Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 17 (1/3)

The sun disappeared over the horizon and in a snap of light, it was gone and day faded into night. I was back at the tail end of Fred's group, but we were returning to the Caverns now.

I remained on the ground for the rest of that training exercise. It wasn't Fred who gave the order though, it was Tony. I could tell by the way the rest of my group flew ahead of me that they expected something. I did too, in a way, but I wasn't as worried about it.

It seemed like the longer I remained a dragon, the less my human life mattered to me.

I needed to change back.

Above the caverns, one by one the groups ahead of us swooped into a large open entrance on the backside of the colony. My first time entering the caverns this way, I knew not what to expect, until it was our turn.

The land below me tilted as I tucked my wings in closer to my body and we dove in with the others. Rocks zoomed by until they were cut out by a lack of light. For a mere moment, I began to fear the darkness around me but then the walls of the cavern began to flicker and my eyes caught sight of the torches that lined them.

A river of black below me, I could only see the far sides of rock around me, and the trail of dragons ahead. The tunnel curved and the dragons I followed rose sharply. My heart jumped when a sheer cliff shot up in front of me and I pumped my wings to soar above it.

My speed cut off from the sudden shift in direction, I hesitated in flight. The dragons all around me had already landed on the ledge there and so I joined them. The rocks below my paws were cool and damp, but I could hardly see the world around me beyond the many dragons who's forms were slowly turning human.

My head shifted around me awkwardly as I tried to find something to focus on while they changed. My transformation took a split second. I didn't want to rub it in their faces. Then another thought struck me.

The last time I had returned to a human form, it was because I was forced to. Did I even know how to do it on my own?

My thoughts raced as I tried to figure out the complex code that HAD to be the method of transformation, but after only a moment of standing there, I felt a heavy weight in my chest from the exhaustion of the day grow. It brought me out of my thoughts, and once I focused on it, I could feel a pull. When I followed the pull in my mind, it triggered something and my form washed away like sand.

It took my breath away and I gasped out and dropped to my knees as a human again. After a moment of catching my breath, I saw most of the others were done their transformations and had left. All but my own group remained.

Fred took a couple of unsteady steps in my direction and held out his hand.

"We're all still getting the hang of it here," he told me.

I smiled softly, took his hand and was pulled to my feet.

"We're headed to the baths if you want to join us," Jen called out to me and I noticed her, Sarah and Susan were already headed towards an open door on the far end of the room.

My mind questioned their willingness to invite me instantly. They'd never taken the opportunity before, so what had changed? Was it because I could transform now?

I pushed the thoughts away, and nodded in reply, my mind still churning. But with my now human eyes, I could see so much more. The ceiling was much farther away. The entire space was endlessly large. There were torches everywhere, and as a human, I could see fine, but it had been so much dimmer as a dragon.

I let the thoughts pass through my mind and instead turned toward the door and caught up to Jen, Sarah and Susan. Fred waved as I passed and I felt something different from the lot of them. I wasn't sure if it was because I had broken the rules and gotten into trouble, or if it was because they had met me as a dragon.

No matter the difference now, at least I was welcome as one of them for once.

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