I sat at the back of the room, cloaked and in the shadows, listening to the words of Lady Dawn. I remembered a time, when I was still a young girl, that Dawn had come before. A time when I still believed in the cause of upholding Lord British, a time when I still believed that all were good at heart. I had followed her then ...
It had been many months since I left the forces of Lady Minax, disillusioned by the greed and selfishness of her followers, and her continued absence. I thought about the actions I had not only performed, but also ordered while in her ranks. I was now an outcast, a follower of no cause, and branded a murderer as well, for the deaths of Clanin and those who would have defended him.
Dawn spoke of the platinum dragons, and how they were coming to the aid of Britania against the forces of the Shadowlords. Not the followers of the Shadowlords, but the beings themselves. She told of the plans of Casca to destroy the Britain stronghold in the old lands. Anger burned in my heart. Casca ... the pretender, he who would only use those that inhabit the old lands to destroy themselves and all others.
I made the decision. I had no care for the new world, but it was a mostly peaceful place. And I did not wish to see my own home, and all those I knew, fall to the power of evil. I began to plan ...
At the end of the meeting, a boy approached me. He was still very young yet, new to the world of fighting. He knew only of defending his home and people. He knew nothing of large battles that rage for the world itself. His heart was pure, and inflamed for the cause of good. He asked me, did I know the best part he could play in this battle. Why he asked me, I will never know. But I told him. I told him of old battles he had never heard of, of the evils he would face in the old lands, of the enemies that would be obvious, and of those that would not. When he pledged to stand at my side, I smiled sadly. I told him he would not want to do that, if he knew who I was, but that he would do well to follow Lady Dawn.
I arrived early to the battlefield and was immediately engaged in battle by a follower of the Shadowlords. He was joined by one from the Council of Mages. As I managed to elude these two, the crimson dragons flooded out of Lord Blackthorne's old castle, and everyone ran in that direction. I found the platinum dragons deep in battle against the crimsons, and many good Britanians fighting as well, against both the crimsons and the hoards of factioneers who would stop them.
I saw the boy from the night before, being chased by a Shadowlords follower. I urged my horse quickly that direction. Yelling at the boy to run back to the group, I engaged the person attacking him, but quickly lost footing as some of his companions arrived. Deciding it was better if I return to the main battle, I made my way around the buildings to a group fighting against a crimson dragon.
Shouts sounded as someone recognized me. Then one of the platinum dragons turned its head towards me ... steely eyes bore into mine. I was frozen for a moment, and then drawn to the dragon. "Allow me to assist you, to drive the evil back!" I said.
"There is no redemption for you here, woman! We do not want the help of one such as you! Begone!" the dragon growled, breathing fire at me. Two of her companions also turned my direction, momentarily forgetting the crimson they were battling. As I fled, I felt the tip of a massive claw dig into my shoulder, and my horse stumbled.
Badly injured and now horseless, I stumbled past an old friend. I asked if they might have some bandages. They looked through me and walked away. Another once-ally of mine, a follower of Minax, kicked at me, snarling "Where were you when we needed you? When we were fighting against these cursed True Britanians and Council of Mages?! Do not look to me for help!"
As I fell to the ground, one person, once my closest companion, did come to my aid. He tended my wounds and spoke quietly to me. "They do not mean it, they are just angry. They will see that you are helping eventually!"
Burning anger filled me. Eventually? It was not enough to see it right now? And those dragons! How dare they denounce me for coming to their aid?!
"No, there will be no evenutally. I am done with being stabbed in the back by those I would help! If they do not want my help, then by the virtues, they will not have it! Damn them all for only seeing the surface and not the heart! I am weary of shallow people with shallow desires!"
I was flooded with memories of people spitting at the beggars in the streets, of people tearing down the walls of Magincia in greed for rare items, of the bloodlust in the eyes crying for the death of a measly thief. Of all these people pretending to be good and virtuous while their heart burned black with every anti-virtue known to man. And the platinum dragons? Why were they here? They did not care for the plight of man, they cared only for their own hides! They all bore falsehoods, none were what they pretended!
As the battle waned, I walked away. It did not matter who won, the world would always be filled with chaos. My actions had been no better than those of the vilest of villians, no worse than those of the most honorable paladin. In the forrest, I sat, broken. What had this world come to? Where was the good? The honor? They were all illusions, pretense. There was nothing left to believe in ... quietly, I cried.