dragon archives 05 - forever a dragon (24 page)

“Lleland!” Aaron’s voice cut through his thoughts, and Lleland reluctantly turned to look at him. Aaron’s tone held a note of command that Lleland could not ignore. “Tell me your name,” he said. Lleland glanced around the room, seeking another way out. Something swished over the floor, thick and black, but Aaron was speaking. “Your name,” he demanded again. Lleland could not understand the need to give his name. Aaron already knew who he was. “Lleland! What is your name?”

“Lleland Seaton,” he growled.

“What are you, Lleland?”

Lleland snarled. “A hunter,” he said. He leaned forward. “I hunt monsters like you.” Behind him Zach snorted.

Aaron’s expression was implacable. “What else?”

“What else?” This game was getting tedious. “I’m …” Who was he, again? He tried to think. “A Master,” he said, “at … at Kings College.”

“Good.” Aaron nodded in approval. “What do you teach?”

Lleland closed his eyes. Who cared what he taught? “The classics,” he finally said.

“Name them.”

“Why?” Lleland leaned forward and glared at Aaron. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Lleland, I need you to remember who you are. Think.”

Lleland turned away. He had no wish to remember such irrelevant details. His throat burned and he longed for something to soothe it. He looked around the room again, but saw nothing that would satisfy. Something else caught his eye. Reaching to the ceiling he saw a pair of wings, as black as the night. He stared at them for a moment. He could see at a glance that they were strong and powerful. He looked at the window again.

“Lleland! Look at me.” Lleland turned back to Aaron. “Think about who you are,” he said. “Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in your classroom.” Lleland closed his eyes, but he could not picture his classroom. All he could think of was black wings. “Tell me what you see,” Aaron said.

“Dark wings. Long black tail. The fiery breath of a monster.” He opened his eyes. “I’m a monster,” he said. He laughed, and flames filled the room, blackening the dark stone walls. He could feel their heat, and he basked in it. “I’m a hunter,” he said. He turned towards the window and threw himself forward, but before he could even reach it there was a flash of light and Aaron was towering over him, his huge body blocking the window. Lleland roared in frustration. He wanted to escape. The tail swished over the ground, thumping against the walls, and flames filled the room once more.

“Lleland!” Through the haze, Lleland recognized the urgency in Aaron’s voice. He recognized something else, too. Aaron was no weak dragon, easily overpowered. He was strong – stronger than Zach or any other dragon Lleland had seen. He lowered his gaze. “Remember who you are,” Aaron said. “Think of your mother.”

“No.”

“Your mother. Tell me her name.”

“Anabel,” Lleland said reluctantly.

“Describe her to me.”

Lleland shrugged. What did Aaron want to know? “A woman. In her sixties.”

“You took her to the country.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She …” Lleland paused, trying to remember. “She was scared of the dragons.”

“You were worried about her?”

“Yes.”

“Are you still worried about her?”

Lleland thought about it for a moment. “Yes,” he finally said.

Aaron nodded. “Think of her, Lleland. Remember how much you love her and want to keep her safe.”

Lleland closed his eyes as Anabel rose in his mind. Her face was pale as she stared at him. He threw back his head as something ripped through him, breaking him apart, and he fell to the floor on his hands and knees. His hands were shaking, and his body felt as though it was on fire.

“What just happened?” he whispered. He looked up at Aaron, still towering over him. “I saw wings, and a tail … oh, God, no.” There was a flash of light, and Aaron was crouching in front of him.

“Lleland, look at me.”

“I felt …” His voice trailed away.

“Lleland, you’re a dragon.”

Lleland’s head snapped up. “Impossible! That’s impossible!” He stood and stumbled back. “No, you’re wrong!”

Aaron gave him a sympathetic look. “You know I’m not.”

“But …” Lleland glanced at Zach, watching impassively. “I’m human! I hate dragons.”

Aaron gave a wry smile. “Yes, we know that. But that doesn’t change what just happened. You took on dragon form.”

“How could that happen?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a grown man turning. Are you sure your father wasn’t a dragon?”

“Of course not! Jack ate him.”

“Hmm. Then I think it must have something to do with the blood Jack gave you.” Aaron tapped the side of his leg with his fingers. “You were just a child, and from what you say, he gave you a vast amount of his blood. It must have started a change within you.”

“Then why has nothing happened to me before?”

“Lydia’s blood probably served as a catalyst.”

“Of course,” Lleland said bitterly.

Zach jumped down from the window. “It makes sense,” he said. “He hadn’t reached puberty when he met Jack.”

“What does puberty have to do with it?” Lleland asked wearily.

“Dragons only assume their natural forms when they reach puberty,” Zach said. “You must know that.”

“How would I know that?” Lleland snapped.

Zach laughed. “I thought you were the expert on dragons,” he said.

“Enough.” Aaron glared at Zach and he fell silent. “Zach’s right,” he said to Lleland. “When dragons are born they are, externally at least, human. It’s only as they reach puberty that they manifest the signs of their dragon-ness. The blood Jack gave you must have worked the same changes within you that a dragon child experiences. But since you were not fathered by a dragon, the changes could not reach fruition.”

“Until Lydia forced me to have her blood.”

“Yes.”

“But it won’t happen again unless I have more dragon blood.”

Aaron shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see if the effects wear off.”

“They will,” Lleland said, with an assurance he did not feel. But contemplating himself as a dragon was just not an option. He sighed, wincing when flames filled the room. A wave of weariness washed over him. “You must rest,” Aaron said. “You’re still recovering from your injury, and now this. Zach will remain here.”

“Why?”

“In case you fly out the window and attack the village.” Zach grinned. “Perhaps a hunter will kill you.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Lleland said.

“It seems like an appropriate kind of comeuppance,” Zach said.

Lleland turned to Aaron. “Are you sure he won’t murder me in my sleep?”

“Zach knows better than to incur my wrath. You’re perfectly safe.” Aaron walked over to the door, where he paused. “You belong to us now,” he said, before disappearing down the passage.

Lleland dropped down onto the bed. “You don’t have to babysit me,” he said to Zach.

“Actually, I don’t mind,” Zach replied. “Tell me, what did it feel like?” He pulled himself onto the window ledge.

“Confusing. And hot.” Lleland groaned. “Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse.”

“Well,” Zach said cheerfully, “now you’re also a monster, just like us.”

“Never,” Lleland growled. “I’ll never be like you. This won’t last.” Zach was silent. Lleland lay down on the bed and curled himself into a ball as sleep washed over his exhausted body.

Chapter 27

Lleland awoke in the late afternoon to see Lydia sitting in a chair near his bed. He could smell her scent – like an alpine meadow filled with sweet berries and bluebells. He stared at her for a moment, breathing her in as heat washed over him. “This is your fault,” he said, his voice low.

She lifted her gaze to his. “I had no idea this would happen.”

“If you’d listened to me and not given me your blood –”

“You’d be dead,” she finished.

“Rather dead than a monster,” he snarled. He rose to his feet and pulled a blanket around his waist. “Get out,” he said.

“Lleland –”

“I said get out.” She stared at him for a moment, and he could sense her pain. His desire to comfort her battled with his anger, but it was the anger that won. “Go,” he said. He watched as she slipped through the door, then let out a long breath. He shrugged his shoulders. His skin felt hot and itchy again, and his throat was dry. The door opened and Zach walked in. “My babysitter is back,” Lleland said.

“It was me or Lydia, and clearly you don’t want Lydia.”

“If it wasn’t for Lydia, this never would have happened,” Lleland said.

“If it wasn’t for Lydia, you’d be dead,” Zach replied.

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t have mourned my passing.”

Zach shrugged. “Believe it or not, I actually like you. I was disgusted to learn you’re a hunter, and when I heard you were here, I was furious. Still, I don’t despise you, even though you tried to kill me.”

“Kill you? When?”

“In the hills, just after Christmas.”

“That was you?” Lleland rubbed a hand over his forehead. “Who was with you?”

“A relative.”

Lleland nodded slowly. “The man at the inn. Your cousin.”

“Yes. But it doesn’t matter.”

“You didn’t know I was a hunter then.”

“Not then. At first I thought you were nursing a resentment about your father, and I accepted your explanation that you hadn’t gone to the hills to hunt.”

“I hadn’t.”

“I did wonder why a scholar would spend so much time perfecting his skill with a longbow, but then, why shouldn’t you? It wasn’t until the end of term when we were discussing our summer plans. You mentioned something about other hunters, and I started to do some digging. But you conveniently omitted to mention that you were coming here.”

“I knew you would dissuade me. I came here to see your father. The League thought he had information that could help us.” Lleland laughed dryly. “This isn’t quite what they had in mind!”

Zach walked over to the window. “They’ll want to know what you discovered. What will you tell them?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Our safety lies in your hands.”

“I know.”

Zach was silent for a moment. “Have you tried changing again?” he finally asked.

“No.”

“Then how do you know if you’re still affected?” He cocked his head to the side. “Come on, give it a try.”

“How?”

“Just imagine yourself as a dragon. Feel the heat and power.”

Lleland had no desire to take on dragon form again, but he saw the sense of Zach’s suggestion. If he didn’t try, how would he know whether the effects of Lydia’s blood still lingered? He drew in a deep breath and concentrated his mind on the dragon form he had glimpsed earlier.

The heat within him pulled towards his belly, starting as a small circle of flame that began to blaze as the heat increased. He closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the burning intensity, then flinging his arms wide, pushed away the heat as it exploded outwards in a blinding display of light and flame. He opened his eyes and glanced down at his chest, startled to see how black it was, before twisting his long neck to look at his massive body. Sharp spines marched down his back and along his tail, which rested on the floor. He lifted it and thumped it against the ground. It gave a satisfying whack. His wings were folded over his back, and he opened them gingerly to the extent of the room. He could feel muscles straining that he had never felt before. His wings were as black as coal, like the rest of him, but shimmered in the light. Facing forward again, he bent down. He could see the long curve of his neck, smooth at the front, but with more spikes along the back. He lifted a hand to his face and examined the black talons that had been his nails. Four inches long, they curved like the blade of a scimitar, ending in wicked points. Within his belly, the embers that had been smouldering before he changed became a burning blaze. They filled him with power that sparked and pulsed throughout his huge frame. He opened his mouth and flicked his tongue. It was long, with a forked end like a snake. The air was filled with emotions that he could taste – his own excitement, and Zach’s amusement. He swiveled his head to glare at him.

“I didn’t need to change to know the blood was still affecting me,” he snapped.

“Well, no,” Zach admitted. “But now you know what you look like. If you’ve finished admiring yourself, let’s go flying.” He tugged off his tunic.

“No.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “You’re being stubborn.”

“I won’t be like this for very long, so there’s no reason for me to go flying.”

“But in the interests of scholarly learning, shouldn’t you at least see what it feels like?” Zach said.

Lleland sighed, and the room filled with flame. He would have to learn how to control that if he was going to remain like this for even a few days. Once again, Zach had made a good point. “Very well,” he said. Zach tugged off his breeches and jumped onto the window ledge. Lleland could see raised ridges along Zach’s back that he hadn’t noticed before. Zach leapt, and a flash of light filled the air. A golden dragon hovered outside the window.

“Come on,” he said.

Lleland looked at the window, then threw himself forward, folding his wings tight against his body. The window frame scraped his sides, and then he was through and falling like a rock. He opened his wings, and his descent abruptly stopped. Zach was already racing into the distance, and instinctively, Lleland pushed himself forward, gaining speed as he caught up. The ground below flashed by, but Lleland’s senses were acutely tuned. He could hear the chittering of squirrels as they leaped between the trees hundreds of feet below, and when he glanced down, he could see the smallest detail, down to their twitching whiskers.

He glanced behind him, and already Storbrook was disappearing into the distance, although he could still make out all the details clearly. Lydia was standing at one of the windows, but as his gaze fell on her, she turned away. His tail, thick and black, streamed out behind him, and his wings, stark against the blue sky, were opened wide like a canopy. The wind rushed over him, and he could feel the pressure beneath his wings as he lifted himself higher.