Spirit Chronicles: The Dragon Spirit - 1. Chapter 1

The Spirit Chronicles

The Dragon Spirit

The Land has changed much since the times of dragons, of wizards, and of kings. Mankind has long since forgotten the mythic and they no longer care for the balance of nature. However something has begun to stir in the wind, perhaps it is the old gods of men and nature returning to the land, however none living can say.

There have been rumors in the west among the Blackfeet of a missing kid, and a howling of a pack of large wolves on the hunt. But these things were only rumors.

In the small town of Shale, a young teenager no older then 13 sat alone within a darkened room curled up against a wall looking up at dust angels filing in through the window. The boy had not known anything in the way of freedom; he had not even gone to school the whole of his 13 years.

The boy’s name was Autumn, and he was a nobody, a nothing, or so his parents had told him so often, and proved it through the physical and mental scars covered the boy’s body. The little boy though even with those scars was a beautiful child, and would someday grow to be a handsome man. His long unruly brown hair wrapped around his cute face, and his green eyes almost shone with an unearthly light when he looked at someone.

Sadly this was the day he would die….

Autumn heard a crash downstairs and cringed, knowing that his stepfather was getting drunk early again, which meant his mother had left the house to get wasted on meth at her girlfriends house.

The light outside was dimming as the sounds downstairs became more aggressive over the next couple of hours. The boy was huddling and shivering, as he knew what would come soon. There was a knot growing though in his stomach, a resolve that the little boy had not known before within his fearful heart, it was somewhat frightening in itself to him.

There was a creaking on the stairs as his stepfather made his way up it, swaying a little as his did. “Boy….You better be in there boy…”

There was an unlocking of the door, and it slammed open. “Well boy… Your bitch of a mother isn’t putting out again….” The man grinned, “It’s your fault boy…”

Autumn cowered in his corner looking up at him, a tear running down his cheek. “Please don’t…”

The man took off his belt and loosened his pants, then growled angrily, “you’ll not deny me little bitch….” Reaching out and grabbing ahold of the young teenager. The large man pushed the kid down under his weight as he dropped his pants. Then yanked Autumn’s own down around the kid's knees.

The young boy knew better than to struggle, yet something inside him, a spark long since dead and violated ignited in the little boy and he took hold of his stepfathers hair yanking as hard as he could, and kicking up with both of his feet into the man’s crotch.

Autumn’s stepfather’s eyes bulged for a moment, before he slumped over slightly, letting go of the boy for a second.

Autumn yanked up his pants and made for the bedroom door. But before he could get very far the inebriated man took hold of the boy’s leg and pulled the boy to the floor dragging him flailing back to him.

“You little whore!” the man half screamed as he punched the boy’s back. The man slowly stood then kicked the boy a couple of times, before he took his belt in hand and began using it like a whip upon the boy’s back.

It was a couple of hours later, when Autumn’s mother returned home from what she called her girl’s night out. She of course was high as she marched up the stairs towards the parent’s bedroom. She didn’t even look at the locked door as she walked and sat on the bed and looked at her husband. “So you were with the boy again…”

Her husband, shrugged, “What of it hag, you won’t put out someone has to.”

The woman slapped her husband, “Don’t you be replacing me with that filth in the other room.” She tore off her gown and tossed it onto an inboard heater as she climbed onto both the bed and her husband kissing him vehemently. She began pulling at her husband’s pants with a wicked grin on her face.

In the other room Autumn lay bruised, and broken his body bleeding from several wounds both inside his body and external cuts mostly on his back. The boy could feel himself slipping away from this world, even so he smiled. For all his pain and suffering, his step-father had not touched him that night.

Outside a young man perhaps 20 years old with a short goatee on his chin looked up at the house as it went dark. The young man’s name was Corey Llewyn, he too had brown if curly hair, and he was tall and lithe almost elfin in appearance. Glasses framing his face, and shadowing his eyes which turned alternately every so often from green to blue and back. The young man wore a black long coat as he walked up to the house.

He had seen the kid looking out the window, and that night had heard the kids screams as he walked by on his evening stroll. The young man frowned his black trench coat clutching to his frame as he snuck up to the house looking at the front door, a silver ring with a red gemstone glowing slightly on his finger as his hand touched the doorknob and he whispered the words. “Zakaden…” Then hearing a few clicks he pushed the door open gently.

Corey snuck through the house, hearing a bouncing sound combined with a woman’s half-screamed moans coming from one room, he turned to the other unlocking the thing slowly pushing the door open.

Autumn looked up seeing the tall frame of the stranger in his house he thought it was his father, however the boy was too weak to move or even shout as Corey swept himself into the room.

Corey quickly looked down at the boy and bending down, he heard a mumbled no come from the naked boy as he scooped him up. The twenty year old looked out the doorway hearing the sounds of sex in the other room still he gently carried the boy out of the room and down the stairs. Then the young man grinned looking back, the house. “Dóigh… burn…” He flicked his wrist, and in his mind’s eye, the red dress so casually tossed onto a heater began to slowly smoke and catch fire.

Corey turn then carrying the boy gently he spoke a word and ran down the streets towards a lake, knowing that if he presented the child to the local hospital would present far too many questions. However the boy’s internal wounds were beyond his abilities to heal. While he traveled he pulled the poor child’s pants back up, cradling the boy with care, knowing the kid was far too weak to do anything.

The young man made his way through the dark to a massive earth-work dam that protected the town from flooding from Lake Shal-al. Then climbing through the park in front of the dam and over the massive earthwork structure he made his way into some trees on the edge of the lake, and set the boy down on the bank next to the water.

Pulling out his pocket knife, and slicing open the palm of his hand, Corey called out. “Oh spirits, hear my voice and come to me once again I bid you a contract beckons accept my offering.” Corey allowed his blood to drip into the water. For some reason over the last year the old magic’s seemed to have awakened within him, and he was sure several other people, as if the balance of time was tipping in a different direction, and abilities he could only have dreamed of a few short years ago were blossoming around him, and within as well.

At first nothing happened then the lake seemed to shutter, and stir. Then strange orbs of white colored energy seemed to float out of the lake, as water began to rise up from the center coalescing into the form of a radiant young oriental woman dressed in a greenish white gown, weeds cling to her black hair, as the woman walked across the lake towards the two young people then stepped onto the muddy shore of the lake.

“You wished to speak to us young druid…”

Corey bowed down on one knee, “Undine of Shal-al, I seek your help and guidance…”

The spirit Corey called Undine giggled slightly, “Was it not you who called me here, claiming this as your territory young Swallow. This lake is man made after all. It was the first time in a long time someone had the power to call us. What is it you seek?”

Corey looked up at her slightly, “I seek a boon milady, and ask for you to heal this boy before you from the harm his former life…”

The woman gracefully walked to the little boy and knelt down, then looked up at the blue eyed male. “Oh but Swallow, he no longer lives and there is so little left of him…”

Corey frowned, “then it was all for not…”

The undine smiled, stroking Autumn’s hair gently, “oh but there is a spark of life still there… But it needs a flame to kindle it…” She looked at Corey with a slight frown, “this one has been abused. You know this?”

Corey grinned almost coldly, “I do…”

The undine frowned looking up at Corey her eyes hard, “did you kill them?”

Corey Laughed, “of course not, that would be a breach of magical law, However It’s not my fault if they’re too stupid and drugged up to get out of the house or put out the fire…”

Undine arched an eyebrow slightly grinning, “You walk a dangerous line, young Swallow… I can help this boy, however there is a high price to pay…. For a human, and more than that, as an abused child he is more susceptible to what I am going to give him, especially the violent part…”

Corey nodded… “I understand…”

The Undine laughed, “No you don’t but you will… The contract is accepted, on your head be it.”

Corey bowed his head, “thank you lady Yangtze.”

The Water spirit frowned sadly, “Do not call me that, I am Shal-al…” the Spirit turned slightly to towards the lake and raised her wrist, causing the water to froth and boil, before a cylindrical stone shot out from beneath the surface floating towards her. Shal-al took hold of the cylindrical stone and brought it down to the boy, pushing it to the child’s small frame.

Corey watched in awe as the thing merged with the child becoming no more, “To you child, I give my unborn son, for in a world were rivers cannot grow and thus neither will he unless he is human… May he become part of you and ignite your flame with his own…”

Autumn gasped shaking as his eyes flashed open beholding what looked like a glowing angel before his eyes. The boy reached up gently to touch her hair, barely noticing two curious antler-like appendages sticking out of her head.

Shal-al smiled gently then let go the boy and standing, the woman patted the druid on the head. “He is your responsibility, take care of him little Swallow.” She turned and walking on water seemed to turn into mist and disappear leaving the little lake darkened by the night.

Corey watched her leave then looked at the stars for a second, before turning back to the boy and smiling gently, “you’re awake, good…”

Autumn looked up at the man….”who are….” Then the boy groaned his stomach beginning to hurt, he felt something strange, almost as if something was happening to his body.

The boy coughed up some blood then looked down at his body. His chest heaved as he breathed out, a panicked look on his face. What little body hair the thirteen year old had begun to shed. Autumn looked up at Corey with a panicked look, “wha… what’s happening to me?”

Corey sat down on a rock waiting for the boy to finish changing, the 20 year old taking an almost doctorial view to it, guessing by Shal-al’s words that the boy was becoming part water spirit.

The little boy’s hips were moving up and down slightly wiggling around, as his little bum began to spread apart and a nub forming pushing against his pants. Before the thing tore through the kid’s pants and slowly pushing longer beneath him forming a long tail. Golden Scales began pushing out from the boy’s lower stomach in all directions and upon moving to his hips changed color to a rusty brown with a few darker patches, the scales becoming more fine, and delicate.

The little boy looked up at Corey, “please help me…I am burning up inside!”

The older male frowned looking down at the boy his heart going out to the look on the kid’s face. Corey pulled himself down to Autumn and pulled the frightened boy to himself stroking the younger male’s brown hair gently, and in so doing noticed the hair on the boy’s head was getting longer and thicker, soon coming down to the boy’s shoulders.

Autumn at first fought Corey, in a panicked way before the older man wrapped his arms around the boy holding him gently. The boy’s body continued changing, his skin cascading into scales, causing the boy to scratch his body irrationally at the itching, and pinching sensations.

The golden scales traveled up the boy’s stomach leaving his little belly button alone for the most part, but then upon reaching the boy’s chest erased his nipples from being. All the while the brown scales traveled up his sides and back going around his shoulders and covering the sides and top of the tail, while the underside the Golden Scales angrily took over in competition with the fine reddish-brown ones. Oddly upon the two types of scales reaching the boy’s shoulders the reddish brown ones began traveling up the kid’s neck, while who larger golden ones pushed out into being one on each shoulder.

A fine line of hair began growing out of where the kid’s spine was located growing longer and fluffing out forming a trail of hair that marched quickly to the tip of Autumns new tail.

Upon reaching the kids cheeks two more golden scales appeared, and the boy’s nose began pushing up painfully, beginning the first of the more painful of the kid’s changes.

Autumn began to cling to Corey as pain lanced in his back at his shoulder blades. Boney protrusions pushed out from his back causing a trickle of blood. These protrusions stretched longer with each second. Then muscle mass formed around the bass as the protrusions looking more and more like the bones of an arm pushed out of his back stretching over 3 feet before pushing out into three claw like extensions looking like finger bones. Then skin and scales formed over these protrusions, making them look very much like large bat-wings.

The Wings stretched out and flapped around idly as the kid cried out in pain two nobs forming on the sides of his head. Autumn was physically weeping, even though he thought tears had long since dried up, as the protrusions grew out to be just barely visible on his head. Then they evened off as from these bases bony protrusions pushed out longer and longer. These things reaching a height of a quarter of a foot long before splitting in two and growing still longer until they were as long as the little boy’s thigh. Thus finishing off the antlers on the kids head with a fine felt covering.

For all the pain and tears the boy went through he barely cried out, mostly in the forms of small whimpers. The silence was to Corey more telling than the tears or anything else that he knew about the boy.

Autumn clung to Corey for several moments his wings wrapping around the man above him as the 20 year old stood up.

Corey began carrying the kid down the hillside looking out to see smoke billowing out of a fires glow on the opposing side of town. He couldn’t help but grin slightly at the sight.

The man gasped slightly as the little boy’s delicate fingers shook his arm slightly.

He looked down to see brilliant emerald cat-like eyes staring back up at him in an exhausted question… “M… Mister, who are you?”

Corey Smiled, “Well Autumn, you see I am your uncle, Corey Llewyn.” He held the kid, speaking with a melodious and soothing voice. “Let me tell you a story, you see there was a young man, who liked this girl a whole lot, then one night he did something with her he shouldn’t have. The girl came to live with this young man’s family, and this young man had a brother who was 7. The girl was not happy, and then sadly one day the little boy’s big brother died in a horrible accident. And though the girl who was with child cursed the family and left, and the young man’s family left their home traveling far away.” Corey sighed, “Then after many years the little 7 year old grew up coming back home, and all the while searching for his brother’s child…. And he and I finally found you…”

Finishing his tale, and well on his way to his home, Corey looked down then. Then smiled, seeing the little kid’s eyes closed peacefully, his little head nuzzles against Corey’s shirt. Having been put to sleep by a story for the first time in his life, an act was magic in itself.