Hi, all! Sorry for the wait - school's pretty busy at the moment, with exams and stuff coming up, so I haven't had much free time. But here I am, bringing a new chapter with me. Still with the OCs, but canon characters are coming, I promise! You only have until the next chapter to wait. In the meantime, enjoy!
Chapter Three
"Giddyup, Woodrow!" hollered Carson Zelda. His trusty steed galloped faster through the tall grass, and Carson let out a whoop. He had loved riding for as long as he could remember. The euphoria only lasted a few moments, though. He preferred a slower pace. Pulling up on the reins, Carson adjusted his position in the saddle to accommodate for the sudden change in speed. Woodrow trotted across the field behind the ranch, towards the trees fifty metres ahead.
They'd just reached the cover of the foliage when the back of Carson's neck began to burn.
He urged his horse to go faster, knowing he couldn't be anywhere near the ranch - anywhere near his family - when the transformation occurred. He still couldn't control himself in the other form.
They were a hundred metres into the woods when Carson pulled Woodrow to a halt and slid to the ground. He made sure he tied Woodrow's reins to a tree before stumbling ahead into the forest. He dropped to his knees as his back began to spasm and his hands began to shake.
It had begun.
Carson watched as his arms and legs grew scales of electric blue and deep scarlet, as his fingernails and toenails became claws of at least ten centimetres, as his eight-year-old muscles bulged so large that his shirt and pants tore away. His spine rippled as he grew, leaving his four-feet-five body behind as he rose to at least seven feet tall. His tailbone, formerly of no use to him whatsoever, increased in size as he developed a flickering, spiked tail. The burning in his neck increased ten-fold as it split into two, then three. All three necks grew thicker and longer, scaling over as the rest of his body had. The central neck, originally Carson's human one, didn't need to grow a new head. Instead, Carson's grew much, much larger. As this happened, a new head blossomed from each of the other two necks. All three were scaled and ugly. The middle one let out a roar.
The transformation was complete.
Carson was a dragon.
Carson was still getting used to controlling his second body. It was extremely large - almost twice his normal height, and certainly a lot fatter. His movements were clumsy. Every turn resulted in the collision of his tail with a tree.
And then there were the heads. He had no real control over the movements of the extra two. As he reared up, all three heads broke through the tree line, and he had a glimpse of the ranch, tiny in the distance.
His home looked quite different when viewed through three pairs of eyes at once.
Not for the first time, Carson wondered how and why he could do this. Kids transforming into fantastical creatures was something that happened in books and movies and video games, not in real life. Even at eight years old, Carson wasn't deluded by fantasy. But this wasn't one of his Zelda Wii games. This was real.
Carson dropped back to the ground and looked around. He spotted Woodrow where he'd left him. The horse looked frightened by the roar Carson had unleashed earlier. He was stamping the ground, turning in circles and whinnying.
The eight-year-old wondered how long he would be stuck as a dragon. Sometimes, he reverted back to human form in minutes. Other times, he was stuck in the woods for several hours. He didn't know how to control it, but his mother had assured him he'd probably learn.
The Cahills are onto it, she'd said. Carson knew of Amy Cahill. He knew that she had fought wars that had changed her life for good. He knew that she was in charge of all the other Cahills, and people usually did what she said. But how could she help him?
Carson felt the ripples in his spine that meant he was about to transform again. He braced himself. Slowly, the two extra heads retracted into his shoulders and were gone. The tail withdrew into nothing. He shrank several feet, and his fingers, toes and nails shortened several inches. He shed his scales. Then all was still. He was human again.
He jogged back through the trees, found Woodrow and rummaged in the bag strapped to the saddle. He pulled out a flannel shirt, jeans and shoes. Dressing quickly, Carson soothed his horse before mounting it and setting off for the ranch.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one. Apparently, there were other kids out there with powers to rival scientific law. And apparently, they'd developed them for a reason.
Something dangerous was coming. Carson couldn't help but wonder, What is it? And ... why me?