Scarlett burns cried and reached for her mother who held her in close warmth. Her mother's finger danced and tapped along her face and she no longer had the need to cry.
"Gerald dear come look at your firstborn"
Scarlett even just born knew the massive large creature with teeth that looked more like short swords and a body that would make an elephant look small wouldn't hurt her. She reached for him and her hand felt his rough scales.
It was warm and made her hand tingle which made her giggle. She subtracted her hand when her father snorted a big snort sending a rush of hot air over her delicate white skin.
Her father's body must have reached fifteen metres in the air as his wings almost doubled that. Her father's wings cocooned them both like an eager Caterpillar as Scarlett drifted off into the sweetest of dreams.
* * *
Scarlett's squeaky laughter bounced off the walls as she ran like a tavern girl delivering drinks. She had just trampled a guards foot which made him yelp with pain.
Her small body flew through the halls before her mother caught her lifting her up into her arms.
"My you have been causing trouble in the dome house lately haven't you," Vivian said with the booping of her mischievous daughter's nose. Scarlett wiggled from her mother's grasp
"yes I was only playing mother I swear" her mother gave her the most questioning of looks but simply sighed.
"Well run along and place somewhere else the adults, have work to do. keep mucking about and the Gibble monster will get you in your sleep" by the time Vivian got the last word out Scarlett had disappeared down the halls once again.
Some time had passed, and Scarlett had played through all her games. Her friends lived in the seventh dome house while she lived in the fourth. There were twenty domes each had five thousand people placed inside.
She sat bored wishing for the simplest of amusement until she jolted up as an idea to shape. She would visit her father she thought she wasn't supposed to as her mother told her that it can be dangerous to poke the dragon even if you share its blood.
Scarlett thought that she would just deal with the punishment later she was going to see her father and only gods could stop her.
She ran letting the winds drag her hair back as her feet tapped a quick rhythm across the carved stone floor. She only slowed to put on her little footies on as her mother called it.
It took only about a half-hour for her little legs to carry her there and there were guards at the entrance of the keep.
"Rats," she said forcing her voice to a whisper. She was watching the guards behind a shrub of ember leaves that made her nose wiggle at the smallest inhale.
The keep was where they keep all the people that lost themselves to the Dragon was what Scarlett heard while playing in the streets with her friends. It was forbidden for anyone to go there unauthorised and could even land you a spot in the iron bars if not careful. The thought of the cold steel bars against her baby skin made her wither and wince so much so she grasped her dress.
"so what do you think you are doing young one" he eyed her long in the eye so much so she could feel her lips part to force an excuse until he spoke once more.
"not to sneak into the keep I assume you wouldn't want to get caught now" scarlet scanned the man. He was a big old man with a round gut that made him look like someone that had eaten too many burst berry pies. His beard was almost as long as is forearm with the end of it tied with a black straw bind. His shoes were well made but he seemed to get poorer as she scanned up.
she wanted to call for her mother for her protection but she couldn't as her mother had made it forbidden to see her father until she had gotten older and if she found out she was planning to sneak into the keep she would be set on punishment unable to see her friends and her butt would be so red it would be mistaken for a tomato.
"nothing am doing nothing of the sort" the man after hearing her chuckled a hardy chuckle but a chuckle none the less. He looked amused almost if he knew she was lying.
"Oh please girl I am not so old a child can get one over me," he said with a rasp in the back of his throat.
Scarlett thought for a bit before looking down with shame and telling him what she was doing there.
"Hmmm so your father was part of the king's high army" he exclaimed letting a finger run through his beard and releasing a tutting sound while doing so.
Scarlett was and looked utterly bewildered so much so she tilted her head in confusion. She had never heard of the kings high army. Perhaps it was due to her young age.
"Well what is it and what does it have to do with my father?" She only knew her father was a dragon but when she asked why he can't be with her or change back people always told her that they would tell her when she was older but she was sick of it utterly sick of hearing it. Perhaps he would tell her the thought came.
The man fitted before looking Scarlett in the eye and realizing she was desperate.
"Well fine I'll tell you," he said taking a long pause and began to tell her. "We are of the dragon's line the Dragon runs through are veins child so much so that given clear intention we are able to take the form of dragons but only a few times oh it really is a gift with drawbacks" the man sniffed and wet his mouth showing he wasn't done "after the fifth transformation there is no hope of turning back you are stuck in that form."
scarlet swallowed a wad of her spit. she knew now why people didn't tell her about the power they have because knowing that can be too much to bear on a child mind. like asking why do men ask there women to warm their beds if the bed is already warm. she had to fight to hold back the tears.
"oh come on child don't cry now you will make me just as sad," he said trying to cheer her up. he put on a soft smile for her however it didn't help much.
"you mean...I will never be able to let him hold me as my mother would?" her voice was filled with salty tears and cries. she didn't want to see her father anymore she couldn't she just couldn't. The tears fell into her mouth and she spat them out with the quickness of heir. she ran quickly back to the dome house her feet moving as fast as they could. it was no longer laughter that rained through the halls but instead wailing as she clamped her mother around the waist.
* * *
The sun rained in from the window and it felt like she was being cooked in her bearskin cloth. She never liked the sun on her skin it made her uncomfortable which her mother found weird as most seemed to enjoy it. The reason being was because scaleos was so high up and closer to the sun it made the ground hot but the people never tanned.
Through the years of her growing up, Scarlett was trained to know that they were Superior to the houses below the great fall. Scaleos was sat atop a massive Mountain the common way was to transform and fly down, however, when her people did they couldn't resist burning and raining blood everywhere they did but most saw it like crushing ants.
Scarlett recalled one tale in her head while getting her clothes on that was told to her while growing up. It was of a man. He belonged to the high king's army he loved to burn and show how good he was at it.
People called him an inferno that never stopped.
One day when he was on his last transformation before he would be stuck like that. So he decided to make his last day of feeling the dragon one to remember by flying closer to the castles than he had ever before but he underestimated them and they took him down crashing hard.
He was forced out of it and to save himself from the thousands of blades rushing at him he was forced to stay with the dragon for the rest of his days. The guilt lived on in his hot scaled heart only growing as each day passed. That man was her father.