The lantern hit the ground with a metallic thump. No. In front of the bearded man a glass display case was left wide open, the lock forced open. Inside the display case was a soft red fabric and a square imprint where the mythical book once laid, now gone. He stepped backwards trying to deny it. Then anger struck. "Blasted council, I knew we should have built a vault for things like this! Once they find out what these books can do they'll come back for them all!" Grabbing the lantern off the ground he walked over to a pile of bags and grabbed one, stuffing as many books as possible off the OUT OF BOUNDS shelf into it. He hauled them out side and dumped them on the stone ground. "Cursed books, I'll destroy every one of you before you can hurt another soul!" It took many trips before they were all in a large pile. He held the lantern into the air to have one last glance at the old books then threw it as hard as he could at the books. Glass shattered and oil spilt over the books, igniting them instantly.
He watched as the only ancient knowledge left burnt before his eyes, lost forever. His heart aced at the lost. "Goodbye" he muttered as the flame burnt bright. "It had to be done and I have waited too long." He stood there until the last book was reduced to ashes and carried off in the wind. Now there was only one book left to destroy, stolen by disgusting thieves and most likely sold to ignorant merchants. He walked back inside the library, grabbing his walking stick and sat down for a rest. He was too old for this now. Shelf after shelf lay bare, stripped of all dangerous knowledge. He needed to get that book back before whatever poor fellow reads it. The merchants might have it but they were gone by now. It would take days to ready a horse and supplies to chase them. His mind wandered to many other things that night as his eyes grew heavier until he fell asleep.
Rays of sunlight lightly touched his skin through the window. He groaned, wishing he had of slept sooner last night. "Five more minutes" he muttered to himself and pulled his blanket over his head. A loud knock vibrated through the room startling him, falling sideways out of bed and onto the hard wood floor and something pointy. "Rise and shine sleepy head!" His mum shouted through the door. "Breakfast is ready downstairs. I'm just going to the shop to buy eggs. I expect you to be at school before I get back." And she walked away. His back throbbed from the unpleasant awakening as he stood up to see what he landed on, the book. Uttering a few curses to it, he shoved it into his closet and shut the door. He began to walk away but curiosity urged him to open it and see what was inside.
Slowly he opened his closet and picked up the brown leather tome. He carefully slipped his hand onto the buckle and undid it. The belt fell to the floor with a soft thump. He could see every detail of the dragon on the cover now. It was a masterpiece, so well crafted he couldn't believe it was only fifteen silver. He slipped his figures under the cover and lifted it up revealing the first page. One word was written in ink in the very middle of it, Dragonicon. He flicked through the other pages but they were all blank. Now he under stood why it was so cheap, there's nothing in it except one word! Furious, he threw the book onto his bed and grasped his hair in frustration. A weeks pay for this! He collapsed onto his bed face first next to the book and groaned heavily. Grabbing the book, he rolled over and held it over his head, staring at the cover image of the dragon. 'Dragonicon, what a strange word' he thought. "At least it will make a good sketch book, it's practically empty if you ignore that word, Dragonicon." the book started to glow a soft golden colour at the mention of the word.
He instinctively dropped the book only for it to land on his face. Yelping in pain he got up and eyed the glowing book on his bed with a mixture of hate and fear. A minute later it stopped glowing and returned to its lifeless state. After throwing various objects at it he decided it was safe to approach then picked it up again. Opening it once more, he found that two words now were written on the first page. One read Dragonicon and the other Transmorph. The later word was written in a wonderful gold colour that flowed on the page. "Transmorph!" He read out load, expecting the worst to happen but the book didn't change. "Dragonicon!" But still nothing. He was either going insane or this was one stubborn magic book. "Dragonicon Transmorph!" He proclaimed proudly and the book once again glowed gold. A smile broke on his face but disappeared just as quickly when the book started to shake violently. It broke free of his grip and floated in front of him, open to the first page. Objects in his room lifted off the ground and then he was lifted into the air as well. The pages began to turn slowly, one by one as if it were reading itself, revealing that more words were written in the book, gibberish which meant nothing to him. The pages began to turn faster he could feel the back of his eyes starting to burn. The more he looked at the book, the worse it got. He tried to look away but his body refused to obey. Beams of light exploded from his eyes and he shrieked in pain. A voice whispering ancient words echoed through the room, slow at first but the voice became more rapid as the book neared its end. His mind became clouded and his vision blackened. All feeling to his body disappeared. The book stopped on the last page, a picture of a dragon. An explosion of light erupted from the book, engulfing him in its golden rays. The last thing he heard was the ripping of fabric then he fell unconscious.
The horse complained as the old man strapped the last bag to his saddle, securing it tightly with various straps. "Now now, your the best horse I could afford. Stop complaining, we haven't even begun our journey yet!" He lifted himself onto its back and rode towards the centre of town to collect one last thing for the trip, a weapon for protection. Bright golden light exploded from a house across the street as he was riding, sending many people running and others falling over from the sudden outburst. His horse bucked in fear and sent him toppling off it and onto the road then it ran off with his supplies still attached. The old man groaned, picked up his spectacles, and dusted off his cloths. He inspected the house, golden rays seeping though every crack and window. After a couple seconds it stopped. Many people stood on the street, staring at the house in shock of what just happened. It was clear that this was the doing of magic. 'It might be the book. If it is then I'm too late.' he thought to himself. He's had is fair share bad experiences with people using enchanted books.
Deciding to take action, to avoid others from finding out about what was going on, he shouted to everyone "It's all right, I'll go take a look. Stay back incase its dangerous." He warned. The town respected the old man because of his age and wisdom, he's grown quite the reputation in the village. Walking to the house, he entered it, closing the door behind him. He scanned the first floor but found nothing so it must be upstairs. The stairs groaned under the frail mans weight as he entered the second floor. In front of one of the two doors there were black scorch marks. Carefully, he twisted the handle and pushed on the door. Something blocked it from opening. Stepping back a few steps, he uttered a few words and the door turned to dust in front of him. Inside the room lay a small blue dragon, no taller then his waist. It seemed asleep. He entered the room cautiously, stepping over its body that was once blocking the door. The entire room was scorched black and if there was any furniture it was incinerated. A cool breeze passed through the room stirring up dust.
The only object left in the room was a burnt piece of paper and a metal buckle, glowing hot on the ground. Possibilities of what happened whirled through his brain but no conclusions fitted. The dragon twitched and it's faint breath could just be heard. Dragons were thought to be extinct. Blue scales covered its entire body. It had two horns on top of its head and light blue triangular spikes, positioned in the middle of its back, that started in between its front shoulders and ran down to the end of its tail. Two huge wings we're folded on its back, same colour as it's body. Not a single scale could be seen on its wings, instead a leathery membrane like a bats wing. Walking around to the other side of it he saw it had four powerful legs and three sharp black claws on each paw. It's soft underbelly lacked scales like its wings. The dragons leg moved ever so slightly, signs of it waking. It's origin was unknown so it was likely to attack when it woke. The old man pulled a small leather bound journal from his pocket and flicked through it. He found what he wanted and said a few words softly, transporting both the dragon and himself safely into the near by forest. He was getting a bit rusty and instead of his planned destination they appeared in a large cove, well hidden by trees. He shrugged, this spot was just as good, if not better. He waited half an hour but it didn't move and soon he grew bored and fell asleep against a rock.
As he slowly regained consciousness, he became aware of odd feelings all over his body. He could also feel the ground beneath him as he laid on his side, the smell of dirt filling his nose. He struggled to open his eye, but when he did, he saw the blue sky filled with clouds drifting in the wind high above him. Next he tried to stand up but his mind could not find either his arms or legs todo so. Panic washed over him and his breathing increased rapidly. 'Don't panic' he thought 'just try agin.' He probed his muscles with his mind and what he found disturbed him. He no longer had arms but rather it felt like a second pair of feet. He also found he had extra limbs on his back and another that seemed to extend off his spine. He managed to curve his head, dragging across the ground to see himself.
A shriek of fear filled the air, waking the old man from his nap. The dragons wales boomed through the air and hurt his ears, throwing his hands on them to lessen the pain. It continued to screech for another minute then it stopped, out of breath. It's scaly head stretched forward to look at itself once then dropped to the ground and closed its eye.
'This can't be true!' He thought. 'I don't want to be a dragon!' Terror vibrated through himself at what he had become. Realisation hit him like a ton of brick. He could never see his family again! Tears streamed down his scaly snout, wetting the soft ground beneath him. Depression took its tole and his will to live faded as memories of his mother and father played through his mind, reminding him what he has lost. He could hear something approach him slowly but ignored it. Hopefully it would end his suffering. "What a marvellous creature you are." said a familiar voice. He opened his eye and saw the old man from the library standing over him. Confused, he asked him what was going on but only warbles and clicks left his mouth."You must be the only dragon alive. No doubt that book had something todo with this." 'The book! That must of been what did this to me.' The old man ran his hand over his neck, feeling every smooth scale with his figures. He tried to get away from him but his body wouldn't move. Trying harder, he managed to move a leg and the old man stepped back cautiously.
"Easy boy, calm down." The old man said, attempting to soothe the wild dragon. After a while the dragon managed to roll over onto its legs and stood up, wobbling slightly. The old man was now worried about the dragon attacking him so he stepped back and watched from afar.
He looked around at his surroundings. He saw two different images at the same time because the way his eyes were positioned and he hated it. He saw that a steep cliff surrounded him in a large circle like a cove. Inside the cove was a fresh water pond with fish. Rocks and large boulders lined the edges of the cove and most of the area was covered in grass. He tried to walk, moving one foot after another until he figured out how to walk, if you could call it that. It was more of a stagger. He could see the old man sitting on a rock from across the cove, smiling. He had to turn his head to the side to focus on him with one eye. He shifted under his gaze, uneasy at the attention he was receiving from him.
The old man pondered about what he should do with the blue dragon. He could easily kill it if he wanted too but it could very well be the last one alive. Nobody would want to be responsible for the extinction of a species even if their race killed thousands of humans under a small misunderstanding in their territory. It seemed only a hatchling so he doubted it could survive on its own for long. Letting nature take its course could very well be the best option.
The old man stood up, small dragon still eyeing him. He pulled out his book once again and wished the dragon luck and disappeared in a wisp of smoke, leaving him in the cove by himself. He panicked, not knowing what todo. Why did he leave and will he'll ever come back? An overwhelming thirst urged him to forget his problems and drink from the pond. He staggered over to it, cursing that book for what it did to him. He had to lay down to get his head close enough to the water to drink. Fish scattered away from him as he drank slowly, his alien body making the simplest things hard to do. Then sun reached its highest point, directly above him, and shone brightly, heating his scaly hide. He welcomed the suns warm in brace and fell asleep next to the pond quickly.