I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

We Meet Again

Having climbed to the top of the cliffs of the canyon, Ergen now froze as the frost troll leader above him prepared to cast a spell. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to reach the leader in time for the spell to go off as he simply couldn't climb fast enough with such uncertain footholds. And with him currently hanging off of the side of the cliff as he was, even a small amount of magic that wouldn't hurt Ergen would possibly make them tumble back down the cliff, which would be fatal for Ergen's passengers.

"Die!" The frost troll spoke with a horrible and brutish accent before a wall of what seemed like incredibly thick mist suddenly appeared in a wide area behind him. And while Ergen was curious as to what it was at first, his eyes suddenly grew wide as a wall of rushing snow appeared in the form of an avalanche behind the frost troll leader, pushing past him before running over the side of the cliff and slamming into Ergen. And even though Ergen was a dragon with immense strength, even he couldn't keep his grip on the cliff before the snow finally knocked him off.

Falling through the air and back down to the horde of angry frost trolls beneath them, Rae let out a scream from the top of Ergen's head before he expanded his wings and started gliding down the canyon. However, having fallen at a strange angle, this manuver made him slam into the nearby cliff once before he continued falling towards the city. And he'd almost landed inside of it before he finally righted himself and started gliding in earnest.

"They're everywhere!" Rae announced needlessly as Ergen already saw the hundreds of frost trolls that he was about to land in. Whichever forces that had been attacking the city before seemed to have vanished without a trace, and even now Ergen was wondering what he could do as the creatures beneath him started shooting arrows up at them. The ground was growing closer and closer with ever passing second, and after thinking furiously, Ergen beat his wings once to buy himself time so that he could think of some way out of his situation. However, even that action only bought him a few seconds at best. He needed to think of something or they would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the frost trolls, and... wait a minute...

Beating his wings, Ergen gained in altitude again, and he started repeating the process several times before he suddenly found himself level with the rope bridges. Without being able to control himself very well, all he heard was several startled shouts from the frost trolls stationed on one of the rope bridges before his body hit it and he completely destroyed the bridge, sending all of the frost trolls on it plummeting to their deaths. However, even that obstacle didn't stop Ergen as he continued to beat his wings, attempting to gain some kind of control before he suddenly found himself soaring above the canyon with the entire mountain range in his sight.

'I can fly now!' Ergen thought in amazement before letting out a roar of happiness. He didn't know when he first started being able to fly, but thinking back on it now, he should have at least attempted it seeing as his body had grown. However, while he was happy about his newfound ability, it's full use would apparently only come in time as Ergen 's back muscles started to cry out in pain from the sudden overuse.

Thankfully, he at least managed to glide onto the top the the canyon, though it still didn't seem to be enough as the frost trolls behind them were already scrambling up the many paths and ladders that led up the cliffs. They were fast climbers, and Ergen had only just landed when the first of the horde started running towards him, followed by countless others as Ergen turned to run away. However, when he did, he suddenly found himself surrounded by even more humanoids as several burst out of the snow in front of them. Though, after their sudden entry, Ergen could instantly tell that these were not the frost trolls that he'd just been running away from. But rather, their uniforms looked horrifyingly familiar as knights, priests, assassins and mages rose from their hiding places in front of him.

"Please help us! We have Sheera!" Rae called out from the top of Ergen's head, making her normal light flare in comparison to what it normally was so that both she and the unconscious elf could be recognized by the humans. 

"Form a shield wall and hold your positions! Mages! Archers! Fire everything you have into the horde!" A voice called out, ordering all of the humans around Ergen while making him freeze in place. That voice... he would remember it for as long as he lived. It was the voice of the one who had killed his mother, given him the scar above his eye and had sentenced Ergen to a fate where his life was always on the line. "Protect the princess at all costs!"

Ignoring the humans running past him, Ergen slowly turned his head until he spotted their commander, who was currently covered with the furs of several types of animals so that she could keep warm. And even though he couldn't see her armor clearly, two things stood out so that he could instantly recognize her anywhere. The decorated long sword at her hip, and the small scar that Ergen had given her which still persisted above her left eye. This person... was the commander of the humans that had attacked his mother when he'd still been young. She was the reason his mother had been to weak to fight back and win against the serpent, or at least, that was how Ergen saw it was he slowly turned and started walking towards her with rage overwhelming him.

"We need to help!" Rae suddenly beat on the top of Ergen's head while both he and the human commander glared at each other. Her glare was fierce despite her body trembling beneath her, and while Ergen wanted nothing more than to take revenge immediately, the sound of several people screaming in pain behind him drew his attention back to the horde of frost trolls where the fighting had only just started.

Frost troll archers were showering the humans in a never ending volley of arrows as their warriors charged forward, however most of the arrows were blocked by another barrier that the mages creating. Though, even with most of them falling into the snow harmlessly, a few of the arrows still found their ways past the gaps in the barriers, continuing their paths unhindered before piercing several of the knights that had been attempting to get into formation. The priests near Ergen immediately started chanting once they realized that there were wounded soldiers in front of them, and the entire scenario made Ergen sick as he relived the day that he and his mother had been attacked.

"What are you doing?! We have to help them!" Rae suddenly shouted at Ergen while leaning down so that she could look him in the eye. He'd started walking away from the battle, thinking that he could flee and keep his promise with the fairy and that his mother's murderer would be overwhelmed and killed by the frost trolls. It was the perfect solution that fixed both of his problems, but now it seemed as if he wasn't going to get away with it.

"They need your help or they're going to die!" Rae continued in a frantic tone.

'And?' Ergen wanted to ask back before he started walking away again. Though, even despite his anger, he started hesitating as he heard more screaming behind him. Before, in his den, Ergen had felt uneasy about the people burning alive due to his mother's fire breath. He didn't know why he'd felt that way at the time, but now he knew that it was because he'd been human in his past life. And now, as he turned around to see the knights attempting to fight the frost troll warriors that were more than twice their size, he was suddenly torn about what to do. His dragon self wanted nothing more than to escape and leave these people to their own devices, but his human self wanted to help them no matter what...

Turning around, Ergen stood on unsteady feet as he fought an internal war with himself. Did he help the same humans that had caused his mother to be killed, or did he leave them to die even when they had exposed themselves to save the person that he himself was trying to protect? Ergen thought about what to do furiously as the two forces fought in front of him, and as he thought about it, he himself was starting questioning what he would do as it seemed as if his past self was conflicting with his current. And so, Ergen's actions wagered on a single question that he didn't seem able to answer clearly. Was he more dragon, or human?