Chapter 11

For a moment they both just stood there. Both with completely different points of view.

He sneaked a glance at the girl, she was just standing there, staring at the flames and the frothing dragon in front of her, a million thoughts wheeling through her head.

She took a deep breath and then ran towards the fire.

Great, murdering, thieving, swearing AND suicidal? Now that was just overkill.

Although, the girl seemed to be doing a good job...

Ekans slid under a burning piece of timber and leapt onto the dragons back. It screamed and tore at the air blindly at something that only it could see. She noticed that it was frothing at the sides of it´s mouth and that it´s eyes were a milky opal colour. Strange.

It roared and spat forth more fire. As if there wasn´t enough already she thought sarcastically as she began to slowly crawl up the dragon´s back. The prickly hot spikes burning her hands.

The dark lord watched all this and he had to admit, he was impressed. That girl had a lot of nerve, fighting the dragon like that and she looked like she could kill it.

The dragon, perhaps realising what was going on being it, shook itself vigorously and sent Ekans flying off it and crashing into a wall.

"Or maybe not." the dark lord thought flatly as he observed. But the strange thing was that the place where Ekans had hit the wall there were now a series of cracks, as if it had been a stone that had been flung at it, not a child. Interesting.

Dazed and seeing stars, Ekans stood up shakily. As she shook her head to clear it she saw the dragon turning it´s head towards her, its pupil-less eyes staring blankly at her.

"This isn´t good." she muttered breaking into a run.

The dragon spat out some flames after her. but it was beginning to get tired. She could use that.

She flung herself onto it´s back again. Clinging tightly as she scrambled, slipping slightly on the scales.

she was in the right spot and she took hold of one of the scales with both hands and pulled.

The dragon screamed. Red and gold flames shot into the air like aggressive, out of control animals swooping without a purpose through the air.. It´s talons raked the ground. Searching for a way to make the pain stop. It´s wings becoming a flurry of black in the air.

She flung the scale aside and plunged her hand into the vulnerable, tender, greyish flesh that she had just uncovered. The dragon buckled and thrashed again. It's agonised screams almost unbearable to hear. Almost...

The dark lord stood unmoving, watching the girl and dragon locked in their battle. The child, even if no relation to him, was a force to be reckoned with. She was fighting a dragon without the use of a wand and he knew from when he had studied different magical creatures to see which ones he could use for his cause so he knew that dragons had an extremely thick and tough hide that were not only bullet-poof but also acted as a shield and numbed the damage done by spells, meaning it was impossible to control dragons by magical force. Also their scales were practically impregnable so knives and other metal weapons were useless. Yet the child had ripped a scale out and clawed though the dragon's skin with her bare hands like it was nothing.

That wasn't the only strange thing about her...

Also, the dragon was worrying him. It was clearly insane.

But how?

Dragons had always appeared to be the mentally stable, powerful even, so witches and wizards had dealt with rogue dragons when they came but generally left the species alone.

Screeching and writhing the dragon flung itself towards him, seemingly trying to throw the girl off it's back and he leapt out of it's way. He knew it couldn't hurt him, but instincts remained.

As it passed him, he had a chance to observe a slight change in it's eyes; a black pupil was beginning to form in the centre of it's right eye and a steely, formidable grey iris was beginning to pool it's colour around it.

As for the left eye...

It chilled him to the bone.

Instead of the usual eye white, iris and pupil, there was an abyss like black that speard from corner to corner, resembling a dark and menacing black cave. On the left side of the eye, there was a crescent moon shaped sliver of white that he could've sworn glowed every time the dragon belched forth it's flame, as if a dark force was pulsing through it...

He noted that as this happened, the dragon's movements seemed to be becoming more controlled. As if the madness was leaving it's body...

Yep, definitely a spell.

But who would do something like that?

An ear piercing shriek of pain snapped him back to reality, or rather, Ekans' reality. The child was coated from head to toe in the dragons blood but she was acting as if this was perfectly normal. Maybe it was. The dragon seemed to be giving up the fight, it had stopped it's thrashing and seemed to be waiting for the pain to end. It was strange to see such a 'human' action in a formerly rabid beast.

Ekans seemed to be under great strain now, and soon a loud, resonating crack echoed along the tarnished remains of the alley ways. She had reached and snapped it's spine, killing it.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, the dragons eyes bulging, it's Pupil rolling upwards as it's muscles lost control and shut them forever, the way it's body fell, it's wings looking like two billowing black sails falling after it. The thudding sound it made, confirming the girls victory, echoed in his ears.

He was impressed.

The girl would make a fine death eater...

She sat there on the dragon's back, stunned by what she had just done.

"What the actual fuck just happened then?" She asked the world, not expecting and answer. He allowed himself a rueful smile, the joys of first murders... He understood all too well.

"What just happened," A voice said suddenly, "is that you just released me from the madness, skin walker, thank you."

"WHO THE BLOODY FUCK ARE YOU!" The child seemed to know this person as well as he did.

The voice sighed, it sounded like a wave crashing on a beach somewhere in a different life. "What happened is that you killed me." The voice explained, "and for skin walkers to absorb the conscience of an animal they must either drink the heart's blood of the animal, or be in physical contact with their heart as they die."

"Okay, so let's say that for one second I believe you. You are the dragon, am I right?" The girl caught on quickly, but what on earth was a skin walker?

"Indeed I am."

"Then you're dead. And if you're dead then how are you talking to me right now?" The girl asked inquisitively.

The voice/dragon chuckled. "I am dead yet at the same time I am more alive than I have ever been."

"Eh?"

"Are you aware of your powers, child?"

"I know that I'm a witch if that's what you mean..."

"No young one, I mean are you aware that you are a skin walker?"

the child stared blankly at the wall, "Ummmm..."

"I see... A skin walker is a sort of shape shifter, they can transform into an animal whose soul is joined to theirs."

"But... how the hell can I turn into a dragon when I'm so fucking tiny?" He smiled, the child was amusing to watch he had to admit. She was still dangerous but at least that cleared up the creepy dreams. But why did he get those in the first place?

"Well, child, I took my body with me." The child looked blank again, "Look behind you."

They both turned, expecting to see a lifeless carcass, but instead, there was nothing. He hadn't even noticed it disappear.

"Okay, I believe you, no way would someone be able to drag off a dead dragon without me noticing." she smirked, "Too bad for the neathies."

"What?"

"Just slang... You'll get used to it. Anyway," she put her bloody hands into her pockets and started to walk away, "This is gonna be a hard one to explain to Marv..."

"Who?"

"My older brother, Marvolo, he's the closest thing I have to a real parent but he really doesn't like me getting into fights..."

Fuck, There were TWO of them now. He thought angrily to himself as the memory faded, ending on the child disappearing down an alley.

He just had to hope that the next memory answered his questions...