She snorted. "You won't catch me that way. Numair warned me what happens when humans take on the shapes of immortals- we can't change back."
-From Emperor Mage
Immortal Forever:
Chapter One: Child of the Wildmage, Turned to Immortal
Picture a dragon. She is immensely large, and there is wisdom- and also sadness- in her golden eyes. Her scales are a dusty green flecked with bright shining bits of gold. If you have seen other dragons, you know that there is something different about this one. She seems to be a human as well as a dragon. She speaks, not to your ears, but to your mind. Images form from her words, pictures that illustrate what she speaks. It is her own story that she tells. This story that is written before you:
It was my fault, yes, but I was young when it happened –only ten years old- and can hardly blame myself. All I truly wanted was to impress my parents, who were always eager for me to try new things. And changing my form to that of an immortal- a dragon, no less- this was a new thing, was it not? I had inherited the power of changing my shape to another that of another creature's from my mother- the wildmage, she was called, and her name was Daine. Veralidaine, really, but she was rarely called by that name. She made sure that I knew of every animal that there was to know, and that I could easily change into any one of them. I wondered briefly, at the time, why she had neglected to teach me how to change into any kind of immortal, but I never actually considered that there might be a good reason beyond her forgetfulness.
I went over the dragon shape carefully in my head. What color should I be? Green, for that was my favorite color. Green… flecked with gold, like a forest when you look up at the tops of the trees and the sun is shining. A dragon fitting of the name 'Leaf.' What size should I make myself? I did not want to be too big, or else I would hardly be able to move about in the palace, and this would not be able to show my parents what I had learned. But I did not want to be too small, either: I wanted to be impressive, noticeable. I decided on a height around that of my father's- he was tall for a human man- the size a dragon of my age would probably be. I made my eyes golden, to match the golden flecks on my scales. Truly, I would be a beautiful creature, I thought to myself. Truly, my parents would be proud.
And then, after every aspect was planned out, I changed. It came out almost exactly right. Almost, because I had forgotten that at this size, my wings would be so small as to be unusable. I had failed to realize this, for all my careful planning. It did not seem a disadvantage at the time- I could always change back, make myself bigger, and give myself wings, if I wanted. I didn't even think about another problem that came with my youth: dragons at this age were generally incapable of speech as well as of flight. I had known this before, but I wasn't thinking about it- I had not yet tried to speak, and so I did not yet know of my disability. After I had changed, I went and searched my parents out. They could not have been far away, I knew, and I was right- they were not. I was right in that one, small thing. But was not right in thinking that they would be impressed. Perhaps, under different circumstances, they might have been, but as it was, they were far too upset to care.
There was silence, at first when they saw me, and for a moment, I thought they were impressed, too proud to even speak. My father, the great mage, Numair Salmalin; my mother, the wildmage, Veralidaine were both standing stalk-still in shock. But then my mother said, her voice sounding as if she was in anguish, fighting back tears: "Don't you know what you've done to yourself, Leaf?"
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, or tried to, for I found I was unable to speak.
"Leaf?" my mother asked. "Leaf, can you speak? Answer me, talk, say something, don't you know you can't change back when you're like that?" I looked at her. I hadn't known. I hadn't known any of it. I shook my head, trying to get her to notice me, but she was crying by this time, crying into my father's shoulder. Neither of them noticed the motion of my head. I couldn't change back! Suddenly I realized what her words had meant, exactly why she was crying right now, and why my father was looking at me in shocked horror, unable to speak. I couldn't change back! I would be like this forever! Why hadn't they told me, why hadn't anyone warned me? I had not told them before because I wanted it to be a surprise… I wished now that I had. I tried hard to get their attention, anyone's attention, making as much noise as I could without the use of my mouth. My mother finally looked up and noticed my antics. "What's going to become of you, Leaf?" she asked. I shook my head. I don't know, I told her, although she could not hear. I was hoping you could answer that.
"I am sorry." The King of Tortall looked old as I watched him. "There is nothing I can do to stop you from staying- but a dragon has no place in the capital. You could easily be hurt by someone who did not know who you were. Few immortals choose to make their homes here." He looked up then, to the two figures standing behind me: my parents. In that moment, I hated him. "I'm sorry, Numair, Daine. I would forgive you if you left with her- but you are needed here, as well."
"So you are telling us to abandon our daughter outside of the city, leave her to fend for herself, and just- stay here, and pretend it never happened?" My father's voice held a fury I had never heard before. My mother said nothing, but I could tell that she agreed with my father in this.
"I- I didn't know what you would want to do. Everything you know is here. I'm sure your daughter would be welcomed in the dragonlands-"
"Than you don't know dragons," I heard her mother mutter. I would have grinned, if I had been able to. If I had not been so afraid. I needed to talk, to say something! They couldn't abandon me, it wouldn't be right. I was only a child…
"Well I don't know what you want to do!" King Jonathan sounded angry now. "Leave or stay, it's your decision. But your daughter- she can't stay here. It's dangerous for her, for you, for everyone in Corus, and it's my duty as King to protect them!" He stood up. "I'm sorry about Leaf, I really am, and I'll try to do the best I can for her- but she can't stay, and both of you are needed here." He waited. "What are you going to do?"
It was my mother who answered, and she spoke not the King, but to her me. "Leaf, I'm sorry, but he's right, we have to stay here. We'll find you somewhere to live- near to Corus, but not where people are- and we'll come and see you every day-" The King sighed, a sound of relief and sadness, and my father looked unhappy with the decision his wife had made. "Are you alright, Leaf?" I did the only thing I was able, and nodded my dragon's head, wishing with all my heart that I could speak somehow. "Wait!" My mother said, as the King moved towards the door, as if to leave. "How long can she stay here?"
"She has till tonight," Tortall's king replied, and left the three of us alone.
Tonight. I wanted to shout, No, I can't leave tonight. I can't leave at all, I don't want to go, don't make me leave. This is my home. How dare you abandon me? I could have gone on, forever and forever in my mind. But in my mind only. I was unable to speak human speech. I need to talk! My thoughts shouted, but I was unheard. They couldn't make me leave. This place was home. 'There is nothing I can do to stop you from staying-'the King had said. Well, then I would stay. And perhaps no one would mind. Perhaps I would live out my life here, and-
My life. Live out my life. I was an immortal now, incapable of dying because of old age, sickness, or starvation. The only way I could die was if someone killed me. And I didn't want anyone to kill me. That meant I would live forever. I wasn't sure I wanted to live in Corus forever. I would want to go out and see the world, too. If my parents wouldn't be missed so much, perhaps it was a good thing to leave. When everyone had forgotten about me… when everyone I knew had died… I did not want to think about that, but when it happened, then I could come back, and no one would care. But now? Too leave or to stay? I had no choice. I had been cast out, by the King himself, and although he said he could not stop me from staying, he had ordered me to leave. Disobeying an order like that might cost me my life… my life… but I was immortal? What could he do to me? Even if I was imprisoned- and how could he do that? No lock could hold a dragon.
And thus I argued, back and forth with myself. To stay or to leave? To leave or to stay? I could not decide. The argument ended when I grew tired of it, so it was simply chance that I made the choice I did. Or some would say not. Some would say destiny. Mother and Father expect me to go, I told myself. I will miss them, and they will miss me, but they are also bound to obey the King. Perhaps they will even make me go. And after that I would argue no more. I had made my decision. I would leave at nightfall.
The moon shone brightly that night, as I bade a silent farewell to my parents and the life I had known. I did not know that this would be the last time I would see this city the way it was. I only knew that I was leaving, and that I had become an outcast, a fugitive even. I was deformed by my own fault. I would not go so for as to say I deserved my fate, but I knew that I would be careful what I did- for the rest of my life.
Alone. In all my life, I had never felt so entirely alone as I did the night that I left. It was into the forest that I went- somehow I did not feel it would be right to take the main road out of Corus. The moon, blotted out for the most part by the trees, was my only light, my only guide on the dark path. There was a kind of eerie silence in the woods- a silence that I felt doubly. Before my transformation, I would have been able to feel the presence of the creatures nearby through my wild magic. Now their voices were deadened. The only magic I had now was the magic that all dragons possessed- magic that I was unable to use. I had had no training in it, and had only taken this new shape half a day ago. The only kind of magic I had had before had come to me naturally- this new kind was different, and I had no idea how to work it. Anyhow, it would not enable me to hear the forest creatures not, even if I could use it. Even without wild magic, I could tell that they were silent even without the help of wild magic. There was absolutely no sound except for the crunching of my feet on last autumn's fallen leaves that littered the path. Not a breath of wind, or the call of some night bird, nor even the far-off howl of a wolf, that not so long ago I could have understood and responded to. Loneliness was no longer the only thing I felt. Fear had joined it in my mind.
After perhaps an hour of walking, in the clumsy, unstable way of one who is unaccustomed to the body she wears, I stopped, tired, exhausted, simply unable to go further. I took shelter underneath a tree whose branches spread far out into the forest, and, where they began, closest to the trunk, completely covered the night sky, shutting out weather and moonlight. I did not now then if immortals needed sleep, and it didn't matter: whether they did or didn't, I did, and I was going to get it.
When I awoke, a thick green wall of leaves glittered with dew above my head. It took me a moment to remember where I was. And what I was. After that the events of the last day came back to me in a flash, and made me wish I were asleep again, unaware of any of my difficulties. I made myself get up, begin walking again. I was not yet far away enough from Corus. Not as far away as I wanted to be. I thought of my position. To the best of my knowledge, I was headed north. Walk far enough, and I would end up at the foot of the Grimhold Mountains, on the border to Scanra. I wasn't sure if that was where I wanted to be or not. Surely, I would be despised anywhere I went- anywhere there was humans. And if not despised; I would be misunderstood- I had no way to communicate, no way to tell people I meant no harm, no way to say- anything. I would stay out of the way of humans. It seemed I had no need to worry about other creatures, who now avoided me. For what reason, I did not know, but I suspected it had something to do with my form. This left two options, the second of which I was slow to realize: I could live out my life completely alone, never to speak again- or I could seek out the last manner of creature- neither human nor the ones that called themselves the People- but the ones in between. The beings that I myself was one of now, neither humans nor the People, but a mix of the two- Immortals.
I though of this as I continued in the direction that was most likely north: even when I made my choice, I did not stop, for I had no idea where to find immortals even if I was able to talk to them. More desperately than ever I needed to talk to someone. But that seemed impossible.
I did not see the tree sprite until she stepped in front of me. The height of a human knee, the small female had skin tinted green, and hair that was a darker shade of the same color. She was dressed in a brown garment that could easily have been made from tree-bark. When she spoke, her voice was soft, and sounded like wind whistling through treetops. "You are no dragon," she told me. "Yet why do you wear the body of one?"
"It- it was a mistake," I replied, before I remembered I was unable to talk, but to my surprise, she heard me and answered.
"You are human then. Unable to change back from immortal shape- yet you did not know this when you chose to transform?"
"Of course I didn't," I said, vaguely annoyed. There was something about her tone that bothered me.
"You are young," she said, a realization, rather than an explanation as it had been before, her telling me things I already knew. "You are the daughter of the wildmage?" This comment was made with astonishment; as if she already knew the answer and was surprised it was possible.
"My mother is a wildmage, yes."
"You are the Wanderer than. Your path will be long and hard."
"You can read the future?" The comment was meant in sarcasm; again, I didn't like her tone. All-knowing and condescending.
"This prophecy is known by all immortals." And you are ignorant not to know it, were the unspoken words that somehow I heard.
"I am not an immortal. You said so yourself. 'You are no dragon.'" I repeated her earlier words.
"Yet you are still an immortal; you will not die of old age or disease." I sighed. She had answered my own unspoken words; an answer I had known to be true, but wished otherwise. The Wanderer. What did this mean? Your path will be long and hard.
"So what is this prophecy? If I am an immortal, I should know it." I enjoyed spitting back her words at her for the second time.
"I will recite the words of it for you," she said.
'Child of the Wildmage, turned to immortal
Her path will be hard and her years will be long
Able to finish what others have not
Told of in stories, recounted in song
'This is the Wanderer, chosen by legend
Whose days will be weary and life a sad dream
This is the Wanderer, whose years unending
Will end with a glory that is yet unseen'.
The word rang in the morning air, and I wondered at their meaning, even more confused than before she had. "It is confusing, yes," the tree sprite went on. "But I am sure that it tells of you."
"You may be, but I am not," I replied.
"Doubt it if you want. I don't think it will matter in the end." And then she was gone: she had melted into the tree that she perched on as if she had never been there in the first place. The words of her prophecy still in my ears, I continued on my way. In all that had taken place, one thing, for sure, had been accomplished. I now knew for certain that despite my being unable to talk to humans or the People, I would be able to communicate with immortals. This gave me new energy as I made my way through the forest.
The old dragon pauses in her tale. It is time for me to stop now, she says. Perhaps, if you would like to hear it, I will tell you more another time. That is merely the end of the first chapter of my story, and there is much more to tell. You nod. Perhaps you will come again to hear the rest of the story. You wave farewell to the green-and-gold dragon, and make your way home.
Author's Note- Chapters One and Two are combined- because of the way I've decided I want this to go, the chapters are going to be longer with more content. I hope the transition between chapters didn't seem too awkward- it seems all right to me, but my opinion doesn't count, since I'm the writer. Reviewer notes for the first two chapters are below.
Reviewers
(for original Chapter One)
Mist Tiger- Even if you aren't the best of critics, I'm glad you liked it. I hope this chapter continues to make you curious.
KK7- Thank you so much for reviewing. You asked for more: here it is.
Shasta_rocks- Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for taking the time to read my bio.
Angelgirl914- Thank you so much. Your reviews make me feel very good about myself. I hope you liked this chapter as much as the first.
ladyknight- Thanks. And you're welcome. About your name- it's very annoying when people don't get it right. But my computer often changes it for me, which is even more annoying.
(for original Chapter Two)
Tequila- I'm glad you like it, and don't worry, the next chapter is above. I'll try to update as fast as possible, but with so much homework and two other stories… life is hard.
ladyknight- Thanks so much! No, I haven't finished it yet. I had just written the prologue and that chapter.
Hollie- Leaf is, indeed, the best of darkings. There's a story behind the nickname which I may or may not put somewhere in this story. Thanks about saying I kept them in character in the last chapter- I often get really worried about that. Abandoning their daughter doesn't really seem like something Daine and Numair would do, but it's important to the plot. I wanted to make it as true to their personalities as possible.
Archangemon- Thanks! I will write and update as much as possible.
Tarilenea- Yes! It is up! I'm glad you liked it, and I included that name but just for you. If not acorns, names...
Keziah- Yeah! I'm back. Thanks for reviewing, and for giving me the tip about my bio. I'll try to keep updating this time.
Stuffed Dodo- Thanks so much. I wasn't sure how well I did that part in the chapter, so your comment was really helpful.
Mist Tiger- Thanks! I'm glad you're curious. I'll try to keep it that way, so you'll keep reading, and thanks for putting my story on your favorites list.