Becoming a Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page B

fought them. Your father of course, being a commander, has fought many of them, and has sent many to their graves thankfully. Not enough though; they always send more. But don't worry, they never attack Furnace, being so far away from the border. We're quite safe here. Much safer even than our home in Black Rock, and even that hasn't been attacked for years, although of course it was always the Green Dragons that attacked the south, rather than the Blues, not that they're any better. Are you ready to begin, dear?"
    Crystal nodded, feeling nervous and excited.
    "Very good. Now, what have they taught you about transformation at that school I've been sending you to?"
    Crystal shrugged, wishing she had paid more attention in her lessons. "Not a lot. Nothing about how to actually do it. Just that we shouldn't try to do it on our own before we've been taught by our parents. Oh, and that we should never try to do it at night."
    "Of course, dear. We can only transform into dragons during the day. That's probably one of the most important lessons for them to have taught you. Trying to stay as a dragon when it gets dark is very dangerous, and I don't think it is even possible to transform into a dragon before the sun rises again. Promise me you'll never even try to do so!"
    "Of course, Mother," Crystal replied obediently.
    "Alright, well, first, dear, I'll demonstrate a couple of times, as slowly as I can. Watch closely what I do. It always starts with the eyes. You probably notice the wings first when I do it quickly, but if you watch closely, you'll see I start with my eyes, which is how everyone does it."
    Crystal watched her mother carefully. Her eyes changed to a dark red, and they glowed so brightly that it started to look as if they were on fire, with the red then spreading to the skin around her eyes. After her skin began to change colour, scales formed, slowly spreading out from her eyes over her face, although her face was still easily recognisable. Her mother was transforming as slowly as she could, and Crystal followed the changes easily. Her face was now covered in scales, which were spreading down her neck and covering her body. Her mother pulled at the cord around her waist, and pulled her top down, and Crystal watched as the scales quickly covered her chest. Her mother slowed the transformation again, and Crystal saw the small scales spread over her shoulders and arms and then cover her hands. Her mother turned to face away from Crystal, displaying her scaly back, and Crystal saw the wings begin to emerge and then unfold from between her shoulders. Her mother turned back to face her again, and she removed the rest of her clothes, revealing that she was now completely covered in scales from head to toe. Her body shape was still clearly human, but was now starting to change. Her legs and arms stiffened, and as they began to lengthen, Crystal noticed that the joints in her limbs now faced the opposite way than they had before. Her mother started to lengthen her neck, and her face also changed shape as it grew, with her jaw beginning to elongate and the scales enlarging rapidly. Her wings had continued to grow without Crystal really noticing, and were now huge, spread out to the sides of her body. Her mother stretched out her fingers, and the fourth and fifth fingers joined together and merged into one before lengthening into a single long, clawed talon, as did the other fingers, with the thumb moving backwards to situate itself at the rear of the foot. She did the same with her feet, and finally, she was complete. A Red Dragon sat calmly in front of Crystal.
    Crystal shook her head and smiled. "I see what you did, but I don't know how to do any of that."
    Her mother transformed back quickly, picking up the clothes and putting them back on. "Alright, dear, I just want you to learn the order. Can you repeat back to me the order that I did it in? That can sometimes help."
    "Alright, eyes, face, chest, shoulders, wings, body,