The Hydra's Curse

Chapter 5 - Dragon

The biggest issue Calvin had with the majority of the world he'd seen was its two dimensional nature. It was boring, nothing but field or forest punctuated by the occasional river or lake. He'd seen the whole continent by now, it was just one huge island after all with ocean surrounding it as far as the eye could see. He never took a ship to the neighbouring continent, the journey was over and month and perilous. Plus it was probably the same over there and there was no way people would let him on a ship. Not in his state.

But there was the mountains, which cut the continent in half, a chain that stretched from one end to the other. Flying through the valleys and riding the hot air currents up the mountainside was so much more fun than drifting over some farmers field. Most importantly though, the cursed people seemed to gravitate toward the mountains. It was safe from civilization, a place where people wouldn't hunt you for being tainted by the devil. It was where all his friends lived now, so it's where he stayed too.

Maybe he'd visit the shadowcats at the west end today. He'd thought about telling them of the village that was forming at the east edge of the continent, but had decided against it. It was to far to travel on foot and the group seemed happy. Five of them, all friendly and on the wild side. Calvin could respect that, forced out of civilization it made sense for the raw parts of human nature to resurface. Hunting without tools, living without luxury. They wouldn't fit in with the village in the east, to many whiny people with persecution complexes pretending to be in civilization. They weren't.

Getting burnt by the dragon was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Ten years past at this point he'd been on the edge of adulthood when a dragon had descended on the city. Feeling immortal like every other young man, he'd been the among the first on scene, hoping to be a famed dragon slayer like the stories told.

Reality was far more cruel and had burnt his dreams and his body. Engulfed in flame and presumed dead, Calvin of house Farly was thrown onto the body piles to be buried. Lying underneath bodies for a few days was a bad experience to say the least, and being in his weakened state he had been unable to free himself. Three days later he found himself strong and hungry, motivated enough to push himself free. The scrawny buried in the corpse like was no more. In his place was a dragon morph, standing seven feet tall and build like a brick shithouse. Even in the dead of night when he looked down on himself- his new self- he could see the definition. Arms as thick as a woman's leg, legs three times thicker, huge slabs of muscle on his chest and abs carved with a chisel, he looked like the God of fertility- minus the fact his whole body was covered in red scales and the wings and tail he now had. In reality he'd been closer to a demon.

He took flight from the city almost immediately. If someone saw him he'd be shot full of crossbow bolts instantly. Cursed were viewed as already dead- there was no mercy for them. That's why he liked the mountains the most. It was full of people given a second chance. People who should have died but were offered a second life. Full of his people. Well, the west end at least. The east seemed to be full of woe-is-me attitude. It was hard to be self hating when you could fly.

The wings were like a second pair of arms- the fingers with the skin stretched between them surprisingly dexterous. He pulled them in a bit, loosening his grip on the air and descending toward the top of one of the mountains as the first rays of sunlight began poking over the horizon. Visiting the shadowcats for a week was going to play havoc with his sleep cycle- damn nocturnal animals- but it's be worth it. He was closer to the ground now and beat his wings a few times to stop his descent. Navigating through the peaks of the mountains took the monotony out of the flight. It was only worth flying high when it was raining and he could get above the shitty weather. As it was, thunderheads were forming far in the distance. Hopefully it didn't come down on the cats, no point in visiting if they were going to hide in their cave.