by Vivian Venus
The king sighed. “I already know I can’t stop you. Now. Tell me about your quest. Did you succeed?”
“Yes, father. I have succeeded.”
“Well then,” the queen said in a soft voice. “Present us with the prize.”
Heather’s heart was hammering in her chest, her legs weak. All she could think was, I do not belong here. Any initial braveness she had when stepping off the ship had evaporated. Kyp touched her on the shoulder to usher her forward. She flinched and began to shuffle forwards on her sneakers, acutely aware that she was wearing a hoodie, plaid button up and jean shorts in a gigantic throne room surrounded by alien dragon royalty.
“And who is this?” the queen asked, a soft smile on her face.
“This is Heather Clemens.”
“This girl was your prize?” the king asked with slight disbelief.
“Um…” Heather lifted up her hand. “Is it possible my ring was the prize?”
“It’s what I thought may have been the case,” Rhys said, “but Heather is no ordinary girl. She’s a seer. A full seer.”
“That can’t be possible,” the king said. “The seer bloodline was crossed with dragon blood thousands of years ago. Even the Oracle is not a full seer.”
At his words, a rickety old woman tottered forward, dressed in thick robes, her neck heavy with gems of different colors. “Let me see you, young lady,” she said, stretching out her hand. She took Heather’s hand in hers, her wrinkled fingers moving gently over her palm.
“Hmm. Yes. This girl has a part to play here. A very important part, but only if she is able to find wholeness within herself.”
Heather frowned. So she was the reason why Rhys was transported to earth?
“Is she a seer?” Rhys pressed.
The old woman squeezed Heather’s hand and looked her in the eyes with a kind smile. “I can sense a dormant power within her. A power much greater than my own. But she has not learned to harness it yet.”
“Incredible,” said the king. “A living seer.” He bowed his head respectfully. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Raspharion, Heather Clemens. You will be our honored guest.”
Heather smiled and curtseyed, then immediately felt silly. Did I really just curtsy? In jean shorts?
“Now, son,” the queen said, smiling proudly, “it’s time for you to receive the rite of the dragon shift.
Rhys knelt down on one knee, and his parents stepped forward. The Oracle came up to them, drawing a small knife from her coat. Kyp leaned down and whispered in Heather’s ear. “The rite of the dragon shift is passed on through the blood of a dragon shifter. Our parents, to him.”
The Oracle muttered an incantation and took Rhys’ hand, then quickly cut both his palms with the knife, then one of the king’s, and then the queen’s. She stepped back and wiped the knife off with a white cloth before sheathing it and slipping it back into her robe. The king and queen both closed their eyes.
Heather thought it had been her imagination at first, when transformation began. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized that it wasn’t and that they really were morphing right before her eyes. Their skin hardened to scales, their clothing melding and became a part of them as their bodies expanded and grew. Wings sprouted from their backs, their heads stretching out to form reptilian snouts.
They had become dragons.
Heather gaped in awe. The king’s form was large and hulking, with hard, black, armor like skin and a spined tail. The queen was more slender and elegant, a shade of silvery white with translucent wings. They both held out their clawed hands, and Rhys placed his in theirs. His human hand looked small and fragile engulfed by his parent’s.
The Oracle came forward again, her eyes closed and hands raised up. “Receive the power of dragon blood, look deep inside you and find your spirit within…”
Rhys squeezed his eyes shut, lowering his head. The room the silent, all eyes trained on him, and suddenly his body began to tremble and shake.
“Meet it, let it fill you and become one with you,” the Oracle instructed. Rhys groaned and fell to the floor, his body convulsing wildly. Heather covered her mouth in horror and looked around. No one moved, their eyes stayed trained on him, waiting.
Rhys’ head snapped back as his body shook, and let out a strained yell. Then he began to shift. His skin became hardened grey scales and his body changed, expanding out into the sleek form a dragon. He wasn’t as bulky and armored as his father, nor as streamlined as his mother, but somewhere in between. He looked strong and agile, like the perfect form for the quick and precise style of fighting that Heather had seen when he went up against the tentacle beast.
He slowly rose to his feet, his claws clicking on the stone floor. His breath was rough and ragged, his tongue hanging out between his sharp teeth. Rhys’ fire red eyes looked around wildly, and then fell on her. She shivered and took a step back in surprise at their intensity.
“You must get your dragon under your control,” the king said, his dragon-voice deep and raspy. “Rhys. Hear me.”
Rhys growled and let out a roar that shook the room. The guards and other officials who had come to be present at the ceremony flinched and cowered in shock.
“Brother!” Kyp yelled. “Concentrate! Remember your training!”
Rhys’ eyes were still on Heather, searching her. She was suddenly aware of the intense hunger they held – or was it desire? Her heart beat against her chest as she felt a strange and dizzying mixture of fear and excitement flow through her. The way he’s staring at me…
Then he charged.
She saw him coming, the image of him barreling towards flashing through her mind. She could’ve evaded him, but she didn’t. She could tell that he was not going to harm her.
He stopped just inches from her, his hot breath on her face. Heather stood fast, staring up at him.
“Son,” the queen said. “Regain control. Come here.”
“It’s okay,” Heather breathed. She closed her eyes. “He’s okay.”
Rhys let out a piercing roar and took Heather in his clawed hands, then barreled towards the window.
“No, Rhys!” Kyp yelled, and Rhys shouldered the glass and exploded out into the open air.
Heather shrieked as they fell, and when she opened her eyes she saw the courtyard hurtling up towards them. She closed her eyes again – “Rhys!” she yelled. They lurched, and shot back up as Rhys unfurled his wings, catching the current and sending them soaring away from the tower.
Heather looked up at Rhys’ face. His dragon eyes were wild and without trace of human consciousness. His new dragon form had apparently taken over him. Heather didn’t know where he was taking her, or even why he had grabbed her, but she had felt a sense that she needed to be taken by him. Like she was the only one who could bring him to his senses.
“Where are we going?” she shouted at him. He didn’t react, his mouth hanging open slightly to reveal a row of jagged teeth. She turned and looked down at the ground far below. Villagers were coming out of their homes to gawk at the dragon that soared overhead. Rhys’ claws grasped her loosely, so she turned herself around to get a view of where they were going. Below the ground had turned to trees, a forest within the city limits that stretched out from the base of the Royal Tower. The trees led up to a tall grassy hill that was topped with a single giant tree with sprawling arms and thick foliage.
Rhys soared down to the hill, letting her go onto the soft grass. The huge tree towered over both of them, casting them in shade. He landed, his wings folding up onto his back. “It’s time to turn back,” Heather said firmly. “Rhys, it’s time to turn back.” He turned and slowly lumbered towards her. Heather’s heart was hammering so hard she thought it was going to burst.
He stood over her, moving even closer, and Heather stumbled and fell back onto the grass. Rhys dropped down onto all fours over her, the ground shuddering as he fell. “Rhys,” she murmured. He sniffed her face and her neck, her hair ruffling from his breath.
Heather shivered. She shut her eyes, and raised her fingers to touch his scaled snout. Her mind went blank.
She saw him there, naked and alone. He was lying in a field of whiteness, his eyes closed, asleep.
She reached out, her fingertips brushing the skin of his cheek. “It’s time to wake up, Rhys,” she said.
She could still feel his breath on her physical body, moving lower…
“Wake up!” she shouted in his ear.
Her eyes snapped open, the connection broken. Rhys looked up at her, confused. He was between her legs, his face hovering over her abdomen. He was human again.
“Do you mind?” Heather said.
Rhys threw himself backwards and off of Heather. “What just happened?” he stammered.
She sat up. “I don’t know, you tell me. Your parents turned into dragons, and then you turned into a dragon, and then you grabbed me and jumped out the window.”
“I lost control.”
“Yeah.” Heather wanted to ask him why he grabbed her and what he was going to do to her, but the right words didn’t come.
“Shit,” he said rubbing his face and shaking his head. “I saw you. In my dream.”
“Your dream?” She swallowed, her stomach fluttering nervously.
He nodded. “You were the one that brought me out of it.”
She took some deep breaths, trying to slow her heart. “Where are we, anyway?”
Rhys walked over to the tree and touched its gnarled trunk. A cool breeze blew, rustling the leaves. “This is part of the royal forest. I used to run away from my lessons and come here to this tree as a boy.”
She stood up slowly, her legs numb and wobbly from the excitement. She was warm and wet between her legs. She couldn’t believe how aroused she had gotten from the encounter. What the hell is wrong with me? The wind blew again, tussling her hair. She brushed it from her face and glanced at Rhys, who looked back at her. The guy is a dragon alien from another world.
Rhys walked to her, his expression concerned. “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you or anything?”
“You…really don’t remember anything?”
“Nothing.”
She nodded. “I’m alright.”
A deep voice bellowed out. “Rhys!”
They two looked up and saw a red dragon gliding in. He turned his wings and righted himself, then as he dropped to the ground his dragon body quickly morphed back into human form.
“Brother,” Rhys said. “I hope mother and father aren’t too upset about the window.”
“Heather, are you alright?” Kyp asked.
“I’m fine.”
“She was the one who brought me back,” Rhys said. “If it hadn’t been for her, who knows what would’ve happened. I might have smashed up some more buildings.”
What would have happened? Heather’s mind wandered.
“Well. It’s a good thing she’s here,” Kyp said. “Let’s go. Mother and father will be waiting to hear if you did anything bad. This time, stay present when you shift. Remember your training.” He ran and leapt into the air, shifting and unfurling his wings to catch the current.
Rhys closed his eyes, and his body morphed into his dragon form. Heather felt a rush of adrenaline, unsure if he had control or not, but when he looked down at her she could see the human in his eyes. “I’m alright,” he said. He got down onto all fours, his tail stretching out behind him. “Would you like to ride on my back?”
“Just don’t do anything crazy,” Heather said, and she climbed up onto him.
Rhys strode forward and leapt into the air, his wings stretching out as they caught the current.
CHAPTER SIX
Heather sat on the corner of the bed in her room, blue moonlight streaming in through gigantic window. The guest room was bigger than her entire house back on Earth, and filled with regal looking furniture. It felt like she was staying in a room at the Versailles.
She stood up and walked to the window. The city below glowed, the airspace above it crisscrossed with the lights of zipping spaceships. The sky was filled with brightly burning stars and just on the horizon was the glowing form of the Elder Brother, like a sun just about to set.
There was a knock on her door.
“Yes? Come in.”
The large door unlatched and swung open with a quiet groan and Rhys stepped inside.
“It’s dark in here,” he said. “There is illumination, you know.”
“I know. I like it dark. It lets me see the lights of the city.”
Rhys came up next to her. He was almost a silhouette against the thin band of orange light that cast in to the bedroom from the partially cracked door. The hard edges of his face caught the soft glow from the moon. “It is beautiful, isn’t it,” Rhys said.
Heather’s heart began to pound, as she thought about what had happened on the hill. She felt a tightness in her chest as she saw him over her. He had been in a dragon form, but despite that she could feel an energy from him, a power that entranced her. What would have happened if she hadn’t stopped him?
She had some idea. His hot breath, moving lower and lower over her body…What shocked her was how she kept replaying it in her head, imagining what would have happened if she had let him continue….and was how willing she was to find out.
But he was a prince. A dragon prince. She was just…
She was just nobody. Some girl from earth, who really shouldn’t even be here right now.
“Is there something you needed, Rhys?” she asked.
“Oh, I just, I wanted to tell you that the Oracle is looking for a way to get you home.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Rhys stared out the window.
“Was there anything else?”
“Ah, no.” He strode away to the door. “Goodnight, Heather.”
“Rhys?” Heather said, turning around.
He stopped as he was closing the door, and poked his head back in. “Yes?”
“If I hadn’t stopped you, what would have happened?”
He stared at her silently from the doorway. “I don’t know,” he said, finally. “I’m sorry, Heather. I really don’t remember anything.”
Rhys turned and slowly shut the door behind him. The question lingered in his mind as he walked down the cold hallway, his boots sounding on the marble floor. It was only a half truth that he couldn’t remember what had happened. He remembered her scent. He could remember it strongly, like it was the one thing that anchored him to reality as his new dragon form fought for domination in his mind. He had felt a burning, powerful desire within him, and as he remembered her scent, and as he caught it floating in the air in her room, the feeling reignited.
What would have happened?
Rhys didn’t want to admit it. But he knew what would’ve happened if Heather hadn’t been able to call him back to consciousness.
The next morning, Heather awoke to sunlight pouring in through window. She had dreamed that night about falling from her window at the Royal Tower, plunging down towards the city below. Just before she hit the ground, a grey dragon had swooped down and grabbed her, lifting her to safety. They flew higher and higher, until they were flying through outer space and through the universe. Then they came to earth, and the dragon flew down to her home and let her go. She had desperately tried to stop the dragon from leaving her, but it was too high above for it to hear her calls.
“Weird dream,” she said to herself as she slipped out from under the sheets and changed out of the sleeping gown she had been given, back into her set of clothes. She had been offered a very ornate and beautiful robe, which was supposedly what women training to be oracles wore, but she had politely refused. As plain and odd as they were, her hoodie, plaid button up, shorts and running shoes were comforting to her.
Heather opened the door and stuck her head out, looking around the hallway. It was empty. She left her room and walked down the hall, feeling dwarfed by the tall ceiling and the huge tapestries of battles, dragon
warriors and leaders past.
She turned a corner and got a shock as she nearly ran headfirst into a broad chest.
“Whoah, careful.”
“Oh, good morning, Kyp,” Heather said.
He smiled. “It’s good that you’re up, I was just coming to get you. The Oracle would like to see you.”
She followed Kyp as he led her to the main chambers where the ceremony had taken place the day before. He opened the door, and they were greeted with the sound of the king’s voice. Heather noticed that the window that had been shattered was already repaired.
