So I'm sat in the common room writing this now. Nobody knows I write fanfiction so I feel like a fucking super-spy right now.

Saw the new Star Wars. Frickin' loved it!

But anyway, on with our tale…

-XXX-

It took several hours for Vahri to reach the outcrop that she had seen the figures on. As she came closer, she knew that one of them was Tristan. She had assumed that the other one had been the boy he'd been speaking to a few times on the docks and at the market place but as she drew closer, she knew it wasn't.

It was Narius

With Legs

Before making herself known, she lurked in the small side-stream, just a few metres away from the boys who weren't aware of her presence yet. Vahri tried to get her head around Narius' new appearance from where he sat. His tail was gone and in its place were the legs that Vahri had spied back upstream. Narius was currently sat with his legs folded underneath him, still obviously unsure of them in his current state.

"Vahri!"

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Tristan's voice who had spied her from between the water weeds. Narius spun around to catch her eye and he smiled at her weakly. Vahri smiled back

Tristan knelt down next to her as she lifted her body from the water and sat on the bank. Narius shuffled over awkwardly, dangling his new appendages into the chilly water. The three of them sat in silence for some time, staring at nothing in particular.

"What happened?" Vahri asked, nodding towards Narius' legs after a long pause.

Both men shrugged

"I don't know. I changed, I guess" Narius looked sadly at his feet that were turning grey and yellow in the cold water. He didn't even flinch "I got on the boat to come and find you because I couldn't swim all the way across the lake and then this happened"

There was another pause

"We were discussing it on the way up here" Tristan offered further explanation as the ex mer-man lapsed into silence "We think he changed as a result of all the time at the surface. There was a thing with his eyes that we thought was an infection but then there was the growing and now… well, look"

Vahri looked to where Tristan gestured and glanced at Narius in the eye who blinked rapidly as if he had something in it.

The milky white of his eyes had retreated to the edge and the black that had been in the centre was now rimmed with a shot of wobbly, yet oddly clear sea-green.

"I mean, he's not fully developed yet but he's almost…" Tristan paused again "…human"

The three went quiet again

"I think it's permanent" Narius whispered quietly

Vahri nodded and then glanced back down the hill with worry, trying not to think about losing her friend forever and changed the subject "How'd you get up here, walking already?"

Narius blushed awkwardly and Tristan gave a semi-laugh

"No" the human guffawed "I dragged him up here in the boat and he walked the last 20 odd metres"

Narius shrugged with embarrassment "It's harder than it looks. We got in an argument"

"Yeah" Tristan's eye twitched in agitation "About how you tried to kill me!"

Narius frowned "I thought you'd let that go! What else are you upset about now?"

"…Because it shouldn't take you ¾ of an hour to walk 20 metres!" Tristan snapped

Vahri sighed "That's what I heard then"

The boys looked up at her in confusion

"That's how I spotted you" she laughed "I heard you up here arguing. I actually first thought it was Tristan and the boy from the market"

"Artemis?" Tristan asked "No, he's still down in the town. Asleep, where I should be"

Narius stayed sat at the bank of the stream as Vahri lowered herself in the water, choosing to stay submerged to cool her burned back.

Tristan, however, stood up and glanced over at his town. Two or three dull lights glimmered from the boat-house where inspectors granted papers for returning barge-men but other than that there was no activity on the water. Tristan's thoughts returned to home and his body longed for his warm bed. His mother would notice he was gone before he could get back but if he lied and said he went for a walk she might just buy it. There was no hope for a day off work but maybe he could leave the stall early in the day and get some extra sleep that afternoon. Yeah, he had tomorrow all planned out.

But what to do about Narius? He was a problem. He couldn't just be left out in the water. There was no guarantee he'd change back at all and he was struggling to walk by himself as it was, there was no way he could actively fend for himself out on Esgaroth. It was bad enough for people who even had houses.

Tristan looked back at the shivering man who looked more like a boy than ever. His green eyes were still a little dull around the edges but there was no doubt they'd get brighter and the black of his hair was fading as bright red came in at the roots. He'd look a little different from everybody else, ethereal maybe, but still human looking. Maybe he could live with Tristan's family? Ellen would be besotted instantly but his mother would take a little convincing. Maybe the idea of another set of hands on the stall would sell it to her. They could just say he was a distant orphaned cousin. Nobody would even bat an eye.

He turned to Narius to voice this option to him

"I was thinking about your options, Narius and you're welcome to stay with us… if you wish" Tristan offered and Narius just nodded sadly, swishing his feet about in the stream whilst Vahri prodded his ankles in thinly veiled curiosity.

Before anything else could be said about making a move towards leaving, there was a huge reverberation that echoed around the valley and the three youths shot their heads up in shock. The noise died off as quickly as it came and there was silence again where they stood.

"What was that?" Vahri asked and Tristan shook his head, unknowing but listening for threat. If anything happened here they were in trouble. Narius was weak and couldn't go anywhere and he and Vahri would have no choice but to split up. Best case scenario it was just a tree falling at the base of the mountain. Worst case…

There was a noise again, this time like a great screaming, a warped disfigured roar of pain and anger followed by a few seconds of silence again.

Tristan swallowed bile "We need to move, now" he yelled, grabbing Narius by his under arms and hoisting the unsteady boy to his feet and pulling him along the outcrop of rock back towards Laketown as Vahri readied herself for the swim back.

Before they could get towards the boat there was a huge crash and the roar came again as a great glinting shape smashed its way out of the front of the mountain.

The three figures spun around in shock and stared as the huge golden shape twirled into the sky and dropped like a new moth from a cocoon, shedding what looked like a shower of sunlight. Right before it hit the ground from its descent; huge webbed expanses extended from its central body and carried it straight towards Tristan, Vahri and Narius on their outcrop of rock.

The three lapsed into silence and stared

"Fucking move!" Tristan screamed suddenly and Vahri dove beneath the water to hide whilst he and Narius stumbled quickly behind a boulder as the shape soared overhead and missed them entirely.

Tristan entirely forgot any immediate danger and jumped out from behind the boulder, leaving Narius to stare after him. Tristan stood on the edge of the outcrop as he watched the murderous figure soar, in silence, towards his home and family.

"I am fire…"

Tristan jumped back at the voice. He'd quite forgotten that the dragon was a sentient being, not just a weapon on wings

"I am death"

There was a moments quiet. All Tristan heard was the water break behind him as Vahri surfaced to watch and the scrambling of rock as Narius wandered uneasily towards him and placed a worried hand on his shoulder.

Tristan heard nothing else for some time except the whistling of wind and his own gentle breathing…