David cracked his eyes open. He was lying on his back. Sticks poked through his scales, stabbing his shoulders and back. He stared at the canopy of branches above him. The leaves were hues of red, yellow, and orange.

He wasn't dead.

The golden blood covering him had dried. Even the scratches from the thicket no longer stung. 

"David Delmer of Blolanda."

He turned his head to the side, not lifting it off the ground. It felt like if he moved his neck too far it would snap. "What?" His voice sounded rusty like it hadn't been used in hours.

A girl was standing on the other side of the path David was lying across. Her deep brown skin stood out against the tree bark behind her. Colorful beads dangled at the end of the braids in her hair. David imagined they would clink if she moved. Right now they were silent.

David blinked trying to understand who she was. He felt that he had seen her before, but couldn't place her. She looked older than David, certainly taller, but not as old as Aiden or Tucker. Seeing him staring at her, she smiled. With how still she had been standing before David was surprised the smile looked natural.

"I can see the question is in your eyes. My name?" She glanced down before continuing. "Of my names, I tend to favor Life."

David sat up and his head spun.

"Life?" He asked. Was she here to take him? Is this what happened when you died?

His quick movement didn't startle her. The beads in her hair stayed silent. Her smile didn't falter. "I suppose that does depend on your perspective. There are some who call me Death."

David narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand." No one he knew had ever called the Shape Shifter of Life any other name. 

David realized that he should have landed where his parents were. He glanced around. They were distinctly not there. It was the same path though, that much David was sure of. The trees all looked familiar if not a little older, just a little thicker. 

Life blinked. "There is someplace we need to be. Follow me, and I'll lead you to a new family."

The young dragon scrambled to his feet. "What if I don't want a new family?"

Life turned her head to the side. The beads on the end of her braids clinked together, trying to play a song. The pure silence broke. Singing birds and chirping insects came into the background.

David tried to maintain eye contact with the girl. But when he looked her straight in the eyes, he saw a swirling mass of everything. He saw every color at the same time, yet her eyes still looked like a solid white. It was overwhelming. The young dragon looked away from the eyes of Life. 

David's thoughts turned to Tucker. He thought of Aiden, though they hadn't talked much lately. David would have given anything for anyone, just so he wasn't alone. 

He hugged himself. 

Why weren't his parents' bodies here? 

"David, they won't hurt you." Life's smile was gone. "The people who killed your parents are gone. They died with all the dragons."

David's eyes widened. "The dragons? They're dead?" He tightened his hug. 

"Only the strongest dragons can change their age." Life continued. "If you are to live among the humans you must age as they would age. Year by year."

David frowned. That wasn't an answer to his question. "Why? Why... why did I live?" 

Again, Life smiled, but this time it didn't reach her eyes. "I see more of the present than the future or the past, but you..." Her smile disappeared. "Your future is quite consistent. I would almost say someone planned it.  So that is a question I am not the one to answer." 

David looked into her eyes again. "What?" 

She didn't say anything in response. All he saw was cold, unfeeling white eyes. 

He quickly looked away again. "This isn't right." He said. Tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to imagine something else, anything else. But he could only see his parents' bodies. "Why didn't they survive? The dragons..." A tear escaped his eyes. "They should have been able to save themselves."

"The past can't be changed." Life said. She made no move to comfort the child in front of her. 

"Why change the past when you can change the future?" David raised a hand to wipe his own cheek. "That's what Dad always said." The memory wasn't comforting now. 

"All the dragons are dead, David Delmer," Life replied, ignoring David's addition. "Walk towards the city, and you'll meet a woman and a man. They will take you in."

"I don't want another family." David let his arms drop. His eyes widened. "I want to see my mom again."

Life didn't respond. She disappeared as if her presence had only been a trick of the light. David was surrounded by shadows cast by the leaves above him. The Shape Shifter had been more comforting than the empty trees.

All the birds seemed to be screaming.

David spun around once then ran. 

***

He ran until his legs let him drop. Dried leaves on the ground crunched under his weight. He dug his fingernails into the dirt. 

"Why didn't Time protect them?" He whispered. He couldn't hold back his tears. Hadn't his father been the Keeper of Time? Didn't that make him someone worth saving?

A voice in the back of David's mind asked, "Where are your Shape Shifters now?"

David curled up in a ball and tried to forget everything. He tried to forget Tucker, Aiden, his family. He tried to forget it all. 

Everything was engraved in his memories though. 

His mother's voice telling him about the three Shape Shifters: Life, Time, and Hope. His father's gentle instructions on how to steal.

"Distract them," Jeremy had said. "Distract them; make them think something else is going on."

The memory of his father's voice wasn't comforting now. David curled into a tighter ball. He wondered if he just laid there long enough that Life would change her mind. Would she come back and take him?

The sun set, but he didn't notice; the darkness behind his eyelids was the same.

He wondered who was screaming. He wished the screaming would stop.

***

Chatter brought David back to the present. The young dragon blinked at the darkness around him. 

"We should have stayed on the normal path." A woman said. "It's already dark. We probably got lost."

A deeper voice responded, "This is a shortcut."

"And who exactly told you this was a good shortcut?" The woman cut her words short and sharp. "Furthermore how much did they ask for in return?"

An instinct to hide made David uncurl himself. He forced himself between two bushes on the edge of the path. Before going further he turned to face the path. He considered changing into an animal that was smaller, but he waited too long. 

A man and a woman not wearing scales walked into his view. Humans... If he changed now they would notice. 

The man spoke. "We were visiting your family. Your uncle told me about this—"

"Did you ever think that maybe the..." The woman started. 

David held his breath. The woman stared straight at him. David wanted to shrink, and he could feel his skin tingle telling him he was about to change. He stopped himself. He didn't need to give them any more evidence that he was a dragon other than his scales. If they attacked him, he needed the element of surprise.

Humans were dangerous after all. 

The woman chewed on her lip and put her bag down. She stepped towards David. The young dragon shrank back. His teeth sharpened in his mouth. 

Her eyes widened. "By the Shape Shifters, it's a child."

David swallowed but said nothing. The man moved towards David as well.

"His clothes are torn." The woman stuck her lip out. "I think we should bring him to the city. He looks like he needs help."

David glanced down at the woman's mention of his clothes. He was surprised to see that his scales were gone and in their place was a brown cloth outfit. His clothes didn't feel any different though. The golden blood was gone too, replaced with dirt and mud. 

It wasn't important. David needed to focus on the threat in front of him.

The man frowned, "Why are you talking about him like he's not there." The man had a well-trimmed beard, and his grey eyes showed enough kindness that David felt his muscles loosen. The woman had the same warmth in her brown eyes.

The woman's eyes widened, "I am so sorry. What's your name?"

"David." He swallowed. "David Delmer."

"Where are your parents?" The woman asked, something like pity showing in her eyes.

David glanced down the path. He could still run... No, he didn't know what humans could do. "Gone" His throat closed.

"Honey, it's a good thing we took this route, or we might not have been able to help this poor child." The woman's offer of help shocked David and he shrunk back more. The woman reached out to give David a hand. She smiled. "I'm sorry, my little child."

David stared at her hand. The humans hate the dragons. You should never approach a human. The humans are dangerous.

The humans are monsters. 

But they looked so kind...

Shaking, David raised his hand to hers.