My father, the Elven king Ulrin of the kingdom of Leonasia, nodded gracefully.  “I will hear him.”
     
I turned to shoot a glance of the warrior who stood like a living statue at the bottom of the steps, going up to take my place behind my father’s throne.  His eyes widened slightly in surprise, as he seemed to realize for the first time that I was the princess, but he quickly schooled his expression into a mask of calm once again, except for his eyes, which still blazed strongly. 
     
“My liege,” he did not bow, as was customary, but stood firm.  “I am Commander Kolorin of the Third Legion.  I have come to bring you our report, and to request that you send us more reinforcements.”
     
I loved to watch my father mediate petitions.  He was a master of subtlety, and could say volumes with many variations of a raised eyebrow, or other slight change of expression.  This time he projected an air of disbelief, concerned but resolute.  “I am sorry, Commander.  I told you two months ago that I could not spare any more men for your petty border skirmishes.  You will either have to withdraw, or make do with what you have.  Now, I wish to hear your report.”
     
Commander Kolorin glanced at me, though I wasn’t quite sure why.  “Very well.”  He clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak, while I listened in astonishment.  “As you will remember, there has been a dispute between some of our shepherds and those just over the border.  For many years, our shepherds have seen many of their sheep disappear, up to ten a week.  They have blamed the shepherds across the border, who blame us and say that they have been having the same problem.”
     
My father began to project an attitude of waning attention near to boredom.  “Please spare me the details of your particular case.  I am well aware of the situation.”
     
Kolorin nodded slightly.  “I am sure you have trusted advisors who bring you regular reports of our progress.  However, there have been recent developments that only the most outlying groups of the Legion know of.  We have kept our knowledge to ourselves, out of fear that the common people would panic if they found the true root of their troubles.”  He glanced at me again, and I recognized the expression this time.  He didn’t want me to hear what he had to say.  He hesitated.  “Sire, what I am soon to impart to you may not be fit for the ears of a young girl.  I would suggest…”
     
I was gratified to see my father’s expression change to one of irritation.  “Whatever you have to say can be said in front of my daughter.  She is the future leader of this kingdom, and has a right to hear anything said to her father concerning our country.”
     
Kolorin did not look like he agreed, but no one argued with my father.  “Very well.”  He took a deep breath.  His bright eyes changed slightly, as if he were viewing an uncomfortable memory.  “After a while, we found that the sheep were not being taken by the men across the borders.  It took many days and several interrogations, but this information eventually came to light.  At once, we began to suspect the influence of some other force.
     
“As there were no true enemy countries nearby, we began to scour the woods for evidence of bandits or thieves.”  He hesitated, then seemed to steel himself.  “We soon found evidence that it was not men, but Wyrms.”
     
I gasped, glancing at my father to see his reaction.  To his credit, he kept his face straight.  Kolorin continued when he saw my father was still waiting for him to finish.  “Charred trees and sheep skeletons, deep gouges in trees that were made by a creature larger than any we had ever seen.  A strange, smoky scent hanging around the forest, though there had not been any large fires recently.”  His gaze hardened, as if in remembered pain.  “Soon, some of our men began to disappear.  Soldiers sent out on reconnaissance or patrol did not return, or stumbled into camp, only to collapse and die of massive burn wounds on their bodies.  Then, they began to disappear from their tents in the middle of the night.  The camp would wake to screams, and come out only to find that our forces had been reduced once again.”  He straightened, staring directly at my father.  “We have been so weakened that we are no longer able to send out parties to search for the lair of our adversaries, and the flocks of the shepherds are decreased nearly to nothing.  We are in sore need, and I have come here to petition you to provide us with more men to help us find these monsters.”
     
My father steepled his fingers in front of him, and tapped his lips thoughtfully.  I was too astonished to think of schooling my expression, but my father was still the picture of control.  Finally he spoke, turning to me, “Aleandra, please take the commander to one of the guest rooms, and then join me in the War Room.  It seems we have a weighty matter to consider.”
     
I nodded, grateful that he was going to include me in his deliberation.  He often tried to prove my usefulness as a future Queen by including me in his duties.  I quickly descended the steps, and started out of the throne room, after making sure Kolorin was following.  I led him swiftly towards the portion of the castle that contained the guest rooms.
     
I stopped outside one that I knew was empty.  The long stone hallway was dimly lit by pathetic torches that seemed to produce more smoke than fire, and I made a mental note to speak to the servants about it.  My eyes stung from all the smoke, and I was a little irritated that the grounds-keeper had hired a servant incompetent enough to use such torches.
     
Pulling myself from my annoyance and focusing again on Kolorin, I indicated the nearest door.  “This will be your room for the time being.  If you need anything, simply pull the rope just inside the door and a servant will soon be here to attend to your wishes.”
     
Kolorin nodded.  “Thank you, your Highness.” He put a hand on the door to enter the room, and I turned to leave.
     
Suddenly there was the sound of a gasp from behind me, and I whirled around to see Kolorin grasping the doorframe, his knuckles white, and his eyes closed.  I could tell from his face that he was about to pass out, so I quickly moved to his side and pulled one of his arms over my shoulders, supporting him.  I half-led, half carried the soldier into his room, where I lay him down on the bed.  He was heavy, but years of disguising myself as a boy so I could help train warhorses had strengthened me to the point where he was not too great a burden for me to bear.
     
He was barely conscious by the time I got him to the bed.  His head seemed to clear a little once he was lying down, but when he tried to sit up I stopped him.  “Something is wrong with you,” I said firmly.  “You should not move until we know what it is.  Are you injured?”
     
He shook his head slightly, and the corners of his brilliant eyes were tight as if with great pain.  “It is none of your concern.”
     
I placed my fists on my hips, glaring down at him.  “The capital gets more wounded soldiers from the war than any other city,” I said, beginning to feel irritation at him.  “I have seen and tended my share of wounds, and I have dealt with many men that felt it was better to suffer than to let a woman see their injuries.  So don’t play games with me.  Are you injured or not?”
     
After hesitating for a moment, he reached down and undid the ties that held the front and back of his leather shirt of armor together.  His fingers fumbled because of his inability to see them, so I helped him.
     
When I was able to pull the armor away, I gasped.  An ugly gash ran from his left shoulder nearly to his right hip, which could be seen through the tattered remains of his linen shirt.  The wound was an angry red color that threatened infection, and in a couple of places blood seeped from the scabs.
     
I tore his shirt the rest of the way and pulled it back to better see the wound.  “How did this happen?”  I asked in little more than a whisper, though with a feeling of horror I thought I knew.
     
He did not reply, but I soon knew the answer, because there could only be one.  Only one creature in my knowledge could make this kind of wound: a Wyrm.

In the city infirmary, Kolorin lay in the grip of a burning fever.  My father had ordered me to stay near him, to try and learn more from him.  Already more men had been sent to reinforce Kolorin’s men.  They had been told to say that their leader was close behind, though all of us knew that this was nowhere near being a certainty.
     
I sat on a small stool next to the cot where Kolorin lay.  The cool stone wall at my back, and the floor of the same material under my feet was welcome after the burning heat of the summer afternoon.  A small bowl filled with tepid water and a small rag was set on the floor next to my feet, and every little while I would wring the cloth out and place it on his brow.
     
It had been nearly a week since I first saw the elven soldier in the courtyard of my father’s castle.  He had been fighting the fever for almost five days now, despite the best efforts of the doctors.  He was strong, as all elves were, but there seemed to be a poison from his wounds that sapped his strength and threatened to extinguish the fire of life within him.
     
In those five long days, I had found myself coming to care for this strange man.  Only the higher members of our society were elves, and most were only half of that fairer race.  Except for my father and myself, I rarely saw a full blooded elf, and they were usually women.  The men kept themselves from the sight of humans as much as possible, resenting the humans for making them the minority, a situation that was neither race’s fault, but many elves saw as being caused by the humans.
     
Yet even of the elves I had seen, none of them could compare to Kolorin.  There was something about him that tugged at me, whether it was his brilliant eyes, or the strength that kept him from crying out even while his awful wound swelled with infection, and blazed with the fever that inhabited his body.  I had never seen a man so strong, so controlled.  He had many qualities that even the best humans lacked, the most notable of which was iron self-control.  Even I had more control over my feelings and thoughts than humans, and I was only a girl.
     
He was also very handsome, in a severe sort of way.  He was thin almost to the point of gauntness, especially after being plagued with fever for so long.  His eyes were closed, and I waited impatiently until they would open again.  I had never seen such eyes, and they drew me to him like a magnet.  I felt as if I could lose myself in his eyes, like frozen pools of water made into sparkling gems by the sun.

“Milady?”  I was jolted out of my thoughts and glanced up, to see one of the servant boys standing in front of me, a large book in his hands.  “Here is your book.”
     
I took the tome from his hands, smiling and nodding.  “Thank you, Tolar.  This is the right one.”
     
The boy bowed and ran off down the clear space between the two rows of cots, few of which were occupied. 
     
I turned the book over to look at the front.  It was indeed the one I had requested: Wyrms And The Effects of Their Interaction With People.  I wanted to see if Wyrms had anything in their claws or teeth that was poisonous to elves, because Kolorin’s illness seemed to follow the pattern of poison.
     
The mid afternoon sun shone through the high windows near the ceiling, providing plenty of light for me to read by.  I leaned an elbow on Kolorin’s cot and began reading, surrounded by the comforting, heavy silence of a muggy summer afternoon.
     
I worked my way slowly through the book, which though interesting, was so filled with flowery language and bad puns that it was hard to learn anything from.
     
After a while, I came to a section labeled: “On the effects of Wyrm bites and scratches, and their treatment.”  There wasn’t much other than the standard stuff, like keeping the wound clean to prevent infection.
     
Then, at the end of the section, there was an intriguing comment, in plainer language than anything else I’d seen in the book so far.  “Other men have observed strange effects upon men attacked by Wyrms.  These effects include, but are not limited to, transformations and mental aberrations.  Reference:  The Magical Properties of Wyrms, page 218.”
     
I sat back and stared unseeingly across the large room.  What in the world did that mean?  I thought for a moment, but could not remember whether or not our library contained that book.  I was pretty good at remembering what books we had, but my studies had not often included Wyrms, so I was not sure.
     
Ah, well.  When someone came to watch Kolorin for a few hours and I was free, I would be able to go look.
     
Suddenly my thoughts were drawn back to the man lying on the cot next to me.  How much time did he have before the fever claimed him?  Elves were strong, but there were still limits to their strength.  Was this fever merely caused by inadequate care of his wound, or was there another force at work?  The human doctor that tended him had confided in me that he believed it was the latter, and I was inclined to think so myself.  But neither of us knew enough to tell, and even if we had known, we did not know how to treat him to help him heal.
     
I wrung out the rag in the little bowl, and wiped his face gently.  I let my hand linger before removing it to place the rag back in the bowl.  He seemed to have a little more color in his face than before.  Of course, that was most likely just my imagination.  I was probably just seeing what I wanted to see.
     
Yet as I sat and watched him, it was as if the lines of pain in his face smoothed out, the fever sweat disappeared, and his skin lost its alarming paleness brought on by his illness.
     
I closed my eyes and rubbed them, wondering if I was seeing things.  I opened them and gasped.  His eyes were open, and staring up at me with an unnerving intensity.
     
But that wasn’t what astonished me, though it was surprising that he was awake.  It was his eyes.  Huge, blue-green eyes that I felt could pull me in and I would be lost forever.  A deep age and wisdom shone forth from those eyes, things I had not seen in them before.
     
But what took my breath away the most was the pupils of his eyes.  They were not round, as a humans’ or an elves’.  Instead, they were vertical black slits, like a cat would have in bright light. And, I shuddered at the thought, like a Wyrm. 
     
I tried to get up from my stool to go alert someone.  Fear clutched at my heart when he quickly sat up, reached out and grabbed my wrist with an iron grip, his fingernails digging into my skin.  “Stay here,” he ordered his voice low and rasping.  “Do not leave.”
     
Trying to calm my pounding heart, I slowly sat back down.  How could this have happened?  Is this what the book meant when it said Wyrm scratches could cause transformations?  Foremost in my mind was the thought:  what is he going to do to me?
     
Kolorin looked down at his hands as if he didn’t recognize them.  I followed his gaze, and gasped once again.  The fingers were slightly curved, and ended in what could only be called claws.  They weren’t much longer than the ends of the fingers, but were definitely claws. 
     
Suddenly he looked up at me.  “You must not tell anyone of this,” he said, almost threateningly. 
     
“Why?”  I asked, before I realized how stupid the question was.
     
He did not answer, but stood up.  He did not even waver as he stood, after so long wracked by fever.  “I must leave.”
     
I grasped his arm.  “You can’t go anywhere.  You have been very ill.”
     
He looked me in the eye, and I felt my insides freeze under the power of his gaze.  “I must.  And you must come with me.  I cannot risk anyone knowing what has happened.”
     
“I don’t even know what’s happened,” I protested. 
     
I saw a flicker of irritation in his eyes.  “Perhaps you do not understand, but you have seen.  You will understand in time.”  He took my wrist and began to walk swiftly towards the back of the building.  With fear growing in my mind, I tried to resist, but his grip only tightened.  Soon we were out of the infirmary, and he pulled me into the woods behind it.  After only a couple minutes, we were far enough away that no one could see us.
     
Finally, I decided I’d had enough, and I jerked my hand sharply enough that he lost his grip.  Stopping in the middle of the faint trail, I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to project the feeling that I wasn’t going anywhere until I got some answers.  It wasn’t hard, that was exactly how I felt.
     
He seemed to understand perfectly, even though I hadn’t said anything.  “No,” he said firmly.  “Not here.  We must get farther away from the city first.”
     
“Why?” I asked stubbornly.  “What are you so afraid of?”
     
Kolorin glanced up at the sky.  Without another word, he spun on his heel and walked off farther into the woods.  For some reason I didn’t quite understand, I followed him.

The fire crackled and spit out sparks as Kolorin tossed another dry log onto it, and dropped a pack of food, water and blankets that he said he’d left along the trail in the woods on his way into the city.  I sat on the other side of the dancing flames, watching him.  Finally, he sat down cross-legged and looked at me.  “Do you still wish your questions answered?”
     
I just glared at him.
     
“We will not accomplish anything if you persist in this antagonistic attitude.”
     
I sighed, folding my long skirt around my knees and drawing them up to rest my chin on them.  “I don’t believe I owe you anything, especially a good attitude.  You’ve taken me away from my home, not told me anything, and as well as told me I won’t be going back.  Yet all the while, you’re saying you’re on my side.  You’re saying you’re doing this for my own good.  Well, you are going to have to prove that to me before I will have any inclination to listen.”  I didn’t add: and any feelings I had for you have been effectively destroyed by your behavior.
     
Kolorin steepled his fingers in front of him and stared into the fire.  “I believe I do owe you a bit of an explanation.”
     
“I believe you do.”
     
The elven soldier sighed slightly.  His strange new eyes seemed to glow slightly in the firelight, and his strange new voice still shocked me every time he spoke.  “Then I will explain.  How much do you know about Wyrms?”
     
“Not much, except that they eat live animals, they breathe fire, and they look like big lizards with wings.”  I thought for a moment.  “And they lay eggs like birds do.”
     
Kolorin raised a hand.  “That is common belief, but nothing could be further from the truth.  It is a rumor propagated, most likely by the Wyrms themselves, to hide the true method of their reproduction.”
     
I was beginning to be confused.  How could so many learned scholars be wrong?  Everyone knew that Wyrms lay eggs.  Even the peasants driving their cattle into the market knew that.  “But…”
     
“Listen, please.  This is a strange story I must tell, and I believe it will be better if I tell you all before you ask questions.”  He paused, but when I didn’t answer, agreeing with him but still angry enough not to say anything, he continued.  “I believe the best way to say this is bluntly.  It may seem strange for you, having grown up with different ideas, but I am living proof that what I say is true.”
     
He stared into the fire, and I listened with a growing sense of astonishment and eventually horror as he continued.  “Wyrms have a poison in their claws and saliva that though it does not kill, has effects nearly so serious.  Once a Wyrm has wounded a human or elf, that person will gradually, and sometimes quickly, transform into one of them.  The new Wyrm will then join his or her kin in ravaging the land, finding other people to convert, and protecting their secret from the rest of the population.”
     
I started to ask one of the many questions I was thinking, but he held up a hand to stop me.  “Do you not see, this is why I have taken you away from your home.  Already the Wyrms know of my beginning transformation, and they also know that you have realized the truth.  They are now after us to destroy you.”
     
Destroy me?  “You mean, kill me?”  I asked, my voice almost taken away.
     
Kolorin nodded.  “If I had left you in the city, they would most assuredly have accomplished their goal.  However, if you are with me, I will be able to protect you.”
     
I was shocked almost into speechlessness.  “But,” I struggled to think clearly.  This was much stranger than I had expected.  “How will you be able to protect me?  They almost killed you the first time!”
     
He gave me a straight stare with his eerie eyes, and a shiver went through me that was not due to the chilly night air.  “You mean, you will not fight them as elf, but…”
     
“As a Wyrm,” he finished.  
     
I stared into the fire, wondering why I thought there were holes in his story, but I couldn’t think clearly enough to see them.  When I saw that Kolorin was waiting for my answer, I shook my head.  “I don’t know what to say,” I said.
     
“I do not expect you to understand immediately.  It is a long story, and a convoluted one, and I am not one who uses words well.  But you will understand in time.”
He had not said any more, and after both of us had eaten a meager supper from his pack, he lay down on his blanket, effectively ending any possibility of further conversation.  Though thoughts were still whirling around in my mind, I lay down in the most comfortable position I could find, (which was still uncomfortable) turning so that I was facing away from the fire.
     
Despite the exciting events of the day, the long walk through the woods had tired me, and I fell quickly into sleep.

I woke thinking it had been too long since I’d slept on the ground.  The sky was just beginning to turn grey, heralding the start of the new day.  The fire had died down to glowing embers.
     
I sat up and stretched my stiff neck and arms, looking across the fire to see if Kolorin was still asleep.
     
I had to clap my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming.  Across the dying fire lay not an elf soldier, not a half-Wyrm, half-elf, but the largest and meanest looking Wyrm I could ever have imagined.
     
As I struggled to control my fear, I realized that this must be Kolorin.  But hadn’t he said the transformation was gradual?  And what was it that made him different from all the other Wyrms that wanted to kill or transform any people that they saw?  Would he, when he woke, try to kill me?
     
I rose quietly, intending to move off into the woods so that I wouldn’t be such an easy target, at least until I found out whether he intended to hurt me or not.
     
But my dress rustled as I stood up, and I looked across the fire to find two huge, blue-green glowing eyes open and staring at me.  I froze, transfixed by that gaze.
     
“Do not fear me,” came a deep rumbling voice, though I did not see the Wyrm’s mouth move.  “I am Kolorin.  I will not injure you.”
     
I stepped around the fire and a little closer to the great Wyrm, fear overcome by fascination.  A part of me still screamed in terror, telling me to run away, but his eyes drew me to him.  The huge creature continued.  “My transformation was completed more quickly than I anticipated.  However, that is not a setback, as it will enable me to more effectively protect you.”
     
I had never seen a Wyrm with my own eyes before, only as drawings in books.  I thought that those pictures could in no way begin to compare with the real thing.  Books said that Wyrms had the appearance of great lizards with wings of skin over bone.  If a lizard could have had the graceful appearance and long neck of a swan, the noble countenance of a horse, and the terrible fearsome beauty of a sea serpent, only then would a Wyrm resemble one. 
     
Kolorin saw my stare, and somehow I knew that he was irritated.  “You would not think I were such a wonderful sight if you had seen as I have seen:  A midnight-black Wyrm sweeping down upon your camp, claws the color of blood and flames of such great heat they are seen white in the darkness, coming forth from his mouth.  They are a terrible race.”  His incredibly deep voice showed feelings of anger and, when I considered for a little, despair.  I felt a stab of pain in my heart for this creature, permanently transformed into a member of a race he hated to the depth of his soul.
     
On impulse I reached out and put a hand on his huge shoulder, which was not covered with scales as I had expected, but rough skin like a lizards’.  He flinched, but did not rebuke me.  “What are we going to do now?”  I asked, gazing up at him.
     
He looked up at the sky, his luminescent eyes glowing in the morning twilight.  “The day is young.  We will travel back to where my troops are encamped.  Perhaps in my new form I will be able to better protect them.”
     
“What about me?”
     
He turned his man-sized, wedge-shaped head down at me.  “You must come with me.  I am certain you will receive better treatment among us than you would among the Wyrms.” 
     
Like a fledgling bird, he spread his bat-like wings, but made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a yelp when one of them encountered a tree branch.  I was astonished to realize that despite the fact we were in a clearing that would have fit a medium-sized house; his wings could more than span the whole breadth of the clear space.  He quickly drew the wings back in, causing a breeze that blew my hair into my face.
     
I raised my eyebrows.  “You aren’t going to have an easy time getting through the forest paths.  Can you fly?”
     
“I believe so.  But I would be unable to limit myself to your pace.”  he paused and we both thought for a moment.  “I will carry you.”
     
I felt a tremor of fear.  “In the air?  Without any way to keep me from falling?  I don’t think so!” 
     
Kolorin crouched down as near to the ground as his large bulk would allow, just low enough that I could climb onto his shoulders.  “Let us at least try.”
     
Fighting to calm my pounding heart, I put one dirty foot on his forearm and, grabbing the bony ridge that ran along the back of his neck with one hand, I pulled myself up so that I was straddling his shoulders.  To my surprise there was a deep hollow where his neck joined his back that was a secure seat just the right size for me.
     
Kolorin turned his head to look back at me, a strange glint in his eye.  “Hold on,” he said.
     
I quickly found out what he meant as he launched himself into the air.  I grabbed wildly for one of the rough bony ridges in front of me, holding on for dear life, my head snapping back on my neck, as he spread his huge wings, and, with a couple of strong downbeats, propelled himself into the sky.

Nothing in my wildest dreams could have compared to that flight.  For the first time in my life, I knew how birds saw the world, and it took my breath away with its beauty.  I saw the forest stretch out in every direction, with little brown patches that had to be clearings.  It was indescribably beautiful, seeing the early morning sun spill ruby-tinted rays across the dark green of the treetops, which glistened in the night’s dew.  Wisps of mist that seemed like threads of white silk in the great tapestry below, and the thin grey ribbon of a river woven throughout the trees were crystal clear in the clean morning light.
     
Kolorin turned his head to look back at me, and from the rumble I felt underneath me I thought that he spoke, but the wind of our flight stole the words away.  When he saw I could not understand him, he turned his head forward again, and with a few beats of his great wings increased the speed of his flight until the ground sped by below.
     
After what seemed only a few minutes, but by the progress of the sun must have been a couple of hours, Kolorin headed down towards a clearing in the forest below.  I held on tightly as the angle of his flight changed, still almost falling off when he back-winged to land neatly in the clearing.
     
“We are near where my troops are encamped,” Kolorin’s voice rumbled back to me.  “You must tell them I have come back, and explain what has happened.”
     
I asked the first question that sprang to my lips, and immediately knew it was a foolish one.  “Why can’t you tell them?”
     
He fixed me with one luminescent eye.  “If you have not yet realized, I no longer have the appearance of an elf.  Anyone who did not know my true identity would try to kill me on sight.  While it would not be likely that they would accomplish their goal, it would make talking to them very difficult.”
     
I couldn’t help but agree, sliding off and wiping a hand on my skirt where the rough bony ridge on his neck had scraped my palm.  I was a little nervous about marching into a camp of soldiers by myself, but since Kolorin had brought me with him to protect me, I didn’t think I would have any problems.  Even a large group of soldiers would not be a match against a Wyrm of his size and strength.  After all, he had flown with me on his shoulders across perhaps a day’s foot travel of forest, all in only an hour or two.  “What do you want me to do?”
     
He settled down so that his belly touched the ground, lowering his great wedge-shaped head so that we were at eye level.  “I simply want you to explain what has happened to me.  I am not the first soldier from their ranks that has been transformed into a Wyrm.  There were others that came back to us before giving in to their Wyrm instincts and joining their kin in ravaging the country.  They will understand you quickly.”
     
“Wyrm instincts?” My mind caught on that  phrase, though it was said casually.
     
Kolorin closed his glowing sea-green eyes briefly.  “Part of the Wyrm enchantment is an urge to destroy and kill.  Usually we can tell our former soldiers by their reluctance to kill people, but it is a strong instinct in all Wyrms.  Most give in to these needs immediately, while the stronger are able to resist them for a time.”
     
“But what about you?” I asked.
     
“I do not know.  I have not yet begun to have those feelings, but I know affairs will not remain in this state long.  We must accomplish our goals quickly, before my enchantment becomes complete.”
     
“I understand.  In which direction is the camp?”  I paused.  Something in how he said the last sentence made me hesitate.  “What exactly are our goals?”
     
Kolorin sighed, a heavy sigh that blew the leaves off the nearest trees and blew my  skirt up nearly to my knees, weighed down as it was with dirt.  “I see that you are not one that is easily fooled.  Yes, there are other things I hope to accomplish when I am reunited with my men.  However, I can assure you that nothing I plan to do will be to your harm.”
     
I wondered if he was telling the truth, but when I really thought about it, even if he was being dishonest, there wasn’t really anything I could do.  Run away, maybe, but how would that help?  I would be alone, in Wrym-prowled forest, with no food and no way of protecting myself.  “All right.  Just tell me which way to go, and let’s get this over with.”
     
Kolorin pointed off to the side with his head.  “The camp lies in that direction, perhaps a ten minute walk.  If you encounter any problems, simply call and I will come to help you.”  When I started to ask how he could hear me, he quickly added, “as a Wyrm, my sense of hearing has grown much more acute than it was before.  By the time you are farther away than I am able to hear if you call, you will be within earshot of the camp.”
     
“Oh, all right.”  Stepping around the huge Wyrm and glancing back as he lay on the damp forest ground, I quickly walked into the midst of the trees.
     
My skirt, a simple piece of fabric that hung down nearly to my ankles, was beginning to get very heavy and ragged as it was shredded by tree roots and weighed down with dew and dirt.  I paused to tie it in a knot around my knees, then continued briskly on.   
     
It was not long before I saw the glint of white through the trees.  Quickening my pace, I came out of the woods and into the clearing, where the group of tents stood. 
     
An elf soldier with the same kind of leather armor Kolorin had originally worn saw me, and trotted up to where I stood, a long spear held upright in one of his hands.  “How did you get here?”  He asked, seeming astonished to see me.  After I looked at him for a few seconds I decided he must be half-elven: his ears were only slightly pointed and his hair was more brown than silver or blond.
     
“I want to see your commander,” I said, drawing myself up to my full height and trying to keep my voice steady.  I must have looked terrible after walking through damp woods for nearly a day, and sleeping on the ground, but I could still project my air of royalty if I wanted to.
     
Of course, I shouldn’t have expected it to work on a battle-hardened soldier.  He simply stared at me.  “And what is a little waif of a girl like you doing out here in these dangerous lands?  This is no place for a picnic, missy.”
     
Sick of being looked down upon because of my small stature, I glared at him with all the air of royalty I could muster.  “Do I look like I’m having a picnic?  I have come all the way from the capital to deliver a message.”  Not the whole truth, but not a lie either.  “If you are not going to take me seriously, I’m just going to march straight back to Kolorin and tell him some stupid soldier didn’t have enough sense to realize that when Princess Aleandra asked to be taken to his commander, she wanted to have her orders obeyed!”  I probably came off a little harsher than I intended, but it had the desired effect.  Seeming to suddenly recognize me, the soldier’s expression changed to one of astonishment, and his condescending attitude completely disappeared.
     
“Your Highness!”  he said, almost breathlessly, bowing low. “Forgive me, I-I didn’t realize.  H-how did you get here?  Why do you speak of Kolorin?  When…”
     
I interrupted him, trying to look imperious.  “I do not have time for this.  Take me to your commander.”
     
The soldier bowed low again.  “I am the commander, your Highness.  I am the highest ranking officer left.”
     
Oh, just wonderful.  “Very well.  Then take me somewhere that we may talk.  And gather your men.  I must speak with them as well.”
     
“Yes, your Highness.”  The soldier bowed once again and led me towards the center of the campground, to a tent that was at least half again as large as any of the others.  I saw other soldiers, human and elven alike, stare at us with curiosity as we passed.  I was saddened to see their ranks so seriously thinned.  There could not have been more than fifty men left in the camp, from the number I saw, as well as the small number of tents. 
     
The soldier lifted the flap of the tent, and followed me inside.  He motioned for me to take one of the two carved wooden chairs, but I declined.  “No, my message is too urgent for that.  I bring you news of Kolorin, your commander.”
     
The half-elf soldier stared at me eagerly, apparently having forgotten that I’d also told him to gather the rest of his men.  “He is alive then?  We had feared otherwise.”
     
I nodded.  “Yes, he is alive.  But I fear you will find him much changed.”
     
“How so?”
     
I knew the news would be harsh to him, but I could think of no way to soften the blow.  “He has been transformed into a Wyrm.  He waits in a clearing not far from here.  He sent me to alert you to his changed condition that you would not attempt to shoot him from the sky.”
     
A look of despair filled the soldier’s face.  Turning abruptly, he ran out of the tent, calling “Assemble!  Assemble everyone in front of my tent!  Hurry!”

I rode in the midst of a group of about a dozen soldiers, on a horse loaned to me by the commander.  I was glad to not have to walk any more, but muscles that had begun to stiffen from the long ride on the Wyrm’s back complained at this new rough treatment.  My horse was skittish and shied at shadows, and at times, it took all of my considerable strength and horsemanship to stay on his back.  None of the grim-faced, silent soldiers surrounding me seemed to notice my predicament; in fact, all of their horses seemed to be of the same temperament. 
       
 We stopped a distance away from the clearing where Kolorin lay, and I followed the solders’ example by sliding down off my horse.  Walking next to the commander, surrounded by all but a couple of the soldiers, who stayed behind to watch the horses, we approached Kolorin’s clearing.
     
“My lord!”  With a stricken face, the commander whose name I still had not learned rushed forward and threw himself on the damp ground in front of Kolorin.  “My lord, oh what a tragedy has befallen us, that you are taken!  How will we prevail against the Wyrms now?  How?”
     
“Rise and be silent, Nefral,” Kolorin rumbled.  “All is not lost.  I have come back to continue in our war against the Wyrms.  My transformation will prove beneficial for us, in that I am better able to fight in this form.”
     
“But,” Nefral began.
     
“I ordered you to silence,” Kolorin interrupted, and I saw a flash of irritation in his eyes.  It was amazing how easily I could read his emotions, despite the fact that he was far different in appearance from anyone else I’d ever seen.  “I know how events have gone before when our soldiers were transformed.  I cannot say with surety that the same will not happen to me, but we will not borrow trouble.  I will at least assist you until the time, if it comes, that I am overcome by the enchantment.”
     
Nefral looked as if he were about to weep, and my already considerable contempt for him went up a notch.  I stepped forward.  “Kolorin, perhaps you could tell your honorable commander what our plan for the future is.”  I wasn’t sure myself, but I could guess that Nefral’s behavior was making his former commander a little irritated.
     
Kolorin hesitated for an instant, and from the cant of his head I got the impression that he was listening to a sound barely heard.  He looked more hungry than wary, though I still wasn’t sure how I could tell things like that about him.  But he recovered so quickly that I wondered if I was just imagining things.  “I will stay with you as long as possible, scouting the land for evidence of where the Wyrms lair.  When we find this place, we will organize an attack to destroy them in their homes.  Wyrms are wont to live in caves and other dark holes.  They are also very ill-equipped to maneuver in small spaces, which will put them at our mercy.”

 Several hours later, I lay on my back in a small tent, staring at the white material above me, listening to Kolorin’s rumbling voice as he tried to get the thick-headed Nefral to understand the details of his plan.  I could not to save my life imagine how that utter incompetent had gotten to the rank where he could command these soldiers, especially since all of them seemed to have more of an idea of how to be a soldier than he did.
     
Well, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.  Now that Kolorin was back in command, hopefully he would be able to set things right.
     
I’d been effectively excluded from all the plan making, even though I’d felt I could be of help.  I’d been politely but firmly told that princesses had no business participating in plans of war.  It didn’t matter that my father always included me in such things, he wasn’t out here to make a command in my defense.  Things like this were making me begin to realize just how far away from home I had come.  It had only been yesterday that I sat in that hot infirmary, next to an elf soldier in the grips of what we feared to be a deadly fever.  Now, I was many miles away deep in the forest, in a camp of soldiers, with much more knowledge of Wyrms than I ever expected or wanted to have, and on top of all that I was being excluded from everything the soldiers were doing.
     
I was surprised when I felt my eyelids growing heavy, and I felt as if I could fall asleep, right in the middle of the day.  It was probably the summer sun beating down upon my tent, or the exciting events of the last couple of days.
     
I scratched absently at the small cut on the palm of my hand.  I had only really noticed it after we had arrived back at the camp with Kolorin, but I must have gotten it earlier, perhaps even yesterday.  I thought I remembered getting it from those rough, bony ridges on the back of his neck when I was holding on so tightly during our flight.  It wasn’t a big deal, but it did bother me a little.
     
Gradually the humid heat overwhelmed me, and I fell into a deep sleep.

     
“She’s waking up!”  I stirred sleepily, my foggy mind wondering why anyone would care that I was awake.  Bright light shone in my eyes, so I couldn’t have been asleep very long.  My body felt heavy and stiff for some reason, probably because of all the walking, horse and Wyrm riding I’d done recently.
     
“Get out of the way!”  This comment really confused me.  Maybe they weren’t talking about me at all?  But there weren’t any other girls in the camp.
     
I opened my eyes slowly, squinting against the bright light.  The sight of the camp assailed me.  Astonished, my eyes flew open completely.  Why wasn’t I in my tent?  What had happened?
Kolorin stood in front of me, lit with the same bright light that seemed to infuse everything.  I was becoming convinced it was something other than the sun, but I couldn’t imagine what.  “Do not move quickly,” he said in his rumbling voice.
     
“Why?”  I asked.  “What happened?”  I jerked my head up at the sound of my own voice, which still sounded female, but was greatly too deep and melodious to be my voice. 
     
That was when I realized that I didn’t have to stand up to raise my head to the height of a man’s.  Panic beginning to clutch at my muscles, I scrambled to my feet.  I was horrified to see that my head was nearly on a level with Kolorin’s.
     
“What’s wrong with me?”  I cried, glancing down at myself, also wondering why I was standing on all fours, instead my feet.  I nearly fainted at the sight.  Where my feet should have been were horrible, scaly feet ending in wickedly curved claws.  I stepped backward in horror, and it was only when the foot moved as I’d ordered mine to that I realized the strange appendage was my own.
     
“What’s happening to me?”  I almost wailed, hearing once again that strange deep,  melodious voice that was not my own.  I did not want to believe what my mind was telling me was true.
     
But I could deny it no longer when Kolorin gave me a look of great pity and said:  “You have become a Wyrm.”
     
A sudden hot feeling of rage mixed with despair and utter hopelessness filled my mind without warning, overwhelming me with its intensity.  Like some animal, I lifted my head and bellowed my pain to the sky, then dug my new hind claws into the dirt, leaping into the sky and spreading wings longer than the length of my Wyrm body, overcome by this animal in my mind, this last part of the enchantment that made me no longer elf, but Wyrm.
I flew into the sky, my sanity and intelligence fading, as far as I  knew, forever.  
                  THE END