The Moon Dragon

Chapter One

Sylvia stepped outside, breathing in the humid night air. The sky was dark and cloudless, and the small stars shone their cold light down to earth.

Crossing her porch, Sylvia passed her garden and went through her front gate, meeting with her best friend Grace outside. They exchanged a smile and the pair started walking, not sure exactly where they were going.

A little earlier, Grace had called and offered to go on a walk with Sylvia. Bored of homework, Sylvia agreed, and met Grace outside her house.

"Where do you want to go tonight?" Sylvia asked.

"Oh, I was thinking the oval. It's a clear night and it might be nice to get a view of the sky."

Sylvia nodded, and they strolled along in companionable silence.

The oval was deserted, and the grass was cool. The moon was full and quite bright, casting long silver shadows across the street. N

"Oh dang, I think I dropped my phone." Grace patted her pockets.

"Oh! Do you want me to help you look?"

"No, it's alright, I'll meet you back here."

Grace wandered off back the way she came, and Sylvia took a moment to take a deep brath, smelling the damp evening soil and the dew gathering on the grass. The moon was full as she gazed up at it, bright enough to cast her shadow onto the ground. It looked beautiful. Sylvia smiled.

She was still watching the moon when she felt the ground beneath her tremor. Oh no, was this an earthquake? Suddenly, a massive flare of light lit up the oval. She turned to see the moon, glowing as bright as the sun with silver light. Sylvia gasped as the moon pulsed out a bright light, dimming the stars around it. Waves of light flew out from space, towards the earth and right towards Sylvia.

She shrieked as the blue light hammered the ground around her. It felt like waves of water, tons of pressure building up until it burst, sending thin silver fragments floating to the ground like scattered confetti.

Sylvia watched as the glowing fragments touched her bare arms. They melded into her skin, spreading more around each like silver scales. She desperately tried to wipe them off but they stayed, rapidly covering her skin.

Then as she watched in anguish, her shoulders widened. Her face lengthened and two horns shot out of her skull. A tail grew and lashed behind her. Her clothes ripped as wings stretched from her shoulder blades. Her neck grew long and her fingers curled into claws.

The dragon let out a deafening roar, its tail lashing and its claws gouging the earth.

"Sylvia!" Grace came running towards her, stumbling and tripping across the oval. She pulled up short, and gaped up at the dragon before her.

The dragon let out another roar, panicking as it flapped its wings.

"Sylvia! Oh my gosh, what happened?"

The dragon let out a confused growl and spread its front talons, staring at its scales and claws.

Grace let out a nervous breath. Carefully creeping closer, she walked up to the dragon's side, and placed her hand on its shoulder.

The dragon let out a startled yelp and jumped to the side.

Grace spread her hands in a non threatening gesture. The dragon calmed a little, staring at Grace with blazing blue eyes.

"What the heck happened?" She stroked the Sylvia's pale silvery scales.

A voice echoed from across the oval.

"We gotta get out of here."

Beckoning for Sylvia to follow, Grace ran off. The dragon followed at a steady lope.

Thankfully, the streets were deserted. The dragon kept her head low and belly low to the ground. When the two reached the turn off towards Sylvia's house, the dragon tried to go off down the street.

"No. We have to go to my house. C'mon."

The dragon let out a low whineish growl, but took one last look down the street and followed Grace.

The walk to Grace's house was short, and when they arrived, she took the dragon through into the backyard, where a small shed was kept in one corner. Grace opened its doors and the dragon stepped in. The dragon's sides were slightly too big and a silvery blue scale fell to the ground, shaped like a teardrop and glimmering in the moonlight. Grace bent down and picked it up.

"Okay. Just wait. Try to slow your breathing and calm down. Stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

And with that, Grace shut the doors of the shed, covering the dragon in a blanket of darkness.

The dragon let out an uncertain noise and paced for a moment, knocking some bikes over with its lashing tail. It stepped over to the side of the shed that had a window and a view of the house. Using it's snout to push aside the curtains, it peered outside. With no sign of Grace returning yet, it went back to pacing.

A minute later, the dragon felt her blood warm. Her body shrank and and her vision dimmed, returning from see-in-the-dark slitted eyes to round pupils.

A knock on the door made Sylvia jump.

"Sylvia? It's me."

Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright, Grace?"

"Oh Sylvia, thank God. Here, I have some clothes for you."

It was a normal human hand that reached out of the shed door. Grace passed her some spare clothes. Sylvia accepted them gratefully. She had torn out of her clothes when she had transformed into a dragon.

Once she had changed, Sylvia stepped back out of the shed.

Grace reached out a hand to steady Sylvia as she stumbled. Grace frowned, studying Silvia''s unfocused eyes and frantic breathing.

"Hey, you alight, Syl?"

"Grace," Sylvia gasped out. "What- what just happened to me?"

Grace grasped Sylvia's trembling hands. She squeezed a little too hard, and Sylvia winced. Grace didn't seem to notice. "I don't know. But you'll be alright, yeah? We'll sort this out. You need to get home and rest, we have school tomorrow and people will notice if you're gone. You never miss a day of school."

Sylvia's heart hammered in her chest. "O-okay."

Grace smiled, warm and sudden against the tension. "Awesome! See you then!"

Then she turned on her heel and left, leaving Sylvia alone.

Sylvia stood in the yard. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what just happened. Was Grace going to come back? She shivered, dewy grass cold against her bare feet.

With nothing else to be done, Sylvia wrapped her arms around herself and headed in the direction of home, barefoot on the bitumen.