Serali awoke with a start, a feeling of something wonderful suffusing her. She lay in bed for a moment, savoring the knowledge of what day today was. Then she leaped out of bed, throwing on her clothes and rushing down the stairs from her little attic room. She alone, of all her siblings, had a room to herself. The rest of them were sharing several larger rooms on the ground floor. None of them were out of bed yet but in the kitchen her mother was already up, cooking. On days when there were travelers staying in the little inn she went over there well before dawn to get things ready for any who wanted breakfast and to make sure that all was well, but travelers were few at Land's End and most often she was home, cooking breakfast for her five children.

Serali's mother was a small, dark woman, beautiful in a plump and somewhat matronly way, who loved to cook and garden and who did an excellent job of managing her husband's business. She also had an enduring passion for cleanliness and would periodically decide that the house was too dirty and dragoon all five of her children into helping with the chore.

This morning she was starting a couple of loaves of fine white bread, the kind she made only for special occasions.

"Ah, up already?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"As if I could sleep in today, Mama." Replied Serali with a grin.

"Well, in that case, why don't I start breakfast? You can go get your slug-a-bed siblings up and send a couple of them down to give me a hand."

Serali laughed and ran towards the back of the house, nearly ploughing into her father as she rounded a corner.

"Slow down, long-legs, one of these days your legs are going to go so fast they'll leave the rest of you behind."

Serali grinned up at him. He was still taller than she was, but not by a lot. A year or two more of growing like she had been this last year and she would top him by a head. He too was dark, with thick curly hair that was just beginning to go gray. She gave him a hug, filed with enthusiasm, and then dashed on, shouting over her shoulder "If I ever slow up, it won't be today!"

Bursting into the room shared by her two younger brothers she hollered "Last one out of bed is a rotten egg!" and then dashed out again, slamming the door behind her. She repeated the procedure in the room shared by her sisters, the youngest of the five. Then, breathless, she dashed back to the kitchen where her mother was putting sausages into a pan to fry. She inhaled the spicy aroma, sausages were her favorite food, and wondered how in the world she was going to be able to wait till they were done.

There was a commotion behind her as her two brothers spilled into the room, cuffing each other in a half-friendly dispute of some sort. Marilla interrupted their tussle, setting them to work putting plates and forks on the table. When Serali's sisters came in they were similarly employed fetching various things from the pantry. When all was finished and the sausages were done the family seated themselves around the table. Serali was bouncing up and down in impatience but Falio insisted on invoking the blessings of the gods before they began. Then, in a teasing manner he made a little speech. "Today is a most important day," he began. "Twelve years ago today an important event happened." Serali was squirming with impatience, but he kept speaking. "On that night, twelve years ago, Serali was born. And today is her day." He exclaimed it with mock pomposity. "Today we shall let her do whatever she pleases..."

At last it was too much for her. "Yes and right now what I please is to eat!" She interrupted.

"All right," her father laughed. "Let's eat then."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Serali and she began to heap sausages on her plate.

Later on, while everyone else was doing dishes and helping to clean up, Serali decided that today she was going to go exploring. She informed her parents that she would be back in time for lunch and then set off towards the wild country that lay beyond the neat fields of the village.

Following a dry gully that meandered gradually towards the edge of the Great Escarpment, she mused about her life. Birthdays were always fun, but for her they had carried a bit of melancholy. Ever since she had been old enough to realize that she was different from her parents, from her siblings, ever since that birthday six years ago when her parents had told the story of her birth, how they had adopted her, she had wondered. Who were her parents? And why had they abandoned her? Sometimes she despaired, thinking that they had not wanted her, that she had not been good enough for them. Other times she recalled what her adopted father had told her of them and imagined that she was being hidden from some great enemies, that her parents were royal, that someday they would return and claim her and she would become a queen. She had fond fantasies of rule, of how wonderful life as a queen would be.

Practicality tended to intrude though. How could she leave her family behind? She loved her adopted parents too much to simply abandon them. And yet, they wouldn't be happy to leave the farm, the inn, their family home. Her father had inherited the inn from his father who had had it from his father before him and so on for generations. Someday her brother would inherit it. They would never be happy in some royal court. And besides, if her parents were royalty, why would they have left her here, of all places? Land's End was aptly named. The little road that wandered into the town stopped abruptly at the edge of the Great Escarpment, down which no route ran and beyond which no one ever traveled. Surely a princess would be left in some more noble location?

Her reverie was abruptly interrupted by a large hand on her shoulder. She was half lifted off her feet and spun around by the hand to get a view of its owner.

Patren.

A sudden fear washed through her, and she opened her mouth to scream, only to have his other hand closed over it before she could get a squeak out. He leered at her.

"Here now, don't go doin' that. Not that it'll do you any good anyways." He laughed slyly. "Now you just be a good little thing, and you'll be of some use to me." He began to drag her back up the ravine.

Her heart was beating frantically as she tried to think of some escape. She began to struggle, but he was much bigger and stronger than she was. She jerked and twisted but he only held her tighter. Finally, in a surge of mingled fear and rage, she bit the hand held over her mouth, hard.

He shrieked, and strangely feminine sound, and her mouth was filled with the taste of blood, stirring odd feelings that she had no time to pin down. The pain had loosened his grip and she broke free, running back down the gully. Her long legs pumping for all she was worth, she dashed along the water-smoothed gully bottom. Behind her Patren had started after her, but she had a head start on him and he would not be catching up any time soon.

Suddenly Serali saw a patch of blue sky between the gully walls. With a sinking sensation she realized that she was only a few yards away form the edge of the Great Escarpment. She glanced around the gully, but the walls were too steep to climb. Looking over her shoulder as she ran, she could see Patren, still behind her but gaining. Her heart pounding in terror, she tried to think of an option, but only two presented themselves, stop and be caught by Patren, or continue and plunge off the cliff. The thought of falling off the cliff abruptly brought to mind the peculiar longing she had often had while standing on its edge, to jump off and fly. Well, she thought to herself, I guess you'll get to see if you can fly after all. And then there was no more room, no more time, and her foot was on the very edge of the cliff. She leaped, throwing herself high into the air, feeling the wind rush by as she began to fall, and all at once the fear was gone. She looked down at the ground, more than a thousand feet below, reveling in the feel of rushing speed. The image of spreading wings came strongly to her mind, more strongly than ever before. Then a peculiar stretching, pushing, pulling sensation swept through her. There was a moment of intense pain and her vision clouded over with a golden mist. When it cleared, she felt different, somehow more whole than she had ever felt. It was as if something that had been missing all her life was suddenly restored. Without even thinking about it, she spread her wings, catching at the air, and pulled up out of her dive. The world looked different, she noticed, she could see the warm thermals that rose off the desert floor, still far below. She glided over to where one column of warmly glowing air rose next to the cliff. Circling with her wings spread wide, she rose into the air, feeling the upward pressure under her wings and riding it till she topped the nearby cliff. Leaving the warm current, she glided downwards til she landed on top of the cliff a few hundred yards from where the notch of the gully indented the sheer cliff face.

She was filled with wonder as she looked at herself. Holding up her hands before her face, she saw that they were four-fingered and that each digit was tipped with a sharp claw. They were also covered in golden scales. Upon a brief inspection, she saw that all of her was similarly covered. Her frame was still slender, but more serpentine, and her arms and legs were proportioned so that she could go on all fours as easily as upright. Her feet, she saw, had three long toes, each tipped with a heavy, blunt claw. She had wings, large and golden on top with pink-veined gold on the undersides. They were bat-like and the tips of the bones that supported the thin membranes sported long thin claws, as did the joint where the bones came together. She spread and folded them experimentally. Running her hands over her face she found that she was long-snouted with a webbed crest running from the top of her head down her spine. Glancing behind her she saw that it went all the way to the tip of her tail. With delight she realized that she was looking directly behind herself. Why I can turn my head all the way ‘round! She thought.

Having completed her examination, there was only one conclusion to make. I'm a dragon. She thought. A real dragon, just like in the stories. And yet, some things were different. All the story dragons had horns, they had longer noses with their nostrils sticking out and they had big plates on their stomachs. I've got a short, smooth nose, no horns and my stomach is the same as the rest of me. Are the stories wrong, or am I some other thing and not a dragon at all? she wondered.

Then a distant sound interrupted her thoughts. Stone grating on stone with a rough crunch sounded from near by. She looked over to where the gully indented the cliff face just in time to see a large rock go plummeting over the edge. Suddenly her delighted musings were drowned out in a sea of red rage. Patren, she thought, you are going to regret the day you decided to pick on me!

Unfolding her wings she dived off the edge of the cliff, finding the thermal again and riding it to a great height. When she could see Patren, a small speck below, she left the thermal in a long curving dive. With a snap! of spreading wings like thunder she landed in a fountain of sand behind Patren. He turned at the sound, startled, and began to say something. As he realized what was sitting there behind him his mouth dropped open and he stammered, losing track of whatever it was he had been about to say. Serali advanced on him, snarling. He backed up until he was teetering on the very edge of the cliff. Serali spoke, her voice sounding odd, her words slurred as she tried to cope with the unfamiliar design of her mouth.

"Yoou beast, you dissssssgussssting crrreature. You will regrrret what you've done!"

Overcome with rage, she could get no more out, but instead, somewhat to her surprise, she breathed out a blast of fire. It was mis-aimed, hitting the gully floor several feet in front of where Patren stood, but it was enough to frighten him into taking one more step backwards. One more step which fell on empty air. Wind-milling his arms and trying to desperately to regain his balance, he tipped off the cliff and fell. Serali moved to the edge of the cliff, but already he was a dwindling speck and he vanished long before he hit the ground.

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