by Tom Larcombe
What change you bastard? Merlin thought.
{Your child will have it easier, being born with a second shape it can take. Its ability will not manifest until puberty though and by then the two of you will have enough experience to guide the child through it.}
Merlin screamed again, this time aloud.
“You leave my daughter alone you bastard! I'll not have you meddling in her life!”
Praesagium's calm voice continued in Merlin's mind.
{I'm sure you are in extreme discomfort by this point. Listen to me, follow my instructions, and it will soon be alleviated. The skills you need after that will all be instinctive.}
Merlin pounded his fist against the tank. His knuckles hurt from the strike but his subconscious noticed that the tank was dented where his hand had struck.
His conscious mind registered Gunter's shouts.
“No, that's Anguis. He belongs to Merlin. Leave the dragon alone and help me get Merlin under cover.”
Praesagium's message continued to sound in Merlin's mind.
{You will need to calm yourself enough that you can use your Sight on your own body. When you do, you will see another pattern overlaying your own. Make sure you're next to a large pile of rock or other strong substance, then help your own pattern conform to the new one. As I said before, everything after that will be instinctive.}
Merlin felt hands on his body. They were trying to lift him, to drag him somewhere else. He stood under his own power and calmed himself. A rush of power, stronger than the one he felt at Praesagium's lair in Wales, filled him. He spoke a single word.
“No!”
The power behind his denial sent Gunter and Rhys reeling. Anguis, now in full control of himself again, broadcast to everyone present.
{Back away from Merlin, far away. For your own safety.}
Anguis himself took to the air. Merlin distantly noted that Anguis flew towards the German tanks that were just about at the top of the hill. He saw the dragon unleash his flame before dodging away and a cloud of black smoke filled the area he vacated. Anguis was far faster than the turret mechanisms on the tanks and Merlin dismissed any worries about him. He forced himself into a calm state once again.
Look at myself, he thought. Find the pattern and help my body conform to it.
By this point, Merlin would do nearly anything to stop the itch and the accompanying blood lust. He sent his entire awareness into his own body, unable to concentrate enough to use only a small portion. He saw the pattern Praesagium had told him about. It currently matched his own but was flexing and trying to take on a new shape. His willpower was keeping it trapped and unable to change, so he released his hold on it.
The new pattern unfurled like a flower in the first light of the day. He watched as it swelled larger and larger. Then he remembered he was supposed to encourage his own pattern to match this new one. A moment of inspired thought, or perhaps instinct, showed him how to release his own pattern to duplicate the one that was currently growing.
Merlin, his entire awareness inside of his body, could neither see nor hear what was taking place. He could feel his body swelling and growing though. From within he saw the expansion taking place.
A tail, he thought. Why am I growing a tail?
The changes continued. He could only identify some of the outward characteristics his body was taking on.
Scales, he thought, just like the patches I've been growing. Except these are the size of automobile tires.
Merlin's awareness snapped back into his mind from within his body. He felt an undeniable urge to stretch and he reared up high, snapping open his wings to their full expanse.
His hearing and sight were many times more sensitive than they had been just moments earlier. His sensitive eyes were driven to tears by a bright blue-white flash that radiated out from his new form. He heard gasps from the wizards behind him. Gunter cursed a blue streak, showing a better grasp of invective than Merlin had known he possessed.
The last of the Tiger II's crested the hill at that moment. Its gunner made his final mistake and, seeing the massive red and orange dragon rearing over his tank, fired the main gun.
Merlin felt a mildly painful impact on his ribs and bent his neck forward. When he saw the tank with smoke curling from its gun, he spat his anger at it.
The Tiger II was engulfed in flame. Merlin continued to breathe his anger at the tank and after a few moments, ammunition began to explode inside of it.
The tank vomited flames and smoke while still on the crest of the hill, displaying its demise to any others of its kind that still survived in the valley.
Over the sound of ammunition cooking off inside the tank Merlin heard a muted mutter from behind him.
“Y Ddraig Goch!”
His mind translated the Welsh words to “The Red Dragon”. He knew that was the name of the symbol on the Welsh flag but couldn't determine how it related to the current situation.
Once again he felt the need to stretch. His wings went out to either side of his body and he turned his head to look at them.
Red scales the size of tires covered his body. A few orange scales were sprinkled amidst the red, brightening his overall color. He preened for a moment, flexing scales to let the cooling air get to his skin.
Wait, he thought. MY wings, MY scales? Demons damn me, I'm a dragon?
Merlin's head stretched high and he roared his rage and frustration into the sky. All prey animals that heard him went still, paralyzed with fear. Most of the animals that considered themselves predators had a similar reaction. The wizards behind him went silent.
He turned to face the Welsh wizards. They were staring at him with worship in their eyes. When they saw him from the front he heard the words again, this time at volume.
“Y Ddraig Goch, Y Ddraig Goch...”
Rhys started the chant and the other wizards picked it up. Before long it rang off the nearby hills. Merlin stared at the wizards, aghast at their behavior. Finally he turned and looked at Gunter.
Gunter held his stare for a moment before wilting under it. Merlin felt a moment of satisfaction when Gunter backed down but then he identified the emotion he'd seen in his friend's eyes. It was pity.
Merlin fled. He spread his wings and launched himself into the sky. He flew away from his friends, not wanting to see the looks on their faces. He also wanted to put some distance between his new self and them since he was ravenously hungry, his blood lust was upon him, and they smelled like prey. His new, enhanced, hearing caught a few words just before he flew out of range. The voice was Rhys' and he sounded puzzled.
“Where's Ollie?”
* * *
As Merlin passed over the valley he spied several surviving tanks trying to flee. It looked like all of the tanks that survived when Gunter destroyed their main gun were trying to leave the ambush site. He spat balls of flame at the tanks over and over again until they stopped moving.
Merlin sensed someone nearby and used his long, flexible neck to scan the surrounding sky. Anguis flew just beyond his left wingtip.
{Merlin?} Anguis asked.
{Anguis. I'm glad you aren't reacting like the others.}
{What did they act like?}
{Gunter looked like he pitied me and the Welsh wizards think I'm the dragon from their flag come to life.}
{You do look a little like it, but you've got too much orange for that. You don't mind if I stay with you, do you? Praesagium left a message for me also, telling me you might want some company.}
{Please do, I don't know what I'm going to do like this.} Merlin sent.
{He recommended that you hunt large prey. Once you're no longer hungry your body can begin to adjust. He said it will be two or three days before you're able to change back and a week or more before you can change back and forth at will.}
{So this is just a shape change? I wasn't sure if I'd lost my old self for good or not.}
{No, you're a Dragon Wizard. You'll have a human form; they all do. Now,
let's take care of the necessities. That section of woods a few miles over that way looks like it might hold some prey for you. Shall we?}
Anguis was slightly faster than Merlin and he pulled ahead, trying to spot prey.
{Wild boar sound good?} Anguis asked.
Merlin's mental reply had an urgent hunger to it.
{Where?}
Anguis dove towards the boar he'd seen, pulling out of the dive before getting close enough to spook it. Merlin followed through on the power dive. The instincts of his dragon body took over as soon as he sighted the prey.
He came back to himself while he was chewing up the boar. Anguis was on the ground beside him, looking at Merlin's scales.
{What did you absorb for your scales? They look tougher than any I've seen on the other dragons.}
Merlin thought back to the chaotic change that had just occurred. When he answered, his mental voice sounded slightly embarrassed.
{I think it was Ollie, the tank.}
Anguis' reply sounded cheerful and slightly envious.
{That would explain it. Good choice.}
Merlin's mental voice sounded very embarrassed now.
{I didn't choose. I completely forgot that part of the instructions. I just happened to be leaning against the tank when I changed.}
* * *
Merlin and Anguis discussed his change while they spent the night hunting. After another boar and a small deer Merlin's thoughts slowly returned to their normal patterns.
{So, what was that bright flash as I changed?} he sent.
{I don't know for sure but I think you just recharged a good bit of the German countryside with magic. At least it felt like raw magic to me.} Anguis replied.
Merlin wondered if it had attracted any unwanted attention to his companions.
{I suppose we ought to return soon.} he sent.
{It might be a good idea. They may be worried about you, wandering around behind enemy lines in a new form. Then again, considering the form, they may be worried about what happened to you and where this dragon came from.} Anguis sent.
{I didn't think of that. I'm sure Gunter knows what happened. The look I saw in his eyes was directed at me, Merlin. Not at anything else.}
{Then maybe he'll have explained it to the wizards. From what you told me, it sounds like they went over the edge.}
{It looked that way. Hopefully they came to their senses. I'm still a little hungry, so let's hunt until sunrise, then we'll return to where we left them.}
Merlin scored two more kills on large game before they flew back towards the hill where they left the others. When they landed, there was no-one visible. The destroyed tanks were still in the valley although the one on the crest of the hill had been moved.
He looked around and couldn't see anyone. Then he remembered his other senses, all of them recently enhanced, and paused to listen.
Rustling came from several different areas of undergrowth.
He sniffed.
Gunter's scent he recognized. He had never consciously noticed it in his human form but now he matched the odor he smelled to the scent stored in his subconscious. He hadn't spent enough time with the other wizards yet to recognize them in the same way but he did smell several other people.
He decided that he needed to coax them out. He would need to reassure them that he was himself.
“It'sss Merlin. Why are you hiding?”
Merlin now knew just why Anguis had such a problem with sibilants. The shape of his tongue tended to draw them out until they were much longer than intended.
“Is that so?” Gunter called from the undergrowth, “Then tell me how we got our first ride when we arrived on the continent for this trip.”
Merlin could tell just where Gunter was. His hearing pinpointed the location.
I need to pick my words carefully, he thought. I'm sure that the stretched sibilants are making them nervous.
“The French attributed our need for a ride to a late night with wine and women. That, along with a little lie, made them more co-operative.”
“So it is you Merlin,” Gunter said, crawling out from the thick bushes. “I told them it was but they wouldn't believe me. I was starting to wonder myself.”
“My apology for leaving. I needed to eat, very badly,” Merlin said.
Gunter hesitated for a moment before replying.
“I assume you've done so or you wouldn't have returned.”
Merlin nodded.
“Large game can be found in the area. From the air, they're more vulnerable,” he said.
Gunter carefully considered his next question.
“Are you stuck in that form for good?” he asked.
“Within a week, give or take a bit, I will be able to control which form I'm in. For now, I'm locked in dragon form.”
{Are you trying to avoid hissing at them?} Anguis asked Merlin.
{Yes.}
{I'll answer this then. You sound stilted and formal the way you're talking. That might make them nervous also.}
Anguis took his time speaking and forced himself to control his own sibilance.
“Merlin will be able to shift back to human in two or three days. You may have noticed that he sounds odd. He's been trying to avoid hissing at you and it limits his word choice. Sibilants are not easy for dragons to form,” he said.
Gunter turned to Merlin.
“Is that true?”
Merlin simply nodded.
“That sounds more like the Merlin I know than the conversation we just had. I don't think Anguis could be fooled either.”
Gunter turned and called towards the undergrowth.
“Everyone can come out now. I'm positive it's Merlin.”
Gunter grasped the crystal around his neck.
{So, what do we do now? I'm guessing we'll need a new plan.} he sent to Merlin.
{Should you be using your crystal for communication? Shouldn't you save its charge in case we need it?} Merlin replied.
{Did you see the massive flash of light when you changed?}
{Yes, I did.}
{According to the wizards it was pure magic. Every crystal you had in your satchel, mine that I'm using, and all those belonging to the wizards were fully charged when they looked at them again. They also said that the land in this area is more alive with magic than anywhere they've seen other than near Praesagium's home. I think there's plenty of power to communicate as well as use the other abilities you gave it.}
{Then yes, I think we'll need to make a new plan. Anguis said I should return to human form in a day or two but it will be longer than that before I have enough control to change my form at will. He told me it would be a week at the minimum. I hate waiting that long but if there are more sudden changes before I can control it that could cause some serious problems trying to sneak into Berlin unnoticed.}
The Welsh wizards had come out of hiding and were staring at Merlin. It irritated him.
“What'sss wrong?” he said. “Never ssseen a dragon before?”
After he spoke Merlin realized that his emotions were not as controlled as he normally kept them. He'd unconsciously added in some extra sibilance just to unnerve the other wizards. He re-focused on keeping his sibilants controlled.
The wizards spoke among themselves. Merlin forced himself to not listen to what they were saying. Finally Rhys stepped forward and spoke for them.
“We've seen Praesagium before and we knew he was attacking German vessels off the coast but seeing a dragon in action is rather different. Plus, you resemble the dragon on our flag. Not in the stilted form it shows on the flag but in the way we envision it to be in reality.”
“I'm not the dragon from your flag. It's all red, I have orange as well.”
Merlin flexed his body to show off one of the orange patches.
“Demon Shit! I didn't even know I would become one until it had already happened,” he said.
“Yes, but you're also Merlin, from Merlin and King Arthur? Were you unaware that the dr
agon was chosen for our flag partially from the legends of King Arthur and his use of the symbol?”
Merlin had been unaware of that. He groaned inwardly.
There's no way I'm going to be able to disassociate myself from that now, he thought.
“No, I didn't know that. But I'm not Y Ddraig Goch. I'm Merlin. Now I just have another form I can take. At least I will when I can intentionally control the shift. Now please drop it.”
Rhys was obviously unconvinced but he was also willing to do things the way Merlin wanted. He fidgeted for a moment and started to speak before clamping his mouth shut.
It looks like he's trying hard not to say something, Merlin thought. Maybe I should just let him wait.
He decided that would be petty and relented.
“Go ahead, I can tell you want to say something else.”
“Just one other thing,” Rhys added, “what happened to Ollie? Kayne claimed he saw you absorb Ollie into yourself.”
“True. I was unaware of the oncoming change. Praesagium arranged a warning to me through Anguis. Part of it told me to be near a large amount of rock or some other strong material during the change. I couldn't move away from Ollie due to my disorientation and the tank is now a part of me. The metal of the tank is now the armor in my scales.”
Rhys stared at Merlin again, dumbfounded by the revelation.
{Gunter, I think we're going to have to send the wizards back on foot. I don't think they're going to pay enough attention to our mission any more. I'm too distracting for them.} Merlin sent.
{Perhaps arrange for them to carry a message? Make it seem important enough that you want to send them all to ensure that it gets through?} Gunter replied.
{We'll send them to let those in charge of the wizards know what happened. I'll also send a message so that Nimue can be warned. This change will eventually happen to her as well. I'll work on the message in a little bit and we'll send them off first thing tomorrow.}
{Then we'll need somewhere to camp tonight where we won't be found. We should probably all get some sleep as well. None of us that stayed here got more than an hour or two last night.}
{I don't seem to need sleep myself now, at least I didn't last night and I'm not at all tired yet. Anguis and I can stand guard. I think that should be safe enough.} Merlin sent.