DiceGames: The Ratter

This is my first entry to Lady Antimony's DiceGames challenge; there will be one for every monday of September. You throw a dice and look up the corresponding prompt from Lady Antimony's list. The rules are here. For this week, I rolled number one: "You've woken up to discover you're a rat - what's happening?"

His little heart flung itself against his ribs like a bird in a cage. Smells and sounds befuddled his senses, everything was happening too fast. He had to change back, but found he couldn’t.

“Allera! Why are you doing this to me? Let me change back!” He squeaked upwards, hoping the sorceress would answer his plea, but she only laughed.

“This is your punishment, fool!” Her cold, green eyes stared down from high up. “I saw what you did.”

“But—”

“I will let you change back once you’ve found the hairpin I lost in the vegetable garden.” Her perfect lips formed a circle as she spoke, “Go.”

What good is being a shapeshifter when your magic can be blocked by a sorceress? He shook his pointy head. He should have left the first time this happened.

The shapeshifter in rat form scuttled under the backdoor. He stood for a moment, sniffing the air for cats or the neighbour’s ratter. Birds he couldn’t smell, he would just have to spot the shadow of the predator before the claws caught him.

Fighting down the urge to grab and eat the beetle that skittered past, he scurried to the far end of the vegetable garden. It wasn’t huge, but he would do better to be meticulous in his search. One row at a time he searched for the elusive hairpin.

Why does she even have one? Her silken brown hair didn’t need any adornments.

The hairpin wasn’t in the field of peas or in the row of beef tomatoes. Desperately he climbed onto a cabbage. His little claws sunk into the tender plant as he balanced on his hind legs.

Swaying back and forth atop the mound of green he failed to notice the shadow passing over him. A shrill cry alerted him; quickly he pulled his claws free and jumped to the ground.

Oh no, not a…

In a flurry of brown the little bird landed in front of him. Before he could run and hide, squeaky words burst from the grey beak: “She cast you out again! The Sorceress cast you out again!”

“Shut up, virra.” The stubby front legs were just long enough to cover his ears.

“I have a name, you know.” The bird mercifully fell silent for a moment.

“Shut up!” he shouted; the bird had opened its beak to speak again. The ball of feathers looked insulted.

“No, it’s Yeolde, and I have what you seek.” The bird held up a spindly grey leg, revealing a decorative hairpin. The thin claws holding the pin spread, but hairpin did not fall. “It’s stuck until you remove it, but you have to be severely annoyed.”

Rats did not communicate with facial expressions, but somehow he managed to convey the emotion to the virra.

“I see you are in the correct frame of mind. Take the thing; I need to earn my daily grain.”

He cringed at his pink foreleg; this wasn’t his true form. He had to change back soon, or the need to chew something, anything, would become overwhelming.

How other beings survived living in one shape was beyond his understanding. Likely ignorance kept them placate, stupidity in some cases. Allera the Sorceress was different; she was a powerful earth mage. She could encase herself in the life essence of an animal, thus becoming it. Although her magic was different from shapeshifter magic, the end result was much the same.

It had been her magic and the way she wielded it that had drawn him to her. He had been her apprentice for years, fetching herbs from deepest woods, taking care of the garden, keeping the house clean, all just to be close to her.

He squeezed himself under the door, the accursed pin held firm in his grasp. She waited for him, arms crossed across her chest.

“Go look for my ring,” she spoke without looking at him.

“Yes, exalted sorceress.” He sighed; she didn’t care to hear her real or her pet names when she was angry.

“Watch out for the cat.”

“Yes… Wait, the cat?” He froze, this was going too far.

“The neighbour’s cat has been skulking around. I’ll deal with the feline if he becomes too interested in you.” Stifled anger was clear in the tone of her voice.

“I am not going through this again.” Something in his voice moved her. Slowly she lowered her gaze, her arms falling down into her lap. “What exactly did I do wrong?”

“I saw how you looked at that bitch.” She looked away; he followed her gaze to the window. Outside a pitch-black rat-dog was busy digging.

“I may be able to take the form of a dog, but I am not interested in them!” He felt repulsed at the thought; him, a noble shapeshifter, able to take form of a wolf, looking lustily at a dog? Ugh. “Even if I were, I have you. You’re beautiful and talented in magic. I couldn’t believe my luck when you asked me ‘how do shapeshifters court?’”

He could feel the spell lifting from his shoulders. With joy he changed back into his true form, a human. He walked on two legs, he had hands again, and he could smile with his lips and kiss his lovely wife.

“You said the shapeshifters of the Southern Plains bring a piece of fresh meat to their loved one. But you didn’t live in the plains anymore.” She smiled, her eyes the colour of the forest lighting up. “Then you kissed me.”

Gently his arms slid around. Her cheek rested against his chest, so soft and warm. How she could have thought him stupid enough to look at another female, he could not understand.

“Don’t belittle yourself, dear wife,” he whispered into her ear. “The enchantment you cast has not faded.”

Friday Flash: Light and Dark

Another flash from Fain's life. This is a follow up to my previous friday flash, Alhena.

A rut was beginning to form on the soft summer ground as the shapeshifter in drake form stomped back and forth. The form was tough to achieve even with decades of practise; only a dragon form was stronger.

“I am Ragh, head of the Guardians of the Red Dragons,” the drake snorted, it’s threading slowly coming to a halt. “I’m the one responsible for whipping you weaklings into shape.”

Fain swallowed hard. This had been Alhena’s idea; he suspected the red dragon and his partner Nuria had plotted this together. It would keep him busy for two summers, but he would return home for the winters.

“You are not one of the Ruby Scales.” Ragh had stopped in front of him. Coal-black eyes stared at him from atop a blunt scaly snout. “Name and tribe?”

“I am Fain of the Leather Wing tribe. We guard the black dragons.” His fingers twitched as he fought the change. Whenever upset, his fingers would change into cold blue claws. In an animal form the change wouldn’t be formidable, but his ‘true form’ was human.

“Not the Shadows upon the Sun?” A black forked tongue slid from the maw, tasting the air for sings of lying. “Good. They should be hunted down for aiding the evil God in his war.”

Anger flared in Fain’s heart. He quenched it too late; Ragh had spotted the outrage on his face. A smooth, cold hand grabbed his hand and lifted the icy blue talons into view. Ragh studied the hand for a moment before speaking. “You feel strongly about the blacks. Most of them aren’t evil, I can give you that.”

He let Fain’s hand fall, looking into the young shapeshifter’s light brown eyes before continuing. “The children of dragons have four enemies: each other, giant ants, vampbirds and poachers, although you don’t see much of the latter nowadays. Some cruel single-form decided it’d be easier to capture our young and force them into the shape of dragon, and— Get up! You’ll face crueller things while protecting the dragons!” The old warrior grabbed a dark green panther by the scruff of the neck. He stared into the lidded eyes until they opened. “Are you cut out for this, boy?”

“Yes,” the panther spoke in a hiss. They stared at each other for a moment. Abruptly Ragh released his grip and the panther fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Remember, when facing a human do not think of their wife and children.” A sharp talon drew a line across the dirty green throat. “Think of the dragons, or your kin if the lizards do not evoke loyalty. The dragons protect us during the Long Night. Without their aid, the creatures of the dark will slip into your homes, kill and eat your family. Some of them walk on two legs. Remember what they did to the—”

Ragh cast a look at Fain, shaking his head as he swallowed the words. Others were looking at him; pity mixed with apprehension. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ragh spoke first.

“Watch.” The arrow-shaped head came down to touch the scaly chest. Arms extended before him, two black claws reaching for each other until they touched. Power sparked in the air as the drake form shapeshifter drew the claws apart. Two shapes, one golden, the other black, formed in between. Wings grew from the backs, necks extended reaching for each other. Two legless dragons squirmed in the air for a moment before Ragh banished them.

“We shapeshifters cannot control the elements around us, our magic comes from the inside. But we can use the innate magic of the form we’ve taken: dragons can belch fire and sea serpents breathe water. We can also extend our magic outside of ourselves to create barriers and illusions. You are going to attempt the hardest illusion. It’s old Dragon Guard magic, used to scare off… pretty much anything.”

“Light and Dark?” The panther asked.

“Yes, you are going to create two dragons. Not real ones, were not reaching for divinity. Only illusions. But because of what we’re doing they’ll look and feel real. You are going to reach down inside of yourself and use what’s good, pure and such to create the dragon Light. Then comes the hard part: you have to fight down your revulsion and use the darker side of yourself to create Dark. Fain, you try first.”

Fain fell inside of himself with ease, he swam in the sweet memories of Nuria’s lips upon his, their first night together and her promise to be his.

From somewhere outside of himself he heard a faint raspy voice: “Remember the darkness.”

Regretfully he drew back. Elation still flowed through his veins; nothing was dark enough to drag him down. Without fear he plunged into the dark memories, thinking Nuria’s love could shield him from anything.

He was wrong.

Pain and fear struck him. There was a time when one always followed the other. He found a deep-rooted hatred for the humans who did this to him. He remembered demons, burning buildings and evil.

Opening his eyes for a second, he saw two dragons, both the size of a war steed standing before him. The other emanated a light from deep beneath its golden scales; a swanlike neck craned above, warm eyes stared down at him. Light. The dragon next to it seemed to suck any light into the blackness of its skin. It was the embodiment of all the pain he’d suppressed. Dark.

I want to forget! The loss of his memory had been a blessing. Something horrid had happened during those years he did not remember. I will forget!

“Are you alright?” A myriad of faces stared down at him, foremost Ragh’s ugly visage. His carrion breath made Fain choke on the words, but he managed to spit them out.

“I am not using that spell ever again!”

Yet he knew he might have to. At the end of training he would vow to die for the dragons. Facing a few suppressed memories should have been easy, but he would rather face death than the horrors he’d seen.

Tuesday Tale Challenge 4 on Glitterlady's Blog

Not sure where this came from... Read the other stories here.

She hadn’t seen him sprinkle powder into her drink, had not tasted it on the tip of her tongue. Even the urgency in his voice had not given him away. He had dissembled his intensions successfully.

The idea had been nagging him before she mentioned divorce. He’d toyed with the idea of killing her, but the word had been the nail in her coffin.

She would once more become the dutiful little wife, obeying his every command. She would essentially be a rotting corpse—but hey, nobody’s perfect. 

It was good to be a necromancer.

Friday Flash: Alhena

This is a sort of a follow-up to my previous friday flash, The Hands of the Healer.


The red dragon stared down at the shapeshifters, scarlet eyes studying them. Slowly its massive head came down upon the soft ground and the newly born flowers. A puff of smoke rose from its nostrils as the dragon snorted in disgust.

“What have they been feeding you, Fain? You’re skinnier than the trees in winter.” Her eyes fixed on the male shapeshifter she’d found wandering in the woods a month ago.  He was in human form again. One reason shapeshifters liked their human forms was because it allowed for expressive body language, such as the ‘palm against the face’ gesture she now witnessed.

“Alhena, I’m a shapeshifter, we don’t put on weight. And I’m not skinny.” Lines appeared on his forehead as he shook his head. Alhena’s other favourite, Nuria, placed her hands on Fain’s shoulders and kissed his cheek.

“He’s slender, yet strong. Looks hide more than they show with shapeshifters.”

“You’re all puny to me,” Alhena chuckled. Her eyes shifted from Fain to Nuria. “Has he had a bath?”

“What?” Before Fain could object further red scaly feet had circled him. A black tongue slid out of the dragon’s maw, it lolled there as she smiled wickedly.

Nuria laughed, a trilling sound that echoed across the field. It ceased slowly and was replaced by an apologetic smile. Alhena ignored it; she drew her tongue back into the mouth and concentrated on staring down the shapeshifter in her grasp.

“Change into a dragon pup so clean I can you properly.” She blew a puff of smoke out of her nostrils. Fain coughed, but the teasing did not break his resolve.

“No, you are not cleaning me.”

Alhena harrumphed; all youngsters were alike. “I’ll just clean your face…”

“What? No!”

Once satisfied, Alhena set her claws aside, releasing the slightly upset shapeshifter. Nuria gave him a short kiss and went in search of herbs. Fain used the opportunity to ask Alhena if she had found any information on why he’d been wandering in the woods.

“I have searched for villages. I found the sister-village of the Green Jaws, but that is a long way from the spot I found you. There is also a human village north of where I found you, but again, it is too far away to walk from in human form. If you had taken the form a fool’s dragon however…” Alhena shook her massive head. Most humans knew better than to abduct shapeshifters and try to hold them captive. However, there were exceptions. “There is one village near the place, but it is burned down. Good I say it is the dark village where evil things happened. You would remember had they taken you captive.”

“But I must have been held captive somewhere, in my last memories I was younger than I am now. Maybe they used a spell on me?” Fain was intent on getting answers. Why, the dragon did not know; he was perfectly happy here and Nuria had agreed to go with him to the Leatherwing tribe. Nothing was amiss with him, except for the memory loss.

“You remember your parents and your tribe. A spell would erase everything.” She lifted her head from the ground and tilted it to the side a little. The small ones were a strange folk. Even the eldest seemed to know as little as a dragon’s pup. “You should let sleeping dragons lie.”

“Yes, I’m not sure if I want to remember anymore.” He slumped down on to the young grass of summer. “I just want to go home. I wish Sera were ready to take on Nuria’s duties, but it’ll be next summer at the earliest.”

Alhena opened her jaws to speak when three dragon pups shot into view. Two big ones chased a smaller one, likely the last-hatched sibling. Before shapeshifters and dragons made a pact to protect each other, the pups would often kill their weaker siblings. It happened mostly by accident during rough play, but sometimes it was intentional.

“Play nice!” Alhena shouted, then returned her attention to the shapeshifter, but he was staring at the dragonlings. The big ones had cornered the little one against a boulder; with bared teeth they closed in on the terrified dragon pup.

“Aren’t they… Hey!” One of the bigger dragonlings had lunged at the smaller one, knocking the creature down. The dragon pup grabbed its neck and began throttling the small dragonling.

“Stop that!” Fain shouted at them. The attacker snorted and carried on humiliating its small kin; the other one turned to face him. Puffing up and spreading its tiny wings the dragon hissed:

“Puny shapeshifter, you couldn’t harm a gnat in that form.”

Fain stood still for a moment, his eyes locked on the small dragonling. The dragon pup gave a faint yelp of pain. Fains lips curled back into a snarl, revealing a row of sharp teeth. White leathered wings burst from his back as he fell onto all fours. His feet curled into hoofs while his hands sharpened into talons. His neck grew longer and his head changed into that of a dragon.

“And in this form?”  His white wings spread wide; the thick scaly tail hit one of the boulders, sending it hurtling down the hillside.

“Eep!” Was all the dragonlings said as they ran. The small one stood up and fled as well.

“You would be a good guardian,” Alhena smiled and the fool’s dragon looked up in surprise. “It would give you something to do while Sera is learning Nuria’s craft.”

“I’ll think on it.” Fain folded his wings, then shook off the bits of torn cloth off him. “I just don’t like bullying. It’s evil.”

Alhena beamed, but kept it hidden beneath her scaly visage. Just as I planned. The head of the dragons’ guards will require his services and he will not want to leave when he sees the red dragon pups. The others have nothing on them when it comes to cuteness.

Have to remember to reward my pups for the show.

Tuesday Tale Challenge 3 on Glitterlady's blog

 The other stories can be found here.

His foot was caught by a crack in the road, sending him down. The concrete kissed his cheek roughly. Ignoring the pain, he got up and ran, spurred by the fear that they might have followed. He chanced a quick look back, but the old splintered road was empty. The trees swayed and the stars sparkled above, but nothing else moved. Stopping to catch his breath he contemplated what had happened.

They tried to burn me alive. But fire was his ally; the flames had burned the ropes and parted before him. They fear me, only because I’m cursed with magic.

Friday Flash: The Hands of the Healer

Fain gingerly opened his eyes, he saw a pair of dark brown eyes and a brown face, framed by a tumble of black locks. His eyes wandered down to her lips.

I am dead or dying, one or the other, it makes no difference. His muscles ached and complained as he raised himself and kissed her soft lips. Her hands, rough and strong, pushed him back down.

“Rest now, court me later.” Her smile was teasing; he longed to even feel the brush of her lips against his, but fatigue claimed him. His dreams were filled with her.

“Shapeshifters can choke.” Her eyes watched intently as Fain drank the mixture of water and Healing Tree resin. “Drink slower. You are not going anywhere for a while.”

I don’t want to go anywhere, he thought; the sweet, syrupy liquid stuck to his throat and he started coughing. She patted him gently on the back and gave him a knowing look.

“I suppose you should know the name of your saviour. Alhena saw you wading through the snow all alone.” She cocked her head, dark eyes full of questions. “I’ll take you to her later, so you can thank her.”

“I will.” Fain smiled; he would have surely died if the dragon had not led members of the Ruby Scales to him. But wandering the woods and nearly starving to death was worth finding her.

“Alhena is not your typical dragon,” she chuckled, her hand pushing a stray hair off his face. “She’s a very mothering type. You’d do well to be groomed and well-fed before seeing her.”

Fain flattened some of his unruly hair, but she grabbed his hand and laid it down on the bed. She sat next to him and began combing his hair with her slender fingers. Her mouth was agonizingly close as she spoke, “She will nag the warriors to no end if you don’t seem well cared for.”

“I am well cared for! I’ve never felt better in my life.”

“You are still weak, yet you’ve never felt better?” Her nose nuzzled against his neck. “I wonder why that is.”

Fain felt his face flush red. He tried to change his colour back, but his emotions were in a tangle.

“I am Nuria of the Ruby Scales. My mother is Kartane of the lands beyond the Stormy Sea. My father flew with the dragons and came back with my mother.”

“I am Fain of the Leather Wings. Duro is my father, Taly my mother. Her mother—”

“I know. Veetra flew with the dragons.” Her hand touched his cheek lightly, turning his head to face hers. Red scales adorned the curves of her cheek bones. Fain drew back his hair, revealing black scales running down the nape of his neck. “We both have dragon seducers in our family.”  

He ran the tips of his fingers along the smooth scales on her cheek. They felt warm to the touch, warmer than her soft skin. They seemed to radiate the fire of the dragons. Nuria’s fingers caressed the black scales that adorned his neck. Her hand cupped the back of his head, drawing him closer. He froze for a moment, but her lips upon his quickly melted away any fear that resided in his mind.

The story continues: Alhena