Spirit Fire - Amos

Chapter 19 - Transformation

Vitalli sat down in his study and started to write on a piece of parchment with a swan feather quill, the tip covered with a blob of black ink, and writing the line of glyphs in his usual tongue. He wrote about the events that occurred during the time Aaron stayed and trained here, including when Eldon's egg hatched.

     When finished, he laid back and sunk into the bottom of the chair behind the wooden desk covered with papers. He pushed himself back, got off the chair, and stretched.

     As Vitalli walked downstairs, he heard a thump, quickened his pace, and noticed that Icarus had just landed outside in the grass, now entering the dragon stable.

     It was nighttime.

     What? Icarus tilted his head like a confused dog.

     I heard a noise and wasn't sure what it was. Vitalli replied and walked away.

     The oak plank floor creaked as he walked over it, making it sound old and worn. He sat down at the table and pondered about what had happened during the previous days with Aaron.

     Suddenly another, louder sound, pierced the silence of the house. This time it was a yowl of pain coming from out back. He ran outside and looked out from the massive wooden door of the dragon stable. Outside was Eldon scrambling on the ground wrestling with himself as if he was being attacked by a small animal.

     There were two lights emanating from the hatchling. The red aura was sharp and pulsating, while the other green aura was wavy and seemed to meld to the red aura to just break off shortly after.

     Eldon dug his talons into the ground and started to tense up. His muscles were contracting and releasing and when they contracted they grew. Eldon started whimpering and a tear slid down from his eye and down the creases of his face and cheeks and dropped to the ground, melting the snow.

     Icarus just stood beside Vitalli, not even attempting to help Eldon but then Vitalli realized that neither he nor Icarus could help him.

     When Eldon had grown many times his size, the auras started to fade and seeped into Eldon's body leaving the dragon weak but enormous compared to before. He was a longer than a horse from nose to tail but not as tall.

     Finally, he dropped to the ground and released a howl of agony and then started whimpering. His whole body went limp from exhaustion and pain.

     Vitalli quickly left the door and ran to Eldon, leaving Icarus behind. He dropped to his knees and slid over to Eldon, hands trembling over his body as he seen the full extent of the transformation. Suddenly, a mental dagger drove its way into his mind and started sifting through memories. Vitalli fell to the ground holding his head.

     Vitalli started to resist and tried to push back but it struck with another mental blow and brushed aside any defenses he had, and he could no longer do anything to stop it, so he succumbed to its power and watched helplessly.

     As he looked over from where he laid on the ground, he saw Icarus, and he too was under a mental attack.

     Later realizing the mental probe was of Eldon, who furiously scanned and memorized each-and-every word he knew except for the words to control magic, he lessened his resistance.

     Satisfied, Eldon gently withdrew to his own mind and released the two from his presence. All memories were accounted for and untouched.

     I'm sorry, but I needed to know many things, Eldon said, then added, thank you.

     Vitalli looked at his now hulking size and noticed how much he had grown. He was almost as big as Icarus!

     The group recovered and into the house to rest for the night, not speaking of what had happened. This night, Eldon stayed with Icarus for he was too big for the house.

     Once settled, there was no other noise than that of the wind outside. Vitalli rested his head down against his pillow and closed his eyes, feeling one last touch in his mind.

     Goodnight, it said.

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