Writing: Tatsuo and Shard

    Maybe one of these days I'll actually write something that isn't at least vaguely romantic, eh? But, to quote Aragorn, "It is not this day!"

   I can't rightly remember the inspiration for Tatsuo and Shard. It probably all started with the very first line that Shard utters. I tend to do that. Growing a story idea out of a simple line of dialogue, that is.

   There isn't much to tell about this scrawl that isn't explained within. The dragons are at war with the elves and Shard -- or Shardallian, as her people call her -- is a prisoner at the dragon king's castle. Please know that none of the other elves are quite like Shard, making her something of a curiosity not only to her own people, but to the dragons as well. I won't detain you on rambling details any longer.

   Wait, hold on, one more thing to say. If you've read my post entitled "Jaq", please note that Tatsuo and Shard's story is in no way related to Jaq's.


    “You want me dead? Then do it yourself, coward. Drive the knife into my heart with your own hands. I dare you.”
    She slammed the weapon into his chest, eyes burning with rage. “If you can’t work up the gut to do the deed yourself, then don’t kill me at all!”
    With that, his short prisoner turned and stomped away, hissing to herself under her breath, leaving him standing with a dagger in his hand and the eyes of the room on him.
    The dragon prince growled low in his throat, fingers tight around the blade’s hilt. One day, the elf would pay for her impudence towards his person.
    But he would never be able to make her pay with her life.
    It wasn’t because of her usefulness as leverage against their enemies, nor because she held any information of importance, but because she’d made his mother laugh.
    He had no remembrance of his mother laughing when he was a child, not even of her smile. But when this golden-eyed prisoner had been captured and brought to the palace, his mother had been captivated with her from the start.
    The first time the elf had made her laugh had been during a meeting involving both his parents and many of his father’s councilors. Tatsuo had made a passing remark as to the elf’s, Shard’s, heritage, if only because she was far from the elven norm. She had heard him and, in front of the entire room, had shouted many choice words regarding Tatsuo’s own bloodline.
    He and his father had been ready to tear her to pieces when Mother had started to laugh. Not quietly, either. She had been almost in tears, gasping for breath, as if it had been lying in wait for years, awaiting such an opportunity.
    The dragon-kind had been flabbergasted. Shard had been smug.
    And that had been the end of the confrontation. As cruel and heartless as the dragons were made out to be, the remarkable display of emotion from their normally serene queen was something to be encouraged, not stamped down.
    Since then, Tatsuo had born many of the elf’s tongue-lashings just to see the amusement on his mother’s face. He never encouraged it, of course, but Shard often found fault in things he said and had no issues in letting him know.
    Today, she had blatantly disrespected not only himself, but his father, grandfather, and their mental health in front of several of his father’s generals and advisors.
    He had threatened to kill her on the spot if she didn’t control her tongue, and her fiery words had been the end of it.
    And in the last few moments, he had realized he’d never, ever be able to kill the source of his mother’s joy.

  
    Did I mention this would be rather short? I do have a fair amount more written, but, as per usual, it skips about a bit and it's old, meaning I would have to edit through it. Yeesh, editing. Writer's worst enemy and best friend.

    Thank you so much for reading and should you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. Also, as I stated on my last post, OYANers without an account enabling them to leave comments can feel free to drop a note on PenWielder62's profile feed.

    Ad astra per aspera.
    To the stars, through difficulties.

Writing: Jaq

   Alright, I know I said I would be posting a lot of writing stuff and I haven't really done so yet, but I've had a crazy week. First there was mailing all that stuff, a concert on Sunday (though I did post my thoughts on Newton), and a lot of the rest of the week we've been babysitting a three-week-old baby boy. He's precious, let me tell you.

   So, writing.

   I would almost call this a short-short story, just because it's so long and has something of a storyline to it. And as a warning, it is long. 13 pages on my Microsoft Word document.

   Writing Jaq always amused me to no end, just because of her trains of thought and how she acts around different people, and I hope that maybe she makes you smile as well.

   Perhaps feel a bit of pity for Alec as well, yes?


     “Jaq!” he shouted her name while rifling through the chests that lined the walls. “What did you do with mother’s gift?”
    His midnight-haired wife stomped into the room, indigo eyes glittering with irritation. “Stop yelling, will you? I can hear you just fine from the other room.”
    The man glared up at her. “I know you hid the comb I acquired for my mother. Where did you stash it?”
    She plopped down on the low-sitting couch, stubbornness written on her face as she sealed her lips.
    “Jaq, I realize that is it reflective and that it shimmers, but you can’t have that one. If you want one, I will find another, but it’s Mother’s birthday and she’s expecting something from me. So will you please go and find it?”
    Truly, he didn’t see why she needed the bracelet as well. Their large apartment of rooms already sparkled, shimmered, and shone with multitudes of expensive objects. Mirrors covered many of the walls, which had taken some adjusting to, and the walls which lacked more than two or three seeing-glasses were laced with delicate chains of silver and gold and where she couldn’t put the long links of metal she put bracelets of various sizes. The result was a quite distracting display of treasure. Jaq also tended to put rings, bracelets, and jewels in small piles on the floor – in the lacquered chests as well –, sequestered somewhere off to the side, but not out of sight. Best of all, she hoarded things that she took a particular fancy to. To Alec’s exasperation, that included his own jewelry and other various objects he might mistakenly carry into their rooms.
    Such as this gift to his mother, an expensive bracelet, made of woven silver and inlaid with sapphires.
    He went to lean over her, hoping that the display of dominance might force the information out of her.
    The woman merely frowned up at him before switching her gaze to stare out the window.
    “Jaq...” he said, warning in his tone. “Tell me where it is.”
    “No.”
    Alec huffed in frustration. “Please? I’ll find you another, but you have to let me have this one. Immediately.”
    Her eyes flickered to him and she muttered, “I want silk.”
    “...I’m sorry?”
    “Silk! I will fetch it for you, but I want a length of silk in return for it.”
    The male couldn’t believe he was bartering for the gift he had already purchased, but he sighed and nodded. “Alright. A bolt of silk, as soon as I can find it, in whatever available color you prefer.”
    Delight lit her face as she bounded off into their bed chamber and he heard the sound of jewels spilling everywhere.
    Jaq was back in a moment, silvery prize in her palms as she presented it to him with a large grin on her face.
    He took the bracelet without comment, stowing it in the small, tasseled bag that it had come in. Then he bent to kiss her forehead, amusement finally surfacing over the whole situation.
    “Thank you, Jaq.”
    Said woman smirked and as he left, he heard the familiar rattle of her digging through one of her treasure piles as he departed.
    Alec’s humor remained good as he made his way through the hallways of his parents’ vast palace.
    After all, how many other princes of their realm had the fortune of being married to the descendent of dragon shifters?

    Jaq’s footsteps were mere whispers of sound as she treaded through the dark rooms belonging to herself and her vow-partner. She silently marveled in the way the moonlight reflected off her treasures.
    Despite the fact that they had been bound to one another nigh six moon-phases, her nature still made Alec uncomfortable at times. She had tried to explain herself once, but speaking was not her specialty and how could she put these urges into words for him to understand? She had been this way from birth. This was part of who she was, it was part of her blood and the core of her being. There were no words to describe that.
    In the beginning, she had agreed to wed the keeper-of-her-vows for the sole reason that doing so would expand her country’s land and swell their riches, and by extension, hers.
    So she had born the superfluous speeches and extravagant ceremony both sets of sovereigns had insisted upon without complaint and had been bound to Alec-royalty-of-the-sands within a time stretch of two moon-phases.
    He had been wary of her at first, which had transformed into bewilderment at her multiple habits, and finally settled into the recent norm; amusement, annoyance, and quiet affection.
    And... she enjoyed it.
    She enjoyed this land, which kept her warm during the day, and cool at night, she enjoyed frustrating Alec by hiding the things he would need for whatever social function he had to attend. She loved his attention, be it anger or that smoldering warmth which made her skin crawl with anticipation, though what she expected she did not know. He strove to accommodate her odd needs, but knew when enough was enough and wasn’t afraid to tell her so.
    It was that that made her blood truly stir. It made her dragon-self roar with excitement, because, although she had been refused before, it was different coming from this one. There was something about the determined set of his jaw and the unyielding look in his dark eyes that made her want to fight his authority once more, if only to see it again.
    Jaq dragged the lengthy piece of silk off the couch and pulled it around her bare arms. Its smooth touched calmed her and her heartbeat slowed as she weaved the fabric through the air. It rippled appealingly and she danced around the room with quiet steps, letting it swirl about her.
    When her breath came in pants and her arms ached from holding the silk aloft, she made her way to the window, leaning against the marble ledge. She stared out across the surrounding buildings and the sands beyond it, amused by how much larger the desert was compared to even the large capital which they resided in.
    Alec-who-stirred-fire-in-her-heart inquired if she missed her family, and she was unable to give him a reply.
    She supposed she wished for their presence, in some way. She had never cried or ached because of their absence from her life, but she did feel the loss of the counseling of father-protector-of-her-person, the quips from mother-who-had-given-her-life, the constant attention from her younger siblings-who-never-knew-weariness, and the rough teasing of her brother-who-was-strong-and-brave-always.
    Once again, it was difficult to explain such feelings to Alec and thus she would say that yes, she did at some points desire their presence, and left it at that.
    Jaq looked down at her arm, taking in the way it appeared white in the white-night-sun’s rays.
     A light snore caught her attention, and she made her way to the archway that led to the expansive-but-short-sleeping-couch that she shared with the-one-bound-to-her.
     Alec’s arm lay across her side of their bed and his mouth hung open in an amusing manner. His gold-like-sun-and-brown-like-earth hair was shimmering in the white-blue light that came through the thin curtains. She quelled the instinct to touch it, choosing instead to sit on the windowsill and let the fabric shielding them from the outside wash over her.
     The sound of his breathing had much the same effect her length of silk caused. Peace and serenity stole through her and she relaxed against the stone at her back.
     Nights of restlessness oft came upon her, but she had learned over time to wait for this moment, this feeling that would lull her back to sleep. It was quite unlike any other emotion, singular and unique and she enjoyed its coming.
     When her eyes slid dangerously low, the woman got to her feet and shuffled around to her side-of-the-place-she-saw-as-a-haven, crawling onto it. The coverings were light on accord of it being hot-like-sun-itself during the light-hours and the dark-times being blissfully cool.
     Jaq boldly scooted close to the sharer-of-this-sleeping-couch, stuffing her pillow between his arm and her neck before pulling his other arm over her waist. The result was content curling up inside her, and her dragon-self humming with approval.
     Alec-who-rarely-woke-before-light didn’t awaken, but he must have recognized her presence in his sleep-state for his limb tightened around her then pulled her closer.
     The woman fell asleep with a slight smile touching her lips.


     Alec grinned at his brother, pleased that he had been able to return home earlier than they had expected. Aaron had yet to meet Jaq, and it would be an introduction he’d enjoy experiencing.
     They were on the way back from a friendly crossing of swords, and had plans to reconvene in an hour for the evening meal.
     “And make sure to bring my newest little sister. I am quite intrigued as to her personality.”
     Alec raised his brows, and pondering warning his elder brother as to her tendency to lift shiny things, but decided against it.
     It would be amusing, to say the least, to observe his reaction.
     “I’ll do that. I’ll warn you though, she’s doubtful to be in a good mood,” and even though Alec didn’t explain further, Aaron seemed to get the message.
     Clearing his throat uncomfortably, the elder mumbled something along the lines of “heavens help you” and moved off, waving over his shoulder.
     Alec watched him go before heading to the baths. He finished in short order and found himself standing before the door to their rooms.
     Jaq had been in a foul mood for the better part of a week now, and he’d learned there was little he could do to calm her besides stay out of the way and get her whatever she asked for as fast as possible.
     He pushed the portal open, and closed it behind him, glancing around the dark interior for his wife.
     “...Jaq? It’s almost time for dinner.”
     There was a growl from the direction of the bedroom, but she didn’t speak.
      Alec wandered that direction, leaning in the archway with his arms crossed. She was curled up on the bed, a pillow hugged tight to her chest. Her glare was directed at the window, but was likely meant for him.
      “I know you don’t want to go, but my brother wants to meet you,” the prince murmured, watching her for any signs of a better disposition. There was none in coming. 
      Jaq sat up and threw a bolster at him. Alec caught it and stepped aside as she stomped past him.
      “Do you want this?” he held up her favored train of silk, which had been draped over the back of the couch. 
      The woman turned around, and her gaze fastened on it.
      He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t speak; it seemed to be her way of showing the depths of her frustration with life in general.
      But the fabric was whisked from his grasp and Jaq settled it so it rested in the crooks of her arms, leaving the rest to trail along behind her.
      Alec smiled and held out his hand for hers, trying not to let his amusement at her behavior show. Whatever irritation that might’ve remained in her gaze was cooled by his offer.
      Jaq slid her fingers into his grasp and let him pull her through the halls, distracted by the fluttering of her silken train, and the waving of the curtains in windows they passed.
      A door-guard pushed open the oak barring their way, revealing the well lit interior beyond.
      The feasting hall was a large room, and one’s attention was immediately drawn to the long, low table which sat upon a wooden platform off the floor.
      Servants puttered about, bringing food, or leaving with trays, and Alec’s attention was drawn by his brother’s laugh from nearby at another of the entrances.
      “This is her? You make her sound much more—“
      Jaq leveled her indigo gaze on him, previous good humor vanishing as she stopped Aaron midsentence.
      He recovered by executing a flawless bow. “My lady. Please forgive me. My name is Aaron, brother of your husband.”
      She looked at him for a few moments longer, then away, towards the table with an uninterested manner.
       Alec cast his brother an apologetic look, whose features showed his surprise at her conduct.
 
     Jaq ran about the encampment with bare feet and her head uncovered. Alec had been sent to deal with a dispute on the border somewhere and when she’d learned how long it would take, she’d demanded to be brought along.
     It was day two in their journey, and her enthusiasm had yet to die. Her dragon-self reveled in the intense heat that the sun-very-high-over-head brought on, and by extension, she did as well.
     When Jaq had learned Aaron-brother-of-the-one-bound-to-her hated the heat, she had taken to paying closer attention. She enjoyed watching the-one-who-frustrated-her squirm with discomfort.
     They had been traveling at night and resting in the daytime, to cause less strain on people and carrying-beast. 
     Jaq darted around one of the attendants-whose-presence-she-found-unnecessary, and pushed into the tent she and Alec shared. It was nearing dusk, so everyone was working to prepare to go.
     Except the one-who-must-have-his-rest, apparently. Jaq plopped down next to Alec’s head, leaning over to study his features in detail once again. Light was dim in the shelter, but she could make out the lines-speaking-of-his-weariness, and the faint spots-from-the-sun that littered the tops of his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose.
     And then she sneezed.
     Right in his face.
     Alec jerked upright, nailing his head against hers, and both went reeling.
     “Jaq?” he groaned, peering at her in the dark.
     Said woman twiddled her fingers at him, recovering remarkably quickly from their little bonk. “We’re leaving soon,” she explained, then sneezed again.
      A frown of confusion crossed her features because she was rarely allergic to anything. Caught up in her ponderings, Jaq didn’t notice when Alec rolled his eyes in exasperation.
     She noted from the corner of her eye as he got to his feet and wandered towards her, but was taken entirely by surprise when he tilted her chin up and kissed her.
      It was a few moments before realization kicked in and she jerked away, scrambling backwards as she glared at him. Alec grinned innocently and her frown deepened.
      “You know I despise that,” Jaq snapped, on her feet and stalking to the exit.
      “Evening to you as well, darling,” he called after her.
      The dragon-descendent stomped away from the tent, muttering under her breath for the next long while, and never stopping to examine the feeling that had lanced through her at his sudden touch.
 
     She didn’t know where he was. Didn’t know where he had gone. The world had shrunk to her and the pain and all she knew was that she needed Alec. Not any of those spineless men who called themselves physicians and tried to shove foul smelling brews down her throat.
     Jaq needed the one who would calm her dragon-self, because this wasn’t supposed to be happening.
     It was too soon, she was too young, she hadn’t matured yet. Those thoughts contrasted Jaq’s own mental train, confused her, until she wasn’t sure what was herself and what was her dragon-self.
     She clung to a pillar, free arm pressed into her abdomen in a feeble attempt to abate the burning sensation that filled her.
     How long had it been since she’d seen him? Where had he gone?
     Jaq forced herself to take in her surroundings, to recognize where she was because she needed to see someone, to make someone understand what she needed right now.
      A sound reverberated in the air, but the buzzing in her ears drowned it out. She turned to look behind her, everything blacking out for a moment before coming back.
     “...Mother,” the young woman rasped, looking at the haggard face of the woman-who-had-given-birth-to-her.
      It took a few tries, but Jaq was able to decipher the meaning behind her mother’s lip-movements, and allowed the woman to lead her back the way she had just come.
      Exhaustion and bone-deep pain was setting in when she was lowered onto the bed in the rooms-where-Alec-should-have-been.
     She tried to speak again, to force her dry tongue and throat to voice the name of the one she desperately needed to find, but was unable to.
     Her mother swam into view again; pain was clear in her bright eyes, and Jaq read the word “sleep” off her lips.
     And even though she tried to fight it because she had to stay awake, had to find Alec, her dragon-self’s agony was dimmed somewhat by their mother’s presence.
     That was enough to send Jaq over the edge into the blackness that had been so rare in coming.
     Her mind was clearer when she woke, but the fire blazing through her body had returned in force, and Jaq had to fight screaming when its full intensity impacted. As it was, a long, low groan escaped her lips.
     “Jaq?”
     She cracked her eyes open, seeing her mother through the haze covering her gaze. “Mother...where’s...”
     “Quiet, Jaq. You need to eat and drink.”
     “Where is he?” the young woman persisted, voice breaking on every word.
     “Jaq—“
     “Tell me.”
      A cool hand covered her forehead, providing a momentary balm to her anguish.
     “We don’t know, Jaq. He’s missing, and we assume that he has been captured by a band of ruffians.”
      Jaq cried out, curling in on herself as the pain increased exponentially at the news. “Need him,” she gasped out, searching for her mother’s hand. “She needs him so badly.”
     Aliya held her daughter’s hand in her own, gripping them near as tight as Jaq did hers. “You have to tell me what’s wrong, Jaq. Alec’s parents said that their physicians could find nothing to pain you.”
     “She...wasn’t ready...” she ground out, burying her face in the bed as she tensed.
     The queen grabbed a nearby cloth, damp and cool, to press to the back of Jaq’s neck. “Breathe, Jaq. It’ll help.”
     “Nothing...helps...Mother. She needs...Ale—“ and a scream broke from the young woman’s throat as her back arched.
      Aliya waited it out, fighting to keep calm, because she was scared. Scared because she didn’t know what was happening that could cause her daughter, who was always to strong, to be in so much pain.
     It didn’t make sense and the only one who could explain it was in so much agony she could barely speak.
     “She wasn’t ready, wasn’t prepared,” Jaq burst out, then heaved in a shuddering breath.
     “Wasn’t prepared for what, Jaq? You have to tell me. Please, Jaq. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
     “A child, Mother,” she whispered, twisting her head so she could see the other woman. Tears stood in her eyes, shining in the light like diamonds. “Dragon-self wasn’t ready for—“ a cry rent from her throat again. It was another minute before she could speak. “S-she was not ready to bear a – a child.”
     The queen stared for long moments. “You...are...”
     “With child, Mother, and it is like being ripped apart from the inside.”
      As if to prove her point, another spasm of pain overtook Jaq, keeping her from speaking while it overcame her. The burning wave left her gasping for breath.
      “And you are in pain because your dragon-self is not mature enough to bear a child.”
      Jaq nodded, fighting to keep her wits about her. “We need Alec, Mother. I can’t... can’t last, not like this. Every moment brings me closer to surrender.”
      “And having Alec here will help?” Aliya asked, pushing bangs wet with cold sweat from her daughter’s brow.
      “Yes,” Jaq groaned, muscles clenching. A pained whimper escaped her when she could relax once more. “She screams for his presence and his touch. She’s scared. She doesn’t know how to do this without him.”
      “What about you, Jaq? Not your dragon-self,” Aliya murmured, smoothing her hand over the young woman’s hair.
       A drop of moisture ran across the bridge of Jaq’s nose as she clung to her mother’s arm. “I miss him,” she cried. “I miss him. I’m scared. It hurts so badly and nothing is helping.”
       “Sshh, it’ll be alright. We’ll find him.”
       “Please, Mother. Please find him.”
*****
     Jaq dragged the cloak over her shoulders, grinding her teeth together as the movements agitated the burning within her.
     The moon was high in the sky as she made her way from the room, to the hallway, and then continued on towards where she assumed the stables were located.
     It was no doubt a foolish move, but there was nothing left she could do other than scream out her pain day and night. She had to find Alec, since no one else had been able to do so.
    The guards were easy to slip past, and even if they had noticed her, they wouldn’t have been suspect. At least, not overly much.
     Once inside the stables, Jaq dug through the saddles for the one she had used when coming to Alec’s kingdom.
     A few of the horses nickered as she stumbled along with her burden, the heavy tack not the only reason for her uneven gait.
     The woman had to stop several stalls from her destination, chest heaving as she fought to just breathe, breathe and get through it.
     Doubling over, she gripped the saddle’s edge as an outlet for the pain, trying to channel the urge to cry out into her hold.
     Multiple minutes passed before she could straighten again, and she doggedly began dragging the horse-seat once more.
     Her steed of choice was Alec’s second best horse, as his first best had disappeared along with himself. The stallion snorted, in irritation likely as not, as Jaq entered his stall.
     Humming a lullaby she had long forgotten the words to, she set about saddling the beast without alarming him, or any of the others.
     To have the stable-keeper come to check on the horses would not be conducive to her plan. Stealth and secrecy was a must because if anyone found out she was going to ride off into the desert, alone, with no weapons, nor sustenance, she would be chained to the bed and not allowed to leave.
     And that would drive Jaq over the brink that been hovering in her mind for days now.
     So she gritted her molars together and tightened the saddle’s girth on the stallion.

     Jaq lifted her face to the moon, a long, hot breath leaving her. The foggy cloud plumed above her, and she looked back at the city.
     Nothing stirred that she could see. It was time to depart.
     Pain struck once more before she could knee the stallion into motion. She bent at the waist, forehead pressed to the horse’s mane.
     When she was able to open her eyes again, the skin on her forearms and the backs of her hands had darkened to black.
     Jaq studied the curious change, running her fingertips over the dark skin, and feeling the ridges beginning to form.
     It almost felt like...scales.
     Her dragon-self assured her that it was nothing to be alarmed about. Jaq got the feeling this was only happening because of the changes occurring within her. They were rousing her line’s long dormant dragon blood.
     She turned her gaze towards the ocean of sand, noting minute changes in the way she perceived the dunes.
     There was no time to delay; even less now. The woman had no idea what a possible shift to her dragon-shape would do to her control, and she had no wish to find out so soon.
     With that firmly in mind, she urged the stallion prancing between her legs into a steady pace, in the direction Alec had last travelled.
     Another steamy cloud left her mouth as she rode, soon dissipating into the warm night air.

     Jaq sprawled on the ground, writhing in pain and desperation.
     Get up! she screamed at herself. We’re so close! He’s so close!
     A snarl tore from her throat as she dug her hands into the sand and pushed herself upwards.
     Her arms were all black now, the skin glinting with scales, and her nails lengthened to deadly points.
     How much farther the changes had spread, Jaq didn’t know. But the sides of her neck felt rough, and her pants kept catching on her legs.
     It had taken a long time to get here, but her dragon-self roared with decisiveness and urgency when faced with the village laid before them.
     Crossing her arms over her abdomen, Jaq fought to get to her feet and stumble down the dune, ignoring the shouts of surprise and warning that accompanied her arrival.
      She approached the ring of tents, paying no heed to the dark-headed people who surrounded her. If they got to close, or got in the way, Jaq snarled at them, lashing out if she had to.
      Once bitten, twice shy, they said. Once slashed, twice cautious, was more appropriate however.
      The women and children were hurried away and the men tried to keep her boxed in, but seemed unwilling to draw weapons on the young sovereign.
      Jaq could have cared less, making her way in a zigzagging but unfaltering path towards the only real structure in the camp.
      She was finally stopped by two guards with spears at the bottom stairs of the ancient temple.
      “You can’t go in there,” one said, caution on his tone, but determination in his eyes.
      Jaq opened her mouth to reply, but doubled over, words coming out as a strangled scream instead. Unnoticed by her, but observed by all around her, the blackness plaguing her body spread, disappearing into her hair line.
      The hand on her shoulder was marred by four long cuts in moments, and Jaq used the distraction to shove one sentry aside with her shoulder. She ducked under his spear and staggered up the steps, fighting to keep her head from swimming.
      The doors were easy to push open, old and rotten as they were.
      It was there the dragon’s-ancestor went to her knees, pain and exhaustion weighing down her shoulders until she had no strength to stand.

      Alec had been in the midst of one of the daily arguments with his captors when they had heard the commotion outside.
      None of the words were distinct, and he could tell that the men before him wished to know what it was all about, but they returned to the matter at hand.
      “Your people have blocked off our trade-routes, prince. Those trade-routes are the only things keeping our tribes alive and prospering.”
      “We have done no such thing,” Alec shot back at length. “Any closing of trade-routes done by my parents has been first investigated thoroughly. They make sure to confer with anyone involved with it, and verify that it is no longer of use before it is closed off. If you have experienced difficulties by this, then it is because you do not approach the rulers with word of your concerns, which they would gladly listen to! You must stand up for yourselves if you want to survive, Saleem. That is the way of the desert, and you know this.”
       Any reply the man might’ve made was interrupted by a shout of pain, the banging of doors, and then a dead silence.
       All inside the former worship-place turned to survey the intruder.
      She was scarcely recognizable, a shimmering blackness covering her usually light skin. But her eyes he would have recognized anywhere.
      The oddest mix between blue and green that only one person had.
      “Jaq,” Alec murmured, rising from the mat he sat upon.
      “Wait, your highness,” Saleem barked, also rising. “You, bring her here.”
      Two soldiers responded to his command, while Alec clenched his fists and told himself to not do anything rash.
       Saleem waved him backwards when Jaq was dropped before him, a command Alec disregarded when she groaned.
       He dropped to his knees by her side, pushing sand-filled hair from her face while turning her onto her back.
       “Jaq?”
       Her eyes focused on him, seeming to have trouble doing so. When she opened her mouth, presumably to speak, nothing came out.
       “Jaq? What’s wrong? What happening to you?”
       The woman shook her head, panic crossing her features. Alec ran his fingertips over the scales spreading up her throat in an attempt to calm her.
        Alec ignored the varying levels of talk about him until a hand landed on his shoulder and yanked backwards.
       “Saleem, you can’t do this!” the royal growled, yanking against the guards who’d pulled him back several paces and forced him to his knees. “I don’t know what’s happening, but she needs me right now.”
        Said man wasn’t paying attention, which incensed Alec further.
        He watched helplessly as his captor knelt beside Jaq, touching her arm with something akin to awe upon his face.
        “She is... dragon-kind?” Saleem turned to like at Alec.
        “Yes, but never like this. You have to let us go, right now. I have to get her back to the city.”
        The wonder upon the desert-man’s face promptly fled, and he rose up to go and stand before his prisoner. “Never. You are the only collateral we have to force your parents into doing what we wish.”
        “Then send Jaq back, please!” Alec pleaded, looking around Saleem to where she lay on the ground where she’d fallen.
        “If she is truly who you say she is, then she shall also remain here in order to force also her parents to do as we will them,” the man replied, realization, then pleasure, showing in his expression.
        “You no-good sand rat!” the young man exploded, slamming his elbow backwards into one guard, and then reaching back to trip the other.
        Both were unprepared and fell after his strikes, but Saleem seemed to have been expecting some resistance.
        The tribe leader had no qualms in burying his fist in the jaw of his prisoner, sending Alec reeling backwards.
        Across the shelter, Jaq croaked out “Alec” before she screamed.
       Everyone in the premises whirled at the blood-curdling noise, watching in horror as the blackness painting her skin spread further, blotting out any patches of white remaining.
       The pounding in his cheek faded into the background as Alec watched his wife writhe on the sandy floor.
        He stumbled forward, trying to speak through his dry throat.
        She was changing, Alec realized, watching her. Her every part of her was lengthening, thickening, darkening. Jaq’s cries became growls as opposed to groans, rumbling through the air like the thunder before a storm.
        It was minutes and yet years later that the prince saw just how much space she was soon going to occupy.
        Even now, she didn’t even appear to be human, rather, a grotesque cross between a person and...a dragon?
        Alec jerked when someone bumped into him, and he realized it was Saleem, who was white with terror.
        “What is she?” the man asked with a shaking voice.
        “She’s Jaq, descendant of the dragon shifters,” Alec answered, confidence pouring into his tone as he grinned. “And you really shouldn’t have crossed her.”
         As if to prove his point, the woman-turned-dragon roared, eliciting terrified cries from many of the room’s occupants.
         “Get out,” Saleem said, then repeated himself, louder this time. “Everyone get out!”
         His command came just in time, because as Saleem’s subordinates fled the structure, Jaq completed her shift.
         Alec remained where he’d been standing as she snapped and snarled at the scurrying guards, advisors, and servants to hurry them along.
        “How’re you going to get out, Jaq?” the male called up to her, surveying the roof, and the usual exit.
        The dragon fixed indigo eyes upon him and huffed, making Alec laugh.
        “You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”
        She inclined her long, black snout in response, dropping down to her stomach so they were more or less at eye level.
        Alec reached out to run his hand over the hard scales about her ears, murmuring as he did so, “Thanks for coming after me, Jaq.”
       The female released a small sigh, which smelt of burning wood and made the prince cough.
       “I’ll get out of here so you can bring down the roof,” he said at last, turning towards the doorway. “Just be careful, alright? I don’t want to have to carry you all the way back to the city.”
        Alec assumed the series of snorts and hiccups the dragon emitted were supposed to be her new version of laughter.
        When he stepped out into the fading light, he was confronted with the sight of Saleem and the omads, surrounding the ruined temple as if to storm the place, and yet fear was the only thing he saw upon their faces.
        “Take your dragon and leave, prince. We will no longer challenge your parents’ authority, but in return you must leave us unharmed.”
        Alec nodded. “You have nothing to fear from us, Saleem. If you have concerns, bring them to the city, and we will listen. No judgment shall be brought against you either me or my people.”
        And then any further conversation was cut off by a roar and the sound of falling stone.
       The young man turned, searching for the streak of black that would tell him she hadn’t been crushed by the overhead rock.
       Jaq burst from the collapsing building with a triumphant bugle, long wings propelling her high into the sky.
       From amidst the crowd, there was a child’s awed shout of, “Mother! It’s a dragon, like in the stories!”
       It took a moment for those words to sink in but then more children were calling greetings to Jaq, who craned her long neck in order to stare down at them.

       Several hours later, well after dark, Alec rode along beside Jaq, still a dragon, upon the horse she’d come on.
       The night sky was black above them, but the stars were bright and the moon shone with a fierceness unbefitting of its role.
       “You’ll have to tell me everything when we get home and you are able to return to your normal self,” Alec mused aloud, glancing at the lumbering reptile next to him.
       Her puffed breath caused a cloud of fog to rise in the cold night air.
       “Shall I assume that means I don’t know the half of it?”
       Jaq grumbled, making the steed prance nervously. Alec steadied it with a firm hand, amusement clear on his features.
        “You do realize the trouble you’re going to be in, correct? Coming out into the desert, alone, on what I am going to assume you thought of as instinct? Foolishness.”
        She slanted narrowed eyes at him, displeasure clear by the snarl curling her upper lip.
        “But I am glad you did. Saleem was one persistent man, although I do believe he has his people’s best interests at heart.”
        His wife’s rumbling growl told him all he needed to know about her thoughts on Saleem.
        “Don’t worry; if he does show up again, you won’t have to see him, alright?”
        She hummed in agreement, lengthening her stride, romping through the sand like a child, and leaving the oddest tracks in her path.
        Alec smiled to himself, pleased to see Jaq acting more or less like herself, and completely unsuspecting of the news that awaited him when they reached home. Or when she was able to return to her human form.
      Whichever would come first.
 
      But that, I believe, is another story.

      Owari

      For now

    And that is the tale of Jaq, the dragon-shifter, and Alec. I'm sorry it's so long, but I didn't feel like splitting it into two different sections.

    I hope you enjoyed it and I should have some more writing up either within a few minutes or a few days. We'll see.

   Ad astra per aspera.
   To the stars, through difficulties.