Chapter 28: Call of the Dragon
"EVIE! BEN!" Mal calls out. "CARLOS! JAY!"
The daughter of Maleficent only hears her voice carry into the air a few feet and then become swallowed up by the jungle and its own noise. It was eerie, screaming and no response, the only reaction is a couple of birds taking flight into the air. It was almost like being lost in the middle of the ocean or space, an endless void.
How was she supposed to find her friends in this place?
Wiping the accumulating sweat on her forehead Mal glances up to try and gauge where she was, but it's nothing but a bright sky… almost too bright.
"But how can it be day already?" she mutters to herself when she remembers chasing after Uma and her crew in almost pitch darkness. It didn't make any sense to her; had she been knocked out that long? Come to think of it, before she was dragged into some kind of abyss, and everything went black she was running beside what looked like a glass wall or a greenhouse. How can the trees be so tall if it's just a greenhouse?
She holds her head and tries to find an explanation, but the heat is clouding her thoughts to the point where she has to hold onto a tree branch to avoid passing out. She knows she can't risk becoming dehydrated and with the temperature, that was very close to occurring in a matter of hours if she didn't find water soon.
Sighing heavily and knowing it's going to take a lot of energy, Mal closes her eyes and focuses on the plan in her head.
Purple smoke begins to gather around her leather boots, and she can feel her body beginning to tingle. The same sensation she always got when she embraces the more reptilian side of her lineage. She inhales despite the humidity and allows herself to transform.
…
"That's it…" a voice from a control room hisses. An already amused and satisfied smile crawls outwards into the widest grin of excitement. He watches the readings and the level of power in his generator increase again.
"Follow your instinct," he says with delight.
It was amazing to watch a transformation like this. He knew that this girl possessed unparalleled levels of power, from two sources… two astronomically powerful sources. The energy in this girl's veins was feeding his machinery and expanding the world he built. His subjects had no idea that the more they used their abilities, the more trapped they became. Like a mouse in the grips of a python or an insect struggling in a web… ironic considering the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was almost just that. He did not care if the eight-legged monster had been crushed. Arachnids were merely food for his true babies. While it was effective, the three others had managed to rescue her and soon the blonde would use her powers as well.
Or perhaps his facility was like a Venus flytrap or a pitcher plant, only in reverse where everything would expand rather than shrink. Soon the bugs would realize how there would be no way of escaping.
As the girl's form grows, her four limbs develop claws and show signs of scales, Nathair is practically on his feet, like it was the grand slam of a ball game, and he could no longer stay seated. The formation of her beautiful leathery wings and the horns, courtesy of her mother's genetic makeup, was almost too much. The girl was a reptile, his most prized creatures. She, herself, would be the crowning one. If only he could find a way to keep her in that form.
The man is forced to dance around a little bit and slam his hand on the table in complete jubilation and exultation.
It was also almost surreal to see magic on display. This seemingly unbelievable and impossible energy truly was an amazing thing. While he'd always been a man of science and knowledge, his discovery of the existence of magic and magical beings fueled his ambitions and desires for it all. He wanted to see these displays of this unknown power and he had not been disappointed, but this… this had to be his favourite so far.
He checked the readings of his devices, and his generator is practically rattling and bulging outwards with the amount of power it's absorbing. The chrome blue lighting that shines through the tube's windows is so bright and intense that it's almost white. Some red flashes blink on his computer screen and a siren gives a warning, forcing Nathair to stop his happy dance go over to his other crowning achievement and take care of the problem. He hurries to his marvellous machine and punches in a few things. The rattling slowly begins to cease, and the energy is gaged accordingly out into the world he's created. There's a rumble in his control center, knowing how the room is growing again.
His grin never leaves his face, even with the moment of danger, but he'd always been prepared for it.
He rushes back to one of his screens to see the majestic dragon. A real-life dragon, the perfect specimen for herpetologists to study! The doctor rapidly begins typing the keys to make his computers accommodate this creature and he can take notes on its vitals and such.
"What a lovely day!" he shouts in delight. "What a most wonderful day!"
…
Her wings spread out, cutting branches and in one case, knocking a tree over completely with the span of her now extended limbs. Ignoring the pain and inconvenience, the mighty wings beat down once, sending a rush of air in every direction and tossing any critters unlucky enough to be nearby off into the brush. The scaly teen is launched up into the air and the brightness.
It takes moment for her eyes to adjust but now Mal can assess and understand where she was.
As far as she could see was nothing but jungle. The entire ground was covered in green, like a carpet and not a stitch of any other land could be found. The green rolled up into what looked like hills and spread out in every direction. Mal was forced to fly in all directions to ensure that this was the case, and it wasn't delirium or the heat.
Her mind cannot comprehend any of this, and even with her cold-blooded alter ego requiring the heat, she needs water. Her energy is extremely low as it took a lot of power to transform. It usually didn't, but that was probably because of her dehydration.
Mal begins to fly, slowly a methodically to avoid using up the rest of her strength. She uses her bird's-eye view to search for any kind of water or something that could point her towards the liquid.
Her eyes become dry, and she blinks hard to try and remain focused, but it becomes too much, and she begins to see double. Her stomach turns and her mouth is very dry.
Suddenly, as if by magic, a patch of blue can be seen and the dragon flies toward it. Her heart is racing and her purple wings pounding to get there faster.
Finally, she manages to land at what looks like a lake of some kind. Without hesitation, she sticks her scaly snout into the water and drinks greedily. The coolness slips down her throat and cools her body. Knowing she needs the energy; she absorbs as much as she can until it feels as if she's going to burst.
Not wanting to squander this opportunity, Mal submerges her head underneath, despite her hatred for swimming and being unable to do so. Fortunately, the lake is shallow enough that she ends up climbing in completely and standing in a comfortable depth in this form. While letting the water refresh her entire body, she folds her wings to cool them off and lets out what sounds like a roar but was hardly aggressive at all.
…
"Cute," Dr. Nathair says. "You are an excellent flyer." He records something in his notes. "But what is your predatory instinct like? Or better yet, what are your defences? Let's see how you fare against these."
He presses a button to release two perils at the teenaged dragon.
…
Something sharp bites the back of Mal's tail, causing her to roar in pain and attempt to shake off whatever it was, creating massive ripples and waves, flooding the surrounding trees.
Another sharp bite enters her leg, and the girl reacts the same way, blood entering the.
She struggles desperately to get out of this pain, but something is holding her there.
Terrified, all she can do is roar for help, another subject in peril for the Doctor.
A/N: I know it's been a long time, but please follow and review.