Eternal Ebony

Chapter 10

Oblivion was up and ready to go. He was rather excited. He had never seen the wyvern kingdom, and was very much encouraged to bring an empty notepad. Maybe he could use his magic to write a book. That was another thing he had never thought to do. When it came to new ideas, the changes he had sustained seemed to make him think better. He felt more at peace. He felt like the magic automatically organized all the thoughts jostling for space. He felt the eyes on him, but he didn't care. There should have been an escort hours ago. But here he was, flying on his own to the western border, where he could already see the camp filled with mobilized forces, ready to move at a moment's notice. He heard the wind whip over his wings and tail. He tilted his head a little, feeling the sun bounce warmly off of the new gold patterns in his scales. Feeling a pushing air draft, he dove suddenly. His wings had gotten larger, and it was harder to maneuver the way he used to. He was feeling the adrenaline. With his larger wings, however, he was a lot faster in the air, even though they had only lengthened a few inches. He soared, doing delighted flips and whirls in the sky. He only had to flutter his wing tips to move to a higher updraft, gliding carefully and expertly. He could see the details of the wyvern camp already; the sinuous lines of tents, the wyverns moving around, looking up at the sky as they spotted Oblivion's shadow passing over them. He saw a big red X from here, where the king, Cobalt had told him he was supposed to land. Oblivion could see him waiting already. Oblivion spread his wings as far as he could, catching the air underneath. He landed politely, bowing a bit. Cobalt had to look up at him.

"Um," he said uneasily. "Did you...get bigger?" Oblivion looked down. Was Cobalt shorter than normal? Or had Oblivion had a growth spurt of some enormity?

"I don't remember doing so," Oblivion said, spinning around in circles awkwardly. He felt a sudden jolt. He looked at his talons, which appeared to be growing in size. He looked at the ground, which had gotten smaller by a few inches. Wyverns from all over the camp had come to pay their respects. Now they looked warily onwards as Oblivion felt that jolt again. So I'm not steadily growing, he thought. I'm getting big spurts right now. What kind of spell is this? He was at least two times Cobalt's size. He felt another jolt. The surrounding wyverns gasped, and some fled in terror.

"Um," Oblivion said. "I believe I am under some kind of...uh...curse?" He shook again, and his height soared up a few feet instead of inches. Suddenly, he was growing faster than he could think. Shake, about the size of a tree. Shake, about the size of a house in the kingdom. Now, he probably wouldn't be able to fit in the main hall. He was getting bigger and bigger until finally he was about the size of one of the smaller mountains in the range behind him. He spread his wings, which were probably able to encompass the entire camp. Wyverns were yelling and screaming, while Cobalt just stood there in shock along with a few others. Oblivion cleared his throat.

"Forgive me," he said. His voice shook them all. "I'll be right back." He launched sending hurricane-force winds howling below him. With two flaps, he soared high into the air. He sprang forward in the air with huge gusts of his wings, and glided peacefully. I was a lot more excited this morning when I could actually fit in the palace, he thought indignantly. He was passing over the kingdom now, and he could hear the screams of terror. Guards flushed out of the palace, though to Oblivion they just acted like gnats now. He recognized Frostbite amongst the tumult.

"Frostbite," Oblivion said tentatively. Frostbite froze and glanced upwards slowly. He dropped his spear, along with a few others.

"Sire?" he cried. "Is that you? What happened?"

"I have no idea!" Oblivion spread one huge wing. "Um...Ebon?"

"Present! I mean, PRESENT!" a voice said, right from his shoulder. Oblivion shook his head violently.