Forced Magic Read online

  I looked up toward the light at the end of the tunnel; it was starting to get dark. Had I been down there all day? At the edge of the tunnel I saw the shape of a small animal. A dog? Someone’s pet? Yes! The owner of it would come down to see what it was looking at and I would be saved. I was too relieved to even speak or I would have yelled for help. I moved a little closer. It wasn’t a dog. It was a cat, a big cat. I blinked and took another look. It was a bobcat.

  It sat there staring at me. Its ears twitched and it opened its mouth. I could see sharp teeth as it yawned. I didn’t dare move. Not even dared to make a sound. I had no idea if this bobcat would attack me. I might be in its den for all I knew. I was too weak to fight it off if it did attack. Finally it got up looking as if it saw something behind me. It took off running. Another moment of irrational fear griped me as I looked behind me expecting to see spiders. That bobcat had to be looking at something. I began to crawl toward the exit.

  As I got closer to the end of the tunnel, I started to hear the sounds of traffic. This calmed me down. I was going to get out of this mess. I was almost there. My breath was ragged and my head was feeling light. As bad as I wanted to get out of that tunnel, I knew if I didn’t calm myself and take it a little easy, I would run the risk of passing out. I decided to give myself a little break. Rolling over I put my back against the wall. Sitting up I closed my eyes and listened to my breathing. As I sat there I made the decision that, when I got out of this mess, the less I told anybody about what happened to me, or what I imagined happened to me, the better.

  A warm breeze gently hit my face followed by a strange smell, different from the sticky smell. I couldn’t place it as the breeze kept time with my own breathing. It wasn’t a breeze. There was something else in this tunnel and it was now breathing on me. I slowly opened my eyes thinking that the bobcat had come back to eat me after all. It wasn’t the bobcat. It was something that made me realize that what I had seen and experienced had to have been real. It wasn’t the fairy finally finding me, ready to finish me off. This was even more fantastic than that. I was face to face with a dragon!

  Chapter 5

  The dragon's body was about the size of a German shepherd. Its long neck curved up like a snake about to strike. There were black and silver scales covering its body, with a snout that looked like a horse's face ending in two nostrils that had smoke gently coming out as it breathed in and out. The two front claws were as thick as my legs. The back ones were twice as thick. There was a strange movement on either side of it. It had wings. The dragon moved them in a twitchy way, as if it was not sure what I was going to do. Its eyes glowed and changed color as it stared at me. I was on my hands and knees staring into the face of a dragon! I was now convinced I was losing my mind. This was too fantastic. First a fairy, now this. A cold sensation crept up my spine. The fey must have sent the dragon when she realized the parasite lucky rock thing didn’t turn into spiders and kill me. The dragon must be here to finish me off.

  In the dragon's mouth was a bag from the local fast food restaurant down the street. I could smell hamburgers and realized how hungry I was. If I wasn’t so terrified at that point, I would have found this whole situation funny. I mean, here I was covered in slime, clothes torn, weak and helpless, staring at a dragon and I was feeling hungry. The dragon moved and I sat back quickly moving against the wall of the tunnel. It growled a little. Moving slowly, it set the bag down. Keeping its eyes on me, it stuck its snout in the bag and pulled out a burger. Instead of eating it, wrapper and all, the dragon took the burger in its front claws and carefully unwrapped it. Never taking its eyes off me, it put the whole thing in its mouth and began to chew carefully. I could see flashes of its sharp teeth as it finished chewing. There was a loud gulping sound and a look of satisfaction on its face. Smoke poured out of the snout and a sigh rumbled up from the back of its long throat.

  My stomach growled. The dragon stopped eating for a second. Placing a claw over the bag of burgers in a protective way, it growled and showed sharp rows of teeth. This creature was not going to share. It reached back into the bag and pulled out another burger, unwrapped it and shoved the whole thing in its mouth. As it chewed quickly, my stomach rumbled again. The dragon stopped chewing and swallowed loudly. Staring at me, it seemed to come to a conclusion. With another obvious sigh and a rolling of its fantastic, ever-changing eyes, it picked up the bag and moved toward me.

  I was pinned up against the wall unable to get away. It put the bag of burgers down in my lap and nudged them with its snout. This dragon was offering me food. I was consumed with hunger.

  It was hard for me to believe that I could actually think of anything except the dragon that was staring at me. I reached into the bag, pulled out a double cheeseburger, removed the wrapper and started eating. I never took my eyes off the dragon as I ate. I was so hungry that I ignored the slime that covered me. I finished the burger. The dragon moved his head slightly in my direction.

  “Thanks," I said not knowing what else to say.

  The dragon motioned with its head toward the bag, pointing at it with a clawed hand. The gesture seemed so human. I reached in and pulled out another burger. I held it up showing the dragon I had got another one. It nodded in a satisfied way. Reaching over and taking the bag out of my lap, it pulled out another burger for itself.

  The dragon had a pleased look on its face as I quickly devoured the second burger. The food seemed to help me. The soreness of my muscles was beginning to drain away. It was like someone had pulled a stopper in a bath tub full of water. Starting from the top of my head the muscle ache was leaving my body. I was exhausted. I could have gone to sleep in that cave covered in slime right then and there, if it wasn’t for the fact that there was a dragon chomping down on hamburgers right in front of me.

  I never took my eyes off the dragon as it sat there looking at me. A sense of wonderment filled my heart. I was actually face to face with one of my favorite fantasy creatures come to life. A Dragon! It seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about it.

  This whole day was a fantasy straight out of a book. A horror filled fantasy, twisted and weirder than anything I had ever read, but still fantastic.

  I thought of the dream I had woken up from. I wondered if it was a dream at all. Maybe it was some sort of vision. Did the fairy have something to do with it? It made sense that she did. After all, my crazy day had started with her appearing across that street. The dragon must be here to keep me from leaving until the fairy could get here. I wasn’t sure if I liked that thought, the dragon seemed friendly. If it wanted to kill me then why would it feed me? What did the fairy want with me anyway?

  I relaxed a bit as the food I had eaten settled in my stomach. I took a good look at the dragon. It was enjoying another burger when I saw its silver scales shimmer. They had a kind of rippling effect. The black scales even seemed to glow. Black and silver scales that looked strangely familiar to me. Then it hit me. The dragon's scales were black and silver, the same colors as my lucky rock. This dragon was from my rock. It was the parasite. Spiders didn’t come out of the bubble like in my dream. This dragon did!

  I didn’t know what to do. All of my life experience, all of the fantasy books I have read, never could have prepared me for this. My rock, which I thought of as a good luck charm, had somehow been transformed into a dragon. In my mind’s eye I saw the fairy pointing at my leg. She had cast a spell that created this creature that was now looking at me with the strangest expression. Its head was tilted to the side as if it was studying me, trying to figure me out. It seemed to have realized that something was wrong. My heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. I didn’t dare move, out of fear that the beast would attack. All wonderment gone, I just wanted to get out of that tunnel. The problem was the dragon was blocking the way.

  Chapter 6

  We sat there staring at each other. The dragon began to move cautiously toward me, looking me over. Its eyes were really creepy, constantly changing colors
, red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. Every once in a while they would go black. It moved in closer, smoke coming out of its nose so thick I could feel it in the air. The dragon stopped about a foot from my face, its mouth curled up in a snarl.

  “This is it. I'm dead now. “ I thought as a growl started rumbling from the dragon.

  I panicked. Yelling at the top of my voice I took my fist and hit the dragon underneath its chin. It moved its head back and made a choking sound. With all my strength I swung again hitting it right on the nose. A growl rose up from the dragon’s throat and its front paws went up to hold its snout. I bolted for the exit.

  A new feeling started to form in me. It started in the pit of my stomach and slowly spread throughout my entire body. It was anger. I was mad and I wasn’t going to take anymore.

  “Well. Come on!” I yelled at the dragon. I sat up a little. “Are you going to kill me? You going to eat me? What?!! What?!! Don’t just stare at me, do it! DO IT!”

  I started cursing at the thing yelling insult after insult at it. The whole time it just sat there glaring and growling at me. It crouched like it was about to attack.

  “COME ON!” I screamed, “DO IT! TAKE A BITE!”

  All of a sudden the dragon disappeared. One second it was there and the next it was gone. But, before I could run, I was pushed up against the wall. The dragon had reappeared. It had pinned me up against the wall. Its sharp glistening fangs were inches from my face. Smoke poured out of its nose and the silver scales on its body glowed. The smoke smelled like a charcoal barbeque. The burgers must have been an appetizer and I was going to be the main course. Its low growl vibrated all the way through my body.

  I sat there frozen waiting for the worst. The anger drained out of me. “This is it,” I thought, “I’m dead for sure now.” I thought of how unfair it all was. Why was this happening to me? Why was this dragon doing this? Was it because it hatched on my leg? Was the fairy involved in some way?

  With the last of my resolve, I gritted my teeth, looked the dragon in the eye and said, “Do it! Eat me! Kill me! Just do it you stupid fat lizard!”

  Its claws dug into my shoulders, scratching through the torn pieces of my ruined T-shirt. I could feel blood running down the front of my chest and I let out a moan. The dragon stopped growling. It loosened its claws from my shoulders and backed up just a little. I could feel his hot breath on my face. It looked down at the blood that was forming on the front of my shirt. Its eyes changed to a deep glowing green. It opened its mouth slightly and smoke, matching the color of its eyes, began to pour out of its mouth. The smoke smell changed from a charcoal smell to one like cinnamon and vanilla. Heat was starting to come from its snout. The dragon was about to breathe fire. The dragon opened its mouth wider. I could see two rows of sharp teeth and a forked purple tongue.

  “So I guess you are going to eat my face before you burn me? I guess you win.”

  I closed my eyes and waited for the chomp. I could hear the dragon take in a deep breath and then I felt a rush of hot air. I knew the fire was coming next and I braced myself, saying a little prayer, hoping it would be quick and painless. The dragon’s breath continued to get hotter. I felt my torn clothes ripple as the dragon's breath ran up and down my body. As hot as it seemed, I was not burning. I cautiously opened my eyes to the biggest shock of the day. My body was completely engulfed in flame, but I was not burning.

  The dragon was blowing a steady stream of fire. This fire was not a normal looking flame. It started as the same green color as the smoke, but it began to change from yellow to blue, to purple, to deep red, to jet black, to silver, constantly changing colors. As the dragon continued to breathe out this amazing beautiful flame, it made a strange humming sound that vibrated throughout the tunnel. As crazy as it seemed, it was humming some sort of tune.

  My whole body was covered in this strange flame. I don’t know if it was because I was in shock, or it was part of the magic of this flame, but I was unable to move. I just sat there as this fire burned up and down my entire body. I started feeling great, better, more relaxed, simply fantastic. I felt energized and strong. Any pain I had left in my body seemed to be stripped away by this flame. The dragon’s song continued to get louder and the flame continued to change colors until all I could see was the flame. Its color pattern got faster and faster and then; it stopped. My eyes had spots in front of them, like I had been staring at a bright light, and it took a while before I could see again. As my vision came into focus, I could see the dragon sitting on its hind legs staring at me. Its eyes were now wide and blue. The only sound now was the sound of a car occasionally going over the street above us.

  I sat up and moved to put my back against the wall. My butt scraped the floor and I realized to my embarrassment that I was naked. The fire that seemed to heal me burned away the remainder of my torn up clothes. Being naked in a tunnel, under a street, with a dragon staring at you, is quite a unique experience. I had the most embarrassing image of the fairy finding me here like this. I absentmindedly raised my hand to my head and got a second shock. I was now bald, no hair at all on my head. I felt down my face and discovered that I had no eyebrows either. Feeling around I quickly discovered that along with my clothes all the hair on my body had been burned away. I was truly and completely naked.

  Despite the fact that I was naked and bald, I had to admit to myself that I felt pretty good. No aches or pains. If I had actually broken any bones, the way I thought I had, they seemed to be fine now. I felt like I could take on the world. Maybe I could even escape from this dragon and get home. I stood up and faced this beast, determined to get the upper hand. It looked at me unmoving, the eyes back to changing colors.

  “Ok, look. You need to let me go now. I’m not afraid of you.”

  The dragon looked at me, its eyes returning to the glowing green color. Before I could make another move, its tail whipped around and slapped me on the side of the head. I fell over from the impact. I sprawled there naked, my head on the ground and my butt in the air.

  “Huh” rumbled the dragon deep from within its throat.

  “You’re laughing at me,“ I said.

  I felt my face grow warm at the embarrassing idea that, not only had I been slapped down by a dragon, I was now mooning a dragon. Slowly I got to my feet. I could feel a breeze coming from the end of the tunnel and fought to keep from shivering.

  “Ok, you scaly lizard. I’m gonna tell you one time and one time only. Never smack me with your tail again.”

  I surprised myself with these words. I was angry, but to tell a dragon, who could breathe fire and easily tear me apart, what to do and then call it a stupid lizard was entering a realm of idiotic bravery that could easily get me killed.

  The beast stopped laughing, it’s now green eyes narrowed into slits. The tail came whipping around. This time I was ready. Bracing myself, I reached up my hand and caught the end of the tail before it connected. The dragon’s eyes widened. I had just caught the dragon by the tail. Not knowing what else to do, I did the first stupid thing that came to mind. I bit it. I opened my mouth and just chomped down as hard as I could. The dragon tilted its head back and let out a terrible sounding howl. I giggled maniacally. Instead of a dragon biting me, I was biting a dragon. How ironic. It whipped its tail out of my mouth and again disappeared from view. I made a mad bolt for the end of the tunnel again.

  “It’s going to kill me. It’s going to kill me. It’s going to kill me,“ I repeated over and over again.

  The beast reappeared right on top of me twisting me around. It was mad. The smoke pouring out of its mouth was red and I knew this time it was not going to be a healing flame. I wasn’t going down without a fight. I punched and kicked and scratched blindly, trying to get it off of me. A finger ended up in one of its nostrils. The dragon put a claw in my mouth, pulling my lip to the side. As we scuffled, there was a strange chattering sound coming from the end of the tunnel. We froze in our position, and looked toward the tunnel entrance. I was
drooling from the dragon's claw in my mouth. The dragon made a strange whistling sound around my finger that was thrust up its nose.

  At the end of the tunnel, standing on its hind legs, was a big red squirrel. One of its tiny paws was clutching its chest. The other was pointing at the two of us. The chattering sound we heard was unmistakable laughter. A squirrel was laughing at us.

  We scrambled to get off of each other. How embarrassing! The dragon hung its head and sheepishly looked anywhere but in the direction of the laughing squirrel. The little fur ball continued to laugh and point, falling over backwards with uncontrollable chattering hiccups of mirth. Finally, it got control of itself. It sat up and rubbed its beady little eyes. It looked at us again and, with a little squeal of delight, fell over laughing again.

  “Shut up you stupid squirrel.”

  I looked around the floor of the tunnel hoping to find a rock to throw at the little beast. The dragon took care of it by letting out a small burst of purple flame, catching the end of the squirrel’s tail on fire. With a squeak, the squirrel jumped and started running around in a circle. With the end of its tail singed and holding it carefully, the squirrel looked at the both of us and jabbered angrily.

  “BAH!” I yelled.

  Shrieking and jumping into the air, it took off running. You could still hear it jabbering at us as it ran out of sight.

  “Ha!” I laughed.

  The dragon grunted, pleased with it as well. We looked at each other, cautiously. Neither one of us wanted to attack again as we sat there in the tunnel.

  The dragon stretched its neck out, and took the now slime-covered bag of burgers in its mouth. It immediately spit it out it with a look of disgust on its face and, looking down at the now ruined bag of burgers, it growled at me.