Jeanne d'Arc/Stories
Quotes
Dragon Story Episodes
The False Saint
Dragons will only make a pact with
those they choose for themselves.
And the most benevolent dragons
will only join with people of good
and virtuous character.
However, there have been some who
thought to use this dynamic to win
the hearts of the people; a former
liege lord from the land of Grissblum
was one such man.
Grissblum was, at the time, embroiled
in a war against fiends, so a mighty
symbol was needed to both maintain
morale and secure support from the
noble families.
One day, the liege lord heard tale of
Jeanne d'Arc, a dragon who took the
form of a valiant female knight in
order to lead lost souls to safety.
He immediately brought forth his
niece—who was related to Alberian
royalty—and claimed she was
pactbound to Jeanne d'Arc and
could shapeshift at will.
Alas, the Alberian blood in the niece
was sparse, and she had little hope
of shapeshifting. But once she wore
armor and raised a banner, she was
the spitting image of Jeanne d'Arc.
Word quickly spread that Grissblum
had the protection and favor of
the saint Jeanne d'Arc, sparking a
fire of hope among the beleaguered
populace.
But the niece could not relinquish her
guilt over the facade, no matter how
much the liege lord encouraged her
to bear it for the sake of his people.
The war raged on. As the years went
by, more and more villages fell to
the fiends' merciless onslaught.
The survivors pleaded with the liege
lord to save their families and homes,
but he only shook his head.
"Our forces are too few," said the
lord. "We cannot afford to defend
small, rural villages. If you have
homes and families there, I suggest
that you abandon them."
Enraged, the niece reprimanded the
lord. "We have already deceived all
in this land with my dissembling.
If we ignore their pleas now,
we are no better than the fiends!"
When the lord still refused to act,
the niece did so instead. Even though
greatly outnumbered, soldiers rallied
to her cause—for they believed she
gave them the protection of a saint.
The girl who played at being a saint
took up the sword by her own will.
It mattered no longer what was true
or false—she would help her people
or else die in the attempt.
The girl donned her Jeanne d'Arc
armor and led her knights out of the
capital. They avoided the highways
and went along the mountainside,
hoping to stage a surprise attack.
The knights maintained their resolve
in the face of overwhelming enemy
numbers, for they believed in the
blessing of Jeanne d'Arc. But alas,
they did not know the saint was false.
As they approached, the fiends used
magic to engulf the mountain in a
dense mist. The soldiers pressed on,
but soon became lost in the fog and
found themselves separated.
The poor girl stumbled through the
mist, cursing herself. She had sworn
to bear any burden for her people,
yet now found herself lost and alone
in an unfamiliar wood.
Just when all seemed lost, a hand
emerged from the mist and gently
took the girl's battle standard and
used it to lead her through the
confusing tendrils of mist.
The girl was shocked, for even
through the fog she could see that
her rescuer was the beautiful, armor-
clad knight she knew so well from
her storybook cradle tales.
The pair walked on in silence for an
age, until finally the figure returned
the girl's flag and vanished. At that
moment, the mist cleared—revealing
both her men and the fiend horde.
The humans caught the fiends
completely off-guard, and before the
day was out, they had slaughtered
every last one of them without taking
a single casualty of their own.
After the battle, the knights marveled
at how they had all been led to
safety by the site of a glimmering
flag that moved through the mist.
Cheer and huzzahs echoed far and
wide for the saint of Grissblum.
But only the girl knew the whole truth:
Jeanne d'Arc never abandons those
who are lost.