이무기의 복 (Mourning Bride)

24. Blue and Gold

At first, there was nothing.

Then a rush of everything hit San.

Underwater, he transformed, his body growing anew to its familiar form. He expected it to feel as natural to him as breathing to shed his human skin and return to who he was supposed to be. Yet, he never seemed to stop growing. Even after he thought it was done, his bones multiplied, his skin stretched and formed until he felt his dragon form was nearly a third bigger than he usually was. The antlers on his head sprouted, the long whiskers coiled around his face, and his scales smoothed out along his massive body. Sharp like knives, his ridge cut through the water as he coiled and grew into his new adult body. Claws the size of small horses slashed through the disturbed liquid and they were as deep blue as the depths of the ocean.

A noise bubbled in San's throat, one of energy and freedom. When he breathed it into the water, it came with a rush of cold air that sent the fishes around him scurrying. His blood throbbed and pulsed in his veins, and his two hearts beat in tandem as they soaked in their new glory.

The pond offered little space for him to move in, but part of San's brain that wasn't astounded with his new abilities knew where to find it.

When his head surfaced from the pond, a stream of water cascaded down its smooth sides. It trailed along his antlers and whiskers, caressing him with awe and welcoming him in his element.

San breathed the night air as a proper dragon for the first time. Rows upon rows of sharp teeth parted in his elongated skull as he inhaled it. Silver in the night sky, the stars reflected the golden hues on his dark blue body.

His body dipped and convoluted through the water as he looked down on himself. The deep hue of his scales was new to him, but nothing he didn't like. His ridge was still golden, as were the linings of his scales. His massive antlers had gained many new branches that glowed in the same pearly manner as before.

San looked at one of his claws, at the four digits it had now. He clenched and unclenched them, overjoyed to welcome his own thumbs.

His head swayed to the right where the crowd of humans stood and stared up at him in wonder. His body encompassed the entire pond and slid between the surface and the depths without creating much disturbance. The constant movement captivated their mortal eyes.

San wanted to see everyone, wanted to greet their terror and their respect.

His claws hooked on the balcony of the pavilion as he slithered up its side. He wrapped around the building once, twice, before his head surfaced above its roof and towered above the crowd. From up here, the court looked much tinier than it had felt for a human body. Like ants, the humans peered at him, unmoving. Only that the actual ants in the earth celebrated the birth of a new dragon like any other animal.

San's tongue flicked out to taste the air. The humans feared him, but their reverence sustained their hope.

Enormous golden eyes searched the bridge. Words sprung at him, words written in their language.

"Welcome, dragon king," it read.

Something like humour passed San as he took it in. The stab of sarcasm disrupted the enthusiastic delight that had him wanting to surge through the skies and inform the land of his presence. Nature, the skies, even the very air filled with the spiritual energy of hundreds of creatures celebrated him. In their midst, San glowed in their praise.

San searched for the human he was bound to. His eyes passed the man with pink hair who was beautiful even in his shock, passed the letters written on the bridge. He found his human kneeling on the hard wood, his body strained and shaky as he forced himself to keep his head low, though shivers wracked his body. He was scared.