What's a Dragon? - Chapter 6
Dreaming of Books
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.
«This article is locked by Akiko.»
What?
I go back and look at what I just read.
«Welcome! If you’re reading this, you’re a Dragon!
«This article is locked by Akiko.»
What is that—I mean, I know what that means. “No one can edit this writing because Akiko forbade it.” But I don’t know how I know that.
Come to think of it, how am I reading this in the first place? I don’t feel like I’m reading a book, but the words are in front of me plain as day, black against an off-white background. I continue reading.
«You’ve probably newly awakened and need to know more. Think about what you want to know.»
The emphasized words seem to indicate that they’re things I should try learning about. I’m not sure how I know this, but that’s the meaning they convey. I focus on “awakened.”
The symbols shift and I find myself looking at new information. «“Awaken” is a term describing someone without significant magic power gaining some form of it. This is most commonly used for Star and Soul magic users, as Aspect users usually have their abilities from birth.»
Okay, this is a lot of information. I unfocus a bit and the symbols revert to what I first saw. Then I focus on “Dragon.”
«This article is locked by Akiko.» Who’s this—wait! I refocus on “Dragon” as the symbols shift and they move back into place. «A true dragon is a user of Star magic. In other words, true dragons are humans that use a specific type of magic.» Okay, now I know I’m dreaming. Although I seem to have a lot of control over this dream. Let’s see how deep my thoughts go.
«Dragons have a set of abilities that include magic user sensing, long life, and the namesake dragon form. Beyond that, each Dragon has their own element which they can sense and manipulate.»
Interesting. Let’s look at “dragon form” next.
«Dragons can shift to their dragon form by focusing on the form and willing the change, although if they allow their magic to reach capacity, the change will be forced. Like with many transformations through Aspect magic, the change will include any clothing and destroy obstructions.
«In dragon form, all Dragons can fly and will have a greatly increased magic range. In addition, each can direct their thoughts at others to “speak” to them. WARNING: do NOT speak to people with this ability. We are safer if they believe that we are not human ourselves.»
Okay. Good job, dream-logic; that makes sense with what’s actually real. I back up a step and take a look at “element.”
«This article is locked by Akiko.» There’s that name again. «Dragon elements are parts of physics that Dragons can sense and alter. Each Dragon has one of eight possible elements; see the table below. This element is then tied to the eye and scale color of the Dragon intimately. Newly-awakened Dragons will have their eye colors changed to match their element.»
Huh. I check the list of colors, and it matches my knowledge, although I might need some more explanations for some of the elements. Red, force; orange, mass; yellow, electricity; green, alchemy; blue, heat; purple, boundaries; white, light; black, sound.
Then the text fades from view and I’m surrounded by numbers. Lots and lots and lots of numbers. An infinite grid, around and through and past everything I can see, and they keep going and going far beyond the walls of my room. My head hurts from looking at them, so I ignore them and try to change the dream, but they won’t go away. I can’t really sleep like this, so I decide that even if it’s a dream, I should go and get some water.
The numbers persist even on my way to the bathroom. I do my best not to pay them any mind, and my headache lightens a bit. Still, I think the numbers next to (and in?) me are higher than further away. Once inside the bathroom, I shut the door and turn on the smallest and dimmest light and look away to let my eyes adjust. The numbers next to the light are increasing, although I don’t know why I know that—I’m looking in the opposite direction. When I can keep my eyes open enough to see the sink, I get some cold water in a cup. The numbers are lower for the water. Then I lift the cup for a sip. As I do so, I catch my reflection in the mirror over the sink.
Why are my eyes blue?
Okay. Okay. Calm down. I pinch myself again. Ow. Yep, still real, and my eyes are still blue and the numbers remain. I turn off the light and go back to my room.
Where’s that thing that I was reading earlier?
As I think my question, the words appear again. «This article is locked by Akiko. The Mymoir is a library of knowledge and memories kept by Dragons. It can only be altered and viewed by Dragons, and requires a very tiny amount of magic to view. The Mymoir is recorded in Draconic: the language of Star magic. If you have a question, think it and the Mymoir will do its best to answer you.»
Now that I think about it, the symbols I’ve been reading aren’t English or any other language I recognize. Not that that keeps me from understanding what I’m reading. There are more pressing issues, however. What’s happening to me?
«This article…» is the first one I saw. Not so helpful. What are the numbers, then?
«This article is locked by Akiko.» Okay, that mark shows up a lot. She’s obviously someone important, but that’ll have to wait. «By default, a Dragon’s sense of their element appears as a set of numbers, measuring the element in units they understand. As this can be overwhelming, there is a guide for changing the sense into other outputs such as colors.»
Finally getting somewhere. I focus on “guide.”
«This is a guide to changing your element sense from numbers to a more understandable and less precise format. First, you must know what your element is, then check the matching section.»
Alright. For a second I think “yellow” before remembering what I saw in the mirror. Blue. Uh… “heat.” I read through the guide.
Wow. Just.. just wow. I’m kind of numb. All the information I’ve ever wanted, just a thought away. But… it doesn’t make sense. Aren’t Dragons evil monsters? I don’t feel evil. Maybe it’s just that most are evil, like chimeras. But I’m not a monster, either. At least, I don’t think I am. I look at the vivid colors around me. Mostly purple because it’s winter, but the red and orange shows what I guess is my family. And if I look further, I think I can see a few houses around us…
No. I need to focus. If I’m a true dragon, then true dragons are people and not entirely evil. But everything I’ve read and seen before tonight says otherwise, so no one will believe me.
No one will believe me. For the first time, I feel entirely alone.