Draconics

Chapter 1

It was a normal day. Or, you know, it felt like one. You know those days.

Weekend, even better. Weird stuff always happens on weekends, all that time home.

After lying around in bed trying to decide whether or not to get up for about an hour, my hunger finally got me up. I went downstairs to scavenge. 

Surveying the scene, things looked good. Fresh bacon, plenty of milk for cereal, lots of fruit.

Mom was in the living room. My dad and my brother, Ryan, were out. I think Ryan was at his friend's birthday party sleepover? My dad was at the store getting groceries. Who knows. More bacon for me.

 After breakfast, I sat on the couch and watched TV. Saturday morning cartoons, who could resist? I continued to watch long after finishing my breakfast. They were airing an all-day marathon of one of my favorite shows, leading up to a new episode at 7. My mom nagged me to go do something productive, like clean my room or do my homework. I growled in response.

It took a second for what just happened to hit me. Did I just growl?

"Excuse me, young lady?" Maybe she didn't notice. Maybe I'm imagining it.

"S- sorry, mom. I'll go clean my room." There was still plenty of time before the new episode. I was fine.

Later, having cleaned my room to appease my mother, I was treating myself to a soda. A very annoying soda, at that, as it did not want to open. I growled again. I didn't notice at the time. I was a bit preoccupied with the fact that my hand was no longer an ordinary human hand, but a monstrous, dark blue, dragon-like claw. I screamed, more out of shock than anything.

"What's wrong?" My mom asked, running into the room. I waved my now-clawed hand at her. A smile began to form on her face.

"Am I missing something here?? Last I checked, this-" I waved my claw again for emphasis- "is not normally a smile-inducing event."

"Sweetie, you're a draconic!"

"A whatnow?"

"A draconic." She emphasized the pronunciation of the word this time. "A creature that's essentially half human, half dragon. Your father and I are both draconics, too." She shifted her hand into a claw, a lighter blue than mine, as if to prove her point.

About an hour later, my dad got back. Mom had shown me how to shift my hand back, so he didn't get the excitement at first. My mom explained, and he got that same smile my mother did.

"Congrats honey!" Dad said. "Let's see your wings." Wings? Seemed a bit much all at once.

I tried to make wings form on my back, same technique as the claws. After a few minutes, success! Then I spread them out, which was as easy as pie compared to forming them. I hadn't noticed how pretty the blue was before, wow...

My parents applauded. Seemed a bit excessive, oh well.

"So I was wondering," I said, "does Ryan know what a draconic is? Is he a draconic too?" My little brother would be a draconic if I was, right?

"Well, it's usually only the first born child, sweetie." Mom said. Typical magic rules. Always the "first born child". 

"So, we can't tell him about draconics or use any of our abilities around him unless we know he is." Dad added, in a stern, don't-even-think-about-breaking-this-rule voice. What a bummer.

I tried to change the subject.

"So, Dad," I said, putting my wings away and de-forming them, "what color draconic are you?"