Zenora, The Dragon's Fury
66. Sing a Long

We had decided that I wouldn’t do the talking anymore, if we came across other people. It would take us too much time, to explain again and again, that I’m not just an animal. So, I degraded myself to a stupid lizard, and laid down, each time Iris went up to talk.

We came across people, covered in sand, to blend in with their environment, shielding them from creatures that might attack them. We also saw a trading company with short people, no bigger than children, riding odd large goats. Then in the mountains, thin, tall humans rode raptor-like creatures, and beyond that, we saw humans riding black elephants, the size of big mansions!

Amazement struck us each and every time, but everything was drawn by Iris in her sketchbook, to have proof of what we saw. Also each and every time she talked to new people, she asked if they had seen a black Dragon, around that part of land.

I never intervened with her conversations, only growling every now and then, to make the suggestion of me being a feral creature. I even made fun of some situation, acting like I was going to eat Tanith, and Iris played the roll perfectly, by scolding at me, as if I was some pet that had to calm down.

We had laughed afterwards, as another group of odd red-clothed strict humans, were looking really weird upon me acting so strange.

Each and every day, we felt like we were getting closer, as the new group of people we talked to, had seen a Dragon in lesser time, than the group before that. It was no longer a matter of months or weeks, it was now becoming only a few days, that they have seen a black creature fly above them.

But as we kept on travelling further, each and every day we had travelled so far, that not even our maps were letting us know where we were anymore. Yet, there was still so much to discover, so much to fly to, that I got the idea that we weren’t getting anywhere.

It had taken us several days now, to travel across a desert, a land of ice, huge mountains and what not more, and not replaceing new people again. The delightful feeling we had gotten, from those people who had seen a black creature fly above them days ago, was gone swiftly.

Finally, yet unfortunately, we came across some other people, who said to not have seen a black Dragon for weeks! Then another group, who hadn’t seen a Dragon for months or years even!

So now our happy mindset, was becoming dreary, depressed and annoying even.

“Maybe we should head south now mom. We have a better chance of replaceing him, when we circle around the castle in a exponentially growing route. Because now we just fly wherever we want, without a plan, do you know what I mean?” Iris said.

“Yes, I understand you, lets do that.” I replied, and went south.

These were the only two things we had said all day.

The next day, was just the same. Iris or me suggested something, and the other replied. The rest of the day was silent again.

I had even begun to sing some old songs, humming them in my Dragon’s voice and after a while Iris was singing them along with me.

“And IIIII Wiillll alwaaayyysss Lovvveee you!!!!” We sang like two stray alley-cats.

Tanith however, just laid still on my back, not caring about all the musical notes we missed, and hissed in contentment every time Iris petted her head.

We flew straight for several hours now, until a stinging feeling started to grow between my shoulder blades. It began to become rather annoying and I was wondering what Iris was doing there.

“Iris?” I asked, but no reply.

“Iris? What are you doing?” I asked again, and now she grunted.

I straightened my wings, and tried to look behind me. There I saw Iris, burning up, flames started to grow, just like before, when I had to eventually carry her out of the castle. She was going into this heat again!

Quickly I flew downwards, and halfway down, even Tanith had to jump off my back, and flew herself down, as the flames from Iris became dangerous now.

I didn’t want to land actually, as we were flying above Orc’s lands now, but I had no choice! Her flames became stronger and stronger, and I had to do something about it! Where is Ayinthur when you need him! Stubborn shit of a lizard!

We landed and I gently tilted my body, so she would slide down from it, onto the ground. Her partially burned bags fell down on the ground with her.

The flames of course didn’t really hurt me anymore, since I’m a Dragon now. All I felt was a slight sting, as her flames became hotter and hotter.

I tried contacting Ayinthur, but he was still blocked.

“AAhhh!” Iris screamed, her Human skin isn’t going to take this for long.

“Iris, use your Dragon powers! Search for Ayinthur in your mind!” I yelled to her.

I could see her being confused, as she struggled with the flames and contorting her face.

“Just try, honey! I think you might have a better shot at replaceing him, than I can!”

Between some screams in agony, she managed to shout at me. “Why?”

“Because… Because you are destined to be with him! You and him are promised to each other!” I hesitated to tell her this now, but I had no other choice!

I couldn’t read her mind, as all my other powers were put to the background, at becoming a Dragon a few months ago. But I recognize a face, trying to figure out what is going on, from anywhere. Her mind was spinning in circles, tying up all those strange comments that Ayinthur had said to her, together with acting strange around her when she was with that boy Max.

Her feelings however, I could read. As she was confused, angry and worried at the same time.

“Don’t think to much about it! Just accept him, to be yours!” Shit, I’m barely accepting it myself, and now I’m trying to get my only daughter to connect to her lover. A Dragon, for crying out loud!

Her eyes shot open, and I’ve never seen such beautiful eyes, glow with the brightest of purples, ever in my life! Her chest heaved up, and a magnificent roar burst out of her lungs! It was so loud, that all creatures in a hundred-miles radius must have heard her. But even though it was that loud, it was beautiful to hear as well, it was as if she was chanting a song, an animalistic kind of song, without words or chords.

She roared a few times more, and with each beautiful tremble, that came out of her, I could feel something. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t a good feeling. An ominous shiver ran down my spine, and upon looking to all sides, clarifying my own thoughts, to make sure nothing was coming our way, something else happened.

Iris was suddenly quiet, she wasn’t screaming or roaring her Dragon’s song anymore. She wasn’t knocked out either, she just stood up, and lifted her head. Then, she started to walk into a direction, following something not being able to see for myself. And she did all this, while constant flaring flames, roamed around her slim body.

I tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t talk back, she just kept on moving, foot by foot. Tanith and I followed her, making sure that nothing was going to attack us. We were on high alert.

While her Human skin was now burned to ashes, falling on the ground, and she just kept walking with those flames around her, her Dragon began to surface more and more.

After a while, of walking on dry lands, and going around several stone hills, I could see where she was going. Of course, I know somewhere deep in my mind, that she was following her instincts, to replace where Ayinthur was. She knows where he is, and her body just pushed her to go there.

But it never occurred to me, that Ayinthur could have been in such a place as this one! I should have thought of it before, as the place that we were approaching now, happened to be a volcano!

And that ominous feeling, that I had earlier, hadn’t left yet. There was still something lingering in my mind. An aching twitch, waiting to become something bad.

A/n: Any songs, besides Whitney Houston, that I should have put in there? 😃