*to edit

With nowhere else to go, the circle underneath Leofstan's feet activated, throwing up the iridescent wall of a shield and trapping him there. The opaque spell shimmered as Leo uselessly threw his hands against the bounds to break the enchantment.

David laughed as he ran a hand to run over his face, before opening his arms wide and deepening his rejoicing.

"Too easy!" He cried.

Leo began to breathe quickly, chest heaving as he fixated on the adversary before him. The druid began chanting under his breath with a newfound agility.

Nothing happened.

Giving the wall another hit, Leofstan drove his staff against it, launching into a tirade of practised words. Nothing. Then he just stopped - dropping his staff to clatter at his feet, drawing in a single, quick audible intake of breath. Leo's fingertips twitched as if still to grasp the staff that was no longer there. He stared at the barrier, unblinking, mouth trying to form words, the staff rolling away.

Finally, he gradually lifted his head, only to wince when he noticed me still hanging upside down.

"Oh no," Leo whispered.

If I'd been human, I wouldn't have heard him utter the words. Or distinguish how he began to hyperventilate as he placed splayed fingertips on the shield. "Fuck!" He screamed so suddenly, even I jumped, before he resorted to banging the shield with renewed ferocity.

David had recovered from his laughing spree and glanced at the watch on his wrist, "Excellent, there's still time. I'm so glad you joined us for the ceremony." He told Leo, sighing dramatically, "I'll come back for you." He informed him, before heading my way.

Leofstan continued to slam uselessly, his movements becoming more agitated as David grew closer to me.

"Celandine!" Leofstan shouted unnecessarily, as I winced at the volume change, "Don't panic!"

What? I wasn't panicking. Was he? Should I start? Why would he yell that?

"It's going to be okay!" He added his voice cracking, the pitch akin to something I'd expect to be used if I was about to meet my doom immediately. Yes, start to panic, my inner voice commanded. Additionally, as I tried to siphon more magic from him, it seemed that the circle trap he was confined in was also cutting off any chances of that happening. I was stuck with what I'd got.

Leo dropped to the ground, jerkily running his hands over the floor and containment wall around him, stealing desperate glances toward me. It felt like I should be telling him not to panic.

After all, I was the with the plan.

If only I could get a message to Leofstan, then maybe he would calm down enough to think rationally. Open and closing my palm to try and catch his attention, I hoped he'd notice and connect the dots.

And it did, kind of.

The shimmering figure that he'd summoned turned to study me, head tilted curiously independent of Leo who continued to fret about separately.

The figure rose a single finger to his lips in the universal sign to 'shush', only to then point towards my hand. I narrowed my eyes, but stilled the motion, waiting to see just what it was up to. That seemed to satisfy it, as I was given another cheeky wink before its form dispersed, evaporating to wherever it had come from and leaving me with more questions than answers.

Leofstan froze as he noticed the form leave, looking around him as if it were going to suddenly change its mind.

"You imbeciles!" David shouted at his puppets. It was taking the dead creatures quite a while to figure out what had been done to sabotage the circle around me. Shoving them aside, he began studying the runes himself.

Even though I couldn't draw any more magic from Leo, my mouth watered as I noticed David was standing only a few metres away. I began pooling the magic I'd stolen. All I needed was to wait for the right time, as considering how easily David had overpowered Leo, I didn't fancy going head-to-head with him in a battle of magic skills.

He moved left, then right, and I followed his movements with a hunter's precision. It wouldn't take much effort to reach him. Transformed, it was a given that I was longer than the space between us. With one giant push, he'd be in my grasp and I'd finally be able to pull him apart limb by limb.

All I needed was the perfect moment.

Cradling the slither of power that would unbind the tendrils holding my human form together, I continued to watch and wait.

David finally spotted the first missing mark, muttering as he cut across his thumb and painted it back in with his blood. From across the room, Leo drew a sharp breath. There was only one mark left to find, and a half-skeletal creature found it not long after.

"Dammit!" Leo mumbled in a guttural tone under his breath, fists clenched. He began to smash furiously against the binding wall once more. "Celandine!" He shouted, face white as a ghost, chest heaving.

The chant resumed, the circle redrawn. David gave a long exhale, trading his staff to retrieve the knife he'd brandished earlier as he walked into the circle. Leo's hands dropped uselessly to his sides as he gave a low scream in anguish.

It wasn't Leo's best moment. Seeing him all defeated and hopeless-looking wasn't a side of him I'd seen before. Even when he was beaten down after escaping the Fae lands, he still had an air of confidence that he'd recover and be on his way. Now all I could think of was the moment I was trapped in his memories and he'd slighted the dragon that had destroyed his family.

And now he was going to know I was one of them too.

David grew closer knife catching the flickering candlelight. In a blink, I called forth my true eyes, sharpening my pupils into their reptilian focus. David hesitated, quickly double-checking if what he'd just glanced at was true.

Slowly pushing out sharpened teeth, it was my time to grin. The smirk fell right off of his face as he stumbled back, dropping the knife.

"Impossible!" He cried.

The bones which stabilised my two-legged form began to crack, the snapping being the only noise to fill the cavern. With one almighty push, the skin split on my cheek at Joanne's house ripped open fully, and I exploded from the captive human form.

The tangled bones and muscles crunched their way into the desired shape of my natural formation, leaving David perfectly snack-sized.

At the same time he saw my open maw descending towards him, he scrambled around for the dagger, holding it up in front of him as a last line of defence. With a blood-curdling screen, he exploded wave after wave of magic, only for it to bounce harmlessly off of my scales into the chamber behind.

He must have realised this was the end of the line for him; as did the creature he harboured inside. The Dybbuk tried to flee his mortal host, beginning to split away like a stringy glue.

A deep growl that emanated from the back of my throat. No prey would escape today. I snapped my jaw closed around the distorting body with a satisfying snick. Throwing back my head I greedily gulped the man down whole.

For a few worrying seconds, he lodged. Were Dybbuks even edible?

In an ideal world I would have loved to stay and relish the meal; waiting until it lined my stomach, basking in the sunlight of a hot rock or taking a nice deep slumber in a comfy spot. Instead, there were a few coughs as he made his way down uncomfortably.

It left me with only a few mere moments to rejoice in how glorious it was to be big again. My gait was finally balanced on four legs. Stretching my wings wide I delighted as the joints popped lazily. After all the years of hiding, to be able to move the itch on my back sent my muscles humming appreciatively.

Finally, the lump in my throat shifted, and around the room, as if their strings were cut, the figures all dropped to the ground at once. It left only one man standing.

Leo.

And the feeling of elation, contentment and the hum of pleasure evaporated. It left a big ugly cold chill that felt like the weight of the world had just landed. I pulled my limbs in close as I watched Leo warily.

He was as far away from me inside the captive circle as he could manage, back pressed against the impassable wall. His mouth pressed in a tight line, he was completely pale, shoulders shaking. I attempt to move closer, only for him to try and scrabble back further.

My mouth began to water at the scent of his fear. Leo would make a very good snack. I hadn't been able to enjoy the death of David... but Leo....

A thunderous rumble rolled from a distant tunnel, and dark dust billowed into the chamber as brick collapsed. We both swivelled our heads in unison towards the sound as some of the candles were blown out from the puff created. Instinctively ducking, another loud crack germinated dully above our heads. We froze, neither daring to breathe in case something else dislodged.

The walls began to groan. There were multiple tunnels leading out of the area, and I was certain the one to the left was now a no-go. There was one straight in front of me, behind Leo, and that was the closest. The smaller the rocks began to escape the netting above us as the ground shook, a large one hitting my back, but not bruising too badly. It was almost as big as Leo.

His eyes met mine calmly. In that moment it felt as if we had all the time in the world and weren't about to meet an early grave. I was large enough to negate the effects of the circle he was trapped in and pull him to safety. But he was from the SPCC - and if he lived - it would be with the knowledge I was a dragon. I could say goodbye to a long healthy life.

I'd killed his friend. Lied to him. And stolen his magic.

Another fracture wracked from overhead, and we both ducked instinctively again.

As a dragon, I wouldn't fit through the tunnel.

A visible crack had begun to form.

And as if I was letting someone else pilot my limbs, I launched towards Leofstan. He freaked, screaming audibly, hands held out to protect. Outstretching my claws, they wrapped tightly against his frame.

His spine was thin enough to snap. Muscles delicate enough to rip. And we tumbled out of the circle as I rapidly worked to splinter my bones back into a smaller shape.

Rolling head over heels, I just about caught my feet as they returned to two; staggering into the back of Leo as he launched to his own feet. Turning, he stared at me as he stumbled to a stop. Whatever he was going to say was lost under the loud groan of the ceiling.

No time. I shoved him, hard. "Run!" I yelled, dashing past, flinging out my hand to make sure he was following and catching his fingertips. With no time to backtrack, I yanked. We ran like there was a mine about to collapse on us - only the sound of our breathing and feet slamming against the floor accompanied us. The earth shook as rocks tumbled free - water began flooding from the walls.

Enveloped in darkness, small rings of luminesce began to form a few meters in front, fading from life as we passed them. Leo continued to create the rings and as my muscles began to burn and my lungs began to ache, we pushed forward to each checkpoint. By some sort of miracle the passageway was sloping upwards until finally, the smallest prick of light became visible.

The last few minutes were torturous; as if the exit signified our muscles could begin to ponder relaxing. Leofstan overtook me but didn't let go, dragging me with him.

A single light awaited us at the exit - another one of Leo's summonings which remained as we escaped the threshold, collapsing to the ground, legs trembling and lungs on fire. Sweat dripped in pools and I fought the urge to vomit my stomach contents.

We were just in time, the shaft to the mine completed its collapse, and clouds of dust erupted, shrouding the night sky and concealing us under the full moon.