Changelings Book1 Dragons & Demons

Chapter 3

After several minutes of fun filled flight, Jack remembered that he had to meet Lupin, waiting on the hilltop.

He cast his new eyes over the hills. The normally green grass appeared silvery grey; shining in the moonlight. With two flaps of his leathery wings he plunged into a steep dive, crying out telepathically, "LUPIN, HERE I COME!"

Jack landed with a thump that shook the hillside, delighted with his new-found flying ability.

Lupin padded silently out of the shadows between the trees, his shaggy head held low to the ground. Jack instinctively knew he was annoyed.

"Every creature within a hundred leagues will have heard that cry, Dragon!" Lupin growled with a low rumble.

Ashamed, Jack lowered his head to the grass, exhaling a deep snuffling breath that ruffled Lupin's fur, "I'm sorry Lupin, I was just so excited."

Lupin nodded to a pile of deadwood, "Could you try and light this, Jack?"

Jack took a deep breath and exhaled over the dry wood; a waft of hot air blasted from his throat. Lupin sat and waited patiently, his head cocked to the side, the way only dogs can. Jack growled, angry at himself. He noticed that something tightened in his stomach as the frustration took hold. Tensing his new muscles, he took another breath and roared flames over the wood, scorching a huge area of the grass behind it too.

Lupin leapt clear as Jack reared up and roared in triumph.

"Settle, Jack, I have something important to tell you."

"Wait...," Jack's scaly brows crinkled into a frown. "How do you know my name? I never mentioned it before."

Lupin sighed, giving a mental chuckle, "Jack, please, I will explain everything. Please be patient."

Jack narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but took a deep breath and did as he was bidden.

"Jack, you have been watched continuously, from the day you were left on the steps of the temple, to your amazing fight with Harry the Crow this very morning."

Jack blinked and shook his head slowly, "What do..."

Lupin continued, cutting off Jack's question. "Belthor deliberately sought you out Jack; he knew the time was right and the temptation to take the flask would be beyond you. Now you sit here in your true form."

Once again Jack shook his head in disbelief. There was no doubting his present condition, but to have been watched all his life. He did not really believe it.

"I can see that you don't really believe this yet, Jack, but I think that you will find this next revelation even harder to swallow. You are the Chosen one, Jack; prophesied in ancient times to lead the light and bind the darkness... Please trust me,Jack. I have something very important to do. Be patient, all will become clearer in time." Lupin's words echoed in Jack's whirling mind, as a tangle of confusion and questions fought for his attention.

Lupin sat and arched his back, giving a long, high howl. It echoed around the hill and the surrounding forests. Moments later several wolves answered with individual cries of their own. Jack raised his long neck and head, sniffing the air, sensing movement in the forests skirting the hillside. Even in his Dragon form, Jack felt uneasy; like most humans he had been led to believe that wolves were vicious and deadly; though the truth of the matter was that nobody from his town had ever been attacked in living memory. Yet the city council still paid a silver crown for each and every pelt delivered to its doors. Long before they were visible to the naked eye, Jack spotted the silver moonlight reflected in the eyes of dozens of wolves climbing the hill. Low growls and whines filled the quiet night, and one large, white wolf crept cautiously from the shadows.