Baleful Wings (Dragon's Dogma Fanfiction)

Chapter Fin : Regeneration

The Dragon roared over the skies of Gransys, "Arisen!!"
Arya wedged her blade deeper into Grigori's back, using it to climb his body. Grigori's thrashings only made her push even harder. "Did you honestly think..." Arya continued climbing. "That I would let you get away!?"
Fire escaped the great beast's mouth, "That is the way, Arisen! Let your hatred fill every strike..!" Obediently, Arya withdrew her blade and again pounded it into the Dragon's back as tears flowed from her eyes onto her beaten and ragged hands before being cast to the turbulent winds around them.
"Why?" She uttered, weakly. "Why are you doing this?"

Together with three knights and two Salvation defectors, Ace's party managed to make it to the valley leading to the ruins of Heavenspeak Fortress, where Ser Georg and his men awaited them. Ceres remembered that it was the home of the Westron Labrys Bandits, an all-female bandit group that despised men and attacked them on sight. "Come on already!" Commanded Georg, waving. They made haste, but were stopped by a deafening shrill.
A massive creature was upon them, leaping to the spot between them and the waycastle and shrieking viciously. Ferocious was its mien, with crazed eyes and ebon-colored pinions, the monster's beak could easily pluck the head off a grown man.
"It bears the head of a cock..!" Ceres nooked a shot, in awe of this powerful creature.
"Well, shit," commented Ace. "A Cockatrice. I thought they were myths.. well, hoped, anyway."
 A bright light formed under the beast, before an assault of frigorous spires burst forward from the ground, lifting the massive creature off its feet and piercing its sinister frame. 
"I kept you waiting," said Inoru, with a wave of his hand. Ace wasted no time to follow-up on the attack, joined by a combined assault with Kairo and Ceres's arrows, and fireballs casted by the Salvation defectors. The Gran Soren guards quickly rushed in to rain steel on the massive bird of prey. 

"There is no hope for the ways of man," said the Dragon, every beating of its wings making Arya adjust her grip. "They will only think of faster, more efficient ways to kill each other - and the world will be plunged into a state of constant war, and poverty."
"Is that what you think you're doing, saving us from ourselves?" The Arisen upon the Dragon's back retorted, her fists clenched.
"Even with an almighty Dragon with means only to destroy the very world, humans can think of nothing besides how to fight amongst themselves," he replied, calmly. "Tis aught you've seen with your own eyes." The world beneath them was expansive, and vast beyond anything that Arya could have imagined, surely, a kingdom wrought to destruction by none other than her host. There were ruins, and castles, and farmlands like any other nation - but devoid of all human life. Beneath her baleful wings was the future of all the continent should she fail today.

"Everyone, move!!" Kairo tried desperately to attack the breast of the Cockatrice as it inhaled deeply, but could not sway the monstrous foreboding. With a thunderous roar, the beast unleashed a dark and sickening wave upon its prey, blasting them to the ground. 
"Is.. is anyone hit!?" Ace looked over at two of the men from earlier, one a Gran Soren knight and the other, a former Salvation cultist. "Oh, no.."
"What's happening? Why are you looking like that?" The young knight panicked as he regained himself to his feet. The cultist said nothing, only staring at his hands and feet in complete silence. The rest of the team worked hard to distract the monster, even joined by Georg's men in the form of arrows from the waycastle. 
The knight tried to jerk his body in one way or the other, but to no avail. "I can't.. I can't move!"
"Tis no use, Grayson," replied the former cultist, weakly. "Look at our hands.."
Ser Grayson's expression was wrought with horror as he glanced upon his hands, now made of stone. "Bran, no.. This can't be.. Strider! Strider, quickly, chip away at this stone shell so I can get back to the fight!"
Ace shook his head in response, "No can do, kiddo. If I chip away at this hand, the whole thing's coming off." He had no choice but to watch his new comrades slowly petrify.
"Ace, catch!" Ceres threw a mysterious tonic to Ace, who caught it effortlessly. 
"What is that??" Inquired Grayson, his body now stone from the elbows and waist down.
"A Secret Softener. It can mend you, but.."
"But only one of us," interrupted Bran. Ace was silent. "Give it to Grayson," said the ex-zealot, without hesitation, already having accepted his fate. Grayson looked over, almost enraged, "Damn it, I said we're both making it out of th--!"
Ace quickly opened the tonic and poured it onto Grayson's body, fearing that he had no more time to waste. Instantly, the magick was dispelled, and the knight rushed to Bran's side.
"What the hell!? You son of a bitch, why would you say that!?" He lifted Bran's head up and sat it on his lap. "What about your daughter!?"
Bran's eyes became low and lifeless, as the spell was now up to his chest. "My mum said not to join Salvation.. Even my wife. I just needed money so badly."
Tears flowed from Grayson's eyes. "Anyone!!! Georg! Help! Bran, don't give up..!" Ace had to get back to the fight, and leave the two to themselves.
"I killed all those people..." Bran murmured under his breath, seeming to still be talking until his mouth was also petrified. Inoru grabbed Grayson, quickly yanking him out of harm's way as the Cockatrice charged forward, stomping and crushing Bran's stone body in the process. The feathered monster again swelled its chest in preparation for its sinister petrifying breath. 
"This is our chance!!" Ace sprinted forth in a conjunct attack with all his comrades.

 Arya gripped her damaged and ragged blade with her trembling hands, took a deep breath, and forced it into the Dragon's back, exerting the last of her strength. Grigori roared in agony, now spiraling through the skies. "RUUUAAAGGHH!"
The Arisen's lips were compressed with rage and fury, as she thrusted her steel even deeper into the beast's hide. A burst of light shone forth, blinding and brilliant from the wound. This essence was.. inexplicably radiant, and gloriously warm. It was Holy, even. 
By the time her eyes regained sight, her hands were empty, and the Dragon was nowhere to be seen. Around her was nothing but the afternoon skies, as her body fell toward the ground.
"Alas, Arisen," said the Dragon's voice in her mind. "Twas simply not your destiny to fell me. There is still more to be done." 
Falling, falling... who knew she was this high over the ground? There was no mistaking it, she definitely struck Grigori's heart - she had just exhausted her strength too early. Her only hope now was that the wound she inflicted would be enough to assist the Dragon's next challenger. 
"My destiny may not have been to take claim of the eternal ring, it may have only been to face it. Besides," she thought to herself, "twas nice to finally have something to live for - even if I would only end up dying for it."

The heavy barrage of attacks to the Cockatrice's chest caused it to rupture, and after a finishing wave of steel, the beast met its end. The army of monsters was not far behind, so the group had no choice but to retreat to the waycastle, where the female bandits that originally inhabited it were bound with rope, and the Elite Enlistment Corps awaited with celebration. 
"The Arisen has already marched off to face the Dragon," said Georg, removing the bandit leader's mask to feed her. Naturally, she spat the food back in his face. "But we remain here," he continued, as he wiped his cheek with his glove. "Hoping that he will return."
"The moment you let your guard down, I'll make sure you die slowly," snapped the bandit leader, Ophis. 
"Then so be it," return Georg. "But until then, you can at least eat." The rest of his men did their best to keep eyes on the other bandits as well. 
Kairo couldn't help but feel sad for them. 
Ceres felt dizzy, so she got up to get some fresh air, before collapsing to her knees. From the depth of her body, a spiraling swirl bloomed forth, exhilarating gasps ripped from her t5555 - first, Ceres stared frantically at the drops of sweat that fell from her face and unto the dirt, wondering what just changed inside her.
"I... I'm pregnant! But.. How?" She paused for a second, before suddenly realizing there was a heart beating in her chest.
"That.. That would mean.."

A thunderous shockwave devastated the land, mighty winds rushed through as a right of light shone through the skies, piercing it's sunset hue.
Inoru and Kairo rushed outside at the marvelous display, before their eyes observed a dim and disheartening sight - the skies were scorched into a miserable green shade, ruled by sinister grey clouds.
"What.. What happened?!" Georg's men were dumbfounded. Even Ophis, who had escaped her bindings and was standing behind Georg with a raised dagger was stunned by the grim sight before her - before getting arrested and bound again.
Finally, the Dragon was slain, but the wicked ever-watching Grigori took the sky with it, plunging the world into eternal darkness.

As the days went on, the culture of the world changed. The people of Gransys holed up in the capital, always in defense of large monster invasions. Crops did not grow or prosper without sunlight, and beasts dominated the land. Ace and Arya disappeared, seemingly when the world needed the Arisen the most - but this meant one thing.
The world lay now in Ceres's hands.

-- THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THE FAITHFUL READERS OF BALEFUL WINGS.
Please look forward to further installments of this novel to find the true ending of the story! Thanks, and I love you all.