Terrarth Creatures: Wyvern

The blistering water of the hot spring soothed my aches, and as I sunk under the surface, my thoughts melted away. I loved this hot spring, especially because of the water; which was barely tolerable even with a wyvern's high resistance to heat.

I loved the blistering water, and the solitude it gave to those who challenged it.

I swam back to the surface, then inhaled when my head broke out of the water. But out habit, I scanned the almost completely dark cavern, turning as I tread water to analyze the entire area. Though few of my kind ever came to the hot spring, I knew of at least two people who would.

But at the moment, it seemed I was alone.

I stopped trying to stay above the water, allowing myself to sink. The water burned my eyelids, causing a memory to flash through my mind.

I strained to gain altitude through the cloud of ash. The air burned around me, and dragon-flames leaped skywards from the ground. The cries from those stuck on the ground and the roar of the inferno where the only sounds I heard, aside from the pounding of my heart.

I felt the black dragon fly over my position before his roar echoed like thunder over the plains.

“Come out, come out, where ever you are, little cousin.” The black dragon's voice echoed through my mind, and my wings folded against my sides in terror.

Between the choices, burning in dragon-flame was preferable.

Then being found by an insane dragon.

I shook off the memory, touching the long burn across my left hand and forearm. The burn began at the base of my little finger, and ended just before reaching my elbow. It's coloration fairly good, which I knew came from excellent healers and the wyvern's high resistance to heat and flame. And I had been lucky that my wing membrane hadn't been critically damaged by the dragon-flame.

I shook my head and broke the surface for air, then dived back down.

You think too much, Jonathan...

...Okay, if you think too much, then stop thinking.

I stretched out in the water, and focused on my bestial form.

I felt the strange, almost painful sensation of my flesh rippling. My bones became hollow as they elongated and altered from human to wyvern. As my bones settled into their new shape, my organs felt as if they were pricked with thousands of needles as each organ shaped itself to it's new frame. Throughout all of this, my skin continued to ripple, and all of my hair fell out. Then some of my skin became tough like leather, while the rest hardened into very dark blue-gray scales. There was a prick of pain as a long spike of bone grew out of my back at the base of my elongated neck. This bone spike served little purpose to me alone, but was quite useful when it came to carrying supplies while flying. My ears itched as the cartilage hardened into bone that lengthened, becoming charcoal horns that angled along the back of my head with a slight upward curve.

I felt the water of the hot spring tickle the membrane that grew along the sides of my upper torso and connected to the outside my arms (or forelegs, as I suppose they would be called now), creating my wings. As I opened my eyes, my third eyelid slid shut to protect my eyes from the water.

I folded my wings, tucking them close to the body that was my bestial form. My hind legs touched the bed of the hot spring, and a pushed off, moving my body like a sea serpent through the water. My head broke the surface, and I twisted my long neck so that I could see the shore as I heard a splash.