How To Con a Dragon

A Chapter by SwagMaster

Adri tricks Keaira and formulates a plan to hold her back indefinitely.

I swore under my breath.

Auriela's.....no, wait, Keaira's head swiveled around, searching for life, and finding me. An evil grin spread across her face, and her body began to grow.

"Keaira, wait!" I shouted. Surprise registered on her face, and she stopped morphing, her size now bigger, and scales showing in small patches.

"You know my name?" Keaira cocked her head, as if unsure of what to make of me. Her voice was sinister and faintly gravelly, and made me shudder subconsciously.

"Uh, yes. Yes! Of course I do!" I stammered; then an idea occurred to me. Bluffing was the only way out of this. Bluffing and the hope she didn't recognize me from the last time we met. "Of course I know your name, Keaira. And I think you know mine." I tried to look as convincing and sure of myself as possible. Keaira's eyes narrowed.

"I don't believe we've ever had the-" her snakelike tongue darted out and licked her lips. "Pleasure."

"Oh, I believe we have met, Keaira. Why, don't you recognize me? I guess you wouldn't, seeing as I have relocated myself into a new body." I smiled a self-knowing smile.

"A new body?" Keaira was utterly confused, and she reverted back to human form.

"That's right. I used to be just like you, Keaira." I swallowed my fear and walked a little closer. "Just. Like. You."

"I don't-" Keaira paused and took a closer look. "No. It's impossible."

"Oh, it's possible, Keaira."

"Alantia?" Keaira hissed.

"Congratulations. You guessed it." I said drily. I prayed on a guess I had; the only way a personality would be aware of the other consciousnesses would be if the other consciousnesses were pressing up against the personality in command of the brain, vying for control of the body. Since Alantia wouldn't be trying at all for control, I hoped Keaira would have no way to disprove my claim.
"You-you're lying." Keaira was visibly nervous, a sign that her doubt was failing. A look of hunger replaced the nervous look, and she rapidly changed back into a dragon.

"YOU'RE LYING!!" she roared, and picked me up, and the claw began to move very quickly to her mouth.

I'm going to die. I thought, but the hand stopped a couple feet from the lips, which had not yet parted to reveal most likely razor sharp fangs. The huge red eye examined me.

"HOW DID YOU DO IT?" her voice was deeper now, much more gravelly. I realized the look was hunger; hunger for the knowledge.

Her weakness.

I know Keaira's weakness.

She wants her own body, to be her own person. I could turn this whole shebang around, if I played my cards right.

Despite the fact I was this close to vomiting or wetting my pants, or both, I forced myself to examine my nails, as if bored with the whole thing.

"TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT, OR I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES AND EAT YOUR LIMBS LIKE DRUMSTICKS!!" she bellowed.

"Now, that wouldn't tell you how to make your own body, would it?" I managed to give her a disapproving expression, like I expected better from her. Obviously, Alantia and Keaira had been through a little chat, and Alantia had clearly established her position as top dog, because Keaira swallowed her pride, set me down, became human again, and made herself a little more docile.

"Alantia, please. You know this is the only thing I truly want. I'll do anything, if only you tell me how to do it." Was I dreaming, or was Keaira begging? I quickly closed my mouth; luckily, she didn't notice. Shaking off my shock, I pretended to survey her, and finally relent to her wishes.

"All right, I'll tell you." I consented, and Keaira sighed with relief. "Okay, you have to follow my instructions exactly. Do you understand?" Keaira's head bobbed: yes. "Okay, then. Listen up." I racked my brain frantically, trying to think up a good lie. "You need absolute concentration to even attempt this, and you can't get that when all the others are pressing up against you for control of the body, right? You need to relinquish your hold. Got that?" I waited with bated breath, but Keaira didn't protest at all, just nodded, with wide eyes. I realized she wasn't truly evil; she just wasn't content with what she had.

She had to have more, always, and a new body was the perfect thing. She felt cheated out of life, how her whole life was shared with eight other beings, all in one body.

"Once you are alone, with only your thoughts, you must learn about yourself." I continued.

"What?" Keaira asked, confused.

"You need to learn about yourself, confront every fiber of your being, know exactly who and what you are." I clarified. "It's not as easy as you think. I took me a month, even with my advanced intelligence. It is creating a brand new body, of course."

"Of course." Keaira agreed, and admiration was evident in her eyes. Her lifelong goal, right in front of her; or so she believed. I kind of felt bad for lying to her, but it had to be done.

"Once you have really recognized her true self, an image of a person will be branded into your mind." I carried on with my lie. "A body, that is made for you, a body that is you. As soon as the body appears, you must fill your mind with nothing but that person, and focus your whole being on it alone. Then, and only then, a new body will begin to form, little by little, cell by cell."

"Won't people notice it?" Keaira asked anxiously.

"At first, it will be so small, it won't be noticed." I replied "But pretty soon, you'll have to start hiding it. When you're inside this body, you will still be able to control your growing body, as long as you aren't wasting energy on trying to command your current vessel. Did you get all of this?" Keaira's eyes were as big as saucers, and she nodded.

"Thank you. Thank you, Alantia. I am forever in your debt." Keaira babbled, excitement filling her face. "I'm going to try it right now, okay? See you soon!!" My sister's body collapsed, and I ran to catch her. I heard the approaching footsteps of my team, and looked up as they reached me.
"Bloody hell." Dexter breathed.

"Wow." Damien managed, staring at Auriela's motionless body.

"Holy crap, you should've seen Damien when the dragon almost ate you!" Kate was cracking up. Ella, Sadie, Dexter, Jeremy and Peter joined in.

"His eyes, like, bugged out, and his face just was priceless!" Peter hooted, trying to mimic Damien's expression.

"It was all we could do to hold him back!" Dexter chuckled.

"Yeah, well, I thought she was going to die, so go ahead. Laugh it up, guys." Damien grumbled.

"Guys!" I cried, as Auriela stirred. "Auriela? It's me, Adri." The eyes snapped open.

Grey.

I groaned. So close....

"Who are you?" Maxine looked frightened, and I quickly held up my hands as a surrender.

"Friends. We are friends." I told her. "I'm Adri."

"No, you're Alantia." Maxine insisted.

"Yes, Adri is short for Alantia." I quickly replied, and mouthed, 'Can Keaira hear us?'. Maxine shook her head, and I sighed with relief.

"She can't hear unless she's in control, or at least trying. I heard the whole thing. Is it true?"

"No, no way. I'm not even Alantia. I'm Adrianna, the sister of Auriela. Right now, you're in Auriela's body. I need to talk to Auriela." I admitted.

"No way." Maxine replied rudely. Damien whipped out a gun and pointed it at her head, and she changed her tone.

"But I just got here!" Maxine pleaded. "I never get to be in charge."

"No, I will talk to Auriela, and I'll talk to her now, Maxine." I snarled. "Yeah, that's right. I know your name. And if you let me talk to Auriela, I will work out a system; you each will take turns, and since you will all take turns, you will all work together to keep Keaira out. With your combined forces, it'll be impossible for Keaira to ever get out again. Now, let Auriela talk." Maxine pulled a pouty face, but her eyes closed, and she went into convulsions. I worried Auriela's body wouldn't be able to take much more of the strain. We all waited in breathless silence until Auriela's eyes fluttered open.

Dark brown.

"Auriela?" I was having trouble believing it was real, and could feel my eyes beginning to moisten.

"Adri?" Auriela's pathetic and weak voice made my heart twist. Her eyes were brimming with tears. I threw my arms around her, and for that moment, nothing else mattered.

I forced myself to let her go, remembering we were not alone.

"Auriela, can you feel Keaira at all?" I asked anxiously. Wide-eyed, Auriela shook her head. "You can feel the others, right? Besides Alantia, of course." This time, Auriela nodded. "Okay, then, you need to listen closely. That goes for the rest of you guys, too. If any of you have a question, ask Auriela to say it, instead of taking over the body, okay?" Auriela nodded quickly.

"Good." I approved. "I have a plan to make sure you each get equal amounts of time in control, and it also ensures that Keaira will never be able to take control again, ever."

"Okay, Renay is in." Renay called at once, Auriela's brown eyes flashing to a shocking blue, before reverting back. After a small pause, Auriela kept talking.
"That's impossible! I've tried." Auriela recited as one of the personalities dictated.

"Not if you all work together." I insisted. "With your combined forces, it'll be impossible for Keaira to even make a dent in the wall."

"Auriela says yes!" Auriela cried, sporting her cute smile. I smiled at her as her expression changed to a contemplative one as the others mulled over the idea.

"What's in it for us?" Probably Maxine.

"You all get equal shares of time where you are in control of the body. From eight o'clock in the morning to eight o'clock at night, one of you gets total control. The next day, it's someone's else's turn, then another the next day, and so on. What happens during the day will be totally by chance, and if you don't like the day, too bad. Today would be Auriela's day, even though the day is just barely starting." Auriela/Maxine seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment.

"Maxine's in." she announced.

"K-Kit is in." Kit stuttered, her face an ever-present expression of fear. "That is, if Tersia is in." she quickly added, and her expression morphed yet again.

"Of course I'm in, you little brat." Jade butted in rudely.

"Can Beth join?" Beth asked timidly, and I nodded with a warm smile. I waited for a moment, but no seventh voice came with a reply.

"Alantia?" I asked. "I need to speak with you." I whispered to Auriela, "Be ready for a personality change." My baby sister nodded, screwing her eyes shut and tensing up her small body. With a heavy and anxious silence, we all waited.

"I don't think-" Kate began, but was shocked into silence as Auriela suddenly sucked in a huge breath of air. She blinked, three times, and on the third time, a gorgeous purple color misted over her brown ones.

Alantia was here.

prev chapter