Somewhere far away, overlooking a battlefield and funeral pyres, two women sat watching the smoke. Blue skies had returned, and they sat in silence for a while. Their companions went to mourn, and to discuss what was and what would follow. These two knew what was coming. They were bound by that knowledge.[break]
"Tell father goodbye for me." Crystal said, not looking to Zaria.[break]
"Tell him yourself." Was her abrupt retort.[break]
"I can't, Hero." She said in a voice thick with grief. "The part of me that is his daughter won't be able to see it through. Not if I do that. All that would come from those words is stagnation."[break]
"Hmm." Zaria learned wisdom from the Fairy King long ago, that sometimes the best thing to say was nothing at all.[break]
"Your memories, they've mostly come back, yes?"[break]
"Yes." A pause followed the words. "I feel real." She finally said. "With every crystal, with every battle. I remember much."[break]
"Then I say, in this moment of calm, from one who should have no voice to another, I hope you found peace after your victory."[break]
"There is no true peace." She said, feeling at once like a much older woman. "Those who knew the trenches, and the roads, and the stench of dying men will carry that with them forever."[break]
"Being a warrior sounds hard."[break]
"It is a duty." She stressed. "And others knew peace. That is what matters. I went to my rest, and a story grew of one who would return in the darkest day, in blackest night."[break]
"And that day will soon come."[break]
"Yes." Zaria stood. "Those under the red R will rally to war. They and the fractured kingdom of Hoenn will fight, and greater threats will circle them both like Seviper."[break]
"Such is mankind's nature, and the nature of those who dwell among unknowable stars." Crystal, too, stood up. She turned to Zaria, who stood taller, and looked up at the knight. "Will you make me a vow, Ser Knight?"[break]
"What is it?"[break]
"Stay with him." The part of Her that would forever be Michael the Warrior's daughter begged. "Until the end. Until the credits stop rolling and the lights turn back on."[break]
"That, I can do." With a bow of her head, Zaria swore her oath. "So long as he has the resolve to serve the realm of man, I will stay by his side." What went unspoken was this: he will serve, until he dies. That is the truth of Michael Navidson.[break]
"Then take this, Hero." She pressed a shining purple shard into Zaria's hand, turned, and disappeared into the sun. They would meet again soon.[break]
When Zaria looked into the crystal, she saw what the world would be, should her enemy win.

My world is painted red. This human's blood tastes delightful. It reminds me of another. It reminds me of you, my human half. I have tasted your blood but once. I wanted more. Consumption is an ultimate act of love. I only want to eat the strong. By consuming them, they will live forever within me.[break]
I want to consume this warrior, guided by his hatred. I want to fly high with the strength in his limbs. He has maimed me. I have maimed him. All we are anymore is the sum of the hurt we've done to each other. How will either one of us carry on after this?[break]
My leg flies out from under me. I do not cry in pain. Dragons do not cry, nor do we acknowledge pain.[break]
When I keep fighting, at last, his patron rouses. When my claw lunges for the human, the ruinous blade intervenes. There's shock in my foe's eyes. Anger. This good fight has been disturbed.[break]
Maybe that's why he doesn't stop me when I pierce myself upon this Ruinous thing. We lock in an intimate embrace, me and this creature wreathed in hate. This close, its hatred practically freezes me. I have only felt this hatred once before.[break]
The humans call their strange technology 'sygna suits'. Me, the Vortigern who truly lived, did not understand what was happening. A part of himself forever went into my human half, as a part of that human is forever me. I drowned in a black tar pit of hatred so deep that I almost drowned. This creature and he were made for each other.[break]
Why does he deny that part of himself? Why deny the strength of this curse?[break]
I don't understand it, just as I don't understand why this wounded human simply stands there and watches me as I bite into his god.

Yes.[break]
Just like that.[break]
Hurt me. Cut me. Attack me. My claws skid along the edge of the dark knight's blade. Sparks fly, lighting up our world with verdant colors. I do not know this human's name. Knowing names is my human half's job. All I know is that he must die, and that we fight.[break]
They say that he is an 'avatar', one chosen by an embodiment of hate.[break]
I don't see hate in his eyes. Not like this. They're just...[break]
Sad.[break]
Don't look at me like that, human. Not with sadness. Burn your flame. Burn it bright. Consume yourself wholly upon the pyre of your rage. Give yourself over to this joy.[break]
That's right. Your blade finds purchase again. My scales are sheared off. I lean down, ready to bite you. You pivot away, but not quick enough. My teeth tear a chunk of your left shoulder. The arm beneath falls like so much useless meat.[break]
There it is. There's hatred. Rage. What thought drives you? Is it that you are maimed? Is it the pain? Come on, come at me again. You still have one arm.[break]
I'll let you try as many times as you need, until you slay the dragon.

The human tells me to charge. His arrogance amuses me. While the rest of them charge through the gates upon their steeds, I take to the air. I soar. Below me is some pitiful giant. Not worth my time. No, no. Someone here understands my heart. I wish to fight that human.[break]
I land before the enemy general. His eyes behold me, cold as a northern sea. Cold is dragonkind’s natural enemy. Cold is anathema to my kind.[break]
He doesn’t speak. What good are words? I simply feel the cool blade of a long dead warrior pierce my side. I roar, but not in pain. Upon my lips is a challenge. I have no great wings, I have no tail with which to swim. All I have are my legs, and my killing claws. With them, I am powerful. I am king. I am alpha and omega, and this swordsman will die.[break]
His bladework is magnificent. It kindles something in me I did not even know was there. Cold though it is, my blood burns hot. I am a blur, as is he. His cursed patron lounges like some useless thing, watching the battle. I see it in the human’s eyes: he does not want the creature to interfere. This is a battle between a knight and a dragon.[break]
None would dare break that sacred, intimate bond. One of us will kill the other. Until then, as fangs meet blade, we live. Truly live.