Walking into the Drawing Room, I smelled cookies and some kind of meat cooking. I walked up to Aunt Mary and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before giving Uncle Richard a fist bump. "How are you guys doing?" I asked when I sat down. Being around my aunt and uncle always made me feel normal. When I go out in public or go to school, I always feel different. I know that I am different, but my family doesn't make me think that it was a bad thing.
"We've been doing good. Busy as usual, but nothing terrible. We were ecstatic when we heard that you and your brothers decided to form a band!" Aunt Mary gushed. She was really happy. "And who are these two new lovely additions to your group?" Mary asked when she saw Amber and Jacob.
"Hello, Your Highness and Your Majesty. My name is Jacob and this is my twin sister, Amber. It's an honor to meet both of you." Jacob said while bowing and Amber gave a small curtsy.
Aunt Mary laughed in joy. "You don't have to be so formal around us. Just call me Mary and my husband, Richard. I'm just glad that there are people willing to look past all the rumors around Andrew, and get to know him for who he really is." Mary said while Uncle Richard smiled at this exchange.
"We have missed you all greatly and are excited that you are finally here." Richard finally spoke at this moment. Looking at me, he continued. "The other reason why we asked you to come is because your mother sent us a picture of the logo you made for your band. We have a surprise for all of you so, if you follow us, we'll take you to it." Uncle Richard said this while standing up. Following him down the long hallways, it took us about five minutes to reach a specific door. Upon the door hung a sign that read: 'Do Not Disturb: Music In Progress.' "This is it." Uncle Richard told us as he opened the door. It was a studio room with top of the line equipment and instruments.
Jacob made a beeline to the recording booth, and I thought that we had just found our music producer. Everyone headed to their respective instruments and was testing out the sounds. All of them had the logo I drew on them, with Dragon's Blood written in bold cursive. I have to say that the microphone was the coolest one. It was chrome with a skeletal design and a skeletal Dragon's head. The mouth of the Dragon was open around the mic, like it was trying to eat the equipment.
"This is amazing! Thank you guys!" Damian said while holding one of the two guitars. Both were identical, except one was red and the other was gray. Damian decided to claim the red one as his. "Want to play a song? It seems fitting to christen these instruments with our first song played as a band." They all turned to me, and waited for my response.
"Let's do it!" I said with a huge grin. Since the song I wrote, LIFE, was still being worked on, we played Welcome To The Circus by Five Finger Death Punch. Afterwards, we played another song by them called Times Like These. We all had fun, and when we were done, everyone was clapping and smiling like idiots. It was an amazing feeling.
After we left the Music Room, we headed to the dinning room for dinner. The meal was delicious, but I was a little concerned about how Jacob and Amber would like it. It was fresh black bear steaks with a brown gravy, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Bear has a bad reputation for being tough and gamey, but these bear steaks were tender, juicy, and held the flavor of the marinade. Uncle Richard loved a good hunt, so he went out early this morning and hunted this bear specifically for this meal.
Amber asked what kind of meat it was, and was shocked when she heard that it was bear. However, she couldn't stop eating it and kept saying how delicious it was. When dinner was over, the butler returned and took us to our rooms. They all had king sized beds with silky sheets, fluffy pillows, and color coded decor. My room was black and red, and it's been my room since Aunt Mary and Uncle Richard had us start visiting when I was seven. Crawling into bed, I quickly fell asleep.
Sometime during the night, I started feeling horrible. It felt like my entire body was being baptized by ice and fire. My insides felt like they were being shredded, put back together, and shredded again. Gathering my limited amount of strength, I telepathically contacted Donatello. He quickly appeared in my room and knew what was happening right away.
"You're getting the rest of your powers." The whispered answer was not what I was expecting.
"I'm still 15!" I gritted out. "It's not supposed to happen until I turn 18!" The pain spiked at this point, and I screamed while arching my back. Donny kept talking to me through all of this. I vaguely remember him telling me that I had to stay awake, but it was hard. My screams woke up the others, and Donatello explained what was happening to them, while wiping my forehead with a wet washcloth. He didn't know why this was happening three years early, but it was whether we wanted it to or not.
This was the worst pain I've ever been in. At some point, it felt like someone was filling my veins with acid. It burned and made me scream even louder. All I wanted was for this torture to end. And the fact that I had to stay conscious made it even more unbearable. It wasn't just physically exhausting, but mentally as well.
As I was screaming and fighting against the pain, I had soaked my clothes and sheets with my sweat. Mom and Donatello stripped me to my boxers and kept wiping my body with cool water. They were trying to help bring my temperature down, and Alex was the one bringing fresh water for them. Time did not exist anymore. All that remained was ice, fire, and never ending pain.
An unknown amount of time passed by and, eventually, the pain started to subside. Mom, Donny, and Alex stayed with me through everything. Donatello was the first to notice that my screams were decreasing in intensity. Checking on my condition, he sighed.
"It's done! After a full day and a half, it's finally over. You did it, kid." He said while brushing my wet hair out of my face. "Now, you can sleep. You've more than earned it." Hearing those magic words in the dazed state I was in, I sighed and finally fell asleep.
Waking up, my body was still sore, but nowhere near as painful as before. I didn't want to open my eyes, however I knew I had to. The first thing that I registered was that I was in the castle's infirmary. This wasn't a surprise to me considering everything that had happened. My throat was dry, but I saw a glass of water on the table next to my bed. Sitting up, I greedily drank it and, at this moment, Donny walked in and saw that I was awake.
"Hey, kid. How are you feeling?" He asked as he walked up to the bed.
"Sore, but okay. I do feel stronger, and I think that both Magnis and Nightmare have grown bigger." I answered him truthfully. My voice was still rough, but not as bad as when I first woke up. "How long was I asleep?" I asked the question that had been on my mind since I had opened my eyes.
"Not too long. Only two days, but we all expected you to be asleep for longer." Donatello answered my question. "Let me take the IVs out and then we can go join the others for breakfast." Seeing my nod and smile, he got busy unhooking me from the machines. Then, with his help, I slowly stood up and we headed to the dining room.
Everyone was happy to see that I was awake. Aunt Mary had called the school and told them that we had gotten sick, so we got a few extra days here. Breakfast was set up as a mini buffet, and I went to go get food. I chose to get Chocolate Chip Waffles, mixed fruit, bacon, orange juice, and black coffee. Sitting down at the table, I started eating my food. The moment it touched my tongue, I realized just how hungry I was. While everyone was eating, I asked Donny a question. "Do you think I can shift after breakfast? Other than being sore, I don't think anything is wrong. Even my ribs feel good as new." I ate a piece of bacon while I waited for his answer.
"I don't see why not. After taking you to the infirmary when you fell asleep, I did x-rays and other tests. Everything came back normal. Just make sure you let your beasts hunt, okay? They're going to need to eat after what has happened." Donatello gave his consent and I couldn't wait until I could shift again.
When breakfast was over, we all headed outside. I jogged down the steps and as soon as my feet touched the grass, I shifted into Nightmare. He did get bigger, and now he's the size of two Ford F-150s touching bumper to bumper. Magnis talked to me at this time, and he proudly announced that he had grown to his full size. Imagine two double wide trailers touching side to side, and you'd have his size. Magnis Rex, the Great King, was a very fitting name for such a huge, intimidating creature.
"Will he be okay? Shouldn't he rest some more?" Amber asked no one in particular. She was just concerned that something might happen.
"You don't have to worry, Amber. Right now, letting him shift and get to know his new abilities is the best thing for him. Let him enjoy himself. He can't shift as often as he should, so this is a very cherished moment for him." Uncle Richard's words quelled her fears. I guess his way with words and people is why he's such a good king.
The feeling of the wind blowing through my fur, and the sound of my paws pounding on the ground brought me a feeling of peace that I can only feel by running like this. My beasts aren't meant to be confined the way that I have to keep them. It caused them to get restless and aggravated, so this lets them burn some energy and get some exercise. That way they're not scratching at the inside of my head, trying to get out.
Nightmare smelled a deer and led me in the direction of the herd. Looks like we've found dinner for all of us, I thought to Nightmare. Can we at least eat one now? He asked as I killed two bucks in a quick manner. Giving my consent, I killed a third, a doe this time, and enjoyed the reward of the hunt. As I had promised my aunt and uncle, I howled to signal the location of my kills. They would send people out to bring them back to the chef.
Digging a hole, I buried the bones of the doe I ate, and then shifted into Magnis. I went with a smaller size, and then flew through the trees to find him something to eat. We spotted an adolescent sized bear, and easily killed it. After Magnis was done, we burned the bones to ash, being careful not to set the surrounding forest on fire. Spreading my wings, I started flying back to the others. However, as they came into my view, the sound of a young Dragon's roar filled the area.
Landing on the patio with everyone else, I quickly shifted back to a human. "Do you know of any other Dragons in this area, Aunt Mary?" I asked, looking at her. She shook her head and said that she didn't know. Turning to Donny, I waited for him to speak.
"There shouldn't be others here, at least. However, roaring like this, it could and would attract trouble faster than if they stayed quiet." Donatello spoke in a hushed voice. Magnis was saying that something was wrong with this youngling, and wanted to check on them.
After telling everyone what Magnis said, I added something else. "Whether I want the responsibility or not, I am the Dragon King. I can't just turn my back when someone needs help. Not to mention, if trouble does come, we can be there to help them."
Seeing my determination, my four godfathers all nodded. We all walked onto the grass and shifted. Donatello and Umbra were black, Nigel was red, Nixis was yellow, and then my quad-colored Dragon, now at his full size, all flew off in the direction of the young Dragon's cry for help.