Zodiark/Stories

General Stories Misc

Quotes

When Entering Dragon's Roost

Well met, Euden.

What is it?

What would you ask of me?

After Receiving a Gift

For you.

I would repay your kind gift. Please accept this.

After Bond Level Increase

You've grown considerably. This pleases me.

I commend your vision. Walk the path you've chosen proudly.

Idle After Bond Level 1

I will bestow my shadow upon you. Use it as you deem fit.

I am deeply thankful for the home you've granted me.

The sight of my rotted wings does not frighten you?

Idle After Bond Level 10

I have no intention of telling humans how to live their lives. You may do as you see fit.

Decay eats at my body, and the pain of death claws at me without pause.

The living burn so bright. It is an overwhelming sight for one such as myself.

Idle After Bond Level 20

Watching your successes is my greatest source of comfort.

I am fortunate to have met you.

Is my soul that of a man, or a dragon? Even I cannot say for sure.

Dragon Story Episodes
Unselfish Love

There is none among the great

dragons more kind of heart than

Zodiark the Shadowwyrm—yet he is

abhorred and called evil by some

humans.

His scales once glittered like black

agate, but their beauty has long

since rotted away. Such is the

reward for his tenderness.

Long ago, there was a land ruled by

a kind queen. She was revered for

her virtue and governed her people

well, but an invasion of fiends put her

country's very existence in danger.

She asked aid from the Shadowwyrm,

who dwelt at the very edge of her

domain. "Beautiful Shadowwyrm, my

country needs your protection. Tell

me what I must pay to receive it."

"Nothing," replied the Shadowwyrm.

The queen was shocked, for she had

been prepared to sacrifice herself if

it was required of her.

"You are in trouble. If you require

my aid, then I shall do all in my

power to help you."

With his help, their victory over the

fiends was total. The queen, however,

quickly grew corrupt after gaining

the Shadowwyrm's promise of eternal

protection.

She hid behind the dragon's strength,

and used it to bend her subjects and

neighbors to her will. Finally, the

people tired of this, rebelled against

her, and stormed the palace.

Realizing her foolishness, the queen

turned on the Shadowwyrm. "You

tempted me down this path!" she

cried. The bewildered dragon could

only stare at her.

"Oh, but you have," she continued.

"You twisted my heart. You gave me

all of your power and never asked

that I bear any of its consequences!"

"Curse your unselfish love!"

screamed the queen, who then

flung herself off the balcony.

After the queen's death, the

Shadowwyrm encountered many

rulers. Few could wake themselves

from the stupor the dragon's power

induced, and many were ruined.

When a country is ruined, so, too, are

its people. Eventually, those who had

never even seen the Shadowwyrm

grew to loathe the very mention of

his name.

Darkness turns nothing away.

Any who borrow its power must

eventually fight against their own

weakness, and that is no easy task.

Humans came to revile the

Shadowwyrm that threw the world

into chaos. Dragons are not physical

creatures so much as spiritual, and

the humans' hatred corroded him.

The terrible sight of him—and his

horrific shrieks of agony—terrified the

humans, to whom he was already

known as an enemy.

"The humans despise me," thought

the Shadowwyrm through a haze of

pain. "I am perishing under their

wrath and hate."

"Yet I cannot bring myself to hate

them—indeed, I ADORE them.

Is that truly so wrong?"

The Shadowwyrm had many virtues,

perhaps none more resplendent than

his unselfish love. Such mastery only

underscored the imperfections in

humanity's own love.

A man approached the Shadowwyrm

as he lay in a cave, wracked with

pain. "Stay back..." growled the

dragon in a weak voice.

"I will only cause you unhappiness.

In any case, I cannot give you what

you wish. Humanity's hatred has

eroded my soul; I do not even have

strength enough to fight my pain."

The man gently stroked one of the

dragon's blistered scales. "Then let

me ease your suffering. As you have

cared for so many of my kind, let me

now care for you."

For all the humans the Shadowwyrm

had saved, this was the first one

to try and save him.

Thus began a friendship between

Aurelius and Zodiark that tore down

the boundaries between human and

dragonkind.