Not Your Usual Magical Girl

Last night, or a thousand years ago…

Susan’s back and head smacked against the ground. She would have yelled, but there was no air left in her lungs. Instead the hurt was lost under the waves of confusion she was already feeling.

‘Is it morning already?’ Susan thought, staring into the bright sky above her. For a second she thought that she might have fallen asleep at her desk. Now the light of the rising sun was waking her…

But no, that was wrong. Her muddled mind took a second to process it, but there was no connection between that familiar early morning panic and the all encompassing terror of this situation.

Finally she got some air back into her lungs. With fresh oxygen, her brain finally began processing some of the new information around her.

There were other people here. Susan could hear them grunting and groaning around her. With desperate effort, she forced herself up into a sitting position. Black spots swam in her vision as her body still fought for oxygen. Still, she could see around her now.

She was a part of a group of eight people. All of them lay sprawled out on the ground, gasping for breath. There was a woman in long red robes and a thunderous expression to her left. Two men and a woman dressed in peasant clothes from a renaissance fair were to her right, still gasping for air. In front and behind were a man dressed in leather armor, and a woman in something out of a Victorian court. Beyond all of them lay another teenager in a uniform. Susan vaguely recognized it as a Japanese schoolboy uniform from one of Elizabeth’s anime.

Then she looked past the people around her, and her heart skipped a beat in shock. They lay on a large square stone ledge about fifty feet across. An enormous diagram was chalked into the ground around them, to what purpose, Susan had no idea.

But beyond that, half her view was a wall of craggy gray stone. Turning her head the other way, she saw blue skies and green forests stretched out below her.

Her mind struggled to process what was going on. The thought occurred to her that she must have been kidnapped. She wasn’t in her room anymore, and she didn’t remember leaving. So someone knocking out and moving her wasn’t a great leap of logic to make.

Except they probably would have taken her to a warehouse, or creepy shipping dock or something. Not the side of a mountain!

A deep rumble from behind caught her attention. She looked back to see part of the cliffside moving. There was a door there, two enormous slabs of stone that swung inwards on unseen hinges.

A spark of hope ignited in her chest, could they get out? Even just getting off the deathtrap of a ledge would be an improvement.

The doors finished opening, revealing a line of what could only be medieval knights. Clad in gold lined suits of armor that covered them head to toe, they formed an impregnable wall of steel between Susan and the passage beyond.

Susan barely even felt the hope in her chest vanish. She was too confused. She could ignore the people in fancy robes and weird clothes. They were probably cosplayers or something. The mountain they were on was just that, a mountain.

But enormous stone doors, people wearing what was clearly medieval armor. They didn’t change Susan’s understanding of the situation, they completely upended it. She barely had the energy to be scared anymore.

“What’s going on?” Susan said to herself.

“Nothing good, believe me.” The robed woman muttered as she sat up. She was tall, with an angular face and sharp eyes. Around them the others were also sitting up. As one, they all stumbled to their feet and looked around at the guards.

“The empire?” One of the men, a large man with brawny arms said.

“What?” It was the other teenager who spoke up this time.

“That symbol.” The man pointed towards the men surrounding them. Looking closer Susan saw a three headed dragon adorning the chest plates of the men around them. Each of the dragon’s heads reached up, its three mouths yawning open to swallow three spheres; the sun, the moon, and a star.

“That there is the symbol of the Altan Empire.” The man explained.

Susan shivered as a cold wind blew past them, her pajamas doing nothing to stop it. “Wait, how are we on a mountain?” Someone asked. Some of the others must have heard as she saw heads turning and quiet swears.

A movement among the knights caught her attention. The two knights in the center of the line stepped to either side to create a small corridor, and a man stepped through.

If the knights were dressed gaudily, then this man was on another level. He looked like King Midas from the Greek myth. Kingly robes that looked woven from gold covered him head to toe, and a crown inset with what was probably a small hoard of jewels sat on his head.

But all of that was secondary to his ears. His six inch long, very pointy, elf ears.

Even from where she sat, Susan could tell they were real. The coloration and movement made it clear they couldn’t be some kind of prosthetic.

The sight didn’t help Susan’s confused state of mind. She had been kidnapped and taken to the side of a mountain by… imperialist, elven LARPers?

“Greetings!” The gaudily dressed man’s voice rang over the mountaintop, interrupting Susan’s spiraling thoughts. He walked toward the group, stopping just outside the chalk circle they stood in.

Now that he was closer, Susan could see he had golden hair and eyes and a threateningly wide smile.

“Greetings, brave travelers, who have come to help the great Atlan Empire in its time of need. Far you may have come but fear not for your true destiny is at hand!” He announced, voice booming over the stunned group.

Susan looked on, stupefied. She wondered what kind of cult had managed to kidnap her.

”For centuries, our great empire has worked to bring light to this dark world. Fought back against the darkness of fear and isolation that plagues us all. But now the enemies of light and hope are arrayed against us! Even now they attack and destroy the protectors of our great empire. They even work to turn our peoples against the great empire that protects and nurtures them!”

Susan’s mouth had fallen open at some point in the speech. She shut it, and continued to watch as the man in front of them talked. And talked. Admittedly, it was a good speech. He delivered it with a zeal and fire that made it hard to ignore. As it continued the man began to wave his arms, giving wild gestures that would have had a crowd roaring along with him.

His current audience however?

A look around showed most of the group staring at him with a mix of confusion and horror. The only ones who stood out were the robed woman, who stared daggers at him, the uniformed teen and the leather armored man. They both appeared to be listening to the speech carefully.

“But fear not!” The man caught Susan’s attention again as he seemed to reach a turning point in the speech.

“For the sorcerers of our great empire have devised a spell to save it. The very same spell to bring you here. The thing that shall save our great empire shall be the secret technique of Dragon Shaping that you shall discover for us!”

The robed woman beside Susan gasped. Susan glanced at her to see an expression of disbelief and fear on her face.

“You have been called here to use your incredible talents and extreme compatibility with the art of Dragon Shaping. Though you may not know it, this technique rests within your very souls.

“Now, I send you to the Great Caldera! Discover the secrets of Dragon Shaping, bring them back to us and you shall be rewarded beyond measure. Beyond imagination! Become the heroes that our great empire so desperately needs and bring the light of hope to this fearful world!”

He finished the speech with a grand wave of his arms, only to be met with stunned silence. Without another word, he turned around with a grand flourish of his robe, and walked back through the line of guards.

The platform rumbled underneath Susan’s feet as the door closed. With a lurch, the stone they stood on moved down. Susan barely noticed it. ‘Dragon transformation?’ What was going on?

A clap rang out. Susan looked around to see it was the red robed woman.

“Well,” She said in a loud voice. “I believe that before we go into any discussions of our current situation, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Luthera.” She pointed at Susan, “And yours?”

Susan stared at her hand for a few seconds, still somewhat stunned from the insane rush of the last few minutes. The familiarity of the situation finally snapped her out of it.

“Uh, Susan Hill,” She stammered out.

The other teenager was next, “Fukuta Takeo.” He said. Susan looked at him as he talked. He looked Japanese, with dark hair and eyes. He stood out for being the only other normal looking person around. He also stood out for being someone that belonged on another continent halfway around the world.

“Thank you Fukuta, now-”

“My name is Takeo,” He interrupted, looking annoyed. Luthera looked slightly bewildered, but opened her mouth to continue when Takeo cut her off. “I I might suggest a better course of action-”

Luthera cut him off in return, “Not right now, boy, let's just introduce ourselves.”

“Who put you in charge?” He shot back at her.

The large man who had spoken earlier stepped forward and placed his arm on Takeo’s shoulder. “Don't challenge a witch, boy.” He said quietly.

“I am not a witch, I am a Rune Mage. But yes, I believe it would be for the best if I lead the group right now.”

Takeo seemed to want to argue more, but stepped back.

The introductions continued. The tall, strong looking one was Timothy, he wore a roughspun tunic and sandals.

The leather-armored man was Graff. He had the face of a cinder block and the disposition to match.

The next was a shorter and somewhat pudgy man who was Bartholomew. His tunic was more ornate with finer cloth, though now crumpled from their arrival.

The fancy clothed woman, Nikolina, had pale skin, wide eyes and the glare of a vulture as she answered.

The last woman, who almost whispered her name, was Edith. She didn’t stand out much, wearing the same plain clothes as Timothy, who she was almost hiding behind.

Susan’s mind barely processed their names, before turning her attention back to Luthera as they finished.

“Thank you,” Luthera said, “Unfortunately, the situation we find ourselves in is not a good one.”

“Even a dead mole-rat could see that!” Rumbled Graff.

“And what situation even is it? That gaudy fool completely failed to explain anything!” Nikolina snapped.

“That gaudy fool is Emperor Altus of the Altan Empire.” Luthera responded somberly.

Nikolina visibly swallowed.

“But why would their spell choose us?” Timothy rumbled. “I am a farmer, not some spellsmith.”

“Spells? Like magic?” Susan blurted out.

The group all gave her odd looks.

“Yes, like magic.” Luthera said, looking a bit confused.

“But magic’s not real.” Susan said, looking around desperately hoping that someone would agree with her and things would start making sense again.

Luthera’s answer was to lift one arm and snap her fingers. A small flame appeared in the air above them for a second before flickering out.

Susan’s head swam. That… that couldn’t have been real, right?

She stumbled away from the group and over to the edge of the platform trying to calm down. It didn’t help, what she saw only confirmed her worst fears.

It wasn't a mountain that their platform sat against, it was an enormous series of cliffs. Measuring in the thousands of feet high, Susan could see them continue far into the distance. Where they eventually wrapped around to completely encircle the forested region that lay below them. They must have been in a sinkhole, or a caldera. Except on a scale that Susan had never seen before. The area below them must have been hundreds of square kilometers in total.

That wasn’t what proved that magic existed, however. But the trees were. Their leaves glowed.

The blue glow stood out visibly in the light of the sun. It was too strong to be any kind of bioluminescence. And while it could be some elaborate trick by their kidnappers, any kind of artificial lighting system would burn the forest down, judging by the amount of light coming off the leaves.

That made the third option most likely. The glowing leaves didn’t have a scientific explanation. It was… magic.

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

“What’s happening?” She asked in a slightly broken voice.

“What do you mean?” Luthera’s voice came from behind her.

“Who was that, what was he talking about, why are we here, how did we even get here?” Susan stammered out.

The hand on her shoulder gave a gentle tug backwards. “Come away from the edge, I can explain.”

Susan’s legs carried her back to the group without her even realizing it.

“What’s wrong with her?” Nikolina asked, staring at Susan like she was blocking a hallway.

Luthera ignored her and turned to stand in front of Susan, looking at her carefully.

“Susan,” She asked gently, “Where are you from?”

“Indiana, or, um, America.”

Luthera’s face didn't change but Susan heard Bartholamew’s breath hiss through his teeth.

“Well, what's the problem?” Edith snapped.

Luthera looked conflicted for a moment before Bartholamew broke in. “There’s no place called ‘Indiana’ anywhere on Themus.”

Susan wanted to protest that such a thing wasn’t possible. Unfortunately, at this point the scientific part of her mind decided to betray her. It happily pointed out that with the presence of magic forces, elves, and giant empires unseen on Earth, the chances of her being on another world were distressingly high.

Her mind whirled around and around, questions bouncing endlessly until one finally came to the forefront.

“T-then,” She stammered out, “They seriously want us to turn into dragons?”

Luthera sighed. “I suppose this is as good a time as any to explain.”

She motioned to the full group and they gathered around into a loose circle to listen. Straightening her back, she took a deep breath and began speaking.

“One of the fundamental rules of magic is that mana is intrinsically tied to force and motion. In the bodies of mammals, the organ that most embodies these ideas is the heart. It is ever beating, ever moving, and it is the center of all magic in the body. This means that the most efficient way for a person to increase the amount of mana available to them is for them to increase the efficiency and power of the heart.”

As Luthera paused to take a breath, Susan glanced around the small group. She had to suppress a shiver when she saw their faces. Each and every one of them, Takeo included, had expressions of terrifying anticipation. Susan was inadvertently reminded of the time she had seen a lottery drawing on TV. That expression of anticipation on the participants faces was the same one she was seeing here, except magnified a thousand times.

The idea of becoming a dragon must be something similar for these people. That ‘Emperor Altus’ person knew what he was doing when he sent them here. She had no doubt that each and every one of these people would jump on this chance to gain the fame and glory of becoming a dragon.

She saw a strange expression come over Luthera’s face, but the woman continued anyway.

“The goal of becoming a dragon is to craft the dragon heart. An object of pure force and motion that allows a person to channel the mana necessary for the greatest spells this world has ever seen. All else is incidental to that goal. Even taking the form of a great beast is a mere stepping stone on the path to gaining a Dragon Heart.”

Luthera paused and looked around the group with somber eyes.

“Emperor Altus has no desire for dragons. A dragon is the pinnacle of mages, a goal that only the brightest and most talented will ever reach. Altus merely wants beasts of war, untiring monsters fueled by the endless power of the Dragon Heart. Capable of nothing but destruction.”

Luthera breathed in deeply, “This is what you will become if you decide to follow Altus’s commands. Powerful beasts, and nothing more.”

The group was silent after that. Susan shuffled in place, trying not to think about how terrible the situation was. Instead she looked around.

Except for Graff and Nikolina, everyone looked like the wind had been taken out of their sails.

“What’s to stop us from flying out of this place after we’re done with the transformation? We’ll have wings, won't we?” Graff interjected, still looking eager.

In response, Luthera walked closer to the edge of the platform and pointed towards the cliffside next to them.

“Do you notice the runes along the cliff here?” She asked.”

Susan had to take a second to look. It looked like a mess of craggy stone all across the cliff face. Then it clicked. From top to bottom the entire cliff was carved with one enormous symbol, looking like a mix between an Egyptian hieroglyphs and a Mayan calendar. She hadn’t seen it before simply due to the impossible scale of the thing, but now she could see an entire line of them repeating along the enormous stone walls.

“We currently stand above the Great Caldera, long believed to be the birthplace of Dragons on Themus.” Luthera said as she began another lecture. By this point the constant talk about magic was beginning to grate on Susan. But at least Luthera was trying to help, so she tried to pay some attention.

“Many of the best and brightest wizards in eons past came here to try their hand at dragonhood. Many failed, but over the years this place bore witness to the rise of new dragons. And if there is one thing dragons are best known for, it is their lust for conquest.”

Susan had a feeling she knew where this was going, and a glance at Graff’s dour expression showed he knew it too.

“Several thousand years ago one of the nearby nations had finally had enough of fighting off upstart dragons trying their hand at kingdom building. So they carved the cliffs here with sealing runes to keep the newborn dragons inside until they could be reasoned with. As of this moment, the only way in or out of the caldera is through this lift. And Altus holds the keys.”

A ‘tch’ came from Nikolina. “Alright, you have made your case. What can we do instead?”

Every head turned back to Luthera, who sported an almost invisible smile.

“Yes,” she said. “I do have another option.”

Susan was starting to feel like a yo-yo with how this conversation was jerking her around. Thankfully no one interrupted Luthera again and she continued.

“I am a member of the Wizard’s Congress,” Luthera glanced at Susan and must have noticed her confusion. “The great gathering of wizards dedicated to the overthrowing of the Atlan Empire. One of our plans, before I was caught up in the summoning today, was to sneak a group into the Great Caldera in order to become dragons.”

“And get stuck here like us?” Takeo asked.

Luthera smirked, “What Altus doesn’t know, is that the eastern section of the mountain range is heavily eroded. Even with the runes strengthening them, a group of dedicated dragons could break through given enough time.”

“So,” Nikolina said, “We can either become dragons and serve Altus, or become dragons and break free? The options you are peddling seem rather limited.”

“Yes,” Timothy nodded along, “I for one don’t have any sort of idea what I’m supposed to do as a dragon. This caldera seems nice enough.” He gestured towards the glowing trees spread out below them. “Shouldn’t be too hard for some of us to eke out a living here if we choose to.”

Luthera only shook her head. “Unfortunately, Nikolina’s summary of our options is more correct than she knows.”

The canopy of the glowing trees rose up around them, lighting up the platform in blue. Susan startled, she had forgotten the platform was moving downward with everything else that was going on.

Then she felt a tingling. It began everywhere in her body all at once. Her skin, muscles, even her bones seemed like they were being jabbed with thousands of needles.

“Gah, what is that!” She heard Takeo shout.

“What you are feeling is highly concentrated mana,” Luthera said through clenched teeth, “It will sustain our bodies, entirely removing our need for food or drink. It will also prevent us from sleeping, slowly wearing away at our sanity.”

One by one each person in the group moved to stare at her, the itching temporarily forgotten.

“The option of remaining human vanished as soon as we were summoned to this lift,” Luthera said, “If we do not start the path to dragonhood, we will all go mad before the month is out.”

Gravel crunched under Susan’s bare feet as she gingerly picked her way between the glowing trunks of the forest. The group was silent except for the occasional grunt or huff as they followed Luthera.

The group had tried to debate what to do once they arrived on the forest floor, but there hadn’t been much to discuss. The ‘deliberation’ over their two options had very quickly devolved into a discussion of the numerous failures of the Atlan Empire.

The empire, as it turned out, was evil. Susan didn’t really have a better word for it. They were rampant conquerors, subjugating every other culture they came across, and enslaving anything that wasn’t an elf. They had committed practically every war crime in existence save for genocide.

And that was just because they needed to feed their slave trade. The ‘bringing light to the world’ that the emperor had talked so long about was just the sugarcoated name for his ongoing world domination.

Between this and the fact that the Emperor had sentenced them all to either insanity or Dragonification, there wasn’t much support among their group for the Empire. By the time they made it out of the clearing the platform landed in, they had unanimously agreed to take Luthera’s option.

Now they were trekking through the forest towards what Luthera promised was a safe house she knew about.

Susan had to stop herself from scratching her arm. It wouldn’t help the itching. In fact, she had tested it a few times and was pretty sure that it temporarily increased the amount of itching.

She was very bored.

A break in the trees showed gray. A few shouts echoed off the trees as the others noticed as well. Susan was just glad to see something other than the glowing bark of the trees.

A dozen more steps let her see the streak of gray for what it was, a stone wall about thirty feet high.

Luthera raised a hand to get their attention and spoke, “We’re here.”

“Finally,” Graff rumbled as he jogged up to the wall, “Now how do we get in?”

“No need to climb the wall,” Luthera called, “The gate should be open.”

Without another word, she turned to the right and started walking away, parallel to the wall. Susan walked after her, the rest of the group following in a rough line.

It took another few minutes to find the gate of the fort. In that time it became readily apparent that the wall was a part of a star fort, a rough square with arrowhead shaped extensions jutting out of the wall at each of the four corners.

The construction confused Susan, this style of fort used its sharp edges to deflect cannon fire. Did they have gunpowder here? The armor she had seen looked to be designed to stop swords, not bullets. The question bounced around in her head for a moment before she realized there was an easy way to get an answer.

She jogged a bit to catch up with Luthera, “Why are the walls shaped like this, is it because of cannons?”

Luthera barked out a laugh, “Hah! The barking irons? There isn’t a mage alive who could be downed by one of those. No, these walls are for deflecting spells.”

“Really, you don’t have guns here?” Susan asked.

“Oh we have them,” Luthera said, “Just not very popular. Fireproofing spells, you see, are some of the most popular spells in existence. It is a poor wizard who cannot stop every spark within a hundred paces of himself on a whim. So guns, which so heavily rely on combustion, have never found any place on the battlefield.”

She seemed to relax as she spoke. Her talk reminded Susan of some of her favorite teachers, always happy to spread a little knowledge around.

She gave a small smile. Despite being a bit manipulative, Luthera did seem like a good person who was at least trying to help the rest of the group.

Susan decided to ask some of her other questions, “I’ve been wondering since earlier, how do we understand each other?”

Luthera raised an eyebrow at her, “Magic, what else?”

“Right, of course,” Susan let their feet carry the conversation for a second, listening to the sound of feet on gravel for a few seconds.

“So what do we do once we’ve escaped from the Caldera?” She asked.

Luthera hummed, “Well, the original plan put forth by the Wizard’s Congress was to attack the nearby stronghold at Tiberius, then stage an attack on Altus’s Capital. But with so few members, our group would be better off heading southeast towards Beringia.”

“Beringia?”

“The only remaining free continent, currently protected by the Wizard’s Congress.”

Susan sputtered, “The only free continent, w-wait, how big is the Atlan empire?”

Luthera looked at her, then frowned. “I suppose the discussion earlier wasn't exactly informative was it?”

“I guess not!” Susan replied incredulously.

Luthera pursed her lips, thinking a second before she replied. “As of right now, the Atlan empire occupies three of the four habitable continents on Themus. The two continents to the west of us are still untamed and wild places, and not easily settled. So the Atlans have devoted much of their resources to securing Beringia.”

Susan had to take a moment to let it sink in. Luthera wanted them to join in the fight against an empire that spanned three continents.

“But how are the wizards even stopping them then?”

“Geography, mostly,” Luthera smiled, clearly enjoying Susan’s reactions. “The oceans separating Beringia from the rest of the continents are prone to sudden and powerful storms, discouraging any ocean passage. The only safe way between the continents is the Beringian Passage, a small land bridge between Beringia and Oberia. ”

“And the Mage’s Congress controls the land bridge?” Susan asked.

“Precisely,” Luthera answered, then turned to face the rest of the group.

“We have arrived,” She announced, pointing to her left.

Susan turned to look. The conversation had taken up all her attention, so she was quite surprised to turn towards the wall again, only to see a large open gateway standing in the center of the stretch of wall next to them.

It was enormous, easily large enough that tanks could have passed through it with no problem. Thankfully the huge iron gates hung open, leaving plenty of space for the group to enter.

Walking between through the gates Susan couldn’t help but feel amazed, not just at their size, but at the thickness of the walls. The walls were so thick they were walking through what seemed like a short corridor at least a dozen meters long. It was clear that whatever conflict the walls had been built for was well beyond the medieval image this world presented itself with.

The passage opened up into a huge gray floored courtyard about a hundred feet across. The ground here was covered in a layer of soft clay, which was a relief for Susan’s abused feet. Looking around showed only a few doors leading into the walls around them. Susan frowned, somewhat confused by the lack of infrastructure.

Where were they supposed to eat and sleep… oh right, they couldn’t. Even now, despite the several miles they had walked to get here, Susan couldn’t feel any urge to rest. She did feel some soreness from walking barefoot on gravel, but it was completely overwhelmed by the energy bouncing around within her.

With that dour thought in her head, Susan turned to look at Luthera, hoping for some sort of guidance once again. Luthera didn’t disappoint, clapping her hands together to catch the group's attention.

“We have arrived,” she announced. “Welcome to one of the ancient sites of Dragon Making.”

“Then what is the fort for?” Bartholamew blurted out, then paused. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Luthera gave a shrug, “Wizards have fought against each other since time began, this of course extends even towards their efforts to become dragons. This is an old remnant of one of those conflicts, left behind for later generations to find and use.”

She waved a hand, in front of her seven clumps of clay rose out of the ground and formed into rough looking seats.

“Take a seat if you wish, and we can begin our lessons on dragonification,” She said.

Susan chose to stand.

Luthera turned away from the group and waved a finger at the ground. A jet of air blasted away from it and carved a line. She continued this for about a minute, the symbol she was carving slowly taking shape.

It was two concentric circles, with a series of runes placed in between.

She finished with a twirl of air that carved the final circle, before turning back to the group.

“This,” She said, “Is the magical circle that will allow us to become dragons. It will allow us to feel and shape our bodies into receptacles of power like no other.”

Beside her, Takeo took a quick step forward, only to stop when a gust of wind erased the circle with a snap of Luthera’s fingers.

“But that will come later. First, we need to cover a few subjects.”

Susan decided to take a seat, Luthera’s tone implied it would be a while before they got anywhere.

Everyone else seemed to agree, shuffling over to finally use the clay seats Luthera had set up. Once they had settled down, she began talking in earnest.

“First of all, I must warn you. What we are doing is going to be incredibly dangerous.Trying to change the body in such an extreme manner is a task that even the greatest of wizards have a disastrously low chance of success at.

“This is because of the unbelievable difficulty of properly designing a working dragon heart. The question of how to build an organ that not only moved blood through the body, but also contained a disproportionate amount of force for its size, stumped the best minds of wizardry for thousands of years. Then, around twenty thousand years ago, the first dragon, Diadallo, pioneered a method that finally worked.

“His solution was the creation of what he called the great furnace. It was, as the name might imply, an enormous oil fueled furnace that he created within his chest. The heat from the furnace warmed the blood which expanded, and using this Diadallo created an ingenious series of chambers and veins that allowed for the circulation of blood.

“This led to the creation of the original dragon, the fire dragon. It is the one that I hope to recreate with all of you.”

Susan couldn’t help but stare at Luthera as she talked. The ideas she was putting forth were completely insane. But as Susan’s mind turned them over and over in her head, they started to make some sort of twisted sense.

Moving blood via thermal circulation wouldn’t work normally. But if you changed the viscosity, maybe added some materials with better thermal expansion… Then you would have to completely redesign the veins as well… But then…

Luthera talked on, explaining the basic theories of how they would be changing their bodies. Susan was light years ahead of her. What had started as incomprehensible magic was slowly becoming bioengineering– her forte.

Ideas flashed through her mind. Wild concepts that she had ignored or forgotten were pulled from dark corners of her mind and examined. Many of them were impossible things; indestructible scales, upgraded blood cells. All of it impossible simply due to the practicalities of evolution and physics.

Magic didn’t have to obey physics. All those wild concepts were now very real possibilities. .

For the first time since they had arrived on this world, she felt like she belonged here. She was going to design dragons, this was awesome!