The Dragon of No Shape(Updated)

Chapter 2

I watched as Emerald closed her eyes, and I honestly didn’t expect anything to happen. After a second, she started to change. I gasped as she shifted her body from whatever dragon she was before into an ancient Earth dragon. After her transformation, she opened her eyes as deep, blood red crystals began to grow from her stone-gray scales. Once they were big enough, she raised one of her talons and – to my absolute horror – broke the three crystals off of her body with a grunt of pain.

“What in the society of the Moon dragons are you doing?!” I shouted, moving closer to her as she seemed to sway on her feet.

“Mak-. . .making the…Secro…Stones…” She replied weakly, before a single gold block started to grow on her as well. I watched helplessly as it grew more until she broke that off as well. She twisted it into three separate wristbands, before fitting the stones effortlessly into the bands. She then handed them each to the three of us, smiling weakly, and shifting back to her original form. “There…hope that…helps…” She trailed off, eyes closing as she fell forwards. I scrambled forwards, catching her before she hit the floor.

“What the-?! What’s wrong with you?! Why are you-. . .” I broke off when I realized she was unconscious. “Oh, Moon dragons…” I muttered, sitting down as I let her lean against me.

“Oh no! Emerald?! Are you ok?!” Galaxy shouted as she came to stand beside me.

“She’s unconscious, but her heart rate seems fine. I guess this is what she meant by ‘having to sleep for an hour to gain her energy back.’ What are we going to do now? Isn’t she our only way out of here?” I looked at Everest, who looked as hopeless as the rest of us. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a new voice.

“Not necessarily.” The voice said, and a black Catslick appeared out of thin air in front of me.

“Gah! Where the heck did you come from?!” I shouted, subconsciously pulling Emerald closer to me. I wrapped my wings around her, blocking her from the cat-dragon’s view. He just chuckled, sitting down with an amused expression on his face.

“My apologies, I have no ill intent. I am Gourwin, and I am Miss Emerald’s guide. Her parents sent me to help you while they helped her energy.” He explained. “I know who all of you are, so no need for introductions.” He added, and I growled.

“She said she never met her parents! How can we trust you?” I snarled, my underbelly starting to warm up. ‘No, calm down, anger!’ I thought, and it cooled off again. When my anger gets out of control, I start to burn up so that no one can touch me without getting burned. ‘And currently there is an unconscious dragon cuddled up to me because she fainted trying to gain our trust, so it’d be bad if I accidentally set her on fire.’

“She’s never met her parents because her parents are dead.” He stated flatly, smile falling from his face immediately. “Brutally killed by the Alpha, they were able to do one last thing before death.” He gestured briefly towards Emerald’s sleeping form behind my wings. “Hide their one and only egg; their daughter. They live in the Void, where all deceased creatures live on. One of Emerald’s many powers is to visit the Void, but it seems she doesn’t quite know how. I have been searching since her parent’s death to find her, and now I have. After all these years…she looks so much like her mother.” His eyes glazed over for a moment before he recomposed himself. “I can get you to a safe place here; Emerald’s hideout. I found it right before I found you all, so I know exactly where it is and how to get there. Follow me.” He turned and started walking away. I glanced at Everest, and she nodded, following Gourwin without a word. I grumbled under my breath but stood, slinging Emerald over my back so that I could carry her. It only took us a few minutes to reach her hideout, which was a cave hidden by a moving rock. I don’t even know how it was possible, but Gourwin guessed Emerald had made it to only move when her presence was detected. I didn’t question it. Once we were all settled, with Emerald resting peacefully in her bed, I looked at Gourwin.

“Ok, now that we’re safe from a plant trying to eat us, I need you to explain. Now.” I told him, leaving no room for argument. He simply nodded, waiting for me to ask the first question. “How many powers does Emerald have?” I asked, knowing that was one all of us wanted answered.

“She has many: Shapeshifting, instant healing, psychic abilities that allow her to know what she desires and lift things with her mind, mind reading, and visiting the Void.” Gourwin answered. “She doesn’t know how to access some of her powers just yet, however, which is why I have been trying to find her for so long. I cannot access the Void to visit her parents without her, so I couldn’t ask them where she was. I only knew she was somewhere in these kingdoms.” He added, and for the first time since we’d met he looked exhausted.

“Maybe…after one more question…we should all rest, so that Emerald can hear this too when she wakes up. It is about her, after all.” I said, glancing at her in the corner.

“Yes, thank you for your consideration, Master Pyro.” Gourwin said, looking relieved.

“Wait, did you just call me ‘Master’?” I asked, bewildered.

“Yes, I call female dragons ‘Miss’ or ‘Mistress’ and male dragons ‘Master’.” He replied.

“Oh. Ok, then, good to know. Anyway, last question: Who are you, exactly?” Gourwin looked mildly surprised, but he didn’t ask any questions about my choice.

“I am Gourwin, one of the few Catslick dragons left on this Earth. Before Iejir became Alpha, I was the adviser to Athear. He was the previous Alpha. He taught me how to fight his control, so that no other Alpha could control me ever again, in case an evil dragon took over. After Iejir killed Athear, he tried to take control over me so I would tell him where Emerald’s parents – Ocean, her father, and Forest, her mother – were. I refused, so he tried to kill me. I fled, and found Ocean and Forest to tell them what had happened. When I did, they combined their powers and gave them to Emerald, in the egg, and sent her to a secret location so that Iejir could never find her. Shortly after, the town’s guards arrived to take Ocean and Forest to Iejir to be executed. Before the guards could grab me too, Forest sent me away, telling me to find Emerald as soon as possible, but she couldn’t tell me where she was without the guards finding out. So I began my search of the 5 kingdoms: The Earth Kingdom, the Searow Kingdom, the Skyrest Kingdom, the Flame Kingdom, and the Camyro Kingdom.” He finished, and Galaxy was in tears. Everest was trying to console her, but she just kept crying.

“That is s-so sad…!” She said, walking over to Gourwin and giving him a hug. “I’m so sorry, you’ve been through so much!” Gourwin looked shocked, but he soon melted into the hug, smiling as he thanked her.

“Thank you for telling us. That must have been a sensitive topic for you.” Everest said, smiling at him.

“Of course. I just wish I’d been able to get to her sooner.” He replied, glancing at Emerald again. “Now, I’ll bet we are all tired, so maybe we could all get some rest now.” He suggested as Galaxy pulled away and stepped back to give him some space.

“Yeah. That’ll be a good way to pass the time as we wait for Emerald to wake up, too.” I agreed, walking over to her bed to check on her. ‘Still fast asleep.’ Her breathing was steady and regular, and she looked peaceful in her sleep. Everyone found comfortable places to curl up and fall asleep, and I curled up next to Emerald’s bed. ‘I guess we’ll find out what to do later…’ I thought as I drifted off to sleep.