“You understand now, I see. Come child, wash yourself off and I will take a good look at you.”
I felt my senses return to me, and heard my heartbeat return to a normal level. Breathe in, breathe out. I looked over the dragon, my mother, once again, and then proceeded to look at our surroundings. We sat near the edge of a large clearing; mostly full of knee-high grass with a few rocks scattered about in between the sparse trees. Over a ways I could see a large pond, its water still and silent. What caught my attention the most, however, were the walls surrounding the clearing on all sides. They seemed to be naturally formed rock, but rose at least ten meters in all places. Above was an endless expanse of pale blue sky with a few wisps of clouds dotted about.
The ground shook slightly as my mother turned slowly and headed towards the pond, and I shakily stood up. I wasn’t sure of much, but somehow I knew with all my being that this dragon was my mother, and she would not hurt me.
I wrapped my arms around myself for a moment and felt a slimy ooze covering my skin. Suddenly, I shivered and felt the breeze, acutely aware of the disgusting stuff covering my body. She was right, let’s go wash off.
I took about two steps before something went in between my legs and I tripped face first into the grass with a thud. Rubbing my nose with my hand, I felt a rough spot on my skin, taking a look-
A clawed hand lifted me gently into the air and with a burst of speed I was dumped into the pond.
“Hmph. I suppose the Elder did say they would trip over their own tails right after birth. I am sure I never did.”
Dragging myself out of the water, my mind fixated on something my mother had said.
Tail?
Reaching out behind me, I grasped about until I found a rough, scaly thing attached to my lower back . Bringing it around, I looked at my tail for the first time. It was a darker red than my mother’s scales, but it shone in the sun nonetheless; stretching out almost a meter in length, thick at the base but thinning out into a sharp tip at the end. Tentatively, I lashed out with my new tail, feeling it whipping around, and finding my slightly different than normal center of balance.
Well I guess it’s normal for a dragon to have a tail… right…
“Of course! The rest of you might look abnormal, but your tail at least has a nice sheen and looks strong! You take after me that way, fufufu.”
Distracted by my new tail, it took me a moment to notice my hands. Both were covered with the same hardened scales, changing into normal skin midway up my forearms. My palm and underside of my arms seemed the same color as my normal skin, but were rougher to the touch. And, on each of my fingertips, a very deadly looking talon curled slightly.
Ah. Of course…
Overcome by a sudden urge, I walked over to the water’s edge and looked at my reflection. A perfectly normal human looked right back. With a tail, scales and claws of course. My legs were the same as my arms: claws and scales ending midway up my calves. My hair burned a deep red, different from the plain brown I remembered it being, thought it fell down past my shoulders the same.
Inspecting my hair, I quickly noticed another bundle sitting on my back. Feeling out with new sensations, two damp wings awkwardly unfolded from their spot between my shoulderblades. As I did, a light breeze swept over me, and I was torn from my spot and tumbled backwards, caught by the wind.
“Do not worry, child. You will grow into your body in time. For now, eat, I suspect you are hungry.”
Sitting up, I gave the dragon sitting next to me a sideways glance; she was definitely enjoying this. I may not know how to read a dragon’s expression, but she sure as hell sounds amused.
My thoughts were once again interrupted as my mother dropped something in front of me. With a loud thump the cow’s corpse came to rest unmoving at my feet. A pair of dead eyes stared past me, and two ears ruffled slightly with the wind, both deeply marked by claws.
Oh god what the… is that real?.. I know I’m a sucker for a good burger but this is too much-
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A loud growl sounded through the quiet landscape, signifying that my stomach had betrayed me. I can’t possibly eat this… raw…
“Does this not suit you? These beasts are a natural meal for us, child. I have never heard of a squeamish dragon.”
The large reptilian head glided over to my side, one eye inspecting me.
I’ll be sick if I-
A loud grumble once again came out, and before I knew what was happening my mouth tore into the leg of my meal. Ripping back I realized my teeth had also changed, sharpened blades much like my mother’s. Blood seeped down my throat and I swallowed the meat.
...What just…
I looked down at the cow corpse, and started eating as fast as I could. For a few minutes, nothing but the sound of ripping and chewing could be heard in the field, as I mindlessly devoured my meal and my mother watched me expectantly.
I had eaten about half of the cow before I sat back, full and satisfied. Did I just… What just came over me?
“Fufufu… You are a dragon, no matter what other blood also runs through your body. If a dragon is hungry, it eats. There is no need to think. Hmph. You have a lot to learn now, and I expect nothing less than greatness. You are the daughter of Rehm, and your ancestors have flown over this land since before the Great Wars.”
My mother, Rehm, I suppose, stared through me once again. Without moving her mouth, she continued.
“We are home for the moment. This is my den, and now yours as well. We hunt in the lands around us. Do not disturb the humans and their walled cities, but you may eat their cattle and any other beasts you find in the forest. Understood?”
Ah… wait… There are humans near us? Uh, Rehm?
“Yes, child. Since the Great Wars, there has been peace between the humans and the dragons, but this den resides in human territory. As long as you do not disturb them or fly near their settlements, they will not bother us.”
O-Ok. Oh, uhm, my name is M-
“Fufu-your name, child? You do not have one, not yet. You shall choose one at the next gathering, so fret not. Until then, you are ‘child’”.
Rehm’s eyes glinted in the afternoon sun and she seemed to grin - insofar as a dragon can grin. I sighed and wiped my still-bloody mouth with the crook of my elbow, before deciding to quickly dip into the pond and wash off. I was getting better at walking with my tail at least; as long as I kept my wings folded on my back. Emerging from the pond, I walked back and sat shivering in front of Rehm.
Uh, Rehm? If I can ask, what was that feeling you showed me earlier, the warmth you sent through my body?
“Yes child, please ask anything. That was my mana that I sent into you.”
Mana?
“Indeed. As your mother, we share a connection that goes further than blood or appearance. Dragons of kin are linked by their mana, and so I channeled my own into you to. It is how were are speaking so easily; telepathy with dragons not your kin, or other species would be much too difficult for a newborn like you, child.”
I see. So, I have mana? I can do magic??
“Fufufufu… Such a silly question, my child. Of course you can. You are my daughter, and besides that you are a dragon. All dragons have the capacity for magic; we are not like some lower race where only some individuals have mana. In time, you will outgrow the strongest mages and sorcerers of any lower race.”
I can… I can do magic! I may be some sort of half-human half-dragon abomination that likes eating raw meat, but I can do MAGIC! Maybe my luck is finally turning around!!!
My luck, huh? I went silent for a moment, thinking back to before I broke out of my ‘egg’. Feelings, sentiments, faces from my past life swirled through my mind, too many things to grab ahold of, and seldom anything concrete. My name is Mia - not anymore, I suppose - and I was a 17 year old human from Virginia. Alright, there’s some concrete information. I had shitty luck, died, went to some office building and was sent here.
Thinking harder, the details only seemed to get more hazy. Although I‘m pretty sure I was supposed to still be a human. Ahhhh~ my head is starting to hurt.
Breaking out of my fuzzy thoughts, I turned to issues more closely at hand. I have wings, claws, a tail, daggers for teeth. My mother is Rehm, a dragon. I am also a dragon. Kind of. We are talking through telepathy magic, and I have mana in my body. I ate a dead cow.
…This isn’t really helping.
Uh, Mother, how do I do magic?
“Hmm, aren’t you eager. Alright, close your eyes. First we must find the source of your mana in your body. I shall help by sending some of my own mana into you. Feel the directions my mana flows and find the point it turns on.”
As she had said, I felt a small but steady stream of warm, cozy ‘mana’ cascade through me. For a moment I just sat there, letting it wash over everything; but before long I could sense a spot where the flow was disrupted. Around this spot the mana swirled and collided before continuing on. Focusing on the spot, I suddenly became aware of a very weak stream of something - mana, thinner than Rehm’s and with a different feel. It felt warm, like hers, but instead of cozy and safe it burned like muscles after a good run. It was rough and unrefined, but I knew it was mine.
Eventually Rehm’s mana left my body entirely, and my small stream of mana grew to try and fill the void. It felt like it was coming from my stomach or the base of my back, but at the same time originating from somewhere outside my physical body.
“You have found it then. Now let us try something simple, a magic that is second nature to dragons. All you must do is focus on the mana in your body, open your mouth and visualize breathing it out. Nothing more.”
At her instruction, I opened my mouth and breathed. Instantly a small spout of flame burst in front of me, maybe a meter in length. Surprised, I snapped my jaw shut and felt the mana-infused fire swirl about and dissipate. Surprisingly to me, it didn’t hurt at all.
“Excellent, child. For you and I, breathing fire requires nothing more than an exertion of will. In time you will need not even visualize the flow of mana. Other spells may require more concentration, time, incantation, but you are a dragon. You are made of flesh, blood, and magic. It is what you were born for.”
WIth that, Rehm turned her head upward and opened her maw. Rows of jagged teeth glinted in the late afternoon sunlight, and a serpent-like tongue flashed among them. She closed her red and yellow eyes as a thirty meter long sword of fire cut through the air, heat distorting the air into wavy patterns.
Her mouth closed and our eyes met, her’s seemingly dancing with laughter. Settling back down next to me, we spoke about magic and dragons and everything in between, until the sun had dipped past the stone walls around us and the sky turned the color of our scales. It was not until Rehm laid her head down, encircling me with her body that I realized how tired I was. I fell asleep shortly, and dreamed of a great dragon burning down an office building in the sky.