Redemption of The Wolf-Dragon Knight (TFTG)

Redemption of The Wolf-Dragon Knight

A TFTG story created in collaboration with the artist Vjeolpsyckis

UNEDITED

CW:  Unwilling Permanent Change - Pregnancy - Egg laying - Questionable Mind Manipulation (The villain protagonist is unsure if his changing perspective is forced or genuine) - Non Anthro Dragon

Sir. Gareth DeFrank, The Black Knight of Eastern Swansburg, Terror of the North and Scourge of Belitusa stood alone on the tournament field, his blunted blade stabbing point first into the soft grass and his feet planted squarely on the ground. All around him the bruised and battered bodies of his worthy foes lay where he had feld them. In one gauntleted hand he held his weapon firmly and with the other he removed his helmet, revealing a scarred face and dark eyes which fixed unwaveringly on the Queen. As the trumpets sounded, announcing his victory, the Queen rose slowly, her face an unreadable mask.

“Your grace!” The black knights voice was as rough and weathered as his features. “Is this crop of green boys truly the best your domain had to offer?” At his feet one of the knights he had defeated attempted to rise, but without looking Sir. DeFrank gave him a savage kick which sent the lad crashing back to the ground. “I am almost offended on your behalf! No wonder your grace seeks the protection of a dragon, if this alone stands between you and your enemies!”

The crowd gasped at the insolence of the infamous knight, but the queen’s face remained expressionless as she raised a hand to call for silence. “I take it then,” She asked calmly, “That you are willing to claim your prize?”

“Of course I am!” Sir. DeFrank spat. “Do you think I take pleasure in such measly sport as I get from paddling these milk sods? No, I am here for one thing and one thing alone, the dragon’s fang and the power that comes with it!”

“And you are ready to commit to all that that will demand of you?” The queen asked, her speech formal and clearly practised, Sir. DeFrank doubted a word of it would have changed regardless of who had won the bout. “Are you prepared to surrender your humanity, to give up all that you are so that you might become strong enough to protect these lands and their people from threats, large and small? To make the ultimate sacrifice to fulfil your knightly vows beyond the exstream that any man would expect from even the most noble hearted of heros?”

The black knight smiled grimly and held back laughter. The witch queen had truly not changed a word of this blarney to fit him or any other man on the field with more common sense then blind loyalty or foolhardy honor. He had made peace with the fact that he would be giving up his humanity, that was true, but to become a powerful wolf-dragon was no ambition fit for a man so naive as to think such power should be used for anything other than the personal need to become strong. With enough strength, one would never need to fear another challenging him and only without fear could a man be truly free.

For a time, Sir. DeFrank had managed this well enough on his own, quickly devolving from the idealistic fool he had been while young into a seasoned and grim warrior, feared across the land for his many acts of bravery and cruelty. Many honorable knights had sought to stop him and as many had failed, yet the one foe he could not defeat thru strength of arms was the same that, in the end, feld all men. Time had sapped him of much of his speed and while he was still the match of any man with a blade in hand, he knew full well that it would only be a matter of time before one came with the skill and the luck to take advantage of his dwindling state. And if they did not? A slow and ignominious end, forgotten and powerless as his body slowly withered away…

This had seemed an inevitable fate when he had heard the startling news that the Sorceress Queen Henrietta had offered up, as the reward for a grand tournament, the prize of a magical fang from a near mythical wolf-dragon. It was said to be able to transform one who plunged it into their chest into one of the powerful and near imortal beasts, letting them combine their human mind with that of the fearsome creature. This startling fact had been confirmed by the Queen herself as she had addressed the competitors and told them of her wish to see one of her own triumph and use the power it gave them to safeguard the realm.

And now, that power would soon belong to the infamous Black Knight of Eastern Swansburg…

Sir. DeFrank’s mind snapped back to the present moment as the queen waited on his reply. There was no point in telling the witch the truth, not that she would not have guessed it already, but still, no point in giving the lass reason to hold back his prize from him.

“Aye, I am ready to give it all up to become the draconic protector your people need.” His grim smile grew broader. “I’ll make sure to use my new strength only for the good of the realm, I swear it on my honor as a knight.”

The Queen’s mouth curled up in the faintest of smiles and she lowered her hand. “Very well then, good Sir. Knight… Then we shall see you in the great hall tonight to present you with your most deserved reward.”

-

That evening as the common folk and lesser knights drank and ate in the fields surrounding the tournament grounds, Sir. DeFrank and a number of the more noble competitors made their way to the castle keep and in it, the great hall of The Sorceress Queen Henrietta Desmarais. Their they were greeted by music, boisterous laughter and the fragrant aroma of roasting meat. All around, sitting at long tables lords, ladies and dignitaries from neighboring kingdoms feasted and made merry as servants rushed to and fro, serving food and refilling goblets of mead and wine. Over it all, musicians and jesters did their best to entertain all in attendance.

As the other knights went to find spots at the tables, Sir. DeFrank strode across the hall, pushing his way past anyone who was not quick enough to get out of his way till he reached the Queen’s table. Watching his approach with the same calmly neutral expression she had had at the tournament grounds, Queen Henrietta set aside her cup and waited till The Black Knight had almost reached her before asking, “Will you not sit and join in the feast?” Her voice was quiet, yet it cut thru the noise of the hall like a knife, silencing all in a moment. “It has been prepared in your honor, to celebrate your victory.”

“No.” Sir. DeFrank responded gruffly. “I did not fight those men for your respect or the admiration of any of these people hear today, nor do I wish to engage in empty frivolities. I have earned my prize and I will have it. That alone is what I desire from you now.”

“Mind your tongue, wretch!” One of the lords sitting by the queen rose to his feet, hand dropping to the hilt of his sword. “You speak to her majesty and will show the proper respect!”

“I didn’t see you on the field today.” Sir. DeFrank replied coolly, hand casually curling around the hilt of his own blade. “Tell me, Sir… Are you a craven who fears a fight or dandy, petrified of risking any change to your pretty face?”

“You insolent cur!” The lord’s face turned bright red as he drew his blade. “I refrained from the fight only due to an injury sustained in my lieges service, but I shall risk the wound reopening to teach you a lesson!” Around the hall knights and guards reached for their weapons, unsure if a duel or a massacre was on the verge of starting.

“Enough of this!” The queen snapped and rose, placing a hand on the lord shoulder. “Good Lord Baristone, your courage and dedication no man of my court doubts, yet I will not condone you spilling blood in my hall. This man is my guest and our champion,” She looked to DeFrank, “And thus is under my protection.”

The knight sheathed his blade and sat, though his baleful gaze did not stray from The Black Knight. “As my Queen wishes.”

“Sir. DeFrank,” The Queen clapped and a servant hurried from the back holding a wooden box. “In deference to your wishes, my kingdom is honored to present you with this great prize for your impressive victory in the tournament. Across the last three days you have proven yourself time and again to possess the strength, courage and determination to be my people's defender. Will you take this enchanted wolf-dragon fang and with it, become the champion my kingdom needs?”

Sir. DeFrank nodded, barely bothering to hide his smirk. “Aye, your grace. I am ready.” He stepped forward and opened the box, revealing the glittering white tooth within. The fang seemed to shine with an inter light and as he lifted it from its silk lined container he felt it pulse with magical energy. “I shall drive this into my heart and in doing so, be reborn as a mighty dragon!”

He stepped back and lifted one hand to the edge of his breastplate, gripping one corner before, with a mighty pull, ripping it from his chest with enough force to snap the thick leather holding it in place. The feat of strength elicited some gasps from the onlookers, but Sir. DeFrank wasted no time basking in their admiration. He twisted the fang in his hand and without hesitation, drove it point first into his hart!

The pain was immeasurable, yet with it came a feeling of new strength as from his chest a thick coat of white fur burst from the wound. This spread further as he fell to one knee, his whole body shaking as he started to grow, straining at the confines of his armor. He looked down at his hands and was amazed to see claws ripping thru the blackened steel gauntlets like paper, thick fur pushing out between the cracks till with a snap, they fell away revealing wolf like paws. As his arms thickened and the armor their fell away, thick blue scaled dragonic skin stretched from his chest to the ends of his new paws, forming a pair of large wings out of his heavily altered new front legs. To support this, under his armor his chest expanded greatly, forming a keel to better support his new ability to fly.

“This… Power!” Sir. DeFrank cried. “I feel… INVINCIBLE!” He threw his head back and let out a howling laugh as his teeth sharpened into fangs and his face began to push outward into a muzzle, half canine and half draconic in shape. From his head a pair of great horns curved back and a lick of fire flew from his mouth as his face became covered in a coat of white fur, similar to that on his chest and arms. This fur spread back, pushing off the last of his chest armor as he became covered in a thick and rather fluffy coat of snowy white.

“I must say, you have taken to these changes well.” The Queen mused. “Especially given your masculine pride…”

“What are you talking about, witch?” Sir. DeFrank growled as his legs began to thicken and shed their black armor coverings, revealing both white fur down by his new paws and blue scales as they flowed up toward his more draconic lower half. “I may no longer me a man, but I am more masculine and strong then I ever was before!”

The Queen’s face broke into a delighted smirk as the former knights leggings burst asunder and a long, blue scaled tail whipped out from the top of his rear. This tail soon lengthened, growing first a pair of winglike sails to aid in flight and a white, fluffy tip. “You truly do not know?” She asked as the tail lashed back and forth. “About the nature of wolf-dragon males?”

“What are you babbling about?” Sir. DeFrank demanded as something began to put pressure on his groin and chest. For some reason his voice seemed higher than it had been a moment before and his chest felt oddly heavy. “Cease your cryptic ramblings before I decide to light this hall ablaze!” To his shock, the threat, rather than instilling fear into the crowd, seemed to be taken as a joke as all around lords and ladies began to laugh, first quietly, then out loud. Even more troubling, rather than sending him into a bloody rage, he instead felt suddenly very small and helpless before the assembled crowds mockery.

“Male wolf-dragons are merely servants,” The Queen replied at last, covering her own laughter with a napkin. “Little more than the drones of a bee hive.”

“You seek to make me a slave then?” Sir. DeFrank demanded as blue scales cover his lower body and spines pushed out along his spine, mostly covered by the fur higher up, but quite visible down his draconic lower back. As he followed their trail, he noticed something off about his groin, in that, though it was now bare, he could not see his manhood. Furthermore, his chest had pushed out strangely, giving him the impossible impression of having small breasts with two additional sets of nipples below them!

“Perish the thought!” The Queen called, no longer trying to hide her laughter. “A single male wolf-dragon would be worthless to me as a guardian! No, for that I would need a female! A queen… A broodmother…”

“A WHAT!?” Sir. DeFrank demanded, before suddenly clutching at his, now her gut with her new paws. As she did so she looked down to see her top two small breasts growing into a pair of sizable tits with the lower set of four pushing out into modest mounts. “What is this feeling in my…”

“Womb?” The Queen finished. “That would be your first clutch of eggs dear.” The Queen chuckled and the sound was echoed from all sides by the other attendees. “In future you will need males to help with your next clutch, but do not worry, the process is so effective that it will be years before your fully finished with even your first batch. By then, you will not need magic to substitute for your lack of servants.”

“Y-You lie!” Sir. DeFrank whimpered as she felt her belly swell with the new life growing within her. “Y-You tricked me and you will fix this or I will… Will…”

“Will what?” The Queen asked, stepping around the table and walking toward the new broodmother as she felt the first of her eggs starting to push their way through her birth canal. “Burn me? Eat me? Destroy my kingdom? If that is your plan, you had best do it as there is no turnin you back.” As the Queen approached the former knight, the wolf-dragon began to shy away from her, suddenly feeling overwhelming anxiety at the danger posed by the woman… Not to herself, but to her growing eggs.

“S-Stay back!” Sir. DeFrank gasped and spread her wings to fly, but was stopped as something pushed at her new sex, spreading her wide and filling her body with a strange mixture of pain and pleasure. “W-What’s happening to me?”

The Queen ducked under the wolf-dragon and then reappeared a moment later, holding a large, bluish egg. “Why, I believe you have officially become a mother!” The Queen announced to a thunderous cheer from the crowd. The dragoness blushed and tried to back away, but another egg was not far behind the first and she soon found herself immobilized as one after another, her brood were brought into the world. As she lay whimpering and moaning at the strange feelings flooding her, she felt a hand run thru the fur of her muzzle and the Queen’s soothing voice reassuring her that, “It will be alright dear Ange Gardien… I have had a nest prepared for you. You and your brood will always have a place here in my castle.”

The former knight tried to fight back, to yell at the Queen that she needed no sympathy or coddling and that her name was not Ange, but Gareth… Yet she could not seem to muster up the will to do so. She had been defeated and now, surrounded by laughing nobles and knights and full of eggs, there was nothing she could do, but give in to the kindness of the Queen she had so recently dismissed.

-

Many years later Ange Gardien lay curled in her large and richly decorated room near the top of the castle, surrounded by eggs and nursing her suckling youths. Attending her were a swarm of small males, as was only fitting for a queen of her size and stature. It had taken some time for her to accept her new lot in life, longer still to get over her resentment at how it had come about. Though as her first clutch hatched and helped her to prepare for the second and then again for the third, her feelings of betrayal and loss mellowed. Now, as the last of the eggs implanted in her by the magical enchantment of the fang so many years ago prepared to leave her, Ange Gardien had to admit that her life had truly been made better by the events of that night. She had lost her manhood, her humanity and her pride, but had been given a loving family, a peaceful life and most importantly, though she would not have thought so at the time, a chance for redemption.

While she was between clutches, she roamed the countryside and was shocked and horrified by the evils she had committed in her past life. Though she could not make up for the actions of Sir. DeFrank, Ange determined too both personally and with the help of her servants, rebuild and protect the homes and livelihoods of the people she had once terrorized. In return, the common folk came to love her and praise her for her kind deeds, unaware of her past actions. To this Ange was eternially grateful as it allowed her to bury the memory of Sir. DeFrank, Terror of the North and Scourge of Belitusa and built atop his grave a monument to decency and kindness in the form of her new life.

She thought of all of this and of the long and fruitful life she would have going forward, with many, many more children and good deeds left to bring into this world. The thought brought a smile to her long face and that smile only grew as she sniffed the air and caught the faint aroma of the Queen’s perfume.

She never knew if the Sorcerous Queen had made her into who she was today thru trickery or thru magic or even just by the happy accident of his own poor understanding of the tournament prize. Whatever the reason, she greeted her old friend the same way she had now done so for years upon years…

“Thank you, your majesty!”