It never failed that each morning, Joseph would be woken up by his father jabbing him in the back with a broom handle. The habit had stemmed from him trying to bite the older man’s hand while still being half asleep…Numerous times. Finally, his father had simply started using the broom to wake him up…A much safer and more effective method.

This morning, he woke up naturally and without the usual dramatics of him snarling in his half-asleep state. Slowly, he rolled onto his back and stretched, curling his toes at the peak of it. With a sigh, he relaxed and flopped his head to the side where he stared at his bedroom door. Why hadn’t his father…He closed his eyes as the memories of yesterday bubbled up.

That’s right…He was essentially alone, now. Sure, he had 60 or so ghosts following him around, but they couldn’t really be considered people anymore. He laid in bed for a bit longer before finally getting up and pulling on a pair of pants then grabbing his bow and quiver of arrows. Slowly, he padded out into the main part of the cabin and grunted his annoyance at the idea of having to built another fire. There really wasn’t much point when he’d be leaving shortly after breakfast.

Then again, he also didn’t have any reason to really stay. He could always catch something as he traveled. Joseph rubbed his thumb over the worn leather on his bow before setting it and the quiver down on the table then returning to his room to grab a shirt. Once fully dressed, he wrapped some cured meat, stuffed it in the satchel, then gathered his things to leave. Outside, he paused at the chicken pen before opening the door to release the birds. They would likely be picked off by hawks, fox, and coyotes, but it was better than them starving. At least now they had a chance at survival.

He continued down the woodland path that led to the main road. There, instead of heading west, he went north. Quietly, he looked towards Murval and the startling lack of the temple roof. Things could have been a great deal worse: the attack could have happened during a busy market day. Many, many more people would have been killed rather than the 60 who currently followed him around. Softly, he made an irritated growl under his breath. His temper still ran hot at the indifference that Kebin had shown towards the destruction.

On the other hand, as he traveled further away from his home, he shifted his attention more towards the nature around him. Joseph found it hard to be irritable with the greenery around him. He snorted loudly at the thought. Maybe his father had been right: he was a child of the forest in some fashion. It tended to be a catchall term, anyway, for beings that looked humanoid who dwelled in forests and nature. Dryads, Fae, Nymphs, and Water spirits all fell under the term.

Every now and then, he’d pass someone on the road. Sometimes they’d greet him, other times they ignored him, but most times they’d give his eyes a wary glance and look away. It really did nothing for his already depressed mood. Still, he trekked onwards, hoping the people would become less judgey in the city. While several days away and very remote, Kovis tended to be a melting pot of cultures due to being both a major trade city and also a port city.

When midday hit, he started feeling overheated and honestly a bit ill. Admittedly, he hadn’t eaten very much for breakfast and so he figured that was the issue. Stepping off the road, he made his way into the forest to find a decent spot to rest and eat. He managed to find an area near a creek and dunked his head under the water to help cool himself off. Strangely enough, it didn’t help and so he simply sat down to eat in hopes of food helping.

It didn’t. In fact, as time passed, he began feeling sicker. The sensation of being overheated shifted into a fever and a sharp ache settled into his bones. It reminded him of the first change he went through as a child…But so much worse. That one had been harsh, but quick. The fever and pain only lasted a short bit before he changed. Presently, he’d spent the last few hours curled up under a tree in pain and the sensation of needing to change rippled down his spine each time he breathed.

When dusk arrived, Joseph finally stripped down and shifted. The change felt unusually agonizing, compared to the usual mild discomfort of needing to stretch. It left him flopped on his side, panting and groaning. The pain had localized in his shoulders and back, causing him to take short, gasped breaths to minimize the stabbing pain. To make things worse, the fever had changed to something unbearable, as if someone had lit a fire in his gut and continued to fan the flames higher.

He knew something was wrong, he never got sick. If he did, changing his form made it feel better, not get worse. Joseph moaned and flopped over onto his other side in an attempt to ease the pain. Nothing seemed to help. He opened his eyes and tried to relax his hand where the claws had dug into the earth. Parts of his scales seemed to simply ripple out of existence and blend in with the ground under him before reappearing as if nothing had happened. His gut twisted up in fear at the sight. What was happening to him?

Sighing, he flopped his hand over his snout. His father had always teased him for being a dragon but an uncharacteristic one. No horns on his head, no spines down his back, no wings, and he couldn’t spit fire. Really, he just looked like an overgrown lizard with a bad attitude. Another ripple of pain radiated down his spine, causing him to kick out and shove himself against the tree behind him. The pressure against his shoulders seemed to help a bit, but not nearly enough.

As nighttime took hold, his fever grew worse, leaving him almost delirious. He swore he saw the ghosts moving around in the forest, but all he could really focus on was his own misery. A part of him wondered how no one had found him yet. Surely, he was making all sorts of noise that could be heard. Then again, maybe no one wanted to mess with something that sounded like him.

Somehow, he managed to fall asleep and woke up the next day with a pounding headache. The morning light caused him to wince in pain and his stomach violently churn. Then, he threw up…Which did nothing to help his headache or back. It simply made him feel worse. Once he finished, he flopped over onto his side for a moment before dragging himself over to a tree where he shoved his back against it. Unlike the prior day, the pressure didn’t help and just made things even more painful.

He rolled back onto his stomach and lashed his tail when he twisted his neck to press his head against his side. The pain suddenly intensified, causing him to squint his eyes shut. It radiated down either side of his spine, but seemed focused around his shoulders. Joseph flopped his head to the side and panted, making soft grunts of pain under his breath.

Then pain ripped through him like a hot knife, causing him to let out a deep, guttural scream. He clawed at the ground, trying to futilely drag himself away from the pain, but he could barely muster the strength to move. Finally, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

When he clawed his way back to consciousness, he felt relieved at the lack of pain. He still felt hot, but the fever had apparently broke. However, he also scented blood in the air. Concerned, he glanced over his shoulder to see if he’d harmed himself and hadn’t realized it. Instead, he saw dark brown wings. Joseph stared for a long few moments before lifting his left one. The limb lifted weakly and shook before flopping limply back to the ground.

Considering how tired and drained he felt, he didn’t really feel surprised. That being said, he didn’t know what to think about the notion of having wings. The idea of flying sounded…Honestly a lot scarier than fun. After a moment, he ducked his head down and lightly ran his claws over his head. No, no horns. Maybe those would come with age. He really didn’t know.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and curled his upper lip in distaste at how his wings just flopped everywhere. They seemed overly large and unwieldly. After a moment, he stretched them open to try and get an idea of his wingspan, but he didn’t manage to open them very much before his muscles started to burn. He tucked them back against his sides and heaved a tired sigh. With everything that’d happened in the past day or two, it wasn’t a surprise that his back muscles would be sore.

Finally, he simply changed back to his human form, dressed, and flopped down under a tree to dig through his satchel. Food sounded wonderful. He eagerly scarfed down the cured meat and felt the lingering bits of his headache slowly fade away. Next to him, the faint ghost of his father appeared.

“I’m glad you woke up.” Stefan sent his son a worried look.

“I just passed out from the pain, that’s all.” He popped a bit of meat into his mouth. “Why are you all faint?”

“Joseph, it nearly killed you. Between the fever and the wings…But you pulled through.” He glanced down at his nearly translucent hands. “The sun. It makes us harder to see.”

“You mean, when I passed out?” Joseph grimaced at the nod he received. “Well, it’s over. As long as that doesn’t happen again…I wonder why it did, though.”

“Kebin suspected something might happen after you consumed the magic and he didn’t think you’d fully come into your abilities just yet. Maybe the two are related.” He made an aborted move to nudge his son, but dropped his arm. “Well, what’s done is done. What do you think of the idea of flying?”

“If man was meant to fly, he’d have wings.”

Stefan laughed. “Well, it seems that you have wings and so you were meant to fly.”

“Honestly? The idea is terrifying. I don’t know the first thing about flying and have no idea how I’m supposed to learn without anyone to teach me.” He wrapped what he hadn’t eaten and tucked it back into the satchel.

“Well, how do birds learn to fly?”

“They fall out of the nest or their parents boot them out.” He paused and frowned at his father. “I’m not going to fling myself off a cliff! I can barely open my wings!”

“Then find a wide-open area and practice getting your strength up.” Saying nothing further, he vanished.

“…Gods, I think he’s worse in death than he was in life.” Despite his griping, he felt happy to still have his father’s guidance, as limited as it might be.

Considering everything that’d happened, Joseph decided to make camp and just rest. He really didn’t have a schedule and he honestly felt tired. Thankfully, he’d picked an area with a high squirrel population. While an individual animal didn’t yield a great deal of meat, he had a fairly decent meal after killing several of the things. However, instead of making a fire, he simply skinned and gutted them before eating them raw. He’d done so for years while roaming the forests. It tended to be easier than potentially spooking all the animals with the smoke or starting a forest fire in the dry months of summer.

After he finished eating, he returned to the creek to clean himself up. While not very deep, it still had enough water for him to get most of the dried sweat off. When he finished, he carefully perched on a rock to allow himself to air dry. Every now and then, he shook his head to get more water out of his hair. Honestly, he regretted not bringing something to tie his hair back with.

Despite how warm he still felt, the sensation of the late morning sun on his back made him feel content. He closed his eyes and let the stresses of the past few days melt away. As depressing and horrible as everything had been, he still had his father, in a sense. He was also still alive and he…Wasn’t really chained down anymore, was he? Joseph opened his eyes again. He’d always wanted freedom, to be free of being told what to do and…Well, now he had it.

Finally, he dressed again and returned to his little camp to figure out his plans for getting to Kovis. The road would take him there, no issue. It’d just wind through a few villages and towns on the way. He figured he could pick up any supplies he needed, be it with money or trading something. Quietly, he mulled over things a bit longer before laying down to rest.

The next morning, he had a quick breakfast before packing up and returning to the road. There, he wandered along until a large group of swordsmen on horseback rode past. Joseph stepped off the road and watched them as they went past him. It made him wonder if they’d heard about Murval, since they all wore the insignia of the kingdom.

Different factions had been vying for control of the lands for years and they’d been trying long before he’d even been born. It honestly worried him that things were starting to come to a head, especially since the events at Murval could be considered an act of war. This, of course, assumed that war hadn’t already been declared and they hadn’t learned about it, yet. Joseph shook his head and kept walking; he’d likely find out when he finally reached Kovis.

The forests slowly thinned to grasslands and he stopped to stare out at the plains of green in front of him. Gently, the grass undulated and moved like the gentle waves of a lake. He’d camp here, tonight, Joseph decided. No doubt, any prey he found here would be plump off of the grass. Breaking away from the road, he waded through the grass until he reached one of the large, nearly house sized boulders that dotted the plains. He stared up at the massive rock as the satchel slipped off his shoulder and wondered how they’d gotten to the plains.

After stripping down and stuffing his things into the satchel, he shifted. The sensation of the wings sprouting from his back felt weird and once he finished, he gave a healthy shake before stretching like a cat. He quickly climbed up onto the top of the rock and sat down to scan the lands around him. Joseph supposed that one day, he’d be able to swoop down and pluck his prey up off the ground, but today sure as hell was not that day.

He spotted a small group of deer and watched them for a moment before climbing down to the ground. Immediately, he crouched down a bit and slowly began sneaking towards the herd. He was experienced in hunting in the forest and using the greenery to camouflage himself. Here, he didn’t have that ability. While he didn’t know if his hunt would be successful, he saw it as a chance to learn.

Bit by bit, he crept forward, the tip of his tail wiggling slightly in anticipation. Every time one of the deer lifted their head, he froze. Joseph loved hunting as a dragon, it felt so different than hunting with a bow. He felt like coiled power, tense and ready to explode at any given moment. The sudden yips and barks of coyotes pulled him out of his thoughts and prompted him to freeze mid-step.

In front of him, the deer all raised their heads before flagging their tails; a sure sign they were going to spook. The sounds of the coyotes had come from the other side of the deer, which meant they could run towards him. Joseph crouched down even lower to the ground and waited.

Initially, they bolted towards him but when they saw him, they suddenly changed direction. It really didn’t matter, they’d run close enough to him that he could give chase. He lunged forward, his long stride easily closing the distance between him and his prey. Rather than snapping his teeth down on its hindquarters, an action that could loosen teeth, he slammed his head into the deer’s side. It went tumbling and barely had a chance to get up before his jaws snapped down on its neck.

Content with his kill, he carried the deer in his jaws back to where he’d made camp. There, he climbed back up onto the top of the rock to eat. While coyotes couldn’t harm him, they could be annoying by stealing bites of meat…If they were brave enough, anyway. He laid down and got himself comfortable before slowly stretching his wings out, then letting them flop down on either side of him. Fully stretched out, the things looked comically oversized and it made him wonder how he’d ever fly with them. Joseph finally just shook his head and began eating.

When he’d finished eating, the only things remaining of the deer were random odd bones and perhaps a hoof or two. He kicked the remains off his perch and yawned. The rock under him still felt warm from the day’s sun and he was hesitant to climb off. On one hand, it’d make him more visible, but on the other? He really didn’t think anyone would bother him. Finally, he simply closed his eyes to sleep.

It wasn’t the warmth of the morning sun on his back that woke him. Instead, it was the squeal of an upset horse. Blearily, he blinked and focused on a duo of hunters on horseback. Then he felt confused on why the ghosts hadn’t warned him, but then recalled what his father had said the prior day about the sun. Maybe it prevented them from appearing.

“Verras, you idiot! I told you it wasn’t dead.” The hunter with the spooked mount slowly backed his horse up.

“Well, it looked dead.” The second flinched when the dragon suddenly snorted. “I just figured it was a baby who got separated from the momma dragon and died.”

“You really are an idiot.” The first pointed at the dried blood on the rock. “Pretty sure it ate something.”

“Or maybe it got hurt.”

Joseph stared at the two in disbelief. He could easily eat them and yet they were standing there, having a conversation and ignoring him. Though, he supposed that he looked smaller with his body half hidden. Finally, he stood up and stretched with a deep rumble in his chest, prompting the two hunters to back up a great deal more.

“I’m not so convinced that’s a baby, now.” The second hunter noted.

“That’s because you have cotton for brains and wanted to poke the damned thing with a stick.”

“…Still do, but I think it might eat me.” He commented as he watched the dragon tuck its wings against its body before slowly climbing down the rock.

“Why am I even friends with you?” The first sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Because, bitch, I’m adorable. And you like how I cook deer jerky.”

Joseph felt bemused as he watched the two hunters wander away. Honestly, he didn’t know what to think about that. Finally, he picked up the strap of the satchel in his mouth and started off at a trot. He didn’t feel like turning back human and knew he’d cover more ground in this form, anyway. Every now and then, he’d stretch his wings to give them a flap. At the moment, he didn’t think he could do much before lift himself off the ground by half a foot.

And honestly? He didn’t try anything more than that thanks to how the sensation caused a spike of fear to lance through him. While heights didn’t bother him, the idea of flying just seemed too much. So, for now, he contented himself with the idea of slowly building up the strength of his wings. Once he could fully extend them, then he’d entertain the idea of his first flight.

By evening, he spotted a village in the distance. Decidedly, it’d be better to go poking around in the morning. So, with some reluctance, he changed back human, dressed, and built himself a small campfire. It was smarter to act like a human while being around humans, and it’d raise plenty of questions if someone found him eating his rabbit raw.

If he was honest with himself, he didn’t feel thrilled with the idea of going into the village, just from how the people at Murval had treated him. Then again, it was also a village he’d never seen before so…For all he knew? They might be friendly. He supposed that he’d just have to find out in the morning.