Master of Dragons, Part 1 (complete)

Perhaps it was the small room, or perhaps it was the crackling in the air, or perhaps it was the two Athelstans, one now named Venrir who had changed shape, but she was a tad bit overwhelmed.

Just a tad bit.

Venrir moved towards her, arms open and ready to embrace her again. However, she quickly side stepped him. His ruby colored eyes glinted with pain, but only for a moment. Ah, she felt guilty. And it wasn't like she didn't like it? It was just surprising. “A-After I know what is going on, you may…” Which word did she use? Show affection? Cuddle? Wait… Should she even allow such acts? Well, unlike the doctor’s gross hands, she enjoyed the contact made with Venrir, just like she enjoyed the hug with Elric and Vivva.

It was a moral dilemma that could be saved for later.

“Alright, we will explain everythi-“ Venrir started, but was hushed by Athelstan’s harsh gaze. “Fine, fine, within reason.” He switched, his ruby eyes rolling as he turned his back to Athelstan. Athelstan sighed, his fingertips touching the fur on the wall. Another portal opened, beyond looked to be a lake of green water, long purple grass, and blue skies.

“I need fresh air,” Athelstan had begun to rub his temple with one hand, the other outstretched to the portal. “Go. All three of you.” She watched as Venrir stepped into it, no hesitation. She kept watching as the man took a few long strides, then sat down in the grass, facing towards the portal. He held his hand out, then motioned forward. The grass swayed around him, and he looked all too comfortable with stepping into the unknown.

However, she had a bit more hesitation than he.

What was it, truely? She used the word portal, but from her understanding, no such magic existed except in fairy tales. She knew select Landborn could wield magic, but most magic pertained to elements, barriers, and blessings. Occasionally, a Landborn would be hired by nobility to cast spells on their lands, such as long lasting flame. A few years back, the Lord of their city hired a Landborn to place a protective barrier around his castle. Taxes had been raising steadily since, but that wasn’t the point, now was it? She stared at the portal, then looked to Athelstan who was slowly growing more rigid in posture.

“You.” Athelstan glared at her, his beautiful eyes alight with flame. “Go.” He once again motioned at the portal. “Now.” Each word was forced, and curt. It was her dragon who ended up following his command. She hopped from her arms, landing on the floor in a small thunk, and bounded into the portal at full speed.

Without a second thought, she followed the small dragon, arms outstreached ready to scoop the beast up.

Then, she felt the soft grass under her feet, making her pause. She blinked, feeling the wind caress her skin. The air was humid, like rain was coming. It smelled like grass, earth, and flowers. Her dragon made happy pipping sounds, now rolling in the long grass. The little dragons tongue lolled out, before she hopped up and made a playful lunge at Venrir. Venrir laughed, standing up and getting down on all fours. What was he…? Her little dragon made a mix of a yowl and barking sound at Venrir, who smiled, pointed teeth showing.

“Let me join you, little one!” Venrir barked out, and suddenly he was becoming bigger once again. The sound of tearing filled the meadow, the air becoming heavy as his clothes ripped from his body. His arms became longer and angular, a second pair of bones popped out from the skin of his back, so he now had 4 wing like appendages growing. A layer of skin attached from his sides to the tips of the wings as they became longer and longer. Long feathers sprouted from the batlike skin, covering his wings in gold and obsidian scale like feathers. His body kept getting bigger, his skin of gold shifting and hardening into scales, his obsidian hair now becoming two rows of long spikes along his spine. Her legs knocked together, her heart squeezing in a mix of fear and awe his large wings opened, blocking the sky beyond them. He was huge, the size of a small mountain. The span of his wings seemed to touch from horizon to horizon, they were now the sky.

She knew he was a dragon now, there was no way he was anything else. But, his form was different then her little dragon. He only had two legs, and his tail was much longer than her dragon. Where her dragon only had two wings, he had four, and no arm like appendages. The wings of her dragon were batlike and thin, where his were covered in feathers that matched his scales. His colors were also vastly different then her dragon. Each of his scales were glistening gold, but looked as if they had been dipped in obsidian. Large horns sprouted from his forehead and curled around his head like a ram. Large spikes trailed from between his horns and down his back, between his wings, all the way to the tip of his tail. He growled, his throat lighting up with red between the scales. Fire? Then, he flattened the obsidian spikes against his scales, his wings now closing around them and encasing them in a world of gold and obsidian

Her little dragon yipped happily, before bounding at the other dragon. She was going to reach for her, but stopped. Venrir would not harm her. The little dragon was perhaps the size of one of his smaller scales, yet she watched as the small dragon head-butted the larger dragon’s foot. The other dragon rolled onto his back, as if the smaller dragon had pushed him over with her miniscule head-butt. How… Adorable.

“It seems that Venrir is leaving the explaining to me, the lazy low life.” Athelstan sighed. She jumped a bit, eyes trailing to the man that now stood beside her. It looked like he closed the portal while she was watching Venrir change shape. The red head was now glowering even more, if possible. His pale lips were taunt, and his eyes narrowed at the larger dragon. “At least become smaller you oaf.” He called out.

Become smaller?

A humming laugh came from Venrir, before he began to rapidly shrink. The grass laid flat from his large form, but he was now the same size as her dragon. Did all dragons have such shapeshifting abilities?

She watched as her dragon attempted to pounce on Venrir, but he suddenly rolled away in a form of a ball. How did he? Oh, he tucked his tail and curled his wings around himself to make a ball like shape. And, he was using the mobile black spikes to propel himself forward. Her dragon pounced again, and he made a very sharp turn using the black spikes.

Was this really the same man who was being so friendly with her not long ago?

Her dragon attempted to become a ball as well, but it failed rather horribly. She had curled her wings around herself, tucked her tail and legs in a rather awkward lump, but was not able to take off as Venrir did. It made sense; she did not have the same spikes he did along his spine. While she did have a few, they did not seem mobile like his.

“You better ask your questions now.” Athelstan growled, now dropping to lay in the grass. He glared at her, then nodded beside him. Understanding, she took a seat. He was an odd mix of friendly and aggressive, which meant it was a bit hard to keep track of how she should interact with him. “Ask.” He now had his eyes closed and seemed to be relaxing just a bit.

But… Where did she even start?

Her dragon was now running after Venrir, who was still in the form of a ball and easily doing loops around all of them.

Well… She thought dragons only had one form. There was only one book on dragons, and Elric had only been allowed to borrow it for a few days due to the sensitive information in it. In that book, it said dragons had four legs, and two wings.

“I th-thought dragons only had one shape?” She started with. Athelstan sighed, as if explaining was annoying. Well… It probably was. She after all, did not know much.

“Dragons come in many forms. Some only have four legs, no wings. Some have five legs, no wings. Some have no legs, and many wings. Honestly, it is up to them how they leave their egg. That idiot over there?” He pointed at the rolling ball, which suddenly launched itself into the air with its spikes. The feathers, which she could see was some type of scale now, suddenly pointed outwards in all directions. He looked like a sea urchin! Then, all the feathers laid flat as he began his decent to the ground. He was a round ball again as he hit the grass. “He chose that form, for whatever reason.” Athelstan laid his arm across his eyes. “They keep growing, never stop. But, at some point they can start taking other forms. When I met Venrir he was in his human form and was probably a few hundred years old.” He finished. Surprisingly, his tone was not a growl, or curt. He seemed rather calm compared to earlier. Perhaps it was the air? It was rather peaceful here. She looked to her hands, the purple glow of the swirls bringing her attention. Ah, the marks. She should ask about them.

“What are these marks?” She pointed to her hand. Athelstan peeked out from under his arm, then sighed. Resigned, he lifted the sleeve of his shirt up. What was he…? Suddenly, glowing marks of crimson trailed across his skin like a blaze being set. It swirled beyond his sleeve, and up to his neck and onto his face. He had them too? But what did they mean-

“It means we are bonded. Those two chose us for whatever reason. The larger the mark, the more magic the dragon gives you. He sat up, mossy eyes on her as he took off his shirt. Across his whole body were swirls of crimson. “This is proof of Venrir’s affection for me. If he was to revoke it, I would rapidly age and die. I have long lived past my normal life span and have stayed this way only because of Venrir’s decision to keep bonded to me.” He smiled, yet it didn’t reach his eyes. “I have been here for a long time. And will remain here for a long time, Verrine. As will you.” He laid back down, shirt off, and arms folded under his head. “I will teach you how to hide them, but not now. Now is to enjoy the sun, the earth, and answer questions.”

She had a lot of questions to be answered, at least. But, it was nice to see a less grumpy Athelstan. He always seemed so angry when she met him in the caravan. “Why would you die, if he revokes the bond?” He said he has been around for a long time, but that could mean many different things. 10 years? 100?

“Our bond is what sustains us after we have lived our original life span. I was only supposed to live maybe 60 years, now I have been around for 300. We will often stay at our peek age when we have become a bond. Such as, I was only 10 years old when Venrir chose me. I aged until I was 25 and then suddenly stopped. Another one we knew, he was an old man, a long-lived Landborn, yet he regressed and became 100 again. It all depends on our peak, really.”

“Why does the bonding ex-exist?” She asked. It seemed odd, that all powerful beings such as dragons would choose humans or Landorn as companions. Could they not just do what they wished?

“Dragons have one rule, they cannot change the outcome of the world directly. They choose us to abide by their will and do the things they cannot.” Athelstan’s tone was becoming slightly annoyed again. Oh. That must have been why… Venrir did not do anything during the goblin attack.

How terrible it must it have felt, to watch people being murdered, and not be able to do anything? Judging by the portals Athelstan makes, he probably wasn’t around either.

She had a lot of questions answered, yet, still had so many. She sat, thinking. What did she ask? There were so many things she needed to know. But… She seen magic beyond anything she thought possible, and met another person who had been around for 300 years… But… Why was the world the same? Why were Landborn still being sold as slaves? Why were woman treated as property? Why was there so much corruption?

“Why… Don’t other bonded people try change the world?”