How I should be

Seraphina sat atop the mule and pondered. It was an even tempered creature of surprisingly great tolerance so it allowed her much time to do this, for which she was grateful, something she made sure to express to the creature whenever possible. As she sat and pondered this day her papa was having some manner of debate with a being called a duergar, a creature she thought resembled a dwarf but with the dark skin of the drow.

This one was some manner of merchant though of the filthy cheating variety if she was not so very much mistaken. The others were perusing his wares, the cleric in the books, the wizard examining several barrels with reeked of alcohol, while her mama examined a long slender blade like those she had seen the drow they had fought at the ritual site carry.

This thought of course brought her to the newest members of their party who stood half naked trying to squeeze into a selection of clothing that was clearly too small for them. This fact they knew as they complained of it quite loudly while still trying to cram themselves into the garments. Normally she would have thought this the peak of nonsense but given their lack of raiment thus far she understood even ill-fitting clothing would be better than nothing.

It was something she had come to understand of humans while being human herself, the desire of most to cover themselves. It seemed clear this was some sort of instinct, given their lack of a properly thick hide they used the hides of others and wore them on top of their own for protection. This seemed to be the case most of the time though she had seen many, mostly in the places her papa dragged the wizard out of, who wore as little as possible while still feeling the need to wear it which seemed to completely defeat the purpose in her opinion.

At first glance the elf girls Lucinda and Mooneria appeared to be these types. Her belief in this was enforced not simply by the way they dressed but also by the way the wizard stared at them as he typically did with such types. She respected them little as recognition of her papa's manliness was something most any female should recognize and hardly spoke of a vast intelligence. Their obvious disdain for the wizard however gave her hope that there was at least something in their heads beyond dandelion fluff.

And then there was the drow. This one left her very conflicted. While the drow, who she knew was called Minvara but her father called Min, had not been overtly hostile it was very clear she did not think much of those she traveled with. She obviously feared her papa which made her suspicious as it was only his enemies who feared him. Was she an enemy, if so why did her papa simply not kill her, why leave her alive where she might possibly hurt him.

Not that this was likely, despite his injuries at the hands of the vampire, an event which only increased her distaste for the undead, she still firmly believed her papa to be a mighty near indestructible warrior. His wearing of the black cloak again had sent shivers down her spine when she had first seen it. It was like he had donned his dragon again and they would go forth to destroy.

She sighed, it was a nice thought. That however did not change the fact that her own state had not changed. She was still a little girl, frail, weak, though as that old drow woman had learned, not completely helpless.

It seemed the Cleric had given up on ever finding a way to break the magic that bound her and while it irked her to know this, in truth she did not blame her. Despite her distaste for wizards she had begun to form a new appreciation for magic. Ruby was not a wizard yet she used magic in many ways she found useful, even conjuring up fireballs in battle, a useful trick which Seraphina wholly approved of. Her papa had the small statues he had liberated from the witch he called Kumbra, a magic he had used in many situations to great effect.

She had begun to realize her earlier distaste for all things magic had stemmed from a single time when magic had been used against her. Now years later she realized she had been angry at the wrong thing, rather like the Cleric when she had lost her mind. It was not magic that was to blame, magic was an inherent part of her being, it was what allowed her to change shape in the first place.

No, magic was not the problem, in fact it might very well be the solution. Not the solution to her trapped form, something she had basically given up on changing in the near future but the solution to her frailty. She still carried the ritual dagger she had used to kill the drow and she could feel the magic around it. She knew the magic within her was strong, even if her ability to change was being cut off that didn't stifle the presence of her power.

Yes, that was the answer. She could learn magic, she could be useful to her papa. Of course she would need someone to teach her, someone who was not the wizard because he was utterly useless, a fact he was proving as he lifted one of the small barrels when he thought no one was looking and began to chug it down.

She shook her head at his stupidity, losing her original train of thought as she brooded on the stupidity of red headed wizards.

She was broken from this when her keen hearing became aware of a sound, a strange rushing of the air, like a storm under the wings of some massive creature, drawing closer.

Oh no.

"PAPA!" she screamed but even as he turned toward her she knew it was too late.

They saw it, she knew they saw it because the black skinned dwarf became pale gray and screamed like the wizard who had also seen it.

"Harry!" The cleric shouted.

"Get everyone under cover" he commanded charging towards her.

She risked a look up and almost fainted at what she saw.

It was an adult black dragon, something all creatures feared. Even a young black dragon knew better than to antagonize such a beast, an adult of their kind was the only thing the young ones instinctively knew to fear. The mule seemed keenly aware of what was going on and was turning to and fro in a panic unable to decide in which direction to flee, it made the challenge of staying on much greater than it had been but a moment ago.

This was made even more difficult when a streak of flame scorched a line in front of them to molten slag causing the mule to rear and her to go tumbling off. The mule galloped off in a frenzied panic, leaving her stunned on her back. She sat up rubbing her head and the first thing she saw was him. She wasn't sure exactly how she knew the massive black beast was a him but she did.

He touched down with a grace that belied his massive size, swinging his tale around to knock one of the duergar carts into a collection of shredded junk. It was magnificent, awe inspiring, even her papa did not possess such casually destructive power.

Was this how she was supposed to be, she wondered. A part of her knew that yes it was, if not for the interference of one arrogant wizard this is exactly what she would be. That thought did not fill her with the same pride she might once have felt. She had spent years as something other than an arrogant selfish fire-breathing lizard and she now realized just how much it had changed her.

It was strange to realize that her own way of thinking had been changed simply by being forced into a form that was not all powerful, not indestructible. A form where she was forced to rely on others, to learn to be strong and protect herself instead of simply being basically invincible from the get go. She had been forced to learn instead of assuming she already knew and it had changed her.

Of course all of this was forgotten when he turned his gaze on her, then her mind went completely blank but for a single thought.

I am about to die.

As though to prove this the dragon approached, his massive limbs eating up the distance even as she tried to stumble to her feet. In the end it wouldn't matter.

Before he reached the scorch mark which had led to her abrupt arrival on the ground and electric explosion erupted in front of his foot, causing him to flinch back and turn his monstrous glare on the source.

"That's far enough."

It was her papa, dark hero of her dreams standing tall and proud, staring down the most fearsome creature in the world. The dragon didn't care for this and took in a great gulp of air in preparation for turning him to a small pile of ash.

"NOW!"

At his command a dozen dire wolves surged up from the opposite side, surprising the dragon that had been looking the other way. They were no match for the mighty beast even as the nipped and bit where they could it was obvious they could not win such a fight. Of course, she realized, as her papa knocked one of his special arrows she that was not their purpose.

He waited until the dragon appeared to have gained an upper hand before releasing the green tipped arrow. It flew, straight as a frozen rope, right into the dragon's eye. It exploded in a wet green cloud that immediately sent the dragon to flailing in pain.

Her papa barked out commands as he fired another arrow which froze a patch of ground, causing the dragon to fall on its side, leaving it open to attack. It continued to flail madly, trying to escape as her papa exploded a fireball against its side. The howling pack hounded his ever step as the dragon tried again and again to gain some sort of leverage.

Finally, pushed up against a pillar of stone it managed to make its feet and with great effort took to the wing. The pack bayed and howled as their quarry escaped. Her papa let loose a fireball and a lightning bomb at the fleeing creature, just for good measure she imagined, and watched until the beast was out of sight.

He was magnificent, she thought. Even more than the dragon her papa was amazing. And as she looked at him, she took note of his special arrows. They were magic of a sort, a sort that seemed to work perfectly fine against the magic resistant hide of a black dragon.

Hmm, it seemed her papa had done it again. If such things were good enough for her papa and strong enough to fight off a black dragon, then that was exactly the kind of magic she needed to learn.

She had seen how she might have been, how she should have been, but she would determine how she would be.