Thanks to the heat rising off the lava I am able to stay in the air longer, but I am slowly losing altitude. In the air above me appears a map with two glowing dots, one for me the other for the goal. This is just like the ocean and the desert, but lava is a little bit extreme!
From how slowly my dot is moving on the map there is no way I can possibly glide that far. It looks like the goal is a couple of hundred miles from my current location. I start trying to think of something I can shift into that can survive swimming in lava.
However, before I can think of something there is movement within the lava below me. A large eel-like creature that looks to be made of rock rises up from the lava. Its mouth is open and it obviously intends to eat me, but it is actually providing me an opportunity.
With a slight shift of my wings, instead of going into the mouth, I land on the thing's upper jaw. Instantly I fold my wings, crouch down, and then kick off with all of my might. With a boom the eel is thrown back down into the lava and I shoot high into the sky.
Once the momentum is spent I spread my wings and start gently gliding again. Not only will I now be able to glide for several miles, but I will also have a few minutes to think. When it comes to something that can survive in the lava, the first thing that comes to mind is of course a dragon.
So I quickly build the image of a dragon in my mind, but when I try to activate shifter the image shatters. Thinking maybe I rushed and made a mistake, I try it again, but the same thing happens. Maybe a dragon is just too powerful for me to be able to shapeshift into one.
So next I try building the image of a drake in my head, but when I try to shift the image shatters. That image was of an adult drake so maybe that is still too powerful, so I start building another image. This time, while it is still a drake, I am building the image of a much younger drake.
Form added: Blackflame Drake (Young)!
As I shift forms I lose my wings for a few seconds and begin falling towards the lava. However, once the shift is completed the oppressive heat vanishes and it feels comfortable. Spreading my new wings I am able to resume gliding, but I am still not able to fly.
Having leathery wings instead of feathered feels a bit weird, but other than that the new form feels amazing! It is definitely the most powerful form I have tried so far, no wonder I wasn't able to shift into an adult drake. Although, I wonder if this means I would be able to shift into a baby dragon?
If it is possible I will try it later, even if the form isn't useful it would still be fun to try. All that aside, I am getting fairly close to the lava, even though I don't feel the heat any more it still worries me. I am half hoping for another eel to come up after me so I can use it as a springboard again.
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In fact I would be totally alright with just bouncing off the monsters and not testing out the lava. Unfortunately, no eel appears and I end up landing in the lava, but luckily it doesn't hurt. In fact the lava basically feels like bath water, just pleasantly warm.
After folding my wings away I start trying to figure out how to swim properly in this form. After all, I don't want to dragon-paddle for a couple of hundred miles. In my head I know it should be something along the lines of how an alligator swims, but actually doing it isn't easy.
As I am starting to get the hang of it, an eel suddenly comes up from beneath me and bites me. While its teeth aren't able to penetrate my scales the pressure does cause me some pain. What's worse is as soon as the eel has a hold of me it sinks back into the lava taking me with it.
While the lava doesn't hurt me, being submerged in it does leave me blind. All I can see is orange and red shades, I can't even see the eel's mouth that I am inside of. However, I don't need to see it to know where it is, so I crane my head around and take a bite out of it.
Losing a chunk of its jaw is enough to make the eel spit me out and I immediately head for the surface. After all, I still need to breathe, and while I am immune to the lava I can't breathe it. Once back on the surface I look around for signs of the eel, but it is staying deep.
Being unable to see in the lava is a major disadvantage, but I can't think of a way to change it. My best bet is going to be figuring out how to swim properly, then my speed will make me a harder target. With that in mind I start swinging my body from side to side.
While that isn't quite how it works, it is at least a decent start. At any rate at least it is already faster than I was moving before. As I continue moving I start to get the hang of it and my movements become more fluid.
The more fluid my movements become the faster I start moving through the lava. Hearing a sudden splash behind me I take a look, an ell just barely missed me. My change in speed must have made it miss, as such I put more effort into my swimming.
This form is a lot like Lizzy's, even the muscles are similar, so I am able to adapt to it fairly quickly. Within a few minutes I have it figured out and I am moving through the lava at high speed. Now that I have the hang of it, swimming at this speed is actually effortless.
Several times eels try to eat me, but between my speed and the fact that I don't go in a straight line, they all miss. The way my body moves through the lava I may as well be zig-zagging, even hitting me with an arrow would be difficult. At this rate I should be able to reach the goal in a few hours, if nothing else happens.
Not that the lava and eels aren't enough, if I wasn't able to shapeshift I would be dead already. However, since I can, this is basically a cakewalk, this is my new favorite form. In fact I really want to get this test over with so I can try flying around as a drake.
Although, that will have to wait until after I deal with the temple and escape the underground. Maybe I can use this form to terrorize the empire, no one should be able to tell I'm shapeshifted. That way it will just seem like a monster attack and no one can blame Mercy.
The more I think about it the more it seems like a good idea, and it sounds like a lot of fun. When I get out of here I will talk to Mercy and Zamart about it, see if they agree. For now I just have to keep swimming, which is fairly boring since there is no change in the scenery.
The lava is endless, in fact if it wasn't for the map I would think I am not moving at all. The dot slowly moving across the map is the only thing that lets me know I am in fact making progress. Without the map I would probably be going insane right now.