Behind the Tales

by Aurora Peppermint

  Eventually, Hal stopped in a large clearing, and Martus ducked behind a tree to watch him without being seen. It started out normally enough. Hal sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, his lips barely moving. Martus just wanted to stay long enough to make sure Hal didn’t hurt himself or pass out, or that if he did at least someone would be there for him.

  Martus had been sitting behind the tree for about five minutes and was about to leave since Hal seemed fine, when there was a subtle change. At least at first.

  Hal’s arm twitched, but he didn’t open his eyes. His jaw clenched, but other than that Martus didn’t notice a further change. It was probably too much to hope that Hal would know when he pushed himself too far and stop, but Martus was still optimistic. He sat up straighter and got ready to run over to Hal.

  Although it had taken a few moments for anything strange to happen, from there it escalated quickly.

  First Hal’s arm shook so much that he had to use his other hand to steady it. A split second later, he lunged forward to his knees, his brows knitted together. Martus could tell by the look on his face that he was going to throw up.

  Something much worse happened.

  Hal’s lips moved faster and faster, and his body shook more and more. Then he screamed so loud Martus thought he was dying. He was on his feet before he even thought of the fight that would surely ensue. He was halfway through the trees and into the clearing when the screaming abruptly stopped.

  It was replaced with an incredible roar.

  Chapter Six

  THE TIME between Hal sitting in the middle of the clearing and the dragon replacing him was like the blink of an eye for Martus. He froze in fear, and his hands immediately went to his pockets and his belt. There was no way for him to have foreseen this happening; he thought the spell was supposed to keep Hal from transforming. There was no other reason for him to bring a weapon with him. He didn’t want to hurt Hal, but he didn’t want to get crushed or burned to a crisp either.

  After the transformation, Hal didn’t move right away. His body was still shaking, and Martus thought for a second he might just shrink back down and Martus could get out of there so they could discuss this back at the inn. Soon the shaking slowed and then stopped completely. Hal started turning in circles, his head shaking from side to side. For the moment, he didn’t seem dangerous. He looked more confused than anything.

  The sight of Hal as a dragon was one that was familiar to Martus, although it sent him back to a sickening place. The green scales covering most of his body, the red on his belly, glistened in the sun. Under other circumstances, it would have perhaps been beautiful. Now, they just made him look more threatening. Hal’s big golden eyes, the ones Martus usually loved to stare into, were now the eyes of a beast. Every flap of his huge scaly wings just made Martus more terrified.

  Despite his fear, Martus couldn’t even think of harming Hal. He was himself in there somewhere. No matter how he looked, it was still Hal. If Martus harmed him now, he would still be injured when he was human again. Even if he looked like a monster, Martus couldn’t think of him that way. Certainly not with the ease he’d been able to the first time he saw Hal like this.

  Now Martus was shaking. He knew better than to let his guard down. In one move, even an accidental one, Hal could step on him and he’d be dead in an instant. He didn’t even want to step away from his spot. Of course he wanted to run; he was almost blind with fear. But if he stepped the wrong way, certainly if he ran, Hal would hear him, and Martus didn’t know what would happen then. Maybe he would kill him on the spot. Maybe Martus would be smart enough and fast enough to escape—although that seemed unlikely—but even on the off chance that worked, what would he do? Lead Hal back to the town? There weren’t that many people there, but Martus couldn’t possibly bring them their death.

  Hal kicked his foot against the ground, his wings twitching, and Martus was sure he was going to fly away. Before he could think better of his decision, Martus stepped out into the clearing completely, drawing Hal’s attention to him.

  “Hal!”

  He spun his head toward Martus, and his lips pulled back in another roar. He didn’t immediately spew fire at him or lunge forward to attack him with his teeth or claws, so Martus supposed he was doing pretty well so far. His throat was dry, his hands sweaty, and he wanted nothing more than to turn and run as fast and as far as he could in the other direction.

  Instead, he took another step forward. His voice was soft when he spoke, and he tried to sound comforting despite the fact that it was trembling over every word.

  “L-listen, Hal. You’re—you’re the one in control. Okay? J—” Martus had to take a deep, shaky breath, and Hal’s wings flapped around anxiously. “—just try to calm down, as much as you can. Um.” What else could he say? Could Hal even understand him? He wasn’t attacking, but he also didn’t seem any calmer.

  Martus slowly walked forward, his hand gently outstretched. Maybe they were all wrong; maybe dragons weren’t as dangerous as everyone thought. Like the gasspatto, maybe they had to feel frightened. It wasn’t something Martus wanted to bet his life on, but he didn’t have the capacity to think of any other options.

  Martus’s fingers were inches from Hal’s head when his mouth snapped open in another roar. Still no fire, Martus noted with the hugest sigh of relief of his life. But Hal took a few steps back, and his wings were flapping once again. Martus had to duck out of the way so one of them didn’t hit him. But he didn’t think that was Hal being aggressive, and he took a few steps back to try to calm him again.

  “Look, Hal, I’m—I’m not trying to hurt you.” He put his hands up in front of him with his palms toward Hal. It was the least threatening pose he could muster.

  Rather than calming down, however, Hal rose into the air and flew around the top of the clearing. He wasn’t going toward the town yet, but Martus was getting scared again. He kept his pace slow, but he made his way behind the tree line again. It was possible Hal would still be able to see him. His upbringing had never given him much insight into facts about dragons. He didn’t know what their eyesight was like, or if it differed between them like it did with humans. Martus honestly didn’t even know what Hal’s eyesight was like normally. It wasn’t the sort of thing he’d ever thought to ask.

  Before Martus could consider what to do next, Hal circled the clearing again and then blew down a huge rush of fire. It didn’t catch on any of the trees, but the grass burned, and soon half the clearing was black from the smoke of it. When the smoke cleared, Hal thumped to the ground.

  Martus’s heart sped up to at least double its normal pace, and when Hal looked over at him, it almost stopped. Rather than trying to continue hiding, he stepped back into the clearing. He had to get his friend back. If Hal came to and found that he’d destroyed another town, hurt more people, when that was exactly the opposite of what he’d been trying to do, it would break him. Martus had to at least try.

  “Hal. Come here.” Martus kept his voice firm and used every tiny smidge of self-control he had to keep it from trembling. His hands were balled into fists at his side, and they weren’t even close to being steady. He licked his lips, sucking in a dry breath. “You’re going to be fine. I need you back, though, okay?”

  Hal stomped his foot against the ground and twitched his wings. If he flew away now, Martus didn’t know what he could do apart from just running after him. After a few seconds that felt like several lifetimes to Martus, Hal stepped forward, slowly, until he was within an arm’s reach of Martus.

  As he came toward him, every fiber of Martus’s being was telling him now was the time to run away. Looking at Hal’s eyes, though, he didn’t look angry. He didn’t seem calm either. His eyes flicked back from side to side quickly, and his feet were still kicking at the ground like a horse that had been cooped up too long. Martus thought he was anxious, maybe even scared. Why he would be scared of Martus was beyond him, but at least he wasn’t attacking.

  “Hal,
I need you to come back.” Tentatively, Martus stepped forward and laid a hand on Hal’s head when he lowered it to meet him. His skin was scaly. Martus should have expected it, but it sent a small shiver down his spine nonetheless. Hal seemed calm, whether from Martus’s voice or his petting Hal’s head, but at least he wasn’t violent.

  It didn’t seem like there was much chance of him turning back, however. Martus didn’t know what else to do.

  Martus stood for at least a few moments, stroking the side of Hal’s head and saying nonsensical things in the hopes he would stay calm. Every time he kicked a foot or pulled his head away, then returned it, Martus had to tense his whole body to keep from flinching. Although he was afraid of Hal, he didn’t want him to know it. He hadn’t done anything to harm Martus yet, at least not that day.

  Finally, an idea occurred to Martus, and he pulled his hand away for a moment. After an angry snort from Hal, he quickly returned it. In the same quiet voice he’d been using for the past few moments, he recited what he could remember of the spell Hal used to meditate. There were some words he knew he was getting wrong, and some he was very unsure about. He tried not to pause, however, and just pushed through his mistakes.

  It threw him off at first when Hal’s body started to shake again, but he remembered what had happened the last time and kept repeating the spell. He did take his hand away, however. Whatever kind of energy Hal’s transformations gave off, Martus could guess it was best not to get in the middle of it. As he started to change, Hal’s wings flapped madly, and he snorted and roared. It was terrifying to watch, and Martus was shaking too, his feet glued to the ground. His breathing had almost slowed to a stop, and he silently prayed that one of Hal’s reactions wouldn’t be fiery.

  Hal stumbled back, roaring wildly. Martus finally forced his feet to move until he was backed up against a tree. His hands gripped the bark, and he watched intently. Hal flopped to the ground, making it shake all the way over to Martus. It was scary, but Martus also felt bad for Hal. Soon that was going to be his friend again, and he didn’t want him to be hurt. Even as he thrashed wildly around on the ground, one of his feet broke a small sapling in half. Martus tried to jump back as the crack rang through the air. He was backed up as far as he could go, however.

  In a blink of his eyes, just as before, Hal was back to human form. Martus shot forward to Hal at full speed. He was lying facedown on the ground, and Martus was terrified that he wouldn’t be able to wake him up. As soon as he got to him, he slid down to his knees, grabbing hold of his friend’s shoulder and shaking him desperately.

  “Hal! Hal! Please wake up! I did everything I could, now, come on. You’ll be okay. You didn’t hurt anyone. Please wake up.” Martus rolled him over to his back, pulling at his shirt with shaking hands. His eyes were still closed, and Martus didn’t even know if he was breathing at first. But when he brought a hand up to tap his face, he felt warm breath on his palm. “Oh, thank you. Hal, thank you so much. You’re alive. You just have to wake up. Come on, my friend, please.”

  Hal came to, coughing, and shot up immediately. He gripped Martus’s wrists, trying to pull the other boy’s hands away from him for a moment. Then his expression calmed slightly, and perhaps he realized who he was looking at. He didn’t speak right away. His breathing was ragged, and he was still coughing, but he was alive and didn’t seem to have gotten too damaged from hitting the ground as hard as he had. Rather than saying anything, Martus let go of Hal’s shirt and pulled him into a hug.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you woke up. I was so worried. Hal, you have to stop this. You can’t… I was terrified for you. Take a break, please, take a break. Until we get back home, at least,” Martus pleaded after staying quiet for a moment and just enjoying the fact that Hal was alive. “Just stop. I need you to. I was scared when you left, but… I had no idea that could even happen. It… this is making you sick. It’s making you transform. This is too dangerous.”

  Hal didn’t respond for a few moments, but he returned Martus’s hug, burying his face against his shoulder. Martus put a hand on the back of his head, barely able to believe he was real and seemed pretty much all right. All he hoped now was that this would be a turning point for Hal, that he would take Martus’s advice and not push himself so hard.

  “I couldn’t stop. For you and Elsaben. I couldn’t stop and put the two of you in danger. And everyone else.” Martus nearly wept to hear the way Hal’s voice shook when he spoke. As hard as it was for Martus to see him going through this, he couldn’t imagine how Hal felt. He held him a little tighter.

  “You can. At least for a week or two. You need to. If you keep doing this, you’re going to end up killing yourself. You can’t. You need to stay alive. I need you alive.” There was still a dull ache in Martus’s chest, but he tried to push it down for the sake of comforting Hal.

  “I can try.” Hal still sounded unsure, but even the prospect of him doing this kind of magick a little less was enough for Martus. “Until we get back home. I can’t stop forever. I won’t be able to live the way I used to again.”

  Martus rubbed Hal’s back, resting his chin on top of his head. Obviously the spell was successful sometimes, since another dragon had told Hal about it. Martus just felt that the risks outweighed the rewards. Hal was getting sick, and if he transformed and flew away into some other village, one that had been better prepared than when he landed in Altonswood, it was possible the spell would end up getting him killed. It made Martus nauseous to even consider.

  “I want to help. I am honestly not exactly sure what I can do, but I want to do whatever I can. Maybe we can do some research, read old books, try to find some other options. This can’t possibly be the way everyone does it.” If every dragon suffered through what Hal was dealing with, Martus felt more sympathy for them than ever. There had to be someone, somewhere, who knew a better way than this. Somewhere it was written down or there were stories or something. He couldn’t accept that for Hal to be in control and for the people around him to be safe he would have to suffer.

  “We can try. We should. I…. Everything is just so hard, and I’m so tired.” Hal turned his head to the side on Martus’s shoulder, his breath hitting Martus’s neck. “I do feel sick, but I feel terrible to worry you about it. You have enough on your plate, and my problems are too complicated for you to have to deal with.”

  Martus stayed silent as he continued to rub Hal’s back gently. Every muscle seemed incredibly tense, and Martus did his best to work the knots out. After a few moments of sitting in silence like that, Martus started to process how long they’d been away from the inn.

  Mel was probably either worried they’d been gone so long, or she was angry that he was taking longer than he’d told her. It was obvious she wanted to get to her brother as soon as possible, and Martus didn’t want to delay that. He just felt like what was going on with Hal was what he should be focusing on for now. It was all way too much.

  Right as Martus was about to speak up to tell Hal they should head back to the inn, he realized something was off. First, he could feel Hal’s body trembling against him, and he could feel a wet spot slowly forming on his shirt where Hal had buried his face.

  Obviously he was trying to keep quiet about his tears, so Martus didn’t say anything to him. He wouldn’t make him get up and go back to the inn right now, but he wasn’t sure what he should say. If he tried to comfort him, it might end up simply embarrassing Hal. If he didn’t say anything, Hal might feel like Martus was ignoring his pain.

  Honestly, even if Martus did speak, he was positive he would end up saying the wrong thing. Instead of risking it, he tried his best to calm Hal without words. As long as he needed to get his emotions out, Martus would be there, and he would do what he could to make Hal feel less alone.

  So they sat in the center of the clearing, Hal sobbing quietly against Martus’s shoulder as he squeezed his eyes closed to keep his own tears at bay.

  How had they gotten to this point?

 
Chapter Seven

  BY THE time they got back to the inn, Martus just wanted to lie on his bed and not get up for several days. Hal had a few cuts on his arms from the damage that had been done when he transformed, so he had to worry about that first. Even once he was fixed up, though, Martus wasn’t going to have any time to rest. They had to find Fitzy and get out of town as quickly as possible. He just wanted to be home.

  “You were gone a little longer than I expected, so I took your sister out with me and poked around the town a bit. And no food, I see.” As soon as they walked through the door, Mel looked up from the bag she was packing and started filling them in on what she had been doing. Martus started trying to come up with an explanation for the lack of food. Luckily, she changed the subject before he had to. “I found out where they have my brother. It’s up in the mountains, about halfway up the one closest to us. Just some little cabin, but I got directions to it and got them written down. No one’s supposed to know about it.”

  “How did you get them to talk to you?” Martus was sure Mel had her persuasion techniques, but he hoped she hadn’t done anything too violent in front of his little sister.

  “They thought they knew me. Bunch of weirdos, in this town.” Mel shrugged, looking away from Martus and going back to her bag. He watched her for a second, a little thrown by her reaction, but there were more important things to worry about.

  “How long of a trip is it? Overnight? I’d really rather not take El up the mountain.” Truly, Martus wanted Hal to stay with her. He needed time to recover, and if they went after Fitzy they were bound to get in another fight. Martus really didn’t want to risk having Elsaben with them, nor did he want to risk Hal transforming again.

  “Oh, no, maybe about two hours? We can leave a little later, just let her sleep here. We should be back by the time she wakes up.” Mel pulled her larger bag out and started unloading knives and swords that Martus hadn’t realized she had with her.