Page 46 of Wings of Frost and Fury
“You only want me?” Her smile is beginning to fracture at the edges. “Even if you can’t have little dragon babies?”
“I would be a terrible father. My future offspring are better off not existing.”
“Well, now, that’s just silly. You’re kind, devoted, strong, and intelligent. Excellent material for fatherhood.”
“I am also selfish and overly controlled by certain bodily pleasures.”
“That can be managed.”
“Why are we speaking of this?” My tone hardens. “I will never mate with any other female, dragon or human. Any such joining would be hollow, sickening, and repulsive to me. When the heat comes upon me, I will wedge myself into a crack of the mountain and remain there until it passes… unless…” I lower my voice. “Unless I can be like you again, and spend mating season with you, in delirious bliss.”
Thelise stares at me. Her eyes sparkle as if there’s liquid in them—tears, perhaps. Dragons rarely weep, though all of us shed tears at Guilhorn.
“I can do this,” she says softly, as if she’s reassuring herself. “I can atone for it all. I can give you your wishandsave this species. But it will hurt me, Ashvelon, and you have toletit hurt me, do you understand? You have to help me through this. If I ask for something, bring it. If I tell you to go away, leave. If I’m casting the spell, do not interfere, not even if you hear me screaming in pain. If I need your frost-fire, or one of your scales, or your saliva, you must contribute it instantly, without asking why.”
I bow my head in agreement.
“Good dragon. I noticed a few carvings on the walls of this cave—symbols and words, both in Dragonish and the Eventongue. Do you know how to write words in stone?”
“I can write Dragonish symbols,” I reply. “I speak and understand the Eventongue, but I never learned to write or read it.”
“If I write something on the cave wall in ink, can you trace those letters and carve them deep into the stone? It’s very important that they be traced precisely, with perfect accuracy.”
“You want me to engrave the spell in stone for you, without knowing what I am writing?”
She purses her lips. “Yes. It’s best if this spell is committed to stone, you see, because that ensures its permanence. But I understand if that’s too much to ask—”
“I’ll do it.”
“Ashvelon, you don’t have to—”
“I trust you,” I interrupt.
“Even after the story I told you about Katlee?” Her brown eyes soften with sadness. “I have a reputation, you know. People say my spells often turn out wrong. I could tell you that I made those mistakes on purpose, but why should you believe me? What if I do something dreadful to your species by accident?”
“Then we will be no worse off than before,” I reply. “Without you, we will die out anyway. If there are no females, there will be no hatchlings, and we are already few in number from the dragon hunts, the plague, and the war. When the mating frenzy comes upon us at the Rib Moon, if we have no females with whom to breed, there will be no eggs. No future generations. And we will suffer a decline in our magic. Our power is replenished by the joys of mating, and without a successful frenzy, we will be diminished in more ways than one. Whatever you do to us, it will be no worse than what lies ahead if you do nothing.”
Thelise rises from her seat, swings her legs over the edge of the nest, and drops to the stone floor of the cave. She comes to me, arms open, and I press my nose against her breasts. She hugs my face and sighs, as if she finds comfort in touching me.
“I talk a big game, Ash darling,” she says. “But I’m scared. I’m terrified of doing this.”
In the back of my mind I hear Mordessa’s voice—beautiful words of encouragement that she spoke to me months ago, before we joined the war. I speak the same words quietly to Thelise as I nuzzle against her. “Fear is the stone that sharpens your purpose, the wind that teaches you to fly higher. Let it drive you tovictory.”
11
Writing the spell takes an age. I start with the wording of the temporary charm I used to transform Ashvelon. It’s a decent foundation, but crafting a spell to transform all the dragons is far more complex.
I’m not making them perpetually human. They will still be dragons, with about an eight-hour period in human form each day. They’ll eventually have control over the shift, so they’ll be able to parcel out that time according to their needs or preferences.
I have to consider their reproductive systems, too. They must be able to breed with human women, and those women will have to carry dragon eggs, which must be small enough to emerge through the average vagina without causing significant damage.
My spell must also include certain instincts and patterns of movement. The males can’t be entirely helpless in humanform—they must be able to function, and any learning curve should be fairly easy to overcome.
Beyond those essentials, the men have to be handsome. I personally find many different types of bodies and faces attractive, but in this crisis, let’s be honest—beauty and muscles will make everythingsomuch easier. Mating season is just days away. I need these women to fall for their dragons quickly, so the dragons’ outer appearance as humans should be visually appealing, as well as reflecting something of their personality.
Every woman on this island has different taste in men—if they like men at all—and I can’t create an ideal mate customized to each of them. Nor do I want to dabble in the territory of love spells, which can veer dangerously into the loss of free will. But as I’m designing the enchantment, I can incorporate certain universally attractive elements into the mix.
The section of the spell dictating the dragons’ human appearance turns out to be quite long. I include wording to ensure physical strength, facial symmetry, and extra height. There will be different shades of skin, but all will be smooth and unmarred. Their teeth will be straight and white. Their hair will vary in color, style, and texture, and to supplement that part of the spell, I add a version of the charm I use on my own hair, so their waves, locs, braids, or curls will remain clean and beautiful without the men having to learn any sort of hair care routine. Their lives will be complicated enough as they transition to an existence as shifters.
