Page 71 of Within the Veil

You have no idea. There is an entire movie series where people love owls, rats and orange cats.

"You dare not insult Harry Potter in this cavern!" Elysia roars.

Oh fuck, not another one.I shook my head. Hudson will love her.

Do you have any other volume than 'fucking annoying,' or is that the only way you know how to communicate? You should work on that.

Erebos stomps his large feet, making the cavern shake and unleashes a torrent of fire in my direction. Instead of bracing myself for the searing pain of having my flesh melt off my glorious bones, a surge of adrenaline wells up within me, and I roar, running toward the flames. Because if I am going to die, I won't spend my final moments in fear; no, I will be choking the fucker with my bones. When the fire overtakes me, instead of burning, my bones crack and shift with an intensity that should be unbearable, but the flames washing over me seem to dull the pain as my flesh stretches and contorts, adapting to my rapidly changing form. The sensation of heat intensifies, flowing through my veins like molten lava, reshaping me from within.

My body, still in motion, crashes into Erebos's shocked face, and I land on top of his body, pinning him down.

I shake my head in confusion and sit up, and look up, suddenly seeing the room from a completely different standpoint.

"Holy shit," Aureus murmurs, stepping closer. I snap at him and he chuckles.

"Fuck," Pyralis adds.

"Wow, your scales are so pretty," Elysia says, a touch of reverence in her tone.

Wait. Scales?I look down at my body, and instead of my glorious white fur, I am covered in an array of shimmering purple and gold scales that, even in the dim like of the cavern, seem to pulse with their own life as the hues of purple meld seamlessly with streaks of liquid gold. I close my eyes briefly and take a deep breathe, feeling my mind explode with information from the complexities of languages and sciences to mathematics and magical theory. My body thrums with power, and I open my eyes to stare at my body, my muscles flexing as I move, trying to catch myself from every angle. Oh, I'm not just a Dragon, I am a fucking majestic, gorgeous...

"As amazing as it is to hear your inner monologue, get off of me," Erebos groans from underneath me.

I jump slightly, completely forgetting that my goal here was to kill him for trying to kill me. I hum slightly, enjoying the fact that my slightly large frame is an inconvenience to his mouth little dragon bitchass. Some human terms are quite relatable, I think to myself.

I lean my head forward and gaze into his large eyes, "Hmm, I don't think so. I rather sit right here and stare at myself," I say out loud, and I startle at the husky yet silky feminine voice that comes out.

"Your eyes!" Is his only response, and I blink at him.

"What about my eyes?" I turn around and move off of him so I can face his parents.

"Extraordinary," Anya says softly.

"Quite," Balor adds, his tone gruff.

"What?" I ask again, a touch of annoyance in my voice. I can appreciate being admired, I am quite spectacular, but right now, I am worried that I have radioactive eyes. Radioactivity makes me volatile.

Aurelia chuckles, "We are going to have to teach you how to block your thoughts. But to answer your question, your eyes are no longer the amber hues of your lion form, they are the color of your scales, a rich purple with pure gold. They are magnificent."

Anya comes forward, her heavy steps making the floor quake, and once again, I find myself looking up at a giant dragon. Did I say three times Erebos' size? I meant five. She leans forward and breathes deeply, "Phenomenal. It's not often that I doubt my senses, but your change is not merely a shift in forms. This change goes as deep as your molecular composition."

"What does that all mean?" I ask, looking up at her curious eyes.

"As you know, dragons are Gaia's first creation. Our lineage marks the birth of magic in this realm and beyond. Our kind, much like the Fae, have witnessed the birth and death of civilizations, the evolution of languages, and the tapestry of histories unfolding. But our knowledge goes beyond simple observation; we have absorbed the knowledge and wisdom of countless generations. That knowledge is passed down to all dragons from the moment of conception by 'Dracanima,' a unique connection that we share," her hushed tone is laced with wonder as she continues to observe me closely. I find myself hanging on her every word. "When you transformed, you didn't just take on our physical form. That unique connection, our millennia of experience and understanding, is part of you now. Your shock at your knowledge is completely understandable. What we are born with has been given to you in an instant. You see, Dragons don't just 'speak'- we communicate in the universal language of life, in rhythms and patterns older than the oldest of tongues. That is why your grasp of language, speech, sciences, and beyond has expanded. While I can still smell the undertones of your lioness, you are not just a dragon in body, Xena, but in spirit and knowledge as well." She lifts a giant claw and pokes my body.

Forgetting who she is, I swat her claw away with a scowl, "I'm not a pin-cushion."

Did you just swat a Dragon Queen? Are you out of your damn mind?Cerubus screams in my head.

I wince,Shhh, maybe she didn't notice, and I won't die.

She chuckles, "Indeed, you are not a pin-cushion, nor will you die. Forgive my, well,oursurprise. A familiar suddenly taking the form of a Dragon, as you can gather, is unheard of and unprecedented. But when you add all of that to the fact that your eye color denotes royalty and untold power," she huffs out a breath. "In short, you, Xena, have shocked us." Anya pauses and shakes her head briefly. "Dragons cannot be scryed or seen, our magic blocks it. That limitation goes for us, as well. Although, it is a confirmation of what we surmised our role will be in this war of yours."

My next question is cut off as Cerubus flys around my head in his Pheonix form.Centuries older and you get a better form than I did. At least we are both mythical and mystical creatures. I cannot wait to show off to the other familiars. We are bad-ass.

"They will know nothing. We cannot risk this getting back to Nici. We can show off after I eat her," I laugh at the disappointment coursing through him. "Oh stop pouting you know I'm right."

Lame.

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