I might be a little crazy sometimes. But not that kind of crazy.
Still, I wondered if the one fish in the sea I was meant to catch had slipped out of my grip, flip-flopped back into the sea, never to be found again.
Yes, I could go back to him. Or, could I? Had he moved on? He had our baby now...
It was foolish to think it. I felt like the dragon's essence was a blessing rather than a curse on Nammu's back. I didn't sense much of it at all inside of Fomoria. But the moment I released the magic that maintained my tail...
The second I took my last step off of Nammu's extended tail and felt the sand between my toes...
It was like my insides got all topsy-turvy.
Tahlia sensed it too. "Are you alright?"
I nodded. "As well as I expected I'd be."
"Would pants help?" Tahlia slithered her way up my arm and looked at me, then down toward my lower portions.
I sighed. I'd always fashioned myself a girl who was well prepared for almost any situation.
The first time I went to Fomoria to get help for Merlin, I was wearing a skirt. I'd gained a tail, and my skirt was unaffected.
But this time, when I went back to Fomoria, I was wearing pants...
I hadn't given it sufficient thought. I wrongly assumed they'd come back with my legs.
But you know what they say about what happens when you assume.
Not only does it make an ass out of "u" and "me."
It makes your ass hang out for the world to see.
Hey, that rhymed.
I was a poet...
My butt hanging out to show it.
I looked around. Thankfully there wasn't anyone nearby.
"Well," I said, looking at Tahlia, whose beady eel eyes stared back at me. "I guess before we go and try to find this voodoo queen, I need to find some pants."
13
WHERE IN TARNATION is a girl supposed to find a pair of britches on a beach... in the middle of the night?
At least I still had my bikini top.
I didn't even know where on God's green earth we were. A beach somewhere in the gulf. Probably not real close to New Orleans. New Orleans has some lovely white sand beaches on Lake Pontchartrain. Not a lot of great beaches off the gulf coast. It could be Biloxi Beach, a good hour and a half away by car.
Tough luck getting a car without pants. Or money...
"Maybe you can find a nice fellow to give us a ride," Tahlia suggested.
I huffed. "Honey, any fella who's apt to pick up a girl without pants probably isn't a nice one. He'll be wanting something out of it that I'm not fixing to give anyone any time soon."
Shoes were another problem. I didn't know, presuming this was Biloxi Beach, how long it would take to walk the whole way to New Orleans. A day? Maybe more? I tried to do the math in my head. Seemed that was about right. But making the trek barefoot was out of the question entirely.
"You're half Fomorian, half Druid, right?" Tahlia asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. Which you'd think would make shifting easier for me than other Fomorians. If I had access to the right magic, maybe it would. I presume you're thinking I should shapeshift into something to make the journey easier?"
"Unless you have any better ideas," Tahlia said.
I sighed. "The problem is we only have a limited amount of magic in this medallion. The last time I'd used it, I didn't have much left after giving myself a tail. We need to get back to Fomoria somehow."
"Your Fomorian side needs Fomorian magic to shift. But what about your Druidic side? You can use other kinds of magic too, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, and your point?"
"Well, we're supposed to go find this Marie Laveau lady. She's supposed to be the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, right?"
"That's what Agwe said."
"Then she should be able to lend you some magic you can use to shift back. At least to get the tail, you'd need to make it back home."
I chuckled. Tahliah's idea made sense. The only problem? I was petrified of shifting again. Sure, shifting between a tail and legs was one thing. But other than that, I'd hardly done much shifting at all apart from the time I became a dragon—and I wasn't of a mind to make those mistakes again. As a Druid, Elijah used to shift into an eagle's form when he traveled long distances. But he also had a staff, with a sigil carved into it, that helped him channel his magic.
And when he did it, he always shifted into an oversized eagle. As I understood it, the trick was to make sure you used the exact amount of mass you had in your natural body when you shifted to make sure you didn't end up with anything extra or accidentally lose a bit of your humanity when you shifted back. In Elijah's' case, his sigil helped ensure he didn't flub it up.
I didn't have a staff. I could summon a trident from the sigil on my hand. I could use it to give myself a tail again. But it wasn't going to help me become an eagle or anything else.
"What about a dragon?" Tahlia asked.
I raised one eyebrow. "You've gotta be shitting me."
"Gross!" Tahlia said. "What does that even mean?"
I chuckled. "Just a dumb human saying. You're right. It doesn't make much sense."
"Why can't you use the dragon's essence inside of you to shift into dragon form again? Use it as a pattern. I can shift between this form and a mermaid's form because the essence of each form is bound to my soul. It's a part of me."
I shook my head. "I really don't want to do that. I mean, how do I know if I'll be able to shift back again? And what if people see us?"
Tahlia looked at me blankly, which, I suppose, was the only way she could since her eel face didn't have a lot of muscles to it. "Look, like I told you, I have roughly two days outside of the water before I'll need to go back to the ocean to recover. A little dip here and there can help, but I'll need a good amount of time back in the ocean before I can handle another two days. I don't think we have time to walk."
I almost told Tahlia to take a hike—forget about the whole thing and head back to Fomoria. But she'd snuck out, too. She'd need help to get back in because she was basically an illegal alien from the king's perspective. Not to mention, she was my only connection to Agwe. I needed her for when I was ready to get back as much as she needed me.
"When you shift," Tahlia said. "Let it happen naturally. Don't mess with drawing in any extra matter to make yourself a regular-sized dragon. Use your own mass and make yourself whatever size you need. Seems to me you'd be small enough that if you flew high enough, no one would really be able to see what you were."
I had to admit, Tahlia's idea wasn't half bad. Overcoming my trepidation was the biggest challenge. It wasn't just the fear I'd screw it up somehow and end up in a worse condition than I was. Still, if I took a dragon form, it might give whatever dragon-like instincts I had lurking inside more of a foothold. Even leaving Fomoria was a bigger risk than I wanted to take. But I've overcome a lot of fears through the years. Somehow, each time, I survived to tell the tale.
"Alright," I said. "I really don't know how to do this."
Tahlia slithered her way around my neck, which gave me a serious case of the hee bee jee bees, and across my opposite shoulder. "I wish I could tell you how. For me, I have to shed my eel's skin. When I do that, I become a mermaid. Put it back on again, I become a much less attractive version of myself."
I laughed. "And I thought I lost a lot of hotness points when I took my makeup off."
"What's makeup?"
I bit my cheek. I suppose it made sense a half-selkie who'd spent nearly all of her life underwater wouldn't know about makeup. Besides, when I'd seen her in her mermaid form, her complexion was enviable already. She honestly didn't need it. "It's just something humans wear," I said, trying to explain the concept. "They put it on their faces to add color, make themselves look beautiful."
"Did you wear it when you were human?"
I nodded. "Most girls do. Learning to put on makeup is like a rite of passage."
"Why?" Tahlia asked
.
I pressed my lips together. "To tell you the truth, I haven't a clue. I suppose most of us do it to feel pretty."
"Who decided putting stuff on your face makes you prettier?" Tahlia continued slithering her way around my shoulders.
I shrugged. "Socially constructed gender norms, reinforced through systemic cultural patterns, meant to maintain the dominance of the patriarchy."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Tahlia asked.
I laughed. "I don't know. Something I read on the Internet. Sounded smart."
"Screw the patriarchy!" Tahlia shouted.
I shook my fist in the air. "Screw the patriarchy! Or not, because that's what they want us to do."
I scratched my head.
"Don't screw them!" Tahlia proclaimed. "Let the patriarchs screw each other!"
I laughed. "That's what I'm talking about. Didn't exactly want the mental image. But I appreciated the sentiment."
"You going to try this dragon form thing, or what?" Tahlia asked.
I took a deep breath. "I feel the dragon's essence stronger now that I'm outside of Fomoria. Can you do me a favor? If I start acting weird, violent, or anything..."
"I'll tell Agwe," Tahlia said. "But it won't come to that. It's a dragon's essence, not an actual dragon. Whatever it is, at its core, it's still you."
I shook my head. "Maybe that's the problem. Maybe I've got too much anger inside, so much rage... the dragon's essence feeds off of that, and it all comes out."
"Then let it all come out!" Tahlia said. "Just make sure you let it out somewhere safe before anyone can get hurt."
I smirked. "Speaking from experience?"
"You didn't know?" Tahlia asked.
"Know what?" I asked, doing my best to look at Tahlia over my shoulder.
"I'm a professional mer-wrestler!" The sound of pride in her voice as she said it was undeniable.
"A professional mer-wrestler? I didn't know such a thing existed."
"It's all scripted," Tahlia said. "But it looks real. And it's a great release of energy."
I chuckled. "So people come to watch your matches for fun?"
Tahlia nodded. "It's a bit of an underground thing... which is why I can compete. And since no one gets paid anything for anything in Fomoria, my fans make sure I get everything I need."
"Isn't that risky?" I asked. "I mean, if that many people see you in a ring."
"I'm a character," Tahlia said. "We all have characters. I could tell the complete truth about myself if I wanted, and no one would think twice about it."
"Sounds like a blast," I said. "Not my scene, but I can see why you'd enjoy something like that."
"That's what I'm saying," Tahlia said. "You need an outlet for your rage. Maybe letting the dragon's essence take form, terrorizing the skies and doing the dragon thing, will help."
I bit my lip. "Hadn't really thought about it like that."
"Nothing makes a beast more vicious than putting it in a cage. If you can let that side of you out, give it a chance to spread its wings, perhaps it won't eat away at you so much. I spend too much time in one form or another, without giving my other side a chance to express itself, I get bitchy as hell."
I smiled. "Makes sense, I suppose."
"You don't have to be afraid of it," Tahlia said. "Maybe the dragon wasn't always a part of you. But it is now."
"So you're saying I need to accept myself..."
"The dragon's going to come out one way or another. Embrace it, allow it to come out at the right time, like now... or it will come out in ways you don't want it to later."
I sighed. "Alright, so how do I do this?"
"You've touched the dragon's essence before when you relied on it to speak to Nammu. Do it again, and channel some of the magic into the medallion to the dragon. Allow it to take shape."
I snorted. "There's still one major problem with all of this."
"What's that?" Tahlia asked.
"When all this is said and done, and I show up in New Orleans. I'm still going to be naked."
"You're going to the French Quarter, right?" Tahlia asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, have you been there before?"
"Not once. But from what Agwe has told me about the place, naked or not, you'll fit right in."
14
IT WASN'T MARDI Gras. I was reasonably certain I couldn't get away without pants in the French Quarter despite the reputation of the place.
But at least I had a way to get there.
What to wear... what to wear...
The question that plagued me almost every morning throughout the course of my previous human existence.
The problem I used to have was I had too many clothes to choose from. I couldn't make up my mind.
This was going to be the opposite problem.
First thing's first, I suppose. Figure out dragon form, then, perhaps I'd find a place I could land where I'd find something to cover up with: a blanket, a towel, a tarp, whatever.
Maybe if there was a second-hand shop nearby, those places usually have a lot of poor quality donations that end up in the dump. Shirts with arm-pit stains. Jeans with holes in the crotch. Whatever.
I'd worry about that once I arrived. As best I could remember, as a dragon, I had reasonably good eyesight from the sky. Probably not the keen vision of an eagle or hawk, but better than humans could see.
"You plan to ride on my back?" I asked Tahlia.
"Maybe I'll wrap myself around your tail."
I chuckled. "I don't know why, but that sounds dirty somehow."
"Far be it from me to turn down a little tail when I have the opportunity," Tahlia said.
I snorted. "Alright. Well, here goes nothing. If I screw this up..."
"I know, I'll call Agwe."
I removed my bikini top and inhaled deeply.
I focused on that anxious part of my soul, the rage-filled dragon's essence. I'd called to it before, so I could speak to Nammu. It wasn't hard to find. It was there, clawing at my consciousness, trying to find a way out. I felt it the moment we left Fomoria's firmament—and since I stepped on land, the urge to unleash it only grew stronger.
If I just give it a little magic... if Tahlia is right...
Lord, I hope she's right. If not... well... I suppose it won't be long before the whole world learns dragons are real...
I inhaled again, drawing in some of the magic from my medallion, channeling it to the dragon...
My skin tightened. It was working... that's how it started the last time.
My shoulder blades cracked. I looked at my hand. Scales were forming over my flesh, my fingernails sharpening into claws.
I knew what was coming next. Not exactly painful, but not a pleasant sensation either.
My wings...
It takes a moment for the mind to figure out what the hell happened. Suddenly, there's a new appendage, something with sensations, requiring signals from the brain to move.
I flapped them around clumsily as I traced my teeth with my tongue—now, much sharper than before.
Tahlia curled her eel body around my tail.
In turn, I hooked my bikini top with one of my claws—going without pants was bad enough. And it wasn't Mardi Gras. If it was, at least I'd get some beads.
I couldn't talk at all in this form. Not that it wasn't possible. If Tahlia could speak as an eel, surely I'd be able to figure it out with enough practice. My lips and mouth just didn't move the same way. How to form different sounds and manipulate my vocal cords was something that would take practice.
And I didn't plan on staying this way long enough to figure it out.
I flapped my wings.
It took a second, but eventually, I managed to catch some wind as I took off into the skies.
The last time I'd been a dragon, I was much larger. Now, I was roughly the size of a hawk or an eagle. Maybe a little bigger. But not enough so that people would think much of it absent a set of binoculars from a distance in the skies.
/> I probably looked like a baby dragon. About the size that Merlin was... before he was fixed...
Flying at this size was a bit more challenging than it was as a larger dragon.
It was a blustery day. The slightest breeze could take me off course.
I had to work a little harder to stay on track.
The easiest way to make it to New Orleans, since dragon form doesn't come with a built-in GPS, was to follow the coast.
Before that, I learned if I kept my eyes fixed in the direction I wanted to go, my dragon wings and body would instinctively do whatever it needed to do to move that way.
The coastal air was refreshing as it blew against my face. I love the smell of the ocean.
I didn't smell much as a mermaid. Not because I couldn't, but because water doesn't carry odors the same way the air does.
While I couldn't fly any faster than a car could drive, the fact I didn't have to follow roads or deal with traffic made the journey fly by—no pun intended.
It was still dark.
That was a good thing for several reasons.
One, the chances of anyone spotting a small dragon flying over the coast were slimmer would be the case in the middle of the day.
Two, whenever I landed, I'd hopefully have the cover of darkness when shifting back to human form. I'd have to find some clothing.
And three, something about flying at night was incredibly peaceful.
It was the first time, in a long time, I didn't feel tense.
It was peaceful in Fomoria. But the whole issue with the king, the wyrm, and agreeing to follow Agwe's plan and risk my chance to ever return had cast a cloud of anxiety over everything.
Tahlia was right. Giving the dragon an outlet, allowing it a chance to spread its wings, seemed to calm the sense of rage I'd had when I had it trapped in a human or even mermaid form.
I kept an eye out for anything I might take to use as temporary clothing while I flew. Hopefully, I'd find something...
So far, no luck.
As we flew closer to New Orleans, I knew, at this point, I just had to find anything I could use to cover my body.
I spotted a flagpole—the American and Louisiana state flags blowing in the wind.
Gates of Eden: Starter Library Page 36
