Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and all rights for characters, plots and settings belong to G.R.R. Martin and FromSoftware. I have no ownership.
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„You must not forget though. Those who partake in Dragon Communion will one day shed their humanity. Their hunger for dragon, their yearning, only worsens. Until the floodgates burst, unleashing eternal torment. The strength of a mighty dragon. Magnificent, but deadly. It's no surprise that Dragon Communion is ruinous."
Bloody Finger Hunter Yura
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Limgrave, Agheel Lake
Aerion/Jon
Jon's gaze was fixed on the large yellow eyes, each the size of a dinner plate, but then they travelled to the dragon's entire form, from mouth to tail.
Truthfully, the dragon was smaller than he expected, though that didn't change the fact that he could swallow him whole or crush him with a single swipe of his tail or a limb armed with long, short-sword claws.
Moreover, intelligence clearly shone in the beast's rage-filled, greedy eyes. Jon recalled all the stories he had heard about Targaryen dragons, of which now only skulls and tales remained.
Balerion the Black Dread was said to be as large as a large castle just before his death, and Vhagar was supposedly not far behind him. On the other hand, Kale had told him of the Ancient Dragon Gransax, who attacked the capital of the Lands Between, Leyndell, and was defeated by Godwyn, Queen Marika's eldest son.
It was said that its spread wings could cover the entire horizon, and its enormous maw could swallow the entire Church of Elleh whole. He didn't know how much truth there was to this, but Kale swore he'd seen its corpse firsthand, as it had lain in the middle of the capital until then.
Not to mention the other legendary leader of the Ancient Dragons, Placidusax, who, according to a nomad merchant, once ruled these lands before the Golden Order and whose power could destroy mountains.
Yes, if he ever wanted to face such adversaries, and Graeter Will clearly expected him to, defeating Agheel was absolutely necessary.
As if triggered by his thoughts, Agheel suddenly opened his jaws, and Jon saw flames building deep in his throat.
He and Yura both rushed in opposite directions, and Jon, in addition, summoned Torrent as he ran. And he did so at the last moment, as the dragon entirely ignored him and aimed his maw directly at Jon, releasing not a stream or even a pillar of flames, but a veritable wave that rippled across the surface of the lake for dozens, then hundreds, of metres.
Jon, fleeing, widened his eyes in astonishment. "What was that? How many flames could that beast unleash?"
The question, however, stuck in his throat as Agheel leaped off the cliff face he'd been clinging to with the agility of a much smaller creature, giving himself even greater momentum with his wings.
Only a double jump, Torrent's ability to launch himself from the air as if from solid ground, saved them both. The dragon's powerful jaws narrowly missed them, closing with a snap that nearly stopped Jon's heart.
The next moment, an arrow ricocheted off the scales just below the dragon's eye, and Jon immediately turned his head roughly in the direction it had come from. Seeing Yura with his bow drawn, firing another arrow, he smiled faintly.
Then, landing on the ground, he turned Torrent almost 180 degrees and moved toward the dragon, whose attention was momentarily caught by the "pesky fly" in the form of Yura.
Another arrow bounced harmlessly off Agheel's scales, but this time the dragon had to turn his head slightly, as it aimed directly at his eye.
Jon slashed his Ornamental Straight Sword across the dragon's neck, but the blade, so far reliable, left only a shallow gash on the beast's incredibly hard scales.
Seeing the lack of effect, Jon hurried Torrent, narrowly avoiding the dragon's right wing. Seeing it drawing in air again to breathe, likely fire, he veered sharply to the left, circling the massive body and leaping over the tail bearing down on him like a giant's whip.
More arrows flew at the dragon, but it merely flapped its wings, creating enough wind to knock them off easily.
Jon himself staggered from the force of the blast, and only thanks to his unwavering mount did he not fall from his saddle. Then, using only his legs to guide Torrent, he summoned a second blade to his other hand and ran the blades across each other, activating their special ability.
Both blades glowed with the golden light of the Golden Order, and he moved towards Agheel's left wing, knowing he had to ground the dragon, for the moment it took flight, they were finished.
The dragon spun remarkably fast for its massive size and tried to strike it with its other wing. But Jon, with his heels, commanded Torrent to leap into the air, and he launched himself even higher from its back, landing on the wing itself, near where it joined the beast's body.
Without hesitation, he thrust with both blades, which, enhanced by holy power, easily pierced the wing membranes. But he didn't stop there. Before the dragon could even react, Jon slashed sideways with his sword embedded in his flesh, severing almost three-quarters of the wing, which now hung only by a single bone and a few muscles.
Agheel let out a terrifying roar that would have struck despair into the hearts of lesser men. His massive body began to thrash, throwing Jon far into the air.
He struck the surface of the lake with great force but immediately began rolling, trying to absorb at least some of the force. If it weren't for his enhanced body, he would have been crippled by now, and as it was, he felt like he had only two cracked ribs and a dislocated left wrist.
Without hesitation, he summoned the Flask of Crimson Tears from his inventory and took two powerful gulps, which restored him to full health almost instantly.
He looked around for his mount, but Torrent was already racing toward him. Jon began running in the opposite direction, trying to avoid the dragon, which was thrashing in fury and pain. The dragon had further damaged its wing, almost completely ripping it off when it became entangled between its hind legs.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jon saw Yura running with a bow, holding his long blade in his hand but also trying to keep his distance from the dragon.
"Excellently done, Aerion. Without a wing, this damned beast can't fly," the warrior exclaimed, invoking a sense of pride in Jon. "But I feel our weapons will be of little use against its scales. Our only hope is its eyes, or perhaps its underbelly, but certain death awaits us there."
Jon nodded, "Now, for sure. Agheel is blinded by pain, and trying to avoid his attacks while he's in such a state is suicide."
Then, thinking about the man's words, he realised that both options were incredibly difficult to pull off, but as his gaze fell on the dragon's gaping, roaring maw, he remembered his initial thoughts about the beast and how it could easily swallow him whole.
He turned to Yura. "I have a plan, but it's risky… you have to trust me on this."
The warrior nodded in response, "Agreed. We can't think of anything else anyway."
They scattered in opposite directions, Yura on his own two feet, while Jon was on the back of the Torrent, circling Agheel, who had already begun to overcome the pain and focus his attention back on them. The dragon lunged toward Jon, somewhat clumsily, his almost completely severed wing still in his way.
But instead of trying to bite him, Agheel opened his mouth wide and, almost instantly, breathed fire directly at Jon and Torrent, consuming them completely. Mount let out a squeal of pain, dissolving into particles of blue light, while Jon endured the terrible flames much better.
Of course, he had to return his armour to the inventory, as it had started to melt on him, but other than that, he seemed unharmed, save for his deeply reddened skin, the nonexistent hair on his body, and his lungs gasping for air.
Agheel seemed momentarily shocked that some puny human could survive his terrible flames. His surprise was short-lived, however, for before Jon could do anything, he saw the dragon's jaws gaping before him, as the dragon had clearly decided to devour him now that its fiery breath had proved ineffective.
Instead of trying to dodge, Jon, seeing the moment as an opportunity, threw himself straight into the dragon's gaping maw, which closed behind him with a crash. For if the hard scales of its body resisted his blade, the soft tissue in the beast's mouth did not have the same protection.
Darkness enveloped him, illuminated only by the faint glow of his left eye, and the inside of the dragon's mouth was slick with saliva and stank terribly, a mixture of burning and other odours he couldn't identify.
He felt dizzy for a moment, and before he could take any further action, Agheel opened his mouth again and used his tongue to try to position Jon so he could bite him. Jon tried to resist, but his movement was extremely limited, and everything around him was shaking as the dragon moved its head. Worse still, his sword was writhing beneath his belly, and he had no way to free it.
Not wanting to be eaten, and feeling the flames gathering deep in the dragon's throat, Jon summoned Holy Water Cracked Pot from his inventory, and he threw it clumsily towards the beast's throat.
For a moment, nothing happened, but then Jon heard what sounded like a muffled explosion inside the dragon's body when the holy water reacted with the building fire of the beast.
Agheel himself began to choke and open his jaws wide to roar. Without hesitation, Jon, having more room, grabbed the Ornamental Straight Sword and thrust it at an angle into the beast's throat, aiming roughly where the brain should have been.
The blade easily pierced the soft tissue, but after a few centimetres, it struck something hard, probably bone. So he summoned his last bit of strength and pushed against the blade. He heard a crack, as if something had shattered, and then the blade sank into the flesh up to the hilt.
A moment later he was in the air, thrown from Agheel's jaws as he began to thrash in agony, his roars now expressing pure desperation and pain.
Jon hit the ground with force but much more gently than before, rolling on his side for a good dozen metres. He struggled to his feet, carefully observing the dying dragon as its body collapsed to the ground.
Great Enemy Felled
Flying Dragon Agheel
You received 40 000 runes
You received Agheel's Heart
Jon, panting heavily, almost suffocated within the dragon's jaws, stared at the massive body, still convulsing as if fighting for the last slivers of life within it. But then he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, splashing the shallow, knee-deep water of the lake.
A moment later he felt a hand on his shoulder, and from behind him came Yura's voice, "You brave fool... you're lucky to be alive."
"Hath the fact that you have the Guidance of Grace completely stripped you of your self-preservation instinct? Throughout my life, I have seen many brave men and women, but none who would deliberately throw themselves into the jaws of a dragon, even if death was not the end for them." Yura admitted with clear disbelief in his voice, then, standing to the side, sheathed his Nagakiba.
Jon shrugged, catching his breath. "The risk was necessary, and the goal achieved speaks for itself," he replied, then summoned the Flask of Crimson Tears and took a long drink, feeling his cuts and bruises heal almost instantly. Much of his fatigue also vanished.
Unfortunately, his hair, and not just the ones on his head, hadn't grown back, meaning he had to wait for it to happen naturally. "Of course. I hope it grows back at least a little before I see Tormund again." He was sure he would die of laughter.
Immediately, however, a disturbing thought struck him. 'Damn, what about Torrent?' Without hesitation, he blew on the ring on his finger, but nothing happened. Instead, a message appeared, written in the now-familiar gold letters.
Torrent has been badly injured.
If you wish to summon him again, you must first heal him.
To do this, pour some Crimson Tears on the ring.
So Jon did just that. He tipped the flask over the ring, which literally sucked up the liquid as it fell onto it and, only a moment later, began to radiate heat.
As Jon put it to his lips once more and whistled, he was greeted by the familiar whinny of Torrent appearing beside him, and he could breathe a sigh of relief.
Everything had happened so quickly during the fight that he didn't have an opportunity to think about what had happened to Torrent, and when he saw the dragon down, a wave of fear for his spirit companion washed over him.
Fortunately, everything had somehow fallen into place. However, he now intended to be more vigilant about threats not only to himself but also to his mount. Now he might have succeeded, but that didn't mean Torrent couldn't be completely killed or destroyed. Call it what you will.
"Beautiful work, felling that Agheel. That was my first dragon hunt in quite some time. Paired up with a hothead like you, it was just like old times." Yura said, looking at the dragon's carcass. "I'd prefer it if we didn't have to fight in this damn water. I'll be drying off by the fire for half the day now."
"Aye, I'd prefer dry ground. I hope another dragon doesn't live on the lake," Jon admitted with a small smile, stroking Torrent's neck with obvious relief.
"You bloody halfwit. You're a real lunatic, boy... He's barely defeated one dragon and already thinking about another," Yura replied, but he sounded more amused than angry.
Jon shrugged, "I expect to encounter more than one on my journey."
Yura sighed and shook his head, then said, "Now that you've so impressively felled that dragon, there's something you should know. That heart of dragon, its used in Dragon Communion. If you should find yourself overcome by hunger for the heart. yearning for its strength, then seek the decrepit church, on the little island off the western coast."
Jon wanted to ask what he meant by hunger for hearth, but before he could speak, Yura raised a hand, letting him know he wasn't finished.
"Heed my warning. You must not forget though. Those who partake in Dragon Communion will one day shed their humanity. Their hunger for dragon, their yearning, only worsens. Until the floodgates burst, unleashing eternal torment. The strength of a mighty dragon. Magnificent, but deadly. It's no surprise that Dragon Communion is ruinous."
Jon frowned at these words. "What do you mean? Are you suggesting that humans ate dragon hearts to gain their power?"
Yura nodded. "That was indeed the case. However, the process must take place in a suitable place. A Church, a Cathedral, or the Great Altar of Dragon Communion. After eating a heart there, one received one of the incantations imitating a dragon. Was it its breath or something else?"
A vision of him pouring a wave of flames over the Others and their servants flashed before Jon's eyes. And despite the old warrior's warnings, he had to admit it was more than a tempting prospect.
Excited without hesitation, he summoned the item he had freshly taken from the fallen dragon.
Agheel's Heart
Flying Dragon Agheel heart seized by a Tarnished of no renown. Riddled with Gravel Stone, this grotesque organ continues to beat vivaciously.
While a terrible and savage-looking thing, the heart has a peculiar beauty to it.An offering used in the Dragon Communion.
Consume a dragon's heart at the altar to make its power yours and grant to you Agheel's Flame Incantation.
Agheel's Flame. He recalled the terrible power of the flames, which evaporated water where they fell, and which he survived only thanks to his high resistance to fire and the Flamedrage Talisman.
If this incantation is even half as powerful as Agheel's own flames, it would be immensely useful against the Others and the coming Winter. It could mean the difference between life and death.
Yura looked at him with a knowing look. "I see you've already made your decision," he said.
"Aye. I'll take the risk," he admitted, but one thought nagged at him. "The Targaryens said they had the blood of dragons. Could that somehow influence the consumption of this heart or mitigate its severe effects? I can only hope," he thought, examining the heart in his hand.
"If I may ask?" Yura interjected once more. "How on earth did the heart just end up in your hand? You know... normally, obtaining it would require a lot of work to get through the dragon's hard scales and..."
But before he could say anything more, the beast's lifeless body began to disintegrate into particles of golden light, just as it had with all of Jon's other enemies. A moment later, a swirl of golden light flew into his left eye, which held the Great Rune of Life.
Yura watched it all with shock etched on his face, even removing his hat to better see what had just unfolded before his eyes.
For what Jon considered normal was, to him, for Yura it was something completely new and unfamiliar. When the entire process was complete, he looked at the warrior and, seeing the confused expression on his face, asked, "Is something wrong?"
Yura glanced at him, his gaze focused specifically on his eye, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's just that something like this doesn't usually happen after killing a dragon. Normally, the beast's body, like any other creature, simply decays and returns to the Erdtree over time, while weaker beings, like humans, are reborn after a while.
However, in your case, the Great Rune absorbed Agheel's entire essence, or his soul, whatever we call it."
Jon closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. Yura's words meant that the Great Rune he received from Greater Will influenced what happened to his opponents after death.
If they normally returned to Erdtree, what happened to them when they reached the Great Rune of Life? Were they trapped within it, or transformed into something else, some kind of energy?
"Well, it is what it is." he turned to Yura, "I don't know why this is happening, and we can only speculate. It's probably some plan of Greater Will's."
The old warrior sighed heavily at this, "Nothing good ever comes from the machinations of the gods, and Greater Will is no different in that regard… Anyway, I'm going back to my camp. What about you?"
Jon shook his head, "I intend to visit that Church of Dragon Communion you mentioned."
Yura approached him and patted his shoulder, "It was an honor to fight at your side, Aerion. I hope we can fight alongside each other again in the future. Be on your way. Perhaps we will meet again, if fate permits."
With that, the warrior began to trot through the water in the direction they had come from. Jon, on the other hand, moved to the Site of Grace in the Church of Elleh.
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Limgrave, Church of Dragon Communion
Aerion/Jon
The route to the island was more complicated than he expected. Initially, he planned to swim to the island, about 2 kilometers offshore, but one of Kale's kin, whom he met camping on the beach, explained that terrifying beasts lurked in these waters.
Moreover, for a price, he provided him with information about a network of caves running beneath the coast directly to the island. And indeed, he found the entrance where the merchant had indicated. The journey itself, however, was torture, as the caves were swarming with demi-humans.
He killed almost 40, including two Demi-Human Chiefs, who were elite opponents of some sort, though compared to Agheel, they were no match for Jon.
Nevertheless, he had amassed a considerable number of runes and several useful items. However, when he emerged from the dark caves onto an island the size of Winterfell, illuminated by the light of Erdtree, he encountered no more enemies, and he had to admit that he had expected even more, if not demi-humans, then some other kind of foe.
The island, however, was deserted except for a few animals scattered about and massive ruins at its center. Truly, only the walls remained of the structure, but even now he could tell it was a temple of some kind.
As he approached it through the ruined entrance and a large section of collapsed wall, he could see the dead carcass of a dragon, distinct from Agheel.
It had four limbs, and though it lacked wings, he surmised it must have been an Ancient Dragon. Kale recalled that it was distinguished by four limbs, two pairs of wings, and wielded the power of red lightning.
Before the dragon's massive, lifeless body, sat a goblet of some kind on a stone pedestal, burning red fire within.
Jon made few steps forward; it seemed to be the only thing that stood out from the rest of the ruins, and he sensed a strange presence emanating from the goblet.
He looked around the interior of the ruined structure, noticing numerous dragon motifs and damaged monuments depicting dragon heads. Whoever built it must have been obsessed with dragons and worshiped them.
He immediately thought of the Targaryens and the stories he had heard about them. He had little time, or rather too much on his mind, to calmly consider and digest the news about his origins, his father, and this entire branch of his family.
Especially since the relationship between the two families was complicated, to say the least, and the fact that he considered his parents' behaviour irresponsible and foolish complicated matters even further.
However, this didn't change the fact that he was grateful they had given him a chance at life.
The topic of dragons and his family couldn't help but evoke thoughts of his aunt living in Essos and her three dragons. Daenerys Targaryen was no longer a distant stranger and potential enemy but family, and if only out of memory and respect for his great-uncle, Aemon, he intended to give her a chance if they ever met.
After all, both the Starks and the Targaryens were few in number, decimated by the Lannisters.
He summoned Agheel's Heart from his inventory, but he didn't know what to do. Should he simply eat it? Or use that red fire somehow?
He touched the goblet tentatively, but aside from it feeling unnaturally cold, nothing happened.
"Well, I guess I have no choice," he muttered to himself, then looked with disgust at the still-beating heart. Closing his eyes, he brought the heart to his mouth and sank his teeth into it.
He immediately winced, for the taste was disgusting, and the scales growing on it were as hard as nutshells.
The next fifteen minutes were pure torture, as it took him that long to consume the entire heart, which was as large as his two fists combined.
When he swallowed the last piece, however, the desired effect came as he felt a warmth welling up inside him, spreading throughout his body. His veins flared, and blood began to flow from his ears, eyes, and nose.
However, just as quickly as the whole process began, it stopped and a message appeared before his eyes.
You have eaten Agheels' Heart and completed Communion
You received Agheel's Flame Incantation
Agheel's Flame Incantation
Superior incantation of Dragon Communion. Channels the power of the flying dragon Agheel.
Transforms caster into a dragon to spew flaming breath from above.
Charging extends duration. This incantation can be used while jumping.
The dead gazed at the skies over the lakes of Limgrave, praying that the dragons' flames would burn them to ash.