50.3 Very Large

General Summary

Day 1106

Waking is disorienting, even more so than when I first woke as fae. Starfield is snuggled up next to me protectively in her dragon form…but she is smaller than me. Lyssa is also nestled in with me, tiny and almost hard to feel in her elven form. If it weren’t for my hyper-awareness of my family, I might be afraid of crushing her. At a low table nearby, Void and Mistress are waiting, clearly chatting comfortably and getting to know one another. Darkness, in humanoid form, steps into my field of view to greet me.  

Oh…I’m very large…

  And I understand now why this cavern was dug out to be so immense. I am as large as No Moon was when I met him in his youthful, still-growing state. He grew to be 500m long…and I must be well over 300m if even Starfield feels small wrapped around me.   He chuckles and suggests that I just take a moment to feel my body without moving. At this scale, I can properly take in Starfield’s dragon form for the first time. She is such a deep blue that she is almost black, with almost fae-style azure markings from her eyes and horns over her back. The horns glow like a comet, and the underside of her wings are vast and star-speckled like the night sky.   My own scales are tiny (compared to my body) and soft black, more delicate and closely overlayed than the hard armoured scales of dragons like Onyx or Crag. I can feel my neck, spine, and tail extended in coils and coils, tangled with Starfield’s limbs. Narrow, slender horns curve back from my brow and smaller horns continue in two ridges down my long neck, until they meet my shoulders and fade into the rest of my scales. From that point, a single translucent membrane traces down my spine and tail until it meets the gentle, leaf-shaped fluke at the tip of my tail.   Under Darkness’ watchful eye, the humanoids give me some space so that I can can follow the elder dragon’s instructions to orient my new body. He helps me feel each point in my tail with his own cold magic, then has me adjust in small increments as Starfield presses against me to provide some resistance. After a while, I can start to recognize the many new bones and degrees of movement in my serpentine body.   Before long, I am standing in the cavern and unfurling wings that are much larger, much more complex, and much more powerful than my delicate night fae wings. These ones hinge and fold in many different segments. As a child of Sky, Starfield tells me, we will likely be unmatched in the air with our dexterity.   Indeed, even in the unmoving air of the cavern, I can feel nearly imperceptible currents whispering along the gossamer thin membrane that makes up my wingspan. They are so delicate that the immense expanse folds up neatly alongside my body - I might suspect some dimensional magic was at play if not for it being part of my own form. The membranes themselves are translucent, smokey black with a green shine coursing across the upper side of the wing. But from beneath, they are the familiar night blue of my fae wings - stars and a gentle aurora just emerging into the night sky.   Finally, with both Darkness and Starfield coaching me, I am able to transform back into my humanoid form…and begin the several hundred metre walk back to the entrance of the cavern. When I reach her, Starfield wraps me up into a hug. I think both of us are relieved that I still feel like myself, and the only thing that has strengthened is the sense that we are sisters. She had been worried that I might take on some of No Moon’s presence to the point that I felt like a parent.   Fortunately Starfield and I will remain together for quite a while so she can guide me through various new dragon experiences, like flying. Darkness suggests moving individual segments of my neck and tail to take advantage of my dexterity and flexibility. And picking things up, because I am liable to accidentally crush things if I am not careful.  

And take care of my son. Now that you’ve gotten through the hard part, it’s time for me to go.

  Before he leaves, Darkness offers me a pendant made of delicate black metal with a pointed crystal held by a dragon’s claw. The jewel is so dark that the segments are undetectable - I can only touch it to feel the sharp edges. He tells me that I can use it to speak to him, and he will answer if he can. As we hug goodbye, I’m overwhelmed by the similarity between his aura and the Empress’. And it feels more intimate now…we are blood relatives, after all. And then, after his goodbyes to Void and Oblivion, he steps into a shadow and vanishes.   Back in the main cavern, Lyssa and Mistress tell me that the transformation took me twelve days and was remarkably gentle, according to Darkness. In the illusion that Mistress shows me, a dark egg formed around me and I emerged as a dragon before growing rapidly until I woke. It is funny watching my tiny dragon hatchling form grow at an almost visible pace until I am nearly filling the additional cavern.   Deeper into the Grove, Lilliales emerges and barrels into me with a hug. He’s a little bashful about having gotten into such a mess by humiliating Jin Hao’s apprentice…but we conclude that the young man definitely deserved it and it was a job well done by Liliales.  

Days 1107 - 1109

  Over the next few days, the entire group prepares to move on from the origin tree. I catch Phalieae curiously watching Detoura and Cantha, seemingly satisfied with their behaviour though still quite detached.   Magdalena and Qing Chen depart, after she makes me promise not to touch any more cycles and give myself time to rest. I hope that when we reconvene at the Grotto, they will have my little brother’s bones in tow and the demon issues resolved. I hope to see Qing Chen as a free Demon King.