The black dragon’s eyes locked with Ty’s own, strong affection in her gaze, and the great creature sighed happily. “It has been 15 years of life I have been without a master. A small pittance of time for a dragon, yes, but a sad and lonely time for me as well.”
Ty, feeling more self conscious than ever, gave Seera a pat on her scaly snout and hurried to his dresser, stepping over the dragon’s hind leg and tail to do so. Seera followed his movements with interest, with a slow methodical kind of movement that befitted a creature as old and wise and she.
“Do you have nothing to say to me, Tyler?” Seera asked, blinking.
“I-I don’t know what to say to you, Seera. There’s a giant black lady dragon that suddenly appeared in my room. My real parents were wizards.”
“Sorcerers!” Seera corrected.
“Whatever!” Ty said, a bit testily, “My entire life has changed in seconds and I don’t know what to say to you or how I’m supposed to react to all this. I feel excited and scared right now. I mean, if Mark or somebody walked in right now and saw you, what would I say?”
“Hmm.” Seera hummed for a second cheerfully as Ty threw on some underwear and blue jeans. “Yes, that is a problem. I’m far too large to even remove myself from this room without serious structural damage to your home. If the mortal humans were to see me, that would seriously compromise our joint safety.” Seera giggled. “Yes, I should be more careful where I teleport, but I couldn’t wait.”
“I thought you said you weren’t magical!” Ty said as he put on a red shirt.
“Oh, I’m not of magic, Tyler, no. But I can always teleport my body to the location of my master if conditions allow. It merely takes some concentration.”
“Ah, I see.” Ty, now fully dressed, turned to the giant dragoness and sighed. “Seera, how am I supposed to hide you? I need to keep you a secret!”
“Agreed!” Seera smiled warmly. “I think it’s time I gave you your first lesson, Tyler! You must change my size so that I am smaller and more easily hidden!”
“O-Okay!” Ty agreed. “That sounds like a good plan. How do I… change your size? Or, what should I do?”
Seera took a deep breath and lay down on the carpet, folding herself up and pulling in her legs. “You already know how to will your power to change others, Tyler. This is a start, but using your powers without discipline or control will result in disaster. It is not enough to simply effect a change. You must be able to control it.”
Ty’s eyes widened in realization. “Like… how I made Dustin younger but I also changed his history?”
“Precisely, my boy!” Seera nodded, “Precisely what I mean. You age regressed your stepbrother but also warped the universe in the process. You did not particularly change Dustin at all! You changed reality itself! This is dangerous, for if you warp reality beyond itself the fabric of the universe will begin to unwind. You must concentrate on one thing at a time, shape and change each facet of your will, define everything you wish to change and exclude that which you do not. You must be able to control without compromise. It is difficult to learn, but essential to master if you are to be skilled.”
“I understand… I think.” Ty sighed and sat down on the end of the bed once more. “I… don’t want to destroy the universe.”
Seera chuckled. “Of course not. So, we return to our problem. I am too large a creature in too small a room. The task I place before you is this. Make me smaller.”
“All… all right Seera. But what do I do?”
Seera drifted thoughtfully. “Use your imagination, Tyler! There is no limitation to what you may do to me. The simplest thing would be to simply decrease by size, but perhaps you might make my body younger, effectively decreasing me from my adult size, or make me an entirely different creature all together. Decide, and I will teach you.” Seera lay patiently, swaying her tail lazily, waiting for Ty to decide.