(Cast drawn by MimiWonderDoodles!)

The Dragon

"Victor, I have an idea!"

Victor groaned, peeling open his eyes. Seraph was crouched beside him, poking him in the side. This was around the third time he had been woken up like this, and Victor was starting to dislike the déjà vu.

"Yeah?"

Seraph clapped his hands together, eyes sparkling. "I am going to show you something very cool! Get ready!"

Victor sat up, rubbing his eyes. He could tell a positive change in his health, which pleased him. At least I can walk a little farther... He reasoned.

Seraph took a few steps back and closed his eyes. For a split second, his body changed to light, and then his form started to shift. Like some kind of glowing fluid, Seraph's form expanded and reformed itself into something entirely new and rather large.

After mere seconds, the transformation was done.

Victor blinked in surprise. "Wow..."

Before him, a massive Eastern-style dragon leviated above the grass. Seraph's new body was long and slender, almost like a snake. He was mostly covered in smooth, glistening white scales, but strangely, a patch of fluffy golden fur down down his back. His lengthy white whiskers flowed softly in the breeze, drifting at the same rate at his feather-plumed tail.

Seraph's snout was thin and
unlike his human form's childish, cherubic face. He looked like an aged, wise, and majestic creature, and it took Victor's breath away.

"Oh, oh!" Seraph's telepathic voice tickled the back of his eyes. "I look very cool, right Victor?"

Victor had almost forgotten that the ethereal creature had the mind of a ten year old.

"This is my favorite form, you know? It feels so...natural. Much better than my human form does." The dragon's large paws clasped together awkwardly, making an almost comical scene. "Ah, this is all going over your head, is it not?"

Victor shrugged, still in awe from Seraph's transformation. "I guess I can kinda relate, if the feeling is being uncomfortable in your own skin."

Seraph smiled a toothy grin. "Something like that. Anyway, I almost forgot to tell you my idea: I want to fly you to the Celestial Palace!" He stretched his long back towards Victor, flicking his tail as if beckoning him forward. "Come, climb on and hang onto my neck."

Victor tugged at the collar of his sweater, feeling apprehensive. He had only flown on a magical creature once, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. He vividly remembered Matthew and Umbra taking him to the zoo when he was younger, and being offered a ride from a kindly pegasus. The ascent into the air had completely terrified him, and he had sobbed nearly the entire time. Victor didn't even recall opening his eyes during the flight.

"I'm not so sure... I mean, like, I can walk and stuff, it's fine..." Victor stuttered, avoiding contact with Seraph's cheerful gaze.

One of Seraph's long, furry ears twitched. "No, no, friend! This is my treat. Please, I insist. I want to show you sights that can only be seen from the air." Seraph suddenly coiled around him like a giant snake, playfully nuzzling Victor's face with his great snout.

Crap, crap, crap, crap... Victor thought frantically as he threw a leg over Seraph's neck and hoisted his body into a natural-feeling sitting position. He had no choice but to comply with Seraph's generous offer, as Victor was afraid that resisting further would make his friend take personal offense.

"Hang on tight!" Seraph's telepathic cheer echoed around his head, overcoming the blood roaring in Victor's ears.

And Victor did. He clutched Seraph's fur-covered neck like his life depended on it (and it most likely did) and kept his eyes shut tight. He could feel that Seraph was gaining altitude, the wind getting more and more intense every yard they climbed.

After a stomach-churning thirty seconds, Seraph's flight evened out and Victor was no longer sitting at a ninety degree angle. He flopped forward against Seraph's neck, finally free from the tug of gravity.

"This part of Celestial Realm is absolutely breathtaking, right?" Seraph said, and Victor felt his neck shift. He assumed the spirit had turned around.

"Uh huh," Victor replied quickly, taking Seraph's word for it. He wished to see the sights, but the fact that they were hundreds of feet in the air put his mind straight into 'panic mode' and made him unable to really enjoy anything. If he happened to fall of Seraph, Victor didn't want to see the ground hurtling towards him.

"Victor, you are not even looking! What is wrong?" Seraph had no hint of irritation in his voice, only an innocent, questioning tone.

With his face buried in Seraph's fur, Victor felt his heart leap into his throat. "I-I-uh..." he started, breath quickening. "I'm scared." He finished the last statement hastily and bluntly to eliminate stress, like ripping off a band-aid.

"Wait, you are?" Seraph sounded confused, and his flight speed slowed down significantly. "There is no reason to be afraid, Victor! I have a lot of carried passengers in my years and none of them have ever fell!"

"I know, I know!" Victor shouted, gritting his teeth and digging his fingers deeper into Seraph's fur. "I just am, okay?!"

Suddenly, a familiar calming feel started to radiate from his head, starting at his forehead and traveling down his body. His heartbeat and breathing slowly started to even out.

"Seraph, is that you?" Victor asked weakly, squeezing the spirit to obtain his attention.

"The calming sensation? Yup, that is me! I have been studying the telepathy spell for years, and I learned that you can not only share thoughts, but also feelings!"

"But why?"

Seraph's body jerked, and the constant movement of him flying across the sky stopped. They were floating in mid-air.
"I want you to feel better, Victor. You are my friend." Seraph murmured softly. "I want to show you the wonders of my world, like you showed me. Please trust me, friend. You are safe with me."

Wonders? Does he mean me taking him to the grocery store and buying him candy? Victor thought, not realizing the significance that Seraph held in the memory.

He sighed, the spirit's pacifying sensations having done their job. He felt distinctly calmer than he had a couple of minutes ago, but fear still lingered.

I've got to do this, for Seraph. Victor thought, a heavy breath rattling his frame. I have to trust him with this.

Resigning himself to his fears, Victor opened his eyes.

And it was beautiful.

In the short time they had traveled, the scenery had change wildly. Seraph had taken him into a lightly forested area, and the trees dotting the rolling hills were nothing like Victor had ever seen. The leaves were long, almost like dark-teal ferns trailing down from the branches. The trunk was covered in ancient looking bark, filled with small holes and grooves.

A small stream snaked around the grove of trees, surrounded by a bank made of silvery-blue pebbles. Instead of being clear or even bluish, the water in the stream was a pastel lavender and seemed to glimmer in the soft light of the Celestial Realm. It was like the water had stardust in it.

Victor's eyes grew wide as he took in the magnificent sights. Seraph grinned, his goofy expression undermining the elegant appearance of his dragon form.

"I know, it is great, right?" Seraph said coolly, a small giggle echoing in Victor's head.

Victor relaxed against Seraph's neck, letting the ever-present wind blow his bangs out of his eyes. "Yeah... I've never seen anything like this." He laughed dryly. "Earth's pretty ugly compared to this place."

"Earth is nice in its own way," Seraph replied. "Ah, Victor I believe we must go to the palace now. I have stalled long enough by taking the long way... Hang on, please."

With a sudden, rapid shift in speed and position, Seraph took off across the sky. Victor was left startled and clinging onto his neck, nearly thrown off by the sheer inertia Seraph had generated. He squinted forward, the intense gusts of air making it hard for him to see.

But he saw it clearly on the horizon. In the distance, the gleaming figure of the Celestial Palace was growing larger.

Author's Note- Wow, really long chapter. Around 1,400 words...