NOVEL WEB Chapter 27: Presence of Mind
No matter how many times you’ve felt it, you can never truly be prepared for a dragon’s presence. It’s not mind control or anything so direct, it turns your emotions against you, and directs them towards the dragon causing them, forcing your mind to try and find some way to justify them. Fear, awe, and anger are just a few of the many emotions a dragon can wield.
It’s understandable then, that when Cyrus opened that door, even knowing what was about to happen, his presence nearly washed me away. Within moments, the strain of resistance had me hovering on the edge of consciousness yet again, and it was only the absolute certainty that Erica wouldn’t survive if I passed out now that kept me going. I had to keep fighting, and I had to stay awake, or my only friend in all this would be killed, bleeding to death in a dragon’s lair.
There was fear, and awe, and a strange sense of submission like the first time, but rising above them all was regret. He wanted me to doubt myself. To doubt my choices. He was hoping that the fear and awe and respect would make me obedient, and he was clearly trying to make me regret struggling against him to begin with. If I truly was without regret, my mind would’ve tried to justify the emotions he was fostering within me, and it might have come to the conclusions he was hoping for, but I had enough regrets of my own.
I regretted all the long months I had let him burn me in my dreams without even a thought of resistance, I regretted how weak I’d been when he first used his presence on me, and most of all, I regretted every second Erica had spent down here on this bastards orders, all because I hadn’t been there for her.
Wresting control of this one emotion and directing it towards my own ends set off a chain reaction in all the others. Of course he was frightening, of course he’d try to hurt me if I fought him, and of course he was stronger than me. The guy was well over twice my size in human form, and if we both changed, the difference would be even greater, but that was why I had to fight him now. We were in a confined space, at least ten or twenty feet underground from what Cas had told me, only one of us could transform down here, and it wasn’t him. He scared the shit out of me, and that’s why I had to fight, here and now, where I had every advantage imaginable.
I drew in a deep breath, letting my own presence off its leash, a wave of cold and dread wafting out in every direction. Cyrus’ eyes widened as he realized what I was about to do, golden scales beginning to overtake tan skin.
“You don’t want to do this, Moonli-”
I screamed, a torrent of freezing mist billowing forth and crashing into Cyrus as I began to change. Blue and silver flashed together once again as sapphire scales spread across my body, my claws stretched to the size of knives, and my back twisted and contorted as my wings emerged. My legs shifted and I dropped to all fours, feeling my horns growing longer as my whole body grew more and more reptilian.
Finally, I ran out of breath, the last of the mist fading away amidst an orange glow. Cyrus had changed too, although not as completely as I had. Where I was now fully draconic, he looked mostly like his human self, just scalier, bigger, and with wings and massive goddamn horns. He also looked like he’d just gone twelve rounds with a grizzly bear, a few of his scales having failed to withstand the shards of ice that had accompanied my breath.
He staggered back into the corridor, taking a shuddering, gasping breath in.
Oh hell no.
I charged him like a bull, my horned skull ramming into his diaphragm with all the force of a cannon, sending him flying into the wall behind him, golden flames and plasma flickering out in his throat as he struggled to catch his breath. Somehow though, he was still standing, and the minor injuries he’d sustained were already healing. Of course he can regenerate! Why the hell not? I'd just begun to resign myself to the long brawl ahead when a resounding crack rang out from behind me.
BANG!
A bullet struck Cyrus in the gut.
BANG! BANG!
Another to the gut, and one to the forehead. He was reeling backwards now, slumped slightly against the wall.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three more shots, three more hits and Cass’ revolver was empty.
Well that answered that. It didn’t look like bullets could pierce dragon scales, but it still looked pretty damn painful either way. Before he could recover, I clamped my jaws around his torso, lifting him off his feet and smashing him again and again against the walls, floor, and ceiling, and puffing out gusts of frozen air with each breath. I tasted blood as I felt his scales grow brittle and crack, and while the human part of me was disgusted, the predatory, animalistic part of me relished every second of it.
Even as he was being crushed and smashed and frozen, Cyrus stayed frustratingly composed. Reaching out with one clawed hand, he grabbed my horn and leaned forward to look me in the eyes.
“F-fine then, little m-moon. I s-see you’ve made your choice…”
With that, he managed to take the tiniest breath, and a puff of golden fire washed over my eyes. Sudden, agonizing pain flooded my senses, and I loosened my grip for just a moment. Just long enough for Cyrus to pull himself free. By the time I could see again, he was already far down the hall, his wounds closing up rapidly as his body was engulfed by golden light.
“Go then! Save your monstrous pet! Damn yourself like every other moon before you!”
He was wheezing and clutching his side, his eyes shone with a fury the likes of which I’d never seen.
“You could’ve been saved! If you’d just surrendered, just given yourself to me like you were meant to, I wouldn’t have to do this!” He was crying. The bastard was crying! “You’ll have to leave eventually, you’ll starve otherwise, and when you do, I’ll be waiting! I’ll stop you, I have to!”
He turned and ran. I started towards him, hoping to stop him before he got out into the open, but froze when I felt a hand on my side. Cass was there, shaking slightly from the force of my presence, but she was there anyway. There were tears drying on her face, whatever Cyrus had made her feel, it can’t have been good.
“Erica first, Aoife. I don’t know how much time she has left.”
I tried to answer her, but all that came out was a strange chirping sound that was somewhere between a horse, a snake, and a bird. Ah right, not a human mouth.
I nodded.
