The Dragon's Cry

Who cares what the silver woman wants. You're going to find your mother.

"I'm going to find this Shadow and force those bandits to help find my mother, even if I have to rip them to pieces!" you so swear and initiate your transformation into dragon form to do just that. But you are still too weak from your previous transformation into a human and drop down on your knees straining for breath, still human.

"Damn," you mutter.

"You there! Stop!"

The Royal Guards in their purple livery come running toward you. Six strong. Against a half-dragon? No problem. But against a humanoid suffering exhaustion from a failed transformation? Not good.

You curse yourself for being so rash and clamber up, ready to fight.

"Dragonling!" the silver woman calls. "We must depart!"

"Will you stop calling me that?!" you growl.

But the woman only gives you an uncompromising glare and hauls you toward the woods.

You run to keep from stumbling, wondering when this chase will end. You hold back tears of frustration and sorrow as you realize that you'll never see your father's gentle work-worn face again. And your mother. If anything happens to her...

Suddenly, rage overcomes sense. You glance back at the guards and see only red. You skid to a halt, throwing the woman off-balance. Your rage builds and unbiddenly you grow...

Your legs become thicker. Your neck becomes longer and more sinuous. Your hands curve and produce wicked claws. Your wings flare open. Your skin turns green and folds to become scales. Your eyes grow in size and your glare grows in intensity. Your mouth stretches and opens to produce sharp teeth and emits a roar that gradually grows into an ear-piercing shriek.

The silver woman rights herself and grabs your enormous bulk, crying "Shree! No!"

The cowed guards cover their ears and shriek in unison as the barrage of sound stabs into their brains. One by one, they wriggle and fall, writhing on the forest loam for several more seconds. And lie still.

With one final heartbreaking wail to the heavens, you collapse, breaking into sobs, tears streaking down your green-scaled face.

Your form shrinks and becomes human once more.

You feel the presence of the silver woman standing over your grief-stricken form, listening, hesitating.

Finally, she sits down beside you and holds you in her arms as a mother would a child.

You sob harder, remembering your mother and how suddenly the world seems so unfair.

"There, there, little one." The woman pats you with surprising gentleness, and even her voice has dropped down a few degrees.

A faraway shout drifts from the smoking town.

The woman raises her head sharply, scanning for danger, and says softly but firmly, "Come. We must go."

Your sobs subside and you slowly get up to follow the woman.

The guards lie in separate heaps in the soft loam, eyes vacant, faces frozen in horror. You regard them dully. You turn around and see the castle in the distance, parapets still teeming with soldiers.

Somewhere, behind those walls is the person responsible. Somewhere, in there, is a killer. Your rage returns in a mighty surge and you shout to that unknown individual, "I will come back for you! You hear me?! You killed my father, you bastard! And upon the spirit of his tortured soul, I swear to bring you down for the animal you are!"

The woman stands silently at the edge of the clearing, face expressionless, but eyes haunted. She is also looking at the castle, and you wonder what there is inside that could cause her so much pain.

She notices you and instantly the cold frosty exterior is back, covering whatever emotions she might have been feeling.

Looking back at the castle one more time, you follow the silver woman into the forest.

"Where are we going?" you ask the figure ahead of you.

"To the mountains of Shadow. I thought that is where you want to go."

"It is. But why are you taking me? Didn't you want to find that contact of yours?"

"As I said, we will have to track down our contact now." She gives you a withering glance. "And I do not believe you know the territory well enough to find Shadow on your own."

You bristle at the contempt in her voice. But remembering her surprising gentleness before, you lapse into puzzlement. This silver woman is definitely quite an enigma, cold one minute (well, several minutes) and almost warm the next.

You have been hiking through the forest for the last two hours. You had wondered fleetingly whether you should transform into dragon form and fly up to the mountain, but finally decided against it.

You are still weak from your forced transformation and, smiling ruefully, you realize that whatever dangers on that mountain are not going to be handled very well by just charging in.

Instead, you had decided to talk with the silver woman. And as you just found, the silver woman isn't exactly the most amiable conversationalist.

"Since we'll be traveling together, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

"Names are of no use in the task at hand."

"You sure have no trouble knowing MY name!"

"MY name is not known by every townsman in the village."

You remember with chagrin that was true. You have gained quite a reputation in your town as a server and entertainer. People would come far and wide to see your many incredible feats of balancing and juggling beer mugs and food trays.

"Well," you counter, "I can't just keep referring to you as 'My Saviour,' now can I?"

The woman glares at you.

"Sorry," you apologize. "I don't mean to be impudent. But it's just I'd feel better knowing who I am talking to."

She turns and looks at you coldly with one raised eyebrow. "Is it truly that important to you?"

You shuffle your feet, slightly embarrassed. "It does make conversation easier."

You seem to see the woman inwardly sigh. "You may then call me Valeris. Many do."

"Valeris." You roll the name experimentally around your tongue.

"Valeris" turns and walks onward. You run to catch up.

"So, do you have any idea how to get into Shadow?" you ask.

"We walk there."

You decide to change the subject. "I wonder why the Crown would be interested in having me imprisoned. I have done no harm. In fact, entertainment was my joy, not violence. People from all over town would come and see me perform for them while I serve their drinks." You smile in remembrance. "It was a happy life."

Valeris remains silent.

"I just don't know what's happening to the kingdom lately," you continue. "We keep getting bills and laws that just don't make sense. Dressing up for a party that didn't exist. Eating potatoes only on the Day of the Sabbath. They sound so silly, but they were so brutally enforced! Many follow it just because it sounded so harmless. But recently, new laws have been surfacing that are just ... not right." You turn to the silver woman. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

The woman stoically stares ahead. "Yes."

"It's like someone is trying to slip in something under our noses. The laws are all about keeping the peace, but I hear lines and even just words that are foreign to the ears and somehow seem inappropriate to the bill. And then the trouble started. People were imprisoned for obscure reasons and let out again. Some families lost their shops..."

You pause. Valeris keeps walking.

"And now this kidnapping. I wonder how long this has been going on. Plus the burning of the whole town. Why would the king want to do that? He never used to be so illogical. Rumor has it that he's gone insane. After this, I'm inclined to believe it. You know what that nutcase was plannin-fff!"

You find yourself against a tree, having apparently flown quite a few meters before crashing against it, judging by the trail of crushed foliage in front of you.

The silver woman Valeris stands over you, tiara and eyes flashing with a passion that you have never seen before in any person expressed in so strong an intensity.

"How dare you speak of him that way." The woman's voice was freezing. "I shall not permit you to speak of your monarch in that manner. Do I make myself clear?"

"crstl" you wheeze.

You reach the foot of the mountains at around noon. The sun blares high in the sky, but at the foot of the mountain, all is dark and dim.

Craggy overhangs cover the sides of the mountain, blocking much of the sunlight to the ground.

"So, where do we go, now?" you ask.

"We go up," states Valeris matter-of-factly. And she starts to climb up the shadowed slope.

You are just about to change to half-dragon form to better climb the rocks when you hear a rumble and see a shadow fall over the silver woman. You look up and find a boulder barreling down on top of you. Your mind racing, you think that you could transform into a dragon and shatter the boulder with a well-placed shriek, but the rock pieces would fly apart like arrows and may harm Valeris, or you could grab the woman and dodge, but do you want to touch her again after her last warning?

The boulder bounces ever downward.

What will you do?

Contributed by Wayne Sung


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