“It’s finally here!” Alyssa exclaimed almost squealing with delight.

     From her shopping bag she pulled out a thin package as she sat down on an ottoman in the privacy her room to open it. Alyssa voraciously bit off the plastic wrapping from the package to reveal a copy of “The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon” within the familiar white and cyan blue casing of a Nintendo Wii game case.
     Alyssa was a proud fan-girl of the Spyro games and her love of the series increased with the creation of the new trilogy especially because of the introduction of Cynder—her favorite character aside from spyro that is. True, like many other old-timers of the series, Alyssa missed the good ol’ hunt for gems, dragon eggs and all the other gimmicks of the original series. However, time brings change.
     Alyssa had already turned on her wii with her remote.
     “Now for the disk…” she thought aloud
Pulling the sides of the game case apart with her thumbs, it popped open to reveal …
     “No freakin’ way…” Alyssa muttered. Her enthusiasm vanished while she planted her face in her palm. “There’s no CD!”

     To wait several months for a new game and get such luck…Alyssa was just about to chuck the case back into the bag to return it when she noticed something. Her curiosity got the best of her when she realized that the case felt too heavy to be empty. She opened the case again and saw that the instruction booklet was unusually thick. Pulling it out, the booklet revealed what it was hiding; the true content of the game case.
      Not even looking, Alyssa put the instruction booklet and case aside, her eyes transfixed on the object that had fallen to the floor. She picked it up with a tender touch and examined it.
     It clinked from the metal it was made out of and it caught the sunlight leaking in through the window blinds. Looking closely it was composed of miniature interlocking chain links. Spikes protruded from the sides and at the ends a small clip connected the whole thing together. At first it took Alyssa a moment to realize what it was because she couldn’t believe that what was in her hands was what she thought it could really be.
     What Alyssa held was a replica of the steel choker that was around Cynder the black dragoness’s neck. With instantly renewed joy, she wasted no time in putting it on.
     Normally Alyssa isn’t one to be consumed by vanity. After donning the choker however, she couldn’t help but strike a few poses in front of her mirror showing off her new accessory. Wholly absorbed with looking at herself in the mirror, she did not hear a gust beginning to pick up speed outside.
     The gust startlingly accelerated up to a gale. The gale, howling, caught Alyssa’s attention. As she turned towards the sound, the gale shattered her window and through it, poured into her room.
     Alyssa shrieked. She flung her arms up in front of her face to shield herself as glass fell around her. The wind in her room overturned items and knocked Alyssa down to the floor. With a quick glance through her window, she saw that the outside was calm while the storm only raged around her.
     The vigorous winds continued to gain speed, lifting Alyssa off the ground and suspending her in mid-air. The winds felt as if they were passing through her instead of tossing her around like her the rest of her belongings in the room.
     Forcing her body against the wind she struggled for several seconds before she managed to bring her arms up to reach her choker. She didn’t understand what was going on and was frightened because of it. Alyssa ran her fingers over the back of her choker to remove it; she felt only the smooth metal. The break where the clip had been had disappeared and all the chain links melted together making it solid all the way through. Alyssa had no doubt now that the choker was bewitched in some way and the cause of what was going on; on its own becoming irremovable.

     It was then that fear truly began to pervade her as she realized she was at the mercy of whatever was happening to her. All she could do was tremble as she cradled herself and tears leaked from her eyes. From the claws of the choker leaked out a magenta serum that forced its way up in Alyssa mouth. The serum left a vile taste in her mouth and in only a few seconds made her entire body hang limp like she had been injected with a poison. Deep within her belly she could feel it pool together creating its own spot within her body.
     Then a black serum appeared; but instead of forcing its way up, fell off of Alyssa like a sheet of silk and spilled to the floor. It fell without making a sound or splash. With a mind of its own it slithered across the floor. Alyssa managed to turn her eyes to see the direction it traveled and saw it disappear within her own shadow.
     After a few moments her shadow lost its definition before reshaping again in the same pose of her body but distinctly different. From the shadow of her hands and feet she could see claws. From the shadow of her back hung new appendages--wings, and a serpentine tail. All these new features created the shadow of a creature she could not immediately recognize.

     The wind stopped. Her body fell to the floor. The affects of the poison wore off and she managed to lift herself onto her knees, but was too dazed to stand up.

     The tears that were rolling down her face now dried up. The fear she once felt now replaced with an urge, to distill the same she felt into others. The cold, paralyzing hand of fear was her’s embraced.

     On the floor, Alyssa’s shadow came back to her giving her a chill as it connected. It felt alien to her; or rather she was alien to the shadow.
     Alyssa began to tremble again, not out of fear, but from an odd feeling all around her body. Her skin began to prickle. Looking down at herself Alyssa watched her skin become as black as night and it became gleaming scales. From the underside of her jaw down her neck, chest and below her belly magenta scales formed. While the scales began covering her arms and legs, Alyssa’s nails thickened and turned to steel claws. Then their structure changed as her arms became legs and the legs became digitigrade, forcing her onto all fours.
     The transformation continued with her wings pushing themselves out from her back, tipped with blades.
     At the base of her spine Alyssa felt as if a knife was piercing through her skin. The cause was the blade forming as her tail grew.
      Then the black scales reached her head. As they spread, it forced Alyssa’s hair off her scalp replacing it with scales and four horns that pushed out from her skull.
     Alyssa kept her eyes shut tight as the scales grew over her eyelids and down her face. Then her nose and jaw pushed out into a snout.

     The last thing Alyssa could remember before passing out was a pattern etching itself on her forehead, shoulders, and at the base of her spine.

…..


     _{“Cynder….}

     Alyssa’s eyelids lifted for a moment before closing again.

     _{“Cynder…”}

     The scent of dew –covered grass entered her nostrils as she came to. Opening her eyes, a rush of light blinded her before she adjusted and saw the source of the voice calling out that name.
     In front of Alyssa stood the purpled-scaled, Spyro the dragon.

     Her eyes widened with shock.
     “Cynder, you okay?” Spyro asked Alyssa.
     Looking at herself she saw not her human self, instead the dragon Spyro was calling to, Cynder.
     Alyssa inhaled deeply before facing him. “Yeah. I’m okay Spyro.”
      “Alright then, let’s go.” He replied walking ahead of Alyssa.

     The two of them were in a clearing within a forest; the rock face of a mountain looming over the path ahead.

     When Spyro walked away, Alyssa couldn’t help but pinch herself……several times. She was elated.

     …She didn’t wake up.