Sothis held Cichol tight under her arm, resting her chin on-top of his head. Her wings gave another mighty flap as she spotted a cliff high up. It was much higher than any other cliff that had overlooked their quaint area. Only Macuil and Indech had been brought here by Sothis, it was a spiritual area to them in a sense. The sense that this is where the transformations had happened.
Setting her feet to the ground, her wings vanished in a blink of an eye. She knelt some to let Cichol’s feet touch the ground, she ruffled his hair in her hand gently. He was so aspiring to her; someone so young and well gifted in his strength willing to overcome his fears to once do something his other brothers had done. She stood and looked over the cliff, still able to keep an eye on everything in the area, she needed to make sure everything would be okay still.
Looking back to Cichol, she gave a reaffirming nod, “I promise you this Cichol, any harm or destruction that comes from you all, my lovely darling children, I will heal the entirety of it. Every time one of your siblings had hurt themselves, I am always there to help heal you. So, if you feel confidant enough, you can try to transform if you truly want to. I will not pressure it into you though. But just know, that I am right here, right by your side.” She knelt to Cichol again, looking into his eyes, she saw so much promise in him.
He was her most strong child, one that probably was scared of breaking not only himself, but breaking things around him too. His surroundings, the people close to him, it was a horrifying process to someone so small. Something so simple to her, as if just to say to transform was something so huge to someone just doing it for the first time.
She didn’t want to pressure him at all.
“If you don’t want to transform either, we can just sit and look over everything off the cliff too, Cichol.”
The moment the pair landed upon the grand mountaintop, Cichol became acutely aware that this place extraordinary. While it shared similarities to other peaks he had visited in the past–vast greenery, pockets of rampantly growing wildflowers, and pines that stretched toward the heavens–there was a intangible presence in the atmosphere that commanded his attention. It was seemingly abandoned, lacking another soul aside from the both of them, yet, it also felt as though they were not alone. Cichol found it difficult to describe in words. Taking a few steps froward, his sandals brushed against a stone path he hadn’t immediately noticed. Rustling leaves mirroring the sound of rain captured his attention and lifted his head, watching as the great boughs of the trees above him swayed in the wind. This place…it was instilling a sense of peace in him.
Returning his gaze to the stone path before him, he noticed a stone staircase a short distance from him, leading to an enormous platform. It was a construction that clearly existed before his birth, yet, it somehow felt familiar to him. Walking along the path, he approached two stone dragon figures that appeared as though they were guarding the staircase, their expressions fierce. Curiosity soaked him and with minimal hesitation, he trotted before one of them, stretching his hand forward. His fingers touched its rugged cheek and he cupped it as if it were among the living. After gazing at it for a few moments in silence, he allowed his hand to fall, and ascended the stone staircase that had awaited him.
Arriving at the peak of the platform, Cichol studied his surroundings, noticing an enormous dragon statue tucked in each corner of the structure. Half of the statues were calm, while the remaining were in combat, all frozen in time. Is this a place for transformation? The child wondered, swallowing the lump of nerves that had formed in his throat. From where he stood, he cast a gaze back to his mother, who remained at the bottom of the staircase. Their eyes met for a moment before he turned away from her, approaching the center of the platform. Cichol did not seek to disappoint her, nor himself. Holding fast to the promise that she would heal whatever he would destroy, he closed his eyes.
The child released a steadying breath. Transformation required focus. The user needed to draw out power from their very blood, which would allow them to accomplish the fantastic feat. He focused and focused…then, a warmth began to radiate through his body. He opened his eyes as he began to undergo transformation, his cherubic features twisting and contorting to take a new shape.
Within seconds, a dragon stood in the spot that once housed a child.
