We had been travelling in the forest no more than five minutes when we came across something of a problem. A fairly small dragon, its golden scales glittering in the light of Natalie’s flames, was sprawled out across the path. Fast asleep. Ali growled, and picked up a long stick. She used it to give the sleeping dragon a gentle poke. It shifted slightly, but did not wake up. Ali prodded it again. This time the dragon lazily opened one green eye, regarded us sleepily for a moment, and closed its eye. Ali growled and burst out into her dragon form with a roar.
Instantly, the other dragon woke up, twisting in a blur of gold to land on four short little legs, its eyes changing from a mild forest green, to fiery orange, blazing in anger. It hissed up at Ali, who stared down at it almost disdainfully. With a growl, the dragon stretched its head up as high as it could reach, then reared up onto its hind legs, flapping its wings, a frill of scales fluttering around the top of its neck. It was only just on eye level with the giant blue Ali. The two dragons regarded each other for a moment, then pounced. The smaller dragon twisted, snakelike, out of reach as Ali’s sharp teeth snapped at its throat, swerving around the claws that sliced through the air.
It dived, spitting silvery-green liquid at Ali’s white underbelly, which seemed to be acid, judging by the way the plants that it landed on shrivelled up and died, steam rising from holes burned through the leaves. Ali lashed out, catching the smaller dragon a glancing blow to the face, tearing of a line of golden scales, which rained down between the trees. The golden dragon’s jaws fastened around Ali’s tail, and she whipped it back, dragging the little dragon with it, smashing it against a tree, making it release its grip. Ali caught it again with a claw, leaving a long scratch beneath one wing. The golden dragon bellowed in fury and slashed its claws at Ali’s eyes, leaving a bleeding cut across her nose. Ali reeled back, hissing, and suddenly both dragons froze. The pungent smell of raw fish was drifting from Sami, and all the humans present choked and pinched our noses in disgust. On the other hand, the golden dragon had dropped back onto four feet and was slinking slowly towards the fish Sami was holding out, eyes darting between her face and the fish. It sniffed hopefully.
“Please?” it asked, titling its head a little. Its voice was low, musical, and decidedly feminine. Sami tipped her own head.
“Stop fighting, and you can have it,” she bargained. The dragon nodded and Sami tossed the fish towards her. In one swift flick-and-snap, the fish was gone, tossed up into the air and then swallowed. The golden dragon licked its lips and looked about.
“Where’d the blue dragon go?” she asked, and, looking around, I saw that the powerful form of Ali the dragon had collapsed back into her usual shape, a sizzling hole melted through the jacket she had chosen to wear, blood trickling from the cut across her face. The dragon peered over my shoulder.
“It was a human the whole time?” she asked, sounding utterly bemused. Ali’s eyelids flickered, but she was still unconscious, as usual after turning into a dragon.