Ryu lifted his head to see the massive serpentine creature, writhing and twisting, breathing sulfurous air. His arm perched awkwardly around his mighty blade, now drenched in blood and dirt. He pried his eyes open again and again, just to catch a glimpse of what his foe was proceeding to do. Ryu's deep blue hair drenched with sweat and the moist atmosphere of the dank dungeon where the dragon lay.
The dragon swiveled its massive head, teeth glistening and dripping with blood and saliva, its jaw opened, and in a deep God-like voice, the tones reverberating off of the walls as the words slid off its tongue, "So, young warrior, you do have the courage to face certain doom, and for a human such as yourself, you did well, though realize I could instantly wipe you out of fates book."
Ryu smiled, weakly and looked the dragon in the eye.
The dragon recoiled slightly "Ah, but I sense something . . . different about you than all the other warriors, almost as if, you too are a god as I, or soon to become one." The dragon slid his head forward towards Ryu's ever declining face, the dragon smiled "Yes, that is why you can put up such a fight, the others had the will, but not the drive. I sense you will become great. Greater than a god, maybe. Of course, it all depends on your willingness to cooperate."
Ryu lifted his head yet again, and straightened his posture, and smoothed out his tattered garment.
The dragon chuckled, rocks slid from delicate perches in the cave, down to the ground. “Normally, for a warrior who has made it this far, they would be asked to save a village from peril, or stop some growing evil. But, what you don’t know, is, dragons don't give a damn about the human race. We endow our power to those who will use it to further our legendary status. Warriors seek the power to transform into dragons, this can only be accomplished by destroying a dragon. The body is incinerated; however the soul remains to inhabit the warrior. The warrior eventually looses control and becomes a full-fledged dragon; usually a deadly riot ensues by humans, causing deaths by the millions. And new legends of the dragon are born with the new body.” The dragon paused and sighed “A never ending circle ensues, the warrior is born, grows, defeats the dragon, defeats god, and becomes a dragon, and a god. Then another warrior is born millennia later. You may defeat me, but you will fall into the pattern.”
Ryu smiled and wiped the sweat from his brow, and said with confidence and serenity “Dragon, you change you story mid sentence, I doubt your truth. You say that you dragons don’t care for the human race, yet you need them to continue your life.”
The dragon drew its head back, snarling, lips flaring and scales shivering, “You anger me, it is not wise to anger god.”
Ryu put his sword forward, in a defensive stance, and said with faith “You claim to be god, to be the water than spins the wheel, but water does not flow with rocks to block it. You claim that you are in control of those who fight you, as a test so they may become one of your immortal clan. But I believe that you need humans, that you would all be dead without the ones who challenge you, we stop you from becoming fat and tired. . . “
The dragon flared its nostrils and shot a molten hot burst of elements through the air, then truly disturbed by this warrior, interrupted “You wish to prove you lies, you fiend, then find out.” The dragon, lifted its massive head, coiling to prepare for a devastating attack, its forearms tensed and claws unfurled.
Ryu swiftly reached for his bag, and pulled out a small piece of jewelry, a ring, simple gold with an indecipherable writing, he slipped it nimbly on his finger, then threw down his bag and any weight. His sword already drawn, his small shield attached to his left arm, his hair already tied back, he prepared. But Ryu saw the dragons preparation as well, he saw his window, before the dragon could react, Ryu sprang forward with his razor sharp blade that had defended him so many times before, the precise timing allowed the blade to sink into the dragons flesh, the blade slipped through the scales which are invulnerable to so numerable a weapon. Ryu had struck the first blow, he knew he had little few seconds before the dragon would counter his attack and Ryu jumped to the side of the dragons breast where he struck and slid down beneath the dragons enormous legs. Ryu slid a few meters then quickly got up and ran. Ryu angled his sword and shifted weight to his left side and, knowing the dragon could not possibly have time to turn and deflect a blow, Ryu turned sharply to his right, with his blade perpendicular to his chest, he thrust the blade into the dragons back as he held his arms out and prepared to roll with the extraction of the blade. Ryu began the roll, but saw the dragons tail, swinging at him, he had forgotten about the tail. Ryu tried to straighten his folly, but attempting to flatten instead of roll, he made it most of the way, but the tail, hardened by the fires of the worst volcano, yet quicker and more flexible than the willow tree, struck Ryu’s leg, which was mere centimeters higher then the rest of his body, the tail ripped Ryu’s pant leg off and bruised the leg quicker than any being could of seen. Ryu cried in pain and grabbed a dagger from his belt and hurled it at the dragon’s face. The dragon, so sure of itself could not see the dagger fast enough, it lowered its head to dodge, but the dagger’s small persistent blade caught the dragon right above the eye and skirted off and fell to the floor. The dragon threw its head up and roared, it jumped several meters away from Ryu, who was getting up, despite a battered leg, and the dragon inhaled. Ryu’s head turned towards the dragon, hearing the inhale of breath. Ryu muttered “Oh, shit.” As he realized that the dragon would probably end the duel right now. Ryu also muttered, what he had heard from legend, the scorn of any adventurer “Breath of fire. . .”
The dragon exhaled, a blinding, searing flash of fire and ash filled the area. Jetting towards Ryu, a super heated stream of molten earth, lighting the very air on fire, Ryu had no time to dodge, the blast was too large, the air too hot. Ryu could do nothing but let the flesh melt, bits of muscle ripped off, blood began flowing, just to be burnt in the air, his hair burned off, the skin began tearing off of his scalp. Veins were bursting due to the heat, tendons and tissue incinerated. When the fire reached the bone, Ryu was long dead. . .The ring still hanging on his finger glowed.
“Open your eyes.” A voice said, both powerful and gentle, full of sorrow and impatience.
Ryu opened his eyes and sat up, to find a woman in a flowing black gown, shining brilliantly in the shallow light. The light which was strangely not light, it glowed but did not glare. The atmosphere was full of contradiction, Ryu was breathing, but nothing was there, and yet if he stopped breathing, he felt the need for another gulp of the nonexistent gas. His body felt insubstantial, yet weighed down.
The woman watched him discover the ways of where he lay, her black eyes with a slight fire to them, stared and waited.
Ryu looked into those eyes and shuddered, he knew she was no devil, but she was no angel. “What is this limbo, I feel strangely perched in.” He said.
“It is as you say, limbo. Nothing and everything. You are here because you failed.” She said sternly, tongue flickering and lips flowing fluently, as her demon eyes pierced his soul, wrenching it with twists that only the dead would not feel.
Ryu spun in agony, a tear fell from his eye, down his cheek. “Why do you do this foul wench!”
“Is that the way you speak to your guardian angel?” She asked, smiling.
Ryu spit blood and lifted his face to her “You’re no angel. Why do you torment me? Do you wish me to die in more than one world?” He spewed at her, eyes filling with anger.
“You think this is torment? You just suffered a death, only one in a thousand men suffer, this is child’s play, you do not even have a material body here.” She answered, her eyes tearing Ryu’s soul, letting it bleed over the cosmos.
“This is worse than a thousand deaths!” Ryu breathed raggedly, “Why do I receive this punishment for being unable to slay an immortal being?”
She looked away from Ryu, he slumped down on the ground, he started to breath smooth again. “You believe they are immortal? Immortal in spirit? Body? No, they are just beings, it is greed that is immortal, that is why they claim to live forever. Those who obtain their powers, often become ensnared by greed and become arrogant. The same people become dragons, but they are not immortal.”
“Then I can defeat it.” Ryu said, confidence rising.
“Yes, that is why you are here, to realize that you can defeat it. I could not send you back if you believed you were to die.” She said, flowing gestures accompanying her words.
Ryu, nodded, then looked her straight in the eye and said “You are my ring.”
“Yes. Now you shall be rejuvenated and sent back, defeat the dragon, Ryu, defeat it.”
Ryu stood, powerful, confident. Powerful blade in hand, which glowed slightly then subsided, a carving a dragon was on the blade. Ryu looked up at the dragon, which slept peacefully. It breathed heavily, smoke exuding from its nostrils. It was completely off guard.
Ryu stepped forward and shouted “DRAGON!”
The dragon opened an eye, and looked wearily at the figure standing before him. Then as its eyes widened, it knew who was standing there. “Warrior, you are more difficult to defeat.”
Ryu held his sword out and said “Shut up dragon, you are about to die.”
The dragon laughed and shot small spheres of fire at Ryu, who dodged them easily “You gained confidence in death.”
Ryu shot to the side, running, each footstep he made seemed longer than the last, he felt lighter than air, he grabbed a small hexagonal shaped object from his bag and threw it at the dragons head, it flew through the air and slammed into the side of the dragons head, exploding into a huge blast of electricity and shards of ice. The dragon hurled its body at Ryu, its right side of its face bleeding profusely, scaled ripped off. Ryu could see veins pulsing hot magma. The dragons mouth now a gaping maw, full of teeth prepared to shred flesh. The dragons slender, strong body coursed through the air, wings made of thin membrane flapping slightly to keep the body above ground. Yet the dragon came speedily at Ryu. Ryu was prepared, he held his sword deftly in his right hand, and grabbed some leaves and powder with his left. He mashed the components together and recited “Uhn ginahdra aitlahnordro.” Instantly Ryu disappeared from sight. The dragon cursed and stopped mid air.
“Damn you humans. You were never supposed to learn the dark arts,” The dragon said, and snorted, “Not that it will help you, “ And the dragon began breathing deeply.
Ryu, now invisible, ran behind the dragon and stabbed it in the upper thigh, severing precious nerves. Then he pulled the sword out and jumped back.
The dragon fell down in agony, its leg bleeding profusely. Screaming it turned around and prepared to shoot its deadly fire.
Ryu was behind the dragon again, without having to move, he jumped onto the dragons back and ran up its spine, careful not to put too much weight on the dragon. As the dragon began spewing flame, Ryu trust his blade through the dragons neck and jerked the sword to the side. The dragons head fell to the side, the weight of the head tore it the rest of the way off, ripping flesh and scales. The head was now on the ground, and the body slumped down, bleeding its life away.
Ryu jumped down from the body and went to the head, he grabbed a knife and cut out a large tooth, and put it in his bag.
A voice said “Drink the dragons blood, to gain its power. But be warned, you will become a dragon, and slip into its ways over time. If you do not drink its blood it will seep into the earth and poison the land, spawning more dragons from those who live on the land.”
Ryu knew what had to be done.
Ryu bent down and lifted the head, and tipped the open wound towards his mouth, a deep red blood dripped into his mouth. As Ryu drank, he could feel his strength grow, the transformation was occurring already. The dragon began to disintegrate quickly, and in minutes nothing remained. Ryu pulled his sword out, which was still warm from the battle and said “I will not succumb to the evils of a dragon, it ends now.” And Ryu shoved the sword through his chest. The blade, which seemed a lot colder in his chest, penetrated his heart, letting the blood leak, he heart soon stopped and his body fell limp to the cold earth.
End
This is my first attempt at real serious fiction. Breath of Fire 3 was my first RPG, so its only right that my first fiction is about it. I will write more, and if you like this, and comedy, contact me and I’ll send you some of my other works.
- Aghballad