Draconia - An MCU Story

2 - Ritual

I stepped into the darkness of the rock work and felt the pathway snap shut behind me. For a second it was pure black and I fumbled around to try and find my way. I spread my arms out and let my flat palms touch either side of the cavern walls as I slowly stumbled onward. A sharp piece of slate grazed across my hand and I recoiled in pain. I could just make out a large gash tearing across my skin. As if on cue, small braziers fixed to the walls lit up one by one to illuminate my journey.

Come daughter of Draconia.

Nursing my now sliced left hand, I slipped through the narrow passageways in complete awe. Glyphs littered the walls in Draconian tongue that I had yet to grasp and understand from my studies. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing but my feet seemed to have a mind of their own. They continued to tread their way ahead until I came out into the heart of the cavern. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the sight of the exact illustration I had seen in my book the day before. A golden leafed tree blossomed around a running stream icy blue water. Unable to fathom what was happening, I stepped down into the water and let it soak through my jeans. My bloodied hand drifted against a soft current that kept the water moving as I stared up at the tree before me. A chill started to pick up and the leaves rustled as the aqua liquid started to run a deep red. Puzzled, I looked down at my cut hand and quickly retracted it from the water, realising that the blood from my wound had started to dissipate into the stream. The crimson colour spread all around the tree and the leaves also started to shift in shade. It was as though the tree was sucking up the nutrients through the ground. I suddenly felt dizzy and waded out of the water and towards the tree. My foot steps became heavy, as though I was tied to the Earth and I collapsed in front of the trunk. Rolling onto my back, I gasped for air and red water droplets began to rain from the ends of the leaves above. They fell into my open mouth and patterned my skin as my eyes rolled back into my head.

'Draken has been awakened.'

A strong puff of air blew against my skin, itching my cheeks. I managed to open my eyes a crack, stomach feeling as though it had turned over and over in somersaults. A pair of bright green eyes stared down at me and I couldn't hold back a scream. As my voice reverberated against the cave walls, the eyes vanished from view in thin air. Shooting upright, I skittered backwards and bumped into the tree. The leaves that had previously coated its every branch were now scattered on the floor, grey and crumpled. The stream was dried up, just a dirt filled moat surrounding me. I could feel my heart pounding a mile a minute as I felt a presence within the cavern with me.

'Wh-who is here?' I called out, acutely aware I had nothing to defend myself with. From behind the trunk of the tree a long winding neck came into view and the two green eyes flashed back on like headlights in a street car. Its scales were an iridescent black, purple at some angles and it stood at around 7 feet tall. Four huge thick legs kept it grounded to the Earth and a long spiny tail wrapped around the tree like a snake in the jungle. My blood ran cold as it came practically nose to nose with me and huffed a breath of air into my face again from its giant nostrils. A dragon. I couldn't even muster words as it stared at me, blinking slowly and shifting the large wings on its back. It was as though it were waiting for me to do something.

'Seal the bond daughter of Draconia. Reach out to Draken.'

The deep voice in my head seemed to echo all around me as I nervously reached out and touched Draken between the nostrils. As my skin made contact with his, a purple flashed suit began to morph to my skin. It looked as though it were made of dragon scales. Its reptilian form wound around my body and covered me up to my neckline. I suddenly felt stronger, more powerful. Draken huffed approvingly before offering me his back to sit on. Instinct drove me forward and I gently climbed up to rest at the base of his neck just before his wings. He let out a victory cry before pushing down all his weight into the Earth and bursting upward through the rockwork.

'Ahhhhhhhh!' I screamed, clinging onto him and clenching my eyes shut as he pumped his wings harder and harder to pull us up out of the forest and above the clouds. I managed to take a peak down at the ritual cave to see it fully caved in and destroyed before shifting my gaze upward to what was now the night sky. How long had I been unconscious for? The moon stood bold against the glittering stars as Draken began to cruise against the current of the wind.

'Night flying could be a new hobby of mine!' I smiled a little, patting his neck gently and taking in the view. He flew around for a few more minutes before returning to the ground close to the gate where I had parked my car.

'So how does this work dragon? Sorry, I mean Draken.' I asked, sliding off of his scales and thudding into the ground. What normally would've broken my ankle was now just a slight judder through my bones. Draken couldn't respond to my question, he just stared at me with a gentle demeanour.

'Okay so I didn't get talking to animal powers... that's a shame.' As I wandered over to my car, Draken padded his lumbering weight behind me.

'Oh no buddy, you can't come with me. Everyone is gonna see you and freak out!' I exclaimed, stopping in my tracks. He did the same, thumping his tail a couple of times on the ground impatiently.

'If only you could turn invisible or something...' I mused. As if on cue, Draken shifted his scales in the opposite direction to which they naturally lay and vanished before my eyes.

'Woah! Can I do that too?' Focusing on flicking the scales of my suit, I closed my eyes and channelled my energy into hiding in plain sight. Upon opening them, I found that my legs had successfully vanished but the rest of me was still visible. Draken appeared again and puffed loudly at me.

'Hey it's gonna take me some time to get used to this! Come on, let's try and get back home I guess... but you have to remain hidden.'

Bemused and tired, I got into my car and turned on the ignition. As my wheels crunched on the gravel below, Draken took off into the sky and vanished from view again. Still in awe of what had happened to me, I tilted my head back into the seat and sighed apprehensively. Maybe the outlandish stories in the texts at the museum weren't so crazy after all.