A Mithral Dragon in Modern Britain
Chapter 2: Transitions
The students on the University Parks for Oxford stared at the immense creature that had settled there. It was the very same dragon that had just recently showed up on the shores of Loch Ness. And now it was sitting on a cricket field near Oxford University, looking around at the police officers that had gathered. One brow ridge was slightly elevated, and the creature's mouth was slightly agape. The less xenophobic of the students noticed the creature seemed more amused than anything else did with all the attention it was gathering. Standing up from the relaxed posture it had adopted, the dragon strode over to the largest concentration of police officers and looked at them, smiling. "Would someone care to get the Vice-Chancellor of the university here? I would like to speak with him," it added, speaking with a feminine voice, soft and low, but at the same time loud enough that anyone within fifty feet could hear it. The constable directly in front of the dragon nodded, speaking into his radio as she watched them quietly.
Twenty minutes later, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, dressed for the unusually warm British weather, was standing in front of the dragon, which inclined her head respectfully at him. He started up at the creature. "I understand that you wanted to speak with me," the Chancellor offered in greeting, concealing his fear well.
"Yes, I did," the dragon answered, her voice cultured. "I wish to attend your university next semester. I wish to learn more about humanity in this era and your institution is one of the best in the world, and I have had other projects occupying my time until now."
The Chancellor paled slightly. "I think you are somewhat past the deadline..." he trailed off as the dragon moved her head closer, until she was looking directly in his eyes, an expression somewhere between annoyed and amused at this display of bureaucratic mentality. "However, given that this is a unique situation, I believe an exception can be made," he added hastily, sensing impending doom in the form of teeth somewhat larger than his torso. "Come by my office tomorrow morning and I'll see about getting you registered for classes." He gulped at the chaos this was going to cause. Well, at least we can't be accused of racism, he thought consolingly. Shaking his head, he watched as the dragon turned to the news crew and quietly told them of her plans and the University's agreement. His eyes widened at one question.
"How do we know that you are qualified intellectually to take courses here?" a reporter asked. Dressed in a dark suit, he seemed to exude arrogance and confidence. The Chancellor blinked as the question registered fully and braced himself for an explosion of blood and violence. One that, to his surprise, did not come, nor did the dragon seem particularly surprised at the comment.
The dragon raised her brow ridge slightly and put her snout directly in the man's face, considering the reporter. "You don't. However, I have successfully evaded detection in your society, as a complete outsider, on and off, for over sixty-five years. That would indicate some level of cunning. Also, my brain size is considerably larger than yours, as a function of my body size. While brain size alone is not a pure indicator of intelligence, given the examples of my distant cousins, the creatures you term dinosaurs, in this case, it does contribute considerably to my ability to process information, both sensory and ephemeral. I can communicate extremely fluently in several dozen different languages and also to a some extent in many others. I possess an intimate knowledge of physics and chemistry, including a few exotic fields that have thus far escaped the illumination of 'modern' science. Are there any other questions you wish to ask, scribe, or has your curiosity been satisfied?" she asked, her voice laced with sarcasm and just the faintest hint of menace.
The journalist nodded, looking on the verge of panic. "This is Joseph Smith, signing off for the BBC," he added for the viewers. The dragon nodded and stood up fully, taking a couple of running strides and spreading her wings. She caught the wind and the magic within, turning both to her purpose with some of the inherent power all dragons share and soared off to the north, well aware that everyone around was watching her. Noticing the RAF Harrier GR7 moving onto her wing, the dragon gave it a jaunty wave with her left wing before pulling up again and coming to a cruising altitude, vectoring for her home on the shores of Loch Ness. The fighter pulled away as a pair of Tornado air defense fighters took the jump-jet's place as the dragon accelerated, somehow achieving speeds more properly associated with a jet that a flying reptile massing close to fifty tons.
The dragon chuckled to herself as the two fighters paced her. I bet they're trying to figure out just how I can move this fast, Sharanna thought, smiling. Let's see just how good these two are. The dragon pulled up sharply and dropped her speed dramatically. The fighters shot past her and she ducked onto the tail of one fighter, part of her mind instinctively manipulating the winds around her with a bit of magic as any dragon could do. The pilot's eyes went wide at the maneuvers the one-hundred-twenty-plus ton reptile was pulling as he realized that if another fighter had pulled that same maneuver, he would be dead. The WSO turned in his rear seat, watching the larger flyer effortlessly moving in the air. After a time, the small convoy of aircraft began a gentle descent to Loch Ness as Sharanna approached her home. The fighters pulled away and flew towards a tanker as Sharanna landed and shifted to a human form a few hundred meters from her home.
The next morning, Sharanna stretched as she woke in the bed she kept to sleep in as a human or an elf. I suppose I'm going to have to get a little more used to sleeping in a human bed, she noted ruefully as she rubbed a crick in her neck from the odd angle it had been while she slept. Getting up and about, the elfin dragon pulled out a bathrobe, put on a pair of slippers, and walked to the kitchen on the top floor of her tower. Now where did I put those biscuits...? Sharanna thought to herself as she searched through the refrigerator for materials to make breakfast. Finally finding the biscuits, the sausage, and the bacon she had stored, Sharanna set to making breakfast and then eating it quickly as she read a science-fiction novel she had always found interesting, Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Once she was done, Sharanna went through a process similar to that of many individuals for personal hygiene, although hers also involved a few bits of meditation and mystic exercises, keeping her powers and the association with both water and air she held as a birthright attuned. Finished, the dragon walked back into her bedroom and over to the decidedly large closet. Walking past the everyday clothes in the forward part of it, Sharanna found the several business suits she kept in the back for the few times she needed to look official. Hmm, no, not this, I don't know, the dragon thought as she looked through the half-dozen or so suits she had. I guess something in blue, she finally decided, pulling out a conservative suit in a deep navy, grabbing a white shirt and a silver tie on her way out of the closet. Changing quickly, she then went to the mirror and brushed out the long silver hair she usually wore in a human or elven form. Pulling it past her pointed ears, Sharanna found a dark blue bow that matched the suit and tied it into the pony tail quickly. Grabbing her keys, watch, and a small attaché case containing paper, pencils, and a laptop, as well as a small purse, she walked out into the media room and glanced at the paper she had printed out the evening before. Focusing her mind on the map of Oxford's campus, the dragon tapped into her spell-casting abilities and warped space around her, essentially altering her position from Scotland to just outside the main administration building on the university's campus. Right after her senses returned to normal from the shift, Sharanna felt something hard impact her head.
Turning around angrily, the dragon swallowed the urge to summon up a bit of power. Kneeling slightly, she picked up the rock that someone in the crowd behind her had just thrown at her head. "Who threw this?" she asked quietly. A younger man stepped out of the crowd, dressed in slacks and a dark shirt. His dark eyes radiated hostility.
"I did, monster," he challenged. She nodded, and then tossed the stone back to him.
"Why?" Sharanna replied. "Why did you feel it necessary to do such a thing?"
"Because you don't belong here," he answered. "Why do you think you can just walk into Oxford as if you have every right in the world to be here?"
"For one thing, I have been donating money to this institution for longer than you have been alive, child," Sharanna replied. "Second, I do not appreciate being called a monster, particularly without cause."
"Cause? Your very existence is cause enough," the man sneered.
"Really?" the dragon asked, setting down her purse and attaché case. "Then I would, in theory, as a ravenous monster, be expected to kill you for throwing a rock at me," Sharanna explained mockingly. She raised her hand to cut him off. "Be quiet. You will be civil, and I was not finished. You will note that I have not harmed anyone or threatened a single individual. And a monster is not defined by their race, but by their actions. Hitler was a monster. Stalin was a monster. Vlad the Impaler was a monster. I am not a monster. I am simply someone different." She noticed a motion in the crowd as someone looked like they were about to pick up another rock. Summoning her power, the dragon felt her eyes start to glow slightly as she prepared a spell silently. "I suggest that you reconsider any violence you may be about to commit, human. I will not provoke a fight, but I will defend myself if necessary. Do not choose to make it so," she added, her voice acquiring a slight hint of menace. The person picking up another rock ignored her warning. The rock was thrown... and it stopped in a spray of sparks as it impacted a glittering shield of energy in front of the dragon, just a few inches from her outstretched palm. She lifted that hand and the rock-thrower was picked up off the ground and deposited in a tree. "Does anyone else care to join him?" Sharanna asked, gesturing to the tree. Heads were shaken, and Sharanna nodded in quiet satisfaction. "Then I suggest you attend to your affairs," she continued, allowing a slight tone of command to slip free. The crowd dispersed as the dragon bent down to pick up her purse and attaché case before smoothing her skirt and dropping the energy wall. From his office, the Chancellor watched and hoped that this was the last of it.
Ami Mizuno looked at her luggage as she waited in line behind Michiru at Tokyo International Airport. I wonder what this year will bring, she reflected. A dragon appearing in Britain, at Oxford University in fact, and Pluto telling us about the past, and her own nature. I don't know if things can get much weirder than this, she thought ruefully and oddly for her, incorrectly. Reaching the clerk, Ami shook off her reflective mood and picked up her luggage to run through the X-ray scanner. Finding nothing out of order, the clerk nodded to her and smiled.
"Go on, girl. Your luggage will get there safe and sound," he told her. "Enjoy your flight," he added as a parting comment. Ami nodded, thanked him, and retrieved her carry-on bag, joining Michiru.
"Ready to go?" the older girl asked her. Ami nodded. "Something wrong?" Michiru added, noticing the expression on the younger girl's face.
Ami shook her head. "Not really. I'm just a little concerned about that dragon. I don't know what to think, certainly not after what Setsuna told us the other night."
"I guess we just keep our eyes open and our heads down. That dragon could be a powerful ally. Still, I get the feeling Setsuna's not telling us everything," Michiru added.
Ami was feeling a bit cynical, and it showed. "Does she ever?"
Michiru thought about it for a second, then the older girl shook her head. "No, not really in my experience." On that note, the pair found some seats to wait out the time until their flight was ready to board.
Author's Note: Thank you to those who reviewed. I appreciate your comments. This is a chapter in transition, as the title indicates. Things begin to pick up, but not everything is fights and blood.