Perak cursed the youngster's stupidity. The Red Dragons were outnumbered and had already lost one of their number but they were larger and stronger than they were and could only be defeated safely if they worked together. They had long necks and powerful jaws and should never be underestimated.
Eric, left. Ivan, right, he commanded. Ivan took one Blue Dragon and moved towards the younger Red Dragon, and Eric and the two other warriors approached the older dragon. Perak approached from the centre, aiming to distract them. He sent a fireball towards the head of the older dragon, knowing that it would cause no damage, but would blind him for a second. He found himself bathed in flames a moment later, and sprang to the side as the younger dragon charged at him. A moment of luck; the younger Red Dragon was as headstrong and careless as his fallen comrade, and had become over confident after killing the youngster. Perak slashed at him and danced backwards, seeming to expose his left side to the Red Dragon, who lunged forwards again. Perak dodged to the young Red Dragon's left, and shot fire at the older dragon again. It had taken just a second to separate the two dragons and the older dragon had already realised the danger but it was now too late. The other five Blue Dragons converged on the older dragon, preparing to attack him while Perak continued to distract the younger one. They attacked the older dragon simultaneously, one distracting him with another fireball and the other four all slashing at his sides with their sharp claws, tearing great gashes in his flanks and belly. He howled in pain as he turned to one side to strike at his nearest tormentor, but as he did so one of the Blues struck at his throat with his claws, opening up a terrible wound that signalled the end of the fight. The Red Dragon dropped to his knees, defeated, blood streaming from the open wound. His troops then turned their attention to the younger Red, who was still being kept occupied by Perak. Facing away from the five dragons, they slashed at his back legs before dancing out of reach as he tried to turn to attack them. His back legs collapsed under him and Perak leapt in to deliver a fatal strike on the side of his neck, killing him instantly.
He turned to the older dragon, who was struggling to move, weak from blood loss but still alive. Perak nodded at Eric, who moved forwards to dispatch the dying Red Dragon. Perak transformed back to human form, and surveyed the messy scene. As the other five Blues transformed back, he realised that the young blue who had fallen was the one who had given them away.
"He's paid the price for his mistake," Perak observed dismissively. "Learn from this. Fools do not live long in this business."
"What shall we do with him?" Ivan asked.
"Same as the others. Hide their bodies. We don't have time to give him a proper burial. Dig shallow graves, just deep enough to make them hard to find."
Perak shook his head in disappointment as his five remaining men transformed back into dragons. He watched them shift the soft earth quickly with their powerful claws. Losing one before they had even reached their target was a bad omen, and made the job even harder than it should have been. If the choice had been truly his, he would have been tempted to call off the mission and return in a week's time with a full team, but that would have spelled the end of his career. His superiors were far too keen to waste men, and would never have understood his reasoning, putting it down to cowardice. One day, he thought, he will have enough influence to make a difference. Until then…
His men finished burying the bodies and transformed back. Each of them took care to ensure that their hats hid their hair, and then they moved on, continuing their long jog. Perak set a tougher pace than before, determined to make up for lost time, and his men knew not to complain at the hardship. Six more hours at this pace before they could make their camp. Then one more day of travel, then the day after tomorrow they would take the village.
Chapter 4: Transfiguration
Crystal rose early on her birthday, something she hadn't done for at least ten years. She had woken several times during the night, both nervous and excited about the coming day. When she entered the kitchen for breakfast, she found her mother already waiting for her.
"I thought you would be up early today," her mother told her with a knowing smile. "Couldn't you sleep, dear?"
Crystal shook her head and smiled. "Of course not. I've been looking forward to this for a long time."
"Me too!" her mother replied excitedly. "Teaching you is my special privilege. Funny to think that that strange boy thought he could talk me into giving it up!"
Crystal's smile vanished. "What strange boy?"
"You know, the blond one, um, John, was it? Anyway, he asked me whether I'd mind letting him teach you how to transform. As if I'd let anyone else do it, let alone a sixteen-year-old boy. Why, he'd have to stand there watching you naked for most of the day!" Her mother chuckled, and then paused when she saw her daughter's face. "What's wrong, Crystal?"
Crystal had forgotten about John and all of the irritation that he had generated at the party flooded back to her. "How dare he? Who does he think he is?"
"I know, darling," her mother replied soothingly. "It is a bit of a cheek, although you seem more cross than I expected. He probably just likes you. I wouldn't give it a second thought."
"I've a good mind to go over to where he lives and tell him exactly what I think of him," Crystal replied angrily.
"Don't bother," her mother said. "I told him that I thought it was a very inappropriate thing to ask. Although, I must admit, he didn't react the way I thought he would. He seemed more worried than disappointed. He left the party shortly after that."
"Worried? Why would he be worried?"
"I have no idea, dear. I'm just telling you how he was. He did seem a little strange, to be honest. Perhaps he's not used to speaking to people he doesn't know. I think your father said that he was from some border settlement far from civilisation, so I wouldn't get too cross with him. Anyway, don't let it spoil today, whatever you do. This should be a fun day. Well, a memorable one anyway."
Crystal resolved to forget John and not let him spoil her birthday as well as putting a damper on her birthday party. "You're right, Mother. When shall we begin?"
"First thing's first, dear. I have your new clothes for you."
Crystal brightened at this news. "What new clothes?"
"Clothes for today of course! It'll take you a while to get used to transforming, and you can't stand naked all day. You'll get cold, even on a lovely summer day like today. These are special clothes that you can wear while transforming. You'll see when you try them on." Her mother laid a large parcel in front of her.
"Can I open this now?" Crystal asked.
"If you've finished your food, dear," her mother replied.
Crystal wolfed down the remainder of her light breakfast and ripped the wrapping from the parcel. There were several bright red garments inside, but not ones that Crystal could identify. She picked one up and examined it.
"What is this, Mother?"
"That's your underwear, dear. I'll show you how to put it on. Everything has a simple release mechanism, so they'll fall off you when you transform rather than being ripped to shreds. I know they'll look a little strange, but these are just clothes for learning in. Once you can transform properly, I'll give you some new clothes, ones that you can put on very quickly when you transform back, rather than having to find somewhere to hide each time."
Crystal had never considered this. Getting this wrong could be rather embarrassing, and she was painfully aware that most of her class would have had months of practice at this, their birthdays all tending to fall in the middle of the school year. "What will I do at school until I can get this right?"
"Don't worry, dear; you'll have separate rooms to transform in for the girls and for the boys. You won't need to wear these clothes at school. I'm afraid that you won't learn an awful lot this term about being a dragon—just some very basic flying skills, enough to get you from one place to another—so you won't be doing enough transforming to need these clothes at school. There's always one or two in y
our position who've just had birthdays late in the year, or whose parents weren't very good at teaching, so they don't push you too hard at the beginning, although I think you're meant to practice transforming on your own at home. At least that was how it was when I was at school. Once you get the basics you won't need any supervision to practice. Flying is a different matter, as you could hurt yourself if you crash."
Crystal had never heard of anyone crashing. How often did it happen? Presumably more often with novices. Yet another thing for her to worry about.
Her mother read her anxious look. "Don't worry. You won't be crashing, at least not from any height that would be dangerous. They'll take you through everything carefully. Your teacher this term is excellent; he is actually one of the army trainers and is just taking a break, so his training will be the best you could get."
Crystal was not sure that someone used to shouting at young soldiers who were perfectly capable of flying was the best person to teach sixteen-year-olds who had no idea what they were doing, but didn't say anything.
"Come on, dear. Let me show you how to put all of this on."
Crystal's mother fussed over her for a while, helping her put on her new clothes. They felt more like clothes for sleeping in than anything else, but they were comfortable and the colour suited her well. After she was dressed, Crystal and her mother walked into the grounds of the mansion.
"We're going to transform amongst the statues today," her mother told her. "I've told the staff to avoid this part of the grounds, but it's no inconvenience to them, as this area isn't really used. I don't think you've explored here yet, have you?"
"No, not yet. What are these strange statues?" Crystal asked, looking at the dragon-like marble statues. They were spread out amongst the plants, some of them huge, as large as a Red Dragon, but most of them considerably smaller.
"These? These are other dragons that we've encountered over the years. At least so they tell us. No one has seen these ones for years, and I think some of these they've made up. Why, look at this little one like a giant worm. This is meant to be life size! Look how small it is!"
Crystal looked at the statue. The thing was about six feet long, and did resemble a giant worm—or at least a worm crossed with a dragon. It had no legs—and the skin was smooth. Its face was very strange, with unusual triangular teeth that looked strong but not particularly sharp.
"Not very frightening or attractive, is it?" her mother commented. "Look, we have one of us, for comparison. You can see how tiny it is when you compare the two."
"And this one?" Crystal asked her mother, pointing to large, fierce-looking statue. It was a bit smaller than the statue of the Red Dragon, and had a much shorter neck. "Is this a Blue Dragon?"
"Of course, dear. Our worst enemies. It would be have been better if they had painted these statues the right colours, rather than leaving them all brown, wouldn't it? But yes, this is the most dangerous of all dragons, and a determined enemy, bent on wiping us and all other dragon races out. They're not the biggest, or the strongest, or the best fliers, or have the sharpest teeth, claws, or hottest flames, or anything that makes they special except for their malice and their hatred. The one thing that they have is their determination to wipe out everyone else."
Crystal stared at the statue. The Blue Dragon had its lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing nasty-looking teeth, and its front foot was raised as if ready to strike at its next victim.
"Why do they hate us so much?" Crystal asked, turning away from the statue.
"They don't need a reason," her mother replied. "They just want our land. They've killed many other races in the past and taken their land, but we're far too strong for that to happen. We've been fighting them for hundreds of years, and probably will for hundreds of years to come."
"Have you ever fought one, mother?" Crystal asked.
"Fortunately not, dear. A privilege of being born into the right family is that we can avoid military service, as you will too, but plenty of us have fought them. Your father of course, being a commander, has fought many of them, and has sent many to their graves thankfully. Not enough though; they always send more. But don't worry, they never attack Furnace, being so far away from the border. We're quite safe here. Much safer even than our home in Black Rock, and even that hasn't been attacked for years, although of course it was always the Green Dragons that attacked the south, rather than the Blues, not that they're any better. Are you ready to begin, dear?"
Crystal nodded, feeling nervous and excited.
"Very good. Now, what have they taught you about transformation at that school I've been sending you to?"
Crystal shrugged, wishing she had paid more attention in her lessons. "Not a lot. Nothing about how to actually do it. Just that we shouldn't try to do it on our own before we've been taught by our parents. Oh, and that we should never try to do it at night."
"Of course, dear. We can only transform into dragons during the day. That's probably one of the most important lessons for them to have taught you. Trying to stay as a dragon when it gets dark is very dangerous, and I don't think it is even possible to transform into a dragon before the sun rises again. Promise me you'll never even try to do so!"
"Of course, Mother," Crystal replied obediently.
"Alright, well, first, dear, I'll demonstrate a couple of times, as slowly as I can. Watch closely what I do. It always starts with the eyes. You probably notice the wings first when I do it quickly, but if you watch closely, you'll see I start with my eyes, which is how everyone does it."
Crystal watched her mother carefully. Her eyes changed to a dark red, and they glowed so brightly that it started to look as if they were on fire, with the red then spreading to the skin around her eyes. After her skin began to change colour, scales formed, slowly spreading out from her eyes over her face, although her face was still easily recognisable. Her mother was transforming as slowly as she could, and Crystal followed the changes easily. Her face was now covered in scales, which were spreading down her neck and covering her body. Her mother pulled at the cord around her waist, and pulled her top down, and Crystal watched as the scales quickly covered her chest. Her mother slowed the transformation again, and Crystal saw the small scales spread over her shoulders and arms and then cover her hands. Her mother turned to face away from Crystal, displaying her scaly back, and Crystal saw the wings begin to emerge and then unfold from between her shoulders. Her mother turned back to face her again, and she removed the rest of her clothes, revealing that she was now completely covered in scales from head to toe. Her body shape was still clearly human, but was now starting to change. Her legs and arms stiffened, and as they began to lengthen, Crystal noticed that the joints in her limbs now faced the opposite way than they had before. Her mother started to lengthen her neck, and her face also changed shape as it grew, with her jaw beginning to elongate and the scales enlarging rapidly. Her wings had continued to grow without Crystal really noticing, and were now huge, spread out to the sides of her body. Her mother stretched out her fingers, and the fourth and fifth fingers joined together and merged into one before lengthening into a single long, clawed talon, as did the other fingers, with the thumb moving backwards to situate itself at the rear of the foot. She did the same with her feet, and finally, she was complete. A Red Dragon sat calmly in front of Crystal.
Crystal shook her head and smiled. "I see what you did, but I don't know how to do any of that."
Her mother transformed back quickly, picking up the clothes and putting them back on. "Alright, dear, I just want you to learn the order. Can you repeat back to me the order that I did it in? That can sometimes help."
"Alright, eyes, face, chest, shoulders, wings, body, legs, arms, neck…"
"Stop, dear," her mother told her with a laugh. "Let me help you. It's easier to think of it like this: Eyes, scales, wings, front legs, back legs, neck and head. Once the scales start to form, they'll just spread over your body without you having to worry about them. You can cont
rol the transformation a little, going faster or slower and changing the order of which parts of your body transform first, but you don't need to worry too much about that yet, as once you start, if you do nothing, the transformation will happen anyway. Now the most important thing is to relax, and remember that although it will feel strange, it's very natural and what your body is meant to do. Watch again."
Her mother repeated the transformation again, and then changed back. Crystal was eager to have a go, but still didn't really understand how to begin.
"I think I have the order, Mother," Crystal said. "But I have just one question."
"Yes, dear. What is it?"
"How do I begin?"
Her mother laughed. "Sorry, dear, I forgot to tell you that part. I've done it for so long that I forget about it. Actually, the rest of it is relatively easy; all you have to do is visualise each body part and it happens. The hardest part to learn is the eyes, but once you have that, the transformation will just happen without you having to do anything at all if you so choose. It is better if you can learn to control it by directing it, but it will happen anyway."
"I know, Mother. You told me that. But how do I begin?"
"Let me see, dear. How can I explain? First of all, you have to focus hard on your eyes. Picture them turning bright red. At the same time, concentrate on them becoming dragon's eyes. One thing that can help is trying to bring a distant object into focus at the same time as making your eyes as wide as possible. Your eyesight is better as a dragon, so doing this helps start the transformation."
Crystal closed her eyes for a second, concentrating hard. She opened her eyes, and began to focus on her eyes. Dragon's eyes, dragon's eyes, she said to herself. She looked at a distant statue, one of two little Worm Dragons, and tried to widen her eyes and focus on that. Suddenly, she stopped and spun around to face her mother. She could feel someone watching her.
Becoming a Dragon Page 3