What's a Dragon? - Chapter 12

The Dragon Form

In Part 1 (Ch. 1-5), we met our Static bookworm narrator Emilie and her friends: the active Mage Jess, the shy Wizard Shannon, and the enthusiastic and Dynamic Alex. But when Emilie was set to research her favorite true dragons, she read a mysterious note saying that she was a true dragon herself.

Normally, Saturday is for sleeping in. Not as late as last Saturday, but that was extra special. Today is just regular special.

I didn’t want my alarm to wake anyone else, so I didn’t set one. Instead, I slept a little extra on Thursday night and slept between school and dinner yesterday so I could bank my sleep a little. Then I stayed up reading the Mymoir until now: about 3 am. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there to read and not just about how to use magic. There’s a lot of history, too, most of it locked by Akiko. Not all of it matches what I’ve learned in school.

I quietly leave my room and head down to the garage. I normally have someone else open the door for me, but it has springs on it for a reason. Once it’s high enough for my bike, I quickly pull my bike out while holding the door with one hand. Then I set the door back down quietly and ride to the north gate of town.

It’s so cold! I knew it’d be cold, but I thought Fred’s Thermal Regulator would help more! I mean, I won’t get frostbite or anything, but it feels like it’s fifty degrees outside instead of the seventy I set for the spell! I bet the wind from riding my bike is the problem: it’s taking away the heated air before it can really help out. It’s too late now, but I think next time I’ll bring my coat.

There’s a doorbell of sorts near the gate on both sides, mounted on a box next to the road. It’s so that folks approaching the gate can tell the watchtower guard to let them through. I don’t think the one inside the gate is watched all that closely, though, and the guy just lets anyone through. The walls and gate are supposed to keep beasts out, not to keep people in. The generator powering the locks on the gate looks pretty shiny, so I think I know what exploded on Thursday morning.

A few moments after I ring the doorbell, the deadbolts across the inside of the gate audibly unlock and move aside before the door swings open a little bit. As soon as it’s open wide enough for me to get through, I continue my ride out to the park, and the gate closes behind me.

While it’s a very hilly and tiring road out to the park, it’s also pretty much a straight shot. I just have to make one turn onto a dirt road when I’m nearly there and that’s it. That said, the place is also fairly private in the winter, compared to the other seasons where it’s rare that someone isn’t there having a picnic or just some alone time. But a winter morning before sunrise is probably the most quiet it will get.

The forest is a lot more brown and gray than I’m used to, but I suppose it matches most of the trees and plants in town. Even the farms are empty now, and the animals mostly stay indoors. At the edge of the park, I stop my bike and lean it up against a tree. Then I slowly make my way to the center of the clearing.

The rocks and boulders studding the park’s grass are a lot more visible now that it’s winter, and the frost on the grass crunches under my shoes. I don’t want to make tracks that are too obvious, just in case someone comes out here after I leave, so I climb atop a fairly wide boulder and look down the gentle slope. Then I pull out Jess’s feather, which I’d tied to my neck with some twine and a binder clip, and close my eyes.

The Mymoir says that shifting only requires holding “my object” and having enough magic to shift. I’ve definitely satisfied those requirements. Time to try out the rest of the instructions. It says that my dragon form is set before I ever shift, so I wonder what it’ll be like. Only one way to find out. I grip the feather tightly and think about all the Dragon records I’ve ever seen, then add the effort to use magic.

Woah! It’s a good thing my muscles are locked, because I’d fall over if they weren’t! As it is, the rocks and trees around me rapidly shrink as my body changes shape. At the same time, the heat map in my head expands massively, making me feel both huge and tiny at once. Before the change fully finishes, I fall forwards, my feet sliding off the rock I was on, my hands—rapidly becoming a second pair of feet—slamming into the ground in front of me. A shock, but surprisingly not painful.

Only a few seconds after it all started, I feel the changes end, finally allowing me to blink, breathe, and try to figure out how to control the rest of my now drastically different-shaped body. Fortunately, I don’t have to move to see my shape. Instead, I close my eyes and focus with my heat sense.

Um… I suppose it’s not… that far from an average dragon shape. Four legs, and although I feel like I’m standing on my toes in the back, it’s not uncomfortable. My neck is long and flexible, my head narrow… and I think I have a pair of horns in the back, curved very slightly upwards. My body seems narrower than most, and I… my wings are folded along my back. I have wings! And a tail! Just to see how they feel, I move, uh, shoulder muscles… That didn’t work. Oh, right; birds use chest muscles. And there we go! I flare my wings, feeling the movement of the air around me. The wings are kinda skinny like the rest of me, but I think I like the look. My tail is probably a full half of my total body length and my spine is smooth (not spiked or jagged or anything) but overall, this just feels like, well, me.

…

I know the Mymoir said I was a Dragon, but I didn’t quite believe it until now. I still don’t quite believe it, but this feels too real to be a dream. I can feel the breeze under my wings, the dirt between my claws, the melting frost of the grass along the part of my tail that’s resting on the ground. The air is cold and the ground is cold, but it’s not really bothering me. And being a dragon just feels awesome.

Well, the other point of coming out here at this time was to see if I could fly, and for that I should probably open my eyes. I do so, and a giant wolf is running at me! I freeze, staring helplessly at the wolf. What-do-I-do-what-do-I-do!? There’s no one here to save me! The wolf is right next to me and getting ready to pounce!