Growth Spurt

Growth Spurt
By: Drakin Kovar

The sun broke over the chilly roof tops of the New York skyline. It would be another couple hours though before it worked its way down the streets and canyons of the tall buildings.
In the residential area, in a simple building is where our story begins.
A loud alarm blared as a red clawed hand smashed it. Jake Long yawned and sat up in bed, scratching his black hair and trying to wake up. It'd been almost ten years since he'd become the American Dragon and protector of all the hidden magical creatures of New York. And even though he nearly had a decade of experience under his belt, he still had a few surprises in store.
The first big surprise of the day was his hand. He couldn't recall commanding it to change to dragon claws.
"Jake," Came his father's voice, "It's time to get up."
Sh*t, Jake grimaced and hid his hands under the covers as his dad opened the door.
"Come on son. Don't wanna' be late for you classes now." Jakes dad seemed to bounce with joy.
"Sure Dad," Jake forced himself to speak while willing his hand back to human shape. "Just give me a bit to get ready."
"Sure thing."
Jake let out a sigh as his dad left and pulled out his hands, both were human for now.

Jake rode his skateboard to the college campus. Now at 19, he'd managed to scrape out of High school a couple years ago and was midway through his first college year. Thankfully the college had been close to home so he could live there, save cash on a dorm, and still get to classes easily.
All the way to class he'd been wondering why he'd changed and why it took such an effort to change back. Sure he'd had similar problems when he started learning to control his powers, but why was he having trouble now?
Jake soon met up with his African-American friend Trixy, one of the only two humans who actually knew who Jake was and understood a bit of the magical world.
"Yo Trix," Jake grinned jumping off his board and landing next to her. "Anything up?"
"Not much, Jakey. I did hear that we're gonna be having a 'maturity test' in psych class today."
"I think I've heard about that. That's where they test or mental age versus our physical age, right?"
"I think so."
"Sounds interesting. So, how's Spud been doing?"
"He's fine." She grinned. "it's too bad he was held back. I'd hate to still be in High School."
"Yah, I know." Jake grinned as he followed her into the math classroom and took his usual seat by her near the back. "I'd hate being stuck with Rotwood again. I can't believe he's still got a job with how crazy he acts."
Trixy only had time to nod before the teacher came in the room and class started.

The rest of the day passed normally. Well, until the last class Jake had. English.
The class was half over when a familiar tingle passed through Jakes left hand. Hiding it under the table quickly, he felt it once again assume dragon shape. His red scales flowing over his hand as black claws sprouted from the tips of his fingers.
Jake looked at his claws worryingly. Why was this happening?
Leaning over to Trixy, he whispered. "Trix, I gotta get outa here."
She looked puzzled until he showed her his hand under the desk.
"If anybody asks, say I had some bad Thai food or I got sick. I'll meet you at gramps place as soon as possible."
Trixy nodded as Jake excused himself from the room, complaining of stomach cramps. However, he'd barely made it to the hall before another tingle passed through him, followed by the feeling of his dragon tail sliding down the inside of his pants leg.
Despite not being able to shift back, Jake tried to concentrate on what to do. Climbing up the nearby stairs, he made his way to the roof, tearing off the lock on the door and sprinting out as he felt the biggest tingle yet pass through him. Less than seconds later, his whole body shifted to his dragon form, his clothes vanishing with the magical energy that surrounded him.
Jake sighed and tried to relax as he looked himself over. His dragon self looked almost as it always had. Red scaled body with golden belly scales, a ridge of soft green spikes that traveled from his head down his back and tail. Even his black hair with green highlights and two under-bite fangs were there. Though personally, he didn't much care for the fangs in the first place.
Everything seemed almost as normal as the last time, but there was a slight difference Jake noticed as he stood next to the door to the roof. Normally in dragon form, he was twice his human self size. But now, he had to be at least a foot taller, pushing ten feet or more.
"I hope Gramps knows what's going on. Because I'm sure getting freaked out." Jake muttered as he stretched his wings and flew off the roof, careful to move from one rooftop to the next to stay hidden. As he traveled though, Jake felt some new feeling creep into his mind. Unlike the natural tingle of the transformation, it felt like he had an electric current running through him, constantly buzzing in his ears.
By the time he dived into the ally next to the store his Grandfather owned, Jake was stunned to see he'd actually expanded up another foot.
"Yo Gramps! Fu! I got a big problem here. Emphasis on 'big'." Jake called as he ducked while slipping in the back door.
"Whoa kid, you been taking sterioids or something?" Fu, the magical shar-pei dog smirked from his nearby bed.
"This is no joke Fu, I need Gramps. Where is he?" Jake tried to keep calm, but the fact that he'd grown a foot on the way there, and the electric feeling was still running through him was starting to worry him.
"I'm here young one." Jakes grandfather nodded, sliding in slowly, his small human form looking all the smaller next to Jakes larger body. "So I see it is time."
"What do you mean?" Jake asked, a twinge of worry in his voice now.
"Calm yourself Jake, I will explain. Please, sit down."
Jake, not trusting his larger size to a chair, sat on the floor and tried to calm his nerves as he explained about his sudden growth and not being able to shift to human form.
"Yes, I knew this time would come Jake. Just relax." Jakes Grandfather looked the younger dragon over carefully for a long minute, as though he was both studying Jake and trying to find the right words to say.
"Jake," he began slowly, "You know by now that all things develop in different ways. Many creatures are similar, growing in stages over a set amount of time. For dragons, we have a time where we are considered children up to a specific point. Then, over a period of three days, we undergo a special form of growth. For you see, up until now, you have been a child in size. Now you will gain for full dragon potential."
"So, I'm about to go through Draconic puberty?" Jake asked feeling a little puzzled but more relieved.
"Yes young one. It will happen in stages. You have experienced the first three symptoms of it. Shifting to your natural form, being unable to alter shape, and experiencing the first small growth. The next stages will happen over one day each. We are fortunate that the last day falls on February 29th."
"Why is that fortunate?" Jake asked puzzled, swearing he could feel himself another couple inches bigger since he'd arrived at the shop.
"It is the most magical day of the year. Every four years, all magical creatures are allowed to do whatever they want on this day. Even interact with humans. Because at the end of the day, all the creatures pool their energy to reverse the flow of time itself for one day. They retain the memory, but humans do not."
"Ok. So why is that important for my growth?"
"Well Jake, it's because of the stages you will go through. First, your body will need to store mass and energy to be used in the change, so you will probably get very hungry for a whole day. Second, that mass will convert to solid tissues and fibers in your body, a easy launching off point for the final part. And lastly, your body will convert that energy and fiber into everything needed to grow into your new size."
"Wow, how big will I get Gramps?"
"Hard to say Jake. I've known of Dragons that have reached mountainous proportions."
"Then, how come your form is small like all the other Dragons I've seen?"
"Due to the current nature of the world Jake, we've had to fit in. There is a spell I will teach you after this that will allow you to control your size. But for now, we need to get you to a place to prepare for the next part of your growth."