Becoming a Dragon (53 page)

"We've run out of time," John told her. "I probably should have taught you more, but I can't do anything about that now. I think it's time to tell you everything."

Crystal nodded, excited and nervous at the same time. The whole day while they had been flying from Furnace she thought about nothing else. It was almost sunset, and John was going to cross the border at dawn, so she was starting to get impatient. "You're going to tell me about my mother?" she whispered in anticipation.

"What I know of her, but a lot more than that. I need to show you something as well. Walk with me; the others can't be allowed to see or hear any of this."

The others were all busy putting up tents in their little campsite not far from the border. Crystal furtively glanced about to check they weren't being watched before following after him. John led her down a rough and narrow path through some woods that led away from the campsite. He waited till the path widened enough for them to walk side by side before continuing speaking.

"Firstly, I must tell you that I haven't told you or anyone else the truth about where I am going after today. I'm not going to visit the Brown Dragons, at least not at first. I am going for help though."

Crystal was confused, not expecting this. "Oh? So where are you going?"

"To the land of the Golden Dragons," John replied simply.

"Golden Dragons? You've not mentioned them before. I thought you knew nothing about them. They weren't even in your book."

"No, I haven't mentioned them," John replied, "although I was surprised you didn't ask me more about them after you saw one. There's a good reason why they weren't in that book, and there's a good reason why I haven't mentioned them to you."

"Why? Why would you keep that back?"

"Let me first tell you about them; then you'll know the answer to that question."

Crystal nodded, but didn't wait for him to continue. "Wait a minute; I have one question about them. What do they look like when they're not a dragon?"

"Exactly like you and I," John replied, smiling slightly.

"So is this the secret?" Crystal asked angrily. "What I am descended from? Some Golden Dragon captive, caught by our soldiers? I thought you said that wasn't how it happened, that there were no Golden Dragons."

John shook his head. "No, I said that there were no Golden Dragons
recorded
in Red Dragon history. But anyway, no, that is not how it happened. You misunderstand me completely."

"So how did it happen? They fell in love?" Crystal asked sarcastically. "A Red Dragon and a Golden Dragon. That really doesn't sound likely." She couldn't believe that this was the secret that John had made her wait all year to find out.

"No, you really don't understand. This isn't about something that happened to your ancestors. This is about who you are. I need to tell you more about them first, and then you'll understand."

"About who I am?" Crystal asked irritably. "I know who I am. You're making no sense."

John looked at her inquisitively. "Are you sure you know who you are?"

"Of course I do! I'm a Red Dragon!"

John shook his head. "No, you're not. And neither am I. That's the secret that I've kept from you."

Crystal laughed at him. "Well if that is the case, Golden Dragons look very much like Red Dragons. Although I assure you that the one Seth and I saw looked very different from us."

John paused and watched her carefully. "That's what makes them unique; why I say that you're special. Golden Dragons can look like any dragon they want. They can take the form of any dragon."

"What? That's crazy. That's not possible."

John said nothing for a moment. He spoke calmly, but Crystal noticed that his hands were shaking. "Do you remember when we saw those Blue Dragons? Do you remember their eyes before they changed?"

"What? Er, yes, I think so," she replied, trying to remember. "They turned bright blue, just like their scales."

"And what happens to your friend's eyes before they transform?"

"They burn bright red, just like mine."

"No, not just like yours," John replied. "What do yours do first?"

"They change colour, going through lots of colours," Crystal replied, still not seeing where John was going with this.

"Exactly, just like mine. Selecting a colour. You only know how to pick red."

"Wait a minute, you're serious about this?" Crystal couldn't believe that this wasn't a joke. "That I can turn into a Golden Dragon? That
you
can?"

"Yes. It's what you are. You, me, your parents. You're not a Red Dragon at all."

"No! I don't believe it. This is ridiculous." Crystal stopped walking and turned away from him angrily, refusing to believe a word he was saying.

They had just reached a clearing in the woods, and John grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. "Watch!" he commanded. They were standing face to face, just inches apart, and John's eyes began to change colour. He didn't transform; his eyes just flashed through the colours of the rainbow and dizzied her as she gazed at them. Suddenly they stopped on gold, and brilliant gold scales spread across his face. He sprang backwards as he transformed, and when his feet touched the ground, they were golden. He was a Golden Dragon!

Crystal screamed and fell backwards, landing seated on the ground. She wasn't sure whether to be terrified or excited. The creature that had saved them, the Dragon the others had questioned whether was real was standing in front of her and it was John! He stood motionless, head lowered to stare at her, the light from the setting sun reflecting from his scales, his golden eyes fixed on hers. He was much smaller than a Red Dragon, and his calm demeanour and intense expression wasn't at all threatening. Crystal held his stare for a minute, studying his face and body. He could have passed for a golden statue, were it not for his alert, intelligent eyes that bore into her.

In a blur of gold scales, John transformed back, landing crouched in front of her. She looked up in him in disbelief.

"You've been brought up as a Red Dragon, taught to hate all other races," said John. "I couldn't share this with you without first changing the way you think. As it is, I think I'm right in saying that this still comes as a bit of a shock."

Crystal said nothing for a few seconds, staring at him in disbelief. "It was you that saved Seth and me? You were the one that attacked those Blues that were following us?" John nodded. "And you can take the form of any dragon?"

John nodded again, letting it all sink in.

"Those Blue Dragons, the ones which were crushed and chewed up. You did that as well?"

"There are no living examples of the dragon whose form I took," John replied, "but knowledge of how to take that shape has been passed down for many generations. It was a giant walking dragon, the largest and most powerful of all of the high dragons."

"What happened to them?" Crystal asked, half expecting the answer.

"They were all murdered by Red Dragons a long time ago," John replied. "Murdered in their sleep, as they were too powerful to fight as dragons. They're not recorded in your history. Although, that's not really true. They're recorded in your history, just not
Red Dragon
history. And that's why Golden Dragons aren't in that book. They wrote it."

 Crystal shook her head. This was too much to take. "What about my mother? What was her story?"

"She and your father were working as spies, living in the land of the Blue Dragons. We don't know exactly what happened, but they were discovered, and your mother was poisoned. It was a slow acting poison—one that killed slowly and painfully—as a punishment. She managed to escape with you, but only to the border with the Red Dragon kingdom. She transformed into a Red Dragon to convince anyone who found her that you and her were Red Dragons. She died as a Red Dragon. It's likely that the transformation accelerated the poison and killed her."

"And my father?"

"We suspect that he was killed before then, when they were discovered. We have no more spies in the Blue Kingdom; they were the last. Our unique ability is known to them now, so spying is too dangerous. The Red Dragons, however, still don't know who we are or what we can do. We have had spies in this Kingdom for many years, although unfortunately none of them knew where you were, not for many years, and at the moment I'm the only spy here."

"Why do you do it? Why spy at all? We can't be at war with you if we don't know who you are."

"Not yet, true, but Red Dragons might be one day. It's good to know what your neighbours are planning on doing, just in case. But self-defence isn't our only goal, or even our main one. We strive to stop wars, between all races. This is for everyone's benefit, not just our own. Our spies are in place to try and influence their host nations as much as glean information from them. Influence them in a way that avoids conflicts. A voice of caution, of moderation. We have had spies in prominent positions in many of the nations over the years, as well as the Red and the Blue Dragons, who have advised against attacking your neighbours, and have probably helped avoid much bloodshed. It has not been easy or with much success, and sadly now we have no spies in the Blue Kingdom and none of influence in the Red Kingdom."

"Except you. Well, I suppose you are on the path to becoming influential, are you not? Is that why you are with Daisy?"

"Of course not," John replied indignantly. "I would never do something like that, not to someone like her. I had no intention of having a girlfriend while I was here, it just happened. You were my only objective. Besides, any influence I could have had is far too late to be of use. The Blues will wipe out the Reds unless alliances can be agreed—alliances with races who rightly fear the Reds as much as the Blues, and have reason to hate them."

"What about the Golden Dragons? Couldn't you join the Reds in an alliance?"

John shook his head. "We never take sides, not as a nation anyway. Our laws insist that we remain neutral. It's frustrating when we see what is going to happen, but our laws are there for good reason."

Crystal paused, taking it all in. "But hang on a moment. When I first transformed, I changed into a Red Dragon, not a Golden one. If I'm the same as you, why did that happen? Shouldn't I have transformed into a Golden Dragon by default?"

"I worried that might happen, which is why I wanted to train you. I wish I'd met you sooner; then I might have persuaded you."

Crystal shook her head. "My mother would never have allowed it." She paused to reflect on her first transformation. "Just think what would have happened had I changed into a Golden Dragon in front of my mother. That would have been a nasty shock for both of us. I can't believe you didn't watch to make sure I was alright."

John smiled mischievously. "Do you recognise this statue?"

He stepped backwards before transforming into the small worm dragon she had thought was a statue. He changed back just as quickly, as the last rays of sunlight were about to disappear.

"That was you? The statue? Hey, you
were
watching!" She punched him on the arm. "I was walking around wearing absolutely nothing! I can't believe you were watching me all that time!"

"There's no pleasing some people," he said. "You complain when you thought I wasn't watching, and hit me when you find out I was!"

She glared at him. "You should have found a way that didn't involve staring at me with no clothes on."

John shrugged. "Seemed the best way to me." He dodged as she tried to slap him. "I thought you might have realised at one point. I could see you staring at me and wondered if you had realised I wasn't a statue."

"I thought there was just one statue originally!" Crystal cried in realisation.

"You were right," John replied with a grin. "I couldn't risk you changing into a Golden Dragon without me there to back you up."

"What was the plan if that had happened?"

John shook his head. "Nothing that would have worked out well. More importantly, now that you know everything of importance, what's your plan? Will you come with me? I know you've grown up in this place, but your real home is where I am going. Oh, by the way, there's one other thing about Golden Dragons that I haven't told you."

"What's that?" Crystal asked.

"There's another way in which we are unique. For every other dragon, the race of their offspring is the same as their father. If Jenna or Daisy were to marry a different kind of dragon, their children would not be Red Dragons. But you're different. If, for example, you were to take a Red Dragon as a husband, your offspring would not be Red Dragons. They'd all be Golden Dragons. Eventually, your secret would be found out. Knowing this nation, I think you would be seen as a threat. Many other nations are uncomfortable about it as well, even our few friends, and interracial marriages are rare. I'm sorry, but I think this can never really be your home."

Crystal shook her head, remembering the biology lesson at the beginning of the year. "Kal doesn't realise how wrong he was." She sighed. "I can't make a decision now. I need to sleep on it. It's a lot to take in. What will my parents say?"