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

Victory

'Thank you.' Ergen suddenly heard a girl's voice in his head, and he was absolutely shocked when he realized that it was Chae's. He only now realized that the celestial griffin's golden feathers had returned to her, and she no longer looked like an undead either. Chae had been completely released from Emric's influences.

'You can speak?' Ergen asked enviously.

'Only telepathically, though even that won't last for long.' Chae replied sadly before Ergen's eyes widened as her entire body started glowing. 'Due to Emric's magic, my life was bound to his...'

With those words, Ergen suddenly collapsed on the ground as his legs didn't seem to be able to support him anymore. However, that didn't stop him from watching as small specks of light suddenly started rising up into the air from Chae's feathers as the entire griffin started to become translucent.

'You-'

'My life... was terrible.' Chae's voice trembled as she spoke. 'Never-ending pain, a cold world of complete darkness and all the while as Emric was using me to further his own goals... he had me kill so many innocents, people whom I never would have even hurt before... And it's all over now, thanks to you.'

Suddenly losing all thought as he didn't know how to reply, Ergen said nothing as a slight breeze blew across the destroyed city causing the specks of light from before to storm away from Chae.

'Wherever I'm going now, I'll be cheering you on.' Chae suddenly said in a cheery voice, and her griffin head seemed to smile before her body suddenly disappeared in one last flurry of specks, all of them swirling through the entire battlefield before they rose into the sky and disappeared from sight.

'I'll be cheering for you to...' Ergen thought as he lost sight of Chae. She'd been a victim all along in both the game as well as Emric's plans, and now that she was finally free from it, he didn't quite know how to feel. One on hand, he was glad that she was finally freed from what had happened to her, but on the other... Ergen felt as if he was truly alone in this world now, seeing that his last competitor was gone.

Thoughts of victory didn't even cross Ergen's mind as he laid his head down and closed his eyes, the recent battle's exhaustion and his injuries catching up to him all at once. As soon as his eyes closed, the world around him seemed to fade rapidly with the sounds of war fading until he could no longer hear them. And even though the sun was high above him, Ergen couldn't even see the light through his eyelids anymore as he seemed to be taken away into a world of darkness. Though, even if it was dark, it felt warm and comforting.

*     *     *

"Sera... Sera... Sera! Can you hear me?" Sera slowly opened her eyes to see that a battered and bloodied Asal was standing over her with a look of concern on his face.

"Emric..." Sera mumbled as she attempted to sit up, only for Farell to surprisingly appear as he held her on the ground.

"Emric is dead, so just rest for now." Farell stated in a light tone, and it was only now that Sera realized that it wasn't just Asal and Farell around her, but several divisions of the Demon King's army as they worked in the city.

"Ligan's army has retreated and we've recaptured the city." Asal said with a smile as he answered her unspoken question. "We've won."

They won? But how? The last thing that Sera could remember was...

"The sword... it shattered." Sera stated as she finally managed to slowly sit up with Farell helping her this time before she looked at the destroyed city around them. "Then how did-"

"I saw it all after you fell unconscious." Asal explained. "Your attack cracked the medallion, which undid Emric's ritual and split him apart from the griffin. The ritual seemed to make his hold over the creature be diminished, and both Ergen and the griffin finished him off together."

"Congratulations, knight. Due to your actions, Emric was defeated and we managed to end the battle without either side taking sever losses." Farell smiled warmly at her.

"The griffin... is it still alive?" Sera suddenly asked, thinking that Ergen was wounded after their battle and that he would be in danger if he had to fight again.

"Whatever curse Emric put it under, the magic that was keeping the griffin alive disappeared along with him." Asal now seemed somewhat sad as he explained. "But- Well, Ergen... He's-"

Lightly pushing both Asal and Farell out of her way, Sera stood on unsteady feet before a familiar face suddenly rushed forward to support her. And while she normally would have instantly greeted her former subordinate who seemed to have stayed after the battle, she instead let Nigel lead her forward while using him as a support until she finally reached the spot where Ergen was laying down. And when she finally saw him, her already weakened legs fell limp as she collapsed on the ground, falling forward onto Ergen's cold body as she thought about her lost comrade. For some reason, even after everything that she'd done to both him and his mother, he'd still not only helped her, but the people she was trying to save as well... She'd done so much in Emric's name, so why did he have to die and not her? Just what did his sacrifice mean?!

"When we found him, he had already turned to stone..." Farell stated sadly as he walked up behind Sera. "I've already given the orders to the mages so that we can remove the rock underneath him and prepare him for transportation... He'll be given a proper burial befitting a member of the races, I swear it."

"It's welcome, but not necessary." Asal suddenly spoke out, causing everyone to look at him as he looked up into the sky while smiling. "Ergen was an avatar, and the victor of his own game with the gods. His body here may have passed, but I'm certain that the gods have guided his spirit to wherever he belongs now."

"Do you know anything about his game?" Sera suddenly asked, standing once more with newfound strength as she looked towards the Demon King.

"Nothing at all." Asal laughed before everyone in the surrounding area looked up into the sky along with him. "But I know for certain that, whatever game he's playing now, that he has all of our best wishes with him."

*     *     *

-Years later-

"It's hard to imagine, isn't it?" Nigel asked as both he and Sera walked hand in hand down the streets of Ergen, the newly formed capital city of the now combined countries of Ligan and the Demon King's lands. "Humans and demi-humans living in absolute peace with each other... I never even would have dreamed of this when I first became a knight."

"Neither would I." Sera laughed. "But we've all shed blood for it, so I'm hoping that it will last."

"I'm sure it will." Nigel stated with another smile, however, Sera soon had to look away from him as she felt something tugging the bottom of her shirt. And as soon as she saw it, she smiled even more warmly before she lifted and started carrying the culprit in her arms.

"Mommy, what's that?" Ashley, Sera and Nigel's daughter asked before pointing towards the large castle in the middle of the city. And as Sera had already explained to Ashley what the castle was, now she realized that there was only one thing that the little girl could be pointing at now.

"That's the dragon guardian." Sera explained as she looked towards the giant stone dragon statue on top of the castle. "He came from the Land of Legends and helped to bring everyone together, and now he watches over the entire city and protects us."

Without replying, Ashley simply stared in amazement at the statue, and Sera couldn't help but do the same. Without Ergen, none of the peace that they were currently experiencing would have been possible, and she couldn't have been more thankful for it.

"Good luck." Sera whispered quietly as she casted a bright smile towards the sky, hoping that wherever Ergen was, he would be able to hear her.