Everyone else who waited for us to come back were eating and mingling amongst each other, most were oblivious that we even landed. The DJ up front played slower music. Some of the contestants were already back where we started. Dianes wolves were back-in wolf form- guarding their two large deer. Jonas wasn't back yet. No archers were back either.
"How much time do we have left?" I asked Hex.
He set down the bear and laid down next to it. "I don't know, ask Enine."
I rolled my eyes and trotted over to Enine who was still standing on the stump. She was reading a book. Emily seemed to lean forward to read with her. I tried to get her attention by saying 'hey', but all that came out was a grunt. At least it got her attention.
"I don't speak dragon." Is all she said as she looked at me.
I didn't want to turn in and out of form so I lifted my body up just enough to point at my wrist.
She looked confused at first, but after she turned her head towards Emily she then understood. "Oh I see. We have ten minutes left." She looked back at her book.
Oh good we won't be sitting here forever. I wonder where Dragolya and Mistory are? I trotted back over to Hex, whose head rested on the ground. "Ten minutes" I said cheerfully.
He responded with a bored puff of breath through his nose. His eyes darted upward, looking behind me.
"Hello again elder cub." I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to see that brown dragon again. I wagged my tail.
Hex warningly growled at him from where his head sat. The brown dragon webbed ears went back as a result.
I turned at Heck and growled the best I could baring my teeth. Hex only rolled his eyes. I turned back to the brown dragon and wagged my tail. "What's your name?" I asked.
"Turner. Just-Turner." He concluded with a nod. Turner was much more different than any other species I have seen. His body was long and serpent-like, with two strong arms holding up his torso.
"Hi there- 'just Turner'... My name is Amber." I bowed in the best way I could in dragon form.
Turner put his head on the ground, the rest of his body and tail following suit, and looked up at me. "So, how many years are you?"
"Sixteen." I said getting closer to his face so he goes cross eyed.
"Why is such a young cub away from her mother?" He glanced at Hex. "Unless you attended with your father."
I looked back at Hex. "What? No-no-, he's my friend... My other friends are still participating in the game right now." I bobbed my head.
He moved his eyes around trying to figure me out. I jumped up and put my hands on his nose. "Well, where are your parents then,cub?" He asked me, his eyes dilated as he looked up to the light.
I felt something grab my tail and drag me back away from Turner. I yelped and looked back to see that Hex had my tail between his teeth. He dragged me next to him and growled at Turner.
Turner rose his head from the ground and growled back at Hex.
Hex rose and pounded his wings on the ground, as a gorilla would pound on his chest, and roared at Turner making everyone at the gathering stop dead quiet to see. Hex and Turner had a deadly stare off for a few moments, Hex, as still as a stone, Turner, fidgeting under his glare.
I was crouched under Hex as he stood to show his dominance. Wyverns were bigger than any other dragon species, Turner had no chance.
Turner finally submitted and knelt down bowing his head regretfully. He looked around, embarrassed. Once Hex laid back down, Turner got back up, looked around, then slithered into the woods. The crowd slowly returned to how it was.
I nipped at Hex's face and growled my weak growl that I have. "Jerk. What did he do to deserve that?" I asked.
Hex bared his teeth at me. "He was asking too many questions. And he growled at me, which is not okay. I'm not a jerk." He plopped his head back down on the ground. His ears popped up and moved back and forth, as well as mine did.
We both heard the noise of dragon wings flapping coming from above us in the trees. Mistory and Dragolya landed next to us. Hex stood back up. They brought back two cow elk, they must have flown together. Mistory greeted me with a nose to my side. I greeted her back by attacking her face.
Dragolya nodded at Hex and looked mad. She growled and made noises at him. Hex looked offended-or taken aback at what she said to him.
Dragolya turned to me. "Amber, turn out of form." She told me sternly.
"Why?" I asked.
She gave me a glare so I turned out of form. "Your going to blow your cover." She said.
"What cover?" I asked, moving my hands in question. I took the hanging rabbits from around my neck and tossed them next to the bear.
"Times up!" Enine announced through the microphone. "Well, it was up like five minutes ago but- anyway, the archers don't appear to be here yet so they are officially disqualified!" She turned toward us and flew down to stand between us and the shifters. Jonas and the other shifters were back. "So between you two. Let's see what you have." She walked over to us.
Mistory, Dragolya, and Hex turned out of form. They rolled there necks and shoulders as if being in human form was uncomfortable.
Enine walked by and looked at our game, then gave us a wink as she began to walk to the shifters game.
The wolves stayed in their form as Enine looked at there game. Jonas, in his tiger form, laid panting next to a small elk.
"Jerkins there scared the herd and we had to follow them over a frick'n mountain." Dragolya whispered to Hex beside her.
A leopard shifter shifted into a well-dressed woman who looked like she could be a lawyer. She looked impatient as she tapped her foot. "Enine, you seem to be taking a very long time..." She said.
My head pounded and time seemed to stop, but I couldn't see anything. My vision glitched like a broken computer screen, I began to have tunnel vision as my surroundings became dark. The same shifter woman I saw a moment ago was standing in a white room, she sat with a man across from each other, only a desk between them, she nodded as he talked. They were both suddenly standing and shaking hands. "Opportunity for the future" is all I heard from her before my vision sped backwards and I was back at the gathering, or, I was the whole time.
People were cheering around me, Mistory hit my back. I turned and smiled, understanding that we had won. "We get to keep all of our game!" She said.
"This is not going in my car." Hex argued.
"How are we not going to get pulled over?" Dragolya agreed.
"Fine, we'll give it away, hm? Give to whoever isn't going out of the country." She said, almost sarcastic.
The group of archers came back with nothing and looked disappointed. They sulked there way to the buffet. What happened to that one guy who had two deer?
Violins began to play, and flutes. It sounded like an old song from the medieval times or something.
"Oh I love this song!" Mistory cooed.
"Come on! Let's dance!" Dragolya shouted and lead us to the dance floor.
The music was beautiful and festival-like. Almost everyone was on the dance floor. They locked arms and spun then one hand then just the girls would do a twirl and a leap, everyone was in sync now, like they have rehearsed this before they got here. I stood outside the dancing array before me and spotted Dragolya and Hex, when others would switch partners they would stay together. Mistory was having the time of her life in the circle of dancers, she would hop from one person to the next, a big smile on her face the entire time. I'm pretty sure I saw fire sparks fly from her hands.
I felt a presence beside me. There were lots of people around me, but this one I could pick out from the rest.
I clutched my prize tighter around my wrist.
"It's all from heart." The presence said.
I turned my head to the voice.
An elderly man next to me leaned on his cane and watched everyone dance. He had a happy grin on his face that looked like it had been in that position all his years. His white hair atop his head was reseeding, and it looked like his beard was next. He had such large wrinkles that they had shadows. He looked as though he was dressed for the party.
He never glanced at me. "It's been so long. They don't remember much since their years, but they somehow remember everything." His voice was raspy and old sounding, with a thick Icelandic accent. He seemed wise, so I listened. He readjusted his position on his cane, and took in a breath from his nose. "Their heart, their heart remembers." He concluded.
As a group past us they nodded their heads to him, like a bow.
"Do I know you?" I asked.
He still didn't look at me. "No. But I know you" he stood up straight and took in a larger breath. Somehow looking younger now. "It would polite to introduce myself." He turned to me and extended his hand to me. "I'm Alvar Flemming." His eyes were the brightest blue ever, they seemed like ice. "Elder, and oldest of the party." He chuckled.
I grabbed his hand and shook hesitantly.
"Hello, um, Alvar. I'm-"
"Amber. Amber Schwits." He nodded.
My face scrunched up in confusion. "How do-"
"You have your fathers eyes." He said nodding to me again, but kept his eyes on the dance floor. "And his nose as well," he chuckled. "I remember when your name and picture went into the books. Your father was quite delayed when it came to important things as such." He chuckled again. "Have you reunited with him yet?"
"Uh..." So much info was thrown at me all at once. "...no." I stuttered, feeling that I should have said more.
He nodded again. "I suppose you will soon."
"How-how do u know?" I questioned.
"The Renegades are rebellious, but not heartless." He said in a wise tone.
"Renegades?"
He took in a breath. "The ones who have been looking after you for this long time."
I looked at Dragolya, Hex and Mistory. All dancing about and having fun. "What is a, Renegade?" I heard Enine call them that, but I never got to ask them what it meant.
"The, imsubuissive ones." He said. "Untraditional, outlaws, rebels, so to speak. If you haven't noticed already, they are the only ones to not bow to an Elder, like myself. They have the perfect essence of a Renegade pack," he pointed to Dragolya and Mistory without extending his whole arm. "Wild borns," He pointed to Hex. "And a mutt." He chuckled, as if it were a joke.
"What does that mean?"
He chuckled softly. "Young one, you have much to learn still. Your questions will be answered."
He scanned the dance floor frantically with eyes.
I looked at the dance floor as well. My friends weren't with the dancing crowd anymore. I frantically looked around as well. I noticed that Alvar was no longer looking at the dance floor but was looking past me, no expression on his face. As if he expected something.
I heard a low hum of a growl behind me. Dragolya walked up from behind me and stood in a protective stance in front of my shoulder.
Alvar looked at her with no expression in his ice blue eyes.
"Good evening, Dragolya." Alvar tried.
Dragolya growled between her teeth in return.
It got very awkward and silent, even when everyone else was oblivious to what was going on and dancing around.
Mistory appeared beside me. He nodded to Mistory and tried to greet her as well but he was cut off. "You may have been invited, but you are not welcome." She snarled.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Alvar glanced between them. His eyes almost threatened now.
Hex zipped in front of me. Before I could question him he picked me up and we just about flew through the crowd towards the entrance.
He set me down. "What did he say to you?" His tone was almost threatening.
I adjusted my stance to keep myself from falling over from the dizziness. "Just that you guys were Renegades. And about you guys reuniting me back to my father." I said, almost defensive.
He looked like a parent prying his kid for the truth. He scanned my eyes for lies. He shrugged and stood up straight, crossing his arms. "We don't want you to talk to him." He sighed.
"Why not?" My strange accent was coming in so I cleared my throat. "He was nice."
"He's a bad influence."
"Oh, and your a good influence? 'Renegade'." I said gesturing to him in weird movements.
"He's an exiled member of the council." Hex explained bending down to my level and gesturing towards the crowd, as if I should have known.
"Wait," I realized, when we were in the forest and Hex didn't wanna talk about the dragon in the woods during the competition. "That was him, wasn't it?"
"What?"
"Alvar. He was that dragon in the woods you didn't wanna talk about!" I pointed accusingly at him.
"Maybe." He adjusted his stance.
I sighed. And rolled my eyes. "You didn't answer my question." I said crossing my arms.
"What question?"
"Are you a better influence than Alvar?"
Hex huffed out a breath, frustrated that no words would explain my answer. He glanced around, searching for an answer. "We aren't... bad..." He managed to mumble out. "We just don't like rules..." he clicked his tongue. "It's better then being controlled all the time, and being the low one on the totem pole." He paused. "Wait-" he thought about his saying being wrong.
"Wasn't this an important detail to tell me?"
"No." He scoffed. "There's nothing important about it. You already know what I am."
"He called you a mutt, what does that mean? And what about Dragolya? And Mistory?" I pried.
Hex looked speechless but kept staring at me, like he was frozen or something. He looked away and tapped his fingers on his arms that were still crossed.
Dragolya and Mistory found their way through the crowd. "There you are!" Dragolya said.
"What's a wild born?" I asked her and Mistory.
Dragolya and Mistory looked taken back. Dragolya cleared her throat. "A-uh-wild born means that I was born a dragon. I hatched out of an egg and was taught to turn into a human." My mouth was agape as I was picturing what she was saying.
"I was taught to act like a human when in human form. I didn't like it of course... But I got over it."
It took me a moment to think.
"You see, Amber," Mistory said stepping forward. "We aren't bad people. We are just pro- old times." She smiled.
I smiled back, but my smile faded as I remembered something. "Am I really going to see my dad soon?"
Dragolya sighed.
"In time." Mistory said.
I was glad that I was eventually going to see my father, but I also didn't know when. The time waiting would kill me.
"How?" I asked.
"You will. That's all that matters" Mistory said putting her hands on my shoulders, trying to reassure me.
I sighed. I already missed my dad. "Alvar new him, my dad. He'll know where he's at." I confirmed as I nodded my head and began walking back into the crowd.
"Uh," Dragolya said stopping me. "Your not going back to him."
"Watch me." I said determined to find my dad. I tried to walk forward but I was blocked by Dragolya and Mistory again. "Come on you guys, this isn't fair!"
"I know you want to find him Amber but, you can't talk to Alvar." Mistory said in an understanding kind of way. "He's been exiled, he's bound to already spread something about you to who knows where. It's going to reach the counsel, we can't have them knowing your with us."
"That's why I told you to turn out of form." Dragolya said.
"But why is this such a problem?" I asked.
Dragolya sighed. "The counsel won't want renegades, like us, to have such a powerful asset added to our group. You."
"Me? Why am I so important to the 'renegades'."
"Because your an Elder, your powerful, stronger, and can live longer than anyone here." Hex said. "They're... 'Scared' of a new power uprising against them."
The thought of people going after me, hunting me, being afraid of me, scared me. This made sense though, connecting to what Hex said about controlling the Elders to control the other dragons. My breaths got quicker as I hyperventilated. "Wha-what's going to h-happen? Am I going to-to- am I going to die?" I asked out of breath.
Dragolya grabbed my shoulders. "Amber, calm down take deep breaths." I did as she said. "Look your not going to die, okay? No one is wanting to hurt you." She looked at the sky. "Well, except for hunters, but that's okay because they want to kill all of us anyway." She shrugged.
I glared at her, she didn't help much.
"How 'bout we go home yeah?" Hex said putting his hand on my shoulder.
I nodded meekly. "Yeah, I'd like that."
It began to rain lightly as we walked away from the gathering, through the darker woods, and back to the car. As we began to drive away a pang in my heart hit me. I missed the party, the gathering, it's where I can really be myself and where I feel more at home. I could turn into form and people would look at me as if I was a person walking down the street, normal. It was a free feeling.
It was dark in the car, it was dark outside, the trees were mere shadows as they passed by the window I was facing. It was too silent in the car, no one was speaking, or at least not out loud.
All I could see now was black from thick forest around us. An occasional car would pass by, illuminating the trees for a mere second. It only reminded me more of the gathering and it's lights. I turned my head and tried to get some rest.
*************************************
Almost done!
Thank you for being such good sports and dealing with my typos!
"Please and thank you." ~ Ron Swanson
YOU ARE READING
In Form
General Fiction*Completed* Book 1 Recently moved to the town of Concrete, Washington, Amber Schwits is only focused on making the friends she's never had. She's tried to ignore the strange occurring visions and her strange connection with nature, but all seem to f...
