The Dragon Paradox Prologue: The Dream
I awoke to the chirps of distant birds. I opened my eyes to find a luscious jungle surrounding me. The first thing that I noticed were the plants. There were plants of many different kinds and sizes. Blue ones, green ones, yellow ones, and some with splashes of different colors. I stood up to better appreciate the lustrous beauty of it all. There were small ones, large ones, some whose size seemed unreal, towering well above me. I reached for my phone so that I could capture this symphony of color and beauty. I instead felt rough scales were my pocket should have been. At that moment my mind shifted its focus from the landscape to my own body. I looked down at my hands and feet. What I found were sharp black claws bathed with black scales that glimmered under the sunlight. Then I spotted something on the jungle floor that resembled a snake's tail. I quickly turned around to escape the creature but as I did, I heard a loud crash and felt a sudden rush of pain. I quickly turned my head to find that what I believed to have been a snake was actually a tail that, as I traced it to its origin, realized it was actually mine which had hit a tree so hard that it actually fell. Instead of terror, I was overwhelmed with curiosity. I wished nothing more than to find a mirror and find out how the rest of my body looked like. As if answering my thoughts, a cold wind rushed towards a nearby bush, blowing part of it away to reveal a large pond. I quickly ran and leaned over it. I could not believe what I saw. My whole body was covered in black scales. My eyes resembled those of an alligator; unnaturally large. There were too large wings behind me. What I was seeing was the slender body of a dragon. Only I still resembled a human in a way. My mind, instead of reacting like a normal human would, frightened and confused, I felt accepting of the form. As if I had been born an anthro dragon from the very beginning. My attention then landed upon a hawk that began circling high above my head, cawing and looking down in my direction. Then suddenly, the hawk tilted its wings and an unseen force made it reach higher and higher into the sky. Suddenly I was more aware of the extra limbs that resided on my back and as natural as walking was, I crouched oh so slightly, spread my wings and leaped into the air. There are barely any words that can be used to explain what happened next.
As I leaped high into the air, I was suddenly aware of everything that was happening around me. I felt the wind rushing through my body. I felt the tug of distant waters on a nearby beach. I could
hear the sound of the animals native to the jungle rush from tree to tree. Somehow I knew that I was flying east and that there was about an hour left before sunset. I could feel every muscle in my body working to keep me in the air. I could feel the rush of adrenaline making my heart beat faster and faster. Every beat in synchrony with the thud of my wings.Soon I reached the ocean. I began to glide low and close to the water to the point that I could easily reached down to touch it. As my claw made contact with the water, I felt a rush of power building up in the pit of my stomach. I instinctively closed my eyes as that power rushed from my stomach to the rest of my body, making every muscle, every nerve in my body tingle. I opened my eyes once again and I looked down towards the water. The shadow that I saw was significantly bigger than the shadow that I expected. As I looked at it, I realized that I had transformed. I was larger and my body resembled that of a true dragon, no longer an anthro. In light of this new form I began to flap my wings faster once again, trying to reach higher into the sky. As the sun began to set, I relaxed my wings once again and I let the air carry me as if floating aimlessly in a never-ending ocean.
Everything felt right with the world. It was as if I was born to fly. To feel this strength in every inch of my body. To feel the wind rushing through my body. To feel the sun's light in my face. To feel powerful. To feel proud. To feel free.I was born to be a dragon.Without warning, a loud buzzing emerged deep within my ears. The sound was so loud that I lost my balance and I was soon beginning to fall victim to earth's gravity. I began to tumble, spinning uncontrollably in the air. The distance between me and the earth was closing in fast. I had a few seconds left before the floor and I became one.Five, four, three, two, one, and right as I hit the earth...