Omnixius
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Zane the Dragonling Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2022-04-03 21:14:45 +0000 UTCThis is a story I am writing for a contest on royalroad and is not a pateron exclusive. I am including it here so my patreons will see it and because I like their feedback. So enjoy the story and let me know what you think.
Chapter 1:
The sky was a funny thing as it drifted by lazily, its clouds making odd shapes. It was a source of endless mystery for Zane and filled her with a deep desire to fly. Of course, her wings were still too small, but she was growing older, and one day she would fly up and see what the clouds tasted like. Until then, she would have to placate herself with life on the ground and avoid her brothers, who delighted in teasing her.
With a sigh, she scratched at an ear using her tail and wondered why a dragonling had to wait so long. Surely the pure dragons had it easier, being born with wings that grew to full size in just over a year. Her mother said it was because the dragonlings had the blood of men in them, and men preferred to walk.
“Why would anybody want to walk?” Zane asked as she watched a particularly funny cloud go by.
“Zane!” she heard her mother Heather call. “Come to the house, sweetheart. Your father is almost home.”
Zane jumped with excitement and hurried down the hill blotched by dandelions and full of annoyed bees as she brushed them aside. Her father had been away for several weeks now, and she was anxious to see what he brought home. It was a curious practice of her father to bring home objects and treasures he found on his journeys. He called it collecting, but her mother preferred the term hoarding even though most of the gifts were for her. Whatever the case, Zane was always fascinated by what papa Frank brought back and added to her mother's hoard.
She crossed the little stream with a careful step using the stones and holding her tail up to avoid getting it wet. Her mother wouldn't be pleased if she tracked water into the house again, especially after the last incident. Safely across, she ran for the stone wall that marked the border of their yard and yearned to fly over it. With a sigh, she used the gate instead and hurried into her mother's garden full of flowers and blooming plants.
Zane paused to marvel at the garden her mother tended by singing in her musical voice. It was awash in flowers of every shape and color that delighted the eye in all directions. Some grew in long clusters like grapes, while others reached tall on slender stems. She was particularly fond of the lilac bush because it attracted butterflies and hummingbirds. Her mother was more fond of the magical tree that grew out back and had the curious habit of producing a different fruit every day. Her mother would pick the fruit and make pies, treats, or sometimes her special raspberry sauce. Zane was particularly fond of the days it grew peaches because they were her favorite fruit. Her brothers preferred apples because their mother would make apple pie and cider with them. Zane once asked where they got the magical tree, but her mother said it was a benefit of her class. The answer didn't make much sense to Zane, but then she had a lot of growing to do, and her mother said she would understand one day.
“Zane?” her mother called from the house.
“Comming,” she replied and rushed down the path, coming to the blue door carved with strange symbols. It was another of the funny, magical things her parents had, a door that you didn't open if you wanted to enter. Instead, you knocked twice and said let me in then walked through the door like it was water. If you opened the door, you would find a simple house with little to steal, but if you entered properly, you walked into the real house where her family lived.
Zane entered properly and arrived in the grand foyer with its soaring arched ceiling and marbled walls. She guessed by the smell of spices that her mother was in the kitchen, so she headed for the hall and nearly tripped over a spider.
“Webster!” Zane cried and bent over to pet the spider. He responded with a chirp and curled into a ball, tucking his furry legs under his body. Webster was her mother's familiar and one of Zane's best friends. Her mother said he was a black jumping spider and was about the size of a cat. Zane wasn't sure what a cat was, but she could definitely say it was something as big as a Webster. She was particularly fond of his bristly hair and the silky blue diamond on his abdomen that glittered in the sun. He often helped her mother pick the fruit from the magical tree by climbing up to knock the sweet treats off. When Zane was smaller, she used to ride on his back, but she grew too big and had to stop. Now he would cling to her back, and she would run across the fields giggling as they went on a pretend adventure.
“I can't play with you right now,” Zane said as she finished petting the spider. “Mother keeps calling me, and father will be home soon.”
Webster chirped as he bounced to his feet before tapping at her leg and then scurrying off. Zane knew it was his way of saying they would play later after he found a bird or rabbit to eat. She dashed through the dining room with a smile and made her way into the kitchen, smelling the air sweet with mother's baking.
“There you are,” Heather said with a smile as she wiped her hands on her apron. “I was beginning to think you were gone on another adventure.”
“I was,” Zane replied and recounted her earlier exploits where she flew through the sky and fought off pirates. The pirates sailed cloud ships that they used to steal the silver linings her mother was always talking about. But Zane came to their rescue and sent the pirates fleeing as she settled on the clouds and nibbled one to see how it tasted.
“You get that imagination from your father,” Heather laughed and then swept Zane up in a warm hug.
Zane closed her eyes and smiled as her mother held her tight. She loved her beautiful mother with all her heart and dreamed of growing up to be just like her. She was a full dragon with enormous sweeping wings that could blot out the sky. However, she had a dragonling form like Zane and the most beautiful golden hair that trailed down her back. In addition, she had a pair of curled red horns on the side of her head and a long delicate tail with gentle spikes. She also had wings in her dragonling form, but her mother was older and could put the wings away with one of her special abilities. Zane didn't understand what that was either, but her mother assured her it was difficult to have wings in the house.
“So, when is father coming home?” Zane asked as the hug ended.
“He should be here any minute,” Heather replied with a wide smile. “He sent me a paper messenger bird to say he was passing the forest.”
“Do you think aunt Quinny will come with him?” Zane asked excitedly as aunt Quinny lived in the forest and was great fun. She was always ready to play and full of stories about Zane's mother's adventures. In particular, she told stories about her mother's earliest days when she looked different and didn't know how to play. Zane loved to hear about how their mother once had red hair and three eyes while she raised an army of goblins to fight a bad king.
“I don’t think so,” mother said and went to the oven to check on a pie. “But I am sure she will be around any day now.”
“Do you think you and father will go on any more adventures?” Zane asked while trying to catch a peek of the pie to try and deduce what flavor it was.
“Who can say?” her mother said and shut the oven to give it more time to bake. “But for right now, my adventure is to raise you little monsters and make sure you are well behaved.”
“I am always well behaved,” Zane protested, then remembered the bug incident. She felt embarrassed to think of how her brothers teased her and called her names. How was she to know she wasn't supposed to eat insects. Webster ate them, and nobody complained. Her mother gave her a pat on the head to let her know she was forgiven, then went across the kitchen to get the plates.
“We are having pizza tonight,” mother said with a sweet tune. “Your father is bringing it home with him.”
Zane practically bounced in excitement as pizza was her favorite food. Actually, almost any food was her favorite food, but pizza was her most favorite of favorite foods. Her mother loved it as well and often asked father to bring them home when he returned from his travels. She began to wonder what would be on the pizza this time, as pizza could be almost anything. Sometimes it had meats like sausage and pepperoni, and other times it had vegetables like peppers and onions. Occasionally it had mushrooms which Zane wasn't sure was a vegetable. It was more of a plant meat that grew in the dark but was delicious all the same. Whatever it had, she loved them all and couldn't wait to be surprised.
To pass the time, she helped her mother set the table, putting out the plates and silverware just as she had been shown. By the time the table was set, the pie came out of the oven, and Zane could see the red cherries poking through the top. Now all that was needed was for her father to come home, and just as she wished for it, he arrived.
“Where are all my little minions?” he called from the foyer.
Zane ran as fast as her feet could carry her and rushed into the foyer to tackle her father. He laughed and held a familiar box high as he put an arm around her shoulders and said he missed her.
“I missed you too,” Zane said and looked up with bright red eyes. Her father was the most human of them because he was human, after all, or as close to one as anyone could get. He was tall and muscular with a warm smile and long golden hair like mother. To all appearances, he looked human in every way, but her father was a changer and had another form to take. His second form was even bigger, with long arms and sharp claws. Her mother said it was his ghoul form, but once again, Zane didn't know what a ghoul was. Still, she admired how his skin turned gray and liked that he had pointy ears. He could also dig faster than anyone else and could hold his breath forever and ever.
“So have you been a good girl?” he asked as she hugged with all her might.
“I didn’t eat any bugs,” she replied as he laughed and told her that was good. “Did you bring me anything?”
“Don't I always bring you things?” he asked and ruffled her hair, feeling the nubs that were her budding horns. “Goodness, those are getting big. Soon you will be like your mother.”
Zane jumped back and gave him a pouty face as she reached up to touch her tiny horns. She wished they were as big and pretty as her mother's, but hers were so small they barely disturbed her hair. Like her wings, they hadn't grown in yet, and if not for her tail, she could easily be mistaken for a human. Her father noticed the sad expression and lowered the box so she could smell the treasure inside.
“I brought you and your mother a pizza,” he said with a smile. “Extra sausage with onion and mushrooms.”
“Yay!” Zane cried and took the box from his hands to run it to the kitchen. He followed a moment later, and Zane watched as her mother rushed to his arms, embracing him with warm smiles and a gentle kiss. Afterward, he set his magical pack aside and called out the kitchen window whose magic broadcasted his voice across the whole yard. A minute later, her brothers came in, covered in grass and soil from where they had been wrestling or perhaps burrowing again.
“Goodness,” Heather groaned when she took in the sight of them. Gerrin and Lorris, go upstairs and wash off.”
“But mother!” they protested, knowing that Zane would get the first piece of pizza if they did.
“Don’t you complain to me,” Heather said with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t the one who chose to roll around in the yard just before dinner. Now hurry up and get cleaned so we can eat and hear about your father’s travels.”
The two slunk off to do as they were told while father took his place at the table. Zane finally sat down and quickly devoured a piece of pizza before her brothers got back. They returned a few minutes later, scowling at her knowing full well she was already on her second piece. They protested that it wasn't fair, but she proudly chewed away and savored their discontent.
Father told them all about his journey to see grandma Gwen and how her kingdom was flourishing. She was one of the most powerful queens in the known world and held the most fantastic parties. Zane had only visited her city a couple of times, but each visit had been full of magic and wonder. She even got to meet some of her parent's other friends, including a woman named Blackbast, who mother refused to tell stories about until Zane was older.
Father explained that he attended some meeting of monster players who were setting up kingdoms of their own. They wanted to thank her mother and father for something they did in the past and establish ties to grandma's kingdom.
Zane had only recently understood that her mother was a princess and her father a prince. They had fixed some problems caused by a bad king and set things right again. Now the people known as heroes weren't so mean to the monsters, and the two sides were getting along. It was another of those things that didn't make sense, but Zane always pretended she understood. Her brothers pretended too, though she was certain they only did it to annoy her.
After dinner, mother cleared the table to make room for what she called father's clutter. He took up his magical pack and began to root around, pulling out one fascinating thing after another. There were always books as mother loved to read and even had a private study where Zane and her brothers were forbidden to go. There were some fancy dresses again for Heather, but he had a broad sun hat for Zane in bright yellow with a white ribbon tied around it. For the boys, he brought little figurines shaped like men with swords and shields. For Zane, he had a beautiful glass statue of a dragon standing on a crystal ball. It wasn't very big, but the light scattered through its wings, producing a rainbow of colors. Her mother was showered in all sorts of trinkets of gold that her father suggested she add to her hoard. She gathered the items up with a shake of her head and assured him they needed no more. He laughed, saying they were gifts from the others, and he couldn't turn them away.
“How come Zany got a hat and a statue?” her older brother Lorris protested as he held up his figures.
“My name isn't Zany,” she protested, but her father rested an arm on her head and leaned over to address the boys.
“You know better than to tease your sister,” he corrected with an even voice. “And she got a hat because I promised her one so she could help her mother in the garden. If you two want to take up some extra chores, I will consider getting you an extra gift next time.” He waited for a response, and predictably her brothers were content with their gift all of a sudden.
With the collection safely put away, mother brought out the pie and cut each of them a slice. With pleased hums, the family dug in and enjoyed the final treat of cherries and cinnamon. Thus was how her day ended, sweetened with pie and clutching her new crystal dragon. Her father was the one who finally tucked her into bed and wished her a good night as she curled into her nest.
Zane wondered why so many people slept in long flatbeds when her round sunken bed was so comfortable. Her mother said flatbeds were normal, and it was part of her dragon nature to desire something more akin to a bird's nest. Webster crawled in a little later, and Zane clutched him like a pillow as she drifted off to sleep. Oher dreams were full of cloud pirates, but Zane and her trustworthy companion Webster drove them away.
“Wake up, sleepy,” her mother said as she stroked Zane's hair.
Zane opened her eyes to see the sunlight glowing through the window. She was sad that the night was over and wished she could sleep for a whole week. It was like that for dragonlings sometimes, and they occasionally slept for two or three days at a time. Her mother could sleep for weeks, curled on a hoard as the days went by unnoticed. Of course, she never slept that long now that she had children, but her father joked about some of her mother's past naps that lasted a month.
“Is it morning already?” Zane asked with a big yawn.
“I’m afraid so,” Heather said as Webster got up and shook himself awake. “I see you had your friend for the night again.”
“I don't think Webster likes to sleep in the boy's room because they fight over whose bed he will be in,” Zane replied as her mother scooped her up and carried her away.
“You are probably right,” Heather replied and carried the little dragonling to a chair. She sat her down to brush her short blonds hair with gentle strokes. Then she picked out a sunny dress of white with pink flowers and helped Zane into it. There was a breakfast of eggs and toast smothered with plum jam, and Zane was finally allowed to go out on another adventure. She quickly donned her new sunhat and hurried out to face the dangers that lurked outside the garden.
Today she played by the big rocks, pretending it was the hidden mountain lair her mother once used. She would climb to the top of the rocks and look out over the land as she commanded her armies to drive away the bad people. Of course, she won after a fantastic battle where she called down the blue magic and wiped the enemy out.
“What are you doing?” came the familiar voice of Tildy, another of her best friends in the world. Tildy was a lizard girl and had the most beautiful green and blue skin of fine silky scales. She had no hair to speak of, but she did have a crest of black horns on her head that her mother decorated with golden bands and bits of ribbon. Zane really liked her because she had such a long tail that ended in a red tip, one of Zane's many favorite colors.
Zane jumped up and announced that she was going to march on the evil king and reclaim the half of what was stolen.
“Oh, you're playing the egg game again,” Tildy laughed and folded her green arms. “You do realize you can't escape the inescapable prison.”
“My mother did,” Zane countered defiantly and tossed her head. It was one of the mysterious stories from her mother's past, how something she needed was hidden in a place she could never come back from. The details were vague because she was too young to know them, but somehow her mother managed to break the rules. In fact, father said she was really good at breaking rules, but mother said she simply used them to her advantage.
“Your mother broke the rules,” Tildy said and explained how her mother told her that Heather was famous for breaking things. “My mother says she even broke the sun once.”
“How can anybody break the sun?” Zane laughed as the idea was too preposterous, or was it? After all, her mother kept a lot of secrets, many of which were in her private study. She even heard auntie Quinny once remark that her mother nearly broke the world, again?
“Let’s play something else,” Tildy asked and looked around before asking where Webster was.
“I think he's helping my mother hang the laundry,” Zane replied, as it was a common task for the spider. He used his silk to string a line from the house to the magic tree and then walked along it, attaching the laundry as mother held it up. It seemed odd that mother did so much laundry when they had magical wardrobes that could clean everything, but mother said she liked to be normal, whatever that meant.
“Darn,” Tildy said and let out a sigh.
“You just want to play rock climber because you can stick to walls like Webster can,” Zane accused with a pointed finger. It was a special ability of Tildy to stick to surfaces, allowing her to scale walls and trees with ease. Zane didn’t like the game because she had to climb the hard way, but one day her wings would be big then she would fly up where neither of them could go.
“Then let's explore the cave by the mill road,” Tildy offered. “Mother said it used to be the lair of some pixies.”
Again it was something more suited to climbing, as the cave was anything but level. The tunnels were tight, and they went up and down more often than they went left and right. Zane would have to crawl and risk getting her dress dirty; besides, she had a new sunhat, and what good was wearing a sunhat in a cave?
They settled for a game they loved to play and hunted along the forest for new flowers to pick. Sometimes the giant butterflies were out, and the two girls would chase them across the green sea of grass. Today was no exception, and they pursued a particularly big one, nearly twice the size of Webster. Tildy remarked how good Webster was at catching the giant butterflies but didn't like how he ate them.
“He’s a spider,” Zane said as they watched their prey fly away. “He’s really good at catching mice too.”
“Oh, I love to eat those,” Tildy amitted, drawing a frown from Zane. Why could Tildy and Webster eat mice when she wasn't allowed to?
The girls spent an hour along the forest's edge but couldn't find any new flowers to pick. It was one of the fun things about her mother and a magical moment Zane cherished. Whenever she found new flowers, she would pull them up by the roots and bring them home. Her mother would smile and take the flower to the garden, where she would plant it and sing. Somehow singing to the flower brought it new life, and it would suddenly grow and blossom into even more flowers of its kind.
Instead, they chased a few more butterflies but always lost them when they flew too high. Zane wished she had bigger wings so she could fly after them, but she was still too young and could only watch them go. Sad that she was forced to walk, they went back to the house to see if Heather had baked any treats. She was in the garden with her father and told them there was lemonade in the magic fridge, and they could help themselves.
Inside the house, they savored the bittersweet taste of the lemony drink and snuck a few cookies from the fridge where they always appeared. Afterward, they explored the house, going up the spiral stairs to the seventh level, where the hidden balcony looked out over the landscape.
“I wish my family had a magical house,” Tildy said as they watched the distant trees blowing in the wind.
“You do too have a magical house,” Zane protested and pointed out how it was always bright as day and full of green plants. In fact, Tildy's house was more like a magical forest all its own, tucked away behind a door in a large oak tree.
Tildy laughed and said she would rather have an invisible balcony where they could see for miles. She also commented on all the wonderful magical spaces inside the house. The house was full of wonders, from the mother's private study to the funny room with the giant black mirror.
“Mother said we have these things because she and father are very high level,” she said with a shrug. It was another thing that didn't make any sense. What did it mean to be high level, and how did one get to be it? As they pondered the mysteries of the universe, her brothers suddenly appeared and began to tease them.
“Look, it's Zany and Toady,” Lorris said with a mocking smile.
“They must be looking for bugs to eat,” Gerrin added as she hid safely behind his older brother.
“I will tell father you are picking on us again,” Zane said with a pointed finger. “He will take your toy soldiers away for sure.”
“We're not picking on you,” Lorris replied as he brushed off her words. He announced that he and Gerrin were on a mission to do something first, as was proper since he was the oldest.
“You're going to be the first to make a fool of yourself?” Tildy asked, causing Zane to giggle.
“No,” Lorris replied and beat his wings that were almost twice the size of Zanes. “We are going to fly.”
“You can't fly yet,” Zane laughed, knowing that his wings were still too small. “You're going to fall again and make mother cross.”
“Ha,” Lorris replied and threw back his head. “I overheard mother and father talking in the garden. They were speaking about the statue they got you and how it reminded them of a figurine.”
“A figurine?” Tildy asked, now curious as to what he was getting at.
“We overheard them say that mother had magical figurines hidden in her study,” Gerrin blurted, eager to be part of the conversation. “One of them can turn you into a bird.”
Zane didn’t understand what this had to do with anything until Lorris proudly proclaimed he was going to use that figuring to become a bird. Then he would be able to fly long before she could, and he would peck at her head as he flew by. Gerrin would use it when he was done, and even though he was younger, he would beat Zane to the sky.
“That isn't fair!” Zane shouted in anger that her brothers were going to fly when she couldn't.
“Of course, it's fair,” he retorted and puffed out his chest. “I am the oldest, so I should fly first. I would tell you what the clouds look like from above, but since you're so ugly, I won't say.”
“You're mean, and I will tell mother if you go into her study!” Zane countered as he got the better of her.
“Why stop him?” Tildy asked as she folded her arms. “I am sure this will blow up in his face just like all his other bright ideas. Then he can explain why he did it to your parents and get in big trouble.”
“I will not get in big trouble,” Lorris protested. “Mother and Father say you have to be brave and take risks if you want to achieve great things. Besides, how many times have we heard that mother breaks the rules?”
Zane realized he was right; they had heard those comments a hundred times, if not more. Still, it drove her mad to think her brothers were going to fly and peck her head just to mock her. She challenged him and asked how he would explain being a bird, but he said the figurine allowed them to change back. All he had to do was get it, and he could fly all he wanted and then change back before anyone knew.
“Well, good luck walking,” he teased and headed off. “I have more important things to do.”
“Your brother is annoying,” Tildy said, but Zane was shaking with anger.
“I can’t let him do it,” she proclaimed and stamped her foot.
“Then tell your mother,” Tildy suggested.
“No, I mean, I can't let him fly before me. He always does everything before I do and spoils the surprise for me,” Zane exclaimed and began to think. “I wonder where mother keeps that figurine.”
“Zane!” Tildy gasped and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You aren't allowed in her study. If you go in there, she will know for sure.”
“I won't stay in there any longer than I have to,” Zane insisted. “Just long enough to find the figurine and make one quick flight around the garden.”
“Your mother will take away dessert for a week and make you wash the floors,” Tildy insisted, but Zane wasn't about to budge. “Well, good luck getting in. The door might be open, but your mother’s magic will keep you from going inside.”
“I know I can’t get in,” Zane admitted as she started to smile, her cheeks glowing red with her ingenuity. “But Webster can!”
