The Mysterious Dragonman (Chapter XXV)

Resting under the night sky


"And here we are !" Lông announced.
The seven dragons just arrived at the main cave. Mei, Rue and Bargy, seeing it for the first time, attentively looked around at the small clearance and at the hill in which were the caves.
"I wasn't expecting this in a forest." Mei commented.
"Neither did I, but this looks great ! Those caves really look like a lovely new home." Rue exclaimed.
Bargy nodded. "But isn't it too dark inside ?"
"It isn't, there are numerous holes that let enough light pass for us to see perfectly." Lông replied.
"That sounds almost too perfect. You really were lucky to find such a place." Mei said.
"After the whole trip up to here, I'd say we deserved it !" Sita smirked.
Calemvir chuckled. "You're right, it was a hell of a trip."
"Eh by the way we didn't get your part of the story ! You'll have to tell us about that trip !" Rue exclaimed.
"Well what about now then ?" Solaria suggested. "It's a bit too early to sleep right now."
Bargy smiled and looked around.
"This clearance is the perfect place for a story-time." he commented.
"Let's all settle down and tale it then !" Sita exclaimed, clapping her flippers.
All the other dragons nodded and quickly found themselves a place to sit down or lie on the soft grass that was covering the clearance. In fact only Lông, Calemvir, Solaria and Sita were sitting, as the three other dragons clearly seemed happy to rest their full bellies on the grass.
"Man if it wasn't for the story I'd sure take a nap right now." Bargy yawned as he stretched his body, making himself comfortable.
"Same here. That meal feels like it weights a ton in my stomach." Mei agreed, her serpentine body almost curled on itself.
Rue nodded at the comment. "And we slept almost the whole day already. What's wrong with our bodies ?"
"You just need a lot of rest after what you've done yesterday. That's all." Lông smiled.
"I guess so... After all it was our first time flying." Mei yawned.
"Speaking of this, how do you fly Mei ? Since you don't have wings, I mean." Sita wondered.
The blue Eastern smiled. "Well I seem to be able to hover in the air thanks to some strange magic."
"Some... magic ?" Solaria blinked.
"Yeah." Mei nodded. "Seems like I can make some air-related magic."
"You should have seen her when she grabbed those keys ! She almost looked like some kind of magus !" Rue exclaimed.
"And her fur was at least twice as fluffy. That was funny." Bargy chuckled.
The six other dragons laughed as Mei violently protested at that comment.
"Anyway, how about we begin ?" Calemvir asked.
"Sure thing !" Rue exclaimed. "Let's hear the tale of our predecessors !"
Solaria chuckled at this.
"Alright, where should we begin then ?"
"Well from the very beginning of course." Sita replied.
The four dragon began to tale - often interrupting themselves - how they went to the show, woke up as dragons, waited in the uncomfortable cages that the Dragonman came, their dialog with him, how they decided to escape and melt the locks, jumped through the window - with many laughs from the three others as Sita and Solaria definitively emphasised on how Lông and Calemvir failed to support Sita and almost got drowned - and their walk through the plains. When they mentioned the village they helped, the three new dragons seemed a bit surprised.
"Wait, so that was a medieval village ? For real ?" Bargy questioned.
Lông nodded. "Definitively. That's probably why everything caught on fire so easily."
"But... That means we're back in the Middle Age !" Rue frowned.
Mei seemed to deeply think about something.
"That or I perfectly know where we are." she declared.
"How that ?" Sita wondered.
"Well, if I remember it well, there is a sect or something like this that settled in an isolated place and build a village... Except they refuse any technology." the blue Eastern replied.
"I hope you're not meaning Sita might have been in danger just because we helped a bunch of stupid people who refused to have firemen ?" Solaria frowned.
"That's only an hypothesis, but I guess you could say that..." Mei smirked.
"I've to say that sounds more plausible than us having made a jump in time. I mean, that would be a terrible temporal mess." Calemvir commented.
Bargy nodded. "I totally agree on that. After all, the Dragonman is here and also at the town for the festival. It is impossible he lives in both periods, right ?"
"It sure is. But if what Mei said is right, then where are we ?" Rue asked.
Mei took some seconds to think at her answer.
"I'd say... Two or three days of car from our city, if I'm estimating it right. Probably a bit more."
Sita almost gasped at that answer.
"We're that close from home ? But that means we could head back there and tell our parents what happened ! They must be worrying sick about us after all !" she exclaimed.
"That sure is an idea. I'd seriously feel better knowing my family knows I'm safe and sound !" Solaria agreed.
"I don't want to sound like a party popper, but how are we going to get anywhere near the town like we are ?" Calemvir asked.
There was a long silence as everyone tried to find a method that would let them reach the center of the town without creating a major catastrophe.
"Damn, I guess you're right." Rue sighed.
"We still can figure something to do later. For now all we can do is wait here for newcomers until this bloody festival ends." Lông said.
"How long is it supposed to last in fact ?" the black dragon wondered.
"If I remember it well the festival lasts two weeks." Solaria replied.
"Sounds like it leaves enough time for the Dragonman to turn even more people into dragons..." Bargy sighed.
"That's even more dragons we need to find and maybe even free if we can !" Rue exclaimed.
"More dragons... to free ?" Mei asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course ! We know where his castle is and how to evade it, so we perfectly could make kind of a raid and free the dragons that will be there !" the red dragoness continued.
"We'd better master our bodies before taking risks like that." Lông commented.
Calemvir nodded. "Not to mention we don't even know what kind of tricks the Dragonman keeps in his bag. It could end up extremely dangerous if we go there unprepared."
"After all, someone who manages to transform humans into dragons has to have something in case the dragons decide to rebel." Solaria added.
The red dragoness sighed. "Meh. So we're just going to stay here and do nothing ?"
Lông shook his head. "Just try following Solaria when she'll train for flying. You'll see if there's really nothing to do, and why we can't just go and assault the castle."
Calemvir, Sita and Solaria chuckled at the comment.
"Yeah we definitively have a lot to train. Now that I think about it I'm not even sure how to fight for example..." Calemvir added.
Sita raised an eyebrow. "Now that you mention it, indeed... I wouldn't be sure how to struggle."
"In that case we should try training for that tomorrow, shouldn't we ?" Rue suggested.
Solaria nodded. "That probably would be for the better. Plus I feel like this could end up extremely funny !"
"Then that settles tomorrow's schedule. Should we sleep now then ?" Lông asked.
While they had been chatting, the sun had finished to set so that only the moon was lightning them. The silver light was reflecting on each dragon's scales in an unique way, giving them all a fairly irreal look. The grass covering the clearance also was enlightened, making the whole scene look like a fantasy piece.
"I dunno. The night... I never imagined it could look so calm." Rue smiled as she looked up at the stars.
Mei and Bargy nodded.
"Indeed. On a side note, I almost see everything clearly. I'm sure it helps not feeling oppressed by the darkness." the blue dragoness commented.
"Sure it does. It makes me wonder why was the night scary in the first place." Sita nodded.
Bargy had a wide yawn as he put his head on his paws and dreamily looked at the night sky.
"If I didn't know stars were that far, I'd definitively try to grab one." he declared with a dreamy smile.
"Oh ? And what would you do with it ?" Mei chuckled.
The blue furred dragon shrugged.
"I dunno. Maybe I'd offer it to someone ?"
Rue chuckled at the idea. "How soft. You should have kept that one for when you'll be trying to seduce someone !"
Bargy chuckled as well. "You're right. But hard not to feel a bit romantic with such a scenery !"
"You also should have kept this one, Bargy !" Sita smiled.
"Take care, girls, sounds like we have a flirter among us !" Calemvir warned with a smile.
"No worries for me, my heart is safe. He's going to need a bit more effort than this if he wants to steal it !" Solaria replied.
Mei chuckled. "Same here."
"Aww, you girls are hard with him. That was a really nice speech, you know..." Rue grinned.
"Like, enough to fall for it ?" Bargy wondered.
"Not if you insist like that." the red dragoness instantly replied.
This made the other dragons laugh as the blue furred dragon smirked.
"At least I tried..." he commented, half chuckling.
For some seconds, no one spoke. All what could be heard were the usual sounds of insects. It was a really calm night, yet nothing like they ever lived before - certainly because of their new senses.
"We should get some sleep. Otherwise we might end up admiring the scenery until tomorrow's morning." Mei broke the silence.
Rue nodded. "I definitively could relax here forever... But I'm also starting to get sleepy. You're right, let's give our new home a look !"
All the dragons stood up on that call, and the four first dragons led the way inside the caves.
"Well, there's not much more to say. Find yourselves a place, guys." Lông shrugged.
Rue, Mei and Bargy entered and looked around them. The place in which they were almost looked like a living hall with many exits leading to smaller "rooms" - even if "smaller" was a fairly relative term as each of those rooms was big enough to grant a dragon some space. There was indeed enough space here to host quite a bunch of dragons, for sure. Mei counted at least half a dozen of those exits, and most of them also seemed to bifurcate later.
"Woah, this is almost a labyrinth !" Rue exclaimed.
"Yeah, even though it also reminds me of a tree. You know, with the trunk and the branches." Bargy added.
Calemvir had a smile. "We had the same feeling. This place almost looks like it was made for us, doesn't it ?"
"It sure does. It's looks almost too perfect." Mei nodded.
"Well I'm not going to complain on that one. I'm settling there !" Rue exclaimed as she headed toward one of the galleries of the cave.
"I might as well chose my own place. Toward there, it should do it." the blue furred dragon declared as he headed toward another way.
Mei shrugged as she looked around, looking at the different branches.
"Guess I'll also take mine. Let's look in this direction." she said as she headed in another gallery.
The small gallery was only going on for dozen of meters before splitting in two. The blue Eastern was about to head inside the left gallery when she caught a scent coming from that side. Curious, she sniffed the air a bit, trying to identify the smell. She was feeling like a dog for doing this, but she got surprised by how powerful her smelling had become. Just by sniffing a bit she could smell everything present around her, even the smell from the others in the main cave... and of course the smell she was trying to identify. She now was smelling it so clear she instantly guessed what it was.
"Hey, Lông, that's your smell over there, isn't it ?" she loudly asked so that the dragons inside the main cave could hear her.
The blue Eastern heard a chuckle coming from there.
"Looks like you learned how to use your new smelling, Mei." the red dragon replied, as he came toward her. "I was wondering if you would figure out it was my cave when you started heading this way."
"I'm really surprised I could identify your smell so clearly. I never tried to memorise everyone's smell, yet I feel like I could distinguish them all." the blue Eastern said.
Lông smiled at her. "I am sometimes still getting surprised by how powerful are our senses now that we are dragons."
The two of them stopped at they heard a voice coming from somewhere else in the cave.
"Just checking, do you guys hear me ?" Bargy loudly asked.
"I do ! Man that's even more awesome. We have some privacy but we still can hear each other without much difficulty !" they heard Rue exclaim.
"Well with that I'm getting settled. Good night guys !" the blue furred dragon replied.
"Same here, see ya tomorrow !" the red dragoness added.
Mei smiled at Lông before letting out a yawn.
"Guess I'm also going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, Lông." she said.
With this she took the path she now knew wasn't leading to the red dragon's room, and arrived in a clear room right after a turn. It definitively was big enough for a dragon to lay down, even her could spread all her length without hurting a wall - even though it was fairly close. The ground still was made of soft dirt, which was fine for her as Mei wasn't really looking forward sleeping on some hard rock. Yeah definitively this cave was awesome.
The blue dragoness curled on the ground, her tail almost brushing on her head. As a human, she would have complained about the lack of pillow. But right now, her own paws felt like the most comfortable thing in the world. Did she really got used to such rustic conditions that fast ? Not like she was going to complain though. Her previous meal still was leaving a weight on her stomach. Even before she realized it, the blue dragoness started to drift into sleep, dragged by her tiredness and her meal. Some sleep... definitively was welcome...

Lông stood several seconds facing the direction Mei went before heading back to the center room of the cave. Solaria, Calemvir and Sita still were there, sitting in silence.
"So, did she figure it out ?" Calemvir wondered.
Obviously, the black dragon was refering to the fact she headed toward where Lông already settled.
"Yep, she did. I'm still often surprised by those senses." the red dragon replied.
"Totally ! I have been wondering if I wouldn't be able to feel the air currents while flying." Solaria declared.
"Hey, so you too ? It seems like I have the same for water currents !" Sita exclaimed.
"Anyway... I've to say I was fairly surprised when I met them earlier. I didn't expect there would be other dragons... that soon." Calemvir commented.
The three other dragons nodded.
"I really wonder what is that Dragonman planning." Solaria frowned.
"For sure. Whatever the method he is using to turn us into dragons, it can't be prepared in only a few days !" Sita added.
"Would that mean he knew we would escape then ?" Lông wondered.
"No way ! Why would he turn us into dragons if he knew we would escape from his control ? It just doesn't make any sense !" the black dragon protested.
"And what if... what if it was part of his plans ?" Sita suggested.
All the other dragons looked at her, surprised by the idea.
"I mean, what you guys said only can lead to this conclusion. Maybe his aim is something that we would do naturally ?" the water dragoness continued.
"It still doesn't make a lot of sense. Why did he then tried to get us to join him ?" Solaria frowned.
"If I may comment, that attempt we're talking about was awfully clumsy. He instead got even more motivated to escape the castle." Calemvir said.
"You'really absolutely right. Now that I think about it, it's definitively strange how bad that attempt was." the red dragon agreed.
"But he did try to prevent us from escaping... didn't he ?..." Solaria began, obviously feeling less and less convinced as the sentence went on.
"He never arrived in our room, so it could totally be part of the show..." Calemvir replied.
There was a long silence as they all were thinking about all those events. This hypothesis both made sense and absolutely none.
"What about we talk about this tomorrow with the others ? They'll probably have another point of view on the matter." Sita suggested.
"Good idea. We'd better go to sleep anyway." Lông replied.
"I agree. See you tomorrow then !" Calemvir said as he headed outside the main room.
One by one, after wishing the others a good night, the four dragons headed back in their respective rooms for the night. Lông left last and had a smile when he reached the bifurcation that was leading to either his room or Mei's. He could clearly smell the scent of the dragoness along with his own. The three new dragons now were at home. The little group now was composed of no less than seven dragons. Whatever the Dragonman had planned, if he wanted them to do something against their will it would make as many dragons opposing him. Was all this part of his plans, or did they already break it ? With those thoughts the red dragon headed inside his own room and settled for the night.