It always seemed to rain when I was sad.

      It was raining now; washing the blood from my hands, masking the tears streaking down my face.

      Someone squelched through the muddy grass towards me, and put their hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off; I was in no mood for comfort.

      “Come on Tobias we have to go” the man said.

      I got up in silence and followed him towards a car.

      I took one last look at the twisted wreck that had made me an orphan; the truck had flattened the front of the car against the tree killing my parents and sister. I don’t remember the crash but I had somehow survived with just a few scratches.

      I got into the car feeling as though my life was over.
*******

      That was two months ago. Now I’m 15 and a runaway hiding out in a log cabin that my dad had owned.

      The orphanage was shit; no sooner than I had arrived someone had decided I was easy pickings. I took their crap for about two weeks, then I broke some guys nose in a fit of rage (I was stronger than I looked).

      After that it was pretty much downhill, the kids left me alone but the older ones wanted me in their gang (screw that) and the adults wanted me to see a psychiatrist. All I wanted was to be left alone.

      I took about a month of this before I lost it completely, I just grabbed my stuff and ran.

      Now I was lying on the roof, basking in the sun, wondering just what in the hell I was going to do today. I began to drift off when a crash from below startled me.

      I slid myself across the roof and lowered myself into the attic window. I dropped onto the second floor landing after grabbing a loaded hunting rifle (just in case).

      I crept along the landing double-checking the safety was off; whatever it was it was big.

      My heart hammered in my chest as I reached the stairs, I noticed that the wind was starting to howl, at least that would help cover any noise I made.

      There was no sign of disturbance in the front room so I headed towards the kitchen skirting the walls.

      Rifle raised I stepped into the kitchen only to find that there was nothing except a broken plate by the sink.

      I sat the rifle on the worktop and bent down to pick up the pieces of china. A cold breeze blew across my back as I muttered “scared by a broken plate, what am I like?”

      Hold on, where did that breeze come from? The back door!

      I spun, reaching for the rifle only to find it wasn’t there, and instead it was in the hand of a broadly grinning dragon.

      “I don’t think so” the dragon said-the voice was definitely female.

      “Damn it!” I exclaimed backing against the cupboard, “I’m seeing things.”

      “Nope, I’m as real as you can get. Now calm down, if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now.”

      It was hard to believe; her scales were a silvery-white, she had spikes running down the length of her back and tail, with more on her elbows, claws on each of her digits, an arrowhead barb on the tip of her tail, her pupils were slits in her sliver eyes; all in all she looked evil.

      “What do you want?” I asked while trying to suppress the panic.

      “I wanted someone to talk to” she replied sadly.

      “What?!”

      “I’m lonely, there aren’t many dragons left.”

      “Why me?”

      “You’re lonely too. Besides there’s something different about you, you’re not like other humans. What’s your name?”

      “Tobias, what’s yours?”

      “Eziera.”
*******

      “Wake up lazy bones” said a voice somewhere nearby.
      I ignored it and pretended to be asleep; Eziera rewarded me with a sharp jab in my side.

      “Ok, ok I’m up” I said with a groan.
      Eziera slept in a room down the hall but had decided to wake me up this morning.

      “What’s with the early wake up call?” I asked grumpily.

      “I just felt like bothering you, besides you know what day this is.”

      “What’s the big deal it’s just the solstice?”

      “You really don’t know do you?”

      “No.”

      “It’s the most magical day of the year! You humans don’t
know much do you?”

      “We don’t have magic, remember. We don’t know these things.”

      “You seem to, the weather seems to follow your mood.”

      “I keep telling you I don’t know why that happens.”

      “You humans are strange creatures.”

      “You say that every other day.”

      “It’s true.”

      “Doesn’t mean you have to keep saying it.”

      “Come on, get up I’m hungry.”

      In the month she had been with me she had taken a liking to human food but still hadn’t figured out writing - I once found her trying to drink a bottle of oil and she was sick for the rest of the day.

      After dinner she insisted that she show me something. She took me up the mountain that overlooked the valley around the cabin.

      “What is it you wanted to show me?” I asked breathlessly as we reached the wooded cliff top.

      “Look” she said turning towards the valley below, “it happens around sunset on the solstice.”

      The sun was just touching the horizon bathing the forest in a soft red glow.

     “What the hell?” I saw strange blue lights moving through the forest below.

      Eziera just smiled at me and turned back to the view.

      As the lights got closer I could see that they were actually blue lightning bolts arcing between the trees.

      “What is it?” I asked her.

      “Magic discharging, it builds up over the solstice and has to go somewhere.”

      “Why haven’t humans ever noticed it before?”

      “You need magic in order to see it. You’ve spent enough time around me to pick up a few drops assuming you didn’t have any already.”

      The arc was getting closer now and I noticed Eziera was starting to tense up. I stood up as she did when it started to get a little too close for comfort.

      “Er, do you…?”

      “I’m not really sure” she cut in, “but it’ll probably kill you.”

      “Run?”

      “Run!”

      I turned and sprinted as fast as I could. I took about three steps before I heard a loud crackling sound and pain exploded in my back.

      “Aaaah!” I screamed as I fell to the ground.

      “Tobias!” Eziera cried.

      I curled up as spasms of pain ran through my body. As the spasms faded an incredible burning started in the area of my back the bolt had struck.

      “Tobias, I’m so sorry,” Eziera said sadly; all she could do was stand and watch as I slowly died.

      I felt as though my blood was on fire but I noticed that my arms were itchy and starting to peel revealing shades of blue.

      “What the hell’s happening?!” I gasped getting used to the constant pain.

      “That’s impossible!” Eziera was clearly as confused as I was.

      Those scales. My scales. Dragon scales.

      My middle two fingers began to fuse together painfully, as the scales spread up my arm. I cried out, razor sharp talons had pierced the tips of my fingers splattering hot blood on the ground.

      There was more itching, burning and pain across my body.

      My feet tore through my trainers as they became the three-toed taloned feet of a dragon. A fourth toe pierced my heel which would allow me to stand easily on my toes were I not writhing on the dirt.

      My back arched reflexively as my shoulder blades were pushed apart by two new limbs growing from my spine. I screamed as they tore through my flesh. I felt hot blood run down my back as the limbs continued to grow. The claw-tipped fingers elongated as a silvery-white membrane spread between them.

      I felt a pressure build up in the bottom of my back but instead of my skin tearing open it just seemed to get worse.

      My ribs heaved and groaned as my chest expanded, my organs sloshed as they changed and for an instant my heart stopped. In that moment I felt nothing, absolutely nothing it seemed to last a long time and no time at all.

      With a crash the world came flooding back bringing the pain with it.

      I immediately began hacking up blood and gunge as my throat began to change. There was something white in the goo, teeth. I had spat out my own teeth!

      Pain exploded in my skull, it felt as though it was being crushed in a vice. My face was pulled forward and narrowed into a muzzle. Teeth erupted from my gums like hot knives and my tongue narrowed and forked at the end.

      The transformation had irritated my nose and I did something between a sneeze and a blow, sending a huge jet of green flame into the sky.

      Spikes erupted down the length of my spine and two small horns grew on the top of my snout.

      My vision blurred and when it cleared I could see differently; I could see new colours, when I blinked I could see normally again. I could swap between dragon and human sight.

      I looked up at Eziera and gave her a weak smile knowing that my eyes were slitted like hers. She lay down beside me and wrapped her wing over my shaking form.

      I was so tired, so very tired, I just curled up and closed my eyes.

      It was over. The transformation, the pain, and my life as a human.