Lathonia At War

Chapter Four

After a few minutes, I concluded. We go to something that will scare the Hamfilumpen right out of me. I asked Ms. Belaine if that was an accurate way to shape-shift.

“Only one way to find out.” My worst fear is falling from heights. Being buried alive and bugs are terrifying. Therefore, I must do all of these safely. My new friends and I snuck our way around the planet. It was hard. People wouldn’t stop pointing and staring. I wondered what they were thinking.

Are they afraid of me? I had to keep hiding my face with my old hood, so they could not see my face. I asked where we were going. Ms. Belaine said, “To Mr. Moll.” I questioned who that was. She told me he was a human.

“He knows everything. At least, everything about Hamfilumpens.”

We walked into a small shack. “This is it?” I asked. With that final sentence, I fell to my demise. Or so I thought. The floor opened up like a sliding trapdoor. My friends and Ms. Belaine fell through with me. While I fell, I closed my eyes and hoped I wouldn’t die. On my right side, Ms. Belaine and Bonna were gracefully plummeting.

On my left, Phiop was whooping and squealing. Stonbert was sitting cross-legged and shushing everyone. Simonus was making poses and playing. I thought I was the only normal one. I felt my throat swelling up and my stomach twisting. I felt like I was going to cry. Luckily, my falling came to a stop. I fell into a magnificent underground lake. It wasn’t a death trap. It was a secret headquarters. I swam into the shallow end. I had to catch my breath for a minute or two. We were on the road again. We walked for about an hour to our destination. We finally arrived. The house was no house. It was a castle. It was a beautifully aged palace.

I walked inside after I heard a voice say, “Come in,” I asked, “Hello? Is anyone here?” the voice responded, “In the shadows. Come closer.” As I did, the thing that spoke came into the light. I knew it as soon as I saw him. He was Mr. Moll. He was a large man-mole.

He had pink, fleshy skin and black-rimmed oval glasses. He had gray hair ringing the back of his head. He sat me down in his colossal chair located in the front room.

I told him my name and what brought me here.

“Ah. So, you want to shape-shift, do you?” I said, “Y-yes.”

“All right, I’ll show you.” He picked up the others with one arm and put them on the oversize couch. I gave my friends a thumbs up, showing them he'd help me. He signaled me to follow him. As we were walking, I asked how we were supposed to transform. He said, “Patience.” I did not speak the entire time we walked. We finally reached the outside.

I looked out of the doorway. It was a glorious forest. Blue Jacaranda trees as far as the eye can see. Purple-ish blue leaves. They smelled of a delicious fragrance. I looked at them with wonder. Mr. Moll chuckled at my reaction, “You know the forest, child?” I nodded and explained, “I live in a forest. Far from here. On earth.” He grunted in response. He said, “Get over here.” I speed-walked over to him. He picked me up and placed me in a chair. It had wires and tubes all around it. It connected to a headpiece that he shoved on my head. He was mumbling something and humming to himself.

When he finished hooking up the machine, he said, "How's that feeling?" I responded, "I'm uncomfortable." He grunted again. He loosened the straps. "How about now?" I said it felt alright. As soon as I finished, I screamed. The chair shocked my entire body. "Make it stop!" Then, with that last word, my body morphed, mangled, and transformed. My body wasn't a human any longer. It was a dragon similar to my fairy tales. I could spew fire with one breath. It was huge and magnificent.

I looked down. The earth began to spin. I was transforming back. My vision was blurry as the ground was settling. The dust rose and fell. I rotated and slowed down. Then finally, I stopped. I looked around. Everyone stared into my eyes. I walked towards them. They backed up slowly. I asked, “What’s the problem?”

My voice seemed to be altered during the transfiguration. It was now booming and significantly deeper.

“Fascinating. We believed that your mother here was the only Suraple let.”

“Humans call them dragons,” she clarified.

“Oh, okay,” I asked how they died off. Simonus answered, “Two hundred years ago, one angry Seraple attacked a human. Humans, being humans, wanted to kill all of them. So, we hid Ms. Belaine.” Oh, god. I wondered if humans knew about Hamfilumpens before the fight. Though, there was no time to sit and ponder. I had to fix the war of humans versus Hamfilumpens. I immediately ran to the entrance of the house. Ms. Belaine emerged from the shadow close to me, intersecting my running, “Where are you going?” I told her, “I have to fix this!”

“It is nearly impossible; you will die.”

I scoffed at that and swerved around her. She simply sat down and cried, “I cannot stop you; you are much more powerful than I. Though I believe I can help you.” I looked at her and nodded. Then, Bonna, Simonus, Stonbert, and Phiop said, “We are coming too.”

As I transformed back, the hamfilumpen in the streets scrambled away from me. I carried Bonna and Simonus on my back, so they could breathe out of Lathiona. Ms. Belaine carried Phiop and Stonbert. I lifted my scaly wings and flew. It was glorious. I felt as if the hands of the universe were lifting my body through life. It was like retaking my first steps. I was more cheerful than ever. My wings were illuminating in the pitch-black void of space. My eyes were finally open. Then, I saw the Earth. I planned what to do when I got to the king of Earth, David Shrilian. He was not a benevolent person. Nor amusing. He was a tasteless and conceivably malevolent man.

I wished he would see me thoroughly. Unlikely. He was ignorant. The only reason he was king was because he was the single heir. I was unsettled, at the least. I approached the floor of the Earth.