Damsels and Dragons

Chapter 1 - Changes

My stomach interrupted my reading. It had been a week since Linda had visited. She'd never been away this long, and I… well the tower doesn't have any food left. She always told me to never leave the tower. There were bandits, wolves, and monsters everywhere and I could only be safe inside the tower.

Linda of course was a mage. She could venture out and get food for us. In fact she spent almost all of her time away, she only visited me every couple days to deliver food and to make sure I was safe. Apparently braving the wilds was really hard even with her magic.

I hopped down from my reading nook and went down the stairs to the kitchen. I knew there was no food last time I was here but well, maybe I missed some… Nope still nothing. Alright, what's a scrawny young adult supposed to do. Well in my books heroes always venture to face the dangers in the world, defeat witches and slay dragons. Maybe I could go look for her.

I needed to pack. If I was finally going out I needed everything I could get to face trolls, demons, and tax collectors. I wasn't sure what tax collectors were but the one book said they were very bad people taking from the poor to give to the rich. The hero did the opposite and saved the whole town!

I gathered my things. I didn't have a bag so I just stuffed everything in an old potato sack. I even knew where Linda hid her spare potions and grabbed all three. I knew I needed a weapon but nothing inside was very good, I'd need to find a really big stick outside.

O-Outside. Oh no. Could I really handle it out there? I'd only ever been out of the tower once and Linda saved me from a deer! Thinking of going out made me feel really scared. I ran and hid in my nook and reconsidered. Reading was my escape from everything. The terrors outside the tower, those feelings of wrongness from my body, I hated my body it felt awful but I'd never read a story about a character experiencing this. Lind had told me it was nothing and to just be happy I got to stay safe in the tower.

The next day my stomach was getting painful. I couldn't keep myself here any longer. I grabbed my things and tried to go out but… the door was locked… from the outside. Linda did that to protect me because what if a bandit came by. With the door locked they wouldn't be able to get in.

I guess I could use a window. The first floor ones didn't open so I'd need to jump out a higher one. Using a trick I learned in a book where the heroine used her bedsheets as a rope to leave a room her evil step mom trapped her in, I escaped!

I went to find the biggest stick I could carry. Armed and ready I set off into the forest with a stick in hand and a sack on my back.

I thought about all the monsters I'd have to face but that quickly became overwhelming so I switched to thinking about meeting another person. Linda was the only other person I'd ever met. I wonder what names they'd have. People in books always had interesting names. Unfortunately Linda told me my name once and well, I hated it. I tried using other names but the only one I liked wasn't for a boy. I really didn't want to use the name Linda used but I couldn't think of what else I could do.

I heard a twig snap, I turned and saw it. A large menacing deer with big antlers for slaughtering its prey. I ran I was scared. My feet carried me as fast as they could even though the ground was rough and I didn't have shoes. Linda said if I'm inside all the time I don't need them.

I wasn't watching my footing and tripped my sack coming loose. My stuff spilled forth some on me some all over the ground. I felt a potion vial shatter against my shoulder. Glass cutting into me as the liquid spilled on me. I didn't know what kind of potion it was, but I hoped it was a healing one because the glass cut me up bad and I think I sprained my ankle.

A heat started to well up inside of me. The glass slowly got pushed out of the wound. My whole body felt like it was on fire because I was on fire. Engulfed in flames, my bones ached and shifted I felt something break free on my back. New sensations came from the end of my spine. It was so painful that darkness consumed me.

Waking up was odd this wasn't my bed. Looking down I saw dirt because I was outside. Oh crap I was outside! Uh, I looked around but my body felt odd. Everything looked much smaller too. My neck moved all wrong, I couldn't stand upright, and turning around I saw a tail!

Um, what was in that potion… I moved to try and look at myself better. I had black scaly arms and legs the scales also covered my torso and tail, and part of my wings. Oh I have wings too…

I screamed but it came out as a roar. I turned into a monster! Not just any monster I looked like a dragon. A dragon with shiny black scales the color of late twilight with the glimmer of stars and a tinge of purple. That explains why everything looked tiny.

I searched around for the vicious deer. I seem to have escaped its evil clutches.

Looking down I tried picking my stuff up but well… my claws tore everything up. My clothes were shredded by my sharp claws. The sack too. At least I left my books at home, I'd panic if I destroyed them too. At least I didn't need clothes. At least until I find Linda and get her to undo the potion effect.

My stomach rumbled reminding me of my goal. Don't starve to death! I'd just have to figure out how to do that while cursed to look like a dragon. I really hope I don't turn back nude. So off in search of food. I have no idea which berries are safe and I don't know how to hunt so I need to find people. Towns usually have markets in books with lots of food.

My wings bump into a tree and remind me, I have wings! What if I flew around. I bet I'd find a town really fast. I tried flapping them but the forest was dense and well… I didn't know how to fly. I guess I have to walk. I kept my head low because otherwise it was constantly hitting branches.

So I now a very big dragon crawled through the forest in an attempt not to hit every branch in my way. The ground shook beneath each step, and my body was pushing trees out of the way the smaller ones bent and broke. Well at least if Linda manages to come back she'll probably see my trail of destruction.

I occurs to me that if I find a person they might think I am on the side of monsters. I'm sure if I explain everything they'll understand. Nice people always understand cursed heroes. So I needed to practice talking as a dragon.

My tongue was all weird and my mouth was shaped different, and my teeth felt pointy. Talking was hard. I had to learn to make the familiar noises in a new way. My big voice was a bit lighter than I'd thought it'd be. Normally when dragons talk in stories they are described as having deep powerful voices. Mine was strong and powerful just not super deep.

I must be really lucky since I haven't seen any bandits or other monsters besides the deer. The world was full of them according to my stories and Linda.

I was getting really tired, I hadn't eaten in days, and now I was a big dragon. I needed a nap, just a short one. I lowered myself and curled up. My eyes closing for just a bit.