after all."
It felt like a metaphorical warhammer to the gut. John recoiled as if struck, groaning slightly as both Millicent and Blaidd howled with laughter at his expense.
Marika, of course, simply gave a long-suffering sigh and crossed her arms, the look in her eyes was eerily mirroring her daughter's.
"When in my name…" She muttered to no one in particular. "Will mine daughter finally realise she hath already fallen for a fool?"
John sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, wordlessly walking toward the ruined stairway leading down to the basement beneath the Mistwood Ruins.
Blaidd blinked. "Where's he going now?"
Melina, still visibly annoyed, grumbled. "Ignore him. He does things like this sometimes."
Down in the gloom, John reached the bottom, spotting a rusted iron gate set into the stone. He crouched, lifted it with a grunt, and stepped inside.
The basement was dark and damp, moss clinging to old stones. In the center sat a chest, simple and unadorned. He opened it with a satisfying creak and retrieved a glinting talisman.
[Item Acquired: Axe Talisman.]
John stashed it into his inventory away with a nod, then made his way back up.
He emerged into the sunlight, rubbing the back of his neck. "Got what I needed," he said casually. "Let's roll."
Torrent trotted over, spectral hooves light on the dirt. Melina was already seated atop the steed, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. She shifted backward to give him room but didn't say a word.
John chuckled at that and swung onto Torrent. Millicent mounted her own steed nearby, still grinning from the earlier banter.
They turned to Blaidd.
"You got a horse of your own, Half-Wolf?"
Blaidd grinned, fangs glinting. "Nah. I'm fine on foot. Just lead the way."
John snorted with mock offense. "Tch… Show-off."
With that, he turned Torrent toward the forest path, cloak fluttering behind him as he led the group eastward, toward Agheel Lake.
The shallow thud of Torrent's hooves against the soil faded as John and his companions climbed the last crest overlooking Agheel Lake. Before them stretched a gleaming expanse of shimmering water, glistening under the soft golden light of the distant Erdtree. It wasn't deep, more of a marsh dotted with small ruins and muddy islets, but the way it reflected the sun made it feel like a sea of light.
Millicent was the first to dismount, slipping off her steed with surprising ease given her missing arm. She stepped to the cliff's edge, the wind brushing through her short red hair, and took in the view with wide eyes.
"Gods above…" she whispered, awe thick in her voice. "This is beautiful… Is every place in these lands like this? Can I see more things like this elsewhere?"
John gave a soft laugh as he hopped off Torrent and stepped up beside her, patting her gently on the shoulder.
"Oh, just wait until we reach Liurnia," he said with a grin. "Or the Altus Plateau. Hell, even the mountaintops are something else. You'll see sights that'll put this to shame."
Blaidd came trotting up beside them on foot, barely winded despite the sprint. His greatsword gleamed faintly in the light. He gave a low chuckle.
"I agree with the Tarnished. Though, I must admit… I prefer the Lands Between at night. There's a stillness then, beneath the moonlight, that feels more like home to me."
Millicent turned to him, intrigued. "Really?"
Blaidd nodded with a grin, baring the sharp edge of his wolvish teeth. "The moon, the stars, the dark... I've always felt closest to the world under their watchful gaze."
John gave a small smile, eyes flicking to the lake. "Can't lie. Same."
A familiar voice cut through the calm. "Where's this dragon you spoke of?" Melina asked, arms crossed as she approached behind them, her expression calm but skeptical. "I see no beast."
From above, Marika's voice drifted lazily on the wind, ethereal and pointed. "Hm… Judging from those scorched ruins in the lake's center, I would wager the dragon nests nearby. The burns are too recent to be natural."
John smirked, looking skyward. 'Right as usual, my Goddess.'
He turned to the others and gestured toward the blackened rubble poking out of the lake's center like broken fangs. "See the charring? That's not from a wildfire. That's fire-breath… dragon fire."
Blaidd nodded. "Then let's head over. With luck, we'll find signs of it. Or better yet, find it outright."
Millicent, already fired up, swung herself back onto her horse and galloped down the slope toward the lake, water splashing underhoof.
John shook his head, chuckling. "She's eager."
The group followed suit, Torrent galloping gracefully behind Millicent as Blaidd sprinted with ease alongside them. They crossed the shallows swiftly, drawing close to the edge of the ruined buildings, when Blaidd suddenly slowed.
He pointed, mid-sprint. "Look, people. By that bonfire."
John shifted direction slightly, guiding Torrent toward the smoke in the distance. As they neared, the shapes became clearer, villagers, huddled around a fire. Injured. Afraid. Some were women clutching burned children. Others sat, hollow-eyed, with wrapped limbs or soot-covered clothes.
John slowed Torrent and raised a hand. "What happened here?"
The villagers looked up with a mix of fear and awe. A middle-aged man stepped forward, his beard ash-streaked, his tunic torn and bloodstained.
"A dragon." He rasped. "Came down from the sky a few days ago. It burned everything. Livestock, homes… people. We barely escaped with our lives."
Everyone fell silent. Even Blaidd's usual stoic expression faltered, though only slightly.
Marika's voice came soft from above. "At the very least, thou arrived in time to save what remains."
Melina dismounted quietly and stepped forward, hands already glowing with soft golden magic. She knelt beside a young girl with a scorched leg and whispered a gentle incantation, healing energies washing over her.
Millicent looked to the man. "Do you know where the dragon went?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "No. But it came from the west. Mayhap… that's where it nests."
Right on cue, a piercing screech split the skies, echoing from the far western horizon. It was primal, furious, and it sent a ripple through the gathered crowd.
Blaidd smirked. "I'd wager that's where it is now."
John didn't say anything at first. He simply turned east, toward the hillcrest they'd just ridden down from, eyeing the open skies and the path of the wind.
Marika appeared beside him, golden hair flowing, arms folded. "What art thou thinking?"
He raised a brow at her. 'Couldn't you read my thoughts?'
She rolled her eyes. "I could. Wouldst thou rather I pry into thy mind constantly, or ask as a civil being?"
He blinked at her, then grinned. 'Fair enough.'
He gestured toward the hilltop. "Remember how that dragon in Caelid aggro'd on me just by sensing my presence nearby? Picked me out from afar like I was radiating threat levels?"
She tilted her head, remembering. "Aye."
'Well…' He drawled, his smirk widening, 'What do you think'll happen if I announce myself?'
Marika's lips curled into a slow, amused smile. "Aye... I suppose thou wouldst do that."
John took a deep breath.
He reached deep into himself, into that core of draconic power gifted by Greyoll, and roared.
And much like his last roar, the sound that left his throat wasn't human. It wasn't even a dragon's in full. It was almost Greyoll's roar. Not quite complete, but powerful, ancient, and soul-shaking nonetheless.
The lake trembled and birds scattered. Even the villagers clutched their ears and dropped to the ground in panic. Torrent reared back, and even Blaidd flinched in momentary surprise.
Millicent nearly fell from her saddle. "John?! What are you-?!"
Then they heard it, a roar in return from far to the west, followed by a blur rising from the horizon.
Marika's voice came in dry amusement. "Well… thou certainly hath its attention now."
John's eyes locked onto the incoming shadow.
"Good."
A deafening crash split the air as the dragon descended from the clouds like a blazing meteor, slamming into the lake with earth-splitting force.
[Flying Dragon Agheel]
Water and dirt exploded outward in a violent spray, scattering the shallow waters in all directions. Villagers screamed, ducking for cover. Children clung to parents. One of the injured men fell over, nearly dragged by the shockwave.
Melina threw her arms protectively over a wounded child, shielding them with her body as the gust of wind and debris swept past.
"John, you reckless idiot!" she shouted over the roar of the wind, her hair flailing wildly. "Did you really have to provoke it this close to the villagers?!"
John, already reaching into his inventory, smirked through gritted teeth and pulled out his Greatsword, gripping the massive slab of metal in both hands.
"It'll be fine, Melina! You stay here and keep them safe!" he shouted. "Blaidd! Millicent! To me!"
He charged headlong into the battlefield, Torrent vanishing in a blink of spectral light behind him. Blaidd growled, his half-wolf grin flashing as he sprinted after him, and Millicent, blade in hand, dashed close behind.
"Hey!" she called out mid-run, her voice cutting through the chaos. "We should steer it away from the villagers! If it breathes fire here, we're all screwed!"
John nodded as he ran, sweat flying off his brow. "I've got an idea!"
He thrust out a hand mid-sprint, channelling the guttural, wild magic he had learned from Maliketh, the Black Blade.
"Stone of Gurranq!"
A glowing boulder materialized in his palm. With a grunt, he hurled it at Agheel with all his strength. It smashed dead-center into the dragon's face, cracking against its right eye.
Agheel screeched, rearing its head back in rage and confusion. The colossal beast turned, locking eyes on the one who'd dared strike it.
It lunged, its massive jaws opened wide, aiming to devour John in a single bite.
John roared back and swung his Greatsword upward with brutal force. The slab connected with the dragon's lower jaw, throwing off its aim and forcing its maw shut with a bone-rattling clang. Agheel flinched.
"Now!" John barked.
Blaidd burst forward, leaping high into the air with uncanny grace. His Royal Greatsword gleamed with pale moonlight, then froze over, coated in glimmering frost. He brought the blade down in an arc, cutting deep into Agheel's side.
The dragon screamed again, flinching violently as Blaidd landed and rolled clear of a retaliatory stomp.
Millicent dashed in from the side, leaping high from a boulder and aiming for the wounded eye. She missed by a hair, but her curved blade still carved a crimson groove into the dragon's face.
Agheel snapped at her with a hiss, but she tumbled and rolled away just in time, hair whipping behind her.
Agitated and sensing its other foes approaching from the side, the dragon snarled and curled its massive body, then spun, whipping its barbed tail in a wild arc.
But Blaidd and John had seen it coming. With uncanny synchrony, they both ducked and dashed to the sides. John's past knowledge and Blaidd's primal instincts made them a terrifying duo.
They rushed in again, John slamming into Agheel's leg with brute force, his Greatsword more of a massive iron club than a blade. Blaidd weaved and danced, landing precise, devastating frosted cuts to the dragon's joints and underbelly.
Millicent circled around, targeting Agheel's wings, slicing clean into the thick membrane with a wet, satisfying tear.
Agheel shrieked, enraged beyond reason. With a final, thunderous cry, it launched itself skyward, wings beating the air violently.
But John wasn't letting it go.
As the dragon ascended, he leaped, latching onto Agheel's leg like a tick. His Greatsword fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Agheel thrashed mid-air to try and shake him off, flicking its leg furiously.
Marika's voice echoed in his mind, dry and amused. "Thou art mad. The dragon planeth to roast thee where thou clingeth."
"IFUCKIN' KNOW!" John shouted aloud, eyes wide as Agheel twisted its head around, maw opening and glowing with flame.
With a desperate grunt, John swung himself to the opposite leg just as the fire roared past him in a wave of blistering heat.
He cackled like a lunatic as the flames missed by inches, the adrenaline having long since flooded his system. The Tarnished warrior began climbing the dragon's leg like a possessed monkey, he dug in with his gauntlets, inch by inch.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the others simply… stared.
Agheel was now circling above the lake, bucking and roaring as John held on for dear life.
Blaidd stuck his Royal Greatsword into the ground, leaned on it, and watched with a raised brow.
"…Is this typical behavior for Johnathan?" He asked casually, his voice brimming with amusement.
Millicent giggled behind her hand, her cheek splattered with blood. "Totally. He's really funny!"
Blaidd chuckled, shaking his head. Nearby, a few of the children Melina had just healed were laughing, eyes wide with wonder as they watched John battle a dragon mid-air like it was a Tuesday afternoon hobby.
Blaidd turned to them, then looked back up. "None of you are worried? If he falls, he will die."
Melina, still healing an elderly man with singed legs, grumbled without turning around. "He should fall and die. Maybe then he'd learn something for once and stop being so stupid…"
Blaidd howled with laughter, Millicent nearly dropped her sword laughing as well.
Some of the adult villagers looked between the party with open-mouthed confusion and horror.
They were surrounded by maniacs.
The wind screamed past him as Agheel tore through the skies at breakneck speed as John, clinging desperately to the dragon's leg, finally hauled himself up to its back. Each movement felt like wrestling a tornado strapped to a furnace.
"Hnnnghh! God damn it…!" He grunted, dragging himself over the spined ridges. "I still don't have wings… This would be a helluva lot easier if I had wings!"
Marika's voice floated into his head, dry and amused. "Aye… Wings would help thee not die at the moment. But I daresay thy current concern should lie elsewhere."
John narrowed his eyes, pulling himself upright despite the roaring wind. "I know, I know! I'm fucking dumb, you don't have to say it!"
He heard her soft chuckle, the kind that promised no good. "Oh, thou art certainly not wrong… But I was referring more to the fact that yon lizard is about to try to flip itself in mid-air to throw thee off."
"Wha-?! H-Huh?! SHIT!"
Agheel roared and tilted violently, twisting in the sky.
John's footing nearly vanished beneath him, but he dropped flat, hugging the scaly back with both arms. His arms instinctively shifted and morphed with a single thought as he channeled 'Dragon Claw' into both of them to strengthen himself and dug into Agheel's flesh, anchoring him just as the beast rolled belly-up in the air.
With gritted and screaming muscles, he pulled himself forward, climbing steadily along Agheel's spine toward its skull.
"Time to end this, you overgrown chicken nugget…" He hissed between gritted teeth, his fangs fully out.
Reaching the back of the dragon's head, he reared his fist and slammed it down. Once, twice, over and over, massive draconic punches cracking scales and bone with each blow.
Agheel shrieked, its flight wavering.
Marika's voice groaned in his mind. "Thou flat-headed brute… Doest thou only know how to punch thy problems?! Use thy frost breath on my signal, fool!"
He blinked in confusion mid-punch. "Wait, what? Why?! What's the plan?!"
"Silence!" She snapped at him. "Trust me and breathe when I command it!"
Grumbling, he huffed and summoned the frigid power in his gut. Cold radiated from his chest, misting from between his lips.
"Now."
He exhaled.
A roaring cone of glacial breath blasted into Agheel's face, the cold seeping instantly into its already-damaged skull and freezing it in place. Its wings faltered.
The beast gave a strangled screech as its body began to plummet.
John jumped off the back at the last second, flipping through the air as Agheel hurtled downward. He turned mid-fall, watching as the dragon slammed headfirst into the scorched ruins below.
CRRRK-KA-KA-THOOOOOM!
A broken tower pierced up through its chest cavity like a divine spear. Agheel let out a final, gurgling wheeze as his blood and entrails painted the tower's length, a grotesque crimson banner fluttering in the wind. His great head slumped to the side, body twitching in a death rattle.
John landed hard nearby, gasping, his hands and knees hitting the ash-covered stone. His breath came in ragged, burning pulls as he stared up at the corpse of the fallen beast.
He spoke through heavy exhales, feeling Agheel's blood and bits of guts splatter onto him. "H-How… How the hell did you know that would happen?"
Golden light shimmered as Marika materialized before him, arms crossed, her long hair glowing softly in the aftermath of battle. She scoffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder with an air of casual divinity.
"Remember, I am a Goddess, mine Champion. " She said with a regal smirk. "I did not become one by beauty or brawn alone, though I possess both in excess." She leaned in slightly, tone growing smug. "I rose because very few minds in the Lands Between can hope to match mine."
"T'was not merely chance nor guesswork," Marika continued coolly, arms folded as her golden eyes lingered on the broken tower now impaling Agheel's corpse.
"I studied the terrain the moment we arrived: its elevation, wind patterns, and the dragon's likely flight path. When thou used frost breath to freeze its wing joints and skull, I knew it would falter in its leftward glide. The ruins below held the tallest structure still standing, angled just right to catch a beast of Agheel's size mid-fall. 'Twas a matter of timing, physics, and foresight. 'Tis simple… for a Goddess."
John just stared at her, wide-eyed, slightly agape at her brilliance. His breath caught in his throat, and a faint blush rose on his cheeks as an unconscious thought slipped through him. 'That's… kinda hot, actually.'
Marika paused mid-pose, her eyebrow twitched as a slow smirk crept onto her lips, her arms folding more tightly beneath her divine bosom as she turned slightly away.
"For both our sakes…" She muttered with an amused lilt. "I shall pretend I did not just feel thy arousal from that statement."
John's eyes widened in panic, and his blush turned crimson. "HOW?! How the hell can you feel that?!"
She covered her mouth with one dainty hand and giggled, an actual giggle, as she tilted her head smugly.
"We share a mind, fool. What thou feeleth, I feel. Everything."
John pointed dramatically at the sky with both hands. "That's just not fuckin' fair!"
Marika burst out laughing, floating backward into the air on her ribbon of grace as she laughed at him mercilessly.
He groaned and dropped his head into his hands, still burning red.
And though neither of them seemed to notice that just behind her hand, Marika herself wasn't entirely unaffected.
Her pale cheeks were just slightly tinged with pink.
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Author's Note:
First of all, stones please.
Also, guys, I got into fate recently and I just finished the first route of the Stay Night Visual Novel…
WHO THE FUCK WAS GONNA TELL ME THAT SHIROU ACTUALLY IS THE BONE OF HIS SWORD????
I'VE BEEN BAMBOOZLED!
…
Next Chapter Title: The Blind Saintess.
…
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