Apple Coffee Cake

Chapter 21: Dragon Journal

Day 15: Mirabel has been drinking her special tea every day. Today she commented to me that her eyesight seems to be improving! She could see the baby across the room at night, with only a small fire glowing. Improved eyesight was one of the first things Kenric noticed in his human experiment, so we seem to be on the right track.

Day 45: Mirabel is astonished by how well she can hear. She is always the first one to hear the baby cry at night, which is very helpful for Fiora. Unfortunately, there is no turning the volume down when the baby shrieks right in her ear. She is still faithfully drinking her special tea. She did comment once that there must be something magical in her tea that is helping her eyesight and hearing. She was joking though, I think.

Day 98: Almost one hundred days have passed. Mirabel seems slightly more agitated. She is thinking it might be time to head home, because she is getting a little bit sharp with the baby. I sometimes see her rubbing her chest, where she can presumably feel the fire inside. I’ll need to encourage her to experiment soon or she will go home.

Day 137: Mirabel finally told me about the fire she feels inside and I confided that I feel similarly on occasion. I told her that I channel my fire into my metal work at the smithy. She decided that would not quite be proper, but she found kneading bread to be very therapeutic. We’ve had fresh bread every day for a week! It seems to help, she hasn’t had any more troubles with the baby.

Day 172: Mirabel asked me if I know any stories about humans turning into dragons! I told her there was only one, and it is incomplete. She asked to hear it anyway. Her eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger. As soon as the story was over she ran out of the house and into the woods. Fiora told me to give her some space so I couldn’t immediately chase after her. By the time I saw her again, she brushed off my concern and just said she was tired. I wish I could show her my dragon form! Curse that blood vow to the council.

Day 203: Mirabel told me today she will go home once baby Leif turns one. I will need to convince her to stay! If she leaves, we might lose all our progress because she won’t have any more special tea. Maybe she will transform in time. I’m going to start telling her stories about a dragon’s first shift to human form and what it feels like to switch back and forth.

Day 251: Mirabel told me she has something to show me. She took me into the woods and did a partial transformation! It was so amazing! She grew taller and her arms were covered in scales. Her hands became more talon-like and her face grew longer. She wasn’t scared either! She was amazed! Her dragon color was a beautiful sapphire with amethyst highlights along the ridges. I could scarcely contain myself when I saw her! I think she was afraid she would scare me, her relief upon seeing my reaction was clear. She asked me if I wanted to touch her scales. I showered her with praise and affection, more than I think I have ever shown her in her human form. I was so overcome with this initial success! She was absolutely glowing. I can’t wait until she transforms fully so I can show her my dragon form!

Day 327: Just a few months left until Mirabel goes home. If she completes her transformation in time I will show her what I am and ask her to marry me. If not, I might just have to follow her to her village. Maybe I can find a cousin who lives there or something. Maybe I can go visit her family to meet her parents and talk to her father about marriage. That seems like the human way to proceed.

Day 348: I asked her if I could return with her to her village today. She seemed sad by my request. Maybe she doesn’t feel about me like that. I thought she felt the same as me. She told me she would like to go by herself first, but maybe I could come for a visit in a few months. A few months and she might lose all her progress! I don’t know what to do.

Day 352: I asked Fiora what I should do. She said Mirabel hasn’t been feeling like herself lately and just wants to go home and be with her family. I want to respect that but she hasn’t been feeling like herself because she’s turning into a dragon! I can help her! I need to help her! Ahhh! What should I do?

Day 356: I asked Mirabel to go for a walk with me. I asked her if I could see her dragon self again. She fell down and started sobbing. I was so shocked I just started yelling apologies! She finally admitted she thinks I’m only interested in her because of her dragon-ness. She has it all backwards! Gah! I’ve made such a huge mess of things. She told me she thinks her family will be scared of her. They don’t know anything about dragons. I told her if stays here a few more months I promise to help her through this. And help her think of what to tell her family. She’s so close to knowing about me, but now I’m afraid she might be angry.

Day 365: Today was Leif’s birthday. We had a lovely celebration with just the four of us adults and Leif. He doesn’t really like people he doesn’t see every day. At the end I asked Mirabel what her plans were. She shrugged and said, she might as well stay for a few months to get everything figured out.

Day 384: Mirabel did it. She transformed into a full dragon. She can breathe fire! Oh, I almost fainted with joy. We made it! I think she transformed by accident because she was so shocked! I immediately transformed as well and she just stood there. Then she blew fire in my face and flew off. FLEW OFF! She can already fly! I’m so proud of her! But oh, she is furious at me. I followed her from a safe distance to make sure she didn’t hurt herself.

Day 385: I don’t know if Mirabel can change back into a human. I think her anger towards me is keeping her trapped in dragon form. She has to be calm in order to switch back, but everytime I try to tell her that she gets mad all over again and spits fire at me and flies away. We’re actually pretty far from the village now, but she doesn’t need another reason to be mad at me. I caught her some food and changed back into my human form to prepare it for her. Good thing she spent all this time teaching me to cook! I made some apple coffee cake to try and coax her into a better mood. This is the cake that I made.