Return
So here is the next chapter. Please note that this is my story and no one elses.
John awoke with a start to the sounds of metal being struck by another metal object. Looking towards the sound he saw the dragon from before messing around with some weird looking tools. When he regained all of his senses he realized he was being held down by three leather straps. He struggled to get free but the only thing it got was the dragon's attention. It set the tools down and picked up two small glass rods in its left hand and started walking towards him. When the dragon reached him it held one of the glass rods in front of its muzzle and let a small burst of orange flame hit the glass rod turning the tip orange in color. He then proceeded to press the orange tip of the rod onto the palm of John's hand. This caused John to scream and writhe in pain under the dragon. When the glass rod was removed john could see a small indent were it had been pressed into his hand but before he could do anything the dragon had pushed a needle into the indent and began to draw blood but it was strange. The blood that was drawn from him was not the crimson red that it was supposed to be. It was a purplish color that had a slight glow to it.
This scared John beyond belief. He did not know what to do how could that stuff be in his body, more importantly what was that stuff. As the dragon removed the needle John could see the indent in his palm was already closing. He wanted to ignore all that was going on, he hoped it was all a dream that that he would wake up in his bed just in time to go to his training. However he knew that the pain he had felt was real and that is what saddened him the most.
"You are one unlucky creature." A deep voice said to him he looked over to se the dragon had returned to messing around with the tools from before only this time it was using the stuff it took from him.
John did not know what to think he thought the dragon would not be able to speak. "What did you say?" He did not truly expect it to answer him but it did.
"I said that you are one unlucky creature to come upon whatever caused this to happen. With luck it can be reversed but with what I am looking at it is not good." The dragon said turning to look at John. "What I have yet to figure out however is what began the process."
This surprised john, not only had the dragon spoke to him it was also trying to help him. Now the only thought in Johns head was "why are you helping me?"
"It is simple; I help you because I follow the teachings of Maxamillion Luminarus."
"Who" John said with a confused look on his face.
The dragon looked at him in shock everyone knew who Lord Luminarus was. "He was one of the five who protected this realm from the evil that was plaguing this land. It was him and his four brothers against their sixth sibling. The Dark one was always causing trouble but when he tried to destroy this real the celestials gave his brothers the means to banish him forever. One can only imagine the feeling of having to do such a deed." John was not listening to most of the story because all that was on his mind was trying to find a way home after the dragon cured him.
After the dragon was done with his story they sat in silence as the dragon worked to see what it was that was changing John. Within a few moments John had realized he had not introduced himself to the one who was trying to help him. "My name is John is by the way." This caused the dragon to look at John again.
"Oh yes the introductions I had forgotten about that. My name is Midorie." With that said Midorie turned back to the problem at hand. It took most of the day to figure out what was wrong with John. During that time the scales had spread all the way up his arm. The veins in his body could be seen as black lines that ran all around his body as the infection spread through his body. "Well I have discovered what has caused you to change in the manner that you have." John looked at the dragon with hope in his eyes. "The cause seems to be a curse that someone has placed on you. The only problem is that it looks like the time it took for me to discovery the cause has also allowed the curse to spread.
In the time it had taken Midorie to figure out the cause John had be unrestrained and found a corner to sit in. When night fell Midorie led John to a room with a large bed in the middle and left him to get some rest for the night. The moment his head hit the pillow he was out cold. While John slept Midorie was up in the library looking for a way to cure the poor human from his curse. As he was reading through one of the thicker books he owned on curses he remembered about something that could dispel almost any curse that could be found. He placed the book back in its place on the shelf and walked over to another shelf and pulled a book off the shelf entitled The Six Springs of the Divine. Opening the book he quickly skimmed the pages until he found the location of the springs
In his sleep John was thrashing about in the bed that he was given. The reason was because of a nightmare he was having. He was running through his home town but he could not find anyone to help him. While he was running he would look back and see this massive shapeless shadow following him around. John would run until the sun went down but that is when it terrified him the most. The shadow came out of the ground gaining shape and form as it rose up from the spot where it sat. It was a huge dragon that had polished scales that were as black as charcoal yet they shone in the fading twilight of the evening. The bands that ran along its underbelly were a dull silver in color. He ran faster when he saw the dragon open its eyes and focus on him. It was not long though before the dragon caught him and pinned him to the ground. Right as it was about to close its jaws around him he bolted up in the bed looking forward with his head drenched in sweat.
Looking at his left arm John could see that in the night the scales had started to cover the side of his neck. Seeing this caused John to lay back and cover his face with his hands. Only to be scratched in the head by the claws on his left hand. Reluctantly he got out of the bed and walked to the room were he had originally woke up in to find Midorie. He had the book from the library open to the page on the springs so that he could inform john about it. When he informed John about the springs John practically jumped for joy. They were going to leave at noon after Midorie closed his charm shop. Till then John was supposed relax until they left.
Unfortunately for John the rate at which the scales were spreading was starting to increase. With the increased rate of infection came a mild migraine that was causing him some slight discomfort. Between the time from when John woke up to the time they left the scales had spread over half of his back and to his right arm. Over his chest the scales slowly changed into dull grey bands that spread across his chest and upper parts of his stomach. When they left for the John was curious as to how the would get there. Midorie answered his question not with words but with action. He began to grow in size and slowly lost the few human features that he had as he became more beast like. When he was done Midorie was in his feral form that reached seventy feet in length. Leaning over Midorie motioned for John to climb on.
Doing as he was instructed John climbed up and sat were Midories head met his neck. With a sudden jerk Midorie jumped into the air and took flight with one motion of his wings. In the air John could see the wheat field that he first found when he woke up in this strange world. As they flew through the air towards the location that held the springs John could see farther than he could have on the ground. It was interesting feeling the wind rush over his face and blowing his hair back. Even though it would take a couple of days to reach the springs, John was worried that if they did not get there in time that he could not reverse the curse. The migraine that had begun at the beginning of the day had steadily increased so that it was no longer a minor annoyance.
He found himself rubbing the back of his head to see if that would ease the pain but it never did. John did not now it but deep within the darkest parts of his mind something was taking shape. Currently it could do nothing but watch through his eyes as it slowly grew stronger. As it grew stronger the changes to its host also began to accelerate. This new personality that was forming in Johns mind was also not interested in sharing the body that they both were in,
The scales were spreading faster than ever. Instead of taking hours to spread over one part of his body it now only took minutes for them to cover parts of his body. Little did he know that the easy part was almost over. With the sun setting Midorie decided to find a nice spot to land and set up camp. Between the two of them it did not take long to collect firewood and with a puff from Midorie they had a fire. As they sat there John kept looking over his body. He was worried as the scales now covered his entire body. Not knowing what to do, he kept the spring in mind sure that it would cure him. Taking his shirt off he rolled it up and used it for a pillow to lay his head down on. As he lay there trying to sleep his shoulders began to ache. He rubbed them for a bit to see if that would help and it did so he closed his eyes again. Without warning the aching came back but this time it was a searing pain.
Screaming out he clutched both of his shoulders in hopes that the pressure would ease the pain, but something was wrong there was a small bump on his shoulders. He continued to scream in pain as the bumps grew under his hands. His screams caused Midorie to wake up from his light sleep. Looking over at john he was confused because he was not expecting the curse to spread so fast. He could only watch as John's body changed. John was surprised when he felt something wet on his hands. He removed his right hand and looked to see what it was and was shocked to see the purple blood that was drawn from him earlier today. Looking over at his left shoulder he could see something sticking out of it surrounded by a small amount of blood leak from where it was pushing out. The process was painful for him but when it was done John had five inch spike on both shoulders.
The area around them hurt but at least it was over for now and he could get some sleep. Laying his head down, he watched as Midorie did the same. It was not long before Midorie was asleep and John was just starring into the night sky wondering why he had originally gone into the cave in the first place. He thought about it until sleep finally took over. Tears were leaking from his eyes as he slept. This night as he slept he would change further coming to the end of his suffering. He would be unaware of the changes but when he awoke he would feel the strain his body had gone through. His face pushed out into a muzzle while a small nub grew at the base of his spine before it began to rapidly grow into a tail that was as long as he was tall. The growth of his tail causes him to roll over onto his stomach which would allow for one of his final changes to occur. Two bumps began to form on his back. They grew until a ripping noise could be heard and with a spray of blood two draconic wings burst from his back
With the growth of his wings the changes to his body were complete but within his mind the entity that had been waiting was about to make his move. It was getting agitated that this body was younger than it had wanted but that only made his job easier. With a flash of purple light John's body went stiff. Keeping johns mind asleep was easy for the intruder but now it had to remove all parts of john from the body. It moved John's left hand onto his chest over his heart where it began to glow a faint purple color. Slowly moving the hand away something could be seen between the hand and chest. It was a glass orb similar to the one John found in the cave. Only this time it was not a ribbon of light inside but it was a sphere of orange light. When the orb was removed the spell holding down the body was removed and he stood up.
"Xaentrick is free once again." He said looking at the orb in his hand. "Now I just need to gather my strength so I can put you to some use my little friend." When he said that the light in the orb turned a blue in color, laughing Xaentrick put the orb into one of his pockets and then began to slowly sink into the shadows at his feet. He would have to pay his brothers a visit once he has been to his old lair.