Harry traveled for ours with a heavy heart, noting in the back of his mind how much slower the time passed without his friend. Malva… Harry sighed as he recalled details about her and realized that he would never see her again. How could he, after all?
It took Harry almost two days to get to the herd of Hungarian Horntails, but that time seemed nothing once Harry found himself standing behind a rock, several hundred feet away from their encampment. The sirens had almost killed him through their enchanting music, but he was no fool and realized that the dragons were infinitely more dangerous. Their fire, razor-sharp claws, and impenetrable scales created a beast no man could destroy. Even as he thought these words, Harry realized that he was the beast. Outside, maybe, no scales showed, but what mattered was what he was born as.
After waiting patiently for several hours for the dragons to arrive to their settling-place, Harry decided to give up and just go in. After all, what was the worst case scenario? He would die? It didn't matter, nobody in this world would miss him. Malva… Malva was gone forevermore.
As Harry stood in the middle of the clearing and examined the nature-scape around him, he was distracted by a loud, souring sound. Loud? Souring? Screaming, Harry realized that the dragons had returned. He had only one quick glimpse of a scaly, lime-green underbelly and claws as long as his arm with sword-sharp tips before the dragon landed beside him.
Harry stepped back unconsciously. "Hello. I'm… Harry. I'm, uh, looking for my father… dad…? He lives… here, I think…" He trailed off as no sign of intelligence passed through the monster's eyes. "Please, could you… take me to my… father? He's… also… a dragon?"
He turned as if to flee when he realized that the dragon didn't understand him and was looking at him as if he were going to be its dinner. A look of fierce hunger passed over the beast's face, and it passed its long, snaky tongue over its teeth in pleasant anticipation. Harry's voice rose almost to a squeal.
"Please, I'm only looking for my father, I mean no harm, please don't hurt, please don't hurt me, I don't want to be eaten—" Harry broke off, and began running in the opposite direction, screaming at the top of his lungs. The fierce brute lunged after him, its membrany black wings stretched over a tight bone structure, an evil red gleam in its eyes, its claws fully unsheathed and prepared to strike.
Harry ran, dodging for his life, because he knew that one of those claws would terminate it. After a few narrow dodges, though, he got hit – the dagger-like spike entered his shoulder, piercing through muscles and tendons and soft tissue, a fountain of blood spouting from the source, spraying all around him. Harry screamed in anguish, feeling the claw digging further into his shoulder, and another enter his leg right above the knee. Moaning in anguish, Harry collapsed to the floor and begged the darkness to take him, but his wish wasn't granted. Red-hot pain entered every cell of his body, preventing him from breathing…
As Harry gave up all hope on his life, he heard a scream nearby. A scream? For some reason, the voice sounded familiar – feminine and delicate, sweet and in pain. Feminine? Delicate? It was Malva!
The thought of Malva in pain brought adrenaline rushing to his body and mind, and he stood up, beyond pain, wrenching out the claws caught deep within his body. After a few steps, he was near exhaustion from blood loss, but the thought of Malva kept his going for those several important minutes. He had only just managed to escape the dragon's region, though, and stop to rest leaning on a tree, when he felt cold steel behind him, touching him at a point below his right ear.
"Don't move." The instructions came from a disembodied voice like a bullet in the dark.
Harry stood still, trembling slightly from trauma and his injuries.
"Put your hands behind you."
Harry complied, and felt a coarse cord wrap around them and tie them securely together. He was then led forward through some trees, pulled as he couldn't walk well, to a caravan hidden behind a pile of stones. Inside one of the wagons, he heard Malva pleading. "Please don't hurt me, please…" Harry's blood boiled. This was his girl, his friend, his love, and nobody could hurt her! In his anger, his appearance began to change.
His wrist thickened, growing scales and small spikes which ripped through the ropes holding him. A thick layer of emerald scales grew over his body, covering and healing his wounds. His fingers lengthened, grew sharper, became claws. As he arched his back, two bat-like wings sprouted. While his stance remained that of a human, his eyes slanted into red slits of fire.
With a roar, Harry plunged to the wagon. He opened his mouth, furious, and was shocked to see roaring orange-red flames erupt from his mouth, setting the bandits on fire. With his claws and new ability, Harry frightened the bandits away, and then stood stock still, shocked to the core of his being. He was a… dragon? But... he wanted to be human! As this thought crossed his mind, he realized that his body was changing back to that of a human being.
A soft, quiet voice interrupted his thoughts. "Harry. Thank you. You were…amazing."
And Harry realized, as he turned to his love and wife-to-be, that it really didn't matter what he looked like. What mattered was the flame that burned inside him… the flame that was singing in his heart.
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A/N: I hope everybody liked it! Yes this is the end, but I could probably do a sequel if you really want. I'm not really sure, though, so please give me feedback! Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed, it was really sweet of you and incouraged me to keep on writing.
Love,
-MissTurkey