The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [132]
No, he decided, someone like Cole couldn't forget how to be human. Not until death had left him cold.
Will it be the same for me, though?
"I'll never find out by just standing here," the nobleman declared. He turned the key in the lock and pushed open the crypt door.
As soon as he stepped into the crypt, motes of black swirled on the back wall and coalesced into the familiar shape of the shadow wyvern.
"Giogioni, you're back," the guardian whispered.
Giogi strode into the crypt. He stopped before the empty pillar and pulled the spur out of his boot. "I found it," he said, dropping the heirloom onto the velvet cloth. "I need to know how to use it."
"I knew you'd come back to me, my Giogioni," the guardian said.
"You have nothing to do with it. This is an emergency. I don't want to be a wyvern."
The guardian laughed, her shadowy form swaying on the wall. It was a clear, ringing laugh, unlike her spooky, whispery voice. "I wouldn't want to be a human."
"Well, I need to be one anyway. A wyvern."
"You can never be a wyvern, Giogioni. You may take a wyvern's form, but you will always be human. That is essential."
"What do you mean, essential?"
"The spur's blessing guarantees the Wyvernspur line will continue. If Wyvernspurs were to turn from human to wyvern, they would not be able to continue the line as Wyvernspurs. So that which confers power over the spur, Selune's kiss, is not given to those unable to resist changing completely to wyvern."
A touch of relief spread over Giogi. Then his curiosity overcame his anxiety. "Suppose someone not kissed by Selune tries to use it?"
"They would think they had a wyvern's power, though their body would still be human."
"Is that all it takes to be kissed by Selune-being able to resist going completely wyverny?"
"No. You must want to be different."
"I don't want to be different," Giogi objected.
The guardian laughed. "You are so satisfied with yourself, your life, your world?"
Giogi shifted uneasily. He couldn't lie.
"With a wyvern's power and the blessings of the spur you can change yourself, your life, your world."
"So what do I have to do to make it work?" Giogi asked.
"Take up the spur-"
Giogi set the finder's stone down on the pillar and picked up the spur.
"Keep it near your leg."
Giogi slid the spur into his boot.
"Now you must remember your dreams."
"My dreams?" he sputtered. Then he understood. "Oh. Those dreams," he said. The images sprang to his mind. The death cry of prey-the shriek of a rabbit, the squeal of a pig, the bellow of a cow. The taste of warm blood-salty and full of energy. The crunch of bone-surrendering to the strength of his jaw and yielding up its sweet marrow. He felt the blood pounding in his head, and the room seemed to spin and shrink around him. He bent over to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.
"A very handsome wyvern form, Giogioni," the guardian whispered.
Giogioni looked down at himself nervously. Actually, he had to look back at himself. He was at least thirty feet longer. He was covered with red scales. His arms had become great leathery wings, and his feet were sharp talons. The strangest thing of all, though, was the tail. It swayed gracefully behind him without him thinking about it. He concentrated on controlling it and it froze, poised in the air, until he unconsciously picked a target.
He bent forward and slashed the tail over his head. The stinger at the tip pierced the velvet cloth atop the pillar.
The pillar toppled over, and the finder's stone rolled across the floor of the crypt. The piece of velvet cloth remained caught on the end of the stinger. He pulled it off with