Chapter 3

Aldryn

The heat burned around me as I twisted and changed shape. It was as if the sun fired deep within my core. It was intense, so intense that I thought for a moment I wasn't going to be able to bear it. My blood boiled and skin stretched and changed. It was as if my bones were melting down and reshaping themselves.

Then it was as if the heat became a part of me. I didn't fight against it, and instead I embraced it. I let myself reshape and change, my skin forming anew.

I blinked and caught sight of Eli. He was on the ground. Had I pushed him there? Was he hurt? I would hate if I hurt him.

I took a step forward, and his eyes widened. He scrambled backwards. His hands pushed at the fallen leaves and dirt on the forest floor.

"Eli, Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry." The agony of knowing I'd caused him pain was more than that of the heat that burned in me. Would he ever forgive me?

"It's fine. I am unharmed," he said. "But listen, Aldryn…" I could hear him, but his voice sounded odd to my ears. Come to think of it, my ears sounded odd to my ears. My vision was sharper than normal, the colors more vibrant. I could see so very clearly. The individual veins of the fallen leaves were visible to me even from as high up as I was.

How high up was I? I wasn't an overly tall alpha, yet it seemed like I towered over Eli now.

I opened my mouth to speak, but instead of words, a burst of flame came out. Eli backed up even more. His eyes widened, not with fear but with surprise.

"Oh shit. What just happened?" I asked.

Eli stood, getting his feet underneath him. He put his hands up as if trying to approach a ferocious animal. "Everything's going to be fine, Aldryn. Just… I'm right here. Just calm down. I remember when I first shifted and it can be tarrying, just breathe,"

I whirled around, trying to take in as much as I could. I regretted that immediately though, because something behind me thumped into a tree. Wood splintered and branches fell. Eli covered his head. Before a branch could fall on him, I threw out my arm, hoping to stop it, but instead of seeing an arm it was a wing that covered my friend.

The branch bounced off the thin membrane, and I felt it as if it was me that the branch touched.

Was it me?

"Oh shit. Did I— Am I—"

"You shifted. Just take a deep breath. Well, actually… You can breathe fire, so maybe don't take a deep breath, but like also, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine."

My wing was still hovering over him, so I pulled it back. Once again, my tail thumped against something. I had too many limbs to keep track of. Two wings, two legs, and a tail? It was all too much.

Itchiness settled under my skin-scales. I felt the fire burning, and I tried hard to hold it back. I could not harm Eli. I would never forgive myself.

"You should run," I said. "I could be dangerous."

"You would never hurt me," he said back.

"I pushed you to the ground! I almost started you on fire!"

"Casual play amongst friends. No biggie." Eli forced out a laugh.

I laughed, just to keep myself from crying. Leave it to Eli to make a joke out of this. I almost wanted to burst into tears right then. I was so thankful it was him at my side for this moment and not anyone else.

Some smoke came out of my nose as I huffed out a laugh. It swirled around me. I let out another breath, just to see if I could do it again. It did.

I grinned. Or thought I did. It might have looked more like a sneer in this form.

I opened my mouth and gently forced out the heat that had been building. I made sure not to face Eli as I experimented with my skills. This time when flames shot out, they were smaller, controlled.

"I have to admit, that's kind of a cool trick. You could have been lighting our fires when we were camping."

"I'll keep that in mind. How do I get back to my human form?" I'd always known I was different. Mom told me I was a shifter, but unlike my wolf brothers and sisters, I wouldn't get my form until my mid-twenties. Well, here I was. A fire-breathing, winged creature.

Eli, and other wolves like him, had shifted at puberty.

I supposed it wouldn't do well to allow a hormone-driven teenager to have the ability to breathe fire and fly. That wouldn't end well.

Eli shrugged. "For me, I just concentrate on what it was like to be human and go back to that."

"Why now? Why did this happen now?" Was it because it was my birthday? Or was that a coincidence? Goddess bless, I should have asked a million more questions while I was growing up.

Eli shrugged again. He was closer to me now, as if he was completely unafraid of me in this form. "I have no idea. How am I talking to you?"

"I don't know. Maybe that's just a thing dragons can do?" I knew enough about wolves to know they didn't speak to one another when they were in their wolf form. Only it wasn't exactly like my dragon was speaking. The words weren't coming out of my mouth. When I opened my mouth, fire came. So where were the words coming from?

"Sure, we'll go with that."

I closed my eyes and concentrated, hoping that I would be able to focus on my human form and shift back to it. Only when I focused, it was as if I felt another presence.

"Two brothers,"my inner animal whispered.

Brothers? I did not have brothers. Not biological ones.

"Brother?"a voice called out.

"Brother?"Another one. A different voice.

Were they... "I have brothers," I said out loud, or rather, in my mind.

Eli's eyes widened.

"Dragon brothers?

I nodded. "A blue and a purple." I didn't see the colors in my mind, I felt them. The deep essence of a sapphire and the rich feel of an amethyst.

Eli's jaw dropped. "There are more dragons? Three of you?"

I nodded again. Moving my massive dragon head felt weird, sluggish. "Or I'm going crazy."

Eli touched a hand to my leg. The soft skin of his hands brushed against the smoothness of my scales. "You're not crazy, but maybe focus on shifting back if you can? Your scales are gorgeous." He ran his fingers lightly over my leg, his eyes narrowing as he inspected me. I shivered under his touch, and he pulled his hand away.

I wanted it back, but we'd have to wait for next time. I really did need to return to my human form.

"Right. Of course." I vowed right then that as soon as I got back to my human form, I would go in search of my brothers, wherever they were.