Chapter 9

Centare finally entered the room, his long black tail scraping along the icy floor. He inspected them closely, as if he wasn't quite sure how to react. His face went through a series of emotions, from amusement to unease. He finally seemed to decide on a serious and satisfied expression, seeming to be copied right off the scaly features of Brostiff's face. The blue leviathan paced around them now, inspecting their every move and taking great interest in their appearance.  The majestic blue nodded eventually, and Belkio sighed. The feelings he had now did not please him in the least; his eyes felt as if some water had gotten into them and blurred everything, his nose felt as if stuffed with leaves, and every sound seemed muted and distant. Brostiff motioned for them to sit down, and Belkio did so with relief. His head buzzed dizzily after the strain the spell had put him through, and a comfortable seat on the soft snow was welcome. Brostiff and Centare gave him a brief run-through of what they were supposed to do; mostly what to watch for, when to report, and how to escape if needed. Jerru listened alongside Belkio, and apparently, despite his shyness, seemed to enjoy the details of the mission. Belkio nodded and replied "Yes." or "Of course not." when needed. Finally, Centare and Brostiff had seemed to run out of tips or warnings to give them, and Brostiff rumbled, "It is now time for you hatchlings to get some basic training. We may be sending you off sooner than expected, but that doesn't mean you are to just take off without any idea of what might... befall you." he seemed to choose his words very carefully, as if he didn't want to reveal something that might frighten them. Belkio gulped. "Yes, Your Majesty. Of course we will train." Jerru nodded, "Of course." he mumbled. Brostiff eyed them one last time. Then he ordered, "Come then. We will need to make haste." Belkio and Jerru hurried after him in their new bodies, and found it rather tiring. What would have been a quick stroll out of the massive doorway, now became a long tiring jog. They reached it in good time, but in his true form Belkio could have made it twice as fast as he did now. Belkio turned his head at an "Oof!", to see Jerru on the floor, having tripped. Belkio tried to help him up, his new limbs confusing. He gripped Jerru on what Belkio took for his new wing, and pulled. He found his strength laughable, and felt embarrassed when Centare had to pluck Jerru off the floor and right him. After that, Belkio and Jerru were more careful, but that didn't prevent them both from having some trips and falls. Belkio, once, when running across a patch of ice, slipped and went barreling into Jerru, ending up in a tangled mess. Centare sighed and gently tugged them apart. "You'd better climb onto my back, or we'll take all day." he grumbled. Belkio blushed, and clambered onto Centare's lowered tail and onto his back. Huffing, Jerru joined him, and they sat patiently waiting for Centare to move. Suddenly, they felt him rising, and both gripped onto his scales tight. With a jolt, Centare started forward, and Belkio had to lean close to the black dragon in order to keep from tumbling off. The pace picked up quickly, and Brostiff and Centare hurried, regaining the time they had lost. They went through snowy corridors and icy halls, following Brostiff wherever he lead them. Finally, they exited the castle and reached an open, roofless field. Belkio gaped. No grass or rocks covered this field. The ground was coated in clouds, the soft mist from their undefined shapes encircling them in it's haze. Centare turned his head, and announced, "We're here. You may dismount." He lowered his head, and Belkio cautiously slid down, slowly putting his feet on the ground. Frowning at his small feet, he wondered how these humans hunted if they had no claws or sharpened teeth with which to hunt with? Grunting, he let himself fall on the gentle clouds, immediately feeling as if he were in a dream of some sort, and with the mist enshrouding his senses even more, he began to feel rather sleepy. Jerru appeared out of the fog, darting glaces at the clouds beneath his feet as if he expected them to give way. Belkio beckoned to him, then began to make his way towards Centare. Even through the fog, the large black dragon was easy enough to spot. Brostiff, however, was nowhere to be seen, and Belkio wondered where he had gone. Centare noticed them, and called them over, bellowing, "It is now time for you to learn more about your new selves. This is not permanent, remember, and within a month you will be returned to your true form. By then, hopefully, we will have some idea of what these creatures are like." Centare cleared his throat, the sound echoing in Belkio's ears. "First of all: your senses. I believe you have noticed the dampening?" he asked. Jerru nodded, and Belkio had the courage to ask, "When will the effect wear off?" He got a glance from Centare, who then replied, "The dampening is not going to wear off, unfortunately. It is the human's senses, as they are." Belkio's new heart skipped a beat. His senses were going to be this way for a month? A short time in a dragon's life, but now the occasion seemed to stretch on for months. Belkio felt a sudden rush of panic, but he fought it down. I have to do this! He forced himself to calm down, took a breath, and then nodded to Centare. Centare eyed him for a moment, then continued, "And your new limbs. You wings, as you have noticed, are now arms. And your legs have been reduced to two, with short useless claws." Jerru held one up curiously, and twitched it. Centare saw this and rumbled, "Not a bad idea. Try it yourself, Belkio." Belkio lifted one up, and waggled his fingers. Suddenly he received a SLAP and turned to see Jerru apologetically pulling his arm away from Belkio. Centare chuckled, then went on. "Now. Walking, as you likely already know, is different too, with the lack of some legs. Try it now." Belkio strutted along the cloudy ground, making sure not to trip. Jerru started after him, and managed to make it to Belkio without falling. "Good. Now try running." Belkio broke into a run, but his legs whacked together painfully. He stopped for a moment, then sped up again. For a while he ran, then slipped and went tumbling backwards. "Hm, I see you may need some practice." Centare looked thoughtful, as if already planning the lesson. Jerru now slowly ran faster and faster, until he was at breakneck speed. His legs, though tired and went numb, and he stumbled and fell in a heap. Centare lumbered over, his tail swishing back and forth. "Jerru, don't take such big leaps. Belkio, run with your legs wider apart." They both scrambled to their feet, and attempted it again. This time Belkio managed to make it farther without falling, but Jerru tripped and did a somersault. He gasped for breath, and Belkio ran over to help him, but Jerru whipped his head up and they smacked into each other. Both rubbed their heads, then stood up. With a heavy sigh, Centare instructed Jerru, "No no, don't run so widely Jerru. You need to keep them together, like this." He tenderly pushed them closer with his claws, each of which was half as big as Jerru. Jerru nodded, and squinted, then dashed out again. "Whaa!" Belkio sighed. This would take a while.

Chapter 8

Belkio shivered inside. Now? I thought we were to be trained first! But Brostiff seemed to be positive they should start their project without delay, and Centare for one, did not disagree with the mighty Cloud King. Brostiff motioned to them to follow, and led them through icy halls and snowy towers until they reached the most magnificent room of all. Belkio and Jerru gasped as they entered, for in the room it was snowing. The snow appeared to drifting out of the ceiling itself, and it glowed with a blueish tinge. Brostiff held his tail in front of them for them to stop. "Stay still." he ordered. With one hand, he took some of the mysterious snow in his hand, and mumbling some words Belkio couldn't understand, he crushed the snow into dust and threw it into the air. Sparkles of blue magic glittered through the air, and Belkio inhaled some by mistake. It felt cold, but warm at the same time. Suddenly he was tired. Extremely tired. Jerru looked worried. "Belkio, are you o-" he led off as he inhaled the magic too. Centare had remained in the doorway, away from the magic. Brostiff seemed to be unaffected by the magical dust, however, and watched as Belkio and Jerru grew sleepy. "Don't let yourself fall asleep. It will ruin the spell." he instructed them. Belkio strained to keep his eyes open, but all the weariness of his journey, his lack of sleep yesterday, and his muddled thoughts seemed to weigh heavily on his eyelids. Jerru looked similar. Belkio fought the sleepiness. I have to stay awake! he gritted his teeth.
And then it was gone. His strength returned to him, he stretched, only to find terrible agonizing pain in doing so. Did I tweak my wings hard? he wondered, before noticing that Jerru's eyes were wide in pain as well. He guessed that this too must be an effect from the blue magic, and tried his hardest not to call out. His whole body was wracked in pain, as if he had been beat by an Iop and then tossed off a cliff. He panted, and almost slumped to the floor. He was eternally grateful, then, when the pain receded, replaced by a warm glow inside him. He looked at the Cloud King; Brostiff nodded his head. The hard parts were over. Belkio renewed his strength and confidence with the blue magic's now-soft touch.
Then he shrunk. Belkio almost panicked, wondering if this was supposed to happen. Brostiff nodded encouragingly, so he guessed it was. His tail shrunk and receded, his long maw flattening, and his scales were replaced by skin and- what was it? Fur? His large eyes became small and piggish, and his wings folded into his arms. And all in all, he shrunk. Till he was little bigger than Centare's toe. He shook with fear, trying to remain calm. Then he spotted a creature not unlike him over to the left. Belkio gasped. Did he look like that? "I look disgusting." he mumbled under his breath. He quickly assumed that the other creature must be Jerru, for he had amber eyes like the dragon and he whirled around trying to look at himself.

They were humans.

Chapter 7

Belkio stared at Brostiff, who was nearly twice as big as Centare and was carrying a staff of rock with a hard ball of ice on the end. Mist encircled the ice ball, causing it to glow with a mysterious blue light. On the stone part of the staff elaborate designs were carved onto it, one of them the sign of the Cloud King's Castle; a wolf raising it's head and howling into a blizzard, with snowflake designs encircling it. Brostiff himself was also powerful looking, his scales icy blue (not bright blue but the color of blue ice, like blue mixed with white; a sort of light blue) and his razor sharp claws extended as long as Belkio's head. His eyes had a powerful gleam about them, as if he knew now things that Belkio would not know in his entire life. Belkio had made it all the way up through a blizzard, he had befriended a purple, and he had Centare, of all dragons, for his trainer. Yet this topped all, Belkio thought. This topped all. Jerru stirred, mumbling something about cold feet, and flittered an eye open. "Oh, hi Brostiff."he muttered, still dazed from his drag through the raging blizzard. All at once, he leaped to his feet in an attempt to salute, slipped on the icy floor, and fell backwards out the gargantuan door into a drift of snow. He raised his head and saluted the surprised Brostiff with a shaky hand covered in frost. Brostiff lifted a bellow throughout the castle, "Frant, come here and give the poor fellow a drink of Freshberry juice, and turn the defroster on, we have guests!" The last was said in exasperation with his blue servant, who speedily hurried in with a cup of steaming Freshberry juice and a hand to help Jerru up. The young purple dragon was clearly embarrassed, his normally violet cheeks glowing a pale scaly pink. Once he was inside again, the frozen door slammed shut, and it's icicle lock clicked. "Now, we are all ready to hear the news you bring, eh, Centare?" Centare nodded seriously, and launched into the tale of the sighting of these "human" creatures, it ending by how Centare was going to train their dragon spies himself. Brostiff listened, intrigued, until Centare finished. He shook his head solemnly, and declared in a deep, low tone, "But, Centare, we must not wait to train them. We must not waste more precious time. Remember what happened last time we waited?" Centare notably froze, and he narrowed his eyes darkly. A growl rumbled deep in his throat, and smoke steamed out of his nostrils. Belkio shook to see him like this, a torrent of fury and grief. "I remember." he growled, his face grim, his mind wandering in a secret place of darkness, pain, and guilt. "I remember." Then he was himself again, and replied, "Of course, my friend, of course. We will send them out immediately.  But what are their orders?" Brostiff swerved his massive head around towards Jerru and Belkio, and instructed them, "Watch. Just simply watch, and report to us everything and anything that happens, especially if it is important or unusual." Belkio found his voice enough to say, "Yes, your Majesty." Brostiff grunted. "Don't start with all that 'Your Majesty' rubbish. Just call me Brostiff." Jerru's eyes visibly widened, and Belkio felt as Jerru looked. "O-ok, Brostiff." Belkio murmured, stumbling over the words in his astonishment. Brostiff nodded, obviously satisfied. "Good, now we know each other, let's get down to business."

Chapter 6

Belkio gasped for breath as the icy wind knocked the air out of his lungs. He had not known the snow up here was any colder than down there, but obviously there was a huge difference in temperature. Centare seemed not to notice though, at least not as much. Jerru, on the other hand, had fallen way behind and was shivering uncontrollably. For five minutes they flew through the blinding snow, working themselves- slowly but steadily- up the mountain. Centare was squinting into the snow, muttering to nobody in particular, "WHERE is it? It HAS to be here SOMEWHERE. WHERE is that castle? WHERE?" he ended his complaints with a mighty roar that echoed through the snow and was lost among the falling whiteness. For an hour they struggled helplessly against the fierce winds that pushed them and shoved them every which way, the cold biting their noses and freezing their wings so that they couldn't even feel them, and for a moment, Belkio thought in horror that maybe he wasn't even flying at all! Even Centare looked beaten, but was still peering among the snowflakes as they whizzed by at top speed. All of a sudden, Jerru gave a excited roar, and stretched his neck, pointing to the left. Belkio and Centare stared where Jerru had pointed. But Belkio couldn't see anything but the snow. Then he did see it. It was a blue dragon, gliding through the storm as if it were a sunny day. Belkio gaped at him, then closed his mouth, realising it was rude- and his saliva was freezing. The blue dragon motioned to them to follow him, and started off into the blizzard. Jerru however, was so cold and tired he sunk down into the snow and closed his eyes. "Jerru! You'll freeze to death!"Belkio cried. Centare snapped his head around. "He is too tired to move." he survied carefully. "We will have to carry him." Belkio nudged his shoulder under his friend, and lifted him up with Centare. Then they follwed the blue dragon.
*** Belkio's heart fluttered with relief when he finally saw the castle. It was grand, made out of clouds with a banner of the cloud king fluttering on top of a turret, and a huge misty moat made of fog. Centare and Belkio dropped Jerru at the door and waited as their escort knocked a code on the huge ice door. Then the ice slid up and there, inside, was the biggest, the grandest, the most powerful dragon he ever saw. "Come inside. I've been waiting for you." Brostiff rumbled.

Chapter 5

Belkio gaped up at the humongous peak up above him. He couldn't believe such a huge mountain was for real. Sure, he'd heard the stories of it, 'As tall as 100 Iops' the stories said, but those were just stories, right? Now as Belkio stared at the famous Stormflight Peak, he really pondered if he should be doing this. I can just back out. I will! I will as soon as... no. Belkio would rather drown than disappoint the Cloud King and his friend Centare. So, he followed his friend and 'spy trainer' up and into the misty surrounding of Stormflight Peak. "Now stay together and don't wander off. So far Brostiff has managed to keep it from being as stormy as usual, but you never know when his spell might wear off." Brostiff can control the weather?! Belkio was incredulous. Anyone as powerful to control the weather was powerful enough to do almost anything, in Belkio's opinion. Jerru seemed to be having the same feeling, for when they exchanged glances his amber eyes were widened in surprise. Jerru whispered in his ear,"I sure wouldn't want to get him angry." Belkio nodded, still in awe. The three dragons circled around the peak until they were halfway to the top. "This is taking forever. My wings ache and I'm hungry." Jerru complained to no one in particular. Belkio nodded, although his wings did not ache, he was hungry too. Centare grumbled something under his breath as snow started to fall. "Hurry! The spell is worn off and it could become a blizzard in just a few minutes." He whisked past, and Jerru struggled to catch up with him, but even in the snow Belkio caught up with the black without straining his wings too hard. "I wish I had your wings Belkio. It'd help." Jerru managed to puff. Belkio slowed down to wait for him, but Centare dragged him on. "We MUST get there before it starts snowing- blast it!" Centare bellowed as more snowflakes began pouring down. Within a minute it was a blizzard, as Centare had predicted it might. "Jerru! Where are you?" Belkio cried into the snow. "H-here. I'm fine. J-just out of b-breath." Belkio waited, and Centare did this time too. Jerru appeared out of the snow falling below and joined them. "Can we please take a b-break?" He asked Centare, gasping. Centare hesitated, then replied, "No, we must keep moving. We'll take a break once we're inside Brostiff's castle." The castle! The thought gave Belkio new strength, and apparently did so to Jerru also. "Okay, if you say so." said Jerru. So the three dragons, side by side, braced against the storm and disappeared into the clouds above.

Chapter 4

Belkio lay in his nest, staring up at the night sky. He couldn't believe it! What had he gotten into? After the elders had finely stopped talking, they sent Belkio and Jerru off to bed, ordering them to come back the next night. But Belkio couldn't sleep. Who could, when you knew the next day you'd be among alien creatures? It wasn't until the sun was well in the sky before Belkio fell asleep. In his dream the humans danced around him with sharp stones ready to pierce his scales. But even in his dream Belkio knew how hard it would be for them to actually pierce his tough scales. He struggled in his sleep for a while, then relaxed into a deep slumber. *** Belkio stretched, clawing his favorite tree by accident. He scowled, and lifted it back upright. Belkio had a feeling this wasn't going to be a good night. Well he'd best be getting off to Dragons Glade, or he'd be late. He scrambled to his feet, stretched once more, and began his short flight to Dragons Glade. A few minutes later, when he was quite close to Dragons Glade, he heard a faint roar of greeting. Belkio squinted, and just barely made out the shape of Jerru flying towards the Glade also. How the heck did he hear my wing beats all the way across the sky? Belkio pondered. As he got closer, he saw it wasn't Jerru after all, but his father, Dimplo. Belkio nodded hello and dived into the glade, a little too fast, because he crashed into the ground. Dimplo came in after him, and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "Clumsy mumble mumble mumble shouldn't be
mumble mumble." They then sat in silence, the sound of Bright Fawn woods and their impatient breathing was the only thing to hear, well to Belkio anyway. But he'd bet a whole feast of nuts and berries (which was the dragons' diet at that time) that Dimplo was listening to his heartbeat, the worms wiggling in the ground, and who knows what else. Dimplo was the 'listener', the dragon with the best hearing ever. Yet Jerru had admitted that he himself didn't have that good ears, for a purple anyway. He was better at sight. After a minute or two, Nestria and Centare appeared, and timidly following them was Jerru. They waited a good five minutes before the last dragon, Canto, appeared. He looked apologetic, and admitted that he had slept longer than he had expected. After they had all settled down, Centare started it by announcing, "I have arranged a meeting with Brostiff today, and we must hurry in order to keep the time expected. Also you young spies must have some training first, before you go about your spy business at Twisting Creek. So I have made time for me to be your trainer." Belkio's heart leaped. Centare was to be his trainer?! This was absurd! Yet it was exciting at the same time... "So we must hurry. Come now young ones, we must fly swiftly. Brostiff will be waiting for us." Belkio immediently leaped to his feet, not wanting to disapoint Brostiff and Centare. Jerru must have felt the same way, because he was up in the sky before Belkio was on his feet. Belkio raced after him, with Centare swiftly following. Belkio quickly caught up with Jerru, and even had to slow down in order to avoid passing him. Even though Jerru was just as old as himself, Belkio was a red and thus a better flier. Centare caught up, and took the lead, steering them in the right direction. As they glided though misty clouds and across clear skys, Belkio engaged in conversation with Jerru. Belkio discovered that Jerru was quite like him; he loved the look of Burning Star lake, liked to take swims in it on hot days, and sometimes had trouble sleeping at night. As they chattered away, Centare studied the clouds up at the mountain peaks. He rumbled with please. Brostiff had managed to keep them from being blizzerd clouds, which would have been very hard to get through without being either swept away, or lost. As they got closer, the gossip stopped, and the two new found friends stared up at the mountain known as Stormflight Peak.

Chapter 3

Belkio gasped. His heart sank. His stomach knotted up. And worse of all, he was speechless. But none of those helped the terrible fact known to the red dragon; he was found out! Centare eyed the bushes in which Belkio hid with amusement. His voice rumbled to Belkio's ears as trouble, "I know you're in there, it's no use hiding. And don't feel ashamed for what you did. In fact," The black dragon continued, "You've helped me to make a very difficult decision." The other dragons nodded, except the purple one, who looked confused. "And now, you can come out." Centare added with amusement. Belkio shivered. He tried to control his nervousness, but to no avail. For a moment Belkio considered launching into the air and flying away as fast as he possibly could. But Centare would certainly catch up or track him down. He had no choice but to step out and reveal himself. Belkio took a big breath and crashed into the clearing. And there he stood amidst a great hero, the one and only Centare, the 'Great Escapee' from his Iop torturers. And Canto, the x-Red Male, mate to the former Red Female Reepo. Except for the common young purple and the dazzling yellow dragon of which both Belkio knew no name, he was surrounded by celebrities. Now Canto stepped forward at a nod from Centare and looked Belkio over from his long scaly tail to the tips of his agile wings. "Yes." he murmured to himself. "Yes, he is good." Canto straightened up and reported his findings, whatever they might be. Belkio shivered uncontrollably, and the purple cocked his head sympathetically. Canto now spoke, "I have looked him over for signs of weakness and strength, and find it promising. However," Canto's eyes burned into Belkio's and he shivered harder, "He is too, um, anxious, if I may say so myself." He ended lamely. Cenare traded Canto's burning eyes for his own, but surprisingly instead of shivering even harder- if that was possible - it gave Belkio new strength and confidence. With one last shudder, Belkio forced himself to sit up straight and look more 'promising'. Centare turned back to Canto and whispered something out of range of Belkio's hearing. Canto looked hurt, but Centare didn't seem to notice. "Then it's decided." He swung his head towards the purple for a few moments, as if to verify that this was what he wanted. The young purple shifted uncomfortably, even though Centare only studied him for a couple of seconds. Centare jumped onto Scale Rock, the newly found rock that could finally be used as an addressing spot. "Now, we have agreed on one thing only, that the youngsters shall only be 'human' for a week. But in order to have them human for even a second, they must visit the Cloud King Brostiff. Therefore, I have sent my servant Clug to the Alfean Mountains, to tell him of their arrival. But before any of us goes to Stormflight Peak, we must all agree. Does anyone agree?" A hushed silence fell upon the glade, the only sound the wind rustling through the trees. Belkio's mind was spinning. What were they talking about? What was a human? And what did he have to do with anything? After a minute, the yellow raised her tail and said, "I, for one, agree that this is the right thing to do. If we don't do something, who knows what could happen?" Her speech worked like a spark on a hay bale, and soon Canto was chattering about what good this would do to the reds, followed by a smart remark from the yellow dragon about how this would do good for all the dragons, not just reds. Then Centare was whisked into the conversation by a question from the yellow, whom Belkio had discovered was named Nestria. They argued and questioned each other for about half an hour, until Belkio was ready to fall asleep on the spot. The purple had scooted over to him during the time and whispered quietly to him, "If they talk much longer, their mouths will fall off in exhaustion." Belkio murmered back, "Yes, if their ears don't do so first." The purple continued, "Anyway, my name's Jerru. I'm the son of Dimplo, and he sent me here to help out the elder's with their crazy plan. But so far," he guestured to the talking dragons, "The only thing they've done is killed their mouths." Belkio added, "And ears. And what plan is that?" which launched a big tale of what Jerru and Belkio were supposed to do, ending in Belkio's jaws dropping wide open. A human!