posted
Hello all, my name is Gin, and no that is not like the beverage. It is a form of Gene, or Jean, or even Gina. It seems my human parents lacked the ability to spell. Too bad really, the name made me the butt of several jokes when I was a young human. Now, in my true form, I own it; delight in the effervescence and uniqueness of such a name. I am dragon. Being dragon is a wonder, a joy, a new way of living. You humans must try it, and if in fact you are interested just ask, and I will be glad to twinkle you in a breath. I am the emissary to the guard, or more correctly, I continue my relations with my husband, the commander. My Henry. Yes, I am the rare sort. How many women among the humans could resist changing their husbands? Ha! You want them to pick up their socks, and I want to give my immortality. It is proof positive of our superior intellect, the evolutionary theory, that I resist giving the singular kiss to change both of our worlds forever. In my world, love lasts through changing. Love is forever. Nevertheless, my Henry, stubborn as always, insists on maintaining his humanity, and I honor the truce set forth from the dragon king Oldrick the Merciful.
How do I look? I look fabulous. My scales have a violet sheen and my wings are light and gossamer. I look my best in the light of the moon. I am the same size, and weight mind you, that I was as a human. I am serpentine, silent, and beautiful.
Fear? In my world, there is a lot to fear. Dragons are creatures too bent on learning, philosophy, and study to thrive in this violent world. And the light! I sleep during the day and at any moment those humans, and the guards with their hatred, could smash into Ellery, and kill us all with a blaze of fire. We hold them at bay by our treaty and propaganda and the power of suggestion and, of course, with the slow and steady flow of magic.
Yes, the dragons hold magic. We hold, caress, and dance with the magic. The way humans use magic is so crude and instinctual. They club at the world with their magic. Dragon magic, much like our humor, is higher, more intellectual, and …ah… more complicated. We also have the cost of magic. The more we use magic the more we lose our intellect, our soul, our being. We become nomads, uncivilized, and dangerous. Especially toward the humans. The guards have a heavy duty to save our world from the nomadic dragons. We honor their sacrifice from afar. Henry’s boys are deadly.
We civilized dragons look to the humans the way you might an infant child. We cannot have children the way humans do, much to my dismay. My Henry and I never had children. The most beautiful thing is the hatching of a human child. We raise the child deep in the city, and I spend most of my time with those sweet hatchlings. That is where you will find me when I am not with Henry and the guards, or reporting To Oldrick.
The day is coming, on Winternight next, that my world will change. My Henry will hatch, as he has finally found a replacement. A female of Arowyn blood to lead the guards and honor our truce will set us free. My Henry and I will be together again. Together as equals, as partners, and yes, as dragons.
posted
Were you afraid to become a dragon before you hatched? Did you even know what was about to happen to you? Was it one of those wild dragons that did it to you? What happened to your human parents? Do you have dragon parents now? Could you go back to human if you wanted to? Do you ever miss it?
Wow, what a complicated and interesting world!
(I feel sorry for Connor. You don't know him yet I bet, but give him some slack, and keep your distance!)
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited September 17, 2008).]
posted
When I hatched there was a lot of pain and fear and loss. Yes, I knew of dragons, but I did not know I could become one. It was the common belief of the humans, then, as it is today, that dragons eat humans. I feared the idea planted in the human collective, as I did not understand the reality. I did not understand the freedom this change would allow me. I was young and married to my Henry. This was more than thirty years ago. We lived in the village Arowyn. I was from Frenil, and an outsider… No… I need to start earlier. Henry and I met… No earlier still. There was a human man named Oldrick. He was a preacher who dabbled in medicine and herbal cures. He was at the deathbed of a small boy who burned from a strange fever. No one among my people knows the cause. It is the common belief among the civilized dragons of my town that the illness was a mutation. Evolution at its greatest. The child died despite the preachers great efforts. He breathed in the virus as it expelled from the boy’s last breath. The airborne virus did not kill the preacher, but endowed him with the magic. He believed the miraculous healings that followed to be the work of God. The virus had not fully evolved yet, and with every hand the preacher touched or body he healed, the virus passed airborne. Those who were infected had the same virus that the guards carry now. They also had magic, but could not spread the virus with there breath. Some used the magic in greed, and others piety. Soon however, the magic used them all up, and the dragons were loose in the land. Oldrick saw them as an abomination. The embodiment of the devil himself. He formed the guard to defeat the dragons in the name of God. Soon however, he too reached the end of his humanity. The oldest dragons remembered the old preacher Oldrick and his merciful healings. They petitioned the other dragons, and made Oldrick the Healer our king. Henry was a member of the Guard when we met. He gave me flowers for my hair, and had the widest smile you have ever seen. We married and moved to his village in Arowyn. The guard held no treaty with the dragons then, and their commander, the great Oldrick was missing. We did not know at the time he had hatched. Oldrick returned to Arowyn to tell the guards what had happened. That the monsters they hunted, were in fact their wives and families. However, Oldrick still suffered from his first infection. His breath was the strongest, and as he petitioned those in Arowyn for peace. His breath hatched all there, myself included. Henry was with a smaller contingent of guards defending Graysill Township. Hatching is not comfortable; after all, anything worth having is worth paying a price to have it. Your muscles solidify under your bones and force its way towards your brain. That change is the worst of all. It feels as though someone sticks a dagger at the base of your brain. But when the pain subsides you shed your human skin as a snake would. My human parents lived in the town Frenil. I defended them personally until father died from a sickness, and mother seemed so depressed from his passing. I changed her myself and she lives near me now in Ellery. She paints. Do I miss being human? Yes, not the human part, the weakness the limited mind capacity, but I miss being equals to my Henry. I miss kissing him, and touching him without him not being revolting at my touch. I miss my hair. Is that vanity? I had long brown hair that glowed in the sunlight. Moreover I miss sunshine. Light now fills me with fear, but I remember associating sunshine with warmth and safety, and happiness. I would like to return to human form on occasion, especially during the day. I have talked with those who study our nature, and asked if it is possible to change back to the humans. The idea was answered with more than a touch of animosity. Because our change is because of a virus, reverting to human is healing from dragon. No dragon likes the thought of that. That this gift, is actually a virus, not evolution, but a mutation. One scientist studies the virus in secret. Maybe one day she will be able to heal the disease. But the question then is what would be the cost? Who would volunteer as a subject?
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited September 18, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by shimiqua (edited September 18, 2008).]
*** my writer says, Watch your mouth, Fiona, or you're going to break the rules of this place. ***
Yeah, I know I'm blunt. And I'll shut up if I have to. But I just have to wonder why people don't hate you dragons for being so stuck up. How come you love raising children so much, if you're just going to look down on all humans for being oh so backwards?
What do you mean by Henry has found a replacement? Did you finally convince him to be a dragon too? Or did he decide it for himself?
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{Ew. Sorry, but ew.} *** I totally agree, My subconscious is a weird place I guess. I don’t know where these ideas come from**
May I,
**My bad, sorry Gin**
The humans do not like us much for taking over their world; I doubt my pride would shift their perceptions too far. Yes, I have pride, vanity, and confidence in my abilities. You have to understand that human’s greatest traits transfer over as they hatch. These traits are amplified in a dragon. For example, a human who could build a chair, in dragon flesh would be able to build complex architecture and gilded thrown. I envy the humans, though, for their versatility. Only the strongest talents transfer. The human who could build a chair could also bake a cake, write a story, and love his family. We are better in quality, but humans beat us in quantity of abilities. I am sorry for insulting you humans. I thought this was a place I could speak my mind clearly, I do apologies for not thinking of your feelings. I am afraid my tact did not hatch with me, but my compassion certainly did. I could have forced Henry long ago to take on the dragon life. I respect him respect his wishes. He chose to stay human to fight against dragons instead of joining us, joining me. He has lived, half dragon for thirty-three years now. Thirty-three. We have both searched for a replacement for him. The world needs someone of Arowyn blood who will outlive the average soldier. Someone to direct the guard’s hatred in helpful ways, as an iron fist to hold together the rivers of anger. There have been others tried, but this Joi holds great promise. We have great hopes for her. Henry wants to be dragon. He longs to be free. His blood has reached the end of its fight, and if Joi cannot lead, we have less than a year before he hatches to find a replacement. Her brother Andrew perhaps. The easiest way to think about it, Fiona, is as a scale. Ha! No pun intended. A full human, no infection has red blood, and no ability to use magic. A guard, or infected humans blood ranges from red to blue hue and can use magic. The more they use the magic the darker their blood turns. Dragons are much the same. A newly hatched dragon has blue blood. As we use our magic, our blood turns towards green. We lose that which came with us, our humanity, our strength, our intellect. Even our memories. We become like animals. Uncivilized nomads. This must happen, because in my world using magic has a heavy price. The price keeps us grounded.
posted
Huh. I dunno if there's a scale of magic where I come from. Magic is stronger when lots of people join together with united purpose, but I don't know if there's a limit to what could be done. More like the limit is the people, 'cause everybody has to believe the same thing, and not have divisions and distrust amongst themselves, and how often does that happen?
I still don't get how magic could corrupt strength and intellect. Is it because you dragons get too sick with power, and forget it's people you're doing magic on? Do your brains get fried by all the energy running through them, so you can't think straight anymore?
What exactly has Henry been leading? Why does he fight against dragons, and doesn't that piss you off? What is Arowyn blood?
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