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Disclaimer: I do not own The Inheritance Cycle. I only own the OC Michael Draven/Ancalagon.

When I awoke, I felt sore everywhere, and my eyes felt like they were being held down by boulders. Using my arms felt weird as I tried to get up. The ground beneath me did not feel like my bed at all. While getting up noticing the shift of weight about my body. Did I get fat all of a sudden? Once I was on my feet, I immediately fell face first onto grass…

Wait… grass? The blurs soon transformed in figures and shapes. Becoming clearer to show bushes, trees and grass all around me. I was… in a forest? Or rather, looking down, I caught on to how my location around the trees, grass, bushes and branches looked burned. It was like a circle or fire and the forest stretched on from every angle.

What the hell? Am I in the Amazon Jungle or something like that? And why does everything look… smaller?

I tried to get up from my feet but failed again. Confused by this, I took a look at my body to see what the problem was… and my blood turned cold.

I had scales…

'W-what? What the hell?!' By the structure I mistook my body to be one of a dog. But giving a closer inspection proved I indeed had a tail but the silver as the moon scales seemed to be of a reptile or something close to it. I also had claws on my... feet? I had four legs that were not human by any means.

I turned around and sprinted behind to catch sight of silver above my head. Then collided with a tree in the process.

'Ow.'

Despite hitting the tree going full force, the pain was not that bad. Especially when compared to the fire from before. Once the pain, both physical and masculine went away, I glanced to my left shoulder and that's when I noticed an even crazier thing.

I had wings…

They looked real. Hell, if I scooped closer to the sun, I could see tiny veins on 'em. I tried to extend them to get a closer look but failed. Like trying to raise a tool with telekinesis. I gave up soon after, realizing how futile my attempts were.

What's going on?! I heard water in the distance, but there was no water around me, just grass. Water? I could use it as a mirror… without thinking twice I bolted for my next destination, unfortunately I forgot that I still had no control over my movements and fell with my face hitting the grass. Again.

I spat dirt and other things out of my mouth, catching a glimpse of sharp white teeth. What the fuck was I?

After trying many times, I was finally able to walk a few steps without impacting with the ground. Even if the improvement was about holding whatever tree or branch I could find to stabilize my height.

This is so goddamn infuriating! Without thinking I suddenly let out a loud growl. I stopped as soon as I heard myself... growl? Did I seriously just growl? Ok, I have to find out what the hell is going on. What had happened to me. At all costs.

I finally reached the river cutting the forest into two. A pack of deer from the other side of the river drinking from it. Once we saw each other, they turned and ran away like a predator was chasing them.

I padded over the side, my tail slashing at whatever it found along the way. I braced myself with a deep breath and looked down. My… maw fell open.

What stared back at me... was a dragon. A silver-scaled dragon, with huge teeth that looked like it could crush steel into scrap metal, powerful looking jaws, a pair of burning silver eyes with a slit in the middle like a cat's.

I... I was a dragon!

I'm a goddamn dragon!

What the hell is going on?! I yelled, trying to do it out loud but all that came out was a roar that made birds fly away. I started to freak the fuck out, and why shouldn't I? I went to sleep and have woken up as a dragon! Wait... maybe I was still asleep. Maybe this was a dream!

I looked at my arm and sank my teeth into it.

OW!OW!OW!OW! Fuck, that hurts!

Okay... this was real. This was not a dream.

I was an actual, honest-to-fucking-God, dragon...

Yeah, I loved dragons since I was a kid and enjoyed watching movies, shows and reading books involving them, but never thought to actually become one... even though I had childhood fantasies about being a dragon, but that was simply that; childhood fantasies.

Okay, twisting my head around, I gave my new body a look over. I lifted one of my... paws? Forelegs? Whatever. I looked at the sharp talons I had, perfect for getting the job done when it comes to slicing through things. A dragon's most dangerous weapon, well one of them anyway.

I clawed at the ground, leaving thick scratch marks as a result. If I could whistle at the damage done, I would do so out loud. I turned my head to further examine my new body, my eyes passing over the silver scales. Judging from my reflection, I'm basically a four-legged version of Smaug from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, only smaller and with scales as silver as the moon. Even my eyes were silver.

Anyway, for the next few hours, I adjusted to my new body, slowly but surely. Timing my steps with four legs and reaching about the speed of a third grader. Even then, that did not stop my dragon body from doing several more faceplants into the ground and now knowing what dirt tasted like to dragons. Tasted exactly the same to humans.

And then, my stomach had to start its complaints, demanding for food. I decided to ignore it and continue focusing on getting the movements right so that I'd be able to walk without falling face-first into the dirt again.

However, the all-too familiar feeling of an empty stomach, followed by it growling, became so unbearable that I had to stop. I lifted my head and took deep sniffs of the air.

The smell of the forest was… indescribable. Hundreds, possibly thousands of scents entered my nose. It was sensory overload as animals, plants, and insects all blurred together that it was impossible to make out. Immediately, I shook my snout to get rid of the smells.

Okay, so using my sense of smell was a no-go until I adjusted to the scents around me, so I would have to use my eyes and ears then. My brilliant silver eyes scanned the trees, the forest, the long fields for any signs of life while I remained as still as a statue, using my hearing to aid me in my search for something to eat. But all I could hear was the sound of birds and their songs, and insects scurrying along the ground. Neither would be even a good snack... and I really don't want to entertain the thought of eating insects!

Movement of an animal out the corner of my eye snapped my gaze to the brush, only a few meters away. Unfortunately, while my senses were sharp, my movements were still not. The second I tried to run, I immediately found myself facepalming into the dirt and alerting the squirrel who ran up a tree and hid in its home. All while I carried my wounded pride and face that now smelled like dirt to the hole.

THAT'S IT! I yelled inside my mind. Giving in to instinct by opening up my maw and spewing out fire. The flames going inside the hole and burning anything around. After a second of feeling the awesome power of flame exit me, I looked up to see the squirrel I chased get launched into the air like a rocket before falling back down to the ground. Flames following behind him that smelled like the most deliciously cooked meal in my life. This time, I took my time to walk over, the squirrel was now completely dead so there was no need to make haste.

I paused suddenly, staring at what was once one of God's creatures.

Is this wrong? I asked, staring at the animal I had killed. I had taken the life of an innocent creature without a shred of remorse or mercy, and was now only feeling the need and desire to make a snack out of it. Did I kill this animal for sport? No... I... leaving it without eating it would be killing for sport, right?

The rumbling of my stomach gained my attention, and I gave into the hunger. I snatched the dead squirrel in my jaws, chucked it into the air and caught it in my mouth, chewing and then swallowing once I had done enough chewing. Despite just eating the squirrel, my stomach only felt a little full from the meal, but at least it was something.

This was going to take some getting used to. Being a dragon was not all what childhood dreams and fantasy made it out to be. I had to adjust to moving and walking on all fours like an animal, hunting like a predator, using my heightened sense of smell, sight and hearing, adjusting to the thrill of flying-

Wait...

I slowly turned and looked at my wings. There was one thing that was very important to dragons, the one thing that made them the masters of the skies, the alpha predators in the air rather than just the ground.

Flying.

Okay, time to start lesson 1 of 'How to be a dragon'. Class is in session. I joked to myself, even though I doubt it was funny.

Lessons 1: Walking and running.

Lesson 2:... Flying.

Oh boy.

I managed to find the edge of a steep cliff and was currently looking down at the long drop. Wherever I was, I was near big mountains that were perfect to call home for the moment as I had found a big enough cave for me to squeeze into and sleep should I need shelter. And I know that I will need shelter, not only for a place to sleep... but a place to be alone with my thoughts, to think about my current situation.

But right now, I was focused on getting through one very important thing needed for my survival, and that was the skill of flying.

I took a step to the edge, causing a rock to be pushed off and fall to the ground far, far down. A bubble of nervousness boiled within the core of my stomach as I continued to stare at the drop, second guessing myself and the idea of this. What if I am unable to fly? What if I do it wrong? What if... I crash and die?

I snorted and gave the draconic version of an exhale... or at least what came close to an exhale for a dragon, looked at my wings and got used to the feeling of them, spreading them out, then pulled them in. In, out, in, out. That should do it... now to conquer the fear of falling to my death.

I went to take the plunge but hesitated once again, and I sure will not admit that an animal-like whimper escaped me as my hesitation grew. Now, I'm not sure how dragons learn to fly, but I'm sure my new instincts would help me.

So, swallowing my fear, I tilted and dove off the edge.

There was nothing but the wind passing as I stared at the incoming ground, closed my eyes and then prayed to God. Suddenly, the wind roaring past my head changed direction, I heard a loud CRACK that resounded off the cliff wall. I felt a tug on my back, then the wind eased, brushing past my scaled head at a much lower pace. I eased my eyes open to see the sky instead of the ground. Clouds flew past my vision.

I looked around to see the forested plain far below me. My wings shifted with the breeze, catching the wind under their membrane, propelling me forward through the bright blue sky.

I'm flying? HOLY SHIT! I'M FLYING! I roared with sheer relief, laugh with, and I'm not ashamed to admit this but it'll only be to myself, child-like glee at the feeling I was experiencing.

This was amazing! This was... this was... oh, I can't even begin to describe what this felt like!

This is fun!

Woohoo! I roared with excitement and flew around to get used to it, and to enjoy this a lot longer as I desire. I sure as hell would never forget this experience.

This... was freedom.

And that's it for this chapter, folks. Next one will go in third person and stay that way for the rest of this story.