Free Stone Dragon (The First Realm) by Klay Testamark Page B

man.
    Who ARE you?
    The dragon Cruix, at your service. Rather, in my own service, as no elf is my master. The mental voice seemed to mutter. Disgusting ephemera, cluttering the world with your towns and your cities… We should have wiped you out the minute you arrived…
    Who’s WE?
    Why, we dragons! The rulers of this world! Where have you been, that you have not heard of us?
    Those were your thoughts I was thinking, wasn’t it?
    There was a pause as I allowed him to go through my memories. Now that we knew about each other, our minds had formed divisions. So far the barricades were holding.
    Am I the only one? he said, after what seemed like hours. Am I the only dragon in the world? Am I the last of a proud race, greatest in wisdom and in majesty? Is there no one else?
    Tough luck, buddy.
    Things were looking up. Cases of possession weren’t unheard of and there were doctors who specialized them. It would be simple enough to turn around, turn myself in, and turn back to normal. I adjusted my wings, determined to do just that—and continued on a straight path. What the fuck?
    I know what you’re thinking, little elf, and I will not allow it. I am no mere demon or thoughtform to be banished so easily. I AM A LIVING MIND and I remember the magics of my people. If you try to seek medical care, I will stop you.
    This is terrible!
    Ah, but it gets worse, at least for you. You see, this situation cannot hold. Two minds cannot share the same head for long. There can only be one outcome, and I tell you this because you have no hope of stopping it.
    What happens? TELL ME.
    In less than forty days I, Cruix, shall take over this body and extinguish its original personality. You, Angrod, shall cease even to be a memory.
    * * *
    I was still reeling from that when the hair on my neck stood up. Turns out I still had hair. It was silky and white and went all the way to my tail. I had a mane and trailing mustachios.
    I never thought I’d have to become another species before I could grow a beard.
    Now that hair was standing on end. The air smelled weird. I wondered what it was—I jinked right.
    BOOM. Lighting split the air.
    They’d lain in wait, the combat mages. They’d teleported ahead and hovered along my flight path. Cloaked, I couldn’t spot them until they split the night with thunder. They flew alongside now, passing lightning back and forth and missing by inches. They were trying hard to hit me, but I was trying even harder to evade them.
    Fire mages dove in, covered in flames and screaming for my death. I dodged the living missiles. As a dragon I was agile in the air. I was halfway built for it, unlike the elven mages. Still they dive-bombed me, harried me with lightning and sleet. The ice crystals were sharp and blinding.
    Persistent little monkeys, aren’t they? Why don’t we show them who REALLY rules the skies?
    I was about to say no, but then a fire mage singed my moustache. “Okay, that is it!”
    I was among them like a hound among rats. I tore them from the sky, bit them in mid-air, and crushed them in my talons. I was bigger, faster, more heavily armed. Those caught in my wake lost power and tumbled from the sky. I almost pitied them.
    Stop! Stop! You’re killing them!
    Isn’t this what we want? Finally, power enough to shake the world!
    Staaahp!
    You’re no fun.
    * * *
    Meerwen soared. Her enhanced eyesight gave her a complete view of the battlespace. She grimaced at each casualty. Many of them she knew by name, and it hurt to see them fall. It was clear that Angrod had become a monster. She watched as he tore through the last of the mages. She had to increase speed to keep up.
    Part of her wept at the turn of events. Things had been so promising. She couldn’t understand how he could be a prince, let alone a dragon. Both princes and dragons had passed from the world before she was born. To hear her father tell it, the world was better for it.
    Thinking of the death toll that had begun at the royal