When Theo became conscious again, she was aware of a feeling completely foreign to her. She opened her eyes and saw that something extended from her face.
Am I wearing a mask? she wondered.
The sound of rushing water came to her attention and she turned her head to it. The flooded creek was but a few steps away from where she lay. Now she remembered. Collision, thrashing, shock, pain, and then- she must have been delusional, seeing things before she blacked out.
As for the present, Theo felt perplexingly well. Her head was clear, she wasn’t exhausted in the least, and no trace of pain could be detected throughout her body.
How is this possible?
Theo was reminded of those also hit by the flash flood. Scanning the scenery in front of her, it appeared that no one else was there but her.
Are they all dead because of me? Dreading the possibility, she twisted around to look for others behind her.
It was then that she saw what she thought to be a dragon. The quiet moans that emitted from its throat, Theo had originally excused as part of the sounds of the rapids, but now they were easily detected. The beast was tendril green, slightly larger than a horse. It was preoccupying itself by grinding its head into the ground, as though in turmoil.
Disturbed, Theo stared and felt the urge to move away. It seems my head is not as clear as I thought.
She tried to stand herself up but was brought back down to all fours, as if she was not structurally built to walk on two legs. By now, Theo was thoroughly bewildered. When she looked at herself, she found that she, too, had the body of a dragon- slate grey and complete with four legs, two wings, and a tail. This vision confirmed to Theo that she was, in fact, dreaming.
Now subtly humored by having figured out the bizarre situation, Theo expected to awaken at any moment. Yet the more she thought about it, the more real everything around her felt, and her disturbance began to increase.
The dragon had noticed her. Silently, it raised its head, dirt falling from its crown. For a long time it stared at her, and Theo stared right back. She was extremely uneasy, but her body was unwilling to move. She could see the animal’s eyes. It looked as if it were thinking.
“Aspen!” A harsh voice startled Theo. The green dragon also looked in the direction of the caller, its body drawn in tightly.
Theo saw another dragon, dark midnight blue, step out from behind cover. The green one dropped low, stepping back as the other advanced on it.
“Where’s Damon?” the dark brute thundered.
Theo stiffened to see the dragon actually speak. Memories flung themselves at her- memories of the white, red eyed wyvern in a tree. Go away! it had hissed.
My God, Theo balked. Dragons actually do talk! I’ve been right all this time…
“I don’t know!” the one called Aspen cried in response to the brute, shrinking lower still to the ground, her belly plates scraping against dirt. There was a moment in which both paused in their clamor. It appeared the dominant one was trying to make a decision. Then he turned his head to stare directly at Theo.
She, too, felt pressed down to earth under his glare.
“We can’t leave her for the humans to discover,” he spoke again to Aspen. “Already one has seen you dive and bring her to shore- before running away screaming. No doubt she went to get the human authorities.”
“What do we do, Wycker?” Aspen implored and the assertive one eased his stance to face Theo.
“We will bring her to Damon and have him examine her,” the one called Wycker responded, proceeding closer to Theo.
Now Theo backed away. This didn’t feel like a dream at all.
“Come with me,” Wycker growled to her, stepping ever nearer. Immediately, Theo turned and tried to run. Just as quickly, Wycker was on top of her, crushing her into the ground.
This is real. This is real! Theo couldn’t keep telling herself that she was dreaming. It all felt too genuine. I’ve been transformed into a dragon!
“Wycker!” Aspen yelped.
“Get over here!” Wycker snapped at Aspen and she edged into Theo’s view. Theo fought them, but it was no use. When she wore out, Wycker let her go, blocking her way when she tried to run again. He and Aspen moved themselves inward to herd Theo. She panicked when she realized that they were forcing her towards the water. She halted, but was butted on until her talons touched the water’s edge. With a final ram from Wycker, she was sent into the rapids.
She had expected a shock of cold but, to her surprise, it never came. Only her eyes could sense the numbing temperature and. when her head resurfaced. the feeling was distant.
The moment Theo was engulfed she was battered by the currents. Her wings caught water like sails, and she found herself twisted and turned to no end. She could only catch glimpses of her escorts, but in those snips of time she could see that they were flying, just above the water.
Something snatched one of her wings, and she could feel something trying to get her other. When both her wings were caught and lifted out of the water, so that only her body was submerged, she was able to gather her senses.
“You have to pull your wings in,” Wycker said, holding her left wing in his claws. Aspen struggled to keep a hold of Theo’s right wing, awkwardly gripping and re-gripping the places that slipped. She could see that the two of them were having trouble flying so close together.
“Pull your wings in!” Wycker repeated, aggravated as he fought the currents for Theo, while avoiding contact with Aspen’s wingspan.
“I can’t!” Theo gasped between splashes.
Wycker cursed.
“Aspen, let go of her!” he ordered.
“Wait!” Theo cried, flailing as both her wings were released. Again, she was caught up in the flow, but then something made hard impact with her from above, plunging her under. It was Wycker.
With his help, she finally managed to close her wings and they swam through a large, dark opening before resurfacing. Here, the water was much less violent.
Theo looked around in awe. What they had gone through must have been some kind of underwater passageway that split the creek. Theo had never heard about it. She expected no one else knew of it. No one except for the dragons, that is.
What amazed her most was the iron bond plants. Here, they grew on both sides of the creek, their branches forming a thatched roof above her to completely hide the sky. Light filtered through the dense canopy, casting dappled patterns everywhere.
The wide stream flowed through a rocky trench. Theo had just enough room to stand.
With a gasp, Aspen surfaced.
“Sorry,” she apologized, looking at Theo in a friendly way. “I was having trouble with my wings, too.”
Theo was curious of her.
“Come on,” Wycker prompted, gruffly. “We’ll make it through the valley and see if Damon is at his place.”
Theo didn’t move and neither did Aspen. Wycker looked at them both. “You lead,” he ordered, making eye contact with Theo.
Theo took a deep breath. Move further into unmarked territory? She knew she didn’t have a choice. Grudgingly, she stepped past Wycker, who eyed her every move as he fell into step close behind her.
Theo stared ahead as the end of the tunnel slowly came upon them. At last, she sloshed through it, and saw that the land opened up in a display of forest and meadow. The creek burbled on, cutting its way through trees that pierced the sky.
Everything was so beautiful.
Wycker mounted the bank to Theo’s right, and she willingly did the same, soaking in all that she saw.
When she finally looked away from the scenery, she gaped at the first and only evidence of man there- a shabby shelter built up against the mountainside.
“Who lives here?” she asked, astounded.
“Damon!” Aspen replied brightly and began to whisper, “He’s a-”
“We will wait here for his arrival,” Wycker interrupted.
They waited in expectation, Theo’s mind racing. Who’s Damo
n? Are there any other humans living here? What else lives in this forest?
As it became dark, Theo could see the change in lighting but found that she still had no trouble seeing.
How strange…Dragons see in the dark? she wondered, but soon lost interest. Doubts that the man, Damon, would ever show up wormed their way into her head. Fatigued and upsettingly confused, she lay down to rest.
. . .
In the morning, Theo lay awake with eyes open.
“Theora?”
Theo jumped, whipping around when she heard her name. A large dragon was standing there. Behind him was Wycker, glaring at her as always.
“Theora, you can call me Adder,” the large dragon said calmly. “I understand that you’ve been under a great amount of stress lately, but I’d like to speak with you.”
Each of his scales was a different shade of grey, making him look like a body of swirling shadows when he moved. Theo looked up at him, intimidated despite his placid approach.
“Alright…” Theo responded, feeling very small.
“Wycker has informed me of your unfortunate situation and you have my condolences. However, seeing as your current state of being cannot be helped, there are some things I need to explain to you.”
“Please do. I don’t understand what’s going on,” she deplored.
“Who you know to be Zeus, we dragons call the Maelstrom. You have heard of this dragon dwelling in the Cragerian castle ruins, yes?”
Theo nodded.
“He, the Maelstrom, used to be a human, as did I.”
They used to be human too? Theo stared up at Adder but could not imagine him as a human.
“He and I were known by different names then. We were brothers, living with the rest of our family in Crageria. As I was the eldest and our parents were dead, I took on the responsibility of caring for our siblings and cousins. There was a famine upon us so I had to cut rations short, but my brother was unable to understand why. Though he had the body of an adult man, his mind had stayed that of a child’s.
“When I caught him stealing food from our storage, I was forced to fight him off and he left. No one knew where he had gone, but the family needed me. I was unable to go out and search for him.
“A week or so passed when he returned, though I didn’t know it, as he was a large dragon. I suppose he had come back for my help, but not even I could tell who he was. Terrified of the beast, Crageria attacked him. Something in his mind snapped and he went on a violent rampage, murdering everyone and tearing apart the castle. He brought our numbers down to a few dozen. I was one of the survivors. When Wystil refused to grant us refuge, we were forced to turn to the land beyond the mountain range. Crageria had the only known access to that land, the Narrow Valley.
“We traveled through the valley to the forests and meadows that it led to. More of us starved to death, but then-”
He paused, making sure that Theo was keeping up with him.
“We were overjoyed to find a cluster of plants bearing much fruit. We didn’t think, just grabbed what we could and ate our fill. It wasn’t long after that we realized the severity of what we’d done.”
Theo waited. When it appeared he thought he’d said enough, she pursued, “Which was?”
Adder looked at her in mild surprise as he had to explain, “The fruit of the firesap plant had transformed us into dragons. Now, if we are injured or ill, eating the firesap fruit again will restore us.”
“So I became a dragon because I ate firesap fruit?” Things were so crazy that Theo was ready to believe just about anything.
“Yes,” Adder replied. “When Aspen caught you and brought you ashore, Damon must have given you the firesap fruit.”
. . .
By the next day, and the next, Damon still did not come. Nevertheless, Wycker was patient and refused to let Theo go anywhere else. And so she waited restlessly, always keeping the Archway through which she first entered dragon territory in view. The beauty of her surroundings no longer had any grip on her and she wished to return home again, but was forever pinned by Wycker’s glare. Melancholy took over her and the days began to melt together indistinguishably. Strangely enough, she did not grow hungry and so she ate nothing. Instead, she passed her time by scratching drawings into the dirt, examining her new foreclaws, stretching her legs and wings.
One day, Theo was napping when the sound of someone wading through the creek aroused her. She was amazed as she watched him cross the water towards them- an actual man!
He truly looked like a man of the woods. His shaggy dark hair, poorly cut, looked like an unkempt mess. He let it hang over his eyes, as though seeing clearly didn’t matter to him. Whatever Theo could see of his face looked completely exhausted. His garments were well-worn, scratched and dirty. He looked like a careless mess.
“Damon,” Wycker growled, meeting him on the bank. “What’s taken you so long?”
“I had a horse to deal with,” the man, Damon, answered casually, as though talking to a dragon was normal for him. “And after that I didn’t feel like fighting the currents, so I went the long way around the mountain range to pass through the Narrow Valley.”
“You were not permitted to give anyone the firesap fruit,” Wycker accused.
“Wasn’t I?” the man asked tiredly. “I don’t recall anyone having authority over the matter. Besides, I wasn’t going to let my sister die right in front of me.”
“Your sister is the Princess!” Wycker snapped, “What will the humans do now that she’s a dragon?”
Sister? Theo was thoroughly confused.
“They don’t know she’s a dragon,” Damon murmured. Theo thought she saw him shoot her a sidelong glance.
“No, you’re right,” Wycker replied darkly, “They don’t know what has happened to their princess. All they know is that a dragon came and took her.”
Warren and Chadwick are the only two brothers I’ve ever had…What are they talking about? Who is this man?
Damon turned to Aspen, standing not far away. “They saw you?” he asked, concerned.
“A maid did,” Wycker replied for her. “She ran, screaming, before you appeared and made matters worse.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“I couldn’t risk myself being seen, nor dare leave her,” Wycker jerked his head in Theo’s direction. Then, as he saw Theo listening in on their conversation, he pulled Damon aside.
Aspen stood awkwardly nearby, looking highly uncomfortable.
“I can look for a cure but understand I have no idea if one really exists,” Theo could barely hear Damon say. “And even if I did find one, would it be best for her to go back?”
Theo couldn’t hear Wycker’s response. The two of them went on discussing for some time.
Theo did not know what to do. Just so long as Wycker was there, escape was impossible. Miserably, she laid down. Over the few days, she had found that resting her chin on her front foreclaws, as she’d seen dogs do with their paws, was fairly comfortable.
“I’m sorry,” Aspen whimpered suddenly and Theo shifted her eyes to see her. “I know you don’t want to be a…It must be so nice to be a human. I…I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”
Theo stared dolefully ahead. “Why did Damon do this to me?” she uttered.
“Because you would have died otherwise- He could tell!” Aspen ratified, sounding desperate for Theo to believe her.
He should have just let me go.
“Listen,” Theo urged, getting up and looking Aspen in the eye. “Tell me there’s some kind of way to reverse it. I can’t stay like this.”
“Sorry,” the smaller dragon rued. “You’ll have to talk to Damon about that. He should know. He’s a wizard.”
“Wonderful,” Theo groaned, looking over at the man still talking to Wycker. Now I need a wizard’s help.
Theo tried again to hear what they were saying. “I’ve never come across anything that would have that effect,” Damon said. “I may be able
to put something together to do the trick- a kind of potion. But that could take a very long time, believe me.”
Again, Theo did not catch Wycker’s response.
“Fine,” Damon replied. “But what are you going to do about it in the meantime?”
Wycker turned and began walking towards Theo. Damon followed.
“You made me like this,” Theo accused the wizard. “Make it right again.”
“Damon will be working on that,” Wycker intervened, “But as for now you will be staying here where you are not a problem.”
Theo rose sharply. “You cannot keep me. I am the Princess!” she spat.
Wycker was not moved at all. “Not of my concern,” he answered. “So long as you stay on this side of the mountains, I won’t bother you. Just don’t cause any problems.”
With that he stalked away and Theo heatedly watched him go, frustrated as she knew it was best not to try him.
Damon still stood there. He looked Theo up and down.
“Who are you, Wizard?” she growled at him.
Irritably, she waited for him to answer, unable to stop noticing a beetle darting in and out of his tunic.
“I’m sure you have heard of your eldest brother, Warren?” Damon spoke finally.
Theo slanted her eyes at him. “He was said to be destined for greatness as King,” she answered.
“Yes, but he died in a battle against Crageria in Wystil’s attempt to obtain food during the famine,” Damon said.
“This I know,” Theo retorted. “Who are you?”
“You have heard of Warren,” Damon put off her question. “But never of your second eldest brother, the boy who looked up to Warren in admiration of his nobility and readiness to take the throne-”
“I know of my brother Chadwick!” Theo snapped.
Damon looked at her with sorrow. “Chadwick is not your second eldest brother, Theora,” he murmured. “I am.”
Theo scoffed at his sudden, preposterous declaration.
“When Warren lived,” Damon went on to explain. “Father paid little attention to me, eagerly teaching his favored son how to be a king. I lived happily in that time, comforted by my brother’s own accomplishments. However, when Warren died, Father realized his mistake in not preparing me for the throne. I ran away soon after, unable to bear the weight of expectations instantly thrown on my shoulders.”
“In that time, the water was running low. Moving up Iron Creek in hopes of covering my tracks, I found an opening underground. I crawled inside and camouflaged the gap with bushes. There, I saw that the opening was actually the entrance to a tunnel. The land that awaited me on the other side has since then served as my refuge.”
Theo wanted to object, but she could not find fault in his words. Chadwick and she had been raised, hearing stories of their noble elder brother who died a warrior’s death. Chadwick always listened to such stories attentively, seeking to make as good of an heir as Warren. The name Damon, however, never reached their ears.
“I won’t believe it…” Theo uttered, shaking her head in dream-like slow motion.
“I rarely visited the towns for supplies,” Damon told her. “But when I did, I’d try to gather as much news about my family as I could. It was then that I heard how Father had wrathfully ordered whoever spoke of my name again to be put to death. Thus, I was forgotten. Later I heard of my younger brother’s birth, and after that, yours. You can imagine how I felt, knowing that I was unable to meet you both…”
“So what? You expect me to sympathize with you?!” she sneered.
Damon took on an empty look. “I don’t know,” he sighed and walked to his shelter.
Theo watched him as her anger faded into guilt.
Aspen stood where she was before, eyes wide with fright at Theo’s outburst. Seeing Theo’s gaze settling on her, Aspen spun around to join Damon in his shelter, looking fearful that she might be yelled at next.
Theo looked behind her and saw that Wycker had been watching, an expression of pure indifference on his face. Their eyes met and he too walked away, leaving her completely alone.
Theo felt as though her life was destroyed. She had no family in her present form, and she had just scared away any means of a friend.
She plowed blindly through the forest. Eventually she came across a large slab of rock and found that beneath its over ledge was a dugout big enough for her to lie in. It was there that she hid in solitude.
It was there that she pretended to be nothing at all.
Chapter 3