Something Wyverian This Way Comes

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  Her own horrified eyes stared uncomprehendingly back at her. The figure slowly shook her head no. Sarah’s eyes opened even wider than they already had been.

  “No? NO?? If you’re not Steve then who are you?”

  “P-P-Pryllan.”

  Sarah was speechless. She stared into her own eyes and then slowly turned to look up at the dragon’s massive head. Pryllan’s eyes were closed. Steve’s, she hastily corrected. This was really weird. If her husband was now in Pryllan’s body, and since they were still up in the air, then that meant… The strong winds buffeted them again and they shook uncontrollably for a few seconds. Once the turbulence passed Sarah groaned. It meant they were all in grave danger.

  Sarah turned to the Zweigelan, who was flying nearby. They had been alerted by Pryllan’s scream and had flown closer to see if they could render aid.

  “Syrreth, Ferreth, are you two okay?” Sarah called out to them. “Are you still you?”

  Both of the Zweigelan’s heads eyed each other as though they were trying to have a conversation with a dullard.

  “I do not know what you’re trying to say,” Syrreth informed her haughtily.

  Sarah looked over at Ferreth. “Ferreth, say something.”

  “Like?”

  Sarah nodded. “That’ll do. You guys are still the same.”

  Both heads were still staring at her.

  “Something has happened to us,” Sarah told the two-headed dragon. “I’m Sarah. I’m in Steve’s body. Pryllan is in mine. I can only assume Steve is in Pryllan’s.”

  “What happened?” Syrreth asked. “Why have you switched bodies?”

  “We didn’t mean to,” Sarah angrily exclaimed. Her awareness suddenly expanded and she automatically looked down at her hands. They had turned red.

  “Uh, oh. No, no, no, no, no… This is not good. Calm down, Sarah,” she ordered herself. “Just calm down. No fire. A fire up here would be bad.”

  Thankfully her hands returned to a normal healthy shade of pink. She looked at the terrified woman in front of her.

  “Pryllan, is that really you?”

  Pryllan had been holding her arms up and staring at them as though she had never seen her appendages before in her life. Sarah had to concede the point in this case. She hadn’t before. Sarah snapped her fingers in front of Pryllan’s face.

  “Stay with me, Pryllan. We have a much bigger problem to deal with right now.”

  “There’s a bigger problem than being extricated from your own body and given to another?”

  Sarah pointed at the inert dragon.

  “You, I mean, Steve is unconscious. We are dropping lower and lower. We need to wake you up. Him. We need to wake him up. The problem is, how do we do that?”

  “I was rendered unconscious once before,” Pryllan recalled. She wiggled her fingers. Her brow furrowed as she stared at the writhing appendages on her hand.

  “You were? How?”

  “By you.”

  Sarah nodded. “Oh, I get it. Was it when I accidentally teleported you and Steve to Idaho? Did you wake up on your own or did Steve have to wake you up?”

  “He woke me up.”

  “How?”

  “I am trying to recall what he did.”

  “Think faster! We’ve dropped another hundred feet!”

  While Pryllan tried to recall what had finally awoken her Sarah rose to her feet and walked unsteadily over to the base of the dragon’s neck. She experimentally kicked the huge scale. Her booted foot sounded muted as she stamped on the enormous scale in frustration. Nothing. Steve hadn’t even twitched.

  “What will he do when he realizes he’s no longer human?” Pryllan asked. She had tried to rise to her feet but the concept of bipedal locomotion was beyond her. She was used to swinging her front left leg out to take a step at the same time her right rear leg also took a step. Trying to manage on just one foot was practically impossible.

  “Can you try to use your telepathy?” Sarah asked. “Can you mentally contact him?”

  Pryllan nodded her human head. “I can try. Just a moment.”

  Pryllan tried to quiet her thoughts and focus on her rider’s mind. However, nothing came. Whether she was unable to connect due to his unconsciousness or whether it was because she was presently human she didn’t know. She looked at Sarah and shook her head no. Just then, it came to her.

  “He used his fire,” Pryllan remembered. “He said he was glad dragons were fireproof as he ended up blasting several jets of fire onto my head. That’s what woke me up.”

  Sarah stared incredulously up the long heavily scaled neck and the distant head. She had to climb that? Catching sight of the remote ground far below them, and noticing that they had descended another hundred feet or so, Sarah quickly found handholds on the dragon’s neck and began to climb.

  Being in her husband’s body was strange, to say the least. This type of activity would have typically been beyond her as she didn’t have any upper body strength to speak of. Looking up at the long scaled neck reminded her of those rock climbing walls she had seen people scale before. There was no way she would have been able to scale that, but then again, she wasn’t in her body anymore. She was in Steve’s. She found and gripped scales, protuberances, and whatever else she could cling to in her ascent up Pryllan’s neck. After a few minutes she was nestled in between the dragon’s ears on top of its head. She was ready to wake her husband.

  Sarah eyed her hands and ordered them to light. They didn’t. Anger flared.

  “Sh…”

  Sarah froze and slapped a hand over her mouth. Had she really been about to use a vulgar word? Her eyes opened wide. It wasn’t like her to use such a rude and vulgar word like that; even if she wanted to she surely wouldn’t vocalize it out loud. Steve’s body had reacted instinctively, she realized with a start. She kept forgetting that even though she was in Steve’s body and in control of his jhorun his body still wanted to do what came naturally to it. She had to think like Steve. How did he make his jhorun work?

  “Anger,” Sarah murmured. She smiled. “He’s always said his trigger is anger. That should be easy enough.”

  She thought about the mysterious sorcerer and what she’d like to do to him should she ever come face to face with him. Her hands began to tingle. It felt like pressure was building. She looked at her hands. Both had become an ugly shade of red. She’d seen his hands do that before! It meant that blasts of fire were not far behind!

  Sarah quickly put her hands directly on Steve’s wyverian head and prayed he wouldn’t be hurt. Imagining that she was taking aim at the wizard responsible for this predicament, she let both hands spring open. Twin jets of fire blasted out and hit the dragon directly on its head.

  The dragon’s eyes snapped open.

  “What the hell?”

  She had heard Pryllan’s voice but it was something her husband would definitely say. Sarah gave a joyous whoop and pumped her fist in the air. It was Steve!

  The dragon violently lurched sideways, throwing both human riders off its back. Sarah screamed as both she and Pryllan fell. If she had been in her own body then she could have simply teleported everyone safely to the ground. However, her teleporting abilities had been rendered useless as Pryllan was now in control of them and had no idea how to use them.

  Sarah saw her body, with Pryllan inside, spinning uncontrollably as it fell. Even if she could teach Pryllan how to make her jhorun work, she neither had the time nor the ability to be heard as the roaring wind made communication impossible. Looking straight down she watched as Pryllan kept spreading her arms, as if she were trying to spread her wings in an attempt to break herself out of this fall. Since human arms were no comparison to a dragon’s wings, there was nothing she could do but watch as the distant figure, about fifty feet below her, continued to streak towards the ground.

  Out of nowhere the Zweigelan appeared and soared past Pryllan’s hurtling human body. When the dragon passed, Pryllan was gone, having been plucked out
of the air by Syrreth. The right head, Ferreth, twisted around to locate her. Once she had been spotted, the Zweigelan’s wings snapped open to their fullest potential, pushing the two headed dragon up towards her at a frightening rate. Sarah was wrenched out of the sky as soon as Ferreth was close enough to reach her.

  Wings extended, and no longer falling, Syrreth bent his head to check on Pryllan while Ferreth ascertained for himself that Sarah was unharmed. Both of them indicated that they were.

  Sarah suddenly gasped with alarm. Steve! What had happened to Steve?

  She twisted in Ferreth’s grip and saw that her husband, in Pryllan’s massive wyverian body, was frantically flapping his wings as he tried to slow his descent. The only thing he accomplished was to send himself into a corkscrew spin. Sarah screamed in terror as Steve plummeted straight toward the ground.

  Chapter 9 – And Then There Were Two

  Faster and faster he fell, spiraling uncontrollably as he flapped his wings. Wings? What the hell was he doing with wings, anyway? He caught sight of his right arm. It was green and heavily muscled. He stared at his fingers in shock. Two appeared to have fused together and each of his four fingers was tipped with a long fierce-looking talon.

  Green? Why the heck was he green?? A quick check of his arms confirmed that his skin was now as green as the grass covered hills they had been flying over. Green. Scales. Wings. Holy crap! He was a dragon!

  This had to be a dream. All he had to do was wake up. Steve closed his eyes and made a mental effort to wake. He cracked an eye open and scanned the area. Nope. Still falling.

  He felt a chill wash over him. This wasn’t a dream? He was a dragon now? He bent his head down to check out the distant ground when he noticed several things at the same time. First, the shade of green had reminded him of Pryllan. And second, his neck was way more flexible than what he was used to. He carefully turned his neck to his right and was almost able to turn his neck into a complete loop. Observing the color and shape of the wyverian body he now possessed, Steve realized with a start what had happened.

  “I’m in Pryllan’s body!” Steve thought excitedly. “I’m not making this up. I’m a dragon! How cool!”

  His giddiness evaporated in a flash as he realized his revelation did nothing to solve his present problem. He was falling uncontrollably to the ground and if he didn’t do something, and do it quickly, his upcoming date with terra firma was going to be his final one. He glanced irritably at his impotent wings. No matter how hard they flapped they weren’t even marginally slowing his descent. Damn dragons. They made it look so easy!

  SPREAD YOUR WINGS TO THEIR FULLEST POTENTIAL.

  Steve was taken aback. He knew the voice wasn’t Pryllan’s, as it was a male’s voice. So who was it?

  DO AS I SAY. EXTEND YOUR WINGS. HURRY!

  I don’t know how! These wings are essentially another set of arms. I have no clue how to make them work. It’s like they’re flapping all on their own!

  TUCK YOUR FORELEGS CLOSE TO YOUR BODY. HOLD THEM THERE. NOW EXTEND YOUR WINGS AND KEEP THEM EXTENDED.

  Steve did as he was instructed. He felt the urge to spread his forelegs but suppressed them. There. His wings were now spread open but he was still spiraling. A panicked glance down caused his wings to begin flapping again all of their own accord.

  STILL YOUR WINGS. DO NOT FLAP. THERE ARE PLENTY OF AIR CURRENTS TO KEEP YOU ALOFT. YOUR TAIL IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR SPINNING. OPEN YOUR TAIL WING.

  My what?

  YOUR TAIL WING. IT’S THE FLAP OF SKIN ON THE TIP OF YOUR TAIL THAT RESEMBLES A MINIATURE WING. IT IS USED TO DIRECT AIR FLOW UNDER YOUR WINGS. YOUR TAIL AND ITS WING ARE AT AN ANGLE WHICH IS CAUSING YOU TO SPIN OUT OF CONTROL.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. I have a tail now, too?

  OF COURSE. YOU ARE A DRAGON.

  What do I have to do?

  PRETEND YOU ARE HOLDING OUT YOUR HUMAN HAND AND ARE SPREADING YOUR FINGERS AS WIDE AS POSSIBLE.

  How is that supposed to help?

  I WILL EXPLAIN LATER. DO IT. YOUR TIME IS RUNNING SHORT.

  Steve did as he was asked. Both sets of his massive talons opened and he spread them as wide as possible. He then felt a similar sensation on another part of his body, but couldn’t tell where. It was a very surreal sensation to Steve as he could tell his wyverian body was doing something but he didn’t know what. It reminded him when the hairs on the back of his neck would suddenly stand up. He risked a quick glance back at his tail and saw that his tail wing was now fully extended. He said as much to the dragon voice in his mind.

  EXCELLENT. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT YOUR SPIRALING HAS STOPPED. NOW, ANGLE YOUR WINGS UP SO THAT THE AIR FLOWS UNDER YOUR THEM AND IS NOT FORCED DOWN UPON THEM.

  How?

  IMAGINE YOUR SECOND SET OF APPENDAGES IS DROOPING TOO LOW AND IN ORDER TO CORRECT YOUR POSTURE YOU MUST RAISE YOUR SHOULDERS UP AND PUSH OUT YOUR CHEST. CAN YOU DO THAT?

  I’ll try.

  Steve flexed the muscles in his back and thought about how to best accomplish the task at hand. Correct his posture? It was an odd thing to say. However, so far the voice had been correct in everything it had suggested, so if the voice wanted him to correct his posture, he was going to do his damnedest to make that happen.

  So what typically happened when he wanted to correct his posture? Steve briefly thought back to his childhood and recalled several past experiences where his mother would accuse him of slumping in a chair. He’d be told to straighten his back, angle his shoulders back and push his chest forward. He briefly wondered what he’d have to do in order to accomplish the wyverian equivalent of that.

  Apparently the subtle request for a shift in body positions was all his dragon body needed. He felt the position of his wings adjust ever so slightly. His front forelegs also shifted slightly as his wyverian shoulders tightened and drew back a few inches.

  Steve’s rapid descent leveled off and he found that he was able to keep himself aloft by flapping his wings every so often. He figured he probably looked like a baby bird just learning how to fly, but since he was, in fact, just learning how to fly, he let the embarrassing thought go and instead focused on keeping himself off the ground.

  I don’t know who you are but you saved my life. Thank you.

  YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO I AM?

  No, I just said that I don’t. Clearly you know who I am and that I am human. Who are you?

  WE HAVE MET BEFORE. SEVERAL TIMES. WHAT YOU ARE DOING INSIDE MY MATE’S BODY CONFOUNDS ME.

  Kahvel! Is that you?

  NONE OTHER.

  How did you know I was in trouble?

  YOU MAY BE A HUMAN IN NATURE BUT RIGHT NOW YOU OCCUPY MY MATE’S BODY. WHEN SHE IS IN DISTRESS SHE CALLS OUT TO ME FOR HELP.

  You’re saying I somehow contacted you?

  I FELT YOUR DISTRESS. I WAS VERY CONFUSED TO SEE THAT PRYLLAN’S MEMORIES WERE NOT THERE, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HER BODY I WAS COMMUNICATING WITH. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?

  The only thing I can figure is that we must have been attacked by that renegade wizard again. How he managed to get me in Pryllan’s body is beyond me. I want to know why he did it. What’s his plan?

  YOU ARE STILL ALIVE, SO I SAY WHATEVER HIS PLAN WAS, IT FAILED.

  You couldn’t be more wrong.

  OH? HOW SO?

  The wizard’s plan worked perfectly. I’m a fire thrower and from what people tell me, I’m a strong one at that. With Pryllan no longer able to use her flames, it was up to me to handle the protection aspect of this group. I was more than willing to do that for everyone, but as Pryllan I don’t have my jhorun anymore. I can barely keep my scaly ass off the ground.

  IF YOU’RE NOW IN PRYLLAN’S BODY, IT STANDS TO REASON PRYLLAN MIGHT BE IN YOURS. WOULD YOU AGREE?

  It makes sense.

  WHY WOULD THIS WIZARD TARGET PRYLLAN?

  She’s our transportation. She obviously knows her body better than I ever will. Now that I’m a dragon I have every intention of getting my butt back to the ground safely and on
ce I do, I don’t plan on leaving it any time soon.

  BUT IF PRYLLAN WAS YOUR TRANSPORTATION, AND SINCE THAT HAS NOW FALLEN TO YOU, YOU CANNOT SIT IDLE ON THE GROUND. I AM UNABLE TO FLY, SO I CANNOT RENDER AID. YOU, AS MUCH AS YOU MAY WANT TO DENY IT, MUST ASSUME THAT RESPONSIBILITY.

  In your mate’s body? Are you serious? Aren’t you afraid of me hurting it or something? The last thing I want to do is crash and end up hurting her. Or me, for that matter.

  I KNOW THAT, STEVE. YOU ARE THE ONLY HUMAN I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED THAT I WOULD TRUST WITH MY MATE’S LIFE. PRAVARA’S, TOO.

  Remembering that he and Sarah had originally been riding on Pryllan’s back, Steve bent his neck around and checked to make sure they were still there. His heart sank. No one was on his back.

  Oh, no! I forgot about Sarah! And if I have Pryllan’s body, she must have mine. Sarah and I were riding on Pryllan’s back before all of this happened. They’re gone!

  THE TWO OF YOU WERE RIDING ON PRYLLAN’S BACK? AT THE SAME TIME??

  Kahvel, focus! My body is gone. Sarah’s is gone, too! I have to find them!

  ENHANCE YOUR CALM. I SENSE…

  Dude, stop telling me to enhance my calm. I’m tired of enhancing my calm, okay?

  AS I WAS SAYING, I SENSE THE ZWEIGELAN NEARBY. THERE ARE TWO HUMANS WITH HIM.

  Really? Oh, man. That could have ended badly.

  INDEED.

  I need to find them. So how do I steer this thing?

  THING? YOU ARE REFERRING TO MY MATE’S BODY?

  Obviously. How do I turn? I don’t want to get into that tailspin again. That wasn’t fun.

  WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER IS THAT WHILE YOU ARE HUMAN, AND HAVE HUMAN EXPERIENCES, YOUR BODY IS NOW WYVERIAN. DO NOT THINK ABOUT FLYING. DO NOT WONDER WHAT MUSCLES HAVE TO BE USED, OR HOW FAR YOU SHOULD EXTEND YOUR WINGS, AND SO ON. PRYLLAN HAS DONE THIS MANY TIMES BEFORE. HER BODY WILL REACT INSTINCTIVELY. UNLESS YOU FIGHT THE SENSATIONS, ALL YOU SHOULD HAVE TO DO IS THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WANT TO GO AND HER BODY SHOULD RESPOND ACCORDINGLY.

  You’re saying I shouldn’t be thinking about what I’m doing but just do it?