Salthanath had always loved the crisp, cool air of the mountains, but being here in Sweden was beyond stunning. There was almost no one else around this early in the morning, and the view as the golden sun slowly crept down the snowy peaks was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. "It was worth every penny," he thought to himself, thinking back to how long he had saved up to spend his holiday here. The entire trip would have been worth it for the spectacular view alone. He could see for miles up here. Were it not for the cold, Salthanath would have stayed there all day, returning to the small town at the base of the mountain only when darkness blanketed the land once more.

                As he watched the sun's rays slowly travelling down the mountains, he was struck by an idea. What if he were to race the sunlight down the mountain? It took mere seconds to decide that it was a good idea, and Salthanath didn't want to waste a minute of his time here. He quickly grabbed his snowboard and was soon zooming down the steep slope at an alarming pace. He was speeding past rocks and trees so fast that there was an audible whiz as he passed by them.

          For a few brief moments, Salthanath hovered at the very edge of night and dawn, but just as he began to pass into shadow again his snowboard skidded over a rock and threw off his balance. At that speed, the best that he could do was spread his limbs out to keep himself from rolling too far and hope that he didn't hit a tree or a rock. He skidded flat on his back across the snow for a good 40 meters or so before he finally stopped moving. Salthanath cursed under his breath for having done something so stupid. He should have known better than to go down such a steep slope without plotting a path.

          As Salthanath began looking around to see where his snowboard had gone, something caught his eye. Looking to his right, he could clearly see something reflecting the sunlight so brightly that it was almost too painful to watch. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, he trudged through the snow until he could get a better view. Once he was at a better angle, he could see that it was some sort of brightly colored ore that had been reflecting the sunlight. The wind had blown the snow away in a small patch that revealed the smooth, vibrant blue stones. Salthanath knew quite a bit about various mineral ores, but he had never seen anything that seemed to have such an inner glow as this. The ore seemed almost liquid, reflecting the sun's rays seemingly in an infinite chasm beneath the snow. Salthanath couldn't help but pull off one glove to feel the stone beneath his bare skin.

          Fire, ice, and lightning all seemed to shoot up Salthanath's arm the instant he touched the stone, causing him to take in a sharp breath in pain and surprise. The only thing he could feel from his arm was pure agony. His screams echoed through the mountains as the feeling spread into his chest, then his abdomen, and gradually throughout the rest of his body. He was dimly aware that he now lay on his back, but the fact seemed rather unimportant to him compared to the extreme pain he was in. His right arm felt almost swollen. He tried to pull his coat off as quickly as he could, but was shocked to see that his arm really was swollen, so much so that it seemed his coat could barely contain it. The pain from his arm literally blinded him for a few seconds. When he was able to see again, he had to blink repeatedly before he was convinced that what he was seeing was real.

          Salthanath's hand now scarcely resembled a hand at all. His skin had been replaced by blue scales, and his fingernails discarded in favor of sharp, black talons. A fresh wave of pain brought him back down to his knees as his vision momentarily darkened once again. When he opened his eyes again, two large, scaly paws at the ends of his arms greeted him instead of hands, half-buried in the bloodstained snow. Something churned in his belly painfully, causing him to scream louder than he thought possible. His scream ended in a choking gurgle as he heaved his stomach's contents out onto the snow, along with more blood.

          His throat was getting sore from so much screaming, yet it seemed that as he grew hoarser, his screams just got louder and louder. Then several things happened all within the matter of a few seconds. A searing pain in Salthanath's gums caused him to scream again, but this time his shriek became literally a deep roar as his teeth were pushed out and replaced by long, curved fangs. At the same time, he felt the bones in his face crack and expand as they reshaped themselves into a long muzzle to contain his new teeth. Salthanath could hardly believe what was happening to him, but he didn't have much time to think about it between the crippling waves of pain. Suddenly, an agony far beyond anything he had previously felt erupted in his spine, and everything went black.

          When Salthanath awoke, it took him a moment to get his bearings. He slowly lifted his chin up out of the snow and opened his eyes, blinking a few times in the afternoon light.  "Afternoon?!" he thought with a start. How long had he been out? As he leapt to his feet, he realized something was very wrong.  He had four of them. Salthanath stumbled as the full realization of everything that had transpired finally hit him. As he did so his long, scaly tail slammed into a tree, snapping it in half like a twig. He yelped in surprise and spun around. "When did I get a tail?" he thought. He craned his neck around and saw not just a tail, but also a sleek and powerful blue-scaled leg with thick black and red fur on its back, ending in four sharp black and red claws. Moreover, the trees behind him that had towered over him before now barely reached his new knees. Looking downwards, a few meters from the tree that he had knocked over, he was able to spot his snowboard, now seeming barely the size of a toothpick compared to his new body.

          Salthanath could hardly believe that he had grown so large, much less that he had changed into what was unmistakably the form of a sea dragon. Now that the shock had worn off a little, he was filled with childish wonder and awe. He had always known deep within him that dragonkind was real, but he would never in his wildest dreams have dared to hope to actually become one of them! Craning his neck around again, he had to admire his new lean, sleek, scaly body. Everything was just as he had imagined it, from his crimson plated underbelly, to the length of his tail, to his powerful- WINGS!!!  How could he have forgotten about them?  It took him a moment to figure out how to use the unfamiliar muscles, but soon the bright blue sails snapped open, catching the cool air and tugging back slightly as a result. It was all Salthanath could do not to burst into tears of joy.

          Despite his great joy at his transformation, Salthanath knew he couldn't allow himself to be seen like this. It was a wonder that he hadn't already been spotted. He must have fallen unconscious around enough trees to mask his form, he silently reasoned. But where could he go? As much as he wanted to, Salthanath knew that he couldn't risk learning to fly so near to a populated area. He would have to travel on foot, though at his new size, he could move at many times his normal pace. After a few moments of thinking, he came up with the perfect solution: the ocean. He was a sea dragon of course, and it would be fun to learn to swim as a dragon. Listening for a few moments, Salthanath was able to hear the faint crash of waves far off in the distance. His enhanced hearing no doubt had allowed him to pick up the sound of the surf from miles away. He eagerly set off in that direction, navigating the treacherous terrain of the mountains with ease. In less than an hour, he was able to slip into the water undetected by any human. Salthanath's belly rumbled. Perhaps he should go fishing...