Where… am I?

She had been having strange dreams intermittently for a while, often of places she had never been, and things she had never seen. There was one, though, that would constantly recur. A dream of an endless expanse, split by an insurmountable wall with a singular resolute gate. A gate without visible lock or key other than a very small hole in its center, through which unintelligible whispers could be heard. The gate itself was covered in countless runes, some worn and others with a strange and unnatural sharpness to them.

However, this time… felt different… this time… she touched the gate, and just as suddenly as it appeared in her dreams, it was gone.

Diane’s vision was focused with a level of clarity far beyond anything she had ever experienced before, the level of detail was almost too surreal…

The subtle movements of each leaf on the trees towering nearly a hundred meters overhead… the frosted tips of mountain peaks piercing the heavens… the splash of a small droplet of dew shattered by the rapidly beating wings of a beetle… the glints of moonlight dancing off the countless scales of a titanic winged lizard as it marched into the meadow, slowly emerging from the cover of the otherworldly forest.

…

…

The titanic winged lizard.

The one that is looking right at me.

Move! Move! Move! Damnit! Why can’t I move?!

With each step the creature took, she could feel the earth tremble as a soft *boom* reverberated through the air.

It was a creature she had only ever read about in books, proclaimed extinct by the gods, and seen at best with an artist’s depiction based on some ancient statues. It was a creature far more majestic and intimidating than any wyvern.

This is dream! It has to be a dream! None of this is real! Dragons don’t exist anymore! NOW MOVE!

Diane’s body finally started moving, but not in the way she wanted at all. She turned half-way, and started to slowly pace around the dragon, her unblinking eyes transfixed upon the creature… its razor sharp teeth protruding like deadly lances… its snarling lips… the plumes of smoke billowing from the corners of its maw… and the horrendous claws protruding from its feet, each easily the size of a great sword.

It had finally stopped moving, and was now slowly turning its head, following Diane’s path. The creature’s piercing gaze followed her every movement, with undoubtedly no less detail than she could observe of it and analyzing her.

What is going on?!

Almost as if in response, she could hear a voice begin speaking… slowly, strongly, and with authority…

“Trauxis, watashi wa Bahamūto ni michi o yuzuru koto o yurushimasen. Yagate, koko ni sumu subete no hito o zetsubō kara kaihō shimasu. Hoka no basho no kamigami to no sensō o tori, soshite sari nasai!”

(Trauxis, I will not allow Bahamut to have his way. In time, I will release all who live here from their despair. Take your war with the gods elsewhere, and begone!)

This…. This is the voice I keep hearing in my head! But… why? Why can’t I understand what it is saying?!

A slow rumble slowly filled the air and the smoke began to billow out more furiously from the dragon’s mouth, as it produced a sound as much a laugh as it was a mighty roar!

“Orokana chīsana dēmon! Sudeni hajimatte iru koto o tomeru ni wa oso sugimasu! Anata no sekai wa jūbun ni ōkiku, bahamūto ga doragon no furusato ni naru tame ni sore o erabu hodo no hōfuna shigen o motte iru koto o kōei ni omoubekidesu!”

(Foolish little Daemon! It is far too late for you to stop what has already begun! You should be honored that your world is large enough and has such a bounty of resources that Bahamut would choose it to become the home-world of the Dragons!)

Is it… answering that voice? It wasn’t in my head?

The voice echoed forth again, dripping with derision and indignation while matching the force of the dragon’s voice. The air itself began to quiver as the contest of wills continued!

“Anata ga koko de hateshinai sensō to kurushimi o motarasu toki, anata wa watashi ga bon'yari to taiki suru koto o nozomimasu ka? Jinsei jitai wa jūbun ni kutsūdesu! Watashi wa sudeni kono sekai o danketsu sa sete itadeshou, soshite anata no kanshō ga nakereba watashi no ninmu wa kanryō shitadeshou!”

(You wish for me to stand idly by as you bring endless war and suffering here? Life itself is pain enough! I would have already united this world and my mandate would be complete if it wasn't for your interference!)

It sounds so near! But why can’t I look for it?! Why can’t I… is it..?! Coming from me?!

Trauxis’ eyes narrowed into a cold glare, focused in on Diane. It slowly began to march forward again, slowly turning to match her path circling around it. Its voice rapidly lowered, before building again to a grand and furious crescendo!

“Anata wa hontōni kamigami ga anata no yume o jitsugen suru koto o kanō ni surudarou to shinjite imasu ka? Karera wa watashitachi no tame ni kite iru no to onajiyōni anata no tame ni kurudeshou! Anata no `sukui' o todokeru koto o tsuikyū suru koto de, anata wa haruka ni ōku no kurushimi to itami o motarasudeshou. So no yōna orokana gizen o wasurete kudasai! Kamigami ni taishite watashitachi no soba ni! Sore wa watashitachi no dare ni tottemo iminoaru mirai ga aru tame no yuiitsu no hōhōdesu!”

(Do you truly believe the gods would allow you to fulfill your dreams? They will come for you just as they are coming for us! In pursuit of delivering your 'salvation', you will bring far more suffering and pain. Forget such foolish hypocrisy! Side with us against the gods! It is the only way for there to be a meaningful future for any of us!)

The voice coming from Diane became cold, harsh and utterly hostile.

“Kore wa chaban ni sugimasen. Watashi wa sudeni ishutaru to jibun no keiyaku o musunde imasu. Anata ga susunde saranainara, watashi wa anata o tsukuranakereba naranaideshou!”

(This is nothing more than a farce. I have already struck my own deal with Ishtar. If you won’t leave willingly, then I will have to make you!)

“Fumu! Saigomade oroka, chīsana dēmon.”

(Hmph! Foolish until the end, little Daemon.)

Diane felt that if she could, she would be gritting her teeth in fury right now.

I don’t need to know what you are saying to know when you are looking down on me! You stupid Dragon! Just wait until I… EEEEEEEEH?!

A viscous pool of black began to form in front of her, as ‘her’ arm reached forward, and a massive dual blade rose out from the slime. Except… her arm was very… black… and red… with a blade of bone protruding from her forearm through a gap in thick plated armor that was as dark as the void.

In spite of ‘her’ eyes never losing sight or focus on the dragon, as it reared up to colossal heights and an ominous orange glow started to gather in its throat, she couldn’t help but be focused on what ‘she’ was.

WHAT. THE. FU-

*THOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Everything was moving fast. Incredibly fast.

WAY. TOO. FAST!

While she felt like her eyes and body were able to see and respond without issue, her mind was an absolute blur. It was as if she was jumping through countless perspectives in fractions of a second, and before she could mentally adjust, she was somewhere new again.

All the while, hellfire rained forth from Trauxis’ mouth, melting stone and turning the gargantuan trees to ash! She could feel herself blend with the shadows, before erupting forth behind the dragon with a vengeance!

*KKKRRKK*

With a sickening crunch, she felt as if her side was about to explode as she was sent hurtling through the air by an impact from the Dragon’s tail. She felt as if she could her words shouting, but her mind was too far into shock to process any of them.

All the surrounding plants began to rapidly wither as the pain dissipated from her side, before the nauseating flitting around the battlefield began anew.

However, this time… rapid fire rays of darkness would form and fire from her face and thunderous blasts of lighting erupted from her palms, shaking the mountain with its fury!

Blast after blast was deflected off the dragon’s crimson scales, redirected into the sky or the earth… blasts that were shattering all else they came into contact with.

The damnable monster began to laugh again, as it began to beat its wings and it unleashed a hurricane! She could feel it… as the wind ripped and tore at her, turning even the smallest of stones into deadly projectiles, and ripping away all surrounding wildlife.

How… how can a dream be like this… how did anyone even fight dragons if they were really like this?!

‘Her’ body still didn’t run, and it stopped flitting around the battlefield, and instead she felt an intense amount of energy gathering… focusing… as the orange glow began to form in the dragon’s throat again…

No! No, no no no no no! I will not die! Not now! Not in my dream!

“GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA!”

She could hear a laugh, almost maniacal, resounding from her. Unabated. Unrepentant. Unstoppable…

Standing tall against the furious wind, her blade pointed towards the joint of the dragon’s wing… she unleashed an insanely small, fast and thin blast of energy. For a moment, it almost felt like things slowed down again… as she watched it pierce through a scale grander than a dozen of the best Dwarven shields, before a meaty explosion severed the wing from the dragon!

With a furious and painful roar, it unleashed its hellfire yet again! Rage fueled its eyes, as it targeted the mountain itself… its breath ripping out support and unleashing a landslide.

Why… why won’t he stop laughing?! Why? Why can’t I understand them?

She could feel the flow of energy changing in her body yet again, and this time… lines of energy rapidly began to carve themselves into the sky in the shape of an eye. Slowly, slowly it began to open…

The world. Everything. All things before her. All things behind her. All things around her, under her, inside her. Inside the dragon. The drakes circling and screaming around the collapsing mountaintop. The wyverns abandoning their collapsing nests. Countless birds fleeing the dangerous trees. The ants and beetles and worms popping from the heat of raging forest fire and the cracking of the earth itself.

In that moment, a complete and total sense of everything flooded into her mind. An utterly inconceivable, overwhelming sense of everything. Something beyond the limits of a human mind… her mind.

“KYAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!” She felt as if she was unleashing a terrible, overwhelming yell inside her own head, as the world surrounding her became nothing but white, filled only with a mad, echoing laugh.