From Human to Dragon to God

by Eric Vall

  By now, most of the other search parties had finished their areas and came back to see what was taking so long. We suddenly had an audience, but I ignored them as best as I could while I focused on saving the trapped centaur below me.

  The dryads twisted the parts of the tree with speed and skill, until a rope of sorts began to take form. They braided the pieces together, and a few minutes later, we had a long vine that could reach the trapped centaur.

  I didn’t want the snakes to attack during the rescue, though, so I thought about my newest skill.

  “I’m going to send a fireball halfway down the tunnel,” I called down to the centaur. “Just try not to let any of the snakes get close to you.”

  “How do I do that?” the warrior said with a frown.

  “Stand away from as many as you can,” I advised. “And don’t look up.”

  I summoned a fireball and sent it to float part of the way down into the pit. As the snakes looked up again at the incoming light, I sent a wave of petrification onto them. Most of the snakes froze immediately, but a handful remained as they slithered around the centaur’s feet.

  Well, better than nothing.

  “You ready?” I yelled down to the warrior.

  “Yes sir,” he returned.

  “Three, two, one!” I counted down and then tossed one end of the rope down to him while I held the other end.

  I watched as he quickly shrunk down to human size and then leapt up to grab the line. He coiled his feet around it and pulled his body up with his arms, and I pulled my end of the rope to bring him closer to the surface.

  When the centaur was about halfway up the rope, I heard a hiss, but it sounded much closer than the bottom of the pit.

  I looked up to see a pair of reptile eyes that stared at me through the shrubs next to the hole. The orbs were neon green and nearly glowed through the leaves, and then two more pairs of eyes opened with a hiss.

  Uh-oh.

  “Watch out!” I shouted just as the snake uncoiled and flung itself out of the bush to attack.

  The beast looked like the Lotus snakes in the pit, but it was much bigger. Three heads extended from the end of its giant body, and all three mouths were open to reveal fangs that dripped with its black venom. Its white scales gleamed in the sunlight, and its fully uncoiled body stretched about nine or ten feet long.

  The snake hissed again and raised up into another striking position, and I noticed the mark of Gamma as it glowed on its underbelly. Then I growled and reached into my spatial storage for my sword.

  “Hang on to that rope!” I ordered the dryads before I turned to the Sagittarius Order, who were staring in shock at the giant serpent. “Shoot it!”

  My voice seemed to startle them into motion, and several of the warriors immediately reached into their quivers, loaded their bows, and shot at the snake.

  Its lithe form darted around to avoid the first two arrows, but the third arrow struck one of the heads.

  The snake reared the injured head back and hissed in pain, so I took advantage of the distraction and ran toward the beast with my sword raised. As I swung the blade, the beast hissed again and coiled its body away before it tried to strike me with its fangs exposed, but I used my momentum to climb a few feet up the trunk of a tree and come back down on one of the heads.

  I brought the Sword of Healing down into the snake’s white, scaly head, and the beast shook violently as it tried to fling me away. Pink blood trickled out of the wound, and I realized the sword had perforated its head and come out its mouth. So, I twisted the blade and wrenched it back to open the wound further. The other two snake heads tried to reach me, but it was no use. The one I stabbed fell limp, and I slid down the scales back to the ground.

  “Ravi!” I called out to the phoenix. “Use your whip!”

  Ravi nodded and conjured the fiery whip into her hands. Then she ran closer to the action and lashed out at the snake. The line of fire lassoed around the snake’s ivory body, and the phoenix yanked down to pull the beast away from me.

  Then I ran parallel to the fire whip, jumped, and sliced my sword through the next neck until the blade hit dirt. The second snake head rolled away from the alabaster body and laid limp a few feet away.

  Just then, Aaliyah burst through the tree line and nearly tripped over the snake head.

  “What’s going on?” the lioness shouted.

  “Just a three-headed snake,” I answered with sarcasm.

  Suddenly, another head grew in the severed one’s place and hissed at me.

  Great, it appeared to be one of those hydras I’d always read about, and now it was pissed.

  I realized the other head might not be dead then either.

  “Alyona!” I turned to the princess who waited by the snake pit. “Do you know a spell to get rid of these things?”

  “Ahh.” The princess racked her brain for a solution. “I’m not sure if it’ll work--”

  “Whatever it is, it’s worth a shot!” I shouted. “Just do it!”

  “Okay,” Alyona said with a note of uncertainty. “Cut off another head.”

  “You got it,” I grunted and rushed back over to the snake who was poised above the centaurs.

  A few of the warriors shot arrows again, but the snake dodged them and hissed as it prepared to strike. I conjured a fire bow and arrow, aimed, and shot the beast in the side of its scaled form. The hydra-snake reared back from the burning blow and turned to slither toward me, but it undulated awkwardly with one of its heads sagging from the rest of the body.

  I brandished the Sword of Healing and brought it above my head.

  Suddenly, Ravi flew over me in her phoenix form and clasped my shoulders with her claws. I didn’t think she could lift me, but somehow, she carried me above the snake and released me near one of the active heads. So, I angled my blade and sliced through the middle head.

  As my feet hit the ground, Alyona created a purple and white sphere in her hands and launched it at the severed neck.

  I heard the sizzle of the spell as it connected with the snake’s exposed meat. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, and the last alert snake head hissed in fury.

  Alyona’s spell must have worked since nothing grew back from the severed stump.

  I grinned as Aaliyah followed my lead, climbed a tree near the serpent, and jumped onto the unconscious head. The lioness dug her claws into its neck and shredded through the ivory scales until the skull dropped to the ground.

  Then Alyona launched another of her magical spheres to the gash and sealed it shut.

  I watched as the last head struggled to hold itself up without the other two serpents, and it swayed back and forth with the effort. I conjured my own fire whip and lassoed the snake’s head. I pulled the rope, and the snake tipped until it crashed to the ground. Then I jumped onto its scaled neck and severed the last head with the Sword of Hatra.

  As my blade sliced through the beast, the princess released the last spell and singed the wound. Small slivers of smoke rose from the three gaping lacerations, and it looked as though her spells had cauterized the skin so the heads couldn’t grow back.

  Several of the centaurs crowded around the snake’s carcass to examine it.

  “What the hell?” one of the warriors murmured. “We don’t have anything like this in our forest.”

  “I’m guessing the Sect left that little gift for us, too,” I muttered. “And it had the mark.”

  “Um, a little help over here?” Polina called out from beside the pit.

  “Oh, shit!” I said as I motioned to the warriors. “Come on.”

  Several other centaur warriors ran over to grab the rope and began pulling their comrade up from the pit. With their help, it only took seconds to get the centaur back on land.

  “Thank you,” he gasped as he collapsed onto the ground with exhaustion.

  I looked back down the hole and realized it had to be at least twenty feet deep. The warrior was lucky the fall didn’t kill him. I quickly
used my magic and pushed the soil into the hole to fill it in and hopefully suffocate the rest of the snakes, since I didn’t feel like fighting any more of those bastards.

  “What happened?” River demanded as he galloped through the crowd and knelt next to the warrior we’d just pulled out of the pit. “Shia, are you alright?”

  “Yeah,” the centaur replied with growing excitement. “The dragon saved me, and I can’t even tell my legs were broken just a few minutes ago!”

  “Hey, the dryads were a big part of saving you, too,” I pointed out as the sisters took a dramatic bow. “Not to mention, there was this gigantic three-headed snake out here.”

  “There was a what?” River eyed me skeptically.

  “It looked like those Lotus snakes in the pit,” I said as I gestured to the hole. “But it was huge, and it had three heads.”

  “They saved all of us,” Shia interrupted as he stood and shifted back into his centaur form. “They found me in the pit and slayed the beast out here.”

  “You really saved them?” one of the other warriors piped up as he gazed at me with suspicion. “Why?”

  “Because he was stuck, and there was a big ass snake ready to bite all of us.” I rolled my eyes. “I told you, I’m not like the dragons from your ancestors’ stories.”

  “I saw it myself,” another warrior volunteered, and this centaur’s golden blond hair waved in the breeze as he stepped forward. “Even when the beast was ready to attack our warriors, he drew it away and attacked it. He saved Shia and the rest of us.”

  The centaur’s chest and shoulders were covered in tattoos, and they almost made him look like he was wearing a T-shirt. Then he grinned at me and showed his perfect, white teeth that deeply contrasted with his tan skin.

  “Thank you,” I told him.

  “My pleasure,” he responded, and his grin stretched further.

  A few of the other centaurs nodded their agreement, and they began murmuring to each other.

  “Maybe he’s not so bad.”

  “We don’t have to hate all the dragons, I guess.”

  “He’ll be a good king.”

  “What were you doing on your own, Shia?” River interrupted the low, muttered conversations.

  “I thought I could find the traps easy enough.” The warrior cast his gaze down with shame.

  “Well, I suppose you were right,” River chastised him. “You did find one on your own. Next time I give you an order, you follow it.”

  Shia didn’t look up, but he nodded his head to the commander, who turned his attention back to me.

  “The rest of the hunting groups have finished, and everything we came across was destroyed or reversed,” River reported.

  “Awesome,” I sighed and wiped the sweat from my brow. “Let’s get back to the castle. I’m starving, and I have a few things to discuss with my bride.”

  “You heard Lord Evan,” River spoke to his warriors. “Move out.”

  The centaurs turned toward the trail and started the walk back to the city. The last few warriors who hadn’t seen the snake pit, including Laika and Nike, joined us on the path to Lumin.

  “I get the feeling we’ve missed something,” the wolf muttered with a frown.

  “Oh, just saving people,” I joked. “The usual.”

  The dryads giggled as we joined the horse-men on the trail.

  After what seemed like an hour, we finally returned to the gates of the city, and as we strode inside the walls, the warriors peeled off to go to their homes. When we reached the palace, only my comrades and River remained.

  The centaur commander pushed open the palace doors, and we all walked into the sitting area to collapse.

  A moment later, Mona hurried in from the hallway and stood before us as she waited for a report.

  The queen wore the same white robe from earlier, though the belt had loosened and revealed even more of her beautiful, bronze skin. She had no shoes on, and for some reason, her bare, slender feet caught my eye. I wanted them on my shoulders as I pounded into her and emptied my seed deep inside her womb while we were surrounded by her golden furniture.

  I shook my head to clear the vision when I realized River was telling her what we’d found.

  “ … a few magically disguised traps, but we got rid of all of them, Your Highness.” The centaur commander bowed his head to the queen.

  “You’ve done well, River,” Mona praised him. “Tonight, we will celebrate.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the centaur replied. “I’ll go tell the cooks.”

  River trotted out of the room, and his black tail whipped back and forth behind him as he left.

  “I think I’ll go clean up before we eat,” Alyona said as she stood up from her chair. Then she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Good idea, princess,” Laika agreed.

  The wolf warrior wrapped her arm around Alyona’s shoulders, and the two started to leave the room.

  “Princess?” Mona called out. “Would you actually mind staying for just a moment?”

  Laika looked at Alyona, who nodded and smiled. So, the wolf warrior bowed to the women and headed toward the bath house.

  “I’m going to go change at least,” Aaliyah said as she scrunched up her nose. “I smell like dirt.”

  “Me, too!” Ravi rose from her seat to follow the lioness.

  “Wait for us!” Trina called out as she and the other dryads scurried to catch up with Ravi and Aaliyah.

  “I suppose I could clean up as well,” Nike chuckled, and he and I grasped forearms before he headed out of the room.

  “Well, if neither of you has anything else to do … ” Mona raised a brow as she dropped into the seat next to me.

  “Only hanging out with you,” I teased. “But I heard you had something to talk to me about, so spill it.”

  “Spill what?” the queen asked with a frown.

  “Never mind,” I chuckled. “What do you need to talk to me about?”

  “I, ah … ” Mona trailed off, and a rosy color filled her cheeks.

  “Come on, I don’t bite,” I prodded with a grin.

  “Really, Your Highness,” Alyona encouraged. “He will understand.”

  “Okay, okay.” The queen looked away, but then she straightened her shoulders and gazed at me with her emerald eyes. “I asked Alyona if what you said was true, about how she doesn’t mind if you … ”

  “If I what?” I asked and cocked an eyebrow. “Have other mates?”

  “Yes,” she confirmed, and her cheeks darkened further. “If you have other mates.”

  “And you found out I wasn’t lying to you,” I pushed.

  “Yes, I told her about Valerra, your mate back home,” Alyona agreed.

  “Yes, and the other women in your party, you mate with them, too,” the queen continued.

  “I do.” I smirked.

  “Okay, so I wanted to ask both of you a specific question.” Mona furrowed her brow.

  “Which was?” I felt like I was pulling teeth here.

  “As you know, I have sons,” the beautiful shapeshifter started. “But … I need a daughter. I need a powerful daughter to take over ruling our people. So … ”

  “So?” Alyona raised an eyebrow.

  “Princess Alyona, I’d like your official permission to mate with Lord Evan, so he can give me a daughter,” the centauress finished, and she looked at Alyona with a mixture of emotions on her face.

  “I’m, uh, not sure how to control the gender.” I was surprised at her question. I figured she wanted to be with me, but I had no clue how to give her exactly what she was asking for.

  “I can actually help with that part!” Alyona interjected with a smile. “I have a spell for that.”

  “So, does that mean it’s okay?” the queen nearly whispered. “I know you are his wife-to-be, and as the future ruler of Rahma, I wanted to be respectful of your wishes, Divine Maiden. Lord Evan is just so powerful. I know that if his dragon-seed fills my womb, I will produ
ce a noble daughter who will be fit to rule our people.”

  “We would be honored to help your tribe,” the princess replied. “And Lord Evan and I are always happy to add to our family.”

  “Is this true?” Mona asked as she turned to me. “Would you like to give me a daughter, Lord Evan?”

  “Hell, yeah, I’m good with that.” I grinned. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about, or should we go to your room now?”

  “I do have two conditions, though,” Alyona said as she held up a finger.

  “Are you bargaining with my body?” I laughed.

  The princess shot me a look before she continued.

  “First: If Lord Evan gives you a daughter, who will then be trained to rule Lumin, you must then swear your loyalty to us and the crown,” Alyona continued. “I’m sure your daughter would obviously be loyal to Lord Evan, but you must feel the same way, and your people must know that.”

  The princess was brilliant. Getting rid of all the beasts and traps in the forest had only gotten us less hated. If we wanted the centaurs on our side completely, we had to give the queen the only thing she desired: a daughter to take over the city when she was too old.

  We sat in silence as Mona considered the deal, and she chewed on her bottom lip as she studied our faces.

  “You really mean it?” the queen asked. “You would give me a daughter if I declare my and my tribe’s loyalty to the crown of Rahma?”

  “Yes,” Alyona confirmed as I nodded. “We will always do what we can to help our people. And I’m certain you will enjoy the experience.”

  I looked over to see the princess covering a smile with her delicate hand.

  “Alright, then what is your second condition?” Mona questioned with a furrowed brow.

  “From this day forward,” Alyona began, “Lord Evan will be your only lover, and you will give him many more children.”

  Mona’s green eyes opened wide for a few moments, and then she tilted her head to the side slightly.

  “But … I know he will be traveling, and--”

  “You can send us a message when you are ready to breed again,” Alyona interrupted her. “Or … if you crave his touch.”

  “I see.” Mona bit her lip and then glanced at me.

  “He can travel quickly back to you,” Alyona continued. “I can help with that.”