Chris took a sip of his soda to wash down the last bite of his hamburger. He waited until his mouth was empty enough before speaking to his friend, "Alright man, where do you want to go after this?" His friend merely shook his head and shrugged, his own mouth too full to speak. Chris smiled and nodded, "I saw a sweet lookin' book store about a quarter of a mile down from here. Wanna check it out?" His friend was able to swallow enough food to actually answer this time, and nodded, "Sure, sounds good to me, bud." Chris nodded and smiled, "Sweet."
He chugged down the rest of his soda, and eyed the waitress before calling her over. "Pardon me..." Chris glanced at her nametag, then back up to her eyes and gave a winning smile, "...Cindy, will you please get our waitress for us? We would like our check." Cindy smiled and nodded, glancing him over a second before leaving to carry out their request. Five minutes later, the check was paid, and they were on their way.
Chris nudged his friend, and pointed to the small bookshop. It was old looking, nuzzled betweeen two other buildings. To the uneducated, it would appear just to be another old abandoned town turned into a tourist trap. To the wise, however, there was a wealth of information, and odd little trinkets to be had...to those with a keen eye, and an open mind.
They entered the shop, a little bell alerting the shopkeeper to the entrance of potential customers. The little old man came scurrying to the front, and greeted them happily, "Now then, what can I do for you gentlemen, hmm?" Chris smiled, and patted the man on his shoulder lightly, "Don't worry about it, bud. We're just lookin' around, scopin' for some books." His friend piped in, "Yeah, we're into myth, and stuff like that."
The old man smiled and nodded, "Well then, have a look! Have a look! I have many old books. Anything inparticular that I may help you find?" Chris nodded, "Hey, yeah, we're looking for spells an' stuff. You got any a that?" The old man grinned and nodded, "Oh yes! Much of that! Come! Come!" The old man waved a hand, and disappeared behind some bookcases, heading towards the back of the shop. Chris and his friend followed closely.
The old man leads them to the back, and waves his arms in front of a large bookcase that takes up almost the entire back wall, "Here we are! Aaaall of this. Some of it is just fictional, but some of it..." the old man grinned over at Chris and his friend. He held up a finger, an odd - almost wild - look in his eye, "...Some of it is said to be real. Actually having been practiced in ancient times."
Chris grinned and nudged his friend, who grinned back. As if reading each other's minds, they both replied at the same time, "Sweeeeet."
The old man wheezed out a laugh and slapped his hands, "Have fun, boys!" Just then, the little bell at the front of the shop rang, and the old man held up a finger again, "If you'll exuse me, I have another customer!" And skittled off towards the front of the shop.
Chris began to scan the titles of the books, his friend mentioning, "He's kinda cool...ya know, for an old guy." Chris chuckled and nodded, glancing up, "Yeah. He seems to be into the same things we are."
After scanning the books, one caught Chris' sight. He pulled it out, and began to flip through it. It was full of spells, potions, and even ancient tales. Major score! Chris waved his friend over, "Dude, c'mere! You gotta check this out man! This is totally sweet!" Eager to see what his friend was so worked up about, he came over and craned his neck to see the book, "What?"
"Check it out man" Chris replied, "This book's got everything." His friend nodded and smiled, "Sweet man. Look it over, and we'll buy it. I think I've found something over here, I'm gonna go check it out." Chris nodded, never taking his eyes off the book, "Alright, sweet man, I'm gonna read some a this stuff."
Chris flipped through the pages of the book, and got to a certain spell. As he was reading it, he began to lip the words, and then began to actually say them. Out of novelty, Chris proped the book on the shelf, and used his hands as the book instructed, continuing to read the spell aloud. His friend was just five feet away, watching and chuckling. Chris glanced at him and grinned, then went back to his spell. He knew he probably looked like an idiot, but he was having fun!
After a few more seconds, it wasn't fun anymore. Chris slowly felt control over his mind begin to slip. He couldn't stop reading the spell! He started losing control over his body, and his hands began to move on their own. He watched as his fingers and hands twisted into positions he didn't know were humanly possible. He tried to swallow or something, *anything* to interrupt the reading of the spell, but nothing worked. He had lost control. Instantly, he began to panic. He darted his eyes over to his friend - unable to move his head - and saw that his friend was still watching, only he had a look of concern on his face. Chris could see his friend's lips move, but couldn't hear anything.
His friend moved in front of him and tried to shake him, but found that he couldn't budge Chris for nothing. He grabbed the book, and threw it across the shop, but Chris just continued to chant the spell, his hands continuing to work their movements, almost like a dance. Chris could see the look of worry and panic on his friend's face, and his friend could see the panic in Chris' eyes. His friend disappeared out of Chris' sight, and Chris could only assume that he went to get the shopkeeper. That's when it started to happen.
Chris could feel incredable, stabbing pains in his stomach. If he had any control whatsoever, he would have been on the ground, curled up in a fetal position due to the pain. His entire body slowly began to feel like it was on fire. Chris tried to let out a wail of pain, but still had no control over his own voice. It was as if he was merely an observer of someone else. His flesh felt like it was being torn all around, and when he looked, he discovered that it was. Scales began to grow out of Chris' flesh, and cover his arms. He could feel it happening all over, though he couldn't see it.
Chris' panic continued to grow as his body went through his change, and he began to cry out of frustration and fright. Soon, it was too much, and he broke out of the spell, letting out an earpiercing shriek of both pain, and fear. He blinked in surprise. He broke it! He was back in control! Or was he...
He was still changing. He hadn't broken out of the spell, the spell had merely finished. The changes were still happening, and he watched in terror as his legs and arms began to buldge. His face began to contort into some shape he couldn't tell, and he began to grow claws on his fingers and toes. The pain had all bud subsided, strangely, but he had to hurry to take off his shoes. His feet were growing so fast, that his shoe was constricting it, causing even more pain.
Chris' clothes began to shred as his body continued to grow. He looked around frantically. He needed something to cover himself! He was about to be naked! Obviously, his mind was in shock at what was happening. When he looked around, he saw the shopkeeper, and his friend frozen in fear. They were just watching him. Chris didn't like the look they were giving him.
Seconds later, Chris found that his center of gravity had changed, and he was forced to stand on all fours. It was now that he noticed his large, reptilian hands. They had huge, dangerous looking claws grown from them, and his skin was completly covered in scales that gave off an impressive green luster. He looked around, and found that he could rise and lower his head greatly...perhaps suggesting he had a longer neck. A much longer neck...
He turned around, looking for a path of escape, and knocked over two bookcases in the process. Turning his head to see what had happened, Chris caught sight of his tail. It was long, scaled, and had a bone wedge at the end, a classic signature of a...a...Chris froze.
A Dragon.
He had turned his own dumb self into a Dragon! His panic rose quickly again, and he spun about, looking for some sort of escape, making a terrible mess in the process. How could he get home?! He couldn't face his mother like this! He moved towards the front of the shop, and stopped in front of the door. He didn't remember the door being this small! He could fit his head and neck through easily, but his shoulders bumped the edges. He wasn't about to be stopped because of this!
Chris growled, his panic turning to anger, and plowed through the door, knocking out the side edges. He looked around, and noticed all of the screaming people. Looking down one street, he noticed a small group of the local cops heading his way. Apparently somebody had called them. They hadn't seen him yet, maybe he could still get away! He turned around, and there was a band of cops coming down the other side also.
Chris began to get worked up, and when Dragons get worked up, it's not a good thing. He felt a warm sensation growing deep within his chest. He needed to get out, and his only paths were blocked off...or were they? Chris began to scan his memories for any and all info on Dragons. Dragons had wings. Chris craned his neck around to look at his back, and there they were! Wings! His saviors! They were still a little damp from having just grown, but they felt solid enough. Chris looked down either side of the street. Both bands of cops had noticed him, and hand guns drawn and aimed. He needed something to scare them off.
Chris sucked in a deep breath, and let out a huge roar. What actually came out was a huge cone of flame. Chris blinked in surprise. He didn't mean to do that! He tried to make a sound, and a small spurt of fire came out. Oh no! He was spouting flame, and he couldn't even control it! He began to try and make a sound frantically, but all that came out were spits of fire. Again, he began to panic. Fortunantly though, the cops had backed off a bit.
Time to make his great escape!
Chris spread his wings out wide, stretching them a bit. He looked around for where he should fly. The way he was facing, there were trees, behind him was the shop. To his left was more of the town and the some of the cops, to his right was the end of the town, and a bit of wilderness after that...plus the rest of the cops. He wanted to go to the wilderness. Maybe it would be easier to hide in there.
He got down low, and spread his wings once again, flapping them a few times experimentally. He began to run a bit to get up some speed. He leapt, and began to flap his wings...and fell flat on his face. Just like his fire-breathing, he couldn't fly either. He could hear the yells of the cops, it sounded something like "It's trying to escape! Fire!"
Chris blinked. Fire? Fire?! Fire wasn't good! As Chris was wasting time pondering this, a bullet wizzed past his snout. Yes, he had a snout. It was no longer his face, but a snout. He let out a squeal of panic - which of course came out as a spurt of fire - and began to fly again. He would jump and frantically flap his wings. He would get some altitude, but then fall to the ground again.
After a few moments, he began to understand. Both wings. Same time. Rythm. He lept into the air, and flapped his wings at the same time. The adrenaline rush was just what he needed as his body was lifted a bit higher. He raised his wings, and let them down once more. His body raised a bit higher. He was getting it! He raised them again, and pressed the thin membranes down against the air below him, his body raising once more. It was poetry in motion! He was actually flying! Granted, he wasn't more then 20 feet off of the ground, but he was still flying!
Chris began to bank towards the end of town, towards the wilderness, and a bullet tore through his still-fresh scales, wounding his leg. He let out a roar of pain, which exited as a cone of fire. But then...it fizzled out, and his deep voice echoed throughout the street. He paused for a moment, forgot to flap his wings, and began to fall. He caught this mistake, and continued to flap his wings. His fire...what happened to it! He tried again, and nothing happened. Tried again, nothing. Once more, nothing. He knew he hadn't calmed down yet. He must have been out! It actually ran off of a sort of fuel he could only assume his body produced. He continued to try and gain altitude, another bullet tearing through the soft tissue of his right wing.
Chris let out another roar of pain and continued to try and fly. With every flap, the air pressed painfully on the hole in his wing, causing more pain, and the wound to grow slightly. He needed to get somewhere, and land. Quickly!
He continued to climb, bullets flying past him. He finally got out of their sight, flying behind some buildings, and began to fly towards the wilderness.
Meanwhile, back in the streets, Chris' friend had been trying to keep them from firing. He tried to explain quickly that the monster was his friend, and that he was really a human. Now that the beast was gone, however, the cop began to actually listen to him. "What's your name, son? And what's happened here?"
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