The next few days pass without much incident, though I can tell that Grey and May are unsettled by something. I'll need to ask them later, but right now, I need to get ready for the ceremony.
I look at the dress my mother and I had chosen the day before, part of why I didn't have Grey sleep with me tonight; I wanted it to be a surprise. The others have already gone on ahead, so I just needed to head over now...it's finally here; I hope it goes well.
As I set the dress on my bed, I hear a knock at my door and poke my head out to see my mother. "Hi, Mother, shouldn't you be with Father?"
"Lady Saphire is with him, and the others are there; I am here to help you get ready and take you there; it is tradition after all that the mother takes their child to the ceremony." She stepped inside as I opened the door.
"Right, I forgot," I said a bit sheepishly, but my Mother simply kissed my head.
"It's ok, Sendria."
I let my mother help me get the dress. She wanted me to be in my Half form for all of it, which made putting the dress on more complicated with my wings and tail. Once we were done, I looked in the mirror and smiled. "I can't wait to see their reaction..but will the dress still fit after? I heard that sometimes the human form changes too."
"You'll be ok. I chose this one for a reason; now let's go, we shouldn't keep them waiting too long." She goes to the door, and I follow. She was correct; I shouldn't be nervous, this was a well-practiced thing that our people did, and everything will be ok.
As we walked down the hall, I noticed that no servants or nobles were present like they usually were, only the royal guards. "Mother, where are the normal nobles and servants?"
"We cleared this section for today so that no one can spoil what your dress looks like." She smiled, and I nodded. She wanted people to first see me in this dress at the sanctuary, where I would enter the temple.
As we get to the landing platform, I look to my Mother. "Should I go in my dragon form and take my Half form once I land?"
She nods and takes her dragon form, a beautiful white dragon with jagged green lines going from her eyes to her tail and a slender form like my father's dragon form. I take mine, a typical adolescent red dragon form, but today I would get my true dragon form. So we take flight to the sanctuary.
As we fly, I take in the air and growl out in pleasure. Today I would be able to start looking for a mate, I'd get my true dragon form, and I would finally be an adult. I feel my Mothers mind brushing my own. "I see you're excited, Sendria, but don't forget that this day isn't only for you; we must still be respectful, especially at the temple." She was right; an awakening ceremony was also for us to give thanks to Arca and receive her gifts.
I could see the top of the temple from here, a crescent moon on top as we near it. Then, we begin to descend, and as I got close to the ground, I could see people gathered, many of them probably pilgrims.
I land with my Mother, and we both take our half forms as My Grandmother walks up. I bow to her. The other people realize who I am and who she is and start bowing as well. "Hello, lady Saphire, I am horned that you are here to witness my awakening."
"You don't need to bow, Sendria. hold your head up high, be proud." She says as she hugs me, and I hug back.
"I know, but I should be respectful with this many people around." I look around and see them talking and whispering. I sigh and start walking to the temple.
My father is standing along the way with Grey, Dylan, May, and Retsuko. They were all here.
"Sendria, don't be nervous..you will do fine." My father put a hand on my shoulder, and I nod before glancing to Grey and seeing him blushing like mad at my dress. I smile and go over to him, kissing his cheek.
"Glad you like it; maybe you will get to see me in it more." I tease him as he quickly nods. Then I look over to the others and see them all smiling, even May, making me feel confident as I start walking to the temple.
As I reach the doors, I got nervous; they seemed to loom in front of me like mountains. I glance back and see them all smiling and motioning me on; with a sigh, I push the doors open and enter. The main room was empty as I entered, the only sound being my feet on the floor and the doors closing behind me.
I look around, but it was all dark, then a light shown down on a statue of a dragon and a woman; I knew this statue, it was Arca, in both her dragon form and human form. I walk towards it and stand in front of it and kneel.
As I close my eyes, I could feel a presence in my mind; then, I feel myself falling as I had in the werewolf lands. When my eyes open, I am not looking at the lake as I had before in these visions but instead the lake in our lands, the crescent lake. I look around and see the women at the edge of the lake and hesitantly approach.
"Hello...You're Arca?" I sit next to her, unsure why this was happening; I had never heard of this before.
"You know the answer, child...to both your questions." I could feel it now like her words were waking something up inside me.
"I...why now? I just want to be normal..to live like anyone else...why must it be up to me?" I sigh and look out over the lake.
"You know why...I can't say I regret it, child, but I love all my children..you are all a part of me, and I do what I can for you...but I can't lead you; that's up to all of you.
"...so I need to show them something? But...we are ok, the great war is in the past, and things are good...I just want to have Grey as my mate and live a peaceful life." I hug my knees to my chest.
"It's ok, child; you won't be alone." I feel her hug me from behind.
"...will I know?" I look up to the moon and try to imagine Grey here with me.
"I don't know; I can only hope you'll be ready." I feel her leave as the vision fades. "Take care, and don't let fear rule you."
I wake up again and in front of the statue as I feel another presence in my mind. Still, it wasn't Arca...it felt familiar, like it had always been there as I started to change; I could recognize the feeling, I was changing to my dragon form, but this time it felt different.
As my neck grew longer, I looked at my body and saw it was changing color and shape, not to the red of a fire dragon but purple; I could see the webbing of my wings changing.
As I grew, I could feel my horns taking a different shape, feeling longer and more numerous; I could see my tail change to be slimmer with almost a spike at the end, as I could also feel my body be lighter like it was trying to match my human female form. As I finished changing, I could feel the presence in my mind trying to take hold, curious but also friendly to me. I let it as we flew up to the gap in the ceiling that light shown down from, basking in the warmth of the sun as we emerged, soaring high.
As we reached the peak of our climb, we looked down and saw their wonder and amazement; she let me have control again as I descended, seeming to go through my memories, and I let her, this was our body to share. Then, as I landed, I changed back to my half form and looked at them smiling; my dress still fit, and while I knew only my dragon form truly changed, it felt like my whole body was new, lighter, more agile, and like I was always meant to be this way.
My mother and father approached me, and I hugged them; I felt them hug me back then pull me away as they looked at me. "Sendria, you look amazing..so regal and beautiful...and I can feel her in your mind..your dragon feels strong and proud."
My father smiles and nods at what my mother said.
"Thank you, I just... I feel different..but at the same time...like I was always meant to be this way."
My father puts a hand on my shoulder. "It should. Your dragon awakened and gave you your true dragon form..it's a reflection of your soul, so it should feel perfect."
I smile and then see Grey, who looked both stunned and happy; I walk over to him as I feel my dragon in my mind also looking at him. He seems reasonable and strong, but can he match us?
Give him a chance; besides, he loves us as a person.
I know, but can he stand beside us?
I mentally sigh and hug him, then see Dylan, May, and Retsuko comes over, seeming to be interested in my new half form.
I smile and hug them and can tell that my dragon is memorizing their aura's. I then look to Saphire, and my dragon makes us purr and hug her. And I could feel her mind enter my mind and check out my dragon as she hugged back before receding. "You have a strong dragon Sendria..good, and she will help you in time sot come, I'm sure."
I nod. "Thank you, Lady Saphire." I bow and then see that all the pilgrims were bowing to me, making me blush.
I look to my Grandmother, who puts a hand on my shoulder. "A purple Dragon is very rare and a sign of great destiny; in our history since the tribes united, only three purple dragons have existed, and you are the fourth."
I sigh. "I just want to be normal." I feel her hug me.
"You're an Elzax; life was never going to be normal." She looks me in the eyes then kisses my head. "but you can still choose your life."
I nod and go over to Grey. "want to fly for a bit?"
He nods and gently takes my hand as we start walking to the forest. People moved out of our way as I smiled and enjoyed this new feeling and the dragon inside me now.
Once we got out of sight, I pushed him against a tree and let her have control. "So you want to be our mate?"
I could see him blush for a moment, then seeing what was happening, nod. "Yes, you are a wonderful person who I love deeply."
"Words are shallow and mean nothing." She gets in his face and seems to be trying to stare him down.
"Then I will prove it." He kisses us, surprising us both as we melt into the kiss, and he winds up pinning us against a tree.
After a moment, ew push him away, gasping for air. We could see him being nervous about our response, but we agree, put our arms around him, and kiss him back, gently purring into the kiss. After a moment, we feel him kissing back.
After what felt like forever, he broke away smiling, but we kept our arms around his neck. "So..a trip to the lake maybe? Or to your pool?"
We nod and step away from him before taking our dragon form, then wait for him to get on.
I feel him climb on. "You look very different now, more like royalty."
I purr at this and lower myself for him to get on. He looks surprised for a moment but gets on as I take off into the air.
I feel the wind rush around me, spell the forest and feel the warmth of the sun on my back, but what felt the best was Grey up there, riding on me, able to experience what I was.
"Hey Sen, where are we going?" I felt him hanging on and yelling over the wind. I chuckle and link our minds.
"To a place, you'll like, just trust me." I start to fly low and slow down, letting him not be as battered by the wind. And I could tell he wasn't clinging to me as desperately.
"Ok, but when will we head back? I know that the others will want to meet your dragon." I could tell that he was trying to be considerate, but he was happy that I wanted to spend time alone with him. However, he wasn't good at hiding his emotions.
I was about to answer when I felt my dragon but in. "We like you, and we want to test you...I want to see what you are like for myself." I could tell why she said this; he probably could too; I just wish she wasn't so forceful.
As we near our destination, I land in a small clearing and let him get off. I could see by his wobbly legs that he wasn't used to this. But he will be. I say to myself, smiling as I change back to my half form.
I see him look at me and blush again before looking away. So I approach him and put my arms around his neck. "You do know that if we become mates, you will see me in a lot less than this?"
I see him blush more and try to move away.
I laugh and let go of him, then start walking. I could sense him following behind me as we walked and decided to move purposely to make him blush, wanting to tease him.
As we get close, I could hear it rushing water cascading down, but not as loud as an ordinary waterfall. Finally, as we clear the trees, we were here. A small pond that was fed by a small waterfall, perfect to bathe in and relax.
"Wow, this palace feels really...peaceful. Is this what you wanted me to see?" I looked back to see him looking around, marveling at this tranquil spot.
"Turn around, no looking." I could tell he was confused but did as I said. I took off my dress and put on the swimsuit I had brought for this. I could tell my dragon approved as I tossed the dress onto a rock next to Grey and could tell he noticed.
"You can turn around now." I Wath him as he does, wanting to see his reaction as I try to hide a smile.
I see him blush and look away as I chuckle. I understood his reaction. I was in a two-piece swimsuit where the top was tied together at the front and the bottom at the sides, making it very easy to take off. I could tell without even needing to look into his mind where it was going.
"Care to join me?" I walk into the pond and gently heat it with my power as I relax next to some rocks.
"Ok, but I don't have a swimsuit." I smile and, without looking at him, wave my hand, and his swimsuit would appear on top of the dress I had worn.
"You were saying?"I hear him chuckle as I wait.
I felt him sit next to me as I had my eye closed, and he very gently moved me onto his lap before putting his arms around my waist. I relax against him and purr a bit. "Isn't this lovely?
"Yeah, it helps show that your beauty can't be outdone, only made more radiant."
I blush at this but then decided to try and tease him, moving a bit to get more comfortable and making sure he could feel it. And I got the reaction I wanted.
"Sen...I know you're doing this on purpose...all of this, but I want to know. Does she also want me as her mate?"
I knew why he was asking, we had talked about this for a long time, so I decided to let her answer. "Do I want you? Well, we let you hold us, ride on our back and share our bed...I'm not going to change that."
"So you do want me?" He sounded nervous, but we just turned our head and gently kissed him. "Do we want you? Well, when your ready to show you can match us, you will get that answer."
He sighs and kisses us in turn. "I suppose that's fair." we turn to look at the sky, my tail around one of his legs and his arms around my waist as we relax in the water as the sun starts to set.