You're the dragon, not me

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 20682

"Beats me," Belboz answers Fred's question with a shrug. "You're the dragon, not me. I told you that this would be a big change from what you're used to. Now if you don't mind, I have some very sensitive spell components in here that don't react well when exposed to eighty gigawatts of electrical energy. You'll have to figure your new body out elsewhere."

Fred the Blue Dragon begins to protest, azure eyes widening. "But-" he rumbles. Before he can say anything more, though, the necromancer lifts his arm and seems to trigger something. Before he can blink the newly-minted dragon finds himself back in the tunnels with the necromancer's study behind him.

"Just be careful not to attract too much attention from the dragon," Belboz says from behind the purplish-green shimmer of an energy barrier that now blocks the entrance to the necromancer's study. "Not before you're ready, at least. And don't forget what you owe me once your quest is complete."

Fred the Dragon grumbles and twists his long, scaly neck around in time to watch the necromancer casually go back to work and is startled by the expanse of blue, winged dragon he sees right behind him! He tries to jump to readiness, twisting his bulk around a little too quickly and accidentally smashing at the energy barrier with his tail. An electrical jolt runs up the new limb along his spine, sending confusing pain sensations from all parts of Fred's new body to his brain. In addition to the pain there's another sensation welling up inside him, and when he gives a yelp of pain his voice is the deafening roar of too-close thunder as the air in the cavern is superheated by a powerful bolt of lightning.

"Please do your training elsewhere. There are much larger caverns a short way down the tunnel to your left," Belboz says without looking up. Fred, meanwhile, is staring, jaw agape, at the small crater and charred smudge on the rock wall where his breath attack hit. His nostrils flare at the surprisingly not-that-offensive stench of ozone. Fred twists his neck around to take a look at himself again, feeling embarrassed by his involuntary reaction to his own iridescent-blue backside. Seems Belboz was right - it'll be more than just flying and lightning-control that he'll need to get used to.

"Er..." Dragon-Fred booms, not having found his indoor voice yet, "left. Right. Thank-you."

Fred tries to stand upright to start walking down the indicated tunnel, but a sudden pain at the base of his tail and a rattling KLAK when his horns hit the low rock ceiling quickly remind him that dragons do not move through stone tunnels bipedally. He gives his head a shake as he picks himself up off the floor, this time keeping all fours on the ground. Like a common animal, his thoughts grumble to himself. The sound and the feeling of his tail dragging on the ground as he walks is grating and uncomfortable. After walking down the corridor for several body-lengths he twists back to look at himself and his tail again. With a little bit of focus, Fred is able to figure out which muscles are the ones in his tail well enough to lift it off the ground - and what a difference that makes!

As he sets off down the tunnel again he can feel the tired, old, cynical, dragon-slayer part of him give way to the younger, more idealistic part that had bubbled up when Belboz offered this amazing gift. Check me out! I'm a blue dragon! Shazaam! He turns his head and snorts at the rock, hoping to blast it with lightning again. All he produces this time is air and a few flecks of dragon-snot, though. A small frown crosses his long face before childish excitement sets in again. I'll figure it out soon.

"Oh, Fred. I forgot to mentio-" Belboz says, looking up just as the arrowhead tip of the blue dragon's tail disappears around the bend in the tunnel. "Nevermind," he finishes to himself. "Probably not important anyways."

  1. Unfortunately, it WAS something important
  2. It wasn't anything that Fred couldn't figure out on his own

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Sam

10/8/2013 3:01:29 PM

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