The Dragon
Morpher
The day had started off simple enough. I was collecting
firewood with Father to bring back to the cave and I was riding on his back as
he soared through the air towards the cave that we call home.
My Father, Mother, and I were all Dragon morphers.
Being Dragon morphers meant that we were able to shapeshift
back and forth between human and dragon form. Due to the sudden death of a
different Dragon morpher, my family made sure to keep a low profile. In order
to keep suspicions low in case I accidentally morphed during the day in the
village, my Father used his knowledge in restriction charms to make necklaces
for me that would resist my morphing magic. All my restriction charms were in
either the form of necklaces or bracelets or anklets, the anklets because I
didn’t wear sandals. The years of growing up outside had toughened my feet. My
Father spent countless nights with me, teaching me what herbs to use in case I
became lost I the forest.
Mother taught me how to sew so that I could make myself
clothes in the forest. She also taught me what to do in case I was flying in
midair and suddenly I morph back human. A shoulder roll is the technique to use
in case of mid-air crisis. Of course, another resolve is looking for a tree and
angling your body so that you land in the tree instead of the ground but the
shoulder roll seemed easier.
It wasn’t.
Five dislocated shoulders later, I finally succeeded the
stupid technique. That night we had charred deer and slightly burned blueberry
mini-cakes. Regardless of the fact that everything was a little burnt, the
dinner was great.
The wind rustled my brown hair and Father dipped and swirled
a little bit. I love it when he does this. I literally am shaking at the effort
of not yelling with joy. Father`s sides heave and that tells me that he’s
laughing. We land in front of the cave I call home. The cave has three rooms.
My room has a little sleeping mat set out with my toy Pegasus and a little
bookshelf along with a rug set out. The room next to mine was the dining room,
which had a table and three chairs. A rug covered the entire floor and the
dining room had little paintings of birds flying through the air. I`ve never
seen my parents` bedroom.
Mother welcomes us back with a smile because she is in human
form and beckons us inside. I leapt off father`s back and run inside, carrying
the firewood. I morph my wings, a skill which took a loooong time to perfect.
My wins are the color of scarlet with purple. At dinner we eat fresh pineapple
and melon, wild boar, and chicken.
We all give a word of thanks to Esmerelldaa, the first
female sorcerer who gave the dragons morphing magic. She is the one who gave my
kind this wondrous power. My name Elria in old dragon tongue means sunset and
is also meant to be a sort-of copy of Esmerelldaa`s name.
We all ate our dinner in a content silence when father broke
the silence. “Elria, I need you to take the cart full of this week`s catch to
the butcher and trade the rest of the extras to people who will give you more
clothes.” I nodded and forked a hunk of boar meat into my mouth.
After dinner I headed to my room and slipped on the baggy
dress that served as my nightclothes. Father and mother came in and kissed me
night and as they left my room I pulled my Pegasus toy towards me and fell into
a deep, dreamless sleep.
I woke up the next morning writhing in agony. A deep,
pounding pain in my head caused me to flinch when I woke and I realized that I
had a major headache. I walked out of my sleeping chamber and ate my breakfast,
which consisted of blueberries and strawberries with a little bit of honey to
help sooth my aching head. Mother and father were still asleep so I crept back
into my room and pulled on a faded blue sundress and slipped on my seashell
necklace charm. I hopped to the entrance ad leapt outside. I morphed both of my
hands into dragon claws and grabbed each side of the cart. We had no horses so
I carried around the cart. Both of the
pegs that allowed me to grip the cart were covered in shark skin so that I
could toughen my hands and so that I had more traction on the pegs. Turning the
cart towards the road, I started off and the quit hum of the forest silence and
the occasional swish of the wind through the trees was a pleasant sound. The
rosy peak of dawn was only just showing when the peace of nature was broken by
a horse`s whinny. I quickly morphed every part of my hands back to human except
for the palms and prayed to Esmerelldaa that this person not notice my palms.
I turned my head and saw a youth about my age riding on
horseback. The guy had sandy hair and blue eyes along with a smile that would
no doubt melt the hearts of most of the girls in the village. I turned back
around and suddenly had a vision of a different man in the same armor the boy
was wearing but this man wore a malicious smile and carried a spear that was
slicked with blue blood. It took me a moment to realize that the blood on this
man`s spear was dragon`s blood and the thought of this man being a dragon
slayer chilled me to my core. I shivered despite the warm temperature.
The youth caught up with me despite my best efforts to
outpace his horse, which wasn’t very easy considering that I was carrying a
cart full of dead game.
“Hello,” greeted the person with a smile. I stared at him
with a blank expression. It probably looked like I was bored but in my head,
well, my mind me was on her knees and was hoping that this annoyance would go
away. “My name is Daryl and I`m looking for a Sheolan Town around here. Do you
know where it is?” My mind me was devastated that he would probably be
accompanying me to town and sat on her knees, resembling a very mad pixie. I
offered a small smile and replied: “Yes, I know where that is. It`s where I`m
heading. If you like, you can accompany me.” He slapped me across the face and
I tried as best I could to drop the cart slowly as possible as I tumbled to the
ground. “When addressing a dragon killer, one does not end a sentence without
‘sir’.” He said coolly as he slid of his horse and offered a hand. Tears stung
my eyes from the slap and I faced him with a look so fierce that he backed off.
I stood up, brushed off my dress, picked up the cart, and surged forward.
“Wait! You were going to escort me to Sheolan Town!” called Daryl. I whirled
around to face him, even though he was a few yards behind me. “Find it
yourself!” I spat and stalked off, taking the poor cart with me.
When I reached the town, the sun was fully in the sky and
the girls were gossiping as the children played in the streets. A few of the
shopkeepers called out greetings to me and I smiled in reply. I was walking
towards the butcher district when a thought finally occurred to me. What was a
dragon killer doing heading to Sheolan Town? I heard collective sighs from the
gaggle of girls behind me and turned to see what it was they were looking at.
It was the annoying Daryl, A.K.A, the ‘dragon slayer’. I growled and continued
my journey towards the butcher’s district but not until Daryl saw me. I cursed
softly as I heard him jump off his horse and run to me. “Hello again, maiden,”
said Daryl, matching my pace. “What is your name? I didn’t ask earlier.” I
looked pointedly ahead but answered nonetheless. “Elria.” Daryl ran in front of
me and I had to stop quickly so that I wouldn’t hit him. “Are you mad?!” I
hissed at him. “I could’ve run you over!” He smiled and reached out a hand to
touch my cheek. The cheek which still stung from the slap. I slapped his hand
away and moved around him to, once again, the butcher`s district. But before I
left him alone completely, I had to get an answer. “Why are you here, anyway?”
I called. “There be a report from a shepherd that there are a family of dragons
living here.” I thought that my blood literally froze upon hearing this. But I
needed to know another thing. “Will more of you be coming here?” I asked in a
shaky voice.
“Oh yes. Half of the army. I was just sent as a scout to see
where the town is.”
Daryl turned to face me, which caused many protests from the
ladies he was flirting with. “Why are you so curious anyway?” he asked. “Do you
know where these beasts are?” I shook my head “No,” I said purposely not saying
‘sir’. I turned a corner before he could realize this.
After collecting the
coins and clothes from selling the dead game I headed home. To save time, I
morphed full dragon form and dodged trees like a pro. I left the cart hidden
behind some bushes. I looked up and saw
the smoke that showed me where home was. I grinned and ran full speed towards
the smoke. I skidded to a halt and realized with horror that I wasn’t home. In
fact, I had stumbled into an area far, far worse.
I had arrived into a
camp area and every one of those soldiers had swords or spears. To make it
worse, they were all staring at me.
A squeak of alarm slipped out as I charged backwards and
succeeded in ramming my body into a tree. The entire area erupted in a
collection of yelling and drawing weapons. Suddenly, every man in that clearing
was charging towards me in the intent of killing me. I yelped openly this time,
the noise reverberating for miles. I wheeled around and headed back towards the
other smoke line. I ran faster than all of the men and glided through the air
as I leapt away. By the time I had arrived at home I had left the men lost in
the forest. I flung open the door as I ran to warn mother and father of the threat.
“Mother! Father! Get ready for battle!” I yelled as I ran into their sleeping
chamber. My mother opened one eye and was about to scold me until she saw the
fear in my eyes. Mother quickly shook awake father and told him what was
happening. He jumped out of bed and immediately morphed full dragon. Mother did
the same. I quickly jumped onto mother`s back and we all thundered outside.
Mother`s green and gold scales gleamed in the sunlight, as did father`s deep
blue and red scales. My own scales were purple and scarlet. After hopping off
mother`s back I stood in between her and father.
I looked at my father. A fierce expression had taken over
his face. The same with Mother.
The yelling was the first sign that the soldiers had come.
My necklace clattered against my scales and scared me.
When the first soldier was in sight Mother plucked me off
the ground and used an ancient dragon incantation to force me to turn back
human. It felt horrid being forced to morph back. Mother looked into my eyes.
“Elria, go into the house and take that ancient book off the pedestal and place
it up here, along with your sleeping mat and blanket.” Whispered my mother
fiercely. I opened my mouth to protest but she shushed me with a claw. Mother
tucked a strand of hair behind my head and hugged me tightly. She then let go
and whispered something to me: I love you. My eyes teared up as father roared
the same thing. Mother tipped backwards, allowing the wind to let her drift
down. I shimmied down the hole in our roof where the sun came in and grabbed
the book and stuffed it into my bag, along with some food, my sleeping mat,
blanket, and my waterskin. I clawed my way back up and found Daryl standing
there.
I allowed a small eep and started back down the hole when he
grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “Come on!” he yelled over the chaos. “We have
to leave while they kill the monsters!” My face paled at the thought of my
parents being killed and then I shook off the thought. I peeked over the edge
just as a stray arrow caught my father right in the heart. He unleashed a
deafening scream and fell to the ground with a great thump.
“Noooooooooo!!!” I screamed. Father looked at me, managed a
weak smile and mouthed I love you. Mother saw my father fall and gave a deep,
raw cry of anguish and sadness. She looked at my face and mouthed the same
thing my father had moments before his demise. Daryl was yelling with
excitement and dragged me down the roof. Mother looked at me with those deep
blue eyes and I knew what she was going to do. I shook my head as hard as I
could but she mouthed it once more: I love you, and flew off, the soldiers and
their shouts following. Daryl was dragging me farther away from my father’s
body and I thrashed and fought back. “Let go of me! Get away from me!” I screeched
as he continued dragging me backwards. I kicked his shin hard and he slackened
his grip to nurse his leg. Tears were streaming down my face as I flung myself
on my father`s body. A second cry choked through the air and I knew
instinctively that mother was dead.
Tears were running down my cheeks even more and I howled into the air a
mourning cry. When I had finally calmed down enough, I took one of Father`s
beautiful scales and placed it in my tunic pocket. I delivered Father a
farewell kiss on his sulfur smelling snout and faced Daryl. The young dragon
knight grabbed me by my arm and hauled me off to go and see the ‘dead beast’ as
Daryl says.
We reached Mother`s body in an estimation of 10 minutes and
by the time we arrived, I had already started crying again. One of Mother`s
beautiful green wings was flopped over at an unnatural angle and a trickle of
blood trailed from her mouth as she stared silently at nothing. Another
strangled cry forced itself out of me and I thrust my arms outwards, forcing me
out of Daryl`s grip.
I cradled Mother`s head on my lap and did the same mourning
cry that I did with Father. I placed a kiss on her scaled head and took a scale
from her and put it in my pocket as well. Strong arms hauled me up and
something bashed me in the back of the head. The world faded in and out until
finally, everything went black.
When I woke I found myself in a lavishly decorated room.
There was a painting of the same man I had seen in my strange vision. And I was
under the sheets of a soft bed. I threw off the covers and started running
towards the painting when a wave of nausea struck me.
The world spun as I fumbled for something to grab hold on. I
finally found a chair edge and steadied myself. The world swam in front of my
eyes until gradually my sight finally returned to normal. I made myself aware
of my surroundings and heard music coming from somewhere in the room.
Then I remembered.
I remembered being hauled off to this room and being left
here. Mother and Father were now dead, our home almost undoubtedly
destroyed.
And I was undoubtedly in the home of the ones who killed my
parents. I finally found the place where the music was coming from and turned a
notch to turn it off. My mouth moved but no words came out.
Then the dam holding back my rage
broke.
I whirled to the bed where I was
laying earlier and tore at the sheets until they were ripped strips of silk. I
then attacked one of the bedposts and clawed at it like I was a cat. I then
kicked the stupid thing several times, enough to almost make it break
completely and walked over to the vanity table.
After a second of staring at my
reflection, I grabbed one of the table legs and heaved it across the room in my
mad rampage. It was only then I realized that this probably wasn’t the best
idea because I might accidentally morph while in this state. After considering
this, I picked up a china vase, examined it, and then threw it against the door
as hard as I could.
As I walked over to the painting I
had seen, I tried to push al thoughts about Mother and Father away for the
moment to stop myself from going mad with sorrow and grief. I reached the
painting and looked at the caption underneath it.
“’Sir Aso Guordi, The great dragon
slayer’.” I read aloud. “Heh. Hardly great that he’s a dragon slayer.”
I walked back to the bed ad
promptly demolished it with a smile. I placed my hands on my hips and stuck my
tongue out at the painting, then threw a perfume bottle at it. It broke on
contact with the painting, filling the room with a sweet fragrance. I took one
sniff of the air and almost died it smelled so bad. I faked gasping for air as
I walked on over to the chair and sat down in it.
I sighed and punched the wall and
managed to knock one block out of place.
After this I walked over to a
bookshelf (which I didn’t know was there) and randomly picked a book off the shelf.
“Ancient history of Eryia,” I sad aloud. I thumbed through the book and found
that it was boring. The results were also the same on the next book and the
next and the next etc.
On the last book I sighed with
annoyance and threw it against the wall.
“Is there anything good to read in
here?!”
I heard the soft tsk-tsk-tsk sound
of disapproval as someone entered the room.
It was the man from the painting, the dragon killer.
I could feel the blood fall from my face and as soon as he
opened his mouth to say something, I whisked myself out of that room and away
from that man. As I ran I morphed my legs and ran faster as I tried to escape
the place that that man dwelled in. This must have been a very poorly guarded
castle because I whisked myself out of there before they could even sound the
alarm.
AS I reached the forest I started to look for trees that I
could stay in. Nope, too skinny. Definitely no, much too old and rotten. The
rage that had been burning brightly a few minutes ago was now replaced with the
jittery feeling of escape.
Finally I found a tree not too far from the castle area and
that was strong and healthy enough to support my weight. I positioned myself
for ambush from the trees because I wanted to send a message to the castle. MY
message was that you shouldn’t annihilate a family just because you think it’s
dangerous. My other message was that I wasn’t afraid to kill. My last message
was practically a declaration of war.
I was going to hold Daryl hostage the first chance I was
given.
The chatter of a night patrol filled the air around my tree.
Suddenly I was nervous. How would I take out so many men? How can I know if I
can knock someone out if I haven’t even caught a squirrel? The answer was
suddenly very clear: Father and Mother would do that same thing for me.
I gritted my teeth and gave the mother of all roars. I
morphed my wings and morphed my legs and hands. As I dropped from the tree, I knocked
out one man with a blow to the back of the head and another by doing the same.
Soon the area around me had four men unconscious on the ground and the only one
still standing was Daryl, not because he was an amazing fighter but because I
needed him to see what I was capable of. He had his sword drawn and he was
shaking as well.
I smiled and batted the sword from his grip like it was a
ball of yarn. I quickly knocked him out with a swift hit to the back of his
head and found a rope on his person. Stupid guy, I thought to myself with a
smirk.
Now all I needed was someone to tell Sir Aso Gourdi about
Daryl. . .
