From the prompt: "Day of reckoning..."
"Dragon Shapeshifter"
The sky was darkening, possibly threatening rain. The whole tribe was huddled in a circle of warmth in the middle of the camp, casting nervous glances at the figure curled at the edge of the light, sleeping.
Conlan and some of the other hunters were in a huddled, talking in low voices. Then a little boy emerged from the group and headed towards the sleeper, pausing in his path to scoop up a stone. Ten yards from the sleeper, the boy halted, drew back one arm and threw.
The stone halted in mid-air, caught, and the figure uncurled, rising slowly, the stone clenched in his fist. Eyes locked on him, the pale, perfect face, unblemished like a carved statue of a god, the body sleek and long, inhumanly lissome and supple, moving with the grace of a predator.
�Haven�t you learned your lesson yet?� he asked, and everyone jumped. His voice sounded the same, but the subtle difference sent whispers of unease through Ranni�s blood. The voice was that of the victim lying in submission even as he�s just discovered that he�s the hunter rather than the hunted.
Andrev lifted his head, and Ranni caught his breath.
The dusky light threw shadows across the planes of the youth�s face, bringing out his cheekbones, his soft mouth and those five horns, five bony protrusions, alien and repulsive...
Everyone stared as he rose up, horrified by the stark truth of his monstrosity, captivated by the beauty of his inhumanity, torn between watching and fleeing. Andrev gave them a condescending smile, and Ranni was suddenly aware of just how weak he was compared to the boy. He was at Andrev�s mercy, and he was sure that the boy had snapped.
�You�d think that a group of people would learn that bullying someone out of fear and hatred would result in harsh backlash,� Andrev said, his voice eerily calm. �Did you think that I would not learn the truth of who I am, of my power and of my people? You killed the one love I had to hurt me and to stop me, but you were too late. I know what you�ve done, but it�s too late.�
He lunged suddenly, and in mid-air his body rippled, becoming a sleek tawny form and landing in that crouch that becomes as pounce. Someone screamed, and Andrev-the-giant-cat sprang, razor claws slashing into Conlan as the boy cried out. Ranni cried out for his son, but Conlan threw the giant cat off and climbed to his feet, the gashes in his chest closing. His body rippled, and suddenly he was that tall, pale-faced dark-haired man with two horns across his forehead. He hissed out something in an arcane tongue as the cat became a snarling black wolf and lunged again.
�Everybody back,� Ranni ordered, and the one of the girls rose up, becoming the two-horned pale-haired man, and going to join the attack. The two wolves were snapping at each other viciously, attacking throats, when one became a snake and struck before slithering away in the grass. Two more snakes pursued, and the fight became a writhing knot of shiny wet-looking skin.
Ranni couldn�t tell which one was Andrev, had no idea where his real son was...
Two birds of pretty gave keening cries and plummeted from the clouds, aiming straight for the tangle of serpents just as the knot diminished and a spider prowled through the tallgrass. Out of the snake-twist a man rose up, and the snake twining over him became a man at his side, the two birds fierce-looking women with Andrev�s same black, opaque eyes.
�We are the last of the dragons, and one of you called us down from our safe place,� the women intoned.
�What do you want from us?� the dark-haired man asked.
Ranni was almost too terrified to answer. Dragon shapeshifters, his mind was trying to process, and he forced his jaw open, but Andrev grew from spider to young man a good twenty yards away.
�He wants you to kill me,� he announced.
The women hissed, �A five-horn.�
The pale-haired man smiled.
�A five-horn indeed exists.�
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© Agent Duo 2004