The Rise of Dragon Lord
Part 1: The Dark Destiny
Ivan had always been different. All of his life anyone who came across him in Alefgard knew it. He knew it himself. However, he didn't know why he was so different. The only thing he knew is that he hated Erdrick, which made him an outcast, and that he loved the dark. He did all of his business at night for this reason. Ivan had long since made his home away from all the villagers in Alegard because he hated the people for labeling him an outcast. He would often say to himself, "If I ruled over Alefgard I would teach the people some respect!"
To be extra sure that nobody would disturb him Ivan made his home in the old sleeping quarters used by the diggers who built the tunnel linking Kol and Rimildar. These quarters were in a remote corner of this passage where people no longer treaded. Not that anybody wanted to disturb Ivan anyway. They feared him. Not only were his habits disturbing but his appearance its self was troubling. He was always dressed in dark purple or black travel clothes, carried a crooked staff, and his face was hidden behind a coal black scraggly beard and mustache. The most alarming about his appearance though were his eyes; they were a reptilian green color that people swore would glow. The elderly people of Alefgard would say that Ivan had the eyes of a Dragon.
Yes, Ivan was different, very different. Very soon Ivan was about to find out something else about himself that was strange. Having been in the middle of his nightly midnight stroll Ivan stood frozen in fright staring into the sky. The shadowy figure of a terrible behemoth danced around in the sky. Desperately, Ivan rubbed his eyes and searched for anything in close proximity that might create an illusion a beast flying in the sky. However, this was no trick of the eyes, this was a dragon and it had spotted Ivan! A dragon hadn't been seen in Alefgard for hundreds of years. According to legend, just before his mysterious disappearance, Erdirck had driven the last of the dragons into the mountains where they stayed, until now obviously. Ivan had almost longed for Erdirck to return and save him from this terrible beast but this thought was immediately banished from his mind. He would much rather perish in the dragon's wrath than to be m! ade into yet another icon of Erdrick's bravery.
The dragon now landed before Ivan. In terror he screamed and dropped to his knees covering the back of his head with his hands. "So this is how I die, a dragon's supper." Ivan thought with a whimper. However, several seconds had passed and the dragon hadn't attacked. Curiosity over came Ivan's fear so he looked up to see what the dragon was waiting for. Ivan was surprised to see that the enormous beast had its head bowed before him. What was this? Ivan paused for a few seconds then found himself saying to the beast, "Rise." The dragon then raised its head and stared at Ivan in waiting. Could this really be? Did this dragon actually see him as its superior? Ivan thought for a second about what to say next then finally said to the dragon with a shrug, "Um, --- roll over?" The dragon rolled over. "Play dead?" The dragon dropped to the ground limp, as if it had, in fact, died. "Beg."! The dragon lowered its head lower than Ivan's then groaned and whined melodramatically. "Stand up." The dragon stood on its hind legs. Ivan then looked around and saw a huge oak tree in the distance and wondered just how obedient this dragon was to him. "Destroy that tree over there!" Ivan said pointing to it. Ivan started as the the dragon spun it's head toward the tree and a bright fire ball, crackling and popping loudly, shot out of it's mouth and zoomed toward the tree to which Ivan had pointed. As soon as the swirling colors in his eyes faded (caused by the bright fireball) Ivan saw the Smokey remains of the oak tree. "Splendid!" Ivan exclaimed. The dragon chortled as if grateful for Ivan's comment.
Ivan than thought for a moment. What could he gain with this dragon's servant hood to him? These little games were really a waste of time. After all, a dragon would be far too useful to simply keep around as a pet. Ivan finally thought of the ruins of Charlock Castle, for some reason he felt he could find answers there. So he inquired to his new found companion, "Do you know of the ruins of Charlock Castle?" The great beast nodded its huge green head. "Then take me there!" The dragon then lowered its head, a gesture for Ivan to climb onto its large back. Ivan wasted no time climbing onto his new companion's back because even as dark as he was, like everyone else, he had wondered often times what it would be like to fly.
As Ivan soared through the air on the back of the dragon he looked down at Alefgard. So small and insignificant looking. He felt like he could just reach down and crush it with his bare hands. Now that he had a dragon on his side, it could very well be possible to dominate the land. Ivan grinned from ear to ear at the thought of this. He could just see the look on King Lorik XVI 's face just before he perished in the dragon's flames. He would die knowing that he was being replaced as ruler by Ivan, the king of the dragon. No, Ivan, the dragon lord! "Dragon Lord." Ivan thought with a fiendish grin, "That title shall strike fear into the citizens of Alegard!" Ivan's thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of the dragon's descending. He had arrived, the ruins of Charlock Castle. Somehow, he knew he was a close as ever to finally finding some answers about himself. 
Ivan climbed off of the dragon and began to explore the ruins. Huge stone columns still stood tall while the walls and and the ceiling lay in stone chunks around him. "What is it I am looking for?!" he called out in frustration after having looked around for nearly an hour. Hearing him the dragon immediately flew a short distance to the north end of the ruins and began to dig through through the rubble. Ivan once again marveled at his own power over the dragon as it effortlessly brushed away heavy chunks of stone with its claws.
Several minutes later the dragon quit sifting through the rubble then looked up at Ivan beaconing him with its enormous head. Ivan, anxious to see what the behemoth had uncovered attempted to run over to see but stumbled and fell over pile of debris and skinned his knees. Ivan cursed at the stinging pain for a few seconds then stood up and continued, this time at a more careful pace. The dragon just grumbled quietly in response to Ivan's clumsiness. 
When Ivan arrived at the space the dragon had just cleared his view was blocked by the dragon's head which had lowered down to examine Ivan's injury. Ivan, very annoyed, craned his neck this way and that to try to see around the dragon's enormous head. Finally Ivan growled, "I am fine, you fool!" then smacked the dragon on its snout. Ivan thought for just a second that striking the beast might not have been smart. However, this thought was quickly dispelled when the dragon simply whimpered and moved its head out of Ivan's way. However, he was too preoccupied with curiosity to again marvel at the dragon's loyalty to him. He just wanted to see what the dragon had found. A stone stairway! The dragon had uncovered a passage way leading down into the ruins. However, it would be too dark to see down there. Yes, Ivan loved darkness, but he was still only human and needed at least a little bit light to see.
As if some strange force heard his thoughts two torches, on both sides of the stairway's walls, supernaturally ignited. Ivan at first was frightened by this phenomenon but reminded himself of his first encounter with the dragon. So thinking that this force might possibly be serving him as well, Ivan proceeded down the stairway telling dragon not to follow him. Ivan had a feeling that he had to do this alone. 
As he descended, torches continued to light his way two by two. Finally, the stairway ended in an underground room. Not surprisingly, it too, was in ruins and was just barely standing. Scattered about the floor was not only debris but skeletons of various beasts ranging from the size of large dogs to the size of dragons. The one thing that these skeletons had in common was that they were all slashed, crushed, or scorched, an obvious sign that they were defeated by a powerful warrior. "Erdrick", Ivan said out loud in disgust. A great rumbling sound resonated throughout the ruins as if agreeing with his feeling toward Erdrick.
Torches all around the room began igniting revealing strange inscriptions etched on the walls. Ivan couldn't decipher the writings so he took this occurrence as a sign for him to hurry along, so he did. Ivan came to yet another stone stairway which led down into another room which in turn led another stairway. This repeated for hours until finally he came to a room with a huge under Ground Lake at the center. However, this room didn't require torches because some how reflections off the lake, from an unknown source of light, illuminated it. Ivan, eager to explore further, began to follow the lake around.
About a quarter of the way around, Ivan came across the first human skeleton he had seen since he entered the bowels of the ruins. It wore armor and was sitting up against a wall of the room. Just above the wall, written in Alefgard's own native language was this:
RIP
ORTEGA
I AM SO SORROWFUL I NEVER KNEW THEE, MY FATHER.
Who was Ortega? Was he a companion of Erdrick's? Some scholars had argued that three other warriors, also falling from the sky, had assisted Erdrick on his quest. However most disputed this claiming that Erdrick was way too powerful to need any help. Ivan just shrugged and continued on. This was no time for theological thoughts.
The underground lake led around to a large library which consisted of shelves of scrolls, books, and stone tablets. In the center of the room, was a short stairway which he could tell once extended deeper but was blocked off at a landing by huge and heavy stones. Ivan guessed that the entire room below had caved in. Before the rubble was a peadstool with a black obsidian ball atop it. Ivan could sense a dark and evil power deep within the obsidian ball, and it was very attractive. In awe, he slowly descended the short stairway, approached the pedestal, and then lowered his hands on the ball. Ivan then felt a painful burn of evil flash through his body but he could not let go. The evil force within held on to him tight.
In an instant, Ivan's head filled with a vision of Alefgard as it was hundreds of years ago. He saw mountain ranges, valleys, and shrines that no longer existed. Also, he saw portions of land that were now connected to the rest of the continent as islands to themselves. Following was a vision of Charlock Castle, standing strong an intact but littered with corpses, freshly dead. These were the same monsters whose skeletons he saw scattered around the ruins. Now, the vision had carried him into the room below, before it had collapsed. A fierce battle was going on between four warriors and an enormous one-eyed demon. Ivan immediately knew he was witnessing the legendary battle between Erdrick, and the Master Archfiend. It appeared the scholars claiming that Erdrick had companions were right.
The battle raged on for several hours until finally one of the warriors, who Ivan determined to be Erdrick himself, pulled the mystical ball of light of legend from a leather pouch. Light from the ball encircled the beast and it screamed in pain, obviously a new sensation to it. Next Erdrick, with a mighty swing of his sword, struck the beast on its hip. Again, the beast screamed as blood flowed from its wound. Desperately, the one-eyed demon raised its arms to attempt to cast a spell but Erdrick shot lightening from his hand which struck the beast all over its body. It fell helplessly to the floor. It had tried to stand once again but Erdrick hit it with lightening once more. In labored breaths, the Master Archfiend uttered its infamous last words, "Thou hast defeated me! But heed my words. So long as brightness exists, so doth the darkness. This vision I do see from darkness deep, one more will follow me. But when that time doth arrive, thou wilt too have aged and died." With this the monster gave out a loud cry, chanted a strange incantation, and then let out a loud sigh as it stretched out onto the floor.
Slowly, the vision started to fade as Charlock Castle began to shake and Erdrick's followers scrambled to escape. Now there was total blackness followed by yet another vision. This was one of the Master Archfiend himself. To Ivan's surprise, it spoke to him saying, "Thou art no doubt the one I hath foreseen. With my dying breath I hath contained the last of my power within this obsidian ball to leave for thee a message: I am Zoma, the late Master Archfiend thou must carry on in my stead. In my library are all my writings and most powerful spells. Study them and thee shall grow in power and thine own will ultimately succeed mine own! I pass down the title of Master Archfiend to thee, my follower, for it is thy dark destiny." Laughing evilly the vision of Zoma faded.
Ivan now found himself back in the library before the pedestal. He could now remove his hands. Ivan hated Erdrick all the more! How dare he come along and destroy such a great power? Had he no respect? Ivan could hardly believe it. This was it! This is why he loved darkness and despised light! More importantly, this was why he hated Erdrick so. It was all a part of his dark destiny! 
So the title had been passed on to Ivan. He was the new Master Archfiend and he had some work to do first, the name Ivan had to go, for that was a name given to him by a weak human. He would, from now on, call himself Dragon Lord, the title he thought of hours ago would serve as his name. (He had an even better title now.)
Dragon Lord then ascended the short stairway then yawned deeply. He was exhausted. He would have to return home to rest before coming back here tomorrow night to begin his research. He made his way out of the ruins and the strange inscriptions caught his eye again. Suddenly he realized he could decipher them as if they were written in his own language. It looked like Zoma had done more than left a message with the last of his power. 
Outside the dragon, lying down, arose then eagerly greeted its master. "We have work to do, my pet." said the Dragon Lord, "but first, let us go and rest, for we shall need much." After Dragon Lord climbed upon his beast and it lifted off into the early dawn air, he looked north to Tantegel Castle. "King Lorik beware, for the Dragon Lord is coming to seize your kingdom!" shouted the Dragon Lord the cackling wildly. This was the beginning of Ivan's, no Dragon Lord's, dark destiny.