Dragonsapien by Jon Jacks Read Free Book Online Page B

of the canopy and its supporting
stanchions.
    Jake had to stop
himself from gasping at the beauty of it all; a cathedral’s stained
glass made real, solid, flowing and moving with incredible
grace.
    How could Celly
fail to be as equally impressed as he was?
    Taking Leon’s
hand, Celly turned, leading him out from beneath the canopy. As
soon as they were clear of everyone, she underwent her own
transformation, her skin shimmering like waves of molten gold and
silver, her wings like captured and elegantly controlled
sunrays.
    Suddenly, Leon
stumbled, as if his legs were giving way beneath him.
    He lifted a hand
to his forehead, clasping it in the way you would if suffering a
dreadful headache, or trying to stop yourself from feeling dazed,
dizzy.
    His wings
crumpled slightly, such that they dragged weakly and uselessly
across the sand behind him.
    What was wrong
with him? Jake wondered.
    He whirled
around, surprisingly anxious, wondering what everyone else would
make of Leon’s abrupt change.
    Everyone was
beaming happily, watching Leon’s bizarrely dazed antics as if they
ranked amongst the most wonderful things they’d ever seen. They
seemed excited, enthralled, rather than apprehensive.
    Could it just be
that Leon was tired after his journey?
    Jake studied
Leon more carefully now, trying to interpret his drunken stumbling
as nothing more than a sign of a fatigue.
    Yes, yes; it had
been a long journey after all. It would have taken a great deal of
energy and strength out of him.
    And, as if Leon
had abruptly arrived at the same sensible conclusion, as if he had
decided that he couldn’t fly another inch, he completely furled his
wings away. Celly immediately followed suit, her wings rippling in
the sunlight like the shimmering of a mirage, then smoothly
disappearing into her back.
    Still holding
hands, they made their way down the beach like two young
lovers.
    So, Jake
thought, he wouldn’t have slowed them down after all.
    Then again, he
told himself bitterly, I don’t think anybody will be happy if I run
after them.
     
     
    *
     
     
    Very few of the
pebbles he was throwing skimmed across the water as they were
intended to do.
    Rather, they
plunged into an oncoming wave, or simply hit the sea at the wrong
angle, instantly vanishing beneath the surface.
    Jake didn’t
care. His mind wasn’t on aiming low and flat enough, or getting the
spin on the pebbles right.
    Throwing the
pebbles was simply a sign of his anger, his frustration. When they
disappeared without a trace, without a skip or bounce, beneath the
waves, it was a satisfyingly perfect summation of how he felt at
the moment; overwhelmed, small and useless against the might of the
never-ending, unstoppable waves.
    Less than
quarter of an hour ago, he was the happiest he’d ever
been.
    Now he felt more
miserable than he would have believed possible.
    He felt
strangely empty, yet also ridiculously heavy. Awkward, graceless.
Dumb, stupefied.
    Like the control
of all his senses had deserted him.
    Like everything
about him was poorly formed, badly connected.
    Everything about
him was hateful, useless.
    In short, he was
everything that Celly wasn’t.
    Celly was
wonderful, gorgeous, graceful. Celly was fun, bright,
sparkling.
    Celly was
perfect.
    Celly was
superior.
    Out of his
league.
    How could he
have ever fooled himself that he and Celly belonged
together?
    Yet it was Celly
who had made him feel that he wasn’t inferior, that they were made
for each other.
    Only moments
ago, Celly had made him feel as perfect as she was.
    Almost made him
feel, in fact, that he could fly, just as she could.
    That’s how happy he had been.
    And
now?
    Like the pebbles
that sank and sank, vanishing in the waves; that’s how he felt
now.
     
     
    *

Chapter 8
     
    Farther along
the beach, Jake came across the indents in the sand where he had
lain with Celly.
    He angrily
scrubbed it out with his feet. Kicked at the sand like he was
kicking Leon.
    He looked out at
the glistening