From Human to Dragon to God

by Eric Vall

  The little bastard was trying to kill himself. Not on my fucking watch. I had questions that needed answers.

  So, I sent out a wave of healing magic that laid over him like a glittery blanket and protected him from the oil. I wasn’t sure how to stop the oil, but I could keep him alive long enough for an interrogation.

  “He’s using another nexus spell,” Alyona hissed, and her face was furrowed with concentration. “It’s called lacus, and that pool will poison any living thing it touches.”

  “Any living thing?” I clarified as an idea formed in my head.

  The princess nodded and kept her eyes on the mage, who had grown angrier when he realized he wasn’t dying quite the way he’d planned.

  While the pair of them squared off, I reached out with my dragon senses and pulled stones from under the surface of the forest. The rocks rose from the soil into a bowl-like shape under the mage’s feet, and I couldn’t save the soil or the grass directly under him, but the stone scooped up the remaining oil and kept it from spreading any further. For good measure, I also shot some webbing over the mage’s mouth. Apparently, he could cast spells without using his hands, but I was pretty sure he couldn’t do anything without talking.

  The Sagittarius Order arrived just as I finished off with the mage. The centaurs looked around wildly as they noticed their companion was already freed, and we’d killed, trapped, or injured the Green Glass Sect members involved.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” River demanded as he surveyed the area.

  “We used a portal to get here,” I explained. “I didn’t know how quickly the Sect members would move.”

  “I see,” the centaur commander grumbled as he pursed his lips.

  “But we still need to go rescue the hostages,” I continued. “And I need your help for that once Alyona and I finish dealing with the skyraptor.”

  “Fine,” River conceded and waved his hand dismissively.

  I rolled my eyes. “Nike and Laika, keep an eye on the mage and make sure he doesn’t run off.”

  Nike and the wolf Demi-Human nodded to me and turned toward the captive mage, and I took the princess’ hand. Then the princess and I jogged to the cave entrance and stepped inside. I lit a fireball in my hand to illuminate the path to the cavern, and then we hurried through the tunnel to the skyraptor’s lair.

  I stopped Alyona just before we walked into the nest.

  “How close do you need to be for the spell to work?” I asked her.

  “I just have to see him,” Alyona answered.

  “Good,” I muttered.

  We crept forward, and I peered into the cavern ahead of her. The cave looked the same as before, which was a relief. With the Sect members coming in and out of it, they could have destroyed everything, or worse, thrown the other captives off the face of the cliff. The only downside was the moonlight creeping in through the giant hole in the wall instead of the sunlight. I could use my dragon senses to see better, but I hoped Alyona didn’t need much light to do her spell. The skyraptor roamed the wide space while another fish dangled from its snout, but it hadn’t noticed us yet.

  “Okay, the beast is just inside and to the right,” I advised Alyona. “Cast the spell, and I’ll cover you.”

  “It won’t take long,” the princess agreed, and we both stepped into the cavern.

  I considered pulling out the Sword of Healing, but I realized it wouldn’t do us any good since the creature could only be killed by water magic.

  Then I remembered the stream that ran through the cave to the drop-off, so I felt out with my power and encouraged the stream water to join my spiritual sea. I sensed the water as it followed my command, and as I heard Alyona start the Novum spell under her breath, the skyraptor dropped the fish and turned to face us.

  Shit.

  The giant bird let out a screech and lowered its body into an attack position.

  I wanted to wait until the last possible second to react, so the princess could finish her spell, but I didn’t want to risk the raptor attacking her, either. I looked over at Alyona and saw she had her eyes closed but was still talking. Then she shoved her hands out toward the beast, and a white light beamed onto its chest.

  The mark of Gamma glowed a neon green, and the bird shrieked and squawked. It continued to stare in our direction, though it couldn’t see past the white light. Then the light went out, and the mark on the creature’s belly faded.

  The skyraptor was no longer under the mage’s control, but it was still pissed.

  The bird shook its head and charged at us, but I took a page from Ravi’s fire trick, pulled the water from the stream, and turned it into a whip to lasso the beast. The rope whipped around the raptor’s talons, and the bird fell to its belly.

  But then the water poured back into the stream, and the beast was free again.

  How the fuck did that happen?

  The creature seemed to realize it was in a losing battle, though, because it suddenly looked toward the opening to the cliffs.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” I growled. I immediately shot a web toward the exit and covered as much as I could before the skyraptor could fly out and retreat.

  The raptor’s dark eyes flashed as it realized I’d cut off its escape, and as it returned its focus to me, I called on my connection with the water again. This time, I created a sword, and the watery weapon felt like liquid in my hand, but it remained solid.

  The skyraptor rose to its feet, lowered its head, and ran for me with its beak open to reveal hundreds of sharp teeth.

  I sprinted to meet the bastard headlong, and then I executed a baseball slide, lunged for its throat, and thrust my sword into its flesh.

  The creature roared with pain as a deep blue blood poured out of the wound, but I just twisted the blade, pulled it out, and stepped back as the skyraptor crashed to the ground.

  Then silence fell over the cavern, and the blue carcass laid motionless in the middle of the space. The raptor’s eyes had rolled back into its head, and its black tongue dangled out of its open beak. I had a better look at all those teeth, and I was glad I was a good fighter since those fuckers looked dangerous.

  I waited a moment to see what predation skills I assimilated, but nothing happened.

  “Is it dead?” Alyona asked from where she still stood in the tunnel.

  “Yeah,” I confirmed and walked back to join her. “The water magic worked. I guess it didn’t have any powers for me to assimilate, though, so good thing we killed that basilisk yesterday. At least I got something out of all this work.”

  “Let’s go get the centaurs,” she suggested. “I’m sure the prisoners are ready to get out.”

  I nodded and walked with her back to the clearing, and we walked into what was obviously a disagreement.

  “Your orders don’t trump the queen’s!” River snarled as he loomed over Nike.

  “And you don’t trump Lord Evan,” Nike argued, and the noble’s silver eyes flashed in the moonlight as he glared at the horse-man. “You should’ve waited.”

  “What the hell is going on here?” I demanded.

  “They killed the remaining Sect members, including the mage,” Laika reported, and the wolf’s tail lashed back and forth with aggravation.

  “Why the fuck would you do that?” I stormed up to River. “How are we going to find out--”

  “I don’t answer to you,” the centaur cut me off. “The queen said these men deserved punishment, and my men carried it out.”

  “You and your men should have considered we could have found out what their plan was,” I said through gritted teeth, but I tried to remind myself to stay calm.

  Diplomacy, diplomacy.

  “Why does it matter?” River threw his hands out wide. “We killed them.”

  “Because they’re part of a larger group,” Alyona explained in an even tone, but her face was also marred with a frown. “They were just a few members of the Green Glass Sect, not the entire Sect.”

  “What the he
ll does that matter to us?” the centaur commander challenged.

  “Well, I might be wrong here, but I’d think it matters why they wanted to kidnap your people,” Aaliyah drawled in a sarcastic voice.

  I saw the other centaur warriors glancing at each other in confusion. For being so damn smart with their spoken lore, these people were idiots.

  “What’s done is done,” Alyona sighed and put her hands up. “Now, we need to move forward and help the captives.”

  “About time,” River muttered as he stalked past me into the cave.

  I growled and kept myself from throttling the centaur, and then I followed him through the tunnel and back into the cavern.

  “What the--” River stared at the webs that covered the opening to the cages.

  I ignored him as I walked over and blew fire onto the webs. Then I watched them burn up, fall down the cliffside, and leave the doorway open again.

  “You go talk to them, and I’ll shift into my dragon form,” I ordered.

  I transformed into my dragon body as the centaur trotted over to the doorway and leaned out so all the prisoners could see him.

  “Is everyone alright?” he bellowed out to the cages.

  There were a few grunts and mumbles in response.

  “I’m here with Lord Evan,” River explained. “He’s going to come out there and bring you back to land.”

  The grunts turned into interested gasps and cheers.

  “Lord Evan is a dragon,” the centaur commander continued. “And the queen has already--”

  “No way!” one of the centaurs shouted. “We don’t need a dragon!”

  “Yeah!” another one agreed.

  I took the opportunity to fly out of the opening and hover next to the cages. The valley underneath the enclosures looked much more menacing in the dark, and it seemed like a fall would last forever. The hostages’ bronze cages had no source of light, and the night wind blew them back and forth while they waited for us. The centaurs had risen from the floors of their tiny prisons, and they held the bars as they argued with River.

  “I’m not here to argue with anyone,” I told the captives as I pumped my wings and hovered in the air. “If you want to be rescued, then I’m here to help you. If not, I’ll leave you.”

  “I’d rather fall off this cliff,” the first centaur grumbled.

  “Fine. Suit yourself.” I narrowed my eyes and flew back into the cave. Next, I grabbed the skyraptor’s corpse by one of its feathery wings, dragged it out the doorway, and held up the body for all to see.

  The captives cried out at the sight of the carcass. It dripped with blue blood, and its mouth hung open as I swung it around so the sharp smell of its already decaying body filled their noses. Feathers drifted down into the valley while the centaurs gaped at my kill, and I smirked a little at the centaurs’ surprise. It seemed the philosophical horse-men weren’t ready for the reality of the dead raptor.

  “Why would I take the time to find out how to kill this thing if I wanted to harm you?” I demanded, and I shook the skyraptor’s body until flecks of gore landed on the captives in the cages closest to me. “Wouldn’t I just let it keep stealing your people? You can stay there and die if you want, but the queen asked me to help rescue you, so here I am. Take it or leave it.”

  With that, I tossed the skyraptor’s body down into the valley below us.

  “The queen approved of this?” The first centaur directed his question at River.

  “Yes,” the leader confirmed. “And Lord Evan was kind enough to give you a choice, but I’m not. One of his comrades will open your cages, and you will shift into your human form to get on his back and be transported to this cave.”

  More grumbles ensued, but the arguments ceased.

  “Ravi!” I called out for the phoenix, and she flew through the cavern already in her bird form.

  “Are you ready for me to open them, Lord Evan?” Ravi asked as she alighted on my snout.

  “Oh, you’re friends with the phoenix girl?” the first argumentative centaur asked, and he seemed to change his tone.

  “Yeah, she’s the one who told me when they came to take your friend away,” I replied. “I left her here to keep an eye on you in case anything happened.”

  “You really did that for us?” a third centaur piped up.

  “Well, yeah.” I shrugged my massive shoulders as I hovered on my wings before the line of cages. “As I told the queen, I intend to reunite Rahma, which means her people are my people. I’m nothing like the dragons your ancestors dealt with.”

  “Oh,” the first centaur said as he looked down at his hooves before he shifted into his human form. “I’m ready.”

  The rest of the centaurs looked surprised, but then they followed his lead and transformed as well.

  Ravi fluttered over to the first cage, and I flew to hover just below its gate. The phoenix used her beak to snap the tiny lock and opened the door, and the centaur carefully slid to the edge and down onto my back. Then he gripped a spike along my spine and held on like his life depended on it.

  I chuckled at his grip and moved on to the next cage, and one by one, Ravi and I freed the hostages. I flew every three centaurs back to the cavern where they slid off my back and returned to their horse forms. Then it was back out to the cliffs to recover the rest of the men.

  Once all twelve centaurs were back on solid ground, Ravi and I returned to the cages to free the handful of forest animals that had also been held captive. After watching us rescue the centaurs, the animals seemed to know what to do. We returned them to the cave, and they scampered off to their various homes.

  Then I had a quick idea and flew back out to the cliffs one more time to breathe a wave of fire from one end of the rope to the other. A moment later, the cages crashed into each other as the entire prison fell into the valley below me.

  With our mission accomplished, Ravi and I returned to the cave and shifted back to our human forms. River had greeted each of the centaurs and was guiding them to the tunnel exit, and he looked over his shoulder and saw we were following him out.

  I lit a fireball in my palm to provide some light as we left the lair, and the captives were met with high-fives and greetings from the centaur warriors.

  Once everyone had been accounted for, we began the descent back to the city of Lumin. Casual conversation filled the air, but I tuned the men out while I walked next to the princess and listened to the bugs and birds chirp in the trees around us. The rescue had been successful, and while I was annoyed with the Sagittarius Order and their decision to kill the Sect members, I was still satisfied that we’d saved all the centaurs.

  “I know I was an ass earlier,” one of the centaurs interrupted my thoughts.

  I turned to see the one who’d said he would rather fall off the cliff than accept my help. He still looked rough with his greasy dark hair and gaunt body, but the relief was evident on his face. He’d been held captive for weeks, and it showed in every part of his centaur body. His horse legs were weak and less muscular than the others’, and his human torso and face were sunken in from malnourishment. Even his tail was thinner and shorter than the other centaurs’ tails, and I could tell he’d been through a lot in the last month.

  “I’ve come to appreciate that about your kind.” I smirked.

  “Well, I just wanted to say thank you,” he mumbled as he looked away from me.

  “I’m happy to help,” I replied without hesitation and gestured to the rest of my party. “We all are.”

  Alyona nodded and smiled at the centaur, and he perked up and returned her smile before he trotted ahead of us.

  A few more of the centaurs thanked us, but they mostly told the wild stories of their kidnappings to the Sagittarius Order. One had been taken while walking home from a late night at his store, and another had been plucked from his own yard when he went outside for an evening run.

  As we walked out of the woods and into the open air between the trees and the walls of Lumin, I he
ard a commotion. The centaurs galloped the remaining distance to the gate, and I sprinted to keep up.

  We came to the gate just in time to realize the noise was celebration. Centaurs danced in the road and in their houses to jazz-style music, and more high-fives and chest bumps took place as the captives were welcomed home. We followed the road back to the castle, and the music got louder as we approached. I also noticed a few of the centaurs had taken on their human forms to wear fancy clothes. Most of the men wore brightly colored tunics over soft fabric trousers and boots, and they danced through the streets to the jazzy music and drank something from big, heavy jugs that smelled intoxicating.

  A heavenly scent of freshly cooked food filled my nose the closer we got to the palace, and my mouth watered.

  “River!” Mona cried as she threw the palace doors open. “Oh, Lord Evan, you did it!”

  I grinned as I took in the full view of the queen in her party attire. She’d changed into a long, red dress with a slit from the floor to her upper thigh. The dress covered her elegant throat, but it had no sleeves, and the openings revealed most of her ribs and the sides of her breasts. The sleek outfit was fitted tightly to her hips, and I appreciated the way it hugged her curves.

  I felt my blood run south as I thought about taking her back to her room and marking her as one of my mates.

  “Of course, my queen,” River said with a bow. “And we punished the culprits, as requested.”

  My grin disappeared as I clenched my jaw and kept my response to myself.

  “Come on,” the queen insisted. “We have quite the feast ready.”

  “How did you know when we’d be back?” I wondered.

  “Oh, I had one of the centaurs come back and tell me once you’d defeated the assassins,” Mona explained and waved her hand dismissively. “Then I sent some hunters out to get meat while you finished the job.”

  “That was very kind of you,” Alyona responded before I could ask more questions. She knew I was still annoyed with the centaurs for killing the Sect members, but it was probably best if I didn’t give the queen the third degree about it right now.

  We followed Mona into the castle to the dining hall and sat around the table. This time, it looked like a real meal. Huge chunks of dark brown meat that smelled like steak with a hint of onion, and a lighter pinkish meat laid in slices on another plate with a scent of cinnamon that filled my nose. Finally, we could eat some fucking meat. The table also held the fruits and vegetables we’d eaten at the previous meals, but they somehow looked better with meat next to them.