This choice: Skip ahead to next week... • Go Back... One week later...
"Happy birthday!!" Ann, her parents, and Lyn's mom all said aloud, standing around Lyn, dressed in some of the clothes Kate made for her to wear around the house so she could walk about with her wings and tail free; a lime green tank top with a low back and some khaki cargo pants with a large tail hole in the back for her tail to go through. Lyn was sort of glad her mom had made it back for her 18th birthday. She had missed her last three birthdays and five Christmases, and it had caused some tension, but practically told off her boss this time, telling him she was going to be home for her girl's big leap into adulthood. The phone call telling her daughter nearly floored Lyn. "I think I'm fired!! Isn't that great!!" were the first words from Kate over the phone. She wasn't, but her boss still wasn't pleased.
As they ate the lemon cake baked for Lyn, the lights went out, and an ominous wind howled through the house, despite no windows or doors being open. When the lights came on, everyone saw a cloaked, armor clad figure with green hair standing on the table. Maya, Ann's ditzy mother, without skipping a bit, sliced off a piece of cake and held it to him, asking, "Cake?"
The strange gentleman scoffed, saying, "Do not deign bother me with your human foo... Wait, is that lemon?! Gimme!!" He greedily takes the plate and scarfs it down.
As he continues to devour birthday cake, Ann's dad Kyle asks, "And no one is calling the cops why?"
Lyn goes, "Seriously, I was going to ask that very question."
Ann leans over and says in a husky half-whisper, "I think he's a dragon in a human guise..."
Kate walks up and adds, "Exactly. I know him too. This is Ralguul, the envoy and vassal of Lyn's deceased father, and a keeper of ancient dragon lore. I've been expecting his return since I was to part ways with my beloved."
"Um, what's going on...? Mom?" Lyn asks, mouth half full of cake.
"I'll explain." Ralguul says, sitting down.
As everyone gathers around, he unveils a scroll with text foreign to all eyes but his own, and Kate's. "What's with the ancient readme file?" Lyn jests.
"Ha ha, I know I should get these things scanned over onto a tablet or something, but the old sages say human technology is blasphemy, so here I am, stuck hauling scroll around..." He shakes his head around. "Enough about that!! Back on topic here, you just turned 18, which is an important moment in a half-dragon girl's life."
"Wait, why the emphasis on 'girl?' Where's all the half-dragon boys on their 18th birthdays?" Lyn snarkily comments.
"As far as I know, there's never been such a thing as a half-dragon boy, so when I meet one, I'll tell you." Ralguul counters.
"Never?!" Lyn exclaims, surprised by this news.
"Anyway..." Ralguul coughs, "When a half-dragon girl turns 18, she must perform a set of trials to determine her fate, and her form."
"Form?" Lyn blurts.
"Don't interrupt. As I was saying, your form as it is, where you change into a full dragon when you become emotionally agitated or stressed, but otherwise lack any real dragon powers, is really a curse put on all half-dragons by a rare coalition of bigoted pureblood human and bigoted pureblood dragons who came together only because they hated the combination of their bloodlines even more than each other."
"What. The. Fuck." Lyn growled, scales growing up her arms, and on her cheeks, before Kate managed to calm her back down.
"Half-dragons, in their pure form, which are known as 'Ryujin," were beings that vastly outstripped many of the strongest human warriors and sorcerers and could shrug off most pureblood dragons claws and breaths like a mere case of of paper cuts and halitosis. It often took a cadre of great legendary humans or dragons, or both, of their time period, to stop a rogue Ryujin, but luckily, due to the rampant air or racist and religious dogma, Ryujin were few and far between. However, when Martin Luther nailed up the 95 Theses, views began to change. Change scared the old sects. As more new Ryujin were being born, a secret cabal was made to deal with the Ryujin, and further make them taboo. A curse was placed on the bloodlines of both races, changing things so all half-dragons born from there on out would be the half-dragons everyone knows full and well."
"Wait, if half-dragon girls could simply take a test to become Ryujin, then why bother?" Ann asks.
"Silence, human!! Let me explain!!" Ralguul barks. "See, it's not so simple. The key to this plan was to simply never tell them about the test. See, if a half-dragon fails to take the test, or refuses to take it, they would slowly devolve over the following weeks into full dragons, but a special breed of full dragons that have lost their sentient minds, and possibly their souls, a breed of exclusive 'breeder dragons,' dragons that only think about and exist to mate, breed, and perform carnal acts with anything that has a penis, all day, everyday."
Lyn couldn't articulate words of rage she was so pissed, clothes starting to rip as her hair began to pull into her scalp, torso coated in scales, and her height nearing 9', but Ralguul darts her with strange potion that mellows her out before she can transform any further, reverting her back to normal, and then presses on, saying, "That should repress your transformation ability for the next hour. I don't need you going all feral while I discuss this with you. Besides, now that you are over 18, the more you fully transform, the less you will revert and the quicker you head toward the 'breeder dragon' fate." Lyn looked sullen, but got the message. "Now, the trials require you to several things to prove yourself and break the curse. At the end of the trials you will have to make a choice, but first let me cover what happens if you fail the trial. You will remain as you are, and will be allowed to take the test again once more in your life, but fail to pass the re-trial, and well, a life of being a dragon whore for you..." He then looks deeply into Lyn's eyes and says, "Now, once you beat the trials, you should come to two doors, according to the texts. One will rip you in two and create a human you and a dragon you, and each of you will go your separate ways, end of story. However, the goal of all half-dragons is, and should be, is the other option, to become a Ryujin, because then the curse is lifted from you, and you become what were meant to be."
"What the hell is so special about Ryujin?" Lyn says, arms crossed.
"First of all, Like I said before, Ryujin are more powerful than either pureblood humans or dragons, possessing powers they could only dream of, powers only possible by combining the lineage of man and dragon. As a Ryujin, you could take on whole armies alone with nothing but a grin on your face. Ryujin are no longer subject to the uncontrollable transformations half-dragons experience... because Ryujin lack that power, or more importantly, don't need such a power. Other than the fact that, according to the ancient scrolls, your wingspan and tail will double in size, your visage will not change in the slightest, but your fingernails and teeth as they are now will become 25x sharper than the typical dragon claw and fangs."
"Wait... So I'll have a 7' some tail?! How will I hide it?" Lyn exclaims.
"I don't think you could." Kate says.
"Why the interest in me becoming a Ryujin?" Lyn asks.
Ralguul puts away the scroll and says, "It's what your father wanted. He said he didn't want his child bound to the curse, and hoped she would the prophesied one that could one day unite man and dragon."
"Unite man and dragon?! You have high hopes for me..." Lyn scoffs.
"That was another reason the cabal neutralized the Ryujin. A prophecy said it would be a Ryujin that ended the fighting between the humans and dragons, but whether by peace or bloodshed we are not certain yet."
"This is too much..." Lyn exclaims, pacing about the room. After a moment, she finishes, "I'll take your dumb trial, but only because I don't to become some vapid dragon bimbo."
Ralguul states, "Agreed. I will make the preparations. I will return in five days. Make your preparations by then. Until then, continue living your life as normal..." Just as ominously as he entered, he was gone.
Maya says, "Okay!! Who wants to open presents?!"  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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