DRAGON IN THE SHADOWS - 1st book in the cat analysis trilogy

Chapter 9: Magic in the Snow

     Peter woke to find snow covering his windowsill.
     He groaned and sat up, surprised that it was this cold today.
     He got dressed and made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.
     Peter set the frying pan on the hot plate and set it to 5. He opened the fridge and carefully carried four eggs and some bacon over to the bench by the hot plates.
     After five minutes of silence, Peter decided the pan was hot enough and began cracking some eggs into it.
     Another five minutes had passed and Peter had begun to wonder why Lucinda was not yet up.
     By the time he had completely finished cooking, Lucinda had entered the room.
     "Where have you been Lucinda?" Peter asked, eager to know what she was up to.
     "Sleeping", she said, "why?"
     "It's just, you're usually up way before me."
     "Well, life isn't really usual, is it?"
     He looked at her hard. "No, I guess not."
     "Guess?! Know more like it."
     "Right. I should be -"
     "And you should probably start looking for wood now, if you want to be back before dinner."
     He glared at her. "I was going to say that, if you didn't interrupt me."
     "Sorry", she said sarcastically.
     "You should be." He answered, letting her sarcasm go unnoticed. He got up, mentally called for Midnight and walked towards his car.
     That is unnecessary, Said midnight.
     "What is?" Peter said aloud.
     The vehicle.
     Why?
     We will merge forms.
     Hey, who said you can control me?
     Me. And he felt himself merging with Midnight. He was in his dragon form and peter found that he could no longer speak aloud.
     Right. Great.
     I will now teach you the basics of flying so that you may take control.
     Ok.
     Use your tail to steer yourself and help keep yourself balanced, like this.
     Wait, my tail? How on earth is it my tail?
     Because after this lesson I will give you the ability to transform into a dragon.
     Does that mean you will lose it?
     No. It means there is a possibility of there being two of the same dragon.
     Right. So how does this work again?
     Use your tail to balance yourself while in flight and on land. Midnight performed the instructions, showing Peter the steps one by one. A couple minutes later, midnight said, Your turn.
     He felt himself being given control once more and he flew up and through the blooming clouds, abiding by Midnight's instructions.
     Wow, this is amazing!
     I know, that's why I am giving you this form. Right. Next step, falling. If you need to escape something or you need to attack, you pull your legs and wings in, facing down and pulling yourself into a fall. When you need to stop falling, pull your wings out, turn horizontal to the ground and let your wings stop the fall. Midnight demonstrated for peter, then said; Your turn.
     Again, Peter took control and did as Midnight instructed.
     Very good, Midnight said as he took control, Now for the final stage, flying at extreme speeds. To perform this takes a lot of practice, but you quickly learnt the other stages, so it shouldn't take to long for you to master this as well. To do this, you must position your body in a upward position, with wings tilted forward. You will fly faster by flying with your wings in this position. This is the beginning exercise, but to go even faster, you must fly in a normal body position with your wings tilted as far forward as possible.
     Midnight demonstrated both ways, then allowed Peter to try.
     Peter decided he could try the harder one straight up. He began to tilt his wings back, but his strength escaped him and he could not push them forward any further. He began to fall, and midnight took control, bringing him back to his normal position.
     You must try the beginning position first, or something bad may happen like you just experienced, Midnight said giving him control again.
     He did as he was instructed and was delighted to see that, doing the beginning position helped him significantly to perform the harder one. On his second try of the harder one (not including the first attempt), he performed it to Midnight's standards.
     Wonderful! Midnight said, delighted.
     Great! What now?
     I will now give you this form. Land and we will begin.
     Peter landed next to a large dead tree.
     Good. We will now separate and I will transfer the ability.
     Peter felt himself being pulled away from Midnight once more and found himself back in his human form.
     Ready?
     "Yes"
     Then here we go! Peter felt a jolt of power in him and he began to constantly change forms, stopping a couple times in between.
     When it was finished there were two dragons sitting by the tree. Midnight and Peter.
     Great, but how do I transform? Peter asked.
     By willing your body to change its shape and appearance. It's really very easy once you get used to it, Midnight answered.
     Ok. Well I guess you can go back to the house now, but don't let Lucinda see you for she thinks you are with me.
     Alright, but be careful. Remember, I didn't give you this form so you can hurt your back on the first day!
     I will.
      Midnight flew up and away and Peter was left to sit by himself.
     He looked at the dead tree and began to wonder if he could pull it up with his talons.
     He flew above it and latched onto the trunk, flying up.
     It was hard work and he was about to give it up when he heard a crunch and the entire tree disassembled itself from the earth.
     He took a better grip of it and flew to the house to drop it by the back door. He let go of his heavy load and flew back to grab another tree when he noticed a peculiar sight.
     A large circle of purple light about the size of his head was glowing in the snow.
     He landed next to it and dug on top of it. It went straight through and he realized the snow must be glowing from something underneath it.
     He continued to dig until he found a purple sphere glowing so bright that Peter struggled to see for a time.
     He tapped the orb with a steady talon. The orb sparked and he shot backwards a good hundred feet. Peter scrambled up, thinking about how Lucinda may be able to help, and pulled out the nearest tree. With the tree in his talons, he struggled to fly back to the house and drop it on the other tree with a jolting thud. He then transformed, doing as Midnight suggested, and ran inside in his human form.
     "Lucinda! Come quickly! I've found an orb and I can't control it, but I think you can. Come on!"
     "What?" She asked.
     Peter repeated himself slower, adding in a few details.
     "But how will we get there?" Lucinda asked, puzzled.
     "I'll transform."
     "Without Midnight?" She asked, confused.
     "Yes. I'll explain later. Hop on." Peter transformed, with a couple minor difficulties, and once Lucinda and Midnight had hopped on, he leapt into the sky towards the orb. Midnight took a look at it and shot up the nearest tree.
     "Well, I don't think Midnight likes it." She said.
     "No." Peter answered while transforming, "This is what happens when I touch it." He felt the soft, glassy texture of the orb. He shot backwards like before.
     "Yes. You seem to be right about it not liking you."
     "Well, can you perform magic yet?"
     "I told you, I don't know how!"
     "Well, find out then!"
     "How?"
     "I don't know, do you, Midnight?" He called to the cat, which, by now, had started to descend down the tree.
     It's much like transforming. She must focus on the result she wishes to commence and reach out for the magic embedded in her heart. Midnight recited.
     And you said it was too much information.
     Yes, but I found a definition in one of your books.
     Oh, no. If midnight was reading his books, then how trashed was his desk? He pushed the thought aside and decided to focus on the situation at hand. He looked at Lucinda and told her the information.
     "So... you want me to destroy it?"
     "No. Just make it touchable."
     "Ok then... so I-"
     "Yes, you imagine me touching it then reach for the magic in your heart."
     "In my what?!"
     "Your heart, or at least, that's what Midnight said."
     "Ok, I'll try."
     2 minutes passed and Peter was about to go back to the house when he felt himself being pulled to the orb in the process of transforming. His right talon flung out, resting on the orb where he felt in control again. He transformed back and exclaimed:
     "Good job Lucinda!"
     "I know, right? That was awesome!"
     "Right, now let's see what this is. Do you know anything Midnight?"
     It's... Midnight started to say something.
     It's what? Peter asked.
     It's... a female dragon egg.
     What?
     And not just that... My- I mean our egg.
     What?
     The dragon inside us had been mating for a while before it became trapped in me. The female must have had an egg before she died.
     So...
     It blasted you back because it is in the hatching process.
     The egg is hatching now?
     I don't know.
     Great. There is an egg that is supposedly ours and you don't even know if it is hatching?
     Yes. Peter scowled at him and turned to Lucinda again.
     "Apparently it is a dragon egg, but he does not know when it will hatch", he said.
     "Ok, so what do we do with it?"
     "Take it into the spare room, I guess."
     "Then what?"
     "Wait until it-" Peter was cut off by a loud crack. A beam of light shot up from the egg and Peter realized that there was a crack on top of it. Cracks continued to form all over the egg until a small purple head pushed its way through the top of it and let out a small sqeak.
     "Oh, how cute!" Lucinda exclaimed.
     "Yes, but I wonder what we will do with her."
     "Her?"
     "Midnight's classification, not mine."
     "Oh."
     Peter transformed back into a dragon and flew back to the  house carrying Midnight, Lucinda and the dragon.

     When they arrived they went straight to the shed, a place they thought the dragon would enjoy. They dropped the dragon off and watched as it settled in to it's new home.
     After 10 minute of playing with it, they went back to the house, closing and locking the shed behind them.