Chapter 17 Growing up

The inside of the barn was... well, cozy. It was mostly dry for one thing, and several bales of hay were stacked in the corner, perfect for making temporary beds and furniture. The walls were cobwebbed, but made of thick, sturdy wood, and the inside seemed to be a few degrees warmer.

Raven walked over to a ladder built into the wall and started climbing. I reached the bottom of the ladder just as she disappeared into the loft. Just as I grabbed the first rung, her head reappeared at the top. "Hey, I found some old blankets and a bunch more straw. We can make some decent beds from this stuff. And," She grinned, "we won't run out of kindling."

"Who needs kindling," I winked back, "when you have a dragon in residence?"

"True, but will a dragon even fit up here?" She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, trying and failing to keep a stern face.

I pretended to huff. "This dragon is not liking the remarks about her weight!" It still felt weird to refer to myself as a dragon. I frowned as a thought occurred to me. There must be others like me. I can't be one of a kind. Unless I'm some kind of mutant, like the X Men. But I still wouldn't be the only one, right? Just one mutant in a world of eight billion people? I shook my head. No, there must be others.

I climbed up into the loft, and was surprised to see that most of it was dry, despite the rotted look of the outside. One corner had a hole in the roof, light seeping in through the cracks in the ceiling. Five or six pigeons fluttered out through the opening, stirring up dust with their hasty exit. I coughed, then looked around. A chest stood open in a corner, likely the home of the blankets Raven had mentioned. A large pile of haybales occupied most of the space, but enough was left for me to change to dragon, and still have enough room to walk around.

I shifted to dragon, and was surprised to find that I barely fit in the space. I tried to turn around and ended up bumping my head on the ceiling, which was about ten feet tall at that point. I shook it, and dust rained down from the beams, cousing Raven to cough. "I think I grew a little." I rumbled. Even my voice sounded deeper! My shoulder was about a foot taller than Raven's head, which meant about seven feet off the ground. My head, judging by the height of the ceiling, was about eleven feet off the ground.

"Maybe dragons grow faster than humans." Raven volunteered, still choking a bit and waving her hand to clear the dust.

"That's just great." I mumbled. "I hope I don't just keep growing. And how will this effect my human form? Will I mature faster as a human too?" A worse thought occured to me. "What if I age just as fast? Or don't age at all?" I sat down, and abruptly realized how thin the floor was. It groaned under my weight. I quickly shifted back to human, which was becoming easier to do with clothes on.

Raven shrugged. "I'm no expert, but maybe you should try to find someone who actually knows."

I huffed, frowning at her. "If you know any other shapeshifting weirdos, by all means, ask them. Otherwise, not very helpful."

She sighed. "I know. I guess we're just going to have to wing it." Then she raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Get it? Wing it?" We both collapsed into laughter. Then I sat up, brushing straw out of my hair. "Come on. Lets get our beds put together. Then we can take a tour of the city. Dragon style!"