by D. M. Fife
***
"Wake up," Danny heard someone say, drifting through his dream, stirring him to consciousness.
"Wake up," the musical voice called again; Danny's eyes opened a crack. Above him stood the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, her long black hair draping delicately around her head like a waterfall.
"Beautiful," Danny said to himself, with only one eye halfway open.
"Wake up, Danny," Sabrina called for the third time. "It is time to leave."
Wide awake now, Danny's face flushed as he realized what he'd just said.
"Smooth," said Alonso, standing just to the left, laughing.
Looking around, Danny found Matt, Doug, and Chris with the same stupid smile on their faces, his romantic blunder having been witnessed by almost everyone, except Sabrina, he hoped.
"Come, Danny, we have many leagues to go and a limited time in which to travel across them," said Tyramear from somewhere behind Danny.
Even more embarrassed, Danny propped himself up on his elbows and turned to see Tyramear looking at him with a widening smile.
"Yes, sir," said Danny with a sigh. Standing up, he noticed that everyone was dressed in warm clothes, long pants and sweatshirts.
"You remembered to pack some warm clothes right, Danny?"
Danny nodded.
"Good, go and change. The bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right. Meet us in the backyard when you are through."
Eager to get away from accusing eyes, Danny grabbed his bag and darted toward the bathroom. He changed slowly, hoping that his friends would quickly forget his recent slip-up. Once he was done, he exited the bathroom, made his way to the patio door and walked outside.
Near dusk, the sun lingered just over the horizon, shedding the last amber rays over the nap of the countryside. Danny noticed a large red barn with white trim a short distance from the house. Tyramear, along with his wife and the others, stood in front of the barn waiting for Danny.
Danny's eyes drifted from the imposing form of Tyramear to the elegant shape of Sabrina.
Sabrina turned and regarded Danny with a curious glare, accented with a simple smile.
"Good of you to join us, Danny," said Tyramear as Danny entered the circle of friends. "I was just about to explain our means of transportation."
Danny's head perked up, this was something he wanted to hear. He kept his silence, hoping that his lack of questions would urge Tyramear into a quicker explanation.
Tyramear turned, regarded the double doors of the barn before him and pushed them inward. A huge contraption complete with two rows of eight cushioned seats and a carriage compartment in the rear sat in the middle of the barn. Made from wood, polished to a sheen, the device contained etchings that seemed to resemble the scales of a dragon.
"What's that?" Alonso asked.
"This is my saddle carriage, it is a harness of the Dragonic, perfectly fitted to my back, so that I may ferry humanoids, like yourselves, through the heavens."
"So this long stretch of land behind the house is?" Danny allowed his words to trail off to prompt a response.
"? My runway," said Tyramear with a straight face. "You will be my passengers and I will be your transportation. The winds in the upper atmosphere can get quite cold. This is why I asked you all to dress warmly, as well as the reason for your needed rest. We will be traveling most of the night."
"But won't we be seen?" Matt asked.
"The cover of the night shall hide our passage," said Tyramear, an unwavering confidence in his tone.
"That's not what I meant," said Matt, pushing his glasses back into place snuggly upon his nose. "Most airports use radar to detect aircraft, not to mention the military, right?"
Tyramear produced a slight smile. "In my Dragonic shape, my scales act like a natural form of stealth, deflecting and preventing any radio waves that might give away my position. Trust me, we will be invisible to any type of modern tracking systems."
Matt looked impressed as well as convinced. He kept any other questions to himself.
"Are there any other questions before we take off?"
"This is going to be epic," Chris said, looking at Danny.
Too excited to say anything, Danny nodded and smiled.
"Good." Tyramear picked up a heavy tapered rope attached to the front of the harness and pulled it taut. "Please, stand clear."
Danny followed Sabrina's lead as she stepped to the side, far out of the way. Matt, Chris, Doug and Alonso walked over to stand behind Danny.
Tyramear's muscles bulged beneath the fabric of his jacket as he grunted and pulled the saddle carriage free of the barn.
Amazed, Danny estimated that the harness must have weighed at least as much as a car; he couldn't fathom the amount of strength Tyramear must have used to accomplish such a feat.
After pulling the saddle a good twenty feet from the barn, Tyramear released the corded rope, causing the front of the harness to thud back to the ground.
Danny watched without blinking, still stunned by the act.
The sun dipped below the line of the world, sending a final ray of light to reflect off the cobalt-blue atmosphere.
"It is time," said Tyramear, marking the dimming of dusk, which would soon give way to the dark of the night. Striking out in a prideful stride, he walked thirty paces from the harness. His body began to glow with a comforting light, rivaling the last beacon of the setting sun.
Danny blinked once, when his vision returned, he swore he could see metallic scales forming across the exposed skin of Tyramear's hands, neck, and face. Danny watched, mesmerized, as the rest of Tyramear's body transformed. Seeing Sabrina's transformation was one thing, but seeing Tyramear, a full-blooded Dragonic, merge into his mighty form was something else altogether.
Tyramear loosed a furious cry as his neck stretched to impossible lengths. The wail continued but it changed as it distorted into a guttural roar, louder than any Human could possibly yell. His five fingers merged to become three wickedly long talons, and a thick-scaled tail sprouted from his back, whipping back and forth. The clothes he had been wearing transformed into the sparkle of scales as his body grew and grew, larger than Danny could fathom. His silver Bonded melded with the silvery scales of his back, affixed as if it had become a natural part of his body. Tyramear swelled in size, growing larger and larger until he rivaled the sizable red barn or the two-story house behind him. Vast, leathery wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, extending high into the air, then folding back behind him. Thick barbs, long and serrated, jutted out from his back, while a pair of spiraled horns extended from his elongated head.
When the transformation was complete, Tyramear's body towered high into the air, while his head, on the end of a lengthy neck corded with muscle, extended far above. His mighty wings fluttered outward, reaching beyond the tops of the trees and across the surrounding cornfields before coming to rest at his side.
"He's huge!" Danny said with his mouth agape, now staring at a fully-formed full-blooded dragon. "And he's beautiful," he added, as the low light reflected off the shimmering silver scales that lined Tyramear's entire body.
"Epic," said Matt. He removed his glasses, cleaned the lenses with his shirt, and then placed them back upon his head, as if the act would reveal the sight as false.
Tyramear angled his long head down to peer at the smaller humanoids, letting out a soft grunt and a snort of hot air.
"What now?" Danny asked.
Tyramear hummed, causing the ground to vibrate. Opening his mouth, he revealed an array of sharp, silvery teeth as he leveled his head over the harness. Like a crane, he closed his massive jaws over the saddle and hoisted it into the air. The wood creaked from the clench as Tyramear maneuvered it over the back of his body, his neck twisting into angles only a dragon could accomplish. Lowering the saddle into place, he slipped it into the middle of his massive shoulder blades, on top of a silver spike protruding from the spine of his back. The harness slipped into place, the spine
held it secure as it adhered to the curvature of his back. A series of metal clasps and latches dangled over the slope of his body, clanging as they met beneath him.
"Come," said Sabrina's mother, addressing her order to Sabrina alone.
Sabrina, without question or comment, as if this was an everyday occurrence, followed her mother beneath Tyramear's behemoth body.
Eyeing their approach with his silver, saucer eyes, Tyramear hunkered down, lowering his belly to the ground, giving his wife and daughter the reach required to fasten the harness to his body.
Reaching upward, Sabrina and her mother worked with practiced precision as they attached and tightened the straps above them.
Tyramear watched their work with curiosity as his massive head hovered just above them.
Finished, Sabrina jumped up and grabbed a hanging piece of leather. Pulling it down, she brought with it a rope ladder that unraveled before her. Preparing to climb up, she placed her hands on wooden toggles and stepped up with her right foot. Pausing for a moment, she turned, "You guys coming?" The question seemed more of a challenge then a query.
Danny was the first one forward. He watched Sabrina ascend with an experienced grace. Stepping before the ladder, he looked up, more than conscious of Tyramear's head hovering just above him. With an encouraging growl from the dragon, Danny ascended the wobbly ladder, one unsure step at a time. Once at the top, he found Sabrina sitting contently in the first row of seats.
"You can stow your bag in the back storage compartment."
Slinging his pack from his back, Danny secured it in the rear compartment, it rivaled the trunk of the most spacious car. He returned to the front and claimed the spot beside Sabrina.
He watched as Chris came up next, followed by Matt, Doug and Alonso, all four placed their belongings in the back.
Chris and Alonso sat in the second row while Doug and Matt settled for the third.
"Well, are we ready?" Sabrina asked, swiveling in her seat, looking at each one of them.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Doug asked, his voice trembling.
"I can assure you that Father is unmatched in his aerial ability." As if her words not be convincing enough, Tyramear's horned head maneuvered into a supporting position just over her right shoulder and he growled his affirmation.
"I see," said Doug, not altogether convinced, but forced into agreement by Tyramear's intimidating stature and stare.
"For starters, I suggest we all strap ourselves in," said Sabrina.
Danny found two thick leather straps behind him and one beneath him with sterling silver clasps. Pulling the two behind him over his shoulders and the one beneath him between his legs, Danny buckled himself in. Leaning over him, Sabrina looked over his work and decided that it needed some improvement. She pulled the straps tighter. Danny grunted as the tightened slack forced him taut, pinning him to the back of the soft seat.
"We wouldn't want you to fall out, now would we?" Sabrina said with a slight smile.
"I suppose not," Danny wiggled against the confining belts.
Making her way to Chris, Alonso, Matt and Doug, Sabrina provided them with the same service, pulling the straps tight, causing a series of soft grunts.
"We are ready, Father," turning to face the large looming head of Tyramear.
The dragon dipped his head low and grunted, Danny could feel the grunt vibrating up from somewhere beneath him, it was accompanied by a soft puff of white smoke that steamed from both of Tyramear's nostrils.
"Have a safe trip," Moon called from below.
Danny watched with barely-stifled excitement as Sabrina leaned over him and waved goodbye. He smelled the sweet aroma of her perfume, the subtle scent of roses. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun. Sabrina returned to her seat and strapped herself in.
Danny felt the large body beneath him lurch upward, causing his heart to skip a beat. Tyramear's leathery wings expanded to impossible lengths as the dragon turned and angled his long neck down the makeshift runway. Hunkering down, so that his long, silver talons dug deep into the soil, extending his neck straight as an arrow, Tyramear made ready for the launch.
"Hold on," said Sabrina, smiling.
Danny gripped the armrests on either side of him. Beneath him, Tyramear shifted backward for a split-second, before bounding forward. The acceleration was so quick that it forced Danny deep into the seat, causing him to touch the wooden paneling underneath the padding. He heard a few incomprehensible words from behind him, suggesting that his friends were experiencing the same sensations.
The harness jostled as Tyramear powered forward on all fours, picking up speed. Then he leapt into the sky. Danny suddenly felt like he was floating on a cushion of air. The wind whistled, whipping past his face as Tyramear traveled higher and higher into the night.
The sun had since given way to the rising moon, just a sliver short of full. The sky was clear, allowing the moon to bathe Tyramear's sparkling scales in soft light as he traveled toward it. However, just before Danny thought he might reach out and touch it, the dragon turned away from the heavenly light, dipped downward, picked up speed and turned south.
Tyramear leveled off and maintained heading as well as height with a few heavy flaps of his wings.
The motion dwindled to a soothing sway as Danny found his breath coming back into his chest.
"That was amazing!" yelled Chris.
"I think I'm going to throw up," added Alonso.
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