From Human to Dragon to God

by Eric Vall

  “No!” Mona nearly spat at me. “In the middle of the night, he disappeared, just like the rest. We have lived here for a thousand years, no thanks to you dragons. And we’ve only started having this problem in the last month. How could there be more than one beast in our forest all of a sudden?”

  There was that attitude toward dragons again. It was starting to piss me off.

  “Well, thanks to me, you have one less beast to worry about,” I growled and clenched my fists. “But I have no problem going to find your other monster as well. You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Your Highness, if I may,” Alyona interrupted before things could get more heated. “I’m sure our party will be happy to help find your people. Please give us a chance to continue aiding you. Perhaps the basilisk wasn’t the main problem, but it certainly wasn’t good for your forest.”

  “Yeah, it scared off all the animals, and it had that weird mark,” I added.

  “What mark?” Mona raised an eyebrow and narrowed her green eyes at me.

  “It was like a circle of stars with an X in the middle.” I shrugged. I’d forgotten about the mark until she got me all worked up.

  “You must be mistaken,” River said with a stern frown. “I didn’t see the mark of Gamma.”

  “I’m not mistaken,” I countered. “I don’t even know what the mark of Gamma is, but I know what I saw on the basilisk’s stomach.”

  An uneasy quiet fell over the room, and then the other centaurs started whispering to each other.

  “Silence,” Mona ordered before she turned her gaze back to me. “You are certain that’s the mark you saw? The mark of Gamma?”

  “Like I said, I don’t know what that mark is,” I answered. “How would I know what it looked like if I didn’t see it?”

  River scoffed and crossed his arms over his broad, muscled chest.

  “I have a hard time believing that a dragon doesn’t know the mark of Gamma.” Mona pursed her lips and regarded me suspiciously.

  “Lord Evan wasn’t raised around dragons or with the typical dragon lore,” Alyona cut in. “He’s telling the truth when he says he doesn’t know. I know more about the mark than he does.”

  “Wait, you do?” I asked as I looked down at the princess. “What does it mean?”

  “It means the basilisk was under a spell,” she explained. “Most likely, it was under the control of a mage.”

  “Then we have to go find the mage and kill him,” I declared. “I’d bet that’s the real problem with the kidnappings.”

  “I’ll give you one more chance, Lord Evan,” Mona asserted as she lifted her chin regally. “If you want the support of Lumin during your campaign, you must rid our city of all the beasts residing in our forest. I need my people to be safe again.”

  “Trust me,” I answered as I clenched my fists at my sides. “I’ll get rid of whatever is in that forest. Mark my words.”

  The mage would not make a fool of me.

  Chapter 4

  Nike and I spread the map of Lumin and its surrounding forest across the table and looked it over again.

  Meanwhile, the queen and centaur commander looked on, but River had dismissed the other warriors while we discussed the plans.

  “We found the basilisk here,” Nike said as he pointed to a spot close to the base of the mountains. “I think we should start there and continue the gridlines.”

  “Sounds good,” I agreed. “If there was any hint of this new beast or mage in the other areas, we would’ve found it yesterday.”

  “Lord Evan, we’d like to stay here and help fortify the city’s defenses,” Polina offered.

  “I was thinking maybe some traps outside the wall,” Marina suggested as she tapped her chin with one finger. “We can cover holes with thatches of grass and tree branches. We’ve used this tactic to hunt when we were on long missions with the Guild.”

  “Oooh, good idea!” Polina gasped and squeezed her sister’s hand.

  “We need to keep the horsies safe,” Trina added with a nod. “And those traps have never failed us.”

  “I like it,” I responded. “Figure out where the creature or mage is getting in the city while you’re at it. There must be a gap that we’re missing somewhere. It might help us figure out what we’re up against anyway.”

  The dryads nodded and headed for the front doors of the castle.

  “Laika, I think you should stay here with the princess,” I advised as I turned to the wolf. “I know the castle is supposed to be safe, but I’m not convinced at the moment.”

  “I understand,” the Demi-Human conceded, and I knew it wasn’t easy for her to stay out of a fight, but her loyalty to the princess was unmatched. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”

  The wolf stepped closer to Alyona and put a hand on the back of the princess’ chair. She took her guardian duties seriously.

  “Good,” I replied. “We have to be extra careful with a mage out there. It could be the Green Glass Sect again.”

  “I thought the Green Glass Sect died out years ago,” River interrupted and furrowed his brow.

  “Everyone thought they did,” I answered. “Turns out they’ve been building their ranks to support the Breach.”

  “The Breach? I thought--” The centaur commander started to ask more, but the queen cut him off.

  “Why would they be here?” Mona questioned as her jade green eyes stared me down.

  “They have a tendency to follow me around,” I growled. “I’ve killed dozens of them, but they keep coming back like little cockroaches.”

  “So, you brought trouble with you?” River demanded as he leaned over me in his taller centaur form.

  Was he seriously trying to intimidate me? Not a fucking chance.

  “I just said I’ve killed a ton of them,” I scoffed as I craned my neck back and met his gaze head on. “It’d be more accurate to say trouble may have followed me. And I’ll handle that, too.”

  “Yes, you will,” Mona said, and her icy response cut short any retort River may have had.

  “I think we’re ready to move,” Nike hinted as he gestured to the door.

  “Good, let’s go,” I grumbled and leaned down to kiss my fiancée before I marched toward the front doors.

  Nike, Aaliyah, Ravi, and River followed me outside where several members of the Sagittarius Order waited. I almost told the centaurs to stay here and let us handle it, but I knew we’d find the new beast or mage quicker with them, and I didn’t want to let my annoyance with River and Mona keep us from stopping whatever threat lurked in the woods.

  “We’ll start where we found the basilisk and work our way toward the mountains,” I ordered the group.

  Everyone agreed, and then we began the trek back deep into the forest. The giant trees loomed over our party as we hiked deeper into the greenery, and I looked around to see the broad petals of neon-colored flowers open in the little rays of sunlight that peeked through the canopy.

  I took advantage of the time with River and walked next to him. He tramped through the brush at a clipped pace, though, and avoided my looks.

  “So, are you going to tell me why you all hate dragons?” I asked as I jogged to match his stride. There was no sense in bullshitting around. I needed to know why he and all the other centaurs acted like I was the plague.

  “As if you don’t know,” River mumbled and rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t,” I replied with a sharp look. “As we told you and Mona, I wasn’t raised with dragons. Everything I’ve learned has been through my adoptive family, who aren’t dragons. They’re cultivators. That’s why I’m better at magic than dragon history.”

  “You really have no idea?” The centaur frowned, slowed his pace, and finally looked down at me.

  “Not a clue,” I answered with a shake of my head. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

  “It’s been a few hundred years now,” River began slowly, and he faced forward again as we continued on through the forest. “The histor
y keepers are the ones who know all the details, but dragons are the reason we had to put walls and watchtowers around Lumin. Back then, the dragons were jealous we could shapeshift. They hated being in dragon form all the time.”

  “Dragons couldn’t always shapeshift?” I asked, and I couldn’t keep the surprise from showing on my face.

  “I guess not.” The centaur shrugged. “My understanding is dragons are conceited, boisterous creatures who want everything to themselves, including the ability that our people had. They hoard treasure, women, glory, whatever they can. They’re known for being extremely greedy.”

  “I can’t argue with the treasure and women hoarding.” I smirked. “But go on.”

  “Anyway,” River continued with an eye roll, “the dragons were jealous of our ability, but they had predation magic. Word spread that we could shapeshift, so over the course of a few generations, every dragon went through the centaur villages and killed them to take the ability.”

  “Shit,” I mumbled, and my brow furrowed. “I didn’t know. I was born with my power to shape shift.”

  Well, I woke up with it, but whatever.

  “Then the ability has probably become genetic by now.” River nodded. “But the attacks are why our people had to rely on guards in the watchtowers and outside the city, and why we created the Sagittarius Order. The centaurs alive during the dragon attacks had no way to defend themselves. Lumin had previously been a city of learning, open to anyone who wanted to come learn philosophy, history, or art, but that all changed after the attacks. Our people became closed off, literally. Our ancestors built gates and made sure guards were always around to warn the city of an oncoming attack. That’s why we knew the moment you arrived.”

  It all made sense now. The centaurs had every right to hate dragons. I just needed to show them why I was better than that. Not to mention, I wasn’t even around hundreds of years ago to be part of those attacks.

  “I can see why you weren’t too excited to see me,” I acknowledged, “and why the people in the city looked at me like I had two heads. I’m sorry your people had to deal with those dragons.”

  “Thank you for saying that,” River replied, and the centaur looked surprised at my apology.

  Too bad Alyona wasn’t here to witness my diplomacy.

  “So, why would I know what the mark of Gamma is?” I asked as I changed the subject.

  “I’m sure you’ve at least heard of the mage who wanted to kill all dragons, right?” River responded with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Yeah,” I growled as I remembered my close encounter with the necromancer who had murdered Valerra’s family. “I know of that one.”

  “Well, the lore says before he decided to kill dragons, he wanted to control them,” River continued. “When he cast his spell on them, it left a mark. I’m not sure why it was called the mark of Gamma. Maybe that was his name? I don’t know, but he used the dragons to attack and loot villages around Rahma.”

  “That bastard,” I grumbled. I wished I’d killed him when I’d had the chance, but then I remembered Valerra deserved her revenge, too.

  “Then the dragons became stronger and fought the spell,” the centaur resumed his story, “so instead of stealing the people’s money, he decided to offer his killing services for their money and get rid of the dragons completely.”

  “What a piece of shit,” I snarled, and River nodded in agreement.

  I’d never hated anyone the way I hated this fucking mage. At least I’d gotten one more clue about him. Somehow, his mark became known as the mark of Gamma. It could be his first name, or even his family name. I wasn’t sure yet, but I was damn sure going to find out.

  We lapsed into silence as we continued our march through the forest, and soon, we arrived where the basilisk’s ashes still laid upon the stone table I’d made. The remains smelled terrible now, like burnt rubber and flesh. Only the creature’s beak remained unharmed, and it looked weird as hell laying on the table next to the huge pile of ashes.

  Several of the centaur warriors wrinkled their noses in disgust as we approached the table, but I ignored the stench and turned back toward the hunting party.

  “Nike, you take some of the warriors with you,” I directed. “Aaliyah and Ravi, you take some also. River, you and the rest of the warriors can work along the gridline the dryads were following yesterday. I’ll fly overhead, so if you find something, just yell for me.”

  Everyone nodded and dispersed to their search areas.

  I walked back into a larger clearing to give myself room to shift into my dragon body. Then I flapped my wings and took flight, and I shook several of the trees as I burst through the foliage and flew up into the sky.

  A flurry of birds that had been hidden yesterday took off as the leaves shivered from my movement. Their brightly colored feathers looked like little rainbows bursting out of the leaves, and I took it as a good sign.

  I looked closer at the forest and saw many animals had returned to the woods since the basilisk’s demise. Purple and yellow tree frogs hopped from branch to branch, furry, gray creatures that looked like lemurs hung from higher branches and twittered to each other, and even some little rodents scurried into the underbrush as I flew past.

  I wasn’t sure yet what we were looking for on the ground. The basilisk had attacked and made itself known, but this other new threat seemed to prefer to hide out. It wasn’t going to be as easy to find.

  As I flew, I considered what River had told me of the history between his kind and mine, and I decided that was the reason for Mona’s odd behavior with me. She could probably tell I didn’t have any of the same intentions, especially since I could already shapeshift, but she didn’t trust me, either. Just like in Tikal, I would have to prove I was a dragon of my word. I never wanted to hurt anyone, in my previous life as an EMT or my life here in Inati, so I’d just have to show them.

  “Lord Evan!” one of the centaurs in Nike’s group suddenly called out, and I changed direction and flew closer to the trees.

  “Can you see these markings?” Nike yelled up to me.

  The noble pointed at what looked like hoof prints in the dirt at the base of the mountain. I followed the prints with my dragon vision and noticed they changed into drag marks about twenty feet up the path.

  “Looks like a centaur was dragged this way,” I called down as I pointed a foreleg up the mountainside. “I’ll go get the others.”

  I flew back over the other two groups and directed them to the prints. The others joined us, and I shifted back into my human form to get a better look at the path.

  “They go up this way,” Nike said, and he pointed further up the mountain, but parallel to the trail we were on.

  “Let’s go,” I muttered and started to trudge up the incline.

  We made slower progress now, with the uphill walk and having to travel in a line of pairs. Nike walked next to me with the Sword of Light in his hand, and I’d grabbed the Sword of Hatra from my spatial storage as well, since we had no idea what we were up against. The creature or mage we were hunting had to be strong to be able to drag a fully-grown centaur somewhere he didn’t want to go.

  As the sun peaked in the sky above us, we found a gap in the side of the mountain. The cave was completely dark as we peered into the opening, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

  “Aaliyah, you and the warriors stand guard out here,” I ordered under my breath. “Nike, Ravi, and River, come with me to check it out.”

  We creeped into the cave, and I ignited a small fireball in my hand to illuminate our path. Then I turned my hand to expose the walls on either side of us. Water dripped down the stone, but there were no other markings to indicate what creature lived here. The entrance became wider the further we walked into the mountain, and I could faintly hear water trickling somewhere up ahead.

  We continued through the darkness until the small space around us finally opened up to reveal an expansive cavern. A small stream of water ran from the st
alagmites on our left to a huge opening in the wall on our right, and I put out the fire in my hand since we could clearly see the cavern, thanks to the big gash in the wall that let in pale sunlight.

  “Spread out,” I murmured. “We need to figure out what we’re dealing with.”

  My party did as I instructed, and I walked along the right side of the cave and ran my hand along the wall. Then I sensed a familiar presence.

  Treasure.

  I sped up and followed my senses until I found a smaller cave off the main cavern. There was definitely something here.

  I knelt down and peered inside, but I couldn’t see a damn thing. So, I lit a small fireball in my hand and held it close to the hole.

  There it was, a mound of gold. It wasn’t as big as my hoard, but it was a good-sized stash, so I crawled into the crevice and pulled the coins closer to me. Then I opened my spatial storage and dumped in as much as I could reach. My dragon instincts hummed with satisfaction at the addition, and I wondered for a moment if the creature we’d found was a dragon, too.

  “Friends, whatever this is, it’s got to be pretty big,” Ravi whispered from somewhere behind me, and when I turned, I saw her pointing at a large nest in the corner. It was about the size of a baseball field and made of thousands of branches from the giant trees in the forest. Thank the gods it didn’t have any eggs in it, though. We didn’t need any extra problems right now.

  “And it likes fish,” River said as he held up a handful of large fish bones he’d pulled from a large pile on the floor.

  “Well, at least there aren’t any centaur bones in there,” I joked and gave the centaur commander a half-smile.

  Just then, I heard a squeak from the large entrance on the right side of the cave, like an old door opening. I moved closer to investigate, and I noticed huge claw marks in the stone at the foot of the opening. The gouges were about four inches wide and dug deeply into the rock, and I estimated a foot size similar to my dragon claws.

  “It looks like whatever it is flies in over here,” I whispered to the group. “So, what flies and kidnaps people?”