"Before I go on though, there are some things I need to tell you," announced the king. "I know that you've been bracing yourself for bad news regarding your condition. I know, because that's exactly what I would be doing in your place. On that front, you should know that there's good news and... interesting news. Note I didn't say bad news."
Tim just smiled at the monarch nervously. The king continued.
"What I need for you to do, is take me at my word, and try your hardest to remain as calm as is humanly (a poor choice of words in the situation) possible. Do you think you can do that for me?"
Gulping and swallowing almost at the same time, Tim just about managed to get out a squeaky, "Yes."
"Good man," quipped the king. "Remove the M.U.C.U.S.," he ordered.
Two nurses appeared on either side of Tim's head and began fiddling about with the brace-like structure encompassing his neck and skull. All the time the grey haired figure hovered in view, a comforting smile imprinted on his face.
Moments later, the nurses retreated, nodding in the king's direction as they did so. Holding his breath, knowing that the next few moments could prove to be some of the most momentous ever in the dragon kingdom, and had been foretold thousands of years ago, the king watched closely, waiting to see what would happen.
As the nurses retreated, Tim carefully tried to move his neck. Stiff didn't begin to cover it, but after a few seconds he was at least able to roll his head and shrug his shoulders. Just as he was about to sit up and inspect the rest of his body, the most peculiar feeling started to attack him right behind his eyes. Instantly his vision blurred. Thinking that something had got into his eyes, he blinked furiously. If only it were that simple.
You see, when Richie broke her 'alea', using it in conjunction with the simple shield mantra to save them from the explosion and the collapsing building, the magical properties of the mantra and the laminium in the bomb combined to produce an even more unpredictable side effect. It forced Richie's DNA to lock itself into a perfect human form, in a very different way to say that of Flash, and in doing so, her dragon abilities, magic, DNA, call it what you will, all overwhelmed Tim, turning him into a dragon. At first, the change wasn't apparent. On recovering his body from the blast crater, it fully resembled a human, in every single aspect. It was only once it was taken to the secluded part of Salisbridge District hospital, the area deep below ground reserved only for the worst dragon cases, that the changes to his physiology became apparent. It was a shock to each and every one of the dragon staff there, because they'd known him to be a human... he'd been checked out before arriving. And the surprises didn't stop there. His transformation wasn't like a normal dragon's transition between forms. For Tim, it was one body part at a time, over a much longer period. Whereas most dragons only take a matter of moments to change forms, Tim's body parts required minutes or even hours in some cases, for the full effect to become permanent. With his left arm changing first, and then the right wing springing out almost as if from nowhere, the staff had little idea of what they were dealing with, or what exactly they should do. Only once his stomach and back had converted, did they realise that they were likely dealing with an all white dragon, and given the prophecy about such a beast, the one prophecy all dragons adhere to above all others, the king had been immediately informed.
Iron being beaten into submission on an anvil, that's what the pain behind his eyes felt like. All thoughts of sitting up or moving at all were washed away when the excruciating pain rippled through his jaw. Wanting to scream, yell or shout for all he was worth, just the very thought of moving any part of his mouth even a millimetre was enough to dissuade him. With his vision barely there at all thanks to the pain behind his eyes, he wished he could move his arms, really to check what he knew couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Because it felt as if not only were his teeth actually growing, but that his entire face and jaw had got... BIGGER! Making to swallow, he found that his tongue, something he'd never had any problems with before, had never even noticed in fact, was lopping about inside his mouth, flailing around like a blind anaconda searching for a mate. It felt as though it were that size as well. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, with the pain at its most horrific, a sensation tickled deep down within his face.
'Oh no,' he thought to no one but himself. Trying to push it away, having done so on previous occasions, it was no good with the pain and the unfamiliar sensations breaching all of his defences. Lacking both the concentration and willpower required, the sensation snowballed out of control, growing with each moment that passed, until inevitably it happened.
'Aitchooooooo!' he sneezed, oddly accompanied by a whooshing and wheezing sound, as well as a burning feeling all around his mouth and nose.
He wasn't king for nothing, and had seen it coming... well, only just. Flinging himself off to one side, the streak of blue and orange flame shot past where he'd been standing, bouncing off a metallic bedpan, smashing into one of the glass panels that made up three quarters of the room. An ugly, smouldering, brown mark was now splattered against the specially toughened glass, just where the flame had struck.
With the pain starting to recede, Tim's vision started to clear, showing the elderly man still smiling at him, albeit off to one side of where he'd previously stood. Feeling odd, his face seemed... longer! No, not longer... bigger, heavier, more difficult to balance. It was weird. With his lolloping tongue dangling out of his mouth, the need to look down at his body became more pressing than ever. Sitting up, he arched his very heavy head forward, concerned that he might not have the strength to bring it back up again, and gazed down at the rest of his body. It didn't register at first, figuring he must still be asleep... dreaming! But of course he wasn't, he was wide awake, gawping down at a huge, bright, white scaled belly that rose up and down in time with his own breathing, two perfectly folded wings, and razor sharp talons on the end of scraggy looking feet which spread out from beneath the most powerful set of legs he'd ever set eyes on. Flimsy looking arms lay neatly pointed towards the bottom of the bed. It was the most bizarre out of body experience any being on the planet had ever had... only it wasn't! It was him... his mind, in the body of a dragon. Yet it was real. As real as it gets.
"To be honest, I expected a little more... panic!" remarked the king.
"It's not real," answered Tim, wiggling his strange and protruding jaws from side to side. Sucking his lips together, the king rubbed his stubbly chin.
"I'm afraid it is."
Tim just sat there, gazing across at the dragon ruler, all the while taking in the prehistoric body laid out before him.
"Would you allow me to explain?" asked the king.
"If you can explain all of THIS," said Tim, "then you're a better man than I am, which at the moment... wouldn't be difficult at all."
Smiling at the thought of sharing a joke with the 'white dragon', he thought it a good omen, and a glimpse into a calm, thoughtful and strong personality.
'And by God is he going to need that,' mused the monarch.
"While I appreciate you trying to describe me as a better 'man' than yourself, the truth of the matter is much more complicated than that. You see, I too am a dragon. In fact, I'm the king of the dragons, in charge of just about everything there is."
Automatically, Tim's giant scaly jaws started to open, but he managed to stifle the laugh that threatened to come out. Something about the individual before him commanded respect and authority. Instinctively he'd already recognised it, and despite the fear, terror, panic, and questions numbering in their hundreds, currently running through his newly shaped head, he was now paying absolute attention to this very unusual individual.