A Dragon's Reunion

Ever since I was a little girl, I had been fascinated by dragons. Every Christmas, I would wish for a dragon, only to be disappointed the next morning. One year, I got a puppy, and the next, I got a kitten; and although I was happy to receive them, I still longed, more than anything, to meet a dragon.

Now as an adult, although I recognised that dragons weren’t real, my fascination with the myths that surround them still remained unchanged. I even had recurring dreams where I turned into a dragon. When I brought it up to my brother, he laughed and called me weird for being so engulfed in fantasy stories. I hated him for it. If I had the chance, I would have sold my soul to become a dragon. It was an odd thought to have, but my interest in dragons was just that intense. It was an indescribable feeling.

One night, as I drifted off to sleep, I heard a voice in my head. “Do you want to know the secrets of the dragons?” it said.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Then open your eyes.”

I suddenly woke up to find a familiar face by my bedside. “Ben? Is that you?” I looked behind him and noticed that my room window was open. “You disappear off the face of the earth back in high school and now you come here sneaking into my house?”

“That’s a long story, but I’m here to bring you some closure.”

“Closure on what?” I couldn’t believe what was happening. Ben was my best friend in high school, yet he suddenly went missing when we were sixteen. He had been missing for six years; we all assumed he was dead.

“I am a dragon.”

I just sat there, confused. “That’s the worst excuse you could have come up with. You really expect me to believe that?”

Ben was adamant. “I can show you, just grab my hand.”

I was reluctant at first, but his words seemed as genuine as they had always been. I trusted Ben and took his hand. In seconds, we were soaring into the skies and speeding past the clouds. I couldn’t believe it—we were actually flying.

But there was something even more baffling. “Wait, how can I breathe so high?”

Ben slowed down, and we came to a halt over a thick shield of clouds before he turned to me. “Because you’re also a dragon.”

“What…?” What was he saying? Me, a dragon?

“There’s a reason why you haven’t been able to get your mind off dragons all your life.”

“But how do you know that I’m one?”

“My father was one of the last descendants of the dragons. Our ancestors were forced to use magic to take the form of humans so we wouldn’t be hunted down, or enslaved for our powers. My mother died giving birth to twins, and my father, breaking under his grief, gave his children up for adoption. I learned the truth of my origins at sixteen, when I first transformed.”

“That’s why you disappeared.”

Ben nodded.

A swift chill raced across my body as I was struck with a sudden realisation. “Wait… Does that mean?”

“Yes.”

According to Ben, our father had placed a seal on both our memories, as well as our abilities as dragons, but Ben’s seal was set to break first. Our father had left him with the knowledge needed to control his powers, and to remove the seal placed on me.

As the clouds passed beneath our feet, Ben began to chant in a language I had never heard of before. Soon, I felt as if chains that had been binding the very fibres of my being were coming undone; it was as if a weight had been lifted from my soul itself.

“You’re ready,” Ben said with a smile. “Picture it and go ahead.”

I nodded and closed my eyes, envisioning my transformation. Within moments, my entire body grew beyond the size of an aeroplane—and I felt fangs, claws, and scales take their grand form. I was a true dragon.

Ben smiled and revealed his true form as well. “Come on, sis. There’s a lot to catch up on.”