"O to be a dragon,
A symbol of the power of Heaven"
A hug of browns, a shelter of extended limbs, the forest is a protective mother, the promise of holy sanctuary. A billion verdant wands of pine wave; for this place is magical, so much so that you can feel it from core to finger tips. Upon the forest floor lie trees of yesteryear, fallen in storms long forgotten. The seasons have been harsh, stripping away the bark and outer layers, yet rendering them all the more beautiful. But Spring awakens with a chatterbox of greens, like the first verse of a favourite song.
The forest is my light and air, the deep brown earth that elevates each step with its ever-giving soul.
Rays of light kiss the ground as they filter through leaves and branches from above. She could hear everything, from her lungs stretching while she breathed, to the trees gently scraping against each other in the wind. Her frantic pulse, the chatter of the woods, her overloaded heart, beating wings of the birds, her senses were alive and bleeding into the very earth beneath her feet. It's warm, the heat is stifling with the sun on her skin but she ignores it. Sweat begins to pool at the back of her neck, it bubbles and spills. Dripping down from her collar, to her sternum into the soot.
She's listening for him.
Couched down, chest to the dirt on hands and knees in the brambles. Her knuckles pressing deep into the soil and holding all her weight, she twitches silently to readjust herself. The movement was so small, practically invisible to the human eye. The wind creates friction between the leaves and the trees. Its giddy currents flow through woodland canopies, unaware of how its song soothes those who can hear. They whisper distant secrets as she hides.
The air that had been so still on previous days had gained a slight movement; the sudden breeze counters the fever red that blossoms across her temple. She freezes, breath cut short as she scents. Tongue swiping across her bottom lip as she tastes the climate and it's quality. Eyes that were chestnut, shrink and slither into crimson vertical slits. Dark and dirtied nails at her fingers begin to shift, becoming fine and pointed to the touch. The sting of the claws protruding from her hands was all too familiar, she doesn't even flinch. Peaking through a royal indigo curtain she looks to the timber overhead. Eyeing the world with growing anticipation, shoulders roll, the bones knocking as she gets lower to the ground.
Abruptly the loud ballad of birds goes quiet and the wind covers her frame in a brisk blanket, so cold it burned.
Ears, curved to the cusp, shudder at a faint sound in the flora. She doesn't dare wait, leaning back on her heels to push her body forward, dashing out of the thicket. Hide and seek is now a chase of cat and mouse.
And sadly for her, she's playing mouse.
She was swift, charging over the land with nimble toes. The woodland became an uproar of sound, the sparrows taking flight. Adrenaline swimming deep in her veins, breathes rapid and barbed, ripping at her maw. Lips dry and parted she began plucking at the air around her. Letting it's current seep into her pours and plunge into her lungs, chest filling so quick she forgot how to breathe from the pressure. The gust in her bones made them rattle, ribs quaking and sparking with light. Sizzling into a euphoric high, her body tingles from the sudden burst of power raging inside. She's practically soaking in it.
So she lets it out.
Hurdling over a chunk of timber, she uses it to catapult herself through the coppice. Drilling her heels into the rotten wood, gathering the wind at the soles of her feet. Her ears pop from the sudden typhoon that she flares, vaulting her build at inconceivable speed. Ankles screeching when she lands back on the gravel, kicking up dust as she bolts.
The thrill of the hunt giving her a buzz.
She keeps snatching in the airflow, using it to aid and accelerate. She skips around the trees, whizzing over the underbrush and hurtles down the gully.
At this great speed she could barely see a few feet ahead, the cyclone shrills and her instincts cry in warning. Jerking to make a hard right, she dodged the silhouette that came crashing down.
Hissing, she dug her nails into the dirt, using it to pivot and change course to scamper over a hovel.
Growling, she gathered up more energy. Pooling a torrent of wind at her back to act as a thrust. She could hear him. His footsteps were light, agile as he tailed her. Rounding off to herd her on the left, she glimpsed off into to the underbrush. She just about caught sight of him. Concealed and almost unseen, she saw his hidden figure racing in and out of the light. She felt her whole body working, her calves weeping warm, hair flogging at her face viciously.
She took a sharp left, curving to jump over the valley. The gap narrowed and she braces herself, sweeping across the ground on the other-side. Her tailbone grazing over the pebbles leaving nothing but a flush on olive skin from the scorch. She skids and veers off into the creek after snapping back onto her feet. Leaping across the bank, following the river. Mud smearing her shins, splashing the muscle of her calves. The water roared, howling as it broke out into a rushing stream.
She peaked over her shoulder, glaring at him through the thick navy of her mane. He was smiling, purposely slowing down to prove that the chase was over. She giggled, fangs peeping though her lips as she turned to face the path ahead. She no longer needed the breeze to drive her forwards, relying solely on her legs to keep her going. They pumped more blood around her body, she could feel it boiling.
The water broke into something far more powerful. Far more dangerous. But she didn't stop running.
Excited for what was to come she continued to the edge of the cliff. Smirking back at him with shining eyes, she grew closer and plummeted...
Diving off the cliffs and hurtling down the side of the waterfall. She reached the edge of the world.
Her stomach seems to jolt suddenly higher in her chest, lungs fill and freeze. She is deaf as air rushes past her ears, skin burning with sensation as the lingering heat of the sun mixes with the cool rush of air as she falls.
Thick smoky clouds rolled in like boulders beneath her, engulfing and consuming any spec of light below. They remained to loom over the coast like an overprotective mother over its misbehaving child. The storm was merciless, causing the enormous waves to crash and erupt like lava coming down from a raging volcano. It spits like an aggressive animal, punching and beating the rocks with all their might. The destructive winds cutting at her skin like thorns on brambles. She couldn't get out any words as the air dug deep into her bust and ripped out any source of noise. Tears streamed from her eyes, blinking rapidly to rid herself of burr and blindness.
A shadow broke from above and he came crashing down like a rocket.
Plunging and beaking through a heavy pocket of space, creating a small shock wave that ripples throughout the sky. The whites of the clouds holding him in a cocoon as he continued his decent. Folding her arms into her sides she dived, dropping faster than a bullet as she followed. They're falling from the sky with no fear. Dancing around each other, twisting and spinning in the endless space of the mist. They were laughing with no sound. Eyes glowing in a frenzy and water pelting their skin. Hair vulnerable to the wrath of nature and chests weak but they continue to boldly free fall.
He pulled up next to her, cherry strands flashing in the golden eye of the sun. The membrane around his eyes began to crinkle, carving out small, thin cracks before flipping over. Revealing polished ruby scales. The pattern began to grow, festering and flickering so the scales could bulge over his temple, around his cheeks, down his neck, from his shoulders all the way to his wrists. His hands morphing and peeling to display the same wine coloured coating. His nails darkened to a charcoal and grew into talons. Claws, a lot bigger than hers clenched at his sides. His pupils constricted, splitting into a vertical slit that was etched with a golden amber. Sparks began to fly over his protective plates, lighting up and exploding in a flurry of flames.
He was set ablaze. The fire spreading over his form, winding into a beautiful spiral of heat. Two horns grew from his skull into the mass of cherry blossom hair. Resembling the colour of blood, similar to the wings and tail that were breaking free.
Muscles and bones began to convulse in unnatural ways beneath his skin. The two slits that ran down the length of his back opened up as a skeleton took form for a massive pair of wings, attaching to his shoulder blades. Curled up and slowly unfurling from his bulk like drapes. Rust red scales crawled over them and shimmered.
The wind got caught under them as he fell back, flying above her like a kite. Wings hooked like that of a bat with thorns at the point, spread wide before he folded them in. Shooting past her like an arrow, the tip of his tail catching her hip on the way down.
She smiled before starting her own transformation.
She felt her body begin to morph, magic humming through every cell with a fiery animosity. Beating like a drum in her soul. She purred with delight as the pours behind her ears prickled. The quills growing through the side of her scalp to poke through her hair that flowed behind her. The feathers were a pale opal, the barbs fluttering eagerly. The same colour feathers began to protrude from her biceps, wrapping around her wrists and ankles like cuffs before erupting from her back. She could feel the skin stretch thin, the hollow openings breathing in all the air that raged around her. The cartilage sensitive, making her shake as the appendages began to slowly unfurl themselves and expand. She practically moaned when they erupted and stretched, unveiling two snow white wings. Glowing like an angels halo, illuminated and rich.
With a loud shrill she buckled and hurtled towards him, falling from the heavens to catch him in the skies.
He roared back in high spirits. They both corkscrewed through the boulder sized clouds. Making a break in the darkness and creating two streams of daylight that washed over the landscape down below.
They chased each other through the blue, their wings beating with vigour. This is what it meant to truly fly amongst rulers of the sky.
To be able to touch the heavens.
