by Dawn Chapman
But the need was here, and we had to muster the groups. We had to get them away from the one person who I knew would try to force them to stay—Sakril’s brother.
He would try to force things to stay as they were, but I couldn’t let him. If I had to, I would challenge him as I knew I could.
I didn’t know how I could fight him. Then almost as that thought crossed my mind, I stepped away from Akillia on shaky feet. “I need to do this.”
I stepped away from her and felt strength returning to me, but in a way I wasn’t used to. It felt like my skin wasn’t able to contain me anymore.
I looked at my hands, They shook. Something was really wrong. I shivered and dropped to my knees. I looked to Akillia and to Dalfol who held her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. In them, I saw fear and something else.
What?
Searing pain ripped through me, and I felt my clothes splitting down the seams. Wow, I thought I was fat before. I don’t think I had any idea this was coming. The tearing of fabric echoed around me and the sounds deafened me. Akillia was stepping back now, and Dalfol reached out a hand. I wanted to take it, I really did, but I couldn’t. I felt like I might be able to, but when I tried, I couldn’t force my hands to move. They stuck to the ground, nails digging in as pain speared through them. The sand and stone crumbling in my grip. My nails hardened and lengthened to more than I ever thought they could.
But I recognised what they were becoming, and although I was a little scared at first, I was fascinated by the entire process. Was I actually going to become a Tromoal? How was this even possible?
I guess so as my arms lengthened, and my body grew in size, weight and girth. I felt the power coming from deep within and was totally in awe of it. Nothing like Lady Miosol’s ring. Nothing like the magic from the Tromoal. This was all me.
I could see the AI stat screens flashing before me, and there was a new side to my screens now.
While the pain increased, I tried to focus in on the words it said.
TRANSFORMATION
INITIALISED
40 of 100
There was a little bar at the side, and I watched as it grew, just as much as I knew the body that I was now in was doing.
I let out a bellowing scream as my spine broke free of the skin attached to my back. The cool air and the torn flesh stung, but no sooner had it done so did it harden and begin to heal.
HEATLH - 40%
It was dropping a lot quicker than I wanted it too, and I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do to ease this or did I know what was coming.
TRANSFORMATION
65 of 100
I stopped watching it as I heard all the voices inside my mind speaking their wonder and their terror.
What is this?
How is this possible?
She will challenge him now for sure.
That worried me. Challenge?
But I looked up, and I saw they were all gathering. The Tromoal had taken to the skies, their curiosity to what was happening to me taking over. The strange thing was, I could also see from their view.
The transformation was almost complete. I could see a very large body of a Tromoal. Its tail growing out, and yes, there were wings.
Curious, I flexed what I thought were shoulders… It was weird. They moved, spread out, and then I saw they were magnificent. I struggled with them a little.
They were heavy. Silver veins spread through them, pulsing with energy and vitality. As they stretched to their full capacity, I could see the leathery skin over them start to harden. I could only liken this to the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Dalfol! I called.
I knew you could do it, came back his reply.
I felt the sun on my wings, warmed through them and to my chilling bones.
I stopped trying to watch from the other Tromoal’s view and felt the wings instead. I flexed them and was thrilled to feel my body lift off the ground slightly.
I let out a squeal of delight.
I’d always wanted to fly. I mean on the back of Dalfol had been my first real look at the world. But this… this opened up so much more to my life. My future.
I looked back to where Akillia and Dalfol stood, at least where I remembered them standing.
There were a few other people now, and they stood talking, no arguing. I couldn’t make out their words because pain struck my head. I fought it, didn’t want to let it win. But my wings folded, and I collapsed.
TRANSFORMATION
100-100
HEALTH - 18%
Instinct had me reach for my ring. It was no longer there. I sighed, I couldn’t rely on it anymore. I felt a hand on my face. No, my nose. I tried to look up to see who it was.
“Akillia?”
“I’m here,” her voice came to me. “I will protect you. They won’t get near you. Rest.”
That’s when I saw what was truly happening in the skies.
They were fighting.
All of them.
Fire and ice blasted through the air.
Dalfol was pushing back the people I’d seen him talking to. I heard some of his words.
“Protect her. Go. Now.”
But there was darkness… it was tempting. Inviting.
Pure.
I had hoped someone might bring me around a nice juicy steak or maybe just something that was fitting for the new large stomach I now had. When I woke, there was nothing. The darkness surrounded me, and I felt alone and damned sick.
I rolled over and vomited.
Chapter 34
I struggled to focus. What, where? Was I back in my normal form? No. I wasn’t. There was so much here that moved when I did, and the sounds around me were not normal.
“Dalfol?” I asked out loud.
There was a hand on my head. It wasn’t really a face. It was a head, a large one.
I looked into the darkness, and at least some things had seemed to settle. That was good. I blinked more, and then I could focus on who was before me.
It was Akillia.
Hey, I tried to say, but nothing but a grumble came out, the air around me charged with the energy from my body.
She moved in closer to look into my eyes with hers.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking or feeling,” she said to me. “I just want you to know I’m here.”
I blinked at her and looked up to the skies where I knew there was something still going on.
She continued. “Dalfol had to take the council up so they could fight. The war up there took a strange turn. Oragor’s return broke them apart even more.” I looked deeper into the darkness, and I could see a shield above us. We were protected.
Is he okay? I asked.
Oragor answered, I am.
There was some very, very strong magic above us. I needed to see it. I needed to see what I’d caused.
I moved to push myself up from my space. Everything about me ached, but I also had the amazing feeling of energy inside me. I looked back to her, and I saw tears in her eyes. I reached out.
Akillia, I... thank you.
She smiled at me. “I heard you,” she said. “I’m coming with you?” She moved to climb up onto my back. I couldn’t deny her. She was more than just a Visitor; she was a friend.
I looked up into the skies once more and flexed my wings. I felt the power they had inside them, and I wanted to make sure that I took everything I had and listened to how they felt and how they would move with me. There would be winds. There would be many ways. I would have to learn to do this, but I’d have to learn now, on the go.
I don’t know if I can do this, I said to her.
“I know you can,” she replied.
I sucked in a breath and felt something else inside me. The fire I had was strange, and I could do a lot of damage with it. Getting used to the powers of the Tromoal was indeed something else. I knew testing these out would be so much fun. Just not sure I would be able to do it right now. But I shouldn’t wai
t. I needed to learn them.
Up there, there was a war going on. I saw it, the clans were at loggerheads, and I now had to take charge. I had to protect my family. To make sure they were all safe. For them to be safe now, and for Puatera to survive, we had to leave Trofoth.
I flexed my wings once more, feeling the lift underneath them.
This might get a little bumpy, I said. First flight and all.
She giggled. “Hey, can’t be any worse than coming over to Maicreol on a flipping sea-fairing vessel.”
I tried not to laugh with her. I’d love to be on a ship now, to do this with them the easy way, but nope, I was going to have to lead them from the front, and that meant I was going to have to fly back to Maicreol with them.
What about you, will you be okay with the journey?
Akillia didn’t say anything, and I worried.
I will do what it takes to get you home and bring them with.
I smiled from the inside. So, with one more push, I swung my wings upward, and then down. In one huge thrust, I was up and into the air. I found that the effort to get really high was huge, and I watched as the new bars, which appeared in my view, made a few dips and dives with me. What I really wanted to do was stop flapping and reach the warmer air and the updrafts, but I was way off those.
Dalfol, a little guidance! I shouted for him.
Then I found one, and it made the effort I needed to use so much less. The draft lifted me up much higher toward where I could see the shield. Could I pass through it? I wasn’t sure. And when I moved closer, I closed my eyes, hoping I wouldn’t be suddenly sent to the ground crashing.
No, we passed through it with ease. There were Tromoal everywhere, and they were fighting for their lives. There were massive amounts of fire and ice blasting here and there. I tried to dodge out of the way of one fiery blast as it hurtled toward us, but I wasn’t quick enough. The flames licked the side of my face, and it burned.
Akillia! I shouted, but as I tried to look back to her, I knew she was okay. There was a solid laugh from on top of me.
“I’m good. Now get in there,” she shouted.
How do I know who is on my side?
Dalfol’s voice came back to me. Think Clan of Mizea!
Mizea?
Ahead of me, the Tromoal then had coloured blips. Red for the enemy, of course. From the back of me, I started to hear and to feel Akillia directing me. She would help me dodge the worst of the enemy blasts, and I swung around to face some of them. I had no idea who these guys were I was fighting, but I was sure not going to let them take out those I was friends with. I could see Dalfol up ahead, and he was fighting with Fie.
His sister was wounded pretty heavily. The gash in the side of her flank was oozing blood. I wanted to rush in as fast as possible, but Akillia dug her heels in.
“No, he’s got that. Bank right!” she shouted to me, and I could see why.
As I followed her instructions, I saw something else. Their leader, Xanou. His black scales and golden hues lit up from below me, and he saw what I was trying to do. I wouldn’t be able to fight him, but what I was capable of doing was making and uniting everyone else around me. They were fighting because of me, and Xanou was on the losing side, I was sure of it. And I let out a chuckle as he stared at me.
“Take them if you can,” he said. “They’re no good to me here, but I tell you this—if you do take them, you are responsible for everything they do. Their lives are in your hands. They follow you, and they may never return.”
That was something I wasn’t so sure I could accept, but Akillia’s voice in my head also reminded me I did have their best interests at heart.
Xanou then laughed at me. “You think I’m really going to let you try to take them without a fight.”
He lunged for me, his talons striking out, and I knew they were inches from my side. I dodged his attack.
I wasn’t taking this, and I shouted out to Akillia, actual sounds rumbling out my giant mouth. “Hold on for all your worth, princess!”
I think he heard me say this because he spun around. “Princess?”
He seemed to look toward Akillia, and I felt something else there, something else within the darkness. I squinted into the skies as I witnessed something hurtling out of them. It was something I’d not seen here before. This was a huge bird.
The screech that came with a large fiery bird was enough to make many a Tromoal head turn.
I felt feet on my back and heard something else. Akillia was talking to it. It was the bird I’d seen her with back in Maicreol. But how? How could he be here just as she was? Something didn’t seem to make sense, but then it did. Zurath?
Then the burning and amazing colours of the creature heading our way turned inwards and threw everything it had at Xanou. There was nothing he could do. The massive bird struck him, and I could see blood spurt into the skies.
I know who you are, I said to Akillia. Though she didn’t seem to hear this. My wings beat to keep us in the sky even against the new attack Xanou was readying to launch at me. I wondered why everything had led to this point. I knew something was going to give, and it wouldn’t be me.
I laughed, and I pushed forward. The bird retreated with a slap of its wings, and I took its place. My talons held fast as I pushed into the skin of our enemy.
I felt something fall. Oh shit. I’d lost Akillia. But no, as I looked down in the blink of an eye, I saw what they’d done. The bird exploded in another massive burst of flames and grew to almost the same size as Xanou. The flames died off, and he had caught her mid-flight, and she was okay.
I felt searing pain as Xanou clamped down on my neck. Red spread down my back. I could feel it. It hurt more than anything ever had.
There was no way I was going to go down like this. I turned to bite him too. Claws and teeth. The world below us started to come up fast. Ad much as I was able to put into the attack, I did. I knew the ground would hit and hit us hard. We slammed into the rocks, and I felt my spine bend awkwardly.
My health bar dropped.
HEALTH 76%
I fought and clawed to get away from him, and all he could do was pant and try to bellow insults at me.
Yeah, this was a moment that really was worth me sucking in a breath and hurling more insults at him. In his mind, I could feel all the terrible things he wanted to do to me, but in mine, all I wanted now was blood.
Red mist surrounded my vision. It was as if I had no other meaning to my life but to take his.
“I guess it is true then. You won’t let me live so I can take these amazing creatures back to my world to save their children?”
“You have no idea what you already did to them,” he said. “Do you?”
I probably didn’t because I just stared at him. “They’ve done nothing. They’ve tried their best. It wasn’t their fault there was no food for them.”
“No,” he growled. “But they came back and took my food from my children!” Xanou lunged for me again.
“This will end one way or the other,” I shot back. I wanted to jump away, but this was going to result in a lot more of a mess. He was gravely wounded. I wouldn’t let him get a strike in at me again. I had to dodge it.
He was damned easy to read, and that was bad news for him. I managed to fake every pass he was making at me while he weakened from his wounds. I just had to make sure he was as weak as he could be, and I would more than likely be able to get in and get a real killing blow.
I watched as his head turned and his mind whirled with the pain. He was blinded by his need for revenge. His need for revenge was greater than my need to protect. I would win because I was clever too. I knew I could beat him because of this, dodging and making him do more of the work. He was exhausting himself.
He could see nothing else. That made me sad. His blows were going to come in stronger, and I would have to do my best to avoid them. To push against him, goad him, do anything I could to ward off what he was capable of doing to me.
&nbs
p; Then I realised, I didn’t need to—I was a Tromoal now. I was the queen. I should be just as powerful as he was. I had stats as I had grown into a Tromoal, not that I’d been able to understand it all. I had nothing to compare it to.
I pushed the bad thoughts aside and tried my best to think about his next move. Would he lunge right in for me, try to take me out? I tried to anticipate any option.
Xanou decided he needed to turn the tables and goad me. I wasn’t sure of this body, but I learned fast. I would try to kick him into the next world.
“You can’t beat me.” He laughed in my face. He sucked in a breath and loosed all the energy he could in one hot fiery blast. I simply dodged.
I tried to imagine what it would be like to take the throne from him like this, to worry never again that these amazing creatures I was a part of would suffer and die.
I waited till he stopped goading me, and came around my flank, trying to attack my left side. I pushed back, and I bit down on him. There was a lot of blood as my teeth ripped flesh, the gash spreading the more he tried to pull away.
I laughed more at this and lunged in again. He faltered, and I sank my teeth into the side of his neck. This time, I didn’t let go.
We plummeted to the ground in a mass of wings and screeches. I held on, and I tore in deeper.
Chapter 35
There’s no way. You couldn’t? he bellowed inside my mind, but I had. And his blood tasted so good.
He hit the ground first, taking the impact from hurting me.
His blood gave my health a boost, and the pings in my vision started to go off. One more time, I had to ignore them, but I couldn’t ignore the Karma that sped my way.
YOU’VE BEEN AWARDED 2 KARMA FOR FREEING THE CLAN OF THE MIZEA, AND IN MAKING SURE YOU SURVIVE THE UPCOMING WAR OF MAICREOL.
What? There was no way the system could know I would survive this, that I had a chance, but maybe I would. Maybe there was real hope for the eggs in the caves.