Joanna emerged from her house. It was pitch-black out. She got a small candle and headed to the forest. It was time.

Remember, this is your choice! Either your family is killed or you become one.

Joanna shuddered. It depended on the conditions outside which one she would become. She remembered the chart.

Black midnight, no snow or storm of any kind=Shadow, Ghost

T-Storm=Thunder, Fire

Rain, Showers, Tsunami, or Snowfall=Ice, water

Normal, sunny day=Life, Light (advanced fire)

Cloudy day=Air

Earthquake=Steel, Ground

Animal Gathering=Animal, Insect

She thought of the camp. Suddenly, a glimpse of firelight peeked through the dense woods. Joanna walked faster. Camp was so close now! She stopped as she came into the clearing. No animal gathering.

A man stepped up to her. A goblet of black liquid emitting dark purple smoke was set down on the ground in front of her. She glanced backwards. The stranger brought his cupped hands up. He let his hands drop at his sides and backed away. The liquid stopped giving out smoke and without moving the cup, it quickly flew out of the cup and then gently hovered over her head. Joanna closed her eyes, fearing the worst. Then the liquid dropped and covered every inch of her wih the dragon blood. It melted into her. She felt a huge, horrible yank in the gut. She was blinded by a bright light only she could see. She felt cold and wet for a moment. Then she felt as if steel jaws bit her. Then all the sensations were gone. Joanna could see. She felt refreshed. Then the new half-dragon walked slowly to her house and fell asleep.
The next night, she packed up all her belongings. Her plush toys, blankets, clothes, and some soda pop and snacks, her laptop and her wireless charger, her toothbrush, her comb, sleeping bag, pillow, and a tent. She set out. Her room looked empty. Joanna trudged through the woods until she found a clearing far from home. She pitched her tent and arranged her stuff, but she left her toothbrush, comb, laptop, charger, and food inside her bag. But when she went back to her bag to get something to eat, she found a bone sword on top of the stuff. She took it out in its bejeweled sheath. Joanna took it out of the sheath and examined it. It was sharp and would cut open her finger when she just touched it. It was made out of a bone, and it had a bejeweled hilt. It had a neat rack of spikes in the back, with a straight line on each side. Joanna put it back inside the bag with its sheath and started nibbling on crackers and cheese. Then she packed the snacks up and fell asleep inside her sleeping bag.

When Joanna woke up, she packed up everything. As she zipped up her bag, she focused on the thought of a shadow dragon in her head. As soon as she let go of the bag, a black tail and black wings popped out. Scales crept over her body. Joanna grew to the immense size of a dragon and transformed into a full black shadow dragon. Her wings felt stiff. She stretched them out, heard a few noises that sounded like cracking knuckles, and took her bag. She felt it was useful for this and flapped once. She rose a few feet, then dropped back down. Joanna scowled. This time Joanna leaped into the air and then she started flapping. She felt free and joyous! The black dragon did a few happy loops and headed for the long-forbidden Dragonspine Mountains.

When the girl arrived at a black mountain, she swooped down to it and dropped out of her draconic form into snow. She shivered, but enered a cave. It was empty, but there were two items lying in the middle. They were items used to make a fire. There was a ring of large stones and wood by them. Joanna made a fire and warmed herself by it. Seeing that it did no good, she covered herself in scales to help. Joanna felt better. Later, she extinguished the fire. Joanna found a cozy spot in the cave and set up her stuff. She crawled inside the blanket and fell asleep. As she drifted off, a shadowy figure entered the cave and saw the sleeping girl. It vanished into thin air and reappeared beside her. It raised a scaly claw and rendered her unconscious. The figure took both of her hands and with one claw, it drew a picture that looked like one line with a crescent across it. From the sides of the moon, there were two stars. The hand bled from the wound. The creature blew on the wound and it instantly healed. In the wounds spot was a dark purple mark that glowed occasionally. It did the same to the other hand. As soon as she started stirring a little, the creature silently left the cave.
Joanna woke up. She went to wake a fire in the ring of stones. But when she lifted her hand to roll a pebble around in it, she saw the mark. It was dark purple and it didn't glow. Joanna looked at the other hand. She saw the mark again. The girl took some cold meat strips from her bag and hung them on sticks. She rotated the sticks carefully to roast them. Then she took them off and silently chewed them. Joanna took a Sprite can and opened it. It fizzed for a moment. She took a gulp. Then she finished her meal and decided to leave for hunting. She took her sword and packed up the food. Then she decided to go down to the meadows below her cave. She turned into a dragon, swooped down, and resumed to her original form. Joanna took the bone sword out of its sheath and scoured the meadows. It was dark out, so she covered herself in scales for camoflauge. Joanna spotted a herd of deer. There was a clear, winding path which she took. Joanna decided to sneak up on one. She came up behind it silently... And plunged her sword into its neck. The deer froze and fell down. Joanna took out her sword and then stuck it in the ground to clean it. She waited in a bush until the wound clotted up. Then the blood stopped flowing and the girl hefted the deer. She took it behind the bushes, changed into dragon, and flew to her cave. She carried the deer and sword along. When she arrived, she took her sword and skinned it over a hole she found. Joanna scowled at the blood flowing into the pit but took the skin. She sawed off the wet part of the skin and took a long stick. She hung the skin on the stick to dry. Meanwhile, Joanna cut meat from the deer and took the antlers off. She put the antlers in a small hole and hefted the rest of the deer and threw it down a cliff. It hit the ground with a crash and a fox started eating it. Joanna cut the meat into strips and dried them. She slept once more in her sleeping bag.