The Guardians

Chapter 3: The Transformation

"Lilly, wake up!" Lilly was shaken violently from the pleasant dream she was having and stared into the eyes of Avery. Her friend looked scared out of her wits.

"What! What is it, and how did we end up here?" Lilly asked as she looked around. They weren't in the cavern anymore they were in a lovely garden of flowers as far as the eye could see and there were all kinds of flowers like roses, lilies, daisies, and poppies. There were a few trees scattered everywhere.

"No time for sightseeing Lilly, we have bigger problems. Look!" she pointed a shaky finger toward a creature that should be extinct. A dragon! A real live dragon, well partly dragon it wasn't standing on all fours, it was sort of human like it was wearing a brown leather vest and shorts. The color of it was a jade; it had the wings, tail, and horns of a normal dragon. Then it did a un-dragon like gesture, it waved at them and then spoke.

"Hey guys it's me, Drake. Please don't be scared I'm still me, I think." it turned around in circles looking over its shoulder trying to get a good look at its self, but fell as if not used to its body yet.

"Drake, is that really you? Are you . . . .," Lilly was cut short as a massive headache washed over her. "Ow, what is going on?" Lilly grabbed her head and howled in agony and fell to the ground in pain.

"Lilly are you okay?" asked Avery, there was a hint of fear creeping into her voice.

"Avery, be careful and keep your distance it might be dangerous." Warned Drake, as he came to stand behind Avery.

Then Avery gasped in horror as she saw Lilly changing. First it was her blonde hair that was the first to change. It started to turn white and then white hair started to spout all over her body like it was making fur.

"What's happening to me?" cried Lilly as she tried to look at her hands. She noticed that black claws were forming where nails used to be. She clutched her head as another spasm came over her and groaned. She could feel her insides shifting as they took a new place.

"I don't know, but you're starting to grow a tail!" exclaimed Avery.

"A what?" Lilly looked over her shoulder. Avery was right, a black and white tail sprouted near the base of her spine. Then pain unlike any other smashed down on her head. The front of her face hurt the worst, she howled in pain again as pressure was forced down on the back of her head.

"Lilly I wish I could help, but . . . . Ahh," Avery fell to the ground next to her friend clutching her stomach in pain. Lilly saw short black hair sprouting allover Avery and that was the last thing she remembered.

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Lilly woke to a strange feeling on her head. Her eyes flickered open to see that a black fox was holding her head. Its dark green eyes were filled with worry, but then relief. The dragon was there too, it was crouching close to her side. Why do they look so worried? She thought.

"You're okay, thank goodness. I thought you were dead!" said the fox in a familiar voice, heaving a sigh of relief.

The fox placed Lilly's head on the ground gently, and got up. It was wearing the same clothes as the dragon just white leather instead of brown. Lilly rubbed her eyes thinking it was a dream. When she took away her hands she got the first glimpse of them, and gasped in horror at what she saw. It wasn't the same human hands she had, it was a white paw! She turned it over and found black rosettes like you would find on a jungle cat. She tried to get up, but there was a throbbing pain in her head.

"Oh, Lilly it's probably best if you stay on the ground for a while. Just until the pain blows over." explained the fox. Coming over to sit next to her, the fox rested a hand-like paw on Lilly's leg, and stared into Lilly's eyes. How does it know it know my name, unless . . . .

"Avery? Is that really you?" ventured Lilly. The fox nodded and did a weak smile, at least that's what Lilly thought. Lilly looked at the dragon and remember it was Drake. Lilly was shocked; she didn't know what to say.

Yeah you better get used to it. Said a voice inside Lilly's head. Lilly looked around, but didn't see anyone, but the fox and dragon.

"Lilly are you okay?" asked Avery looking concerned and scooting closer to her.

"Oh its nothing. What happened to us? I mean, why are we animals?" Lilly looked down and saw what she was wearing; it was a black leather vest and shorts.

"I say it'll have something to do with Riven," said Drake. "Though I can't find Kole anywhere and this flower garden goes on forever."

"Wait, what, let me see, please help me up." begged Lilly.

Lilly tried to get up again, this time with the help of Avery. Her legs wobbled as she lost her balance and Drake caught her before she hit the ground. Lilly nodded her thanks to him and tried again. This time she got distracted by a flicking on her shoulder. Lilly turned to look at what it was, and saw that it was a tail, her tail! Lilly grabbed it to look at it. The tail was sleek and long, but bushy at the end. She also noticed how thick and sturdy her arms are.

"If you think about this, it's pretty cool, and I'm surprised at you Avery on how well you're taking this!" She exclaimed.

"Oh trust me when I woke up I was just as surprised as you, hey Drake do you know where a river is? I want to look at my face because I can feel a muzzle where my nose and mouth used to be and l would like to see."

"Yes I know where one is, it's just over that hill," he explained. "Just follow me." And with that he opened up his wings and flew. Lilly was surprised on how well he was flying. It was like he was born with wings.

Lilly and Avery had to run to keep up with him, though they trouble keeping their balance. Avery stumbled and fell forward. Lilly stopped to help her to her feet.

"This won't work; we'll never catch up with him." Avery complained as she sat down.

Why don't you run on all fours? Came the strange voice again. Lilly wondered what that voice was, she listened for it again, but it never came.

"Hey I have an idea why don't we run like we're supposed to, like this." Lilly demonstrated by bending down and put her paws on top the flowers and started to run toward the hill. Lilly looked over her shoulder as she ran, she saw her tail streaking behind her and flicking wildly.

Avery wasn't sure about this, but she tried it any way and ran. She caught up to Lilly pretty quickly. Just the thrill of having the wind in their fur was exciting.

"This is actually fun!" exclaimed Avery as she ran faster trying to past Lilly, but Lilly kept her pace ahead of Avery.

"Race you to the top of the hill!" challenged Lilly.

"You're on!" retorted Avery.

They picked up the speed in each stride they took until they were in full reach, but before they reached the top of the hill, a shadow bore down on them. At first Lilly thought it was Drake, but as she looked up the fun in the race disappeared.