Path to Power: The Fallen Knight III
A battle between a fallen paladin and a dragon. Story in the style of a journal.
You think me mad, do you not? I am not yet the rabid beast you see me as, my poor witness, for it is natural to fear that which can take away what you care for most. I too felt it when I fled my home, and when I lost my family, and it is precisely because of these grotesque tragedies that I am motivated to have satisfaction; to have control… to teach the arrogant monsters who live at the expense of us mortals the true meaning of fear! Then the fateful hour occurred, to again confront such a monster while my alleged allies abandoned the quest for self-love and security. I was different from them, and I will repeat it for you: I wanted to die.
“How foolish are you to stand alone at the heart of my lair?"
The dragon bellowed from the darkness. His prying inquiry evoking only silence, while the now dubbed 'Black Knight' comfortably rested a serrated great sword upon his armored shoulder.
“Has the fear gripped your heart over so grave a blunder? Let me now enjoy your cries for mercy as your flesh roasts within that fragile armor."
“Do you not have gods dragon, or hath thy lofty station made you blind to those further above you?"
Though poised to attack, the dragon withdrew temporarily, for his instincts (at least) did not make him stupid.
“You're a warrior of a holy order, are you?"
“No."
There was an odd silence in that moment. Even for dragons who had lived for hundreds of years, it was still very rare to meet those having survived their lair who seemed to have no care for their own welfare.
“I'll indulge your curiosity a moment. It's clear to me that you are young for a demon. I do serve a god, but I have no order. I have no concern for the suffering you cause; my only concern is to cause you suffering. I am merely a product of your own faith: that the weak exist to serve the strong."
The dragon held a wry smile in amusement.
“Ah, you have gone mad. You think yourself exempt from the natural world, and pass judgement as a demon yourself."
“Correct. I am a demon, and to the extent which concerns you, I am indeed exempt."
“Silence your blathering!"
_The lair filled with a raging torrent of hellfire. Oh, the dragon was quite right, it wasn't long before I smelled the bubbling ichor of my own melted flesh, but something ran hotter still. It was the rankling hatred which burned so violently in my blood for every waking moment, augmented to an unbelievable intensity when the object of my hatred stood before me so vividly. _
A vertical slash of my blade tore through the fire like lighting, forcing his maw closed and crushing the scales of his lower jaw like shards of glass. If you are not acquainted to battle my witness, know that you know your opponents very intimately in those brief moments of combat.
“Insect!"
The lair illuminated gradually while he readied another breath attack, but I knew to press the advance while he was grounded by these walls. A mighty claw swiped me, and though I had managed to impale the dragon's palm with a well-placed thrust, my body was sent tumbling violently until a stalagmite twisted my armor and crushed my ribs. Though I had just cursed it, I immediately sought refuge from the second wave of flame behind that very rock. Ambient heat still burned me within the armor, my body no longer responded, and the dragon now stood between me and my blade.
“You are trounced mad knight, and you must suffer for the injuries you have done to me!"
“Feed upon yours, feed upon theirs. Spirit with flesh."
In that moment, the noises of my degrading mind merged almost into words. Every sinew that writhed in agony grew calm while I felt my life slipping away, and yet, I could somehow move again. My broken body stood to confront the dragon, with languid motions which seemed to indicate an acceptance of one's defeat.
“Poor lamb-- no bargain?"
Flames gently soaked the floor, and I could see the beast clearly, working the heat into my marrow instead of killing me outright. Falling to my knees, my eye locked with his through my visor; the elation he took knowing, even hearing, my flesh pop and whine, and how I experienced every waking second as an eternity. It was but a taste of what waited for me in the afterlife.
“Hassaka-arhim, derrus atkun."
The noises bridged reality, and echoed through the lair with bated whispers. The beast turned instinctively to see me clasping the sword. He charged with a roar which rattled the walls, I could no longer hear it, but I could feel the tremors. Then he stopped. I did not know why then, but the truth of the event dawned upon me moons later: the blade was turned upon myself, cut through the torso and into my own heart.
Take it, gaze into the eye of the abyss, and the path to power will be revealed.
Silence. The dragon was not to be fooled again, though the victory seemed so sure.
“No more."
A minced body will have no more sorcery to display, but all I needed to remove was a small piece to place the strike I needed to. A piece of my own soul. A loud crash broke the deafening silence as my own blood splattered violently from the pool beneath me. I hath leapt with such force that it defied reason, and the blade crashed atop his snout to force his head upon the ground. In this fleeting second, my legs pressed against the ceiling, and my blade was plunged deep into the dragon's spine before he could writhe elsewhere.
_The hilt broke and I slid clumsily off the dragon's neck. Copious gore can be a fine grease. That unnerving power had left me, and so I again began to die. There was a need to look into the eyes of my enemy one last time, so my helm rang harshly upon the stone as I removed it. _
“It worked."
The wyrm struggled, but could only manage minor convulsions with every drop of his strength. I spoke heavily; time ran short.
“You think too that I will die, but you will have no comfort. An ancient evil beckoned me to merge flesh with spirit. Now, I will have yours to feed mine."
Tell me my witness, let me pretend you are here, have you partaken of Datura? Enchant it to make a lethal ecstasy, and it will still never compare to consuming the heart and soul of your enemies until an emaciated mount of twisted flesh remains. I had been roasted alive and impaled; but I could scarcely imagine the agony that beast felt when everything that was ever himself was slowly pulled into oblivion. The moment his faith and mind broke, that it all meant nothing now. Neither hell nor God could ever save him.
Etherius - 7211, 4th First Quarter