Heir to the Holy Crest

Novalmauge certainly did confirm the story and nearly started an argument between the oubliette guards as they tried to pin the blame on each other for the escape. Novalmauge also told me about a Elvaan named Morjean in the Cathedral who could tell me more about the Dragoons. I went straight to Northern San d'Oria to the Cathedral to find Morjean.

Morjean explained how the job of Dragoon had declined greatly in the Kingdom because dragons had been hunted so zealously by the dragon hunters. Now there were hardly any dragons left for the Dragoons to be bonded to. Dragons are born with either a good (Holy) or bad (Evil) crest. The Dragon hunters saw the problems that happened when bad dragon spirits overwhelmed their Dragoon keepers and pushed them to evil. Considering the risk of this happening to be too great, they hunted every dragon they could find. Their efficiency at this murder decreased the dragon (and thus Dragoon) population drastically.

As I talked with Morjean, another Elvaan named Oiheaurese intruded on our conversation. He gave me bad feelings but I decided to hear him out anyway. He said he knew of a dragon's egg that had been stashed away in the Maze of Shakhrami and that if I were to bring it back, we could incubate it and hatch a dragon. I'd been to the Maze of Shakhrami before and I didn't have any problem with going there again. I decided I pursue the egg for Oiheaurese.

Before heading out to the Maze, I stopped by the Auction House (where I'd originally intended to go before all this started) and picked up a pick axe. In the Maze I searched for a likely excavation point and started digging. It didn't take long for me to find the wyvern egg Oiheaurese spoke about. I packed it up ever-so-carefully in my Gobby bag and went back to Morjean.

Amazed I'd found an actual dragon's egg, Morjean directed me to speak with Yachemidot to learn how we could incubate it. According to him, there was a special place in Meriphataud Mountains and the very tip of Doragora's Spine (K-8 on the map) where the egg could be placed. I rented a Chocobo and set out for Meriphataud. Doragora's Spine being such a large structure, it wasn't long before I'd found the spot.

In no time at all, the egg hatched and a small wyvern emerged. As it spread its wings and began to hover near me, one of the Kingdom's Royal Knights, Rahal rode up to us. At nearly the same time, Oiheaurese showed up from the other side of the spine. It seems I'd been followed by two people! The events that unfolded next caused me to freeze in horror as I realized what was happening.

Oiheaurese unsheathed his sword then quickly and violently struck the wyvern down. He stooped to anoint himself with little dragon's blood and a sudden transformation happened. Rahal recognized Oiheaurese at once as Cyranuce! It seemed the Dragoon who was imprisoned in that cell with the Beastmaster didn't die at all. Cyranuce recounted the story of the prison break and corrected it by explaining that he was the one who ran and it was, in fact, the Beastmaster who had died beneath that ruble. Now, with the blood of the fallen dragon, he could again become the Dragoon he once was. Almost as soon as Cyranuce was done speaking, he activated a scroll of instant warp and was gone.

Needing to catch Cyranuce before his twisted mind could do more harm, Rahal realized the importance of the little dragon and agreed to take it back to San d'Oria. There they could nurse it back to health and formulate a plan to track down and capture Cyranuce. I headed back to San d'Oria myself to see how I could help. After all, it was I who found the wyvern egg, incubated it, and laid first eyes on the newborn dragon.

Back in San d'Oria, I spoke with Rahal who agreed to let me look for Cyranuce. He gave me an antidote that could break the dragon bond Cyranuce had created and make it easier for me to detain him. I went straight to Fort Ghelsba and a small hut (G-10 on the map) where I was almost sure Cyranuce would be hiding.

Sure enough I found him there! As soon as he saw me, another transformation happened. Cyranuce became a dragon! I knew there was only one way out of this situation - I had to fight. I called on CourierCarrie (and enhanced CrabFamiliar), and together we attacked Cyranuce. The battle was hard won but in the end I was victorious. I tried to administer the antidote to the fallen Cyranuce but he refused the medicine. Rahal, who had arrived while we were fighting, also tried to reason with the old Dragoon but in the end Cyranuce wanted to die.

Rahal had brought the small dragon with him and was ready to kill it. Having a change of heart, the Royal Knight's dragon killer went against his calling and spared the life of the baby dragon; entrusting it to me. The dragon and I had already formed a bond at its birth and its holy crest ensured me that we'd always remain on the good side of the struggle between good and evil.

I don't know if I'm quite ready to be a true Dragoon but I imagine it is much like being a Beastmaster. As Beastmaster however, I don't form the tight bond with my pets as I would with my dragon. While that bond might be a good thing, I'm afraid of what else it could bring. For now, I'll stick to being a Beastmaster and let my dragon grow up a bit before bringing him into battle with me.