The Princess's Feathers

Something incredible… no, something impossible just occurred.

Orie, Starla, and the Owl are dead. Their mangled bodies are strewn across the floor of the hollow, adding to the already macabre scene. And while I can’t help but feel a weight lifted at their passing, the nature of their deaths flies in the face of everything I know to be true.

I killed them. Unarmed, using my teeth as a weapon.

Something happened to me as Orie was about to strike. I felt an incredible force overtake me, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Then, something changed inside me, giving me the assurance I could defend myself and easily take revenge against those despicable animals. I embraced the hatred swelling up inside me and turned it into a weapon.

The scenes from the fight repeat in my head. I attacked Orie and Starla like a feral would hunt prey. Pouncing them from behind and biting their necks. Then the Owl, somehow shrinking in size, tried to escape by flying away. I caught him in mid-air, dragging him to the ground as he wailed in pain. And then to shut him up, I—

…

I can’t believe this. None of this can be true. And yet the evidence is right in front of me as clear as day.

I slam my eyes shut, pleading to awaken from a nightmare. These events, these terrible feelings, they must be a dream!

This isn't real.

This isn't real.

This isn't real!

…

Get a hold of yourself, girl. Panicking won’t do us any good. We need to take this one step at a time and try to think this through logically.

Deep breaths.

…

Alright.

First things first, am I safe? A group of animals with unknown motives, possibly from Crow Wing, just made an attempt on my life. It’s possible they aren’t alone and there are more of them lurking nearby. Out here in the Weald, there are plenty of places you could lay low for days at a time and hide. I could gaze around to see if I could spot any more of them, but… even without doing that, I’m certain I’m alone right now.

I can’t explain it. My body is sending the signal telling my brain there’s nobody else here. And It’s not just a premonition that I’m alone, but a certainty. I’m as certain of it as I’m certain my entire party died trying to save my life.

…I don’t know. Nothing makes sense, everything is so confusing right now. I wish someone could tell me what’s going on!

…

I suppose trusting my intuition is the best I can do right now. To trust what I can see with my own two eyes, no matter how astonishing it may seem. I have to believe that I killed the animals who made the attempt on my life. So, if there are more like them nearby, I could defend myself from them too.

Right? Right. I am safe. If any more hostile animals try and pull a sword on me, I’ll just… kill them with my mouth…

…What’s happened to me, anyway?

I’m no longer myself, am I? Or rather, I’m no longer a Lemur. Impossibly, it seems I’ve turned into something else. For one thing, Lemurs don’t have the fangs or the jaw strength to attack other animals. I wouldn’t have been able to kill those animals the way I did if I were still a Lemur.

But the best evidence is how much smaller everything has become. The bramble patches that blocked my escape earlier look like clumps of crabgrass I could lope in a single bound. And the trees in the grove we passed through we walked through earlier? My sightline has become so high that even down in the hollow, I can see halfway to their tops.

So, I’ve become bigger. Much, much, bigger.

I look down to inspect my feet. Except, they’re no longer feet. Where before I saw laced leather booths I now see talons. Talons with tufts of blue fur, dark blue claws, and the distinct lack of an opposable toe. Near my talons lies the motionless body of the Owl, now so minuscule that if I weren’t mindful of where I stepped I could quite easily flatten him.

Armed with only these observations, I can deduce a lot about what’s happened to me. What creatures on Jade are so tall they can see over the tops of trees? Or so immense that a full-grown, adult Owl could easily be trampled by one?

There’s only one answer:

Dragon.

I’m a Dragon. I turned into one.

But, that’s impossible! Animals can’t transform into different creatures! Shapeshifting is the work of fictions and fairy tales. We live in a world of science and technology, not spells and magic!

Except, that’s exactly what’s happened, hasn’t it? I told myself I had to trust my intuition, to trust what I could see with my own two eyes. If my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, then the truth is I have turned into a colossal Dragon.

Okay, okay… if I’ve truly become a Dragon, then what species of Dragon am I? There are two that are known to exist on Jade: Redagas and Lithans. Both are only found on the Northern Continent, far to the north of the lands where animals live. It’s the same place the Elder Tree’s species natively grows.

Redagas are the smaller of the two species. They are seldom seen with only one or two confirmed sightings in the last century. What’s known about their appearance is they’re reptile-like: Scales cover their bodies, and their wings are made of a thin layer of skin, like a bat’s wing. They’ve never been seen outside of the Northern Continent, and nobody is quite certain why.

Then there’s Lithans. Unlike Redagas there are occasional sightings of them in Sarlain and Nortane, so we know more about them. They’re bigger than Redagas — in fact, they’re so big we believe they’re the apex predator of the entire moon. Instead of scales, their bodies are covered in thick, massive feathers. I’m sure they make avians quite jealous.

I thought I saw fur on my talons, not feathers. What does the rest of my body look like?

I rotate my head to investigate, nervous to see the outcome. To my surprise, once my head passes a certain point, my neck itself twists, allowing me to maneuver far enough that my entire head is gazing directly behind me.

Well, that sure was an interesting sensation. But compared to that, what I see behind me is downright astonishing: enormous wings constructed of innumerable pearl white feathers lay on my back, shimmering iridescent in the golden afternoon sun. Past my wings, my fur — no, my feathers — change to a brilliant shade of azure all the way down to the tip of my tail, which is now a bushy frock of feathers. I move my wings back and forth, and they fold and open in the way I’d expect a feral birds to. Somehow this movement with appendages I’ve never had before comes naturally to me.

Surveying myself, it hits me like a sack of mulch fumbled by a clumsy Greenleaf: I’m a Lithan! The largest predator species on the moon! I’m enormous! Colossal! Immense!! I…

…Have so many questions right now!!

How did I get turned into a Lithan? Can I turn back to normal? Are the animals that attacked me from Crow Wing? What were they doing here that was so important? Does Mom’s fall during communion have something to do with this? And, most importantly…

Why did this happen to me?!

But here in the hollow, surrounded by images of death, is hardly the ideal place to begin to answer these difficult questions.

On the thought of mortality, scenes from Calypso’s sacrifice forcibly resurface in my head. The leap in front of me. His final moments. The look of relief in his eyes. I turn across to the hollow to where he’s resting… and quickly turn back. I can’t do this right now. I’m not yet ready.

The sight of blood unnerves me, but what truly makes me uncomfortable is the image of my bodyguard lying motionless on the ground. It’s a scene that I’m certain will haunt me for as long as I live.

I have to pay my respects to him, here in the place where he sacrificed himself. He is a true, righteous hero of the Kingdom. And while I could never hope to repay the debt of my life, to him I owe my inner feelings at least. There were things that, in life, I never dared to tell him directly.

I don’t know what the future holds for me yet, but one thing is certain: My life is about to become much, much more complicated. This will be my last chance to be with him alone.

Tears stream down my face over the tops of my facial feathers. How strange it feels to not have them soaked up by fur. What would Calypso think if he could see me in this form, grieving as I am now? Would he still see me as Princess Asha? Or would he instead see some feral monster?

I need to leave the hollow before my thoughts turn bleak and consume me. When I’m ready to see Calypso again… that is when I’ll return.