Dragon Girl by Melissa Nichols (some good books to read txt) 📕

only metal skeletons, and mice ran away from me before I had a chance to think about catching one. I didn’t see any bats, thank goodness, and it didn’t feel like a cage anymore. In fact, the dragon was very much at home, almost like she’d been there before.

 

What do you mean by that? This mine has been abandoned for a hundred years, and I’ve never been here before now.

 

There is much you must learn, ignorant one. There is more at work than simply your life.

 

Isn’t my life the one that matters? You’re just a disembodied voice, a vision in my mind.

 

How little you know. After that, she was silent.

 

Typical dragon; piping up to hint at something greater only to call me ignorant and shut up. At least tell me what I don’t know!

 

I finally came to an honest cavern that branched out from the main mine shaft. The cavern was both wide and high, allowing me to phase back into a dragon if I so wanted. It was far away from the entrance, sheathed in blackness. There was soil on the ground but the walls were stone, not carved but formed. It was safe here, untouched by the humans and not likely to give way.

I phased into the dragon and curled up, wishing desperately for sleep to put an end to this day. But sleep refused to come. The dragon had grown restless and refused to calm down, interrupting my thoughts with her own. I decided maybe a bit more exploration would be what we needed, and continued onward down the cavern.

 

I passed many deviating tunnels, but the dragon urged me onward so I listened to her. Experience had taught me that she often knew what she was doing, even when she had no first-hand experience with the situation. So, I continued. I tried to make a map of the tunnels, but it soon proved impossible without pen and paper.

 

Finally, the cavern led me to a dead-end. There was plenty of valuable metal ore here - I could see it shining through the dirt - so why was this wall not excavated? What the miners were looking for was here, why would they leave it behind? I took a step forward to touch the wall and pain stabbed through my left paw. I howled and jumped back, hugging my paw close to my chest.

 

What in the name of reptiles was that?

 

First ascertaining that my paw was no longer impaled by the mysterious something, I looked down to try to find what I had stepped on. But my thought processes froze when I saw a cluster of colorful, sharp, beautiful things. In the back of my mind, I heard the dragon whimper.

 

It was clear that whatever this was, it was broken. Shards of material - each incredibly clear in color with gorgeous hues, webbed with silver - littered the area in groups, I could smell ancient blood and knew that whatever had happened here wasn’t good. I picked up a piece, the one that had my blood on it, and examined it. It was thin yet sturdy, and the same green as my scales, perhaps a bit darker. It reminded me of something, though I couldn’t quite place it.

 

Idiot. Eggs, the dragon whispered, they are eggs.

 

Dragon eggs? I exhaled sharply as I mentally rebuilt the nest. Twenty eggs lay before me, no two had the same color. There were blues, reds, greens, yellows, and a single black and a single white. The eggs had been deposited in a narrow basin - like a basket gouged into the rock. The cave floor below them was stained red. These eggs were crushed, not hatched. Not one had seen their first daylight.

 

The dragon was deeply disturbed, seething with both fear and anger. What could have the power to do something like this? My parents said that my egg was tough, passed down from generation to generation and falling quite often with nary a scratch. What could have the power to crush so many eggs before the parents could stop them?

 

The dragon growled again and whispered a word that I didn’t understand.

 

Suddenly, the sound of a falling rock echoed in the cavern. Without thought, I pivoted on my paws to face the way I’d come. I took in a deep breath of air from my nose - as much to collect scents as to breathe - and growled as deeply as I could, letting the sound carry down the tunnels to the intruder. Something was in the cave with me. I couldn’t see or hear him, but I could smell him. His scent was distinctly masculine, deep in its tones and alluring. I recognized it somehow, it seemed to awaken something in me. I had smelled it before, I just couldn’t remember.

 

Ten paces before me, with not a sound but a strengthening of his scent, a man materialized out of the darkness. He carried no flashlight, wore only swimming trunks that clung to his skin as tightly as my leotard gripped my own figure. He had shoulder-length brown hair that was badly in need of a comb and shampoo, and his skin was alabaster pale, which was a sharp contrast to the jewel blue of his eyes. He was conventionally beautiful, seeming to be in his late teens or early twenties.

 

The dragon growled again, backing up my decision to regard him carefully. Something about this man put me on edge. How was he able to see without any kind of light? Why was he only wearing swimming trunks? And why was he smiling like that?

 

“Hello again, Josephine.”

That voice...

Things clicked into place, and I growled again.

“I know. I must look suspicious, and I apologize for my sudden appearance. I can see that I’ve startled you. Please allow me to reassure you.”

 

I smirked to myself, and the dragon snorted in response.

 

“I am Rhys Livingsworth, and I felt your presence a few years ago. I’ve not felt it’s like in many years and I was eager to meet you but I didn't want to scare you, so I stayed nearby. Then I enrolled in your school, hoping to get closer to you.” Great. On top of everything, I've got a stalker?!

 

I narrowed my eyes again, making my lack of trust clear. 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I suppose I should explain further, shouldn’t I?” He apologized again, bowing at the waist as he began to change. His form grew taller; much taller. His skin turned a dark blue and grew scales.

 

. I backed up quickly, taken aback. I stepped on the nest, shards digging into my paws. My tail slammed into the wall, but I ignored the pain. He was shifting!?

 

An instant later, the human Rhys was gone. Instead, towering above me, neck and legs bent by the tunnel ceiling, was a dark blue dragon.

My eyes widened as shock permeated my psyche. This man was like me? There was someone out there who could shift into a dragon like me? 

Well, that explained so much about the dragon's reaction to him during Drama class.

 

I'm a Drakonian, actually. And so are you. Rhys’ voice rang inside my skull.

 

I let out a yelp of surprise at the unexpected response. What on earth was that?!

 

Sorry. I heard Rhys’ voice in my head again, quieter this time, less demanding to be heard; soft almost as if he was mentally caressing me. I guess you wouldn’t know that all Drakonians can communicate via telepathy.

 

Really? We can do that?

 

Yes. We needed some way to communicate with each other that wasn’t just grunts, growls and yelps.

 

What about words? We’re human, aren’t we?

 

Yes and no. At our core, we are dragons who developed the ability to shapeshift. In order to survive five centuries ago, the race learned to shift into humans so we could hide among them and survive. Again, you wouldn’t know that. You were raised human so you must view yourself as one who can shift into a dragon, yes?

 

I suppose, that’s right. And all this time, I was wrong? Is that why the dragon’s instincts are so much stronger than my human instincts?

 

Yes. You are a dragon first and foremost.

 

His neck reached forward until his snout was a foot in front of mine, his teeth were a darker blue than his scales, his eyes never left me. And his body filled the entire tunnel that was my only way out. If he decided to attack me, I had no chance of escape or fighting him off.

 

Can you tell me what happened here? What did you mean you felt my presence? What are you doing here in the first place?

 

A massacre happened here. If I had to guess, I'd say a Scylla found this nest while the parents were away and devoured the younglings. As to your presence, I felt your mind touch mine when you were only a child and I've been following you since. And then tonight, you disappeared with great pain in your heart. I knew I had to help, however you may want it.

 

My dragon growled, still uneasy. She told me that our kind didn't travel alone, we were pack animals. So why was he by himself? I chose to file the question away for later while I latched on the strange but significant word.

 

What's a Scylla?

 

I'll be happy to answer more questions, if you'll answer a few of mine.

 

The dragon growled again. She didn't trust this guy - neither did I - so I needed to tell the bare minimum of information that he needed.

 

My name is Josephine, and I guess I'm a nomad as well. Something happened tonight and I decided to live as a dragon, not as a human.

 

I see. Well then, Josephine, since we're both alone and our kind are pack animals, would you like to travel with me? I can teach you anything and everything. How to fly properly, how to breathe fire, how to hunt and survive. I can also tell you about our kind's culture, our history, and anything else you want to know.

 

I knew it'd be difficult for me to survive by myself, and I was having absolutely no luck on teaching myself about breathing fire. Besides, if there was one other dragon - er, Drakonian - besides me then maybe there were more, and maybe he knew where to find them. Maybe I could have a real life and still be my true self. Maybe the mural in my bedroom had been a hint about my future all along, instead of a hopeless pipe dream.

 

The dragon agreed with my thoughts, but she voiced that she was still suspicious of him.

 

I needed a teacher, I needed to survive and learn everything I could. So, I couldn't turn down his generous offer. But I would reserve judgement. If he wanted my trust, he'd have to prove himself.

 

All right. I'll go with you. But just know that you don't have my trust. You'll have to earn that.

 

I understand, and I would expect nothing less. It is late. Shall we turn in for the night? Do you already have a cave?

 

Yes.

 

Then I'll see you in the morning. Shall we meet outside the main entrance at dawn? 

 

Fine.

 

He dephased back into his human form and turned his back to me, regarding me over his shoulder. "Sleep well, Josephine." He then walked away, silently disappearing into the darkness once again.

 

I stayed in my spot for several minutes, making sure he was a fair distance away before I began the trek back to my cave. I had a lot to process tonight and sleep had never sounded more far away.