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The Misadventures of an Unexpected Dragon

By Theo Winters

1:

"Hey Felecia," I called out as I climbed up the stairs, taking them two at a time as I tucked my keys into my pocket. I was expecting her to respond as her car was parked in the garage, but there was no response. I peeked into the living room, checking the couch. Usually I would find her curled up there, reading a book and listening to her headphones, but not this time... though her book was still laying on the coffee table.

"Hon?" I called out from the top of the stairs, glancing around the kitchen then moving down to the bedroom, but there was still no sign of her. Frowning, I made my way back to the living room, pulling my phone out of my pocket to see if she had sent me anything, but that came up blank. This wasn't like her, she would usually leave a note or something, but not just take off without any sort of message.

I dropped down onto the couch, tapping the side of my muzzle as I wrapped my tail around my hips. A second later I heard something shuffling behind the couch. It sounded like something was trying to hide from me, but there wasn't much room back there, not enough for a grown woman, that was for sure.

Slowly, I turned around and looked over the back of the couch, coming face to face with the familiar snout of a kobold. The little lizard let out a yelp of surprise and leapt upwards, climbing up over my shoulder to leap to the floor, then rushing off down the hallway.

Rubbing my shoulder where the kobold's small claws had dug in, I stood up and started to walk carefully down the hallway. "I'm not going to hurt you," I called out. He must have been from the clan, which was a surprise in and of itself, they usually didn't show up on my front doorstep if they wanted to talk to me, instead they just mailed me a letter. Something must have happened that made it important enough for Kiden to send someone to deliver the message in person.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I called out again, slowly making my way down the hallway, pausing to listen at each open door. "Are you here to deliver a message?"

"Message... yes... message for Thorn," the kobold called out, the high pitched and slightly raspy voice echoing down the hallway.

I rolled my eyes. "I am Thorn."

That didn't get any sort of response.

Reaching the bedroom, I glanced inside the door. I couldn't see the kobold, but I was pretty sure he was hiding somewhere in the room. "Okay, let me go put on the tail cuff and you'll see," I said as I reached down under the bed, taking out the large suitcase that held all my various transformation toys. It only took me a couple of moments to dial in the combination to open it, and remove the golden tail cuff from inside.

Closing the case, I set it aside then sat down on the bed, pulling my tail into my own lap. "Okay, you should watch this." I said.

A few moments later, I saw what looked like a hint of eyes peeking through the slats of the closet. Satisfied that I had an audience, I undid the tail cuff and slid it around my tail. At the moment, the cuff looked like a very expensive piece of jewelry, about an inch wide and made of a thin gold mesh with a few small gems spaced around it. It had a look that made it impossible to ignore, part of what made it such an effective trap when it had first caught me.

I pulled the cuff closed and snapped the clasp in place, a chill running through my body as the magic washed out from the metal and into me. Unlike many of my other transformations, this one seemed to happen in only a few moments. I could feel my fur flattening down, the tan pelt darkening into brown scales. At the same time, I was shrinking where I sat, my tail swelling under my paws even as my mane and tail tuft simply fell away. Even my clothing shifted around my body, changing from being mass produced to being handmade, with uneven stitches and rough edges, giving everything a bit of a ratty look to it. Even the tail cuff changed, becoming a thick leather that was stitched tight to my scales and covered in softly glowing runes.

I shook my head, working away the mental changes as they washed over my mind before falling away, leaving me still as myself. Opening my eyes, I could see that my wide leonine muzzle had been replaced by a thinner kobold snout, and a quick check over my body proved the rest of me was now a kobold as well. I slid down off the bed to stand on the floor, my head just coming to the top of the bed. It was a weird change in perspective, going from five foot ten to two foot six.

"Okay, I'm here," I said, my voice having gotten a bit higher pitched thanks to the change. I wouldn't have called it squeaky, but it was a voice that could only belong to a kobold.

"Thorn?" the other kobold asked from inside the closet, this time saying the word in Draconic instead of English, something that sounded far more natural to my ears.

"That's me," I responded as I walked up to the closet door. "It's safe to come out now."

A few seconds later the closet door slid open just enough for the other kobold to look out at me. It took a few seconds for me to realize that my guest was a female kobold. Sending a kobold was odd enough, but sending a female was even stranger. They were only a dozen or so in the clan, and usually stayed in the rookery. This must have been a very important message.

She shivered a bit, still looking nervous even as she took a step closer to me. She was wearing a long robe that was tied in the front with what looked like short cut pants under them, and what might have been a hood bunched around her neck. There were a number of black markings on her dusty brown scales, giving her a unique look. Maybe that was why she was chosen for this.

There was a scroll held tightly in her hand. I reached down and gently took it from her, undoing the ribbon that held it closed. "What's your name?" I asked her.

"Fern," she said, half whispering the word.

I nodded and gave her a smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Fern," I said as I unrolled the scroll. It took a few moments for Kiden's jagged writing to become legible to me.

Thorn, the clan has recently been visited by an honored guest who has become curious about you, and wishes to meet with you tonight. There is a teleportation spell on the back of this scroll, and an item for your mate if she wishes to join you.

Do not delay.

Kiden.

That was different, I hadn't ever had an official invitation before, at least not like this, and who was the 'honored guest' that was visiting? Even inviting Felecia to come with me was unexpected, he had never even suggested bringing her to the caves before. I had no idea what he meant by an item for her.

I looked back up at Fern. "What was this item?" I asked her.

She took a couple of steps back, digging the claws of her toe into the carpet. "Item?" she asked, the look of confusion on her face seemed to be honest, like she really didn't know what I was asking about. At the same time, she reached up to touch one of the small horns along the sides of her head. There was a small feather tied to the horn by a thin piece of leather, allowing it to dangle next to her brow. It was kind of blended in with the color of her scales, causing my eyes to sort of slide off of it.

"I..." she started to say, touching the feather again as she fidgeted slightly from leg to leg, her eyes darting left and right, like she was trying to think of any kind of answer. I couldn't help but notice that she had small flecks of gold in her eyes, just like Felecia did.

It was then that I finally noticed something that I should have seen right away. The black marks on Fern's scales were in a familiar pattern, including two that ran down from her eyes and along the side of her muzzle. The same sort of 'tears' that a cheetah had.

"Felicia?" I asked, looking closer at her. The cloak she was wearing wasn't just a cloak, it had sleeves as well, and I could see hints of red and green in the material that it was made from. A quick glance at her tail showed she didn't have a tail cuff, but there were two leather bands around her tail where she normally wore her gold and silver rings.

Fern just seemed to freeze in place, the only movement the slight vibration of her tail. She was scared, and might bolt away at any second. I understood why, if the item Kiden had sent was like my tail cuff, it would have given her the mind of a kobold, and being confronted with it would be very confusing.

I stepped up to her, gently placing my hands on her shoulders. "It's okay. You're okay," I said, leaning my head down to press my forehead to hers. "You're not in trouble Fern, everything is fine. I just want to talk to Felecia," I said, wondering why my clan leader would send my girlfriend one of the cursed items. A small part of me wondered if this was some sort of way to try and convince me to stay as a kobold, but I knew better then that. It was something Kiden and I had spoken about at length before in the past, and he was happy to have me even as a part time kobold.

Fern shivered a little under my touch. "I... there was... another message," she said, the words coming slowly, almost like they were escaping instead of being spoken. At the same time, she reached into her cloak and pulled out a wad of parchment.

Taking the parchment from her, I gently unfolded and smoothed it out, revealing blocky English letters that were crammed a little too close together. I was fairly sure it was Kor's handwriting, even if the clan's high wizard wasn't good at English.

Thorn's mate. Wear this, make you kobold. Temporary, keep self.

I looked it over again, then checked the back to see if there was anything else, but it was blank. It seemed that whatever the item had been, it wasn't meant to turn her mentally into a kobold, yet that's exactly what had happened. It was possible that whatever Kor had done to stop the mental changes had either failed, or hadn't been powerful enough.

"Thank you for giving me this," I said, holding the parchment in one paw while reaching out to run my other down her thin arm.

She shifted a little bit, starting to pull away from me. I allowed my hands to slip away from her arm, I didn't want to make her feel trapped, I didn't want to scar her.

"Are you okay?"

She rocked back and forth on her feet. "I'm fine," she half whispered.

"Are you sure?" I asked, leaning down until our foreheads were almost touching. This close, I could smell her scent, different than it normally was, and rather strong. It wasn't an unpleasant scent, and I could still catch small hints of the cheetah under the kobold.

Fern frowned, looking down at her paws then back up at me. "I don't know. I'm feeling so confused right now."

Gently I grasped her shoulders, stroking my thumbs against her scales. "Just look at me please?"

Her eyes flicked up towards me for a moment.

"You know me, you know I'm Thorn, and you know I'm Theo. Just like I know that you are Fern, and that you are Felicia. Do you know that too?"

For a moment I saw a flash of her eyes as they changed color, turning green for only a moment before returning to the typical kobold reddish brown. That was a good sign, that meant that she was still in there, just under the surface. It might even be possible to bring her back up.

"That's it," I said softly, leaning down even closer until the tips of our snouts were touching as I stroked my hand along her arm, feeling the scales through the thin fabric of her cloak. "Just look at me and think about Felecia, and Theo. It's all there for you, just reach in and you'll find it." I said, taking her through some of the same exercises I had learned to help keep my own mental changes at bay.

She tried to look away, but I reached up and held her head in place, though as gently as possible. Her eyes locked onto mine before she slowly blinked. "Theo..." she said softly. "Thorn. Fern, Felicia," she whispered the names, the confusion starting to clear for her face. "You're Theo, and... and I'm Felicia," she said, her eyes returning to their familiar green.

"Welcome back," I said, not looking away from her eyes.

"I feel weird," she said, reaching up to touch the side of my face, then her own. "There was an earring in the package, and the letter. It turned me into a kobold?"

I nodded, giving her a smile. "And a rather pretty one at that. Apparently, your name is Fern. I would have picked something more flowery, but I can't really object."

Fern let out a soft laugh. "Pity it's not Rose, then we would have matched," she said, kissing the tip of my snout for a moment. "This feels really weird, like a headache, but without any pain."

"Those would be the mental changes," I said, stroking my thumb across her cheek. "I think they were stronger than Kor expected. He was probably trying to make sure you would know how to be a kobold, but instead it still went all the way. It's not as strong as mine was if I can talk you back."

She gave me a toothy smile that was really cute on her short muzzle. "I wonder what I look like?" She asked, then turned away from me, slipping easily out of my hands before I could stop her. As soon as she turned away, she froze and slumped down slightly.

"Felicia?" I asked, reaching out of her.

A moment later she turned back to look at me, her eyes back to the reddish-brown color.

She was going to need Kor to fix the spell, luckily that was exactly where we were going, so that was one problem that would be quick to solve. "Okay Fern. Are you ready to go back to the clan?"

Fern wrapped her arms around herself, holding them tight to her body as her tail dropped to the floor. "Please... this place is strange."

"Then let's go," I said, reaching out and gently taking her wrist in my hand. She sighed softly at the touch, and suddenly leaned up against me, her head resting on my chest. I took the original message from Kiden out of my pocket and unfolded it, then turned it over. Drawn onto the back was a familiar looking collection of runes surrounding the shape of a kobold palm.

Taking a deep breath, I wrapped one arm around Fern, holding her close to me as I touched my hand to the imprint on the paper. As soon as I made contact, the runes flared with darkness that reached out and engulfed us. For only a moment we were in a pure pitch-black space, the kind of darkness that only existed deep under the earth, where light would never exist. It fell away just as fast as it came, revealing the inside of a rough-cut cave lined with small tables and shelves filled with small boxes and jars.

Kor was sitting at one of his many worktables, his head lifting up as we arrived. "Thorn! I'm pleased to see that you've arrived," the old sorcerer said, standing up and walking towards me, his long robes swirling around his body with every step he took. I didn't know exactly how old he was, but he showed signs of his age, the brown in his scales having faded to a grayish tan, while in many places old and faded scars were visible. He walked with a slight limp, one that was usually barely noticeable.

"Kor," I said, relaxing my arm from around Fern.

"And I assume this lovely lady must be your mate," he said, giving Fern a smile. She looked up at him with a mixture of surprise and awe, like she was seeing something familiar for the first time.

"That is the normal way of things, but I think your spell was too strong, as she's pretty much all kobold at the moment," I explained.

"Oh dear, that wasn't my intention," he said, pulling out a crooked wand from the sleeve of his robe. At least I think it was a wand, it could have been an old and well-worn wooden spoon. "What's your name?" he asked her.

"Fern," she replied, her eyes quickly looking down at her feet.

Kor started slowly circling the wand over the top of her head, the tip of it starting to glow pale green. "And what is your position in the clan?"

A frown played over her face as she started rocking again from foot to foot. "I'm not sure. I should be in the rookery, but I'm not. I'm..." she trailed off, struggling to find an answer. The sorcerer was, after all, her superior in the clan, and she wanted to respect him by answering his question.

"It's okay that you don't know," he said, the light on the wand growing a little brighter. "And what is your relation to Thorn?"

All she could do was offer a shrug at that, giving me a quick look out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to Kor.

"Thorn, please say your mate's name," he instructed.

I placed my hand on Fern's shoulder. "Felicia," I stated.

She jumped as the glow from the wand suddenly flared bright enough to be blinding, though it only lasted an instant before fading away. As it did, I felt her stand up a bit taller. "Oh, come on. My mind needs to make up its mind," Felicia said, then paused for a moment and looked back at Kor. "I know you, don't I. You're... Kor? How do I know you?"

"That's right," he said, beaming happily. "You know me because of the mental imprint, but it's far more powerful than I wanted them to be. I will have to repair them. I would rather you stay Theo's mate with a bit of kobold, then a kobold with the echo of Theo's mate."

Felecia nodded, turning to look at me, her green eyes glowing slightly under the dim lights of the cave. She looked me up and down, then glanced back at Kor, who was already standing at one of his other workspaces. "How long were you Thorn before you became Theo again?"

"About three weeks," I replied.

She nodded, biting the edge of her lip as she thought. It was a very kobold-like motion, and it looked good on her. "And you enjoyed it?"

I nodded.

Her tail curled down slightly as she turned back to look at Kor, "Then, I think for this visit I want to be mostly Fern, so I can see what the clan is like as a kobold. So I can see why Theo likes being a part of it. Can you do that?"

"I can, but are you sure that is wise?" he asked, looking between her and myself. All I could do was shrug at that. She was her own person, and if she wanted to experience being a kobold, then that was her right. Just so long as she was back to normal by the time we went home.

Kor looked down at the parchment on his table, shifting it around a bit, and drawing a few new markings on the page. "If I am to do this, then I want to make one special modification," he stated, tapping his wand against the page, the writing on it glowing for a moment.

"Okay," she replied.

The sorcerer moved up to stand in front of her, lifting his wand back over her head. "Now close your eyes and think about Thorn. Not Theo as he is as a lion, but Thorn the kobold."

Felicia nodded, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes. Her tail was slowly flicking from side to side as the claws on one foot tapped at the floor.

Lifting his wand, Kor said a few words in a language that didn't sound like it was possible to actually speak, then gently tapped it on the center of her forehead. She froze in place for a moment, then let out a sigh of air.

"It's done," he stated.

"Fern?" I asked, gently touching her shoulder.

She turned her head to face me, her eyes once more the brownish-red, but I could see small rings of green on the outside edge. They also went wide the moment that she saw me. "Thorn!" she cried out, then leapt upon me. The force of her impact threw me back to the floor, her arms wrapping around me and her lips pressing eagerly on my muzzle.

I was surprised by the kiss, but I was still quick to return it. It lasted for a far-too-short amount of time before she broke the kiss and let out a pleased yip. "Oh, my lovely mate. I'm so happy to see you!" she said.

Oh! That was why Kor wanted her to think about me, so that we would be mates in the clan. "So am I, Fern, and you look beautiful," I said. That wasn't an exaggeration, as a kobold she was drop dead gorgeous. I kissed her again and let out my own yip of joy as she pressed herself closer to me.

"It would probably be best not to keep Kiden waiting for you two," Kor said with a chuckle.

We pulled apart with a joint sigh, then Fern got up off of me, helping me back to my feet. "Okay, let's go see what the clan leader wants of me." I said.

I took her hand in mine, our tails brushing against each other as we left Kor's workroom and started through the caves. Fern was looking around with wide eyes as we made our way down the rough-cut corridor, everything nearly new to her. I remembered what it was like when I had first been changed, everything was old and familiar, yet at the same time, I had never seen any of it before. We regularly passed other kobolds, and nearly all of them gave us a second look as we went past. There were only about three hundred of us in the clan, so they all could tell that she was new.

While the majority of the clan lived in bunk rooms with a dozen other kobolds, Kiden had his own room in the caves, as was proper for the leader of the clan. It was actually closer to the surface then I would have expected, but the clan had lived here for at least a century and it was probably something cut out from the mountain early on. I didn't know exactly how deep the caves and mines went, but it was at least half a mile under Tiger Mountain.

I squeezed her paw as we walked. "How do you feel, hon? How is your head?"

Fern cocked her head slightly to the side as she thought about it. "It's fine, I don't feel as confused anymore. I... I still remember who I should be, but I'm not her now, I'm me."

That made me smile, glad to know she was aware of being Felicia, that would make things easier when the time came to go home. "I'm glad you're you," I told her, and kissed the top of her head, which caused her to giggle happily and press herself closer to me.

We finally reached the entrance to Kiden's.... well, I wouldn't have called it a throne room. It was more like a small banquet hall, as the times I had spoken to him in the past he had always offered some food. I sometimes wondered if he had been transformed as well, but he wouldn't even be aware of it if he was.

I pushed the large stone door open with my free hand, the massive slab swinging inwards in almost perfect silence. It always surprised me just how perfectly balanced it was, allowing it to move like it weighed as much as a feather. The surface was nearly smooth, only marred by a century worth of kobold claws sliding against it, giving it a unique texture.

Together, Fern and I stepped inside, the door swinging closed just as silently behind us. The dim light of the room revealed a long stone table, at the head of which sat Kiden. A pile of thin cords was spread out in front of him, from which he was carefully weaving a rope. He was larger than the rest of the clan by a good foot, and instead of the collection of small horns on his head, he had two large ones that looked almost draconic in nature.

He looked up as we came in, a smile flashing across his muzzle. "Thorn, I'm glad to see that you came promptly, and I assume this is your mate?" he asked, setting his work down on the table.

I nodded and motioned towards her. "This is Fern, and yes, she is my mate."

This caused him to raise an eyeridge as he carefully took her in. "I see, I thought you said her name was Felecia?"

"It is, but she's Fern at the moment. The mental parts of the spell were still a bit too strong. Kor adjusted it a bit, but she wanted to stay like this for a while, to be a member of the clan," I explained, squeezing her paw.

He nodded, and motioned us to come towards him, which we quickly did. Once we were within reach, he gently cupped Fern's muzzle in his paw, lifting it to look her in the eyes. "How do you like being a part of our clan?"

Fern smiled, nodding as her thick tail swayed from side to side. "I love it! Thank you for taking me in!" she said, giddy enough that she was bouncing on her heels.

Our clan leader just nodded his head at this, his smile a very pleased one. "And what part do you like best?"

She didn't even have to think about it. "I really like making the traps. So much scuttling and hiding things to make them perfectly invisible until it's sprung!" she said, the joy evident in her voice. It was like when she went out dancing, like everything in the world was just perfect for her, even if it was only for a moment.

"Personally, I like the mining," I added with a shrug, only to get a quick whack on the hip from Fern.

Kiden just chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "You really do like it, don't you Thorn? Getting your claws dirty in the rocks and coal?"

"It's honest work," I said, a hint of blush lining the scales of my cheeks.

"I'm always surprised that you do not remain as you are. You clearly enjoy being a part of the clan, and you always miss it when you have to go. It seems like being a kobold is far more your calling then doing... what is it you do when you're a lion?" he asked.

"Computers," I said, though I had to speak the word in English as there wasn't anything even close in Draconic.

He stuck his tongue out. "Yes, those things. Clearly, they don't agree with you as much as being a kobold does," he said, collecting the cords off the table. "Please, sit."

We did so, sitting together on one side of the long table. "So, who is this honored guest who wanted to see me? Or was this just an excuse for a recruitment drive?"

"Him," Kiden said, motioning to the side of the room. Both Fern and I turned to look at what seemed to be an empty stone wall, but a second later it just fell away in a wash of glitter which fell to the floor. It was a powerful illusion spell, and now that it was gone, I could see that a large cave had been carved out where the wall had been. A cave that was completely black, a cold wind whipping up to wash towards us, bringing something that I had never smelled before. It went right into my brain in a way very few other things ever had in my life, and I just knew exactly what it was.

"Dragon," Fern and I whispered at the same time. A moment later the creature in question stepped out of the darkness and into the room. He was big, maybe twenty feet long from nose to tail. I knew he was a dragon deep down in my soul, yet he didn't look like any sort of dragon I had ever seen before.

His scales were the same golden color as wheat, with dark green highlights on the outside of his wings. The wings themselves were large and leathery, yet they were covered with a thin layer of dark red feathers, with white lines running from the wrist to the trailing edge. A long tail whipped out behind him, covered in scales, the tip split into a V-shape that was also lined with red feathers. He had bird-like feet with long talons that clicked on the stone floor with every step he took. The talons on his front paws were long and nimble, looking more like fingers then anything else. His face was flat, like an owl, but with a human nose, eyes and a mouth, but with large fangs that pushed out from under his lips. Instead of the traditional horns, he had a huge set of twelve-point antlers, the felt still on them.

"Wow," I said, looking him over.

The dragon chuckled as he walked up to the other side of the table, lowering his head to look down at me, his eyes shining in the dim light. "So, you are the one who is a kobold, and yet not a kobold?"

It took me a few seconds to find the words to respond to him, "That's one way to put it. I'm usually a lion, but I like to moonlight like this," I said motioning to my current form. "Among other forms. I get changed a lot."

"Yes... I can smell it upon you. Such a wide variety of yourself," he said, making a show of sniffing the air as he spoke.

"And what are you?" I asked, leaning forward over the table. "I know you're a dragon, but you're unlike any dragon I've ever seen or heard of."

A touch of a frown crossed over his face, his wings flexing over his back. "My kind are rare, and have had very little contact with the smaller species of this world. What we call ourselves has no equivalent in your language, but in the past have been referred to as a Piasa Bird. If you wish to address me by a name, you may refer to me as Cheasequah."

The name... both names really, they were a little bit familiar to me, but not enough that I could remember from where. For the moment I decided it wasn't worth worrying about. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The dragon nodded and gave me a far too human smile. "I wish to say the same of meeting you, but you have yet to properly introduce yourself to me. Please, remove the spells and show me your true face," he phrased it like a request, but it was clear that he was expecting me to obey him without question.

I glanced at Fern, then over to Kiden, and he gave me a nod of approval. "Right," I said, reaching back to grab my tail and pulling it around into my lap, slowly working loose the laces that held the tail cuff in place. It took longer then it should have, partly because of how well knotted it was... but mostly because there was still a little bit of mental compulsion that made me want to keep it on.

Finally, I was able to work the last knot free and pulled the cuff away. The leather melted away in my hands, turning back into the golden tail band moments before my whole body followed suit, returning me to my normal lion self. It only took a few seconds, and it left me blinking as the room was plunged into near darkness.

"And now I can't see," I said, stuffing the tail band into my pocket now that my clothing was back to normal. I was still sitting on the stone bench next to the table, but now found it rather cramped against my legs.

Cheasequah let out a rather hearty laugh, something that almost seemed Santa-like in nature, yet also felt out of place coming from him. In moments, small orbs of light started to gather on the tips of his antlers, quickly becoming bright enough to allow me to see. It happened so fast that I found that it washed out my vision, and I slipped my fingers under my glasses to rub at my eyes.

As my eyes adjusted, I felt something wrapping tightly around my leg. Looking down I discovered that Fern was hugging me tightly. At her size she came up just to my hip and was looking at me with her wide eyes. "Theo," she said softly.

"Hey," I replied, reaching down to place my hand on the top of her head, feeling the rough scales against the pads.

"Mate," she added, leaning her head against my leg.

I couldn't help but smile at that. "Yes, we are," I said, gently rubbing my fingers between her horns before finally returning my attention back to Cheasequah.

The dragon was smiling down at me. He still towered over everything, but now that I was my normal size he didn't seem quite as imposing. True, he was still impressive, but not in the same way as he was before. That might have something to do with the fact that I wasn't a kobold anymore. They were kind of hardwired to basically worship dragons.

I offered out my hand to him. "Hello, Cheasequah. I'm Theo Winters. You wanted to speak with me?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he replied, sitting down across the table from me, but ignoring my offered hand. He sounded different; his voice softer but with some bass like undertones.

I nodded and crossed my arms, waiting for him to say something more. As I did Fern let go of my leg only to climb up into my lap, pressing her chin against my chest. I debated moving her back to the bench, but decided it wasn't worth it. She wasn't going to be causing any trouble, and unlike before, she knew who I was and who she really was. And I still thought she was attractive as a kobold, though now cute rather than sexy. It made me wish that she was more willing to be transformed, but I couldn't force her if she didn't want to.

Cheasequah and I looked at each other for a few more moments before Kiden cleared his throat, and motioned for me to say something.

Regardless of species, he was my clan leader, so I did as I was told. "So, why did you go through my clan to contact me? It's not as if I'm hard to find. You could always give me a call or just show up on my door. Heck, you could have even hit me up while I was out flying. Why go to all this effort to see me?"

The light on his antlers seemed to dance as he moved his head slightly. "I am not one for displaying myself in public. While dragons might walk amongst you, my kind are still very rare, and I do not wish the attention. I also did not know who you were, I had heard rumors of one not a kobold who wishes to be a kobold, so I could not, as you say, show up at your door. It seemed logical to have your clan leader arrange the meeting between us."

"In that case, would you prefer if I turned back?" I offered, shifting in the low bench, trying to find a way to be comfortable.

Cheasequah shook his head, his tail flicking at the ground at his feet. "That will not be necessary," he said. A moment later the floor started to rumble softly, creaking as the stone stable started to rise upwards, the bench I was sitting on shifting under me until I was able to sit comfortably at the table. At the same time the dragon's form started to blur and flow, growing larger by the moment. In what seemed like seconds he had gone from being three times my size to what must have been a hundred feet long. His antlers had grown along with him, sprouting more points that I could easily count, creating a tangled crown that rose up almost to the cleaning of the cave.

"Damn, you're impressive," I said, almost in a whisper.

He chuckled and nodded his head. Somewhere during the change his face had become a bit more animalistic, and he had gained a thick red beard as well as long pointed ears. "Your mate seems to agree."

I looked down at Fern. She was staring up at him, her mouth hanging open and her eyes almost glowing in awe. A quick glance at Kiden was enough to see that he was in much the same position, but was trying to hide it.

"Kobolds really have a thing for dragons," I said, giving Fern a quick hug.

"I have seen as much in the past; this is not the first clan that I have interacted with. It always felt strange for them to treat me like a near god, when I am nothing of the sort." He mused.

"I can respect that," I replied, relaxing my grip on my girlfriend turned kobold. "So, why did you want to talk to me, to find out why I enjoy being a kobold?"

Cheasequah nodded his head, leaning down closer to me. "Yes, yes I did. From what I have been told, it's a life very different from your own. One physical instead of mental, one where you work and toil deep under the earth. Being a kobold means you're not so much a person as a part of a whole. I find that I wish to understand what could drive a person to wish for that life."

That was an interesting question, and one that I thought about quite a lot in the past but never came up with a satisfactory answer. "It's hard to put into words, and I know that I see it differently when I was a kobold, but as a kobold I thought like a kobold, and to a kobold the clan is everything. It's good work, and while I wouldn't say it's the life I would want, I still enjoy doing it when I'm here."

The dragon slowly nodded his head, his claws tapping on the surface of the stone table. "Then this is all a game for you? Just something to do to amuse yourself, playing at being a part of the clan while letting the rest of them do the real work."

I felt a growl bubbling up at the back of my throat, my tail starting to lash behind me. I might not have been a kobold at that exact moment, but I was a part of this clan no matter what, and I wasn't going to let him insult me like that.

Kiden clearly felt the same way. "Theo is a part of the clan--" he started to say, only to be cut off by a sharp look from Cheasequah. That actually caused a growl to escape my lips, my ears slowly pressing back into my mane.

"I'm not playing. This is my clan even when I'm not a kobold. I help them when I'm a lion, as Kiden was clearly about to tell you. I bring them the things they need but can't otherwise get, and work as the liaison to the state when they need it. And you might have noticed that if he calls, I come, because when it comes to the clan, he is my clan leader, no matter what species I am. I will follow him like any other member of this clan." I had to force myself to stay calm as I spoke, as what I really wanted to do was yell at him.

The dragon snorted. "So, even when you are not a kobold, you are a kobold?"

"No, I'm not a kobold, but I'm still a part of this clan. I swore my fealty to Kiden even after the mental changes had worn away, that is something I take very seriously."

Cheasequah's mouth pulled into a wide smile, which was disturbing considering the shape of his face. "And what would you be willing to do to prove that? Would you spend the rest of your life as a kobold if Kiden ordered you to, or if I did?"

I made a show of rolling my eyes. "Is that the whole point of this, to try and convince me to stay a kobold?" I asked, which also allowed me to avoid answering the question. It was something that I thought about a great deal over the past few years, and I still didn't have a good answer to it. Something major would have to change to convince me to give up everything to be a kobold, yet a part of me still felt the pull in that direction. It was my clan, and I was the weird one for not living with them.

Thankfully, Kiden had promised me that he would never order me to stay a kobold. It was something I appreciated, because if he did give me such an order, I wasn't sure I would have it in me to refuse.

Slowly he shook his head, the light hanging from his antlers swaying around as he did. "No Theo, I do not want you to become a kobold. I want you to become a dragon."