The Dragon Curse

Emerald scales

I heard Jack's screaming, coming from the shed outside and I became worried. It didn't sound good at all. I went closer to the shed, but then the screaming stopped. It was strange, but I went up to the door anyway. I slowly opened it and looked inside to see if Jack was okay, but all I saw was his blue eyes... only that they were bigger than usual.

"Jack?" I said unsure of what to do.

I heard movement and it was followed by a deep growl. It wasn't human. I slowly started to back away, but I heard as the creature was moving too. It slowly came out of the shed and into the sunlight. That was when I saw it... Jack was a fully formed dragon. He kept looking at me with his deep blue eyes and now that he had enough space he slightly spread his wings as well. They were the same as before, but it felt like they were slightly bigger. His green-scaled legs ended in big sharp claws. His green body moved gracefully, but he was in an attacking position as well, watching every movement I made and ready to attack if I do something wrong. His long tail swayed behind him with every step he took. I was a bit afraid, but I knew that it was Jack in front of me.

"Jack..." I started as I put my hands up in defense and showed him that I didn't mean harm. "It's me, Mark."

He growled again, but he stopped moving closer. He just kept looking at me. So I decided that it was my turn to walk towards him. He was slightly bigger than me, but I was sure if he would stand on his back legs he would be twice as big as me. He showed his sharp teeth, which made me think twice about my actions, but I kept walking towards him slowly.

"I won't hurt you," I said and showed him my hands once more. "We know each other."

I took another step, but it seemed that it was too close for him, because he growled again in defense and it made me scared a bit. But he calmed down and I could take another step closer. I was now inches away from him and I slowly reached out with my hand. When I slightly touched his scaled nose he flinched away, but I didn't move so I wouldn't scare him. Instead, I waited for him to come closer. He sniffed my hand and looked at it then he looked back up at me. But I saw something different in his eyes. His expression softened and he jumped closer to me to cuddle his head into my arms. It was so sudden that he almost pushed me over, but I could keep my balance and I just hugged his head.

"Wait..." I said when I saw the happiness in his eyes and it made me think. "You knew all the time that it was me, didn't you?"

Jack kept smiling as best as he could showing his happiness and he jumped around me with joy. He scared me when all the time he knew exactly that it was me and he just wanted to make me scared.

"You..." I started, but I could only laugh at this too.

He stopped in front of me and spread his wings all the way out just to show me his majesty. He then stood on his back legs and I was right, he was twice as big as me and I could only reach his front legs. He came back down and flapped with his wings a few times then looked back at me. I didn't understand at first what he wanted, but then he turned slightly so I would stand on his left side and he looked back at me.

"You want me to sit on your back?" I asked and he just nodded.

I became a bit scared, but then I thought it couldn't be that bad. He laid his left wing on the ground so I could sit on his back above his wings where it was comfortable. I didn't have anything to hold onto, so I laid on him and wrapped my arms around his neck to hold onto that. I took a deep breath and he looked back at me, waiting for my approval.

"Alright, let's see what you got," I smirked and he shot wicked eyes at me too.

He turned to the meadow beside the forest and he spread his wings. He suddenly started running and as we were running I realized that he was running towards the edge of the cliff and it made me scared... he wanted to jump?

"Jack..." but he didn't stop.

When we reached the edge he jumped from it and we were falling towards the reef below us, but he suddenly spread his wings and the wind was caught up in it and Jack started flapping his wings so we were flying elegantly in the air above the water. I slowly opened my eyes and I looked around... we were really flying. Jack turned back to the meadow then we were flying towards the forest. His flying was steady but I still felt like I have to keep holding onto his neck so I wouldn't fall. But it felt so good... the wind was passing by us and the speed we were flying at was making me feel even better. Like freedom... joy... these were the words in my mind at the moment and I felt relieved. Jack started flying upwards through the trees and into the sky. He kept flying up and we were almost above the clouds. When we reached them Jack stopped and we were floating in one place. I looked down and I could see so much of the island below us which was a beautiful sight on its own. Jack looked back at me and I could see in his eyes that he had something in his mind. I was afraid of it, but then I thought I should start trusting him more. With that, he stopped flapping with his wings and he let us fall. It was scary, but at the same time, I felt overloaded with excitement as we were falling from the sky. I screamed from the top of my lungs, but it wasn't from fear... it was something new. He did a turn in the fall then he spread his wings again before we could reach the ground and I kept shouting from the joy I felt.