Magicbound to a Snake Girl

by Kurtis Eckstein

  The end of Jasmyn’s tail then grew still as she carefully picked up the pencil like I’d shown her before, when we practiced drawing shapes, and she meticulously copied our names a few times.

  She looked up at me after a moment, while she was in the middle of writing my name for the fifth time. “Do you think you could read to me again?” she wondered eagerly.

  “Sure,” I agreed with a warm smile.

  I had read to her first thing when I got back home, and then we had just spent over an hour while she tried to learn how to properly use a pencil. Oddly enough, she preferred to hold it in her left hand, but I didn’t really care either way. Whatever she was comfortable with.

  In response to my answer, she finished spelling out my name in a rush and then set the pencil down, only to lean forward to wrap her arms around me.

  “Oh!” I said in surprise, returning her embrace. “Why the sudden hug?” I wondered. “Not that I don’t like it,” I clarified.

  She took a deep breath, tightening her embrace. “I’m just so happy,” she whispered.

  I smiled and rubbed her back gently. She pulled away a few seconds later, ready for me to continue reading one of the storybooks we had. I returned to my dad’s chair in the living room and began reading from where we left off, with her lying on her side on the floor, propped up on her elbow, her head resting in her palm.

  As was now becoming my habit when humans weren’t around, I was in my demon form in order to reap the benefits of my heightened senses.

  Thus, we didn’t get very far in the book before I paused, listening to footsteps approaching the house.

  Heavy footsteps. Like my dad’s.

  Was he coming home for lunch? I hadn’t thought to make anything yet because he usually didn’t come home for meals. It was too long of a walk. But then, as I listened, I realized they weren’t quite as heavy sounding as my dad’s, and the pacing wasn’t the same.

  I stood up when they walked up to the door, fear gripping my chest when they knocked. My dad wouldn’t knock. Yet this person’s footsteps were too heavy to belong to a regular human, and so far I only knew of one other creature who had the same footsteps.

  The shapeshifter.

  “Get your ring ready,” I hissed urgently at Jasmyn, silently dashing across the room in an instant.

  Now in the kitchen, I held up my hand, ready to blow up everything in the area if I had to. Black lightning began crackling around my body as my anxiety rose. I tried to keep my voice even, speaking loudly.

  “Who is it?” I demanded.

  I heard someone suck in a sharp breath in surprise, only to be shocked when a young boy’s voice responded.

  “O-Oh, s-sorry. I’m looking for s-someone, and I was w-wondering if you could h-help me out,” he stammered.

  My brow furrowed. “Who are you looking for?”

  “The D-Dracul family,” he replied. “Yesterday, a man named M-Mather Sykes told me they w-were around here.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. I didn’t know if I could believe this young boy, but I also didn’t want to keep talking to him through the door. If he was going to attack, I wanted to be able to see it first, which meant this conversation needed to continue outside. The door certainly wasn’t going to do anything to protect us in the event he was another shapeshifter, but at the same time I couldn’t imagine there could be so many in one area.

  Not unless he was somehow related to the other one…

  “Back away from the door,” I demanded. “And I’ll come outside to talk to you.”

  “Oh.” There was a pause. “O-Okay.”

  I waited for him to walk away, a little surprised when he went even further than I would have expected. I debated whether or not to reveal my demon form, only to decide that safety was more important.

  Thus, I tentatively opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, shocked by what I saw. The boy was taller than I was!

  He had tan skin and black hair, both of which made his bright blue eyes pop even from this distance. His dark hair was kind of long, enough so that he had it pulled back into a short ponytail, his hair covering his ears completely.

  However, one thing was clear almost instantly – even though he might appear human to most, I could tell there was something seriously off about him. His youthful face was very angular, and he was way too tall for someone his age, assuming he was really as young as he looked in the face.

  Even before I could speak, he immediately took a step back in shock, followed immediately by another.

  “Oh!” he exclaimed. “I’m s-sorry. I must h-have the w-wrong p-p-place,” he stammered.

  “How old are you?” I demanded, crossing my arms.

  “E-Eleven, ma’am,” he replied, his eyes still wide.

  “And what do you want with the Draculs?”

  He immediately looked down, his eyes tight. “Umm, it’s p-personal business, ma’am. C-Can you just p-point me in the right d-direction?” he asked politely.

  I bit my bottom lip, debating on what to do. I supposed that if he was looking for a fight it was better for it to happen now than for him to discover later that this was the right place and attack at night. I dropped my fists to my side, ready to defend myself as I spoke up again.

  “I’m Alyssa Dracul,” I admitted in a rush. “Now, what do you want with my family?”

  His gaze immediately shot up towards me, looking bewildered. “W-Who is your father?” he asked.

  “Axel Dracul,” I said between my teeth, not wanting to let his timidity make me drop my guard. “Now, what do you want with my family?” I repeated.

  He just stared at me, before straightening up. “Oh,” he replied, seeming surprised. “I guess…” He paused, looking me over again, appearing a lot less shy now. “I guess that makes you…my cousin.”

  My jaw dropped.

  This kid wasn’t serious right now, was he? I didn’t get time to consider it though, because he immediately did some weird gesture with his hand in front of his chest, before bowing at the waist.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said pleasantly. “My name is Asher Dracul. My mother is Vera Dracul of the elves, and my father is Xander Dracul of the dragons. Your father is my uncle.”

  “You’re an elf?!” I exclaimed in disbelief, his overall appearance suddenly making sense. I’d never seen an elf before, but I’d heard about them. I knew they were often much taller than humans, their skin, hair, and eye color coming in all kinds of shades due to their magic. Suddenly his height and age didn’t seem so strange, knowing he’d be even taller when he was fully grown.

  He nodded hesitantly. “Well, half-elf of course. And…” He paused. “W-What about y-you?” he wondered, his stuttering reappearing.

  I felt like that much should be obvious. “Demon,” I said simply, quickly continuing. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  His brow furrowed. “I mean…I can turn into a dragon if you want,” he replied hesitantly.

  “Oh,” I said in surprise.

  He could transform into a dragon? Of course. I supposed that explained why he was heavier than he looked. But how did he even come to exist in the first place? Was my uncle a shapeshifter too? I thought they were extremely rare. And if this boy’s father was a shapeshifter then did that mean I could actually become a dragon as well?

  Although, I felt like the purple scales I could grow were the limit…

  “Umm, no that’s okay,” I replied, trying to wrack my brain. I then had a thought, feeling a little proud of myself for coming up with the idea. “Do you have a sigil to prove your lineage?” I asked.

  His eyes widened in shock and he took a step back. “Umm, n-no. That’s w-why I came here,” he admitted.

  My brow furrowed again. “Why don’t you just ask your father?” I wondered, suddenly realizing that my question might be insensitive. What if my uncle was dead?

  His gaze dropped, and his shoulders slumped. “He was only with my mom for a few years,” he explai
ned quietly. “I’ve never actually met him.”

  “But you know about the sigil,” I considered.

  He nodded, his bright blue eyes glancing back up at me. “Yes, my mother didn’t want to send me away to find my uncle, but she said we really need it.”

  I crossed my arms again. “Why didn’t your mother come too?”

  He looked confused. “Because she’s an elf,” he said simply. When it was obvious I didn’t understand, he continued more slowly. “Because elves can’t leave their territory without permission,” he added.

  “Oh!” I felt really stupid.

  My mom had just finished telling me a few days ago that was why the sigil was so important – because if I got caught in my demon form without it, then I might get in trouble for breaking the treaty between the three magical races.

  “Right,” I agreed lamely, trying to think this through. “But wait. The elves live really far away. And how did you know to come here?”

  His expression turned somber. “I’ve been traveling for a couple of weeks,” he admitted. “Well, flying most of the way,” he corrected himself. “I kept having to stop by towns to figure out where I was. My mother heard a rumor that my uncle was married to a fons’radix and that her family lived here. I wasn’t sure I was in the right place though, but then I saw the dragons fighting in the sky. I tried to help, but–“

  “Wait,” I cut him off. “You tried to help? What kind of magic can you use?”

  “Fire and plant,” he replied simply.

  My eyes widened. “You were the mage in the forest? The one that created those vines?”

  He nodded, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry for grabbing your father too,” he replied sincerely. “It’s hard to control my plant magic, but I knew fire wasn’t going to do anything to them.”

  “How did you know which one was my dad?” I wondered curiously, finding my tone a little more casual now. I suddenly felt more relaxed too. The more I talked to him, the more I believed him. He just knew too much about…well, everything. And he seemed too sincere and polite.

  “Oh,” he looked at me in surprise. “I thought it was common knowledge that the only red dragon alive is one of the princes.”

  My eyes bugged out of my head. “Did someone kill all the others?” I exclaimed in shock.

  He shook his head. “N-No. Red is a rare color for dragons. Most of them are black, brown, green, blue, or gray. Lighter colors in general are uncommon, but red is almost the equivalent of an animal being albino.”

  I thought back to my dad’s comment about my mom falling in love with his red scales. I supposed now I knew why. If she had been accustomed to seeing darker colored dragons, then of course she would be shocked to meet one who was so bright. Not to mention, I knew from experience that the color red was enticing to demons.

  But that got me thinking about the fact my dad was a shapeshifter again.

  “So is your dad a shapeshifter too?” I wondered hesitantly.

  His eyes widened. “N-No, he’s not.”

  I gawked at him. “Then how…” My voice trailed off. Surely it wasn’t possible for his dragon father to…I cringed, quickly stopping that thought.

  Asher answered me anyway though. “My father has transformation magic. It’s why I can turn into a dragon. My mom told me that he was able to take on a more human-like shape for a few days at a time.”

  My brow furrowed. “He could become human and he wasn’t a shapeshifter?” I asked in surprise.

  He shook his head. “No, he didn’t become human. He just became more humanoid. Like, he still had scales and such. And his face was more like a human.”

  My eyes widened as I felt my amethyst scales begin to pop out of my body. I knew now that they weren’t just on my arms and neck. My purple scales were also on my lower back and ran down the sides of my hips and thighs, before covering my shins and the top of my feet, like I was wearing my own personal armor to protect the parts exposed to attack.

  “Like this?” I wondered.

  He took a step back in shock. “Y-Yeah, sort of. Although my mom said his whole body was covered in black scales, except for his stomach and chest, just like a dragon would be.” He paused. “So then, can you turn into a dragon too?”

  I shook my head, my scales disappearing again. “No, I don’t think I can,” I admitted. I then sighed, deciding I trusted him enough to shift into my human form. “My two forms are human and demon,” I explained.

  He nodded slowly, seeming to barely react to my change. “You’re very pretty,” he commented.

  My cheeks instantly grew hot from the unexpected compliment. “T-Thanks,” I stammered.

  Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone had ever told me I was pretty besides my dad, which I didn’t think counted. I mean, I knew Kain thought so, but he had never actually said it directly. At least, not when I was in a good mood.

  “You’re pretty as a demon too,” he quickly clarified. “But also a little…scary…” he admitted.

  I laughed at that. “Thanks,” I repeated, a little surprised at myself that I liked that he thought I was scary too.

  “You’re welcome,” he said hesitantly.

  I sighed then, trying to consider how to proceed. I felt like he was being honest, but I also didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of just letting him hang out here all day before my dad got home. He was technically a stranger after all, even if he was young and seemed genuine. I pursed my lips as I thought about it. “Well, I want to believe you, but the only way to know for sure, that you are who you say, is for the sigil ritual to work on you – and that’s assuming my dad’s willing.”

  He nodded slowly. “I can wait in the forest until sunset,” he replied confidently. “I’ve spent all my life among the trees,” he added. “So it’s no big deal.”

  My brow furrowed again, feeling like I was being rude, especially since he might really be my cousin. “Umm, are you hungry? I can grab you something to take with you.”

  He smiled warmly at me, his tan skin around his mouth forming into dimples. “Thank you for offering, but I’ll be okay. I can grow food whenever I want with my plant magic.”

  My eyes widened in surprise, at first shocked and dumbfounded by how breathtaking his smile was, but then by his comment. “Oh…that’s…useful.”

  Wow, were all elves this pretty?

  He nodded with a larger, more stunning grin. “Yep!” He then took a step to his side, angling away slightly. “I guess I’ll see you this evening then. It was very nice to meet you.” He did another weird gesture in front of his chest like before.

  I realized it must be his way of waving, or at least a fancy way of saying farewell.

  “You too,” I agreed, almost sad to see him go now.

  I let him leave though, not about to chance discovering he wasn’t who he claimed to be. Eleven-years-old or not, I knew from personal experience younger kids could be deceptive if they wanted to be.

  When I got back inside, Jasmyn was relieved that the unexpected guest wasn’t a threat. I sensed that she felt bad again, feeling like all she could do was hide when I might have been in danger. But really, despite what she had promised my mom about protecting me, she really didn’t have the magic to do so. Certainly, she was much stronger than humans, and she had her snake-eye, but if the threat was something else, then she wouldn’t be much help.

  Not that I cared. I was perfectly okay with that, enough so that I was willing to spend the next half hour reminding her of all the ways that she did protect me. After all, I didn’t feel lonely or depressed anymore, not to mention the fact that our bonding made the sigil ritual go faster than my parents expected.

  In a way, I was like a sword and she was my shield, and I cheerfully told her that to her face, only to discover that she liked that illustration a lot, as well as my bow and arrow comparison too.

  When my father finally got home, he was shocked to learn about our unexpected visitor, and also surprised to discover his involvement in the fig
ht.

  He was sitting at the kitchen table deep in thought after I told him all the details, including the kid’s description and abnormal height, despite his age.

  After my dad was quiet for a while, I finally spoke up again, glancing at Jasmyn. “So…what do you think?” I wondered.

  He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It will only work on family, and it sounds like he knows that, so I don’t really have a problem giving the sigil to him…” His voice trailed off.

  “Okay?” I felt like there was more.

  He took a deep breath, running his fingers through his fiery hair. “I’m just trying to figure out what my younger brother is thinking. He’s never been the irresponsible type, and yet I can’t help but feel that him having a child with an elf, only to abandon his family after a few years, seems very irresponsible.”

  “I’m glad you’d never do something like that,” I whispered.

  He nodded firmly. “I wouldn’t,” he agreed. “Your mother and I have been together for a long time, and we put a lot of thought into having children.”

  My brow furrowed as I considered both that idea, as well as something else I recalled that felt almost like a dream. “Why did you wait over four-hundred years to have me?” I wondered.

  His eyes widened. “Oh,” he started off simply. “You must have heard us talking.”

  I shrugged.

  He sighed and rested his cheek in his hand, looking over at the window. “It’s not that we waited,” he admitted. “We’ve had a difficult time having children, probably because I’m a shapeshifter. Your mother should certainly be able to have children without a problem.”

  I nodded slowly as I considered that. “Has mom had other children?” I asked carefully.

  He abruptly sat up and shook his head. “Oh, no, she hasn’t. Before meeting me, she had decided not to get involved in romantic relationships.” His brow furrowed. “Maybe you can ask her about it sometime, but I wouldn’t feel right about telling you something that should come from her.”

  “That’s okay,” I agreed, my thoughts returning to him being a shapeshifter. “So what about your brother, then?” I asked. “The boy, Asher, said that he used some kind of transformation magic. Is that really different?”