Chapter 6

Darkness had long descended over Penn Stables by the time Artha and Connor finished the first of the movie trilogy. The movie had been good, sticking to the book with surprising accuracy. After the end of the movie, Connor started packing up his things.

"Alright, it's getting late," Said Connor. "You'll feel better if you go to sleep, Artha. I'm going to go make sure Lance gets to bed on time and check on the dragons before be- Oh snag-dag it!" Connor jerked suddenly, blanching. "I left Beau tethered outside this whole time! I didn't even complete his rub down session!"

Artha jerked his massive head up in alarm. That was bad. Beau had to be the most moody dragon Artha knew. He was going to be petty and ornery for days after being left tethered for so long. Artha already dreaded the prima-dragon's coming fuss.

Connor reached over and ran his hand soothingly down the spines cresting Artha's neck. "You're going to have to stay here for the night, Artha. I'll be back early in the morning, hopefully the constellation will have passed over and you'll have opposable thumbs by then. I love you, son. Goodnight."

Artha let out a soft trill in response, his many spines trembling with the noise. Spending the night in the stables wasn't Artha's preferred option, but it's not like he had never done it before. when he was younger, his dad let him spend the night with Beau whenever he wanted. There was a time that Artha had practically lived in Beau's stall. Then, they both got older and that changed.

Connor gave Artha's frill one last affectionate ruffle, before disappearing out of the stall. The stall door slid closed with a smooth ssshhhk! noise, blocking out Artha's view of the night sky.

Artha rested his scaly head on his equally scaly paws, gazing towards the closed door, considering. Somewhere up there, infinitely far, a group of stars controlled his life, his body, his future. Something so distant, yet so personal. It was hard to understand how his life had changed so quickly in such a short amount of time. It felt as though days had passed, when in reality, Artha knew that less than 12 hours ago he had been human. Happy and carefree.

And it was gone. Because of stars that happen to line up in a special pattern. It's not fair, Artha thought as he drifted to sleep. It's just not fair.

Ssshhhk!

Artha jerked awake, blinking dazedly. Bright light suddenly blinded him from the doorway. He squawked, jerking his head back in surprise. The light flashed, allowing him to catch glimpses of silhouettes, dark shapes against a blurry background. With every flash, a figure seemed to be getting closer, though no less blurry.

Artha squawked again, louder. It was still dark out. This figure slinking towards him wasn't Dad.

Adrenaline finally kicked in, allowing Artha to recognize a bright magenta-red racing helmet as the figure came within 6 feet of him. He yanked his head back, letting loose several sharp shrieks. In his terror, golden lightning canvased the surface of his hide, dancing across black and gold scales like a crackle effect. As the figure took another set closer -too close!- Artha drew back his head. He felt something in his chest tighten impossibly tight, like a rubber band stretched thing, before suddenly snapping free.

A burst of light, temporarily blinding Artha with his own glow, shot free of Artha and struck the intruder head on. The force of the blast threw Artha's attacker straight out of Artha's stall, landing with a thud several dozen yards away. For a moment, Artha felt relief at the distance gained, along with the lack of flashing light, which had ceased during the mag burst.

The helmeted figure rose to his feet, filling Artha with dread again. He could barely walk as a dragon, let alone fight or run. The man in the magenta helmet snarled as he stalked forwards once more, finally speaking.

"You may have used a mag burst to repel the draconium in my suit, but I"m willing to bet it's a fluke, you little freak," snarled the intruder. He whipped his hand to the side, extending a long, bo-like weapon. "Let's see you try that again."

Once more, the grey-clad figure advanced into Artha's stall, this time bearing a weapon. Artha shrilled and flinched as the stranger raised his weapon to strike him across his long muzzle.

"Get away from my dragon!"

Never had Artha been so overjoyed to hear his father angry.

Connor snarled at the sight of a strange dragon rider near his son, staff held above him as though to hit Artha. At Connor's voice, the dragon thief froze, caught in the act, and turned to look at Connor, though his expression remained hidden behind his tinted vizor.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Connor shouted.

In response, the intruder readied his weapon, shifting into an easy, relaxed fighting stance. Without giving further warning, the helmeted figure charged.

Connor reacted quickly, grabbing the abandoned flash staff and using it to block the incoming strike. He retaliated in a flurry of blows, his experience shining through as he overpowered his adversary and sent him flying into the wall beside Artha's stall. Connor advanced further, lifting his improvised weapon high above his head, before bringing it down with thunderous force.

The end of his staff slammed down into the dirt centimeters from the visored man's face. Kneeling, Connor leaned in, inches from the opaque flexiglass. "Leave," he ground out in his darkest voice.

As Connor stood back up, the thief wasted little time in fleeing, grabbing his staff and limping away as quickly as he could to a Psi dragon hidden in the shadow at the end of the stable. Within seconds, he was racing away on its back, a fading shadow in a dark night.

Threat banished, Connor turned swiftly back to his son, who was still sprawled out clumsily along the thick padded mat at the back of his stall. Artha's eye were wide in terror, showing the whites of his eyes behind golden irises, his flanks heaved in a vain adrenaline respons, muscles coiled beneath black hide. Despite being unable to walk unaided, Artha was still trembling in exertion and stress from the recent encounter.

Connor tossed the flash staff to the side, moving to crouch beside his son in an attempt to calm him. "Hey, hey, shhh, it's okay, Artha. He's gone. I sent him away. It's alright now."

Connor carded his hands along his son's spiny scruff, gently pressing his thumbs right behind where his ears were, a spot which soothed dragons when massaged. It took a little bit of time, but eventually Artha looked a little less like he was 2 seconds away from bolting. It was just in time for footsteps to sound out, crunching across the coarse dirt of the stable. Upon hearing it, Artha stiffened again, his pulse quickening beneath Connor's soothing fingertips.

Connor himself stiffened, until he recognized the footsteps seconds before a young voice rang out, "Dad? Where are you? What's going on? I heard you yelling."

Lance trudged nervously around the corner, arms wrapped around himself as he peered unsurely around the dim stables, though his expression cleared when he met Connor's eyes.

"Hey, Lance. We're over here, buddy," Connor said, though Lance had already seen them.

"Dad! What was all the yelling about?" Asked Lance, before he processed the sight of Artha sprawled out beside Connor, watching Lance's approach with large, gold eyes.

"Whoah! Dad, did you buy a new dragon? He looks drac! Why is he lying down though, is he sick?"

Connor chuckled awkwardly. He honestly had not planned to introduce Lance to Artha as a dragon at this point. He wanted to go through this at Artha's pace, to keep him from being overwhelmed. That meant Lance didn't need to be nagging Artha about his dragon side, at least until Artha himself was comfortable with it. Unfortunately, that wasn't really an option now.

"This isn't a new dragon, Lance. This is Artha," said Connor, unsure of any other way to broach the topic.

"Ummm.. What?" Lance looked very confused glancing between the dragon and his dad. "Artha's not a dragon. And I don't think he would like you naming one after him either, Dad. Even if it is funny."

Connor frowned, unsure how best to explain. "Well, no," he tried, "Artha is human, yes. But, he is also a dragon. He has been this whole time, he was just unable to shift forms until he came of age."

Lance blinked, then said, "Ummm, dad, no. There's no way that's possible."

Connor tried to smile, but ended up coming out with more of an awkward grimace. "Well, Lance, sometimes, you have certain stars, and when they align in just the right way…"

Lance jerked a little, asking, "Wait… is this like the birds and the bees?"

Connor jerked back, aghast, "What?! No! How do you even know what that is?"

Lance glanced around, looking for a distraction. "Uhh, well….. Hmmm. So, Artha's a dragon?"

Connor glanced back at Artha's dark figure sprawled across the cushion, still watching them with slitted, gold eyes, seeming amused with Connor's consternation. Connor cleared his throat, promising himself that he would have a serious discussion with his youngest son about certain topics, just not right now, and answered, "Yes, Lance, this," Connor gestured to Artha's ebony shape, "is Artha."

Lance stared hard into Artha's eyes, seemingly searching for something, some lingering trait of his brother. Slowly, Lance's lips curved into a smile, finding what he was looking for. "Sooo, my brother is a dragon."

"Yes," repeated Connor, unsure where his youngest would take this.

Lance's smile widened further. "Well, I always did say his head's a bit too big," Lance teased, reaching out to poke Artha's nose.

Artha let out a snort, wrinkling his nose and pulling his head back to avoid further poking.

Connor laughed, voiced tinged with his own relief. He was glad Lance took so quickly to the idea of his brother's scaly nature. "Alright, boys. We're all sleeping in the stable tonight," Connor glanced at Artha with furrowed eyebrows, "Don't want any more uninvited guests."

Lance tilted his head to the side, "Guests?" He asked.

Connor ruffles his fluffy hair. "Nothing you need to worry about, Squirt."

Connor glances at both his sons, before instructing, "Now, wait here. I"m going to run to the house to grab some blankets and pillows and things. I'll be right back, okay?"

Artha dipped his head and chirped, while Lance replied with, "Okay, Dad."

Connor turned and walked back to the house, disappearing in the dim lighting.

Lance turned to stare speculatively at Artha. "Sooo, uhh. Are you really my brother?"

Artha sighed and nodded, swinging his oblong head in wide, vertical arcs.

"Huhh," muttered Lance, staring at his brother intently.

Artha shifted nervously, not used to such scrutiny from his smaller sibling. Suddenly, Lance's face brightened and he grinned mischievously. "This is so drac! I can't believe you have magic dragon powers! Can you shoot lasers? Fly?"

Artha scowled at Lance, huffing in irritation. Figures, Artha thinks, I get turned into a giant reptile and Lance thinks Christmas came early.

Seeing Artha's unimpressed reaction, Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh come on," Lance said, "just get over your pity party already. Sure, you got turned into a dragon or whatever, but Dad said it was only temporary, so it's fine. You haven't even thought about all the cool stuff you can do now. You're the most powerful known predator on the planet! I bet you can run super fast, right?"

Artha stared at Lance blankly, trying to convey his displeasure through expression alone.

"Arrgh…" Groaned Lance. "You're so stubborn. I bet you haven't even tried running yet, have you?"

Artha shook his head with a snort. Of course I haven't tried running. I can barely walk!

"Well, that's not gonna work. You can't be a magic dragon dude if you can't do anything." Lance moved forward, pushing at Artha's black flank, trying to get him standing. "Come one, Artha. Up! Let's go!"

Artha twisted clumsily, trying to avoid Lance's prodding hands. He tried to growl, but it came out as a slightly irritated warble. Lance was not deterred, continuing to voice encouragement as he harassed Artha, trying to get him to stand up.

Ack! Artha hissed as Lance happened to prod a tender spot in his shoulder, where his bones had been reformed merely hours ago. Fine, just stop poking, you little gremlin!.

Artha cursed his inability to speak as he started shifting, trying to get his massive paws under him. Lance cheered and continued to 'help' Artha by pushing at his sides. Truthfully, he was really just disturbing Artha's attempts at balance. Finally, with a final heave and groan, Artha was able use his powerful hind legs to push himself up. He wobbled uncertainly for a minute, like a newborn fawn, unsure of his own legs.

Lance cheered, clapping his hands excitedly. "Awesome! See, nothing to it!"

Maybe for you, thought Artha darkly, narrowing his eyes at Lance. His legs were still shaking beneath him, a mixture of exertion and lack of balance leading to a fine tremor throughout his whole body.

"Okay! Now, we have to get you walking," declared Lance, nodding to himself confidently. Artha jerked his head, causing himself to sway from side to side. He was barely standing upright, walking seemed as though it would be impossible.

Lance skipped across the stall to the side away from Artha, heedless of Artha's nonverbal complaints. He turned to grin at Artha, seeming menacing to Artha's imagination. "Okay, Artha," said Lance, "Walk to me!"

Artha tried to convey how much he disagreed with that action with merely the dead look in his eyes.

Lance, intentionally misinterpreting Artha's expression, laughed and said, "Come on, you can do it!"

Artha sighed mournfully. If he tried to lie back down, Lance would only return to prodding or yanking at him again. Younger siblings were like that. Turning his attention to his fore-paws, Artha wiggled his toes. They felt so alien. He could see them moving to his command, but the image of a dragon's massive paws and talons, where he was used to seeing slender, human digits, was too foreign an image to reconcile with his own body. It felt wrong, looking down and seeing dragon limbs, like he was watching a video rather than his own body.

Tentatively, he tried shifting his weight, leaning on one leg and then the other, trying to prepare himself to balance when he inevitably tried to walk. Falling flat on his muzzle probably would not deter his little brother from nagging him and it would likely hurt, given how slender and delicate his long muzzle was. Granted, as a human, he had never thought of a dragon's nose as delicate, but as a dragon, feeling how long, yet thin, his face was, it made him feel vulnerable. Idly, Artha wondered if dragons' muzzles were weak spots on the otherwise powerful predators. Or, perhaps the whole situation made Artha feel vulnerable.

Continuing to rock sideways slightly, Artha rocked left, taking his weight off his right paw. Then, balanced largely on his left paw, he tentatively lifted the right paw. For a moment, he wobbled precariously, and Artha feared he would come crashing down, before he steadied. Then, still balanced on one paw, he tentatively moved his right paw forward a few inches and pressed it back into the floor of the stall. Immediately, he relaxed a little, more at ease when he wasn't balanced on 3 legs.

Artha glanced up at Lance, who remained on the other side of the room. Lance gave him a double thumbs up, likely trying to be encouraging. Artha snorted, irritated at how far he still had to walk.

Turning his attention back to his feet, Artha repeated his previous process, this time placing weight on the right paw and lifting the left. Once finished with this maneuver, however Artha found himself standing in an odd position, with both his front paws extended. He still needed to move his hind-paws. Thankfully, he found, that was easier than moving his front paws, likely because he was already used to walking on his hind-paws, even if they were a little different now.

Painstakingly, with several close calls, Artha repeated this pattern of movement, crossing the stall at a glacial speed. Eventually, gradually picking up the pace, Artha stumbled his way to Lance, who had been grinning the whole time.

Upon reaching Lance, Artha barely had the chance to brace himself when Lance threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around Artha's thick, muscled neck in a hug. "You did great, Artha," Lance said into the side of Artha's neck.

For a moment, Artha preened, allowing himself a little pride in his accomplishment. Sure, he hadn't walked far or fast, but he was walking unaided, which was still an improvement.

Of course, this was the perfect time for the house to explode.

AN: Hello, lovelies!

It's truly been a minute, huh? I don't remember when I last posted on this story. I know I posted on my other story around this time last year, but not this one. Well, you can all thank Blitza, my amazing twin sister, for pushing me to write again. She is truly my inspiration and my best friend, my better half (Cause we're identical, LOL).

In case you care about my life, I am in the process of applying to PA school (as mentioned in the last AN note in a different story). I keep getting interviews with schools, but the best outcome from any of them has been being put on a wait list. So, still working on that. I adopted a puppy, who is now a dog. His name is Pal-Pal and he's my baby and I LOVE him. My sister, Blitza, finished writing her original light novel and we will soon be publishing it, as soon as I get the artwork for it complete. It's some 300+ pages and took her around 2 years to complete. She worked very hard on it and I am very proud of her. Let me know if you would like to read a sample of it.

So, umm. Just a warning, as far as the story goes, I'm about to throw you all for a curve ball and I'm going to try my best not to explain anything ahead of the story, so that I don't spoil it for any of you. Basically, Blitza and I both got caffeinated and this upcoming destruction of canon will be the end result. I think the changes we have planned out will make the whole thing better, but I will warn you that if you read this expecting it to follow canon, you may be a little confused. That is all I am willing to say. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you enjoy what I have planned for the future. Thank you for reading, and God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Dragon Courage