"Heart´s Song, Chapter 4" by Jeff Burke

"I will never hurt you," Marius said into the pay phone’s receiver before hanging up. With a sigh, he turned around, and walked over to a bench under the lone pavilion in the small clearing and sat down on it. Well, she was on her way now, no stopping that.

Marius sighed again. How in the world did this happen? How had he managed to fall desperately in love with a human? He’d only met her a couple of years ago, but it seemed like ages and ages had passed since then.

He’d asked her to dinner and a movie after her concert, with all plans of killing and feeding. But they’d begun to talk, and he’d decided to wait a night. She was a very… interesting personality, and he’d wanted to learn more about her. So they went on a date again, and again he’d passed on the chance to kill her.

He’d led her on like that for just over two years. A date every couple of nights, plans to kill her, but always another night out. Then he’d brought her here.

He’d planned to kill her, just like every other time they’d gone out. It had been a beautiful autumn day, forests full of color, air crisp, and a slight west wind. Perfect for flying, with those colors spread out like a huge tapestry below…

Marius shook his head. Anyways, he’d brought her to this exact spot in the woods. It was perfect. Not a person around here for miles. Or so he’d thought. They’d spent half the day cloud watching, when he noticed—much to his chagrin—that Dana had fallen asleep.

Marius smiled warmly at the memory. He could still remember how her shoulder felt against his. So delicate, so frail, so warm… They had stayed like that for a long while: both sitting up, her head leaning slightly on his shoulder, slight snore rising from her.

Then Marius had decided to go flying, and why not? It was the perfect night for it. So he’d somehow set her onto the ground without waking her—how he managed that he still didn’t know—and crept off into the trees. It had been a great night for flying…and he’d enjoyed every minute of it. Up until the screams began, anyway. High and shrill he heard them, even from his altitude. He’d made straight for her, but even so, he’d found her on the ground with a man on top of her.

He’d dove at the man, grabbed him of Dana’s body and torn him to shreds. Not eaten—the man’s body was riddled with alcohol drugs. He’d have rather eaten poison ivy than that man. He’d ripped the small balding man to pieces instead. Marius doubted that any animal that wanted a piece of meat in the morning would have found anything bigger than a mouse once he’d finished with that man.

Then he’d turned and seen Dana. He doubted she could see him; humans were blind at night, after all. She’d been cowering—and he supposed that she was allowed to cower after being nearly raped—when he had realized that this was his chance. They were deep in the woods, all alone. The only possible witness had just been dealt with… Animals were rampant over this area; her body might never be found.

But he’d flown away. He just hadn’t been able to do it. That was probably the first night he’d realized that he loved her.

And love her he did. Especially her smile. When she smiled, it lit up the entire room like some kind of blazing beacon. Those big white teeth—worse than useless for any kind of defense, but still good enough for human purposes—her full, red lips curved just so…

She was attractive, with straight brown hair, a round face with deep brown eyes. She didn’t even realize how stunning she was. To think she’d once wanted to get plastic surgery! Some nonsense about her nose being too big.

Marius sighed heavily. He’d promised to show her a nose that was too big, someday. "I guess that’s tonight," he whispered to himself. Tonight she would learn all about him. Probably more than she actually wanted to know.

Why did he even do this now? She never had to know, did she? Marius quickly crushed those thoughts. She needed to know what she was tying herself to in marriage. She deserved better than that. He’d simply been too weak to tell her before. He’d tried, but he would always give up at the last second.

Dana was so strong! She was never afraid of who she was. She wouldn’t compromise herself in even the most hostile of company. Why couldn’t he be more like her? Why was he so pathetic?

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an unadorned, but very expensive, gold ring. Marius frowned. Expensive? How would he know? He’d taken it from some lady he’d fed from the night before. At least, it looked expensive. And the woman had certainly seemed rich enough, driving in her Jaguar convertible. She’d never known what killed her. They’d probably found the body by now, but it would be written off as an "animal mauling." Just like every other kill he’d ever made. He put the ring back into his pocket.

His father would approve. Or, he would have, if he were still alive. But then his father had been odd. Well, he’d been considered odd by the rest of the areth’yncain. The man had never really been at peace with his dual nature, or at least it had always seemed that way to Marius. Marius could hardly remember seeing the man as anything but human. He only changed to go flying, and even then only once in a while. A long while. There had to be some kind of story behind it, but Marius had never heard all of it. Only that his dad had been narame, a dragon born to human parents, and that something bad had happened when he was young.

But he’d never seemed to have a problem with Marius being a dragon. Marius smiled to himself. He could remember times when his dad had told him all kinds of stories. Most of them had been Shakespeare, actually. The man had fallen in love with the Bard. He’d practically memorized most of the plays.

Marius could just imagine the scene: His dark haired, gaunt father recalling stories to a wide-eyed dragon child, wings all but quivering in excitement, that was curled up at the foot of his chair.

But he was gone, now. Marius had never been able to find out how or where or even when exactly his father had died, but his mother had flown home one day weeping. She’d never told him what happened, and she hadn’t lasted much longer than he had; her will to live had died with him. Marius had been twenty then, not even full-grown, but he’d been on his own.

But he could always remember his dad’s voice telling the stories: Hamlet, Julius Caesar, the Sonnets, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet…

And here Marius was. Like some kind of scaled Romeo, stricken by his lovely human Juliet. Though his predicament was a bit more complicated than a family feud, to be honest.

He heard her car long before he saw it. Well, he heard a car anyway. His hearing wasn’t so good that he could tell a car’s make and color by sound, but who else would be driving here at this hour? He must have been more lost in though than he had realized for that much time to have passed so quickly. Memories did that sometimes. Especially fond ones…

If he could just hear the car, then it must be about a mile distant. He laughed a little. Dana always teased him about how good his senses were. He’d always had to resist snapping back, "Well, I’m a bloody predator! What do you expect?"

It was true though. On nights like tonight, where there was no moon, he could see as if it were day. He could spot prey—be it deer, bear, or man—from a thousand feet in the air, in the dark, without any trouble. Hearing was excellent, but not so useful in the air. And he could smell better than most hunting dogs. Even if he couldn’t see it, he could still sniff it.

The car was almost here. He could see its headlights on the road that ran to this clearing. He nodded. It was her. He recognized the headlights of the small sedan she drove. Lifelong predators learned to recognize everything. They had to, or they wouldn’t survive.

He swallowed. This was not going to be easy. Not by any means. How would she react? He very much doubted she would smile and wave at him. But would she gasp, would she start to cry? But worse would be if she screamed.

He didn’t know if he would be able to stand screams from her. The people he killed always screamed, in one form or another. Some longer than others, depending on how alert they were, and in every pitch and timbre you could think of.

He wanted the connections between his love and his food to be as few as possible. He wouldn’t even have taken the ring from that lady in the Jaguar if his people’s customs didn’t require it. Well, the actual marriage ritual of the areth’yncain involved giving a freshly killed tramecain, a normal human, to the dragon you wanted to marry.

An altogether different style of proposal, wouldn’t you agree? He had figured it best to take the middle road in this case.

Besides, most women would be a little…emotional…at having a scaled, winged dragon drop a rent carcass at their feet. Marius couldn’t help but grin a little at the idea. Yes, it might upset them. Just a smidge.

Marius blinked at the grating of tires on gravel. He must really have been lost in thought if he’d forgotten about that. Dana’s car—a little silver Japanese sedan that he could probably open like a can of tuna if he wanted to—rolled to a stop facing slightly away from the pavilion he was sitting under. The door opened, and the bright headlights flicked off.

His eyes quickly adjusted to see in what little light the pole-mounted lamp gave off. He watched as Dana stepped out of the car and began to look around. Her eyes floated past the pavilion, but she didn’t seem to see him.

"Dana?" Marius croaked.

"I’m here," she answered glumly. He knew that she didn’t want to be here, not after the last time. But he needed privacy. And he was all but guaranteed it here

Her eyes found him, and the corner’s of her mouth twitched upward a little. Well, it was now or never. Sighing, Marius heaved himself to his feet, and walked over to Dana, who stared at him the whole time. She smelled nervous, but she wasn’t letting it show. Another thing he loved about her, she was so…strong. He walked right up to her, and took one of her delicate hands in both of his.

"How long have we known each other, Dana?" he began, but then he stopped as Dana’s eyes widened. Her scent changed drastically; from quashed nervousness to outright anticipation.

After a moment’s silence, she gave a small start, then, "That concert was in my junior year of college, so…five years?" He barely managed not to gape at her. Was that all it had been?

"Five years…" It felt more like twenty! Twenty-five! Dana bit her lower lip, something she always did when she was worried or thinking really hard.

"What’s this all about, Marius?" she asked finally. He could see the concern painted all over her face, he could smell it wafting from her. Well, as the old saying goes: when falling to the ground, the only thing to do is spread your wings and hope.

"Dana, I love you," he began. " I want nothing more than to marry you." He nearly sighed in frustration. All he’d managed to do was repeat what he’d told her over the phone. "But, I don’t know if I have the right to ask." Well, he’d flapped his wings once, and it hadn’t broken that fall any.

Dana’s scent changed from worry to…something else, as she put her hands on her hips. "Fine, don’t." she snapped. That scent…could it be determination? He’d never smelled it so strongly coming from anyone, let alone her! He very nearly gasped in shock as Dana dropped to one knee and held out her hands. "Marius, will you marry me?"

Marius’s eyes boggled. What? But she still didn’t have a clue! No, this was not what he’d intended. "No!" he blurted. The crushed look on her face nearly brought him to tears. She thought he was rejecting her proposal! "You don’t know what you’re asking!" he explained hurriedly.

Dana’s scent spiked into barely quashed anger. "Well, then why won’t you tell me?" she pleaded. "Stop talking nonsense!" He was still flapping, yet the ground was rushing up at him faster than ever. "Tell me!" Dana demanded.

He was trying! He was! But she couldn’t understand, not yet. "I-" he began, then stopped. There had to be a better way of explaining. "You don’t know what I am, you don’t know me," he managed lamely.

Dana’s scent was all but boiling with suppressed anger by now. "I would if you would just tell me!"

"Fine!" Marius snapped. "I’ve got a genetic defect. Okay?" She was a student of biology… she might understand this angle. It seemed the ground wasn’t rushing up to meet him so quickly now.

"Is that it?" Dana demanded. "You dragged me all the way here just so you could tell me you’re a little self-conscious about your sixth toe or something?" Marius almost took a step back; to be sure she didn’t slap him. By her scent, she seemed about ready to!

Marius couldn’t force himself to meet her eyes. Nervously, he shuffled his feet in the leaves, trying to buy time to think. "I don’t have six toes," he finally answered. She thought he had six toes? No. "This defect is slightly more…complicated…than that." Marius was almost surprised when he wasn’t presented the "Understatement of the Year" award right there.

Okay, time to start flapping again. He finally managed to look Dana in the eyes. "Have you ever noticed that I only eat meat?"

"Yes," Dana began, frowning. "But I always assumed it was some kind of allergy." Which is exactly what it was, an allergy to cellulose. But that also explained why she’d never commented on it: shehad probably thought it would be rude. He was still falling, even quicker now than before.

"Let me try this another way," Marius said, shaking his head. Okay, we’ll do it the simplest way possible. "You know what lycanthropy is?"

"What do were-wolves have to do with anything?" she sighed.

"Nothing, really." And it was the truth. Wolves had absolutely nothing to do with him, besides the occasional meal, of course. Okay, next step. "And you know what a dragon is, I assume?" A dangerous word, dragon. Most of the older areth’yncain would find that reason enough to scold a younger one, or even punish him. He used it with himself, probably because his father had used it as well—a fact his mother had hated—but he never used it with other areth’yncain.

"Yeah," Dana sighed, " big flying, fire-breathing lizard." Marius couldn’t stop from grimacing. To use dragon was one thing. To use lizard was another matter completely. Some would kill you for calling them lizard. "But I still don’t see your point." Dana continued.

Okay, here comes the last stroke of his wings. After this he only had one option, and not one he wanted to resort to. If this failed, he hit the ground. "What if I told you they were real?"

Dana frowned at him for a brief moment. "Are you suggesting that some people turn into big, fire-breathing lizards with the full moon?"

"Don’t be ridiculous!" Marcus snorted. Breathe fire! Full moon! The idea was appalling! But Dana couldn’t know that. She was already sighing in apparent relief.

Time to let the other shoe drop. "We can’t breathe fire," he explained. "And the moon has nothing to do with it."

For a second or two, all Dana did was stare at him. "What?" she demanded.

"Look," Marius stammered, "I know how crazy it sounds, but I’m telling you the truth." She had to believe him. He didn’t want to have to prove it; she wouldn’t take it very well. She just had to believe!

But she didn’t. Marius could tell by the look in her eyes, the furrow of her eyebrows. She even smelled of disbelief. Hell, she reeked of it.

So that was it. He’d failed to make her believe. His wings hadn’t caught any updrafts, he’d hit the ground with all the force of his body. There was only one thing left to do.

Reaching deep into the cargo pocket of his blue jeans, he pulled out the little gold band. He glanced at it momentarily, then gently placed it in Dana’s hands. "Here, I want you to hold onto this for a minute or two," he said. Dana’s eyes flicked down to the ring then back up to him.

"You’re crazy," she whispered, biting her lower lip.

Marius gave her the most comforting smile he could summon. "Yeah, I am. Crazy for you. Now stay here, okay? And,"—Marius swallowed, "—don’t scream."

With that, Marius turned around and began to walk. He could smell Dana’s confusion, could hear it in her breathing, but he never turned around. He couldn’t turn; if he saw her face now, he’d never be able to go through with this.

He wanted to turn, though. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to run back into her arms, and tell her it was all some huge joke. She’d be mad at him for a while, but she never could stay angry with him. They’d drive back to her house and watch a movie. She’d eat popcorn, he would refuse her attempts to make him try some. This whole night would be nothing more than a bad memory…

But Marius kept walking. If he didn’t do this now, he would never have another chance to try. Never work up his nerve to do this again. She would never know, never understand, what he was. Dana would spend her entire life in a huge lie. And Marius would never know if it was him she loved.

He would much rather know and not have Dana than spend his entire life in doubt. "Tis better to have flown only once, and to have broken ones wings in the flying, than to spend ones life on the ground." Another ancient proverb.

So he kept his strides even, his eyes straight ahead. There was only one spot in the clearing that really suited his needs. To the left of the pavilion, away from the trees. It was the only spot where he could spread his wings; the only place he wouldn’t have to curl his neck and tail around to fit.

He stopped. This was it. He’d hit the ground, no more falling. He closed his eyes and turned around slowly.

Without opening his eyes, he formed the image in his mind. It was himself, but in his natural form. He could see it as clear as though he was looking into a mirror; his long neck and tail, his gleaming claws, his forest green scales, and his emerald eyes. He felt the changes begin. There was no going back now.

Heat spread throughout his body as the mitochondria in his cells began to produce enormous amounts of energy. Suddenly, the single light went out. Even behind closed eyelids, Marius could see a sort of…darker…darkness. He just had time to wonder what Dana would do before his brain released massive amounts of endorphins into his system. Ecstasy flooded through him, and he couldn’t help but grunt in pleasure.

He opened his eyes again, and glanced down to his shifting body. The night was no veil, and he could see muscles building on his arms and chest. He held up a hand to watch as his fingers lengthened into clawed talons, the skin on his hand and arm flushing to a dark green color.

With an abrupt ripping sound, his clothes fell away in tatters. He was starting to grow. Most of the cells in his body were reverting to a stem-cell state, capable of dividing into other cells, capable of becoming whatever type of cell was needed. His spine was lengthening on both ends of his body. Stretching into his tail and neck.

At the sudden pain in his pelvis, he shifted his changing form into a frog-like stance. It made the transition from two legs to four much easier. His skin began to itch, and he twisted his lengthening neck to watch his skin peel away into scales.

His shoulder slid away from his scapula, which was already beginning to extend. He twisted his head around to watch as his shoulder blades grew out and up from his body, the hide stretching behind them. They extended longer and longer, until each shoulder blade was easily as long as he was, and jointed at several places. The hide they had stretched had become a pair of huge ribbed wings. That had always been his favorite part to watch.

Abruptly the ecstasy and pain left. They didn’t fade, they just…left. He couldn’t help but sigh. It always felt better to be like this. It was like being set free, because free he was. He glanced up at the stars above him. He would love to leap into the embrace of the winds, love to see the world stretching out beneath him once again.

But there were other things he loved, so he remained on the ground. She was sitting in her car. He could see her dimly in the car’s small interior light, even through the windshield. She seemed to be rummaging through her purse. Abruptly she pulled out a small silver can. When had she started carrying pepper spray? He watched as Dana twisted to grab the door handle, slowly opened the door, and cautiously crept out of the car. She stood in the L formed by the door and the body of the sedan, her eyes searching from side to side.

Marius could only stare at her. She wouldn’t be able to hear him if tried the mental communication his people used. Trying to speak to her was out as well. He could growl and hiss at her until he was "blue in the face," as the tramecain saying went, but that would only frighten her. He adjusted his wings a bit, and they rubbed together with a loud rustling noise. Dana gasped and spun, her eyes ended up staring right at him. But she was only tramecain, and she’d never see him in this darkness.

She was still glancing around, searching for something. She clapped a hand to her forehead and a weak laugh reached Marius’s ears. He frowned as she reached back into her car. What was she doing—

A sudden flash of blinding light! Hissing in surprise, Marius raised a claw to shield his eyes. A sharp gasp made his heart drop. Dana! Raising his head, he blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights. There were two sources, about four feet apart; Dana must have turned on the headlights to her car. Squinting, he found her still standing next to the car, eyes wide and face nearly bloodless. If she’d been shivering before, she was all but quaking now.

Abruptly, Marius realized the position he was crouched in. It was a reflexive action, like a human dropping to a crouch when startled. No wonder she looked so terrified… With his wings flared to either side and the retractable sail that ran down his back standing straight up, he would look nearly twice as large as he really was! He quickly folded his wings to his sides and lowered his sails.

She was still staring at him with wide eyes and pure horror on her face. He couldn’t stand to see her like this. She shouldn’t be afraid. She reminded him of a deer in the headlights, or one of his prey… No! She didn’t have to be afraid. He needed to comfort her, he had to do something. Almost mad with worry and concern, Marius took a small step toward Dana.

She took a step backwards to- to try and escape from him. With a sharp snapping sound her foot caught on a gnarled root protruding from the ground and she toppled onto her back. She began to crawl backwards, hands and feet scrabbling for purchase in the autumn leaves.

He had to make her understand. He shook his head at her. But she didn’t understand. He took another step toward her; he had to get through to her!

But Dana simply fumbled backwards all the faster, trying to escape him. With a start he realized he was growling at her, and he had an idea. It was crazy, and more than likely to fail, but he didn’t have a better idea.

So he began to sing. He had a fair voice, at least by areth’yncain standards, but his people’s idea of "singing" was radically different from human pop culture. It was more closely related to choral music than anything else. To most humans it would sound like growls, snarls, and roars. But maybe Dana would understand. So he sang. He sang the best he knew how, and the only song he could think of at the moment: Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

She kept screaming for a long while after he started to croon to her. But then she stopped abruptly. Confusion dawned on her face, and Marius sang his song as best he could. No, it was her song, not his. Something warm ran down his snout, and he realized he was crying. Dana must have noticed it, too; her eyebrows furrowed together in disbelief. Suddenly, she blinked.

"Marius," she whispered. He almost collapsed when she said it. She understood! Somehow, his half-cocked plan had worked! Slowly, so as not to scare her any more than he already, he nodded. He took another small step forward, trying to reach her. With a gasp, she scrabbled backwards a few more feet.

So, even when she knew who he was, she was still afraid of him. More tears streamed down his face, and he heard himself give small whimper as he collapsed onto his stomach in resignation. He made sure that his claws and talons were tucked under his bulk, out of Dana’s sight. He might be less intimidating that way.

Dana stood up carefully. Never taking her eyes off him, she picked her way to the front of the car until she was parallel with the headlights. She stared at him for a long time, and each second her eyes lingered on his wings or his neck, or his tail seemed to last an eternity. Her face was practically painted with horror, amazement, and a little disgust. Desperation threatened to overwhelm him. It was agony to be scrutinized like that. Look away, Dana. Don’t look at him like that.

"How the hell am I supposed to look at you?" Dana snapped, then gasped and clamped her mouth shut. Marius’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even known he’d "spoken." But even stranger, she seemed to have heard him! He focused his thoughts outwards. You can hear me? he asked, and she nodded tentatively. She seemed as surprised as he was.

Marius frowned. He’d always been told that tramecain couldn’t hear that kind of communication. But then he had never really tried it, either. He’d always assumed it to be true. Well, his father had always warned against believing all that you hear.

On impulse, Marius stretched out his long neck toward Dana. She gasped and scurried away from him. He met her eyes. Why are you so afraid he asked, a tear falling from his eye. I love you, Dana. Haven’t I always been there for you?

Dana drew her self up suddenly. "No," she spat. "You were gone when I needed you most," she accused. Hurt lanced through Marius’s heart. Why had she said that? He felt his sails twitch up from their lowered position. He quickly stilled them as he would a quivering hand.

You mean what happened when you were here last. Her eyebrows knitted together for a moment.

"But I never told you what happened…that…day…" Her face adopted a distant expression, then her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. "It was you…" she whispered.

Marius nodded. I pulled that man off of you. He managed not to sigh, but only just. I’m sorry to drag you back here, but it’s the only place I could think of where we would be alone.

Dana shook her head, her long dark hair shimmering in the headlights. She stared up at him, and he found he couldn’t meet her eyes. It hurt his heart too much.

After a long silence, she demanded, "Well?" Marius glanced up at her, but found he still couldn’t quite meet her eyes. Well, what?

"How in the hell is this even possible?" For a minute, all Marius could do was stare at her blankly. What did she mean? He didn’t know how they could talk. Then he realized she was referring to his ability to change shapes. Marius stretched out a ribbed wing from his flanks. This? he asked, staring lovingly at the wing. I told you, it’s a genetic defect, if defect you want to call it. He certainly didn’t think so! If he didn’t have this ability, he would have to spend his entire life on the ground.

Regardless, it was closely tied in to genetics. There was a set of seventeen genes, all of which are highly recessive, that determine whether or not a human is simply that or something more. The difference between human and dragon was remarkably small, only a few percentages of the entire genetic code.

There was also a slight difference in the mitochondria of a dragon and that of a normal human as well. The mitochondria of a cell has its own DNA, separate from the rest of the cell. This DNA is virtually identical throughout the human species, and this DNA is passed down only through the mother. The mitochondria of an areth’yncain is different than that of a normal human; more efficient, more powerful to produce the massive amounts of energy required to change shapes.

If a person managed to inherit both the 17 genes, all of which must manifest, and the mitochondria, then that person is an areth’yncain

"Do you think it’s a gift? Marius’s outstretched wing drooped a bit before he could bring it back to his body. What did he think? It doesn’t matter what I think of it, he realized aloud. It’s what I am.

Dana fidgeted a little, obviously uncomfortable. "Is there any way you could…I don’t know, not be that?" she asked hesitantly.

Marius just managed to keep his mouth from dropping open. Not be? You don’t know what you’re asking. To give up this form would mean giving up his wings… Marius glanced up at the stars shining above him. You’re asking me to give up my wings, to give up the sky… Could he do that for anything? The sky was his refuge. In the air nothing seemed important, nothing bad or painful could touch him. You might as well ask me to stop breathing… And it was true. His entire race needed the sky like they needed water. No, more than that. A life without wings… Marius brought his eyes back to Dana. And he had his answer.

He quickly curled a wing to the ground and planted one of his front claws on the delicate membrane. Ignoring the pain, he craned his neck around and clamped his teeth into his wing, biting to the bone near the joint. Astonishment briefly flashed through his mind. What was he doing? He loved the sky!

But he loved Dana more. He had realized that when he had seen her. He loved the sky with his entire mind, but he loved Dana with all his heart, with all his soul. He began to pull on the wing, to rip it from its socket. Powerful muscles in his neck straining, he felt his ligaments begin to tear, excruciating pain thundering through his head. It might kill him, but then so be it. He would gladly die for Dana. He bit down on the tough scales harder, drawing blood from the punctures his teeth made.

"No!" an anguished voice called; Dana! Marius let the wing drop from his mouth, and felt his legs give way beneath him as he began to weep. What had he almost done? Sobs racked his body as he thought of the two bloody stumps he would have been left with.

And Dana was there, crying with him. "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!" she whispered to him. "I didn’t mean to- I didn’t know you would- I’m sorry!" Marius felt new tears well up within him. She did love him… But he suppressed those tears. Now was not the time. He had to be strong, for once. He had to be strong for her.

Slowly he stood up, holding his injured wing up gingerly. A small flash of gold on the ground caught his eye, and he craned his serpentine neck towards it. His ring…but how had it gotten here. Marius frowned slightly. He’d given it to Dana for safekeeping. She must have dropped it while trying to get away from him. He carefully picked it up in his mouth, his flexible lips grabbing if from among the fallen leaves.

Picking his head up he found Dana’s eyes and looked into their depths. Dana, I will never hurt you. he assured her. The fair-skinned woman nodded warily. He took a very small, very cautious step toward Dana. She swallowed, but stood her ground; she didn’t shy away from him. Marius took another small step toward her; hope blooming in his soul for the first time that night. He craned his long neck as far as it would reach, until the tip of his snout was a mere foot away from her. Her scent was all around him now. He took deep breaths, relishing every one.

She frowned slightly, and bit her lower lip. Marius sighed. He loved that expression: her eyebrows knitted in concentration, her eyes squinting at nothing in particular, her two teeth just barely visible…

Her eyes shifted from the ring to him. He was ready. Dana, he began, I love you more than anything in this world. That didn’t even begin to describe his feelings. Even the sky itself… That put his emotions into perspective. To think, he’d almost-- no, better not to think of that. You asked me if I thought this ability was a gift. I used to, until I met you. I’d give it all up for you, right now, if you asked me to. And he would. He would rip out his wings a thousand times over if it meant he would have her love.

On impulse, Marius bent his front legs and placed his scaled chin in the fallen leaves. Dana, will you spend the rest of your life with me? Will you be my wife?

A pause, then Dana took in a slow breath. "Do you just expect me to say ‘yes’ without hesitation?" Marius felt his jaw open slightly. ". "Marius, this is too much for one night, too much for one month, one year! I just found out the man I love isn’t really a man at all! How am I supposed to deal with that?"

Wasn’t’ love enough? Didn’t she understand? Dana, I’m still me… That hasn’t changed at all-

"Hasn’t changed?" she interrupted. "Look at you! Hell, Marius, I love you! Even now, I still love you; it’s just-" she buried her face in her hands. "It’s just that I don’t know if I can live with someone like you, Marius. I don’t know if I could deal with that." She waved at him.

Was she going to refuse him? How could she do that? You could try.

She didn’t answer, but her scent went through rapid changes, more than he had thought possible in such a short time. From sadness to confusion, then faint amusement, to something Marius couldn’t really describe. It was the scent people get when they have a totally crazy idea to carry out.

Then, fear entered her scent. No, more than fear; absolute terror, acidic and rank. Marius didn’t understand, what could frighten anyone so much? She hadn’t been this afraid of him! If anything had scared him this much, he would have flown away screaming in panic, but she just stood there, quivering slightly. Marius stretched out his neck in an effort to comfort her. He was about to caress her crossed arms when she opened her mouth and screamed.

Marius’s head shot away from the noise, spots forming in his eyes at such an incredibly loud noise so close to his sensitive ears. He’d never heard anything so…

Marius couldn’t find words to describe it. The only thing that came close was…agony. Terrible, excruciating pain. The very sound of it mad his soul cry out. The sound of it sent blinding lances of pain through his head. All he could do was cover his ears with his claws, close his eyes and try not to let the cries of pain wash him away with them.

The screams came on, becoming louder with each passing second; growing throatier, harsher. What the hell would cause so much torture to anybody? It was all Marius could do not to fly away like a kinareth.

And then it was gone, leaving only a faint echo and the sound of heavy breathing.

Marius cautiously opened his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

Massive chest heaving in labored breaths, she slowly raised her emerald green eyes to meet his own. A tear welled up in her eye, and it slid down her lean cheek. She wiped another away with a finger. The hand it was attached to was clawed and scaled, but otherwise very human.

She slowly stood up, balancing her weight on her thick heavy tail. Marius could only gape. Dana was hyrex’yncain, a half-breed. The thought kept repeating through his mind, and his wings seemed heavy.

Her clothing mostly lay around her in tatters, but some places in hung off, caught on the edges of her scales. Marius couldn’t figure out where the human in her began and ended. She had long pointed claws growing from a hand that, while scaled, was otherwise human. Her tail was simply dead weight, dragging behind her lifelessly. Like him, the scales cascading down her throat, chest, and stomach were a pale cream color. But she stood upright, on two legs. Two legs! Not even the most acrobatic of areth’yncain could hold that position for more than a few seconds. And her head…

He could hardly describe it. Whereas his head was like that of a snake, or an alligator, hers reminded him of a dinosaur’s. Like a velociraptor, maybe. She had the same massive upper jaw, the extremely thin lower one.

Dana… Marius shook his head. He should have known. No tramecain would have been able to hear him. Dana growled harshly at him. Marius frowned. What had he done for her to growl at him? She did it again, a low snarl. What?

She blinked; a fierce hiss escaped her throat. Then she launched on a flurry of hisses, snarls and low roars before settling on a simpering whine. She turned pleading eyes up to him, and he finally understood. She was trying to speak!

Dana? Can you hear me? She nodded slowly. You need to think at me, if you can understand what I mean. She nodded again. She closed her eyes and Marius waited to hear her voice inside his head.

Except he never heard it. He suppressed the uneasiness welling up in him. But try as he might he could not suppress the thought that maybe, just maybe, she couldn’t do it. After all, humans couldn’t speak mentally, dragons could. Who knew where the half-breeds lie in this case.

Marius? A tiny voice in the back of his mind, so faint he almost missed it.

Dana! He could barely hear her, she wasn’t adept at this kind of talking, and why should she be? Dana, how did you do that?

Her green eyes widened a little. I-I don’t know. I went to sleep and I woke up and I was like this and I didn’t know what to do, and-

Dana! Marius cut it. You’re going to be fine, Dana. Now calm down. Nothing is going to hurt you. Not while I’m with you. Please, trust me.

She nodded quickly, and took a deep breath. That night, when…you know, the night I was almost- almost raped? She licked her lips nervously. A perfectly human gesture, but in her present shape it would have looked ferocious to any passing tramecain.

She curled her lips at him, exposing rows of pointed needle-like teeth. I spent the whole night in my closet. Marius realized she hadn’t been baring her teeth at him at all…she was trying to give him a sad smile.

How often have you done this before? She obviously wasn’t very comfortable in this shape, but this couldn’t be her first time.

Three, I think. Counting this one. There was that night—she ticked off a clawed finger—and at the movie theater—she ticked off another finger—and then tonight.

Marius noticed that he wasn’t having so much trouble hearing her speak. She must be getting used to speaking. What happened at the theater?

Dana glanced down to the ground. About a year after the first time, I went to see a movie. Marius had to suppress the indignation. The nerve of her! Going to a movie without him! He shook his head; this was not the time. It was a slasher movie, and there was a part with a girl running through the woods, being chased by…someone.

Dana laughed weakly. Come to think of it, I never did find out who the guy in the mask was.

She was running, and all that I could think about was what had happened on that night. I just kept seeing him, hearing his breathing, I could feel it on my neck-- I managed to hide in a bathroom stall for a couple of hours, until I changed back. I still don’t know how I managed not to scream. I’m sorry, Marius. I should have told you!

Told him? What was she talking about. Dana? Why would you tell me something like that? You probably thought that I would have run away screaming. Any normal human would have.

Her head drooped a little. Yeah, but—

No buts! Marius commanded, thumping his tail to the ground for emphasis. Dana do you know how long it took me to screw up the courage to show you this part of me? I needed two and a half years to work up the nerve for this. You did it in, what? Thirty seconds?

Marius doubted it had even been that long. It was simply amazing, how much stronger she was than he. A thought struck him. What is it like for you to change? Those screams had been terrible…

Dana shuddered visibly. It’s like all the blood in you is turned to fire. She winced, You-you can’t think, you can’t remember anything but the pain.

She held out one of her hands so she could examine it, turning it to so she could see all its sides. Look at me. I’m something mothers make up to scare little children. She sniffed loudly, and something twitched behind her.

For a minute Marius didn’t know what to think. It was the dream of every muscareth to fly with a good wife by his side. To share the wind’s embrace with her. Marius had long given up that dream.

But for the first time in over two years, a faint glimmer of hope shone through. Dana had wings! How he had missed them before, he didn’t know, but they had to be ten feet wide. Each. Two ribbed wings arched from her shoulders like those of a kind of angel. And as far as Marius could see, they stretched down from the wing-bones to her thighs. They might even be big enough to support her weight! Not for a while, certainly. Her flight muscles would be nowhere near strong enough now, but with some training--

A quiet sob brought Marius back to himself. She was on her knees again, weeping. He quickly walked over and curled himself around her. He rubbed her arm with his snout. She started at the touch, but she didn’t back away or scream.

Dana, I-

How can you stand it? Being what you are? I don’t know how I’ll even be able to force myself out of bed each morning. How do you go from day to day, like- like that?

Marius reached out with a claw, and grabbed the front of Dana’s nose. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to wrench her face free of his grasp, but Marius simply maneuvered her head until she was forced to look him in the eyes.

Dana, I go about my days because I know that there’s nothing else to do. Would you have me commit suicide, Dana? What can I do about this—he turned her face to see his huge flank—other than live with it? I can stand it because I know that out there, somewhere, is a woman I love, and that I know loves me back.

A low hiss escaped her throat. How can you love me like this? I’m not-

Do you think that for the last five years the thing that I’ve loved is your body? Dana, I loved you when I thought you were human. Now, I know otherwise. Do you know what that knowledge changed? She shook her head slightly. Nothing. Hell, now we have more reason to be together. You know my deepest secret, and I know yours. So quit the despair; it doesn’t suit you. When he let her go, she shook her head a couple of times, wriggling her snout.

She looked up at him, frowning. But-

Dana!

She shook her head again. You’re right, I guess. You always are. If you can deal with it, so can I. She stood up, and walked over to the base of his neck, where it met his torso. And here I was thinking that I couldn’t love you anymore! Without warning, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her wings spread to either side of her. He curled his neck around, and placed his head on her back; the only way he could return the embrace.

Abruptly, she looked up and grabbed either side of his jaws, holding his head in place in front of her. Yes!

Marius blinked. What?

She nodded enthusiastically. Yes, I’ll be your wife. She grabbed his neck again, right behind his head this time.

Marius felt a huge weight fall off his heart. Finally, someone who he could really talk to! Someone he didn’t have to put up an act with, someone he didn’t have to wear a disguise for! Someone with whom he could soar…

Bloody hell! Dana exclaimed. Sorry, I lost the ring again.

I don’t care about the ring, Dana. I only got it because I figured you would want it.

She grinned, exposing her sharp little teeth again. At least, Marius hoped it was a grin. To be honest, I don’t care either. Abruptly, she shuddered. As he watched, she began to shrink and melt. After a few minutes the Dana he had grown to love lay naked on the leaves. She glanced at her arms, and then sighed.

"Just when I was getting used to it." Then she noticed that all her clothes were gone. She gave a little squeak, and tried her best to cover herself up.

Marius laughed and turned around. Go to the pavilion. I brought a change of clothes for myself, but I guess you need them more than I do.

"Thanks," she said. Marius heard some footsteps, then a slight rustle as she pulled on the shirt and baggy black sweatpants. "Okay! You can look," she called. He turned to face her then stretched out on his stomach.

What now?

"Well, now I’m going to go home, fall into my bed, and sleep until this time tomorrow." She yawned for emphasis.

Well, that sounds like a nice plan, Marius chided, but how are you going to get home?

She sighed. "Don’t be stupid. I’m going to…drive…" Marius cocked his head to one side. She must have finally noticed that there were no headlights brightening the clearing anymore.

You left the lights on too long. Your battery is dead.

"I can see that!" she snapped. "Now what? It’s a four-hour drive to my house from here. I’m going to have to walk-" She looked up at him with sudden interest. "Unless…you could carry me?"

Marius boggled at her. You want me to carry you back to your house? And do what? Land in the front yard?

She nodded. "You owe me. It’s your fault I came out here in the first place. So you get to fly me back. Unless your not up to it…"

"Prove it."

Marius couldn’t believe the change in her. Not an hour ago she had been screaming at the very sight of him, and now she was daring him to let her fly with him!

He shook his head; he would never understand women. Not in a million years.

Fine, I’ll do it. Come here. A wide grin split her face; melting what little reserve he had left. Hell, he loved to see her smile.

She ran over to him, and he stood up quickly. He carefully wrapped a claw around her. "Wait," she demanded. "Don’t I get to ride on your back?" He let her go again.

No. He raised his sails, showing her the retractable spines with hide stretched between them. I need those to fly, and you’d have to sit on them to ride me like that. I’ll have to hold you in my claws. Still want to ride?

She gave his long, sharp claws one more look. "Yeah, I do. I need to learn to trust you sometime, right?" He again curled his fingers around her small form, careful not to injure her.

Ready? He asked. She looked up, bit her lower lip for a minute, then grinned again.

"Let’s go!" she ordered. Marius didn’t answer, he only nodded. He quickly spread his wings, and using the three legs that weren’t holding Dana, heaved himself off the ground. Wings beating furiously, he rapidly gained altitude, ignoring the near blinding pain in the wing he had almost torn out. As he climbed higher, Dana began to laugh, and he soon joined her.