Page 15 of Drakhana's Treasure
“Show me your dragon.”
Ten
Rastus
Ifollowed her scent.
She seems to trail smoke behind her. Something deep and sharp. There is a sweet, red incense that humans make from palm oil. It’s called ‘dragon’s blood’ and that’s what Kirralee smells like.
I spent the day fighting ice dragons. Not one of their business heads has contacted me and that’s actually working to my favor. With us butting heads like this over some of the most prominent businesses and real estate, it would be usual to have some kind of meeting. Other investors are getting nervous that the new guys in town are hard to pin down.
Having the new kids on the job has helped me out considerably. Zelena in particular is keen and never runs out of energy. After only a day, some of her clients are requesting she handle their portfolio exclusively.
I checked on them all today as soon as I left the board room. I’m still having trouble remembering every name but that doesn’t matter. If they all keep going like this, they will move on to their individual lives and I wont even see them anymore. My only job is to manage their first interactions and let them progress to independence.
The only one I cared about was Kirralee. I felt bad about yelling at her the night before. I was surprised that she stayed and even more amazed that she spent the day working. I followed her scent to the daycare center, then to the roof.
As the doors open, I see her leaning over the edge as if she’s being pulled towards the desert. My heart aches, a strange sensation gripping me in the chest and throat. The few words that pass between us make no impact on me because there is only one thing I want.
“Show me your dragon.”
I know it’s wrong. Of all things, this is the last I should be asking for. It doesn’t matter. All my years of hard won control are running off my skin like rain. My dragon is waking. My blood feels too hot. For the first time in my life, I’m out of control.
She shifts, right there on the rooftop. Her breath sighs out in relief, a little steam dancing at the edges. The blouse and pants tear along the seams and fall to the floor next to her ruined shoes. She turns her delicate snout to the wind and flaps her wings, welcoming the desert air into her scales.
The crimson and gold patterns adorn her slender sides, fading to gold across her belly. Shimmering lines meet on her back, exploding into firey red and edged with orange. She’s small and delicate, much smaller than my dragon form.
She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It isn’t just her features. In her dragon form she looks free. There is a confidence to her now that I have never seen. She tilts her head and one sly golden eye gives me a look.
My dragon roars inside me and I let it go. My expensive suit tears to shreds and a low bellow slips out of me as my body puts on tons of bulk within a few seconds. The pain is so intense that I almost scream, feeling my claws digging into the concrete as my two forms twist against each other.
When the pain finally starts to recede I stand up, stretching my back legs. My wings come up and catch the wind. Instantly messages from the desert come to me through the thin membranes.
I have to fly.
Kirralee blinks at me, then turns and lets herself fall off the roof. She catches herself almost immediately, long slow strokes of her wings taking her towards the plains. I step up to the edge of the concrete step and drop off the roof.
On the first flap of my wings, I feel like they are going to tear off. My eyes close tightly as my whole body resists it, clenching against the horrific, burning tension. I start to pump my wings quite desperately, trying to get some height. Breath blasts through my lungs, tearing at my throat.
I grit my long teeth together and fly as hard as I can after Kirralee. I can’t believe this. I’m going to embarrass myself by not being able to fly.
I realize that my focus on the human shape has actually been a way of protecting myself. It’s been a blind spot for me. What I thought was poise was actually denial.
I stopped trusting my dragon. I shoved it deep down inside myself. My thoughts blur as my eyes focus on Kirralee and my every cell pushes through the sky towards her.
I can’t control my dragon now. I close my eyes briefly as I let all my human thoughts slip away. Like the turning of the earth towards the sun my dragon half takes over my mind and banishes business deals, rows of numbers and basic human power plays.
All gone. Burned away. There is only Kirralee and the sky.
The pain in my unused muscles fades as we climb higher. She hides from me behind puffs of cloud and dives under my belly. Flares of fire spit from her mouth as she twists around me, laughing in a melodic rhythm that causes puffs of smoke to rise from her nostrils.
I simply can’t spin and twist like her. I’m ashamed. I can’t remember the last time I let my dragon out. This time, I had no choice. I killed my wild half, just a little more every day. Once Kirralee came along, my dragon would not be silent.
It was only content to die while it had no love.
Now, its going to fight for that love with every last inch of its being.
And so am I.
