PARAGON

The sea serpent napped off the shore of the secret beach, hidden inside a patch of seaweed.

'Paragon?' A gentle voice telepathically stirred her from her sleep. His voice sounded familiar, soft as a breeze, but resonating with controlled power.

The silver sea serpent paused as she attempted to identify the voice. However, she soon swam to the surface and poked her head above the waves. Her eyes blinked as she spotted her telepathic summoner on the beach. "Light!" She quickly bounded up the beach towards the white and silver-cloaked Stellan whose skin shone like warm sand. "You're here!" She slid to a stop in the sand, then blinked as she looked down at the figure. She remembered she used to have to look up at the white-clad man's silver eyes that sparkled with energy. However, now she had to look straight down to see him. Even if Travis stood on Light's shoulders, the liveship didn't think they would be tall enough. "You're shorter than I remember." Paragon tilted her head to the side.

Light chuckled knowingly and reached up in an offer to stroke her head, which Paragon accepted. "I'm not any smaller than usual; you've gotten big."

Paragon loved his soothing touch. "Big? How?" She hoped he would have an answer and trusted it to be truthful.

"When Travis carved your new form, he imagined you being alive. You grew to the proper size of a sea serpent your age." The silver-eyed man soothingly stroked Paragon's head. "Travis wanted more than anything for you to be alive, and you are. But you're not a figurehead, you are a living sea serpent with a beating heart."

"Is that what that thumping feeling is!?" Paragon paused as her mind tried to fully comprehend Light's words. I must be taller than Horizon now. Even though the draconic queen was older, both had spent much of their lives magically set at a certain size. Paragon was sure she was bigger now, at least in length, if not height as well. "So I'm not wooden? Or a ship at all?"

"You were made of wood when you were still small, but now you just look like you are. Lifewood becomes what the carver imagined the final project once it is complete" Light continued to stroke her head. "Wood is still your main food source, as Travis infused into you with his thoughts, but you can eat anything, just as you were before." He paused, "you're more of a 'shipmaster dragon' now."

"I can still control wood, and water, which is new to me. Does that mean I control ships other than my own?" Paragon briefly thought about her old body at the bottom of the ocean and shivered.

"Yes, but there's something else you should know about, you can make your own vessels. Hold out a paw and imagine a small rowboat." He smiled knowingly. "It will feel just like how it felt when you made a new piece of furniture when you were a ship."

Paragon looked at his encouraging gaze, then raised her sand-covered paw, then concentrated harder than she used to on her ship. She was scared she'd make a mistake, her new body was unfamiliar, yet familiar.

To her surprise, wood melded out of her hand. The curved keel formed first in a sweeping motion from the bow to the stern. Planks jut out of it as it formed, curving slightly and meeting at the stern. Soon, Paragon had a little dingy next to her. No oars appeared, but when Paragon thought about it, they formed as well. It is as easy as it used to be, if not easier. She still felt her magical store of wood and metal decrease after the rowboat's creation, but Paragon didn't care. She still had a way to sail the ocean.

"You don't have to stay attached, you can separate yourself." Light promised. "And because you made it, you can reabsorb it anytime you want, as long as you're touching it. Anything inside will be stored magically as well, even if you didn't eat them. Any people onboard will appear on your back."

The silver figurehead removed her hand from the ship's prow and looked at Light in shock, then returned his happy smile with a laugh. "This—this is wonderful!" She reabsorbed the small boat, then ran around Light in excitement. "This is amazing! I can sail, and I can go on land!"

Light gently chuckled as he watched Paragon prance around the vessel she made and squeed in delight as she reabsorbed it. Once she began to calm down a bit, a wooden sphere the size of his head appeared in his hand with a swirl of white mist. "Lihania also wanted to give you this; it magically packed with all the materials you need to satisfy your cravings."

Paragon's nostrils flared as she smelled the sphere. It smelled of metal, rope, and canvas, all in one condensed package. Though she tried to control herself, Paragon's cravings took over as she took the sphere and quickly swallowed it. "Thank you." She purred, then paused as the tiny treat satisfied her cravings. Within her magical stores, no material was in short supply, she had all the wood, metal, rope, textiles, rubber, and tar to make a ship bigger than her old one if she wanted to.

"My pleasure." Light smiled softly. "I do have one more thing for you. He produced a carved sphere from his pocket, and Paragon's nostrils flared as she recognized the scent: lifewood. Lihania carved this for you and infused it with some abilities we thought you would like in your new form, such as night vision and magically changing your size at will. Most sea serpents of the species you were modeled after metamorphose into a dragon, so Lihania infused summonable wings."

The silver sea serpent slid to a stop, scattering sand as she looked at the white-cloaked being in front of her. "Is that even possible?" She knew the question was completely redundant; the embodiment of the dimension of good, Light could not knowingly lie.

The magical humanoid smiled softly, and Paragon already wanted to eat it straight out of his hand. "Lihania also added one more thing. Since you are the only one of your species, it wanted to make sure you could have children without a mate if you chose. During a blue moon, you can decide to have children. They won't grow as fast as you did, they'll take ten years to mature and earn their wings."

"I can have children...?" Paragon's breath caught in her throat. She had never even considered the possibility, and now she wanted it. She would never be alone, no matter where she went. "I accept, all of it." She gingerly picked up the sphere and quickly shoved it into her mouth. As the material melted in her mouth, a shiver ran through her spine. The feeling spread from the tip of her nose to the end of her now-transparent fins. When the ssensation ended, Paragon felt the same.

"How do you feel?" Light stroked the scales on her neck. Paragon enjoyed his gentle touch as he petted her neck.

"Not much different," Paragon admitted. "How soon can I... be a mother?"

Light smiled softly. "The next blue moon is only a few months away if you want that."

"I... I would love that." Paragon smiled fondly, then blinked as she looked up and saw Travis sneaking around the dune. "Travis!" She bounded over to her captain, her large size making it easy for her to close the gap. She curled around the human and nuzzled him happily.

The human gasped in shock. "Paragon!" He managed.

Paragon excitedly continued, oblivious to Travis's shock. "You're here! I'm alive! And I have my magic!" Her words nearly blurred together as she spoke so fast. "We can set sail again, regather our crew, and help people! Look what I can do!" She squeed and created another boat, this time a little bigger than the last, but she reabsorbed it relatively quickly sand continued her gleeful excitement.

"Paragon!" The human finally managed to speak. "You're alive!" He laughed despite himself, caught up in the liveship's excitement. "You're—you're huge!"

"Paragon?!" A shocked voice came from atop the dunes that obscured the beach from the shipyard's view.

The sea serpent looked up to the sound's source, then smiled happily. "Marin! Costasiella! Myrllen!" Her heart flew high like a flag atop a mast.

"Ywou're alwive!" Costasiella excitedly flew down from the top of the mound of sand while the others less gracefully climbed down.

Paragon grabbed them into a hug as soon as they were within reach. "I'm so glad you're all safe!" She released them, a wide excited grin across her muzzle. "And look! Now we can go over land, sea, and air!" She summoned her wings with a sound like sails popping full with the wind. They were large and broad, easily strong enough to carry the sea serpent and several passengers around the world. Paragon struggled to contain her excitement. "We can go everywhere!"

"Paragon! You're alive!" Marin blinked in surprise as his mind finally comprehended the truth in front of her. "You have wings! You're massive!"

"Oh, am I too big? Light gave me magic to change size." She quickly shrank down close to her original size. "This better?" She smiled a bit.

The crew nodded, but Myrllen looked around for the mentioned being. "Light?" Myrllen blinked in recognition of the name and glanced around. His eyes settled on the man in a white trench coat, who smiled and waved to the young mage. "You're Light? The Light? Of Lihania?" The Stellan blinked in surprise. "I didn't know what I imagined, but I wasn't expecting you to be a Stellan..." he hesitated. "Do you know why the stars are silent?"

"I can take many forms." Light smiles to the group with a playful spark in his eyes as his body momentarily dissolved into mist, before he reformed as a human wearing a long white coat. In quick succession, he repeated the process to become a white-furred Pantherian, a Dragoo with pale green spots, and even a white sea serpent-like Paragon, before he returned to his Stellan form. Despite the various forms, he was still identifiable as Light, tall for the species, with silver eyes and light-colored fur, hair, or equivalent. "As for the second part," he locked eyes with Myrllen, "I do know, and I promise, you will be able to hear them soon."

Paragon could almost scent the magic in his promise, and her beating heart fluttered with joy at being able to hear the stars again. But admittedly, she was concerned with the timeframe o his word choice. Soon was vague, and the definition could be different for a being that seemed immoral than her mortal-minded ways.

Sudden yelling snapped the peace of the moment. "TRAVIS! GET AWAY FROM THAT MONSTER!" All of them looked at the source of the sound: Travis's father, wielding a large woodcutting axe.

Panicked, Paragon enlarged herself and protectively spread her wings in front of her crew, her head low in a warning stance. Her mind flashed with images of an axe hitting her face and she trembled slightly. I won't let him hurt anyone. Her heavy breathing filled her ears as she struggled to focus on the present and not be overstimulated by memories of the past. Travis said something, but it fell deaf to her ears.

Author Notes!

Honestly, Light has a special place in my heart as one of my oldest characters I have ever created. This is his first full introduction in one of my stories.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing this!