literature

Introspection

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(this is when I lived in Stony. I am still only 21, my hair is short, my teeth are straight, and my CP, shunt, tube, and scars are all still long-gone. Marc and his friends are all still normal humans)






I lay in my bed, wide awake, around 9 pm. My dad and Barb were both away at work, and Brandon had left about half an hour ago to stay overnight at a friend’s house, so I was alone.

I gradually relaxed, drifting off to sleep. For some reason, I felt as though something was missing from my life. Countless times I had fought and defeated my enemies, and it was nice to know they were gone now.

But something still felt…off…with my life.

Fighting Marc and his friends, defeating them, enjoying peace, but sooner or later, they’d return, prompting me to fight and defeat them once more.

It was a vicious cycle, that I had no idea how to break.

”Lord, if there is something about my enemies that has not yet been revealed to me, please help me understand so I can allow You to help me conquer them forever! I ask nothing more of You!”

I drifted off again; dreams of my enemies mercifully absent from my mind.

Getting up the next morning, I had a shower, dressed in jeans and my grey wolf t-shirt, and slicked my hair back.

I grabbed a quick breakfast, cleaned up, then went for a walk.

I tried not to think about my enemies or about the possibility that they could someday return.

I felt as if I did dwell on such thoughts, I would go mad.

However, the resulting misery I felt from such thoughts was dispelled the moment I found the pendant.

I had just gone to Stonewall Quarry Park, and was walking quietly amongst the ruins of the old stone buildings, when a distant gleam caught my eye.
I stopped, and squinted, noticing the gleam was coming from the grass close to one of the old buildings.

Intrigued, I ran over, and crouched down to look in the grass.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw a necklace.

It was the most astonishing piece of jewelry I had ever seen!

A long silver chain held a penny-sized bloodstone orb that was encircled by a silver dragon, whose wings came up to surround the stone as it rested on the dragon’s back!!

I grinned as I slipped the pendant on, then continued walking, enjoying the warm summer afternoon.

Upon noticing a gleam out of the corner of my eye, I glanced down at the pendant, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Shrugging it off, I headed down the road. However, I’d gone only a few steps when I suddenly heard Marc’s voice:

”…stop him, once and for all!!” I spun, looking around, but saw no one.

I was alone, but knew that I had definitely heard my enemy’s voice!

I stopped, and, without really knowing what I was doing, closed my eyes. I imagined that I could feel my enemy’s presence close by, like a metal detector when it locates metal.

I opened my eyes, spinning in one fluid motion and grabbing Marc’s wrist just as he swung his fist at me, then, with strength I never knew I had, squeezed and crushed the bones in his wrist, making him scream in agony, before I grabbed him by the throat with my other hand, spun, and threw him nearly twenty feet through the air!!

I spun, not caring to watch as Marc slammed into a tree, crashing down through the branches before slamming into the ground, out cold!!

I instantly grabbed Judas’s right arm, spinning as I twisted it, making him scream like a girl as I swiftly kneeled, throwing him over me, and landing a swift double slug to his head, knocking him out cold!!

Spinning, I rose and instantly landed a lightning-fast double kick between Moloch and Curtis, sending them flying!!

I finally swung my fist, punching Dallas’s left shoulder so hard that the force popped his arm clean out of its socket, making him shriek like a banshee from the explosion of pain!!

That I instantly stopped with a fast slug to his right temple, dropping him like a ton of bricks and knocking him out cold!!

I suddenly shook my head, stepping back, and when I saw my five enemies all sprawled on the ground around me, I gasped.

From the second I started fighting them, to this instant, no more than ten seconds had passed!! I could hardly believe it!! I had fought and beaten my enemies in just ten seconds!!

In no previous battle against them, did I ever beat them in that short a time.

I surmised that somehow, I had moved with superhuman speed and also displayed inhuman strength!!

I turned toward home, and took off; the world around me seeming to almost come to a standstill!!!

Upon reaching my back gate, I instantly crouched, and leapt…

Upon seeing the house and my yard almost ten feet below, I gasped, but managed to clear the entire house and land crouched in the front yard on the grass, having suffered no injury whatsoever!!

Standing up, I swallowed hard. So, since finding this strange pendant, I could fight my enemies with superhuman strength, leap over my house in one bound and land with ease, and run at superhuman speeds!!

What was happening to me?

Upon noticing it was sunset, I decided to head in, have a bath, and go to bed.

However, I noticed that I’d sustained some pretty nasty scrapes and bruises from the fight.

But as I felt the warm water flow over me when I turned on the tub tap, something amazing happened.

As the water flowed over the scratches and bruises, they instantly healed, leaving nothing behind!!

I grinned. Enhanced strength and speed, and now, just like Percy Jackson, I possessed healing powers from water!

I climbed out of the tub, but just as I reached for the chain to pull the plug from the tub drain, it popped out on its own!!

I drew back with a gasp, staring, stunned, at the plug.

It had somehow pulled itself from the drain, without me even touching it!!

I quickly dried off, and stepped out of the tub, before heading to my room and pulling on my plaid night pants, muscle-shirt, and my robe.

My mind whirled. ”Enhanced strength and speed, the power to heal myself with water, and now telekinesis. What next? Scales, claws, and wings?”

Little did I know that I had just foreseen the next occurrence in acquiring these powers from the pendant.

The possibility of my human form changing somehow made sense, but I had no idea just how powerful I would become!!

The next few hours were uneventful, but I did have an odd dream about becoming a dragon.

I was standing upon the quarry cliff over the canyon, watching the fading sunset, before shifting my gaze to the sky, and there, in the north, just above the horizon, was the constellation Draco.

As I watched the rising stars, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine, before feeling a gentle tingling running over my body!

I suddenly heard a ripping sound, and looked down, crying out in shock!!

My clothes were swiftly tearing apart and falling off my growing body, as my muscles swelled, but the sensation felt like a warm, kneading massage; the sensation making me close my eyes and smile.

Then, I suddenly saw my stomach flatten as a powerful eight-pack became visible; the human skin hardening and growing shiny, becoming what I recognized as dragon scales!!!

I suddenly felt all my hair start to pull together, and travel down my neck and spine; a dull tingle that gradually strengthened building just above my buttocks, before my spine suddenly pushed out from there with a loud CRACK!

There was a gentle tingling over my face as I squeezed my eyes shut; my human head slowly elongating into the unmistakable form of an Eastern dragon, as the tingling yielded two thick, foot-long whiskers!!

My eyes tingled beneath the lids, before I opened them, stunned to find my normal human vision had become the brilliant thermal vision Neo had acquired after his eyes were burnt by Bane in ‘The Matrix Revolutions’!!

A gentle twitching, pulling sensation in my shoulders made me glance back, watching as two massive, 13-meter wings swiftly emerged and grew, spreading to their full, 84-foot span, before dropping into smooth folds against my back!!

I walked slowly forward, amazed to find how easy and natural all fours now felt!!

Looking into a puddle of water on the ground, I gasped as the face of a large eastern dragon similar to Griffin from ‘Dragonheart: A New Beginning’, stared back at me!!



I came awake with a start, bolting up in bed. Quickly checking myself over, I found I was still human, but that dream seemed so real that I doubted things would remain this way for much longer.

Somehow, I felt renewed energy inside, preventing me from falling asleep again, but it didn’t matter. Getting up, I stretched, then took the medallion from my shelf, and put it back on.

Heading downstairs, I grabbed a glass of water, then put on my sandals, and headed out to the backyard, exited the gate, then climbed over the fence to the open field.

Luckily, no one was out, it was quiet, and the houses were all dark.

I looked up at the sky, smiling as the constellation Draco slowly came into view.

I recalled how, almost every other time I’d become a dragon, those stars had something to do with the change.

But why did I always feel so drawn to them?

I suddenly remembered the words of Lord Osric:

”Small minds see what they wish, and require guidance to understand the truth.”

And another unknown one: ”The struggle you’re in today, is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.”

That last one made me realize: ”If the dream I had was a sign, then maybe I can finally be set free to live the life I was meant to live!”

I smiled at the thought, and came to understand that each and every time I had turned, was a gift from the Lord Himself, to show me my true strength.

I also found myself remembering the moment that the wizard Drethan had helped unearth my true self, my inner Shadow Dragon, from the depths of my mind.

That made me wonder: ”What if my true form is already within me, and I just need to understand it, in order to set it free?”

Now confident, I sat down, crossed my legs, and rested my hands on my lap, closing my eyes. I breathed slowly and deeply to calm myself, and focused.

”Strive to seek, and you will find what lies beneath…”

As I continued to meditate, the red streaks in the bloodstone in my pendant began to shimmer diffusely, like a light seen deep underwater! As I sank deeper into my meditation, all feeling left my body, and I opened my eyes.

Now, I found myself standing in an immense grassy field almost overrun with beautiful white narcissus flowers with fiery yellow-orange core blooms!!

I looked down at myself, finding I was still human, but wore no clothes.

I walked toward one flower, crouching and crawling onto all fours, before leaning down to look at it. I smiled, then closed my eyes, and inhaled the soft scent of the beautiful flower.

As if it were a trigger, the scent of the narcissus sent a shock down my spine, as my eyes snapped open, and glancing down, I gasped, watching in disbelief as a strange orange-amber power like fire flashed out of my fingernails and toenails, before it surged upward over my body; the pale human flesh being swiftly overtaken by golden scales…DRAGON SCALES!!

I gasped, feeling my human body shift; my spine lengthening as my muscles swelled! My feet automatically twitched, flexing, and as I watched, stunned, my toenails slowly turned black, and began lengthening into talons; my fingernails following seconds later, as my little toes on each foot rose up my ankle, forming a dewclaw, and the four remaining toes grew alongside them, becoming huge, four-clawed digitigrade feet!!

The light continued coursing over my form as the change swiftly flowed up my ankles and legs, ripping my pants to shreds; my heels rising as my leg muscles rapidly bulked with muscle, my hips growing rapidly as my waist thickened, and my skin rapidly deepened to a cross between tan and copper; the scales forming and hardening as swiftly as my skin’s colour shifted!!

I could feel my innards reforming as my skeletal structure swiftly altered into a draconic form; powerful new muscles weaving swiftly over my body as my heels lengthened, slowly rising higher, but the lengthened talons of my new feet instantly helped me to balance, although just a little.

Looking down, I watched my waist rapidly thicken as my stomach flattened; a powerful six-pack forming as my chest broadened and deepened, tearing my shirt apart!!

I suddenly squeezed my eyes shut as I felt my neck start to lengthen; at the same time, my skull slowly reshaped itself; a dragon muzzle growing slowly as I felt horns start to slowly push out of my skull!!

Suddenly I collapsed, feeling a horrible wrenching sensation in my shoulders; the light rapidly intensifying due to my pain!

Throwing back my head, I screamed from the pain, only it emerged not a human cry, but a full-blooded draconic roar!!

I felt my spine shift, twisting as it literally slithered out, just above my backside; the skin, muscles, and nerves forming as fast as the tail grew, before there was a loud CRACK!

Glancing backward, I gasped upon noticing it had formed a lethal-looking double-edged spike at the tip, which I soon found quite easy to control!! I was also stunned to find that my shoulders had in fact split; a second set now just behind and beneath my original ones!!

Then, abruptly, two fragile, paper-thin wings sprang from my second pair of shoulder blades, glowing eerily from the light, but my adrenaline somehow caused them to almost immediately seize; the bones rapidly growing and shaping as they trembled, soon forming and spreading to a massive span of precisely 78 feet (24 meters)!!

They folded suddenly, dropping smoothly against my body.

Then everything stopped, as the light and power slowly faded from my body!

I remained where I was for several long seconds, afraid to move. Then slowly, carefully, I opened my eyes.

Instantly, I was stunned when I saw everything in stunning, radiant golden light, but could clearly distinguish the shapes, sizes, and forms of objects, and that’s when I knew:

I now possessed Neo’s thermal vision from the Matrix Revolutions!!

Glancing down, I cried out upon seeing my large, scaly draconic hands with the scythe-like claws, and glanced back, lashing my tail, and testing my wings.

I felt absolute elation as I slowly spread them to their full span, then reared up, tensed my muscles, and took off, pumping my gigantic wings furiously. I glanced back, watching the lot, and all the houses and cars, rapidly fade to mere specks!!

Turning west, I took off, catching a thermal and heading to the beach, which was deserted, luckily for me.

Flying lower, I stopped, letting my gigantic wings easily hold me aloft, and as I looked down at the lake, I gasped as I beheld Griffin, himself, from Dragonheart 2!!

My thermal vision cast my red scales into deep brown, and my gold hues into brilliant orange-amber! My graceful curved horns were black, and my ridge was golden-white!!

The brilliant icy blue of my eyes was a dazzling white, and my slit pupils were black; the contrast giving a truly striking appearance!!

”Wow…!!” I was absolutely stunned. I truly was a magnificent dragon, and unlike the film, I knew I was very kind, wise, and gentle; nothing like in the movie, where Griffin despised humanity and chose evil over good.

I didn’t care if people mistook me for the evil dragon. I would quickly prove to all who encountered me that I was as kind and gentle as Drake himself, and as wise as Draco!

Glancing down, I smiled, reaching up to gently stroke the dragon pendant around my neck; the dragon shimmering gold in my vision, as the jewel shone white like the sun!!

Glancing down, I now saw all the narcissus flowers; each one of them a deep amber hue outlined in shimmering gold, like a shadow fringed with golden light!!

The sight of the thousands of shimmering, glowing narcissi filled me with such wonder that I momentarily forgot to breathe!!

I then looked up at the sky, now shining brilliant gold as the blinding white sun shone down!!

I smiled, breathing the fresh air and closing my eyes, lifting my wings as I felt the cool breezes on my scales.

It was at that moment I had a revelation: All of those instances when God had, directly or indirectly, granted me freedom from my humanity to enjoy my most desirable form, a dragon, were mere reprieves, and this, now, was the ultimate release:

I had finally, truly, broken the binds of humanity to become what I really was, just as Lord Osric had.

Like him, I knew I would cherish my new existence forever, but unlike Osric, I would live a humble, joyful, free existence, unburdened by hatred or revenge against humanity or any other race.

I may have become Griffin in body, but I was still myself in mind and heart, and, most importantly, wise, humble, and strong in spirit, just like Draco!

I looked around once more, finding I was still in the flower field, and realized that I had actually somehow been taken here; it wasn’t just a vision!

But now I understood: the time had finally come for me to bid my human existence, and life, farewell, and I did so gladly, knowing that my enemies were gone forever, and my family was now in Heaven with Jesus.

I smiled at these realizations, imagining how proud my family would have been for me.

Thus, I was finally able to let go of the hatred and revenge I’d harboured for the past twenty years because of Marc and his friends.

With that surrender, I was finally able to embrace my true nature of compassion, wisdom, and kindness; that which I felt the narcissus flower was a perfect representation of!

Reaching down, I carefully plucked one single bloom from the innumerable around me, and looked at it, smiling as I beheld its simplicity and also its sheer beauty!

After a few seconds, I lifted it slightly, and smiled as a gentle breeze sent the flower spinning into the air.

I watched the field almost shimmer with the dizzying dance of narcissi in the wind, and smiled, before looking up into the sky, feeling the warm sun on my muzzle.

”I am home, and I am FREE…!!”

With a triumphant, full-blooded roar, I took off running, then thrust my massive wings out and with one powerful spring of my hind legs and pulse of my wings, I was soaring high into the sky; the millions of narcissus flowers shining like glowing amber diamonds far below as I looked down upon them; a sight to behold!!

I lifted my gaze to the sun, and blasted a massive jet of flame across the sky.

My day of freedom had come, and a life I knew would be more wonderful than anything I could ever imagine awaited me!!

If you do some soul-searching of your own, who knows what you will discover? ;)


        The End!
Sometimes a little introspection can yield wonders greater than any of us can ever imagine.

Inspired by Griffin from ‘Dragonheart: A New Beginning’, and by the story “Ancient Obsession”, by ‘Myanmor-1’, here on dA. :)
© 2016 - 2024 Rethar-Stonehammer
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Dragonguardian253's avatar
I really do enjoy reading these stories. I also like how your character always get the drop on Marc's friends. Hope to see more of these in the near future! :peace: and :love: to you.