Ashes, by Stelmarta
I hope you enjoy, this, I know I do. *Please* review, it really makes a difference.
Next chapter will be up soon.
PART I - The Dragon
Laesha shuddered violently, the cold and damp of the morning seeping into her bones. She curled up tighter, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The barn was not meant for chilly mornings like this one.
She herself wondered why she was in there, but she needed only to look at her hands to remember. Laesha's arms from her fingertips to her elbow were covered in hard, black dragon scales, cold to the touch. Her nails had become long sharp talons, and black spines poked out from her wrists. Hardly her average appearance. Usually she was short for her sixteen years, with shoulder-length unruly black hair framing a deceptively cute face with large expressive eyes and a snubbed nose. But that seemed to be less consistent for her than for most others.
This wasn't the first time she had changed, Laesha's eyes were never the same color twice, and she'd woken up with scales or feathers growing in around her face many times. But that kind were easy to hide or explain away, and vanished in the course of hours. But recently the changes had become more drastic, harder to hide, longer to disappear. She had hidden in the barn many times in the last several weeks.
Laesha looked at her legs, they too were covered with the same black scales that her arms were.
"Damn," she whispered.
An hour ago it was just her arms, by the end of the day, she'd be a dragon from head to toe.
She looked at her hands again, the scales showed no signs of fading, in fact, they were becoming thicker and spreading up her arms. She let out a long sigh; it looked as though she'd be spending the rest of the day in the cold, dark barn.
The door slammed open, banging against the wall, cold light filling every corner, a plump female figure silhouetted in the doorway. Laesha instinctively shrunk back, covering her eyes.
"Laesha? There you are, you lazy twit," Zsana had found her, the most feather-headed girl in the village had discovered her hiding spot.
Life was so unfair.
"Horsa sent me to get you.." She trailed off, actually seeing the other girl. Zsana gaped like a fish and made little strangled-sounding noises at the back of her throat.
Laesha stood up, her yellow eyes glinting threateningly. The twit squeaked in terror and ran frantically from the barn screaming bloody murder.
People streamed out of their houses into the muddy street at Zsana's shouts. Horsa was trying to get some sense out of her with little success.
Laesha looked around desperately for a hiding place, her reptilian eyes settling on some old crates stacked up in a corner. She dove behind them just a Zsana ran back in followed by a number of villagers.
"There she is! There she is! Behind those boxes!" she screeched.
Laesha yanked her fully visible foot back into shadow, swearing loudly. Before she could stand up, she was pulled up by several pairs of strong arms and dragged into the light.
Laesha struggled against her captors, the blacksmith and his son, and tried to bring her claws in contact with them, but they held her too tightly. They dragged her outside, a crowd awaiting them. She was brought to the center of town, where the priest was already waiting, and thrown to the ground at his feet.
He took one look at her and immediately made the sign against evil, the villagers following suit.
"This creature is a demon," pronounced the priest, grabbing Laesha by her hair, and pulling up her face so the village could see, "we cannot allow this foul spirit in our midst, to devour our children and our livestock, to seduce our community's children to evil. The purifying fire of Din is the only thing that will rid us of this demon. That is my judgment!"
~*~
Laesha slumped back against the dry wood that was the wall of the fire lodge, the ceremonial hut where demons were burned. The lodge was small and dark, made of well-seasoned wood so that it would burn better. She let out a long shuddering sigh, a forked tongue flicking from her mouth. She let out a small shriek and clamped her hands over her mouth.
She felt like she was crying, but no tears escaped her eyes. She felt her face. It was covered in scales. She blinked in astonishment, feeling the double lid of a dragon's eye for the first time. If she had tears, she would have wept.
Laesha pulled a pendant attached to a long chain out from under her shirt, cradling it in her hands. The soft pink stone flicked weakly from deep within. She turned it over, the crack running down the gem facing her. She put the pendant back under her shirt and closed her reptilian eyes.
Laesha woke up several hours later, something digging into her back. She turned around. Nothing was there. A terrible thought struck her, and she carefully felt her back with her scaly hand. Hard spines were poking out, running along her spine, from between her shoulder blades down to..a tail, a whiplike tail with a barbed end.
This was too much.
She screamed in horror and fear, her inhuman voice filling the fire lodge and pushing out, spreading through out the village.
Somewhere, Zsana cringed.
Laesha stopped, desperation taking the place of panic, and surveyed her hands, the claws looked more than strong enough to rip through the dry wood.
A scent entered her nostrils.
Smoke.
They had set the lodge on fire.
"May the gods protect our village," said the priest, his voice muffled by the wood and the thick, black smoke.
Small flames flickered up around the bottoms of the walls. Cold fear stabbed through Laesha, paralyzing her.
Within moments, the fire lodge was completely consumed by flames.
~*~
Inside, Laesha felt surprisingly calm. The fire didn't hurt at all, it was all around her, she could smell it, and it touched her, but it didn't burn. The fire had eaten her clothing, but she didn't care about that either, those hard black scales were as good and better than clothing. The only thing she was wearing was her pendant, which was humming very slightly.
The timbers above her cracked loudly. Laesha's mind snapped abruptly from its daze and into action. She ran straight through the flaming wall, splinters of wood deflected harmlessly off her scales. The shack collapsed on itself behind her, a burning heap of ashes.
She ran out into the night, her black body a shadow slipping unnoticed from the funeral pyre meant for her. She fell to her knees, utterly exhausted, contemplating whether to fall asleep right then and there. Her common sense won out, and she picked herself up, and went off.
She had to run away, there was no way on Gaea that she would stay here, they would just keep trying to kill her until they eventually succeeded. She briefly wondered where she would go, but decided to think about that after she had made it out of the village.
The first thing she would get was clothing. Even if she didn't need as a dragon, it would be handy if she ever changed back. She silently entered a cottage on the edge of town. As luck would have it, it was Zsana's.
She crept into the twit's room and took some clothing from the trunk at the foot of her bed. She grabbed a black skirt, and a sleeveless tunic. She picked up a pair of low boots from where they had been deposited near the door, as well as a heavy blanket and some food.
Laesha was about to leave when an irresistibly wicked thought struck her. She went back into Zsana's room and carved the word "REVENGE" on the wall with her claws.
Laesha swung the blanket that she had fashioned into a crude bag over her shoulder, and set out for Graemoon forest.
She suppressed the urge to snigger on the way out.
I hope you enjoy, this, I know I do. *Please* review, it really makes a difference.
Next chapter will be up soon.
PART I - The Dragon
Laesha shuddered violently, the cold and damp of the morning seeping into her bones. She curled up tighter, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The barn was not meant for chilly mornings like this one.
She herself wondered why she was in there, but she needed only to look at her hands to remember. Laesha's arms from her fingertips to her elbow were covered in hard, black dragon scales, cold to the touch. Her nails had become long sharp talons, and black spines poked out from her wrists. Hardly her average appearance. Usually she was short for her sixteen years, with shoulder-length unruly black hair framing a deceptively cute face with large expressive eyes and a snubbed nose. But that seemed to be less consistent for her than for most others.
This wasn't the first time she had changed, Laesha's eyes were never the same color twice, and she'd woken up with scales or feathers growing in around her face many times. But that kind were easy to hide or explain away, and vanished in the course of hours. But recently the changes had become more drastic, harder to hide, longer to disappear. She had hidden in the barn many times in the last several weeks.
Laesha looked at her legs, they too were covered with the same black scales that her arms were.
"Damn," she whispered.
An hour ago it was just her arms, by the end of the day, she'd be a dragon from head to toe.
She looked at her hands again, the scales showed no signs of fading, in fact, they were becoming thicker and spreading up her arms. She let out a long sigh; it looked as though she'd be spending the rest of the day in the cold, dark barn.
The door slammed open, banging against the wall, cold light filling every corner, a plump female figure silhouetted in the doorway. Laesha instinctively shrunk back, covering her eyes.
"Laesha? There you are, you lazy twit," Zsana had found her, the most feather-headed girl in the village had discovered her hiding spot.
Life was so unfair.
"Horsa sent me to get you.." She trailed off, actually seeing the other girl. Zsana gaped like a fish and made little strangled-sounding noises at the back of her throat.
Laesha stood up, her yellow eyes glinting threateningly. The twit squeaked in terror and ran frantically from the barn screaming bloody murder.
People streamed out of their houses into the muddy street at Zsana's shouts. Horsa was trying to get some sense out of her with little success.
Laesha looked around desperately for a hiding place, her reptilian eyes settling on some old crates stacked up in a corner. She dove behind them just a Zsana ran back in followed by a number of villagers.
"There she is! There she is! Behind those boxes!" she screeched.
Laesha yanked her fully visible foot back into shadow, swearing loudly. Before she could stand up, she was pulled up by several pairs of strong arms and dragged into the light.
Laesha struggled against her captors, the blacksmith and his son, and tried to bring her claws in contact with them, but they held her too tightly. They dragged her outside, a crowd awaiting them. She was brought to the center of town, where the priest was already waiting, and thrown to the ground at his feet.
He took one look at her and immediately made the sign against evil, the villagers following suit.
"This creature is a demon," pronounced the priest, grabbing Laesha by her hair, and pulling up her face so the village could see, "we cannot allow this foul spirit in our midst, to devour our children and our livestock, to seduce our community's children to evil. The purifying fire of Din is the only thing that will rid us of this demon. That is my judgment!"
~*~
Laesha slumped back against the dry wood that was the wall of the fire lodge, the ceremonial hut where demons were burned. The lodge was small and dark, made of well-seasoned wood so that it would burn better. She let out a long shuddering sigh, a forked tongue flicking from her mouth. She let out a small shriek and clamped her hands over her mouth.
She felt like she was crying, but no tears escaped her eyes. She felt her face. It was covered in scales. She blinked in astonishment, feeling the double lid of a dragon's eye for the first time. If she had tears, she would have wept.
Laesha pulled a pendant attached to a long chain out from under her shirt, cradling it in her hands. The soft pink stone flicked weakly from deep within. She turned it over, the crack running down the gem facing her. She put the pendant back under her shirt and closed her reptilian eyes.
Laesha woke up several hours later, something digging into her back. She turned around. Nothing was there. A terrible thought struck her, and she carefully felt her back with her scaly hand. Hard spines were poking out, running along her spine, from between her shoulder blades down to..a tail, a whiplike tail with a barbed end.
This was too much.
She screamed in horror and fear, her inhuman voice filling the fire lodge and pushing out, spreading through out the village.
Somewhere, Zsana cringed.
Laesha stopped, desperation taking the place of panic, and surveyed her hands, the claws looked more than strong enough to rip through the dry wood.
A scent entered her nostrils.
Smoke.
They had set the lodge on fire.
"May the gods protect our village," said the priest, his voice muffled by the wood and the thick, black smoke.
Small flames flickered up around the bottoms of the walls. Cold fear stabbed through Laesha, paralyzing her.
Within moments, the fire lodge was completely consumed by flames.
~*~
Inside, Laesha felt surprisingly calm. The fire didn't hurt at all, it was all around her, she could smell it, and it touched her, but it didn't burn. The fire had eaten her clothing, but she didn't care about that either, those hard black scales were as good and better than clothing. The only thing she was wearing was her pendant, which was humming very slightly.
The timbers above her cracked loudly. Laesha's mind snapped abruptly from its daze and into action. She ran straight through the flaming wall, splinters of wood deflected harmlessly off her scales. The shack collapsed on itself behind her, a burning heap of ashes.
She ran out into the night, her black body a shadow slipping unnoticed from the funeral pyre meant for her. She fell to her knees, utterly exhausted, contemplating whether to fall asleep right then and there. Her common sense won out, and she picked herself up, and went off.
She had to run away, there was no way on Gaea that she would stay here, they would just keep trying to kill her until they eventually succeeded. She briefly wondered where she would go, but decided to think about that after she had made it out of the village.
The first thing she would get was clothing. Even if she didn't need as a dragon, it would be handy if she ever changed back. She silently entered a cottage on the edge of town. As luck would have it, it was Zsana's.
She crept into the twit's room and took some clothing from the trunk at the foot of her bed. She grabbed a black skirt, and a sleeveless tunic. She picked up a pair of low boots from where they had been deposited near the door, as well as a heavy blanket and some food.
Laesha was about to leave when an irresistibly wicked thought struck her. She went back into Zsana's room and carved the word "REVENGE" on the wall with her claws.
Laesha swung the blanket that she had fashioned into a crude bag over her shoulder, and set out for Graemoon forest.
She suppressed the urge to snigger on the way out.
