The Dim Light

by Kiari Nicademus

Land of Ash, Heart of Gold

Chapter 2

I felt constricted, stretched, crushed and torn all at once, as if a giant had both sat on me and started pulling me limb from limb at the same time. I tried to scream, to make any kind of sound, anything to prove that I existed in this giant void, empty except for the sensations of pain and the light pressure from somewhere on my body. My brain started to fail, the pain slowly disappearing as I began to lose consciousness…

And then we were out, ejected from some horrible version of apparition. My eyes were shut tight as I emptied my stomach onto the ground that I was standing on, falling down onto my knees as I promptly ejected my recently eaten hotdog from my stomach. A soft splatting sound reached my ears as I puked repeatedly, my brain now pounding with a horrible migraine, meaning that whatever I was on wasn’t stone anymore. After the last dregs of acid left my mouth I groaned through my burning throat and slowly opened my eyes. After they fully opened my jaw fell open, an amazing sight greeting my eyes.

I was kneeling on a hill of blackened grass with dead, twisted trees dotting the hill. The grass was coated in ash, seemingly undisturbed until I came to this hill. The sky overhead was covered in black and grey clouds, the horizon a dark stain that stretched on for miles. The only landmark, other than the hills that dotted here and there, was a ruin of what was probably a once great castle, now no more than a pile of shattered black stones. I didn’t speak, no, I couldn’t speak about this.

“Horrible isn’t it?” said a voice from behind me.

I spun my head around to see the old man standing beside me, his face grim. He wasn’t in his grey suit anymore, but rather inside a flowing set of grey robes, a big grey hat on his head. In his right hand was a giant staff, flames dancing along the tip.

“Who are you?” I asked, still slightly dumbstruck by everything that had happened.

He sighed and turned to me, his face a remorseful grimace. “You know who I am.”

“Yeah, yeah I do.” I muttered, and I did know. I had just described him less than five minutes ago, but that didn’t mean I had to accept what my senses told me. But then, as I regained my senses, my head suddenly shot up, and, quickly struggling to my feet, I turned my head to him and yelled, “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!”

Fizban sighed as I screamed, then touched my shoulder and gently pushed me back down into a sitting position, then walked over to a tree and propped his staff against it. He turned again and scanned the hill, then walked over to a stump and sat down upon it, closing his eyes as he sighed deeply. After a moment of sitting on the stump, still as stone, his eyes opened and the surroundings shifted, the tree’s became good and whole, the grass became green, the sky cleared and the castle was suddenly whole again, standing proudly against a strong summer breeze.

“Am I…….am I in Krynn?” I asked, and Fizban’s only response was a curt nod from the stump, his eyes now focused upon the castle in the distance. I just stared at my surroundings. It was unbelievable, I was sitting inside the world of Krynn and it wasn’t a dream...But what about…

“Am I…dead?” I asked softly, staring at my surroundings with a new sense of fear and apprehension. Everything may look shiny now, but it had been a wasteland less than a minute before…

“No, you’re not dead. In fact,” Fizban said, sighing slightly. “You’ve never been better.”

I stared at wizard sitting before me, my brain now starting to figuratively fizz. I wasn’t dead, a god that only exists inside a book had just dragged me off to his world, and I had skipped church for the first time ever. I think that was sufficient for what I did next; flopping on the ground and starting to gurgle and foam at the mouth.

“Really, does every mortal have to react like this?” Fizban groaned. After another minute of my foaming I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and I slapped as hard as I could at it, trying to knock his hand as far from me as possible.

“Why the hell did you bring me here!?” I growled, grinding my teeth in fury. Fizban’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then fell again as a wan smile snuck up upon his lips.

“Because people don’t believe anymore.” He chuckled, pointing to the land around him. “Yes, we are in Krynn, but you must be wondering, where is everyone else? Why are there no animals? In short, you’re silently pondering what happened to the world.”

I blinked a couple of times as he said that, then realized that he was speaking the truth. I was wondering what had happened to everything, but my predicament had pushed all of those thoughts from my mind.

“So then,” I asked, “where is Takhisis? Gilean?”

His small smile disappeared, a frown of discontent replacing it. “…My siblings…they’re…”

I waited, leaning slightly towards Fizban, new fears starting to infest my brain. Was I suddenly drug into a war between gods? Had I just become a tool, or maybe even bait, to use against the other gods?

“…Dead…”

I could feel the wind rush out from me, almost as if someone had just smashed my stomach in with a mallet. “D-Dead?” I asked, my tongue tripping over the simple word.

“Yes.” Fizban answered, his eyes closed, leaning heavily on his staff for support.

For the umpteenth time in less than half an hour my mind was reeling. Gods, the freaking gods died. What the hell was I supposed to do against an enemy like that? I’m going to fight something that killed Takhisis the Dark Queen and Gilean the Gray Voyager? Has he gone insane!

“So then,” I growled, my head facing the ground. “I’m going to be your puppet against a creature that killed some of the strongest gods in existence?”

“No, I doubt any mortal could defeat a foe li-”

“THEN WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME FOR!” I screamed, jumping to my feet and grabbing him by the scruff, shaking him back and forth. “IF I’M JUST A FOOLISH MORTAL, THEN WHY IN HELLS NAME AM I EVEN HERE!?”

Fizban just stood in my hold, calmly looking me down at me, his eyes staring straight into mine. “You’re here to save what’s left.” He whispered.

I just stood there, feeling all of my rage slowly drain from me. My grip on his scruff loosened and my hands fell to my side. I just couldn’t muster the strength to stay mad at him anymore. Hell, I couldn’t muster the strength to do anything anymore.

*plip* *plip*

I felt strong arms embrace me, holding me tightly to a chest, yet their strong embrace was still gentle, caring. I could feel the rush of emotions wash over me. My anger at Fizban, my hatred of my own damn stupidity, my fear of what I had suddenly been drafted to do, and, most of all, the pain I felt at losing my old life. I had such a good life. I had friends, a family, a girlfriend, even money and status were in my old life, yet, out of the billions of people who had lived inside that damn world, I, I had to be chosen, all because I hadn’t had the maturity to let go of those stupid fantasy worlds. I guess they’re right; clinging onto a dream is just stupid.

I let my tears fall upon the ground, and slowly circled my arms around the person holding me, still crying. I could feel my legs going limp beneath me, but the arms around me held me upright, one of the hands gently stroking my hair.

“It’s all right.” Muttered a voice into ear, but it wasn’t Fizban’s voice. It was a feminine voice.

I pushed against the hug, strength once again surging to my limbs, only to be met by the weirdest sight I’ve ever seen. Before me stood a dragon, but not the usual quadrupedal kind that’s so popular back home. No, this one was a bipedal dragon, standing around seven or so feet tall, and its scales, its scales! They were some weird combination of both pink and copper, making a weird color closest to painted wood. I couldn’t tell, but for some reason it seemed to be female.

“What…what are you!” I stuttered, backing up from the creature.

“I’m a dragon.” She said simply, shrugging and pulling me back into a hug, her claw once again stroking my hair. “But you already know that. Why don’t you ask what you really want to know.”

I went stiff, then slowly relaxed as I got used to her presence and realized that she carried no ill will towards me. “I…I want to know…what you need me for…” I whispered, letting myself continue to be stroked by the dragoness.

Fizban sighed. “Alice, do you mind letting go of him now?”

“Nuh uh.” Alice said, sticking out her tongue.

“Could you at least settle for only holding his hand right now? There are important things to talk about right now.”

“Fiiiine.” Alice said, letting go of me for a short second then immediately snatching my right hand in her left. “But I get to hold the hand.”

I stared at the two of them for a while, then coughed and asked, “Okay, more important question then, why is she so clingy?”

Alice gasped, then bopped me on the head with her right claw as Fizban laughed slightly. “She’s a Prismatic dragon Aramil. She is both a pink and a copper dragon. The reason she is so clingy is because all pink dragons have an extremely high love for physical attraction.”

I looked over to Alice who was stroking her cheek with her fore-claw and straining her eyes as far from me as possible. “Umm…” she mumbled, “he means that we have really high libidos.”

“Huh?” I said, then, looking down at our connecting hands, my face flushed scarlet and I squeaked out a surprised, “Oh!”

“Yeah…” Alice mumbled, then turned around as her eyes filled with little diamonds. “But your name’s Aramil! That’s such a cool name!”

“Oh, thanks.” I choked, balking under her sudden enthusiasm. “Second question, why is she here?”

Fizban scratched his head, then said simply, “She’s the last person from Krynn.”

I looked between the two of them, then shook my head and queried, “And why am I here?”

Fizban’s face broke into a wide smile. “I was wondering when you’d get around to that. What you’re here for is to be a missionary.”

“A what?” I deadpanned, my eyes narrowing into narrow slits, my mouth becoming a straight line.

“A missionary.” He continued, whirling his staff through the air. As he whirled the tip about, the ground around us all started to revert to its old form, as did the rest of the world, quickly shifting back to its almost black appearance. “This world is crumbling, and it isn’t because of some disease or vile miasma. No, it’s because there is no more belief, no more trust. This world has been forgotten, cast aside as a dream, a fantasy that doesn’t exist in the world proper.” Fizban let his staff’s butt hit the ground once again and began to lean upon the stick. “Only one person has clinged onto the belief besides Alice, and that is you.”

I could feel my legs turning to jelly again. What the hell is going on? I’m just a regular boy who likes an outdated fantasy novel, why would anything as important as the god of all good come to find me?

“And while you may be wondering how you drew my attention, I cannot say myself.” Fizban continued. “But I can say this; you are far more important than you have ever thought. First of all though, I must destroy that pesky enchantment upon you.”

As Fizban brought his staff up once more, only to point it at me, I let go of Alice’s hand and started backpedaling as fast as I could, easily putting another couple of meters between us before he shouted, “Menghalau!” I knew a little Indonesian because the spells in Dragonlance have the language in them, but this word eluded me. Disarm, Dismiss?

“Dispel.” Fizban said, putting his staff down and dropping down to his butt, sitting heavily on the ground, sweat running down his face. Alice was still standing next to him, and her face was shining in what seemed like joy or maybe even ecstasy.

“So that’s his real form!” she squeaked excitedly, looking down at the exhausted wizard, who nodded slowly. “YES!”

“What do you mean is th-” I started to say, then froze as I spotted my own hand. It wasn’t the usual peach skin with five digits anymore, but rather a purple scaled claw with four digits, the pinky mysteriously disappearing. My breath started to labor as I began to pant, and, looking at the rest of my body, my breathing stopped entirely. My body was now extremely similar to Alice’s, with purple scales covering my arms, legs, chest, and the rest. I had even grown a strong purple scaled tail that now swished between my legs. I quickly reached up and touched my head and felt

pliable skin, smooth short hair, and slim lips. The rest of my body had changed, but my face was still the same. Hello, Aramil.exe is out of order now was my last thought before slumping down to the ground, my eyes rolling into my head.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke to a sea of darkness, smothering my ears, eyes, and mouth. I struggled for air, but an invisible cushion pushed so hard upon me that no air entered. I began to feel light headed when a giggle sounded from above me. Suddenly the cushion lifted and air flooded into my mouth while light dazzled my eyes. I coughed a few times as I regained the ability to see, and Alice filled my vision, her smile inches from my face.

“Finally awake handsome?” she asked playfully.

Shit, I’ve got another girl on my tail. Why do they all mark me as a target?

“Umm, yes, now can you get off of me?” I asked with far more calm than I felt.

“Fine, but don’t expect it to last.” Alice pouted, clambering off of me and standing up.

I sat up and looked at the two beings before me, then asked the only question that came to mind. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!”

Okay, asked is being rather flowery, I guess it’s more like demand while shouting as loud as I possibly could.

“I broke the enchantment upon you.” Fizban panted, still sitting upon the ground. “You had been enchanted to look like a normal human. I believe that it was only breakable because you were out of your own world. On Earth I doubt that it would have been possible to shatter it. Then again,” he said, looking at my face, “maybe I changed you, but incompletely. With such little power I have no clue which one is right, but either way, you are now unique, the only human who has a dragon’s body.”

I slowly rose to my feet and stood before Fizban. I looked down at him and growled, my new body suddenly giving it a much more animalistic quality. “What am I going to do now? How do I get home?”

Fizban sighed and slowly, shakily stood up. “You can get home,” he said, still working for air. “Once I have enough power to transport you both worlds and change your body back.”

“How long will that take?”

“It isn’t length of time that is the problem, it is the amount of faith. Until people believe that I exist, I can’t use much more magic.” He panted, sliding a bit down his staff.

“Will I be able to go back to my world, or will I be sent years into the future?” I asked, my voice still rumbling.

“If you can establish a following to me, then I believe that I could do all of that and even erase your time of working for me if you so wish. I can repay you for your efforts, but until I once again have people who believe in me, then it is beyond me.”

I looked myself up and down, then looked at him and asked another question, this time with a much kinder tone. “But are dragons common there, and even if they are, wouldn’t I stand out like a sore thumb?”

I felt a sudden weight upon my head and a tug at my waist. Grabbing the weight on my head with my right hand and the item on my waist with my left, I tried to lift them both away. My head felt a hard tug, then something slipped off of my whole skull, while the item in my left claw simply slid right out of some container. I brought both items before my face and saw a weird collection of martial items. The first one, the item I had in my left hand, was a sword. It had no hand guard except for a weird eight pointed star, and was built out of some weird material that seemed to glow from within. The other object though, it was what really surprised me. It was a helmet, but a helmet of a dragon’s head, and, looking at Alice’s face, one that was of perfect likeness to a real dragon. The amazing thing was, the scales of the helm were the exact shape and color of the scales that now covered my body, making it seem like an extension of my own body.

“Every paladin needs a blade and companion, and I wouldn’t dream of sending you into an unknown world without any means to defend yourself.” Fizban said, still leaning on his staff, but he had now slipped so far down the staff that he was practically hunched over. “The blade can only kill the truly wicked, otherwise it is merely a metallic plank, and its edge will disappear. The helm will perfectly mirror your face underneath, so unless you decide to remove it of your own accord, you can pass through anywhere as if you were a normal dragon.”

Alice finally stepped forward and picked Fizban up, then walked over to the stump and set him down. “Paladine,” she said in a scolding tone, “I know you want to help him as much as possible, but casting so many spells will destroy you before he can do anything. Next you’re going to say that you want to go with him!”

Paladine, right, I almost forgot that his real name is Paladine, Skyblade, the Platinum Father, and even Dragonlord. Is he stuck looking like Fizban because he’s so weak?

Fizb…Paladine chuckled at Alice’s reprimanding and rasped, “No, I was actually hoping you’d go with him.”

Alice’s face grew ecstatic at the exact same time that mine fell. “yes Yes YES!” she squeaked, jumping up and down. “It’s been so long since I went anywhere!”

F…Paladine tapped his staff to the ground and another portal appeared. “Aramil.” He said, looking me straight in the eye. “Remember, while I may have pulled you away from your home, I am a god of good. I have only brought you here because it will result in good, and even if you don’t see it now, you will be glad that you have come.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped forward to the hole, putting the sword back into its sheath and placing my helmet back upon my skull. “And you remember this,” I said, pointing at Paladine. “I will try my hardest to bring back your faith, but only because I remember what you did in Krynn over the years. If it wasn’t for my previous image of you I’d have refused here and now. Also, where are we going?”

Fizban smiled as Aramil pounced on me from behind. “Equestria.” He said, then was gone.