Beeping. Tortures beeping. Right now for the fourteen year old boy lying next to the infernal device creating it that was all that existed. If slugs could beep he was sure this is what it would sound like; an annoying off cored sound that seemed to stick to your ear drums. However this was much the point of the device as it was his alarm clock. Unfortunately this was also a Sunday.
Strange dreams had visited him that night, dreams of dragons at war, some malevolent evil rising, a dirty purple beam of light smothering some poor young dragoness, a purple one living with dragonflies the irony of which amused him, four specific older dragons in council over some mater and much more. It was bazar and perplexing but strangely realistic and organised compared to most of his dreams. Unfortunately as the waking world called him the details faded and images blurred much to his disappoint. It was an interesting dream and one of the most coherent he had had in a while.
After about half an hour of repeatedly hitting the snooze button on his clock every other minuet he finally decided he was no longer going to get any rest that morning. Sluggishly he heaved himself out of bed.
'Might as well get an early start to the day if nothing else.' He thought as he got up and walked to his dresser across the room to reach under his pyjama top to apply his morning dose of deodorant.
As he did he caught a glimpse of something in the mirror, something white, blue and yellow. He dismissed it as a trick of the light in favour of smirking at how ridicules he looked with his messy and absurdly long blond hair; it was down to the small of his back thanks to him avoiding the blade of the barbers and a school that was lax on heir length rules. He looked into his own light icy blue eyes. Eyes had always fascinated him. He had firm face that his long hair made look thinner then it actually was. He didn't mind, in fact he thought it made himself look more regal and sophisticated.
A moment later he mentally chastised himself for being vain.
Grabbing his dark blue dressing gown off the back off the wooden chair in front of his computer he put it on and opened the top draw. From it he took a paper bag and grabbed one pieces of the soft black eating liquorish inside.
It was an acquired taste, like most good foods in England. They weren't strictly specking sweet but they tasted good, to him at least. They lacked the sugary excess of American candy but then so did all sweets in England. It was home; what he grew up with, so he preferred it.
He turned to his window and pulled apart the thick red curtains revealing the view of the country side around him. It was mid-September; specifically that strange time when the leaves had only just started to fall off the trees but the leaves had all began to die giving a fantastic gold, yellow, red and orange glow to the groups of trees.
His farther, Alexander Highlander, owned most of the surrounding land and the largest weapons manufacturing company in Britain, maybe even Europe and some would argue the best in the world; Aquila Industries.
It was a strange thing really, it earned his family both admiration and scorn from different people. However he saw it as a social handy cap. Sure he got to play with the cool toys occasionally but when it came to meting people they judged him on what they thought of his father's occupation rather than getting to know him. Even if they were ignorant of it at first they soon found out either through some obnoxious teacher or more knowledgeable student who hated his guts for some reason or another. Sure he had friends but he could only considered people friends after he had got to know them for a year or two and the subject of their praise or chastising turned into friendly jokes. Some how he had made friends on both sides of that fence, those who thought his father's job was a necessity and thought who thought he was adding to the problem, though admittedly more on the former however it was still few altogether.
His attitude once again had varying results as well, he simply could not tolerate fools and did not trust easily but he often was the one to give a bully a bloody nose if he caught them picking on someone. He had done it so often that a group of them decided to gang up on him when he was alone. He ended up in hospital with a broken, nose, arm and even a couple of cracked ribs, but at least he wasn't alone; he managed to take three of them down with him and the rest all had at least a nasty bruise or two. They left him alone after that, not worth the trouble, especially as his dad had taken them to court over it.
As for the company it was not wholly dedicated to making weapons. Aquila Industries also had an impressive research and scientific branch that delved into anything of value to humanity as a whole, selling the results to partner companies who were more suited to manufacturing useful products out of the research and distributing them. Something he could be mildly proud of.
Breathing in and out deeply to help get the oxygen flowing in sight of the brilliant scenery, he soon moved on. The house was large but not excessively, it was no manor house but six bedrooms, four of which were en-suite was nothing to shake a stick at in Britain. On average they had the smallest houses in Europe. While it was not excessive in size it was unusually eccentric in design, having a relatively modern block like design but being built into the side of a large hill and the basement connecting to a small cave network his dad used as a private work shop and test centre.
Reaching the kitchen his search for a decent breakfast was in vain. All the bacon was frozen and the only box of cereal that had any amount sufficient enough to fill his bowl was Corn Flakes.
"Typical." He murmured as he put the kettle on to make some coffee and hot chocolate mocha and reluctantly poured the bland cereal into a bowl, added milk and made his way to the dining room.
The dining room was the largest room in the house, dominating the forward most centre area and doubling up as a living room. Its appearance was drafty because the second floor was open to it, having a balcony around the back and sides of the room and stair cases at either side. The front wall was one giant widow offering a fantastic view of the land beyond.
"House, music please; Owl City, Vanilla Twilight." He 'asked' the house computer to play. It wasn't sentient, it didn't even talk back unless necessary but his mother had programed it so it would only respond if you asked it nicely. It was a ploy to get manners into him and his sister at an early age. It worked perfectly as it was a machine and unresponsive to tantrums or emotional pleads.
Relaxing to the dreamy music he sat down on a comfy sofa facing the window to watch the sun continue to rise as he ate and drank.
How long had he been sitting there? At least an hour. The sound of footsteps had woken him from his trance like state. He turned to see his mother; Jade Phelps. Even though age was begging to take its toll she was still a drop dead gorges woman and his farther Alexander knew it. They still loved each other deeply, the fact they still had an active sex life was a testament to that. The hitch however was that they weren't technically married, just engaged. It was something to do with the over expectation of responsibility in marriage, that and Alexander considered it the last legal form of slavery on earth. It helped as his farther was most certainly not the most responsible person around; the evil monologues he had let off as people entered his work shop were at the lower end of that scale.
"You're up early." She said as she sat down beside him.
"Bloody alarm clock went off. Must have set it by accident last night. What about you?" He rested his head on his mother's shoulder, still a little sleepy. "You're usually still uh, practicing… nocturnal activities." He said with a cheeky smile tugging at his lips.
His mother gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "You're not supposed to know about that kind of thing yet." She tried to keep a straight face but he would have noun of that.
"And you're avoiding the question. If you do not compile I will take you to my torture chamber and pull out your teeth one by one!" His mockingly antagonistic stare got her to crack a smile.
Unfortunately it was short lived. She sighed. "He got a call last night; another contract."
A frown came to his face. When she said 'contract' in that context he knew it had nothing to do with Aquila industries. While Alexander did own a multibillion pound company the way the company was set up by his now late grand farther meant executives didn't even get half of what they would in other companies. A lot of the money made was funnelled back into the company, especially the research division.
A lot of his family's money came instead from the 'contracts' Alexander worked. Being technically skilled, physically fit and having a craving for excitement he took on odd jobs for many unique situations. Some would say he was out playing mercenary. He didn't do anything illegal and most certainly nothing unethical, it often didn't even require fighting as some jobs were just security for science groups wondering into dangerous territory, but it meant if that strange man in a black coat turned up with that letter one day it would be a lot less noble then if he were an ordinary soldier, a fireman or something along those lines. That and he was away from home weeks at a time and it often required his attention at the drop of a hat, though it only ever happened two or three times a year.
Unfortunately the news broke the dreamy good mood he was in. "I'm going to get dressed." He said as he got up and headed back to his room.
A quick refreshing shower and after a long time spent reading while waiting for his hair to dry he began to dress for the day. His usual attire consisted of blue jeans, a black t-shirt complete with menacing skull, heavy walking boots with steal toe caps and of course his hat. The dark brown leather rimed hat had errant him many cowboy and Indianan Jones puns but he didn't mind. It made him unique in a way, it made him stick out, for better or for worse. He liked being unusual.
He looked at himself in his dresser mirror. He could only hold in a smile so long. "I'm William James Phelps Highlander, and bloody proud of it. I am me!" He could only laugh at how ridicules he sounded.
The moment of silliness restored his good mood. His dad would come back home, he always did. Then they would go somewhere like Malta for a week or two. As was his norm. 'Life is nowhere near perfect; it's a mess. It's what you make out of it that counts.' The words of his grand farther echoed through his head and he decided, today would be a good day.
He briefly took note of the calendar displaying a number of famous fighter planes. It was the fourteenth of September, twenty forty eight. Almost twenty years since the major coup against the ruling Tory Government that resulted in some major reformations in the laws of England and the UK, for the better as well. The NHS (national health service) and education systems were restored to a thriving condition they had not been in, in years. Their navy, air force and army were now thrice their previous size, a force to be reckoned with that they had not been in decades. The bankers who had gotten the country into a recession years earlier had been given a good boot up the ass and were actually behaving themselves, not taking to many risks and actually paying full taxes. Production and exports were at an all-time high as the ship building industry in Britain was bought back to life. Of course what was good for one was good for ones allies; the UK had dropped out of the EU and consolidated the Commonwealth resulting in Australia, India, Canada and many African countries gaining in prowess. Of course this boosted competition with America, China and Russia resulting in surge of new technology. Of course it wasn't all smiles and sunshine. The Middle East was beginning to feel threatened by the growth, tensions in North and South Korea were high as both were ramping up weapons production, Iran was threatening Israel with nuclear weapons, the UN as in a sorry state and there were numerous other powder kegs waiting to blow. That was the drawback of society today; you need not worry for your food or health but disaster on unimaginable scale was always hidden around the corner. All it took was one stupid man or one small mistake and before you knew it the world was on fire.
William grabbed a few items from around his room; his mobile phone, wallet, his Gerber multi tool, a couple of dice, pack of cards, laser pen, lighter, harmonica and other miscellaneous objects. He then descended the stair way towards the front door.
"Mum! I'm going out for a walk!" He called off into the house.
"Alright, be back for diner!" She called back from the living room.
Approaching the front door he grabbed his light camouflage jacket adorning it before setting out on his walk. It was cold, below twenty in fact, but being used to the cool climate so he saw it as simply brisk. Few others would be awake at this time of day; this meant he could wonder in peaceful solitude. As a large part of the land William's dad owned was open to the public he often got told off by strangers for messing around on 'public property'. Idiots didn't know how to read a dammed notice in his opinion. The reason it was made publicly accessible was really a tax dodge of sorts. People thought it was easy being rich and for those who horded their money it was, however the Highlanders had always had a habit of moving it around as much as possible, that way it benefited a larger group of people but with this came a new level of stress in managing it.
The land was actually quite low value as the ground was too unstable for development. A specially designed and placed house like his dad's was fine, but if anything major was built there was a danger of sink holes and subsidence starting to crop up due to the caves there.
He was a lucky kid to have all this to himself. There was his sister as well but these days she rarely left her room, content to vegetate on a diet of internet junk.
Will wondered over to a rocky outcropping, one that he remembered to be larger which was unusual; he knew this piece of land better than anyone, except maybe his farther, and something wasn't right. As he got closer it appeared as if it had collapsed in on itself. He climbed atop the edge of it to get a closer look. The rocks on top were loose but it seemed stable enough. He tapped it firmly with his foot before moving to the centre of the rock. The situation baffled him; there was no excess of rubble and no sign of explosives so that ruled out human intervention.
The situation perplexed him.
Then the ground sifted. He quickly attempted to get off the rock but the ground fell out from underneath him before he could. William entered a state of panic, grabbing anything he could. He was successful in his endeavour; looking below him several meters down a swirling blue, white and greenish vortex absorbed the falling rock. Numerous thoughts filled his head: Black hole? Worm hole? Portal? What is this thing?
Unfortunately his rocky handhold gave way and he began to fall. As he passed through the vortex a painful headache overcame him and he soon blacked out.
It was dark. Or was it? William's vision slowly came into focus though not by much, everything was still blurry but he could make out a pair of silhouettes in the ghostly blue light that surrounded him, however there was also something wrong with them but he couldn't put his figure on it.
He soon noticed he was weightless, how strange. Then he noticed he was also upside-down. That was what was wrong with them; the figures were, from his point of view, hanging down. He wondered how he had made such an obvious oversight but put it up to his current state of disorientation. Mental and physical.
William quickly turned his attention back to the two figures. One looked roughly human but the other was far larger and more imposing. He also began to notice they were talking.
"We are quite fortunate." The larger one said with a regal and elderly voice.
The more humanoid one had a strong yet high pitch German accent. "Yes yes, quite fortunate indeed! I can only imagine the difficulties a dragon would have in adjusting to my own world." He sounded rather excited over whatever was happening.
"I still wander… is it best to give him this gift? I can only wonder if it will do more harm than good for him." The lager one queried.
"It was your idea; I do not see why you're complaining." The second said drolly.
The first huffed in displeasure. "I don't see why you can think of these thing so lightly. This gift will surly help him survive where we cannot prevent him passing to but the effect it will have in the long run… it will breed distrust and insecurity for whatever allies he forms."
"We already discussed this. William is a capable individual if a bit rash at times. While I could have chosen a better person for the job we got a fine individual by accident! Besides, whether he uses it or not is up to him." The man countered.
The larger one sighed. "Very well. At least instruct him on its use first."
"Of course! You think me a fool!" He began to muter as he approached him. "HELO! Can you hear me?" He practically shouted at him.
Will could only groan in frustration. The head ache had been exacerbated by the shouting.
"Good! Now, listen carefully; you are being sent to another world. Oh, I also assure you that you are not dead or unconscious. This place is very unlike your own but if you keep a cool head and think things through I have no doubt you will do well!" He held up a strange amulet of some sort. "This can help you survive and navigate the world you are heading to. Wearing it will grant you the body of the dominant native race and grant you a number of abilities. It will also be invisible while worn unless touched, yes? Good. Now do not worry, you will find your way back home eventually but for now you must be patient. This task will take some time." He explained loudly.
Examining the individual he could tell he had a flamboyant heir style. William was sure there was some connection he was failing to make regarding him.
The second larger being approached now. "We are sorry this has fallen to you, but be it as it may we believe you are up to the task. Listen to your heart, let your instincts guide you in desperate situations but remain aware and concise of your surroundings. On your journey you will most likely meet many people, I trust that you will treat each with due discretion. Above all remember this; when the purple and black dragons have undone what the Dark Master has begun then your time will come. Not before, you must stay alive until then. We cannot emphasize how important this is, you are required to help manage the cataclysm. I am sorry this task falls to you but it must be done. Everything before that will simply help prepare you, though be aware that if others fail it may very well mean your failure. If you do this well they may even assist you with your task." He explained solemnly.
William could honestly not make sense of a thing he was talking about apart from one thing and that was a blatant mistake on the part of the talker. He groaned as he wrestled with the headache. "You're mistaken; it didn't fall to me… I fell into it. Fucking sink hole."
For a moment there was silence then the smaller one began to laugh flamboyantly. "It did say in his book he had a good sense of humour!"
The larger one began to shake what Will guessed was its head and chuckled a little. "Traveling through the portal is no doubt putting strain on your body. My counterpart is correct about you… if you indeed have the will power to make a mockery of my advice." He ended on a sour note.
"Yes. One can say he is the most Will powered individual we have met." The human sized one said, chuckling at his own joke.
William rolled his eyes. "That was terrible! Please, your making my head hurt more." He grumbled humorously. The absurdness of his situation was totally bizarre. For whatever reason he simply had to laugh at it. He then realised he was probably delirious or dreaming so he played along with it for now.
"Still I must insist we hurry this along. We cannot hold you here too much longer; it would be dangerous for all of us." The larger one reminded.
"Of course, worry not my friend." The smaller spoke before approaching.
When he reached William he almost couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him was the most famous physicist in human history… well, so far. "Albert Einstein! I must be dreaming or… I'm dead. Is this heaven? No, wait… I'm an atheist; I should be going to that other place… but it ain't hot enough for that." He reasoned lucidly.
The eccentric scientist simply rolled his eyes. "I told you, you are not dead or unconscious, pay more attention!" He proceeded to place the amulet in Williams hand and close Will's hand around it with his own. "I cannot emphasize how important it is you keep hold of this, do not let it go!" He enforced the statement with a hard glair.
For whatever reason William began to feel how serious the situation was. "I, I won't." He promised.
"Good. Now we shall send you on your way. I bid you good luck in the events to come."
"As do I. Remember what we have told you and hopefully you will do fine." The larger one spoke. "May the Ancestors be with you."
For some reason the statement didn't exactly fill him with confidence. "I will." The two words were all he could muster before he blacked out again.
Tweeting. Torturous tweeting. Right now for the fourteen year old boy lying near to the infernal creature creating it; that was all that existed. Unfortunately this noise could not be silence by a button… however it could be scared away. Will grunted loudly and aggressively. There was a final tweet before the flapping of wings signalled the evacuation of the bird.
Slowly William rolled over on to his back and groaning from discomfort he sat up. Carefully he checked to see if anything was broken and was relieved to find only bruises.
Looking around he found himself surrounded by unusual foliage. The climate was also too warm for autumn in England. "What have you gotten yourself into now Will." He mumbled to himself.
He got up to explore the surrounding area but stopped when he felt something slip out of his hand. He looked down to see the amulet he was given disproving the idea what had happened was a dream. 'Or am I still in it?' He wandered.
Cautiously he picked it up. It was very well crafted, he could tell that much. It was made of some dark gold like metal but not one he was familiar with. In the centre of the circular part there was a polished green gem of some description flanked by two smaller jet black gems. A number of patterns and runes engraved into the metal seemed to wave their way around the gems. The chain that the pendant peace was attached to was sturdy yet smooth and no doubt comfortable. In fact the whole thing seemed surprisingly light, like it was made of plastic instead of the metal its cold texture resembled.
Slowly, and feeling slightly foolish as he did so, William began to lift the amulet over his head to put it on. As soon as he had released it from his hand a most peculiar tingling sensation overcame him. Then a green mist began to materialise from the amulet. Panicking he tried to grab and remove it but the mist was already surrounding him. A strange sense of vertigo overcame him; an out of body experience would have been the best description. As quickly as it had appeared the mist dissipated and his senses had returned to him but something wasn't right…
The whole ordeal had only lasted moments despite the experience making it feel longer then it was.
As he tried to stand up he toppled over onto his bum but this was from no sense of disorientation but rather because his legs refused to move in the manor he wanted them to. There was also something beneath him but he also registered its feeling of himself sitting on it. At first he thought it should have been one of his legs but his sense of perception told him they were resting on the ground elsewhere. He rolled back over so he was now resting on his hands and knees… or rather what should have been his hands and knees. He realised his feet were resting flat on the ground rather comfortably and his arms were stretched out beneath him. For the first time he looked down to see his hands. Unfortunately they weren't there but something else was that made him recoil in shock. He was looking at a pair of whit scaly appendages each with four digits tipped with yellow talons. He had claws.
As he stared in shock at the two sets of claws he noticed something that reminded him to count his blessings. The two inner most digits were opposable to the other three. Thumbs, or in this case the equivalent of, were a thing he had resigned long ago he could not live without.
Slowly he began to examine the rest of his body he realised he had the body of a large reptilian quadruped. He was covered in white scales with a softer light blue underbelly and a bony yellow ridge, the same colour as his claws, running down his spine. Another distinctive feature was the pair of bat like wings extending from his back hanging limply, the webbing of which was the same blue colour as his chest section. Crossing his eyes he could also see a long snout rather than a nose and flat mouth.
The only creature he could think of that even roughly resembled his current state was, of course, a dragon.
The revelation was quite off balancing for Will, but slowly he began to investigate this new body. The addition of two new limbs and a tail would take some getting used to. The repositioning of his original four however was less of a challenge… or it would have been if not for the fact he kept tripping over his own tail. Eventually he gained enough control over his new body to walk comfortably, he knew further control would come time but understanding this didn't stop it from annoying him.
"I must look like a right fool." William murmured to himself as he awkwardly attempted to move around.
Slowly he began to examine the surrounding area and spotted a calm stream not too far away. Approaching it slowly he looked over the lip of the stream to see a scaly white face staring back at him. His eyes were the same icy blue as before which was a little comforting but that was about the only similarity. He now had a long, sleek but angular muzzle in place of a nose and the elongated mouth that came with it was lined with sharp, pearly white teeth the largest of which were a little shorter than his human fingers. Over the back of his angular head there was now a row of seven dagger like yellow horns. The centre most was the largest, the left and right most ones being a fraction smaller and the reaming four smallest being in two pears each between the three others. It almost resembled an elongated crown of sorts, the thought of which left him a little chuffed.
He continued to examine himself and his reflection even going so far as to, carefully, use one claw to lift his lip and closely inspect his gums and now forked tongue. After examine a few more private aspects of his new physiology he decided that as far as he could tell he was a perfectly healthy and rather dashing dragon. Of course having no comparison he was forced to limit his expectations.
Then he caught himself doing what he was doing. He shook his head in disbelief. "This is… INSANE!" He shouted in a maddened moment of thought. Then he began to repeatedly poke his own arm. "Okay… not a dream then… maybe."
Then he noticed something. The medallion was gone. Panicked he began to grab at his neck and look around until he felt it with his hand hanging there. He nearly recoiled in surprise as it briefly rematerialized. The words began to come back to him, how the thing would disappear whilst worn. He considered removing it and seeing if he reverted to a human form but weighed up the options in his head but decided against it, he had only just adjusted to this body and readjustment combined with the disorientation of the transformation made the idea unappealing.
With a sigh he turned away from the stream and towards the high ground, he needed to know where he was after all. Fortunately there was a nearby and fairly climbable looking tree on a hill that cleared the tree line. As Will approached he attempted moving at different speeds but it was uncomfortable, clumsy and felt unnatural.
Still he continued onwards and began to climb the tree. The claws would have made this easer if it weren't for his lack of experience in a quadruped body. However his efforts were well rewarded in the form of a fantastic view of the surrounding land. Though to his dismay he did not recognise the land scape. The foliage was all wrong. There were mountains and cliff left right and centre. A number of large lakes, some connected by rivers that dotted the area. The most dominating feature of all however was a city off in the distance.
He couldn't tell much from this distance but it appeared to be constructed out of creamy white stone with many circular towers topped by domed roves. Like everything else here he did not recognise the architecture.
William bowed his head and finally accepted the words of Einstein and that other strange person. He was in another world. He was of course still sceptical but the evidence so far pointed to the existence of some form of; 'Adaptive energy conversion and projection.' Will sniggered to himself over the excessive use of words. "…in other words; freaking magic!" He yelled out loud.
He decided the city was his best option… or potentially worst if dragons were seen as monsters around here. Still, he could revert back to his normal form before then but even then civilisation was almost as risky as the wilderness especially with little to no back ground information. Unfortunately he had to do something before dark and that city was the best chance for a warm bed and a hot meal.
Will looked around for the easiest way down and out of the tree. As he twisted around to look he felt his wing catch on something. It was nothing to worry about but it did give him an idea. He had wings! Moving himself to a relatively clear part of the tree he began to experiment with opening, closing and moving his new wings. Like with the running it felt awkward but he believed he could at least glide down to the ground.
He quickly learnt that his confidence was over inflated. While his 'glide' could be described in many ways graceful was not one of them. He managed to keep himself from dropping like a stone but that was about it. He crashed into multiple branches on the way down not being able to keep on a straight line away from the tree. When he hit the ground head first "Ow" was about the extent of his verbal ability.
After brushing himself off and reorienting his senses William began to walk in the direction of the city. However as he was only a few meters away from the tree a groaning sound caught his attention, the sort you would hear when putting too much stress on thick wood. Slowly he turned his head and immediately thought something was wrong with the positioning with the tree.
Again it began to groan but this time it did not stop. Will began to back away as fast as he dared. The tree continued to move and warp until it became roughly humanoid in shape. Then it turned.
He stared in a confusing mix of curiosity and concern at the quickly changing tree. When it finished turning a pair of malevolent glowing yellow eyes stared back at him, suspended above a gaping maw lined with sharp teeth formed from splintered wood. It simply stood there for a moment. The tension felt thick enough to need a chain saw to cut. He wasn't the sort to get scared, not in the traditional sense anyway. But like any other creature he had a drive for self-preservation and that drive was running at an all-time high, telling him to get the hell out of there.
Then it roared at Will. He dared not stand there a second longer and scarpered in the opposite direction. Unfortunately whatever kind of tree this was it wasn't the usual kind and it began to stomp after him in hot pursuit of the creature who dared to harm it even in the most mundane way.
William did his best to stay ahead of the creature but it was not easy considering the thick undergrowth. Then a thought struck him, not one of much use but it carried some bitter hummer regarding the situation. "I'm being chased by a bloody Ent!"
The 'Ent' continued its pursuit simply smashing aside lesser trees to get to its enemy. Will continued the chase for at least a minuet and was now rather comfortable with running but it was not to last. Or at least that's what a cliff decided when he almost ran over it.
The cliff while not particularly extensive in size was still tall enough to prove a fatal jump. "Well shit." He cursed. Looking around he found he could not be in a worse predicament; the cliff curved back around meaning that running off in either direction would result in him being cut off by the tree monster.
This left him with one option and a fast closing widow of opportunity. The creature was now at the tree line and was staring at him clearly amused by the situation William had worked himself into. Slowly he advanced, a menacing grin on its 'face'.
Will had no other choice. He turned towards empty space. "Well, here goes nothing". He jumped.
The air rushed past him at a seemingly slow pace. His whit wings with blue webbing flailing in the wind, trying to catch the air. For some reason a profound sense of calm washed over him and he relaxed, narrowing his body; stabilising it. Then, at the last moment, he opened them halting his decent and used momentum to send himself into an upward ark. When he began to slow he flapped his wings a couple of times and then levelled out.
The whole ordeal was borderline surreal. His mind began to calm and analyse the situation. It was as if some alien instinct was asserting itself. Carefully he began to experiment by angling his wings in ways that felt 'natural'. He soon got the hang of slow assents, controlled descents and banking left or right.
Then it hit him as if it were a brick wall. "I'm flying." He muttered to himself. He looked around at the bird's eye view of the land around, no; below him. There were fields, large clumps of forest and winding rivers along with their tributes like the veins and arteries of the land. He began to laugh almost uncontrollably. "I'm flying! I'm freaking flying!" He cried out in giddy joy.
He had been airborne before of course, his farther had occasionally hired a private jet when he deemed it appropriate to bring his family on business trips and he was no stranger to the rebooted line of Concord passenger planes. He had even been sky diving twice but that wasn't flying, it was falling in style and however fun it just wasn't the same as this; truly flying, with full control, no parachute.
Looking around he saw that, fortunately, he had not diverted course to far away from the city meaning he needn't double back. He adjusted his direction so he was gliding in the direction of the city. The fact he had managed to gain, an at least armature, handle on flying so fast sparked up his confidence and pride.
As he continued to fly he decided a little experimentation was in order and began to attempt a few simple areal manoeuvres. A shallow dive and some tight terns if not particularly graceful first time around were easy to master. Steep assents, faster dives and even a cork screw spin later came, if a little awkward at first. However his luck ran out on his attempt of a loop the loop, his ark collapsing when he began to curve upside down. The hastily saved fall discouraged him from trying it again. That and he was begging to get tiered, his stamina had not yet adapted to flying he realised and restrained his desire to try new things, diverting his attention to getting to the city before night fall.
The sun was setting when Will decided he had best land and continue to approach the city on foot where it would be harder to be spotted. Seeing a large empty clearing about a mile away from the city walls Will began to fly low over the tree tops towards it. He thought about his landing carefully as he approached, not wanting to break a leg and end up in a sticky situation. He slowed his speed as much as possible and flew at as shallow a decline as he could. His sky diving experience would hopefully prepare him for some of it but two extra legs would make a large difference. He extended his legs but kept the knees bent and as soon as he felt the ground he began to gallop. It was messy and he ended up landed on his face but considering it was his first time and he wasn't tumbling head over tail so he thought it was pretty good.
After he stopped panting and recuperated his strength he began to walk in the direction of the city. He worried about the reactions of whoever lived there, he was surly a stranger to them. However upon his arrival at the walls his concerns were uprooted and replaced. It was getting dark and there were no lights coming from the city. No lights meant no people… or at the very least human people, lacking night vision.
William decided it best not to dwell on potentially absurd ideas and investigate further before speculating further, though the already prominent levels of craziness today made him think twice about that. He wandered around the edge of the wall to the nearest gate way. Strangely it was open but there were no guards. Cautiously he wandered forward, entering the city. It was largely in prime condition, it was no ruin he was looking at but the wilting flower beds and excess of weeds indicated no one had been here for a while, if he had to guess; a number of months, maybe even a year or two. It was abandoned. However the residence had obviously not been driven away by war but rather the threat of it or some other disaster. Needless to say his attention was on an all-time high, especially after his recent encounter.
He continued to trudge through the city, examining the architecture and stray objects that littered the city. One thing that was affirming was the multiple depictions of dragons in a positive light and the way most of the architecture was clearly arranged for access by creatures one would associate with the traditional size of a full grown dragon. However the city was clearly built with smaller creatures in mind as well witch was good as it meant multiple intelligent creatures living alongside each other… or a totalitarian cast based society run by these dragons. William wasn't one to skimp on the less then desirable possibilities.
He looked to the horizon and saw the sun would soon be down. He quickly drew a line between night times and seemingly abandoned cities that in turn connected to the many horror films and games he had been exposed to. "Okay… zombie survival video game based common sense says; get inside and secure now!" He mumbled to himself before looking for a suitable makeshift safe house.
After wondering around this part of the city a while he decided that off the ground would be best so he decided to set up in one of the towers. One reasonably deep into the city but at the same time not too far from the perimeter wall, tall enough to be safely secluded from the ground yet not so tall as it would attract attention.
Keeping his eyes peeled he entered the building at the bottom of tower being carful his claws did not touch the flaw creating the clopping noise that was beginning to annoy him in more ways then one. Not only was it annoying but it was potential giving away his position so he had to curl his digits upward to avoid it which was in turn physically awkward.
After searching the building for about a minuet he finally found the stair case and ascended. Most of the rooms he passed by were largely empty but he was fortunate enough to find a few scattered commodities such as wool blankets and some now mouldy pillows. He had slept with worse before.
Will gathered the supplies on the third from top floor under the curving stairwell. He then barricaded the stairwell with furniture knowing it would at the very least give him warning of anyone trying to get in. It didn't impair his ability escape either as he could glide out the windows for a hasty getaway if needed.
Finally he slumped down on his meagre pile of comforts to calm down and review the day's events. Once again he held the amulet in his hand examining it briefly again. He decided to experiment with taking it off. Once again the green mist surrounded him and he was briefly without a body but vaguely knowing what to expect he came out of it better then before.
William looked down at his hands and reached up to his face to feel soft skin instead of slippery scales. He was actually quite relieved as he had suspicions he may not have transformed back by simply removing the strange peace of jewellery. He sighed and could only wonder at the absurdity of his situation. He was in an unknown land sent here to do an unknown task by one the most brilliant minds in human history and now he could turn into a dragon and fly. Naturally the only thing he could do was laugh his head off.
His maddened cackling was interrupted by a set of musical chimes he easily identified as his mobile telling him he had a text message. It caught him by surprise that the thing worked out here. Looking at it, it even told him he had full signal strength, something he could never get the blasted thing to do. He opened the message, it read:
Where are you Will?
Getting worried.
Mum X
The message awoke new worries in William's mind. He was told he would be here a while, a long while. He had gone off without warning before but only ever for a few nights. His mother would worry, the rest of his family less so as they had plenty of distractions but Jade was around the house all day only working small jobs over the internet and keeping the house in order. She also played a large role in helping keep his own life in order, which Will had to admit he was never really good at. His personal organisational skills were terrible as he tended to do what he liked when he liked, ignoring time tables and lacking any structure to his days. A bitter sweet smile tugged at his face. He sighed and snapped out of his temporary stupor.
He quickly typed a return message.
Staying round a friend's house.
New project, will be away for a while.
Love Will
He sent it and knew he was only buying his mother a limited amount of stress free time and that was if the message even got through. William often did things like that, going round a friend's house to construct some contraption or another for fun. He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Will looked back to the peace of jewellery in his hand and moved to put it back on and once again the mist enveloped him. He would need to be ready to fight or to fly if trouble reared its head. Besides, he was pretty sure sleeping in the dragon body would be more comfortable under the circumstances.
But before he got to his improvised bed something shiny caught his eye. He turned to see a rickety old dresser with an oval shaped mirror on top. For whatever reason it peaked his curiosity and he approached. The mirror was grimy and covered in dust so hardly useable so Will searched for a rag or piece of cloth. As soon as he found one he wiped away the dirt that had accumulated over however long it had been sitting there unattended rendering it once again usable. He looked at himself once again in his dragon form as he did earlier that day, the image less distorted due to the lack of shimmering water. Once again he found himself examining this new body with a fascination; the scales, the claws, the wings and the teeth… it was all so new and different. He was in the body of a predator.
Finally he stopped fidgeting or pulling faces at himself and began to just stare. He was different but at the same time he wasn't, some how he felt the image suited him. Then the foolhardy words he spoke this morning came back to him. "I am… who I am. I am me." He could not help but grin. Eventually though he settled down heading for his 'nest' as he supposed it would be more appropriate to call at the moment.
Taking one last look out the window at the sun setting over the beautiful if empty city he could not help but worry for the future. He drew the blankets close to his now scaly skin in preparation for a possibly cold night. He knew he would not fall asleep fast due to the information and ideas flooding his mind but eventually he did. However just before he drifted off he briefly had the most bizarre fleeting sensation that someone was watching him.
He was right.
Miles away in an aging temple a large red dragon, Ignitus the fire Guardian, starred into the pool of visions. As usual all he saw were drips and drabs but he did see a young white dragon a little older than Spyro acting most strangely. He saw how he was being chased one moment, flying the next, how he seemingly stumbled upon the abandoned city of Warfang and how he settled into slumber.
The appearance of a white dragon was most unusual. White dragons usually have control over the element of light, they could do many interesting things and were particularly formidable in a fight. Unfortunately they were rare and uncommon, largely because it was a terribly difficult power to master or control. There were many incidents were their powers lead to accidental deaths or harm resulting in their exile from whatever group they were living with and there were even a number of cases where these accidents resulted in their own deaths as well. Though admittedly, while rare and powerful they were certainly not nearly as rare or powerful as the Purple dragon.
However this dragon was also unusual for a white dragon as he had two other colours upon his body. From what was told in the scrolls and Ignitus's own single encounter with a white dragon they were supposed to be all white except for the eyes which were unique to the individual.
The young dragon was quite clearly lost and inexperienced, if was left to wander too long he would no doubt encounter a group of apes or worse resulting in his eventual demise. The fact the pool of visions was showing him this meant he was probably supposed to do something about it and even this wasn't the case he felt duty bound as a Guardian to do so. Spyro would hopefully soon return from rescuing Volteer. It would be an ideal time to send Spyro to collect this dragon and bring him back to the temple; it would make good practice for him until he could locate the next of the captive Guardians.
Until then he thought it best to make like his current cause for concern and hunker down for some rest, there was little he could do until Spyro returned anyway. And so he made himself comfortable and slept like a rock.
A very noisy rock.
Author's notes: Okay, so… this is my first fanfic to include magical elements. To be honest I don't care if your kind or not in the reviews because I would like to know what you honestly think, though your reaction to these first few chapters will probably decide whether or not I stick to the story or get swept away by the next idea that pops into my head. So please, tell me what you think; what's my writing style like. Am I making regular spelling or grammar errors (If so please point them out)? Do you think my portrayal of characters is accurate? Are my jokes funny? You know; the details. I'm even open to suggestions.
So, I hope you enjoy and if enough of you do I'll keep writing.
Additional note: This chapter was edited on the 16/04/2012. Nothing major but just adjusting details, correcting grammatical or spelling mistakes and rewording a few sentences so they sound smoother.