The Enderlox Trilogy I: Seto's Conjuring

T H R E E: Enderlox

***TY'S POV***

All I can see is darkness.

Something is very wrong. I think.

I'm in a small stone cell, no windows, no light, no door. The cold stone presses against me, confining me. I make an attempt to turn around, but I'm incapable of moving. I'm horrified.

This must be what it feels like to be shoved inside a locker. I think. I do my best bang on the walls with my fists, hoping the Dragon will hear me.

"NightShroud! Hey! Listen! Mr. Ender Dragon! Let me out! Hey!"

To my relief, the dragon speaks in my head again. The process is complete at last. It says. I try my best not to be terrified by the word "process," wondering what the dragon could have done to me.

The sound of stone-on-stone grates at my ears as the dragon pushes a giant slab of stone away, revealing an opening I can squeeze through. I step out of the small room, eager to breathe semi-fresh air again. I run scenarios through my head; things it could've done to me, things it could have changed, many of which are too graphic to describe. Suddenly, the dragon speaks in my head again.

This is outrageous! The transformation was incomplete because your aura wasn't compatible with the Niobium. But that must mean-

I cut the dragon off. "Not compatible, huh? Maybe next time you take a man prisoner against his will and perform science experiments on him, you should check to see if his blood type is compatible!" I'm absolutely seething with rage. I consider attempting to attack the dragon or run for my life, but the curiosity and horror caused by the "transformation" is enough to keep me in the cave. I force myself to calm down. "Wait, what do you mean by 'transformation,' exactly?"

See for yourself.

The dragon stands aside to reveal a reflecting pool behind him. How I hadn't noticed it before, I don't know, but I walk over and look at my reflection either way.

I'm shocked by my appearance.

From the waist down I look normal, but the skin of my upper arms and my neck have turned to black scales. Two small fangs now jut out from my mouth and my fingernails are longer, more claw-like than fingernail-like. A five-foot long tail is now attached to my lower back, long and tipped with a purplish-gray spike on the end. And a pair of bat-like wings now protrude from between my shoulder blades. I unfurl these wings and see they have a ten-foot wingspan. I remove my headset from around my neck carefully, so not to scratch myself, and find that I have the ability to sheathe and unsheathe my claws. I sheathe them and inspect my headset to see that even the green metal that was once in the headset is now solid Niobium. I shake my head in wonder and put the headset back on. I continue to study myself, to inspect my repulsive yet cool appearance. I apply the "it's hard to look away from a disaster" principle to myself, wondering how much attention I'll attract if I ever end up back in real society. This, of course, poses many questions about my friends, and that drops my morale to zero. As I glance up and down at myself, my attention is caught by my own eyes. They are now a piercing purple, the color of an Enderman's. It's peculiar, mesmerising, even. I stare into my own eyes for minutes that feel like hours, but it's the Dragon that finally snaps me out of it.

Your new title is Enderlox. He speaks; his tone rather condescending.

"I thought I was a science experiment gone wrong," I snap.

You have the Dragon's aura. My aura. That is why the transformation did not complete itself naturally. You were supposed to become a dragon, after all. This is just a happy accident. This happened the way it was meant to, Enderlox. This is your destiny.