CALLIENTE
"No, I think we have about enough candidates now." Draca smiled.
One by one her new friends shifted. That is, all except Mikhail and Athail.
Those two hadn't reached maturity yet and Draca could see they resented the
fact that they couldn't join their people. Mikhail tried his best not to let
his feelings show but it was hard not to notice what he felt of the fact that
his people didn't consider him to be adult just yet. His brother, Athail just
looked dreamily at the dragons, no doubt dreaming of the day when he too would
shift for the first time... most likely an event in his mind that was nothing
like the real deal.
Draca too looked at her people. It was odd how their draconic looks so blended
with their characters. Like Kale being red and yellow, the colours of danger.
And Wedlyn cool blue and white, the colours of her icy behaviour.
'But then, what am I?' Draca thought, 'I might have this very
distinct tattoo, but my colours are silver and black, like the night with it's
changing mystery.'
"You are my
bond." Ryuen butted in gently, "I
like you."
'Of course you like me.' Draca said back, 'Now get here so I don't
have to carry two teens on my back.'
"Coming!"
Ryuen shouted back.
Not much later Ryuen's bright form appeared between all the dragons. It was
hard for him to find an empty spot, even for his small figure, but at last he
found a place near the center of the group. The dragon shifters inched back
and those who did not yet know of Ryuen looked surprised.
'This is my dragon, Ryuen,' Draca told them, 'he'll be coming with
us.'
Only a few minutes had passed when Athail sat perched on Draca's back and
Mikhail had strapped himself secure to Ryuen's neck. Draca opened a gate in
the Elsewhere and showed her shifter-friends the destination her father had
given her.
They all hopped through and withstood the few seconds of cold blackness that
wasn't fully nothing for they could breath and feel. Draca had always felt
that it was like going behind the stars, whatever that might be.
The gateway was strong and short, only having to jump to the other side of the
continent, but not everything went as planned. A surprise awaited them on the
other side...
The portal opened on deserted road next to a swamp. Some trees grew around the
black line of asphalt, but their grow seemed stunted. It was admirable they
even had grown on the small strip of earth left next to the road.
When Draca passed through last in line, she suddenly felt a heavy weight on
her back. She knew Athail was on her back, but the skinny teenager hadn't been
unusual for her. She had carried as much as four people, be it that that
hadn't been comfortable.
She stumbled forward and suddenly realised what was wrong. She was in her
human form! Draca dropped to the floor, breaking Athail's fall. 'Everything
for the candidate' flashed through her head.
"What the hell happened?" she yelled out.
Carefully she tried shifting back. But nothing happened, it was like a spark,
a path that had always been there was now shut off from her. She could not
shift. Draca looked around, laying flat on her stomach and saw that the others
too were now in their human form, though maybe they had shifted back of their
own will.
Let's have a look in their heads. Athail and Mikhail, though stunned by the
experience of having fallen on a human didn't know any better than maybe this
was the regular way things went. Athail didn't ponder much since he had hurt
his ankle falling on top of Draca. Mikhail however, soon realised something
was amiss. He had in fact been on a real dragon, not a shifter.
Ille was rather stoic about the whole experience. As always he felt they
shouldn't ponder too long on what had happened and just get walking. They
could still move, couldn't they?
His sister Wedlyn had already regained her silent composure, though she wasn't
too happy about stumbling out of the portal. Those first few minutes she had
been very scared that something had happened. That maybe she had been dropped
of alone. It wasn't as much the loneliness that feared her, it was the fact
that she didn't know where she was... and the prospect of being stuck here.
Her fear had eased a bit when the others got through. Maybe being together did
have some useful sides to it.
Kale hadn't wasted much time thinking about his new situation. They were
somewhere alien and a good exploration of their immediate surroundings was
something he felt they needed. He had looked around the group and had
carefully estimated who he could trust to take with him. Finally his eye had
fallen on Ille, seemingly unfazed by the event.
While those two were off searching the perimeter, Asakti had already placed
herself on a rock enjoying the warmth of the sun. She didn't get why everyone
seemed so nervous. Sure they might be stranded here, but this place wasn't
something that stood on it's own. There would be ways for Asakti to make a
living, here, there always were for someone of her profession. People needed
entertainment.
Elior, though confined again to use only one shape -be it the one she wasn't
used to- stood beside the portal waiting for the Draca to come behind her.
Elior wasn't quite sure but she somehow sensed that her people had forgotten
the ways to make portals in their human form. It had been a effort for her as
well only after 25 years of waiting aimlessly. If Draca was going to need
assistance then Elior would be there to help her.
As Draca stumbled through, Elior relieved to see her alive and healthy, the
portal closed. Elior for a moment chided herself. Maybe it had been better to
keep the portal open. In a way it might be their only way out. But it was no
use dwelling on the past, she had had enough time to do that.
Elior bowed down next to Draca and made sure she was ok. Draca crawled up to
her knees, carefully wedging Athail of. The boy was maybe the one most shocked
of all.
"Everyone ok?" Draca asked, "Zaldoon forgot to mention that we
would all turn to our human selves..." she continued mumbling.
"We are ok," Elior said, "All of us got here."
Draca thanked whatever was out there and sighed with relief. Everything had
turned out ok. She got up and was about to show her candidates the way to the
dragon hatching when the nagging feeling in the back of her mind suddenly
reached out in the voice of Mikhail.
"Draca... there's just one thing..." he said.
"What?" Draca said turning.
"I'm human!"
The voice, as familiar to her as was her own, belonged to a well muscled, tall
youth. His skin tanned and his eyes blazing red. But what really brought on
the knowledge of who this individual was, was his flaming red hair.
"Ryuen?" she asked.
"I guess I won't be flying us to the hatching then..." he answered.