They were all just staring in awe at what they were seeing before them. A giant kingdom three times the size of Manhattan and growing, along with a giant castle that puts the Castle of England to shame. I started coughing again as I felt Articus and Malvor hold onto me a bit as the coughing was causing a big of pain in my chest. I was holding my left arm close to my chest since it was broken and I could tell the others were a bit worried about me.
“Don’t you think you should get looked at Zilla,” Pez asked a bit worriedly.
“Yeah, and didn’t you say that there was an infirmary inside that giant castle over there,” Watto said.
“Yeah I did, it’ll take us a bit to get there since we’ll have to walk,” I said.
“Not to worry young ones, I’ll get us there in an instant. And if you’re worried about the queen of England, she had left a few minutes after you did young prince,” Azmoth said from behind.
I chuckled lightly as the others quickly jumped as we all turned around. There was Azmoth, standing in front of us with his usual smile on his face. I had gotten used to him doing that over the years as it was funny watching him pull that little stunt with somebody else for a change. They were still wondering what was going on as they were catching their breaths from the scare as he walked over to me and looked at me a little worried.
“That’s good Azmoth and I take it you’re worried about me or about them,” I said.
“Right now about you, you’re very injured and the doctors and nurses in the infirmary have been notified about your condition. They have the tolatia berries ready and waiting for you,” he said.
“The what berry,” Drake said as they all started to get that question mark look on their faces.
“The tolatia berry. It’s a berry that’s supposed to speed up the healing process of a dragon’s body,” a voice said from up above.
I looked up and saw an anthro orange and red dragon coming in for a landing and landed next to Azmoth. He was wearing some light armor that was red in color and had the symbol of the kingdom on the chest plate in bright orange and silver. I smiled as he was about a half foot shorter than me and was well muscled as well. He wasn’t wearing his helmet as he had a sword strapped to his waist as usual. I recognized him as Michael as I chuckled a little as he walked over to me smiling.
“So, I see you finally got these two robotic bodies done and working,” he said.
“Wait, these two are actually robots,” Zmaj said.
“They’re just robotic bodies for my instincts, I’ll explain later,” I said.
“Okay, but we will want to know a bit more as well,” Shader said.
“Don’t worry, and everybody, this is Michael, my one friend that got turned into a dragon,” I said.
“Nice to meet all of you,” he said with a smile.
“Likewise,” Farm said with a smile.
“So Michael, is dear old grandpa and the council mad,” I asked.
“Madder than a dragon with an ingrown scale and a throne in his paw at the same time,” he said.
I winced at the notion of what he said. That usually means that they’re pretty ticked off about what happened and I’m sure it wasn’t just because of Vallen and the other guardians turning Farm and the others into dragons. They’re probably mad about the little fight with Jason and all and wanted to know what happened. Before I could say something to Azmoth, he snapped his fingers as we all suddenly appear in the hall way of the castle just outside of the infirmary ward. Everybody blinked and looked around a bit wide eyed as Korkie started to wiggle in Sam’s arms. She soon jumped out of Sam’s hold and started running down the hall as Sam started to go after her.
“Don’t worry about her Sam, she’ll be okay here, she’s part of the royal family so the guards know of her. She’s also close to my mom so she’ll be able to find her in no time,” I said with a light smile.
“Oh okay,” she said and stopped.
I nodded as Articus and Malvor helped me into the infirmary as the nurses quickly rushed over to me to get me into a bed. They took me from Articus and Malvor as the two of them walked off knowing that I was in good hands. They both know where their mechanical bodies are kept so it was okay that they left. I groaned a bit and slowly laid down on the bed as the doctors started checking me over. The one thing I had to do was unhook my stuff that I had as they set my two swords, my gun holster and my two satchels to the side so that they could check me fully. I also had to take my coat off as well as it was getting in their way as it was a little hard to do so without any help. It took them a little bit to check me over as my wounds had already begun to heal some as I had about four broken ribs. I was lucky enough not to have sustained any more damage from that fight or else I would’ve been in really bad shape. They had to take the rest of my clothes off as well to finish checking me as everybody was waiting out in the hallway for me. The nurses wrapped some bandages around my chest and put my arm in a sling to be on the safe side as they brought over as they brought over some slices of the tolatia berry.
The berry slices looked really good as the color of the berry is bright yellow with streaks of red on the skin and throughout the berry as well. Even though the berry tasted a bit tart, it’s better than having to eat raw meat every time I get badly injured. I took the slices and started to eat them one at a time as I had to go see grandpa and the high council soon. After I got done with the fruit slices, I slowly got out of bed as the pain was starting to subside. I was glad of that as I was stumbling a little bit since I was still a little low on energy. The best possible way to get to the throne room was to go into my dragontaur form and I had to do that slowly. I concentrated some as I started to go into my taur form as it was a little hard at the moment with the broken ribs. I got done and stretched my quad half some as it had been a while since I was a dragontaur. I walked out of the infirmary after flapping my wings a bit and looked at everybody smiling. They were just staring at me a bit wide eyed as if they had never seen a dragontaur before and yet Scales was a dragontaur himself.
“Okay guys, stop staring, we need to go to the throne room now,” I said.
“But how did you become a dragontaur,” Kirak said.
“I already explained that to you, and right now we need to go so we won’t be late,” I said and started to walk.
They started to slowly follow me and look around the halls some that we were walking down them. The castle was still very well kept and they were always adding some minor details to it to keep it looking nice. I looked back at them as they were looking around at the engravings done on all of the pillars, doors, and walls and I could tell they were amazed by the detail that went into it. I smiled a bit as the hallways were large enough for a large quad to walk through as the doors were large enough for large quads to fit through as well. We got to the throne room as they all looked up at the doors and went wide eyed. The doors were still bejeweled in jewels on the sides of the doors with engravings of two large quad dragons facing each other and having their paws against each other as well. There was one dragon on each door as one door was plated with gold and the other door was plated with silver. The architecture was truly amazing and I still like it to today. The others had never seen anything like it before as everything was done by dragons here. I could hear talking coming from inside as it was the high council and I could understand everything that was being said since it was in draconic. The doors started to open when I heard Azmoth say the word open in draconic and I heard the others behind me jump some.
I chuckled some as the doors opened up fully and I slowly walked into the throne room. It was still as big as ever as it was the center of the castle. The ceiling was the very top of the castle as it was one big chamber. I saw the high council with grandpa and grandma and talking some as Vallen and the other guardians were there looking down. I didn’t see Galenata there at all as she was already talked to before the others. The high council was led by Paul’s grandfather and Rachael’s grandfather and there were a few other large dragons or dragonesses there. The high council consists of ten large dragons, five of them being male and five being female. Two of the males being Paul’s and Rachael’s grandfathers and two of the females being their grandmothers. They were all pretty large and about 60 feet in length as I could tell this got the attention of Farm and the others. I looked at them as they were looking up wide eyed as Sam wasn’t that stunned by it. My best guess would be because she had a run in with Vallen and his son ten years ago.
“I see you finally brought the ones that your guardian friends here are connected to young prince,” one of the high council said.
“Along with the one human that had found out about the existence of dragons 10 years ago,” another of the high council said.
“Yes I have Lady Flara and Sir Lavio, please do not be harsh on them. They are good friends of mine and the human girl here is the sister of the red and yellow dragon here that is connected to Vallen. The only way she found out about the existence of dragons when Shekinah and I went to checked on Vallen ten years ago. We had accidentally stumbled upon their family and the only thing we could do was pretend we were hiking. We stayed the night there for a few nights and during the first night, Shekinah and I went and checked on Vallen and the girl, who is named Sam, followed us,” I said.
“And it is our understanding that Azaria was with the two of you as well and didn’t do a mind wipe on Sam here as you call her,” Paul’s grandfather said.
“That is true, she had done a small temporal spell on the immediate area except for us and we knew we could trust Sam. We were right as she had kept the existence of dragons a secret for the past ten years and was able to keep Vallen company,” I explained.
They started to talk amongst themselves as I could see mom, dad, Stacey, John, Rachael, Jessie, and Paul standing near the thrones and waiting. John and Stacey’s familes weren’t there with them as it seemed that Azaria was showing them around the castle most likely and my kids and Jessie’s kids were probably with Arnon and the others. That was the best for now since we were going to be busy for a couple of hours while the council most likely wanted to hear the stories from the others on how they were turned into dragons.
“We have talked and we want to hear the stories from these 13 on how they turned into dragons before we make our decision. We do not need to hear the story from the young eastern dragon for Galenata said that you already know what happened and will corroborate her story and the story of the young one,” Rachael’s grandfather said.
“Thank you high council, and I will corroborate the story of Galenata on why this young eastern was turned into a dragon in the first place. I felt sorry for both her and for him as he was turned into a dragon at a young age and was forced to remain inside. I made a connection with him and brought him to this realm in hopes of lifting up his spirits. The two of us made a bond and became like brothers as we remained in contact over the years,” I explained as I motioned to Pez.
“Understood, we will not put him into the talks on what to do since he has already lived a closed life in the human realm. And we will talk about what had happened earlier today about what happened with your twin brother at that one human store,” another high council member said.
“Wait, what talks,” Farm said.
“The talks on whether we should have you stay here for the rest of your natural lives or not,” Paul’s grandfather said.
“You can’t do that to us, we have a choice in this,” DM said a bit angrily.
“DM, this is not the time nor the place for an outburst like that. This is the high council of the dragon realm, if they and my grandfather deem it unfit for any dragon or gryphon to live on earth, they will make it where all of you will be forced to live here and not be able to return to earth,” I said and looked at him.
“But it isn’t fair Zilla, we didn’t ask for any of this,” Zmaj said.
“We will put that into consideration young dragon, but first we need to hear your side of the story of what happened. Your guardian along with the guardians of the others have already told us why they turned you all in the first place, but we need to verify that with your stories. After we hear your stories, we will talk about what we will do,” Rachael’s grandfather said.
They all nodded slowly as I could tell they were very worried about the decision of the high council. I don’t blame them because the decision would also affect me and the others. The one that looked worried the most though was Sam, she wouldn’t be just losing a brother, but a close friend. I had to hope that Sam would keep her temper in check so that the others could tell their stories. I looked around at them as they were all looking down at the ground. The council and my grandparents can be a bit intimidating when they’re serious about something.
“Now, who would like to go first,” grandpa said.
“I’ll go first,” Farm said as he stepped forward.
“Okay, you can start whenever you’d like young dragon,” grandma said with a small smile.
“Well, it all began when my sister Samantha here, Sam for short, and I decided to go on a camping trip to Yellowstone national park about three months ago. I don’t know if you heard of it or not, but it’s a very large national park that covers a few states,” Farm began.
“We know of Yellowstone national park young dragon, it is a very popular vacation spot for us because of how large it is,” a council member said with a small smile.
“Okay, as I was saying, we were going on a camping trip as it had taken us a couple of days to get to Yellowstone. We had parked my truck in the parking space and grabbed our camping gear from the back of it. We wanted to go before the summer started as Yellowstone would be busy around that time. We decided to follow a path to the campsite we were going to use as it was next to a steep hill side. We decided to take a break as we were walking for a bit and put our things down. I wanted to take a look down the hill so I walked over to the ledge. The drop looked steeper than I thought and I lost my balance because of some loose soil. Before I knew it, I was tumbling down the hill side and hitting every possible rock and bush that was on the hill side,” Farm said.
“That’s right, I tried to grab him before he fell, but I wasn’t quick enough,” Sam interrupted.
“Sam, please don’t interrupt me,” Farm said.
“Sorry Ethan,” Sam said and stepped back.
“You may continue young dragon, hopefully without anymore interruptions,” grandpa said.
“As I was saying, I was tumbling down the hill, which seemed more like a small ravine as I hit the bottom. I was badly hurt as I was in a whole lot of pain. I had scrapes and bruises all over my body and could tell from the pain I was feeling that I had multiple bone fractures. I didn’t know how I would get out of there or how I would survive long enough to get saved. My vision was starting to leave me and I was coughing up blood when I saw an image come into my line of vision. Before I passed out, I heard a voice telling me that I was going to be alright. The next thing I knew, I woke up next to a fire with a blanket over me. I sat up extremely sore but alive as I didn’t know what had happened. I looked at myself to see if it was all a dream and found myself as a dragon and saw Vallen lying on the other side of the fire and talking with Sam like they knew each other. I had asked what had happened and Vallen explained to me about the two of us being connected somehow and him being my guardian. He didn’t explain much except that he had to turn me into an anthro dragon in order to save my life,” he said.
“And I’m sure your parents were very scared about what had happened,” a council member said.
“Yes they were, but we were able to calm them down after telling them what had happened,” Farm said.
“Thank you Mr. Compas, you may step back now so another dragon can tell his story,” Paul’s grandfather said.
He nodded and stepped back as Scales stepped up to tell his story. I was a bit surprised about Farm’s account on how Vallen met him and saved his life.
“And I see that you are connected to Crytos,” Flara said.
“Yes I am,” Scales said.
“You may begin when you’re ready,” Falvio said.
“Thank you sir, my nickname is Scales since that is what my friends here call me and my tale starts about two months ago when I was out walking in the woods when my parents and I were camping. They were setting up the campsite while I was walking towards the river that we were going to be fishing from. I got to the river and it seemed to be flowing faster than before and I think it was attributed to the heavy rains we got around that time,” Scales said.
“That could be true, we did get a lot of rain that time of year,” Watto put in.
“Thank you for verifying that young dragon,” grandma said with a smile.
“As I was saying, the river was higher and faster than usual and I wasn’t being careful when I was walking along the side of the river. I got to a spot and lost my footing as the spot that I stepped on was eroding away. I tried to grab onto something but I was too late as I fell right into the river. I was swept away with the strong current as I had a hard time trying to get air as I was tumbled about like a ping pong ball. It was getting harder and harder for me to keep my head above the water as I was starting to lose consciousness. As I was about to pass out, I felt something lift me up out of the water. I had thought I had seen large scaled claws holding onto me as I had immediately passed out from lack of air from being tossed around in the river. When I woke up a while later, I looked around and saw that I was in a cave. I felt odd as I got up and looked at myself to find that I was a dragontaur. I thought that I was dreaming until I saw Crytos watching me and looked like he was worried about me. He explained what had happened and didn’t know how I had changed into a dragontaur instead of an anthro and I think it was because of how I pictured myself in my mind. After he had helped me learn how to walk like this, he led me back to the campsite. My parents had a hard time believing me at first until I told them a few things that only they and I knew of,” Scales said.
“Thank you for your story young dragon, you may step back now,” grandma said.
He nodded and stepped back as Jake came up to tell us his story. I was curious about all of their stories as it would probably take a couple of hours for them all to get through their back stories on how they met their guardians.
“You may start when you’re ready young dragon,” grandpa said.
“Okay, my story begins about 2 months ago, it was towards the end of May and school had just let out. It was night out and I felt an urge to go out to our deer stand that my dad and I had set up. While growing up I had always heard noises and felt like I was being followed and I guess I was right since it was Altair that was following me. I got to the deer stand and climbed into it and could see the horizon. It was a pretty good view as it was starting to get cloudy pretty fast. Before I knew it, it was raining but it didn’t bother me that much. I wasn’t that much worried because I had seen storms come out of nowhere before and the wind was starting to get stronger. The tree that the deer stand was swaying back and forth and I started to hear a large cracking noise. I found out that the noise was coming from the tree that I was in. Before I could react, the tree was falling with me still in it and I couldn’t tell which way was up. The next thing I knew, I was laying on the ground with the tree on top of me. I could hardly move or breathe as I figured my left leg was broken from the fall, but that didn’t matter as I could barely breathe,” he started out.
“And what happened next young dragon,” Azmoth said.
“I started to black out from the pain and lack of air because of the tree. The next thing I knew, I heard something moving next to me and picking up the tree. I was still in a lot of pain and thought that my spine was broken as well as I could barely move. I tried to get a good look at it but since it was dark I couldn’t get a clear image of it but it felt very familiar to me for some reason. I heard a voice say that it had a gift for me that would change my life forever and also save my life. It breathed on me as the breath was warm and calming as it seemed to take the pain away. I started to feel sleepy and fell asleep instantly. I woke up a while later and thought that it was all a dream but realized that it wasn’t when I saw that I was still outside. Before I knew it, I was face to face with a large quad dragon that was a few feet away from me. I was a bit surprised as he started to talk to me and I found out that he was responsible for saving my life. I looked at myself as I was an anthro dragon and looked just like him. I was both surprised and happy about being a dragon as he helped me up and took me home. It was morning already and we had a tough time explaining to my mom about what had happened to me as she had calmed down after our explanation and my introduction to Altair,” Jake said.
“Thank you for your story young one,” Paul’s grandfather said.
He nodded and stepped back with the others as Ian stepped forward to tell his story on how he met his guardian Shrike. He looked like he was a little nervous as he gulped a little bit and looked up at the high council and my grandparents. I don’t blame any of them for being nervous as I would be nervous myself if I had to explain something. And I usually did have a bit of explaining to do over the years from my various trainings.
“You may begin on how you met your guardian Shrike young one,” grandma said.
“Well, my name is Ian, and I met my guardian about three months ago in May. I was already out of school at the time and it was a cool evening where I live and it was already dark outside. My parents were inside at the time and I decided to go out on the back porch to have some peace and quiet and to relax. As I sat down in the chair, I heard a few gun shots from the woods that were nearby and thought that some hunters were hunting some deer in the woods. I don’t really like hunting that much but I was taught how to handle a gun and rifle if need be. I was a bit worried because the gunfire was coming from a large patch of woods that was very close to us. The gunfire quieted down a minute later and I started to relax some. Before I knew it, I heard something moving out in our yard along with a few twigs snapping. I started to get nervous as I grabbed the lantern I had with me and went into the yard quietly. I didn’t have a gun with me as I didn’t know what it was. As I was looking, I saw two glowing yellow eyes a few yards in front of me and stopped dead in my tracks. I didn’t know what I was staring at as the figure came closer to me and I saw that it was a large dragon and he was limping,” he began to say.
“Oh my, what had happened,” a council member said.
“Well, from what I could tell, he was shot at and was wounded on his right front leg. I was still nervous but started to calm down when he said that he wouldn’t harm me and needed a safe place to hide from two hunters. I didn’t know what to do as I snapped out of my trance and led him to the barn that we had. I saw two flashlights coming towards our house in the distance as they looked like they would be at our house in a matter of minutes. I was able to get him in there quickly and ran inside to tell my parents that there were a couple of hunters outside. Dad had gotten his double barrel rifle that he had since he was a teen and came outside with me. The two hunters had gotten onto our property and they looked like they were still searching for something. My dad had pointed his shotgun at them and ordered them to get off our property. Before they could protest, he cocked the rifle and they both quickly backed up and ran off. When that was done, I had to explain to my parents about what had really happened. They were a bit surprised and didn’t believe me at first until I showed them Shrike. They both about passed out from seeing him until the two of us were able to calm them down. After a brief explanation from him on how he knew me, he offered to turn me into a dragon as a gift for saving his life,” Ian said.
“So, a gift from a guardian who was saved by the one he’s guarding,” Rachael’s grandma said.
“It seems so, it is not unheard of for dragons giving gifts to humans that perform acts of kindness towards others, especially towards dragons. And saving a dragon’s life is considered one of the highest acts of kindness,” Azmoth said.
“Yes, I agree, that is very true, especially among the eastern dragon community. Thank you for sharing your story young dragon, your guardian is very fortunate to have you for a friend,” one of the council members said who happened to be an eastern dragon.
Ian smiled and stepped back with the others. I for one do agree with them on what they said about acts of kindness being justly rewarded. Jayri stepped forward to tell his story and he seemed a bit on the nervous side as well.
“I see that you are connected to Aracaris, you may begin when you’re ready,” Paul’s grandma said.
“My story begins back in September of last year. It was during the fall and I was out walking in the woods. It was an Indian summer as it was warm with a cool breeze blowing through the trees. It was also the start of hunting season and I usually had to be careful around that time because of possible hunters. The leaves were starting to change color and fall from the trees as it was still morning. As I was walking in the woods, I felt like I was being followed and was started to get a bit on edge. I decided to take a path that didn’t get walked on that much so there was a lot of overgrown brush on the path. I kept walking for a little while and when I took a step, I was in sudden pain as I felt something quickly clamp down on my ankle. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground as I could feel the bones in my ankle shatter as I felt something pierce my skin. I was in so much pain that I didn’t know what was going on. I tried to look to see what was causing the pain as I saw a bear trap with the teeth latched onto my ankle,” he began.
All I could do was wince at the thought of a bear trap coming closing on one of my limbs. I could only imagine the same thought going through the minds of the others as I saw some of the council members wince as well.
“I tried my best to try to get it off, but I heard laughing coming from somewhere and saw two hunters come into view. They were both hunting something and instead of helping me out of the bear trap, they decided to use me as bait. I tried to plead to them to help me out as one of them raised his rifle. It looked like he was going to knock me out with the butt of his rifle when there was a sudden loud roar coming out of nowhere. The two of them froze and tried to see where it came from and were suddenly hit from behind with a large tail. They both went flying and landed with a loud thud a few yards away as I saw Aracaris standing there growling. I watched a bit in horror as the two hunters quickly got up and ran off screaming. Before I could say anything, I started to feel weak and was starting to pass out. As I passed out, I heard Aracaris say that he was there to save me. I woke up what seemed only seconds later as it was actually a few hours later as it was midday when I woke up. I was feeling a whole lot better and stronger than before. Yet I was also feeling different from before. I slowly got up and looked at myself and saw that I was an anthro version of Aracaris. He said hi from next to me as he explained who he was to me and said that he would help explain everything to my family. He was able to after we calmed them down from when they saw us,” he said.
“Thank you for your story young dragon, you may step back now,” Paul’s grandfather said.
He nodded and stepped back with the others. That was story number four and with pez not having to tell his story, there were about 10 other stories to be told. I looked back at them as it looked like they couldn’t decide who would go next as Zmaj stepped forward with a bit of a gulp.
“You must be the one that is connected to Alastor, am I right,” grandpa said.
“Yes I am sir, Alastor is my guardian,” Zmaj said.
“You may begin when you’re ready,” grandma said.
“My story begins the day after I got out of high school, which would be back in May. I wanted to go for a walk in the woods as it was supposed to be a nice day outside. It was during the middle of the day and I went for a walk in the middle of the woods that are near my house as my family was in town at the time. It didn’t take me long to get to the forest as it was just down the road from where I live. As I was walking, it started to get windy and very cloudy. I didn’t pay attention as I walked into the woods to look around. Pretty soon it had gotten dark and I heard a loud crack of thunder. The news didn’t say anything about a thunder storm and I was starting to get worried. I tried to make a run for it when a bolt of lightning struck a tree that was near me. Before I could react the tree caught on fire and was falling right towards me. The next thing I knew, I was pinned under the burning tree and in extreme pain. What made matters worse was that it started to rain. At one point I was glad as it put the burning tree out, but I was going to be drowned by the rain while still being pinned under the tree. I couldn’t feel my lower body as I figured that the toppled tree had shattered my spine,” he began.
Nothing could be worse than becoming paralyzed from a tree falling down on you. It would be especially hard for a dragon for a while and didn’t know if a dragon would fully heal from a paralyzing blow to the spine. In my head I was wincing at the story that Zmaj was telling and was glad that Alastor was there to save him.
“I was starting to pass out when I felt the tree starting to move and be lifted up off of me. I didn’t know if I was hallucinating or not. As I passed out, I saw a tail move into my sight but wasn’t sure as my sight was fading. I started to come around what seemed like a life time as I felt the sun on my face. As I sat up, I saw Alastor in front of me as he was laying down and smiling at me. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t just eat me at first as I was certainly near death. Before I could ask anything, I realized that I could feel my legs, along with an extra limb. I looked at myself and couldn’t believe my eyes. I was an actual dragon and not any dragon. I looked just like Alastor but as an anthro version of him. He calmed me down and explained who he was and how he was connected to me. I was very fascinated by the tale as he helped me learn how to walk as an anthro dragon and helped me explain to my family what had happened to me. They were afraid at first but accepted me as I am now as I was very glad of it,” he said.
“Thank you young dragon, you may go back now,” a council member said.
He nodded and went back to his spot and I looked to see who would be coming up next to tell their story. It was getting close to 2:30 in the afternoon already and I’m sure everybody was getting hungry or tired from explaining their stories. Shader was the next one to step forward to tell his story as he looked a bit more nervous than the others did.
“Hello young dragon, you must be the one connected to Lian, am I correct,” Azmoth said.
“Yes I am sir,” he said and smiled weakly.
“You may begin when you’re ready, and after we hear your story, we will take a small break so that all of you may go rest and get something to eat if you are hungry, I am sure you are all tired from your ordeal with my former grandson,” grandpa said as they all nodded.
“My story begins about two months ago back in June. I was out by myself in the woods and was very bored and lonely. I didn’t have anybody to talk to except for online with my friends here, and your grandson here is one of my closest friends. As I was saying, I was just in the woods by myself and practically over the edge of loneliness. I didn’t feel like going on and wished that dragons were real so I could be one. As I was sitting there, I heard something move behind me and slowly got up. I didn’t know what it was as I was getting very scared as I thought that my life was going to end right there. When I turned around I saw a dragon standing in front of me and it was Lian. I didn’t know his name at the time and was starting to get a bit freaked out because I was looking at a dragon. But for some reason I didn’t feel like running away as he came towards me,” he began.
“That was most likely the link you two share between each other,” grandma said.
“When he got to me, he introduced himself to me as Lian and my guardian. It was hard for me to believe that I had a dragon for a guardian and after we talked for a while, he said that he could make me a dragon. I was a bit taken back and after I thought it over, I agreed to become a dragon. I was actually starting to feel a bit happy about my wish finally coming true about becoming a dragon. He had touched me with his paw and I don’t know what had happened next as it seemed that I had passed out. I woke up a bit later and looked at myself and saw that I was an anthro version of Lian. I was very excited about it and he had helped me learn how to walk some and use my wings as we went back to my house. It had taken us a little while to convince my parents that it was actually me and not a monster. That’s my story of how I met Lian,” he said and looked down.
“So a gift to help a friend that needed it, we will take it into consideration,” a council member said.
“Thank you for your story young dragon, you may step back now,” Azmoth said.
“Thank you,” Shader said and went back to the group.
“All these stories are very interesting to hear, and they are lining up with the stories of the guardians, we will take a short break and come back here in an hour at around 3:30 when we are all refreshed to hear the stories of the remaining young dragons and the young gryphon here. Meanwhile, we will talk about the stories we have already heard to see what to do, and we will take into consideration about my grandson and granddaughter here revealing the existence of dragons to the human world as well. Now you may go and do what you like for the next hour,” grandpa said as he got up.
Grandma and the council got up as well and left the throne room as Azmoth was still here and was talking with mom and dad. I decided to take the others to the dining hall to get something to eat since they are possibly hungry at the time. I stretched a bit as mom, dad, and the others left the throne room and were going to look for the kids. Mom was carrying Korkie as she was wagging her tail happily and it seemed cute to me. Nagendra and Kremalia had left the infirmary while the nurses and doctors were taking care of me and the only place I can think of where they went to was my and Rachael’s room here in the castle. I didn’t know where Clara was at the time being either as there are usually a few opened windows in the castle as she probably flew out of one and into the court yard. I started to leave the throne room as well as I didn’t hear the others follow me and I looked back at them.
“Aren’t you guys coming,” I asked.
“We don’t know what we should do Zilla,” DM said.
“Well, first of all you guys should at least try to relax, and possibly get something to eat before the rest of you have to give your stories to my grandparents and the council,” I said.
“That’s just the point Zilla, why do we have to tell them our stories, and why haven’t you told us about the before,” Ian said.
“Like I said before, I couldn’t, since I was born part dragon and part of the royal family, I had to keep this world and the existence of dragons and other mythical creatures a secret,” I told them.
“And what do you mean other mythical creatures, I take it you mean gryphons as well,” Gryph said.
“Yes, not only are gryphons and dragons real, but so are nagas, phoenixes, vampires, werewolves and other werecreatures, leprechauns, and all those other mythological creatures all of us read about,” I explained.
They all were listening and looked to be a bit skeptical about what I was telling them. It was going to be hard to explain to them about all of this without some help from my other friends. The only way I could explain it as best as possible is to use my one medallion that is laden with magic and that picked me to be the heir to the throne. Pez is the only one that would stand by my side because of when I brought him to Dragonia when he was a kid, it helped lift his spirits about being a dragon and we are still close.
“Yeah right, if leprechauns are real, then paint me green and call me O’Rally,” DM said.
“Oh I can oblige ye with that my blue and yellow dragon friend,” someone with an Irish accent said from around a corner.
They all practically jumped when a leprechaun walked around the corner. He was about 4 foot tall wearing the usual green attire but not the usual green hats like in the cartoons and comics. He was wearing the black buckle boots as he was flipping a gold coin from his pot of gold. He also had a trimmed deep red bread and a bit of curly deep red hair on his head. He didn’t look to be more than a couple hundred years old as well. Leprechauns usually have the ability to grant good and bad luck for a lot of people and creatures, but they have to do it quietly and out of sight. They do have the ability to not be seen by humans when they go to earth as they have a cloak of invisibility around them so they can move around more freely. I laughed a bit as DM was looking down at him wide eyed and everybody else started to chuckle.
“S-Sorry sir, I didn’t mean it that way,” he said a bit nervous.
“It’s okay young one, word is getting around about the whole lot of ye in the other realms, I wanted to come and see for myself if it was true or not,” he said with a smile.
“Hehe, finally somebody made a wise crack other than me,” Skyder said with a snicker as I chuckled a bit as well.
“Oh hush ye big silver hide,” the leprechaun said with a smile.
DM chuckled this time as Skyder frowned a bit and started to laugh a bit as well. The leprechaun tipped his head a bit and left as we all started to walk again. It seemed like they were all a bit more relaxed after that encounter and I was glad of it. I started showing them around again as they were all amazed by the intricate designs and carvings on the walls and the doors. I like the carvings as well as there are even more on the pillars as they still had eastern dragons designs wrapping around them. Some of the pillars had gold trimmings on the bottom of the pillars along with some jade on the carvings. All of the carvings still look life like to this day and I love how they look. I looked back at the others as they seemed to be looking at everything in awe as it started to remind me of when me, Jessie, and the others came here for the first time 18 years ago. Those were the good times as I started to remember when I met their guardians for the first time. Betruga on the other hand doesn’t live on earth anymore. We found out not to long ago that there are villages of fur dragons living in the mountain ranges of Dragonia. He was appointed to be the liaison between the villiages and the main kingdom as he has a bit of royalty in his blood. His ancestors were actually lords of a few of the villages so grandpa and grandma reinstated the title to Betruga.
Salaren is also royalty as we did a bit of digging on his ancestry as his grandparents are the rulers of a tribe of winged cobra nagas over on his home continent. He became a liaison for the naga kingdom and the dragon kingdom as he was very happy about that. He also helps with his grandparents on ruling the tribe as he likes that as well. After a bit we got to the dining hall and I walked in with all of them following me. Stacey and John were there with Amelia, Victoria, and Elexia as they were eating a snack. The three of them turned around when they heard us enter and squealed in joy when they saw me. They quickly got out of their chairs and ran over to me happily. Since I’m still in my taur form, I laid down and hugged them warmly. They hugged back as I made sure not to hug them too tight as I’m glad that they’re doing alright.
I let them go and rubbed their heads gently as they giggled and ran back to the table. I got back up slowly and looked at the others as they were looking around the dining hall in awe. I chuckled and snapped my claws some to get them to snap out of it as I walked over to the dining table. They followed and sat down at the table in different spots as there was food all laid out for us. It smelled great as there was some food a bit further down the table and away from the other table as Stacey, John, and the three girls were sitting there. That food most likely didn’t have any egg in it because of Victoria’s allergy. That reminded me to tell them about it so they can be careful around Victoria and the other girls.
“Hey guys, there’s something I need to tell you,” I said.
“What’s that Zilla?” Watto said and looked at me.
“Be careful around my one niece Victoria, she has a high allergy to eggs, so that means after you get done eating, wash your hands and muzzle,” I explained.
“How bad is her allergy,” Sam asked.
“Very bad, she can’t touch anything that has egg in it, and we can’t touch her if we touched something that has egg in it, so please be very careful,” I said.
“Oh wow, thanks for the warning zilla,” Drake said.
“Yeah, we’ll make sure we’re extra careful,” Kirak said.
“Yeah,” Mitch said.
“Thanks guys, that means a lot,” I said with a smile.
They nodded and started to put some food on their plates as I grabbed a piece of fruit to eat. Since we still had some time left before we had to go back to the throne room, I thought I would go back home and check online real quick. I excused myself and started to walk out as Elexia ran over to me. I stopped and looked down at her with a smile as she smiled as well.
“Hey Jeff, do you think you can take her back to your house on earth real quick, she has to use the bathroom,” John called over from the table.
“Sure, I can do that,” I said.
“I can go with you as well Jeff, I need to get a couple of things from the house for the babies,” Rachael said as she came into the dining hall.
I smiled as she kissed me on the cheek as I heard a bit of snickering coming from the table. I looked over at the others as the snickering stopped and I was blushing a bit. Rachael laughed a bit as well as I blushed a bit deeper and opened up a portal for us. The three of us walked through the portal and were soon in the living room of our mansion as it looked like nothing happened. I was a bit glad as Azmoth must’ve done a repair spell on the whole mansion to make it look good as new. Hopefully he did the same thing with the Sam’s Club building or will do one on it soon. Rachael walked off with Elexia to take her to the bathroom as I walked upstairs to our bedroom. Even though the stairs were custom made for us, it’s still a little tricky walking up and down them as a taur. I got to the top of the stairs and slowly shifted back into my anthro form as the pain from my wounds was gone and I could move my hurt arm around a bit more easily. I took it out of the sling as I went into my room and turned my laptop on. I sat down on the couch and waited for it to turn on as it took only a few minutes. When I got online, I saw that I had a lot of messages to go through on skype and just quickly scrolled through them. After a couple of minutes, I got a new message from Azith and smiled some as he wanted to talk.
“Hey Zilla, long time no see, where have you been,” he wrote.
“Very long story, was held captive by a clan of ferals for a couple of weeks,” I replied.
“Ouch, so that’s why you weren’t online, glad you’re alright,” he wrote.
“Same here, so what’s up,” I wrote.
“Well, I was wondering if I could come and visit, you see, I got turned into a dragon not to long ago and I saw that news interview on you and your family,” he replied.
“I take it you want to come for a visit and visit Dragonia,” I wrote.
“Sure, if it’s alright,” he wrote back.
“Yeah it’s alright, I’ll come over right now and pick you up, just pack a couple of clothes,” I wrote.
“Cool, I’ll be ready and waiting,” he replied.
I chuckled a bit and checked a couple of other things like my DA account. I was a bit surprised to see so much stuff as I had a couple of thousand things to look through. It would take me a while to do that as I didn’t have the time to do it right now. I signed off of my laptop and got up. I put on a pair of jeans and decided to get ready to go get Drakar. Rachael came into the room with Elexia as I told her what I’m doing as she smiled and wished me luck. I nodded and opened up a portal to where he lives as it was going to be a bit tricky pinpointing his exact location in the town he gave me. I walked through the portal as I was now in Canada. It was a bit warm there as I was glad I didn’t put a shirt on because of being a dragon and it not being too cool there. Even though I can control temperature, I still don’t like to use it that much casually. I looked around and started walking as it looked very nice where I was. It took me a few minutes to get there as I had to stop a few times and ask where he lived. I had to use his real name as I was able to get to his home soon. I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes as the house looked to be a small two story building.
A minute passed by as I heard the door unlocking and open. Standing in front of me was an 8 and a half foot tall anthro dragon. His scales were red in color like Farm, but a darker shade of red. He also had red breast plates going down his chest and stomach. The red was deep as well as he had a pair of black spikes going down his back. His eyes were a deep blue in color as he had black horns coming out of the back of his head. He looked a bit cool as he looked just like out of the stories he had written on his DA account. I immediately recognized him as Azith as I smiled.
“Hi Azith, it’s nice to finally meet you in person,” I said with a smile.
“Can I help you?” he said.
“It’s me Zilla, we just talked on skype,” I said.
He went wide eyed with amazement and looked like he was about to pass out.
“How did you get here so quickly,” he said with astonishment.
“I traveled here via portal express, faster than the faster private jet. Now you all ready to go visit the realm where dragons come from,” I said with a smile.
“You bet I am,” he said with joy in his voice.
He quickly grabbed a bag as he was wearing a simple red shirt with a dragon head on it along with a pair of brown shorts. He stepped out of the house as I moved out of the way and closed the door. He said goodbye to his mom as she must’ve known about him leaving for a couple of days as his mom said goodbye. I opened up a portal as I could tell his eyes were filled with wonder and amazement as we both walked through it. When we got to the other side, we were in the court yard of the castle as he was looking around. The court yard was filled with different types of flowers and trees as well as a fountain or two and some benches. Dragons were walking around on the paths as there were a couple gryphons walking around as well. Some of them were guards on their breaks as Drakar looked amazed by everything he was seeing. There were also a few different statues of the previous rulers who were my ancestors as I started to walk inside.
I heard Aztih stumble a bit and catch up to me when he realized that I was walking into the castle. I looked at him as he was looking around at everything with wide eyes and wagging his tail some as he was taking it in. I’m sure he had a million questions running through his mind and wanted to start asking me them one after another, but for now that would have to wait. We walked over to a balcony as we went up to a second level of the castle as I walked out onto a balcony. He followed as the balcony was just above the wall that surrounded the court yard. He instantly stopped and went wide eyed as he saw the entire kingdom and looked around in wonder.
“Azith, welcome to the main kingdom of Dragonia,” I said with a smile.
“Wow, this is incredible,” he said with a huge grin on his muzzle.
“I thought you would like it, I’ll give you and the others a tour later, right now we have to get back to the throne room,” I said as I checked the time.
“How come,” he said curiously.
“Because the rest of the group need to tell their stories on how they got turned into dragons to my grandparents and the high council,” I said.
“Others?” he said with a raised eye ridge.
“Yeah, Farm and a few other friends,” I said.
He smiled again when I told him about Farm and eagerly went back into the castle. I followed him and grabbed his tail before he ran off into the castle. I didn’t want him to get lost in the huge castle as he called down and followed me. It took us a few minutes to get back down to the first floor of the castle and to the throne room as he was asking question after question about everything that he saw in the castle. I was able to answer every question he asked as he was still amazed by everything that he was taking in. This was going to be an interesting few days because of the Harvest Moon Festival starting soon and I intend to show Aztih and the others a good time. I was also hoping that all of them wouldn’t have to be stuck in here for the rest of their lives while Sam would be forced to go back to earth without her brother. Azith would most likely have to tell his story on how he got turned into a dragon as well as I was a bit curious about it as well. We got to the throne room just in time as Farm and the others were just walking into the throne room and I couldn’t wait to hear the stories from the others and hoped that the judgment from the council would be good and let them go back to earth. That was the only thing that was getting to me as Drakar and I walked into the throne room as well as the doors started to close behind us.
Sta.sh
A new chapter!! 
