The Dragon's Cry

And now, it has boiled down to this situation ... After all, this madness could only have continued so far....

What is Silvera to you? Who the hell is Beyno? Neither of them has any importance in your eyes, which are at this moment constricted into narrow lines.

You feel the rage within you as the sloping brow bone that sticks out from your skull becomes long narrow horns. You can hear your jaw crack as your neck elongates into dragon form, your teeth protrude over your lips and the bridge of your nose flares out into a dragon snout.

Your size increases rapidly. Your shoulder blades part from the center, your spine elongates, and your pelvis descends without any pain, all because of an inherent bodily reaction to dragon-form: whenever you turn into a dragon, your transformation is accompanied by the release of endorphins. Hence, any peeling of the skin, snapping of tendons, the stretching of bones, or the apparently painful release of your enormous wings, is all accomplished without discomfort. You are compensated in every action by the likes of this phenomenon.

Your size has grown nearly ten-fold. Already your full dragon shape has barely managed to squeeze within the walls, and it is a struggle to fit. Your wings are bunched tightly against your back, which is currently bent and twisted like a wound-up spring.

Your head, which has grown to the size of a few wine barrels, is barely within half a meter of the three persons before you: Silvera, Beyno, and the King, each staring at you with an exclamation, are crowded against the wall as your dragon size consumes space.

Beyno, still clutching his knife to the King's throat, stares into your lizard-like eyes and is frozen in that position: he has not yet blinked since your transformation. Silvera, who stands over Beyno and the King with her hands ready to attack both, glares at you in anger. The King remains petrified in the chair he is tied to, doing nothing but looking up at you from under your jaw, his eyes sunk deep in their sockets.

With a sudden lifting of your back and neck, you press down with your tail and your large dragon talons, and extend your wings outward. The force you produce forces the walls to shake and the ceiling to crack along the corners and seam. Even the floor gives in slightly to your power, which results in an imprint of your claws. Plaster and wood burst around your rising body; stone, too, breaks and the roof begins to part in the center.

Beyno flees into a corner, while Silvera surrounds herself with a shield to block the falling debris. You lean your head over the King and cover him with the breast of your body, protecting him from any impact of falling debris. Brick and building materials fall upon your body and then to the ground.

Eventually, even the corner where Beyno has sought refuge is destroyed. A gaping hole in the wall and ceiling has opened from your fury.

You stand now, rising over the King, and fully extend your wings wide in the dawn air. You raise your head up to the heavens and release a terrible dragon roar. Leaning on your haunches, you stand with outspread wings. The sunrise and fading moon form a background to your imposing form. The mountains rumble and the valleys echo with the sound of your shriek.

With Beyno clutching the stones of the floor in fear, and Silvera standing defiantly, you rise to full height. Your claws retract, and with the accuracy of an eagle's eye, you snatch the chair and King while flapping your wings for lift off. Dust falls from under your wings like sparkling crystal, gently showering the King while the force from your propulsion keeps Beyno and Silvera at bay. You continue to flap, and the force becomes increasingly stronger, enough for you to fly.

You lift off, shrugging off arrows loosed from the castle towers until you find a thermal and begin to climb. You have instinctively tucked your captive against your belly with claws facing out. You lower your head and extend your tail until your body has taken the shape of an arrow. With your mind free to wander now as you glide, you carry the King in a huddle, and fly away from the town.

Where will you go?

• Fly to the mountains and interrogate the King.
• Fly to the valley and interrogate him there.
• Fly until you find a better place to land and then interrogate him.

Things to consider while writing in this branch

1. What is the King's connection to Silvera?
2. Is the King weak? Why would people think him so?
3. Now that Shree knows Silvera's name, what will the repercussions be?
4. What will Silvera and Beyno do, now that you have run off with the King? Will we even see them again at all?

• View your choices

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