The dragons had won through sacrifice. The Darkness was expelled from the land and Its physical body was destroyed so all that remained was its’ shadow. Anywhere the light touched, its form would burn, so it creeped down to the pits of eternity where no light would reach. There the primordial ooze churned and enveloped it. There in the pitch black it would meditate and plot its revenge on the dragons. Years passed, and the outside world moved forward. The Darkness faded from memory along with the dragons.
The Darkness sat there biding its time, and it slowly started to feel fluid. It was no longer just a shadow, it was slowly gaining form. It felt as though daily it was getting stronger. It decided it was time to leave the pits. For eight days it journeyed to the surface. It came to the edge of the long and winding cave. The sun was out. It tried to leave but the sun burned as it hit. The darkness, stayed in the cave until the sun went down. Once it was out of the sky, the Darkness stepped slowly forward. It was finally free. It did not know how many years it had been away, but it knew it was time to regain control. It looked around. It was in the middle of the forest. It looked up to the cloudless night sky. Blinking lights moving across the sky startled it. I have never seen stars act in such a way.
The Darkness moved underneath a tree. It placed its hand on the trunk. The life force of the tree began to drain into the Darkness, leaving it decayed and withered. The Darkness could feel itself growing more powerful, but slowly. It decided to test its limits. It already knew the sun would be the biggest hinderance, but needed to see if it could do anything else or if it was going to be stuck in its ragged form forever. It sat on the ground. It could feel the life force of the tree squirming inside of it. Slowly, it reached down deep and started concentrating on what it could do with that small amount of power. It turned into a small field mouse, yet completely black with purple eyes. This should be quicker for now, but I feel completely drained. I need to learn how to control this better, but first I need to feed. It started running through the darkness of the forest.
Fandral woke from a deep sleep. Sweat covered his brow and his breathing was heavy. He had never felt something so evil move in his whole life. He looked at the clock. It was flashing 6:00 but that just meant the power had went out at some point in the night. He looked out the window. The night was still dark, but the man knew he had work that needed to be done. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He went to the bathroom, and then put his blue jeans and boots on. He grabbed a flannel shirt out of his closet and made his way downstairs.
He was buttoning his shirt as he reached the bottom stairs. He could hear the tv in his father’s room. It was faint under the hum of machines that helped the man sleep. He peaked through the door to check on him. Sure enough, fast asleep. He could see the gentle rise and fall of his father’s chest that let him know the man was still alive. He turned and went to the kitchen. Once there he started himself some coffee and toast. He poured himself a thermos full and grabbed his coat and headed out into the cold early morning.
He knew he had to fix a fence way out on the property. He slid into the front seat of the old family truck, and took off driving across the property. The headlights showed him the smattering of animals here and there as he drove across the pastures, careful not to get anywhere near them. The ranch was large, so it took a bit to get to the edge of the property, and by the time he got there, the sun was peaking over the horizon.
The edge of the property itself wasn’t so much as needing to be fenced for the neighbor’s sake, because there were no neighbors this far out, it was more about keeping the animals contained. There was nothing but wilderness out this far. Fandral exited his truck, walked to the bed, and checked the wood and tools in there. He looked out over the property, He loved the early morning feel, the complete tranquility of the world before the bustle of the day. He took a deep breath in and filled his lungs, and turned to start pulling the wood out.
When the bed was empty, he looked to the fence. He took a step forward and his head began to swim. He felt sick. What’s going on? I felt fine just a few minutes ago. He sat down on the bed of the old truck and looked around. He felt as though he was going to retch. He didn’t want to do that near where he would be working or walking around at, so he started moving the opposite way. He felt he was a decent bit away from the truck and work area, he bent over to try to see what would happen. He felt a jerk in his stomach and he fell to his knees. He knew he was about to be sick all over the place. Nothing came, he dry-heaved and that was it. Slowly though his body felt as though he was on fire, and the muscles tightened under his skin.
“AAAGGHHH!” He screamed out in agony. He looked down at his hands, and as he looked he saw one by one as the fingers elongated and contorted into powerful claws. His skin felt dry as cracks ran up and started transforming into scales. He could tell he was growing in the light of the morning sun. It felt warm on his skin, as though he was absorbing the heat. The next wave of pain came as a spinal ridge rose down the center of his back. He lay flat on his stomach screaming, but no one would even hear with how far out he was. He took a deep breath as the pain abated. It’s over…finally..it…A third wave of pain hit and this time is was as each side of his back split open down the length. Wings started sprouting from each split. The muscles were pulled and released in uncontrollable spasms. His body felt like fire in a physical container. The fourth wave of pain came as he felt a tail sprouting from small of his back and his legs bunch up into powerful haunches, but none that came before prepared him for the final wave. It was in the fifth and final wave that his face transformed. It felt as though someone took a baseball bat and started smashing his face to bits before reaching down and cupping it to start molding it into the visage of a dragon. His body hit the ground. He couldn’t bear the pain any longer. He blacked out.
He didn’t know how long he had laid there before his eyes opened. What the actual fu…that was a crazy ass dream. His eyes opened, and he saw that the sun was high up in the sky. I must have needed more sleep. I need to get this fence finished and head back to check on dad. He moved to push himself up, but he felt as though he weighed over a thousand pounds. His body moved weird. He looked down at an angle he shouldn’t have been able to look at. He was now fully a dragon. I must still be dreaming. I must still be dreaming. He didn’t feel any more pain from where he had transformed but here he was. This is crazy…I must be dreaming.
He knew there was pond nearby, so he decided to go to it. He stood, and his body didn’t know how to handle the size difference. He tried to walk, but couldn’t balance himself. He stumbled multiple times as he tried to move forward. He was making no progress and it was starting to become frustrated. “AAARRRGHHH” he let out as a scream, but a stream of flame accompanied the cry. His first breath of flame burned his throat. Not in the way of hurting and being caught on fire, but as though he was drinking a harsh liquor. Ok, I’m going crazy…. I’m a bonafide fire breathing dragon. My psyche must really be starting to break. He tried moving again with the mindset of being this huge animal and taking it slow. He made it to the pond and looked down into the water to see his reflection. Staring back at him was the monstrous face he was expecting. Golden saliva dripped from his maw, and his eyes were sharp and piercing. He dipped his head into the water and it felt cool. I need to concentrate on being human. I can’t go back to the house like this. He lowered his hulking body to the ground. There was a rumble as it hit. I need to be more careful with that. He thought on his human form for what felt like hours. Finally, he felt his body start to shrink. The transformation was still painful, but he knew what to expect so he gritted his teeth through it. His human body was returned to him. He looked around and realized his clothes were shredded from his body during the transformation. He ran shakily back to the truck and grabbed a blanket that he kept behind his seat. He wrapped it around his waist. An entire day wasted. I need to get to the house, so I’ll finish this tomorrow, and I’ll try to transform again tomorrow night. With that he got behind the steering wheel and drove back to his house, mind awash with everything that had transpired.
