Haa, here we are again. Hmm, there’s no dragon yet. Well, I guess it’s waiting for me to leave my room. Haa, well, let’s get this over with.

I opened the door and saw my companions sitting at a table, eating.

Hello everyone, why are you eating without me?

… Um, hello? Are you guys ignoring me? Why? What’s wrong?

I started to walk through the door. Uhg, stupid dreams, why’s the door so small! As I struggled to leave, the door frame broke. Uh, well, at least I can leave my room now.

As I returned my attention to my companions, I noticed that they all got shocked before getting up from their seats. Uh, sorry about that, I didn’t think that would happen. I said shyly. So, what’s for dinner? Lunch? I actually don’t know. I say as I take a step towards them.

As I did though, they quickly got into their battle positions and drew their weapons. Are they… getting ready for an attack? WHY!? Hold on guys, let’s talk about this! I say as I back up.

“How did she get here?” Rapunzel asked.

“It doesn’t matter right now, we have to deal with her first.” Melly pointed out.

What do you mean? Guys? Um, can they not hear me?

As I was considering that, I saw them preparing to attack, so I panically started to wave my arms in front of me, trying to get them to stop and calm down. That’s when I noticed.

My arms… My Arms Are Partially Covered In Red Scales!

Before I could comprehend what was happening, I had to duck under the ice spike Greg launched at me. Before I could try to say anything though, more attacks started coming. Luckily, only one actually hit me, a wolf that Hansen summoned was able to bite my leg. AAH, that hurts you know! I shout as I kick it away. Ah, my leg has some scales too… AH, I need to run!

I quickly sprinted towards the nearest door, but, once again, it was way too small. Arg, stupid dreams! I shouted as I tried to squeeze my way through.

AHH! I got hit by something! At least when I was hit, I broke the doorway…

I quickly rushed inside just to see that I had entered another bedroom. As I frantically searched the room for anything I could use, I noticed a mirror. What stopped me wasn’t the mirror though, it was what was in it.

I-I was, I was mostly covered in scales! With even more slowly growing!

As I was distracted one of Rapunzel's arrows hit my shoulder between the scales. Ow! At least my pain technique works… The initial hit still hurts though!

Haa, I need to heal it. So I did… try to? W-what? My magic… IT’S BEEN REPLACED WITH USELESS FIRE!

“She’s trapped, let’s finish her off!” The Hero commanded.

AH, they’ve entered the room! Um, um, screw it! I launched some fire at the wall. Surprisingly, that actually worked, so I was able to use the new, still-burning hole to escape.

At first, I was relieved, as my companions were stopped by the fire. But then, I turned around.

Ah, yeah. I was still in the church so of course there would be a paladin just wandering around. And, with a shout of “There’s a monster here!” He started to attack me.

Luckily, as I was far faster now, I could actually escape, causing him to scream his annoyance at me. Sadly, I didn’t get far before meeting more paladins.

So, I just kept running, constantly avoiding any paladins I found while searching for an exit. Sadly, the church is full of paladins, so I kept running into them. Worse, they were starting to group up, making it harder and harder for me to escape. The worst part, though, was how many of their faces I recognized, even if only vaguely. Their kind smiles and supportive words, all replaced by sheer hatred and scornful words. It hurt.

Soon, what I knew would happen, happened, as my luck finally ran out. Despite running around this distorted dream church for what felt like hours, I still couldn’t find an exit. All I found was the attention of what had to be every paladin stationed here. And right now, they’ve got me surrounded.

I, I can’t run anymore. Do… do I use my new fir- NO! Never! It may just be a dream, but that’s all the more reason to not use it! I will not submit to the dragon!

But, as the pain feels real, I refuse to just accept my fate. Instead, I will force my way out! So, I charged at them.

It, predictably, didn’t work very well... While I did get past a few paladins, there were at least a hundred of them here, so I was predictably stopped. I tried flailing around in a desperate attempt to save myself, but the paladins were far too skilled for that to actually accomplish anything.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

ARG, THIS HURTS! I, I’m being stabbed! Over and over! I know that my pain technique is working, so why does it still hurt!? Why…

I don’t want this! I want to leave! GO AWAY!

Everyone was flung away when I suddenly sprouted a pair of wings. I. Is this. Isn’t this, like, really bad?!

Sadly, I didn’t even have time to panic, as the paladins quickly got up and continued attacking me. Ah! Whatever, I already have them, I might as well use them!

I quickly leaped into the air and started to fly away. Haa. Luckily this is just a dream so I could actually fly with my new wings.

As I started to relax though, thinking that I could just stay like this until I woke up, my dreams were shattered with a sharp pain in my wing. As I fell, I noticed the ballista bolt sticking out of my wing. Ah. I forgot that cities, and even most towns, have ballistas to stop flying monsters from causing havoc.

Well, at least I can still glide a bit so I didn’t just die from the fall. Though, hmm, what would have happened if I did?

Well, it doesn’t matter now, as my landing site has been discovered. And, while there are only a few paladins here currently, more will be arriving soon.

Well, at least I was out of the church now, so running away should be easier.

Well… that’s what I had thought.

I was currently running around the city, once again looking for an exit that was not where it should be.

The worst part, though, was that I kept seeing people that I recognized, and they all hated me. Even when I just passed by them, they would hurl insults at me, calling me a monster, a disgrace, calling for my death, declaring their hatred, blaming me for their problems…

And that’s when I could run away. I just kept being trapped. Like, I’d turn a corner that I recognized just to end up cornered in some alleyway. And my pursuers would obviously take advantage of that fact to actually attack me.

I, I had to fight back. It, it hurt, to hurt them, but I had to! They, they were hurting me, they wanted, wanted to kill me! I, I tried, really tried to not hurt them, not seriously, but they just kept coming. I had to fight back, I had to! So, people, they started dying… And as they did, their words of hatred became real.

I, I was a monster. But, it wasn’t my fault! I didn’t want to hurt them! I just, I wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let me! I was just defending myself! It wasn’t me, they were the ones that made me do this! They made me a monster!

But a monster I am. I, I killed people. People I knew. People I… cared about. I… burned them. Why? Why can’t I heal! I, I could have saved them…

I’m supposed to be saving people, not killing them!

I, I’ve become, become a monster. I just, it wasn’t my fault…

At least… at least I’ve found the exit now, even if it took me several hours. I, I can leave! Finally! I can stop hurting people! I can, oh, the gate, it’s… it’s closed. And, my friends, my party, they are here.

Please, please just let me through! I don’t want to hurt anyone!

Sadly, they couldn't hear me, so they just prepared for combat. They as well as several other guards. I, I can’t get around them. I, I have to fight. If I don’t, I’ll just end up hurting more people. I, I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry…

I, I need to do this quickly, I, I can’t drag this out. I can’t, I can’t listen to them hate me. I just can’t.

Haa, it’s okay. It’s just a dream. It’s just, a dream. It, it isn’t real. I just, I just need to burn everything down. I don’t even need to look. Haa, okay, let’s, let’s go.

I lifted my shaking arm, closed my eyes, and, burned everything. Ah, the screams. Why do they feel, so… so real?

Um, why aren’t they stopping? The screams, WHY AREN’T THEY STOPPING!?

I, I opened my eyes. I shouldn’t have. It was a mistake. Why? Why did I? What did I expect? I… I should have just kept them closed. It would have been bad, but… at least it wouldn’t have been… this…

Everything was on fire. The ground, the wall, the Gate, the people. Oh, the people. Why? How are they still alive? I, I’ve seen bad burns before. This, this was worse. They, they barely looked like people. And their screams, I understood why they were screaming so much. I wanted to scream with them.

Why? Why did I do this? Everything? Why? Why did I fuse with the core? If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen my companions, my friends, screaming in pain as they slowly burned to death.

It was me, I did this. I was the one that caused this. I was the one, that… that hurt them. I, I’m sorry. I’M SORRY!

I, I need to finish. I… I can’t just leave them like this! I, I need more, more fire. Fire that can put them out of their misery. Please…

And so, my wish was granted.

I released a burst of flames from my mouth. Flames, that were able to finally put everyone to rest.

After ensuring no one was left suffering, I finally left the city. All while being cursed by the crowd of people that had gathered.

Sadly, there were still people guarding the forest that I had to escape from, but at least I didn’t get surrounded nearly as often as I fought my way to freedom.

Eventually, I arrived at a pond. Oddly, there was no one here, though I guess that’s so I can see my reflection in ‘peace.’ Well, I might as well check.

Well, at least I’m still humanoid, though I’m now completely covered in oddly useless red scales and now have the head of a dragon. Wow, I look really stupid, especially since I still have my long blond hair.

As I was making fun of my new appearance, I heard another noise. Looking back, I saw another hoard of paladins. Haa, and so my several-hour chase continues.

Or does it? I wondered as I looked at the pond, getting an idea.

Shrugging, I decided that I might as well give it a shot.

So, I jumped into the pond. Sadly, the paladins could swim, forcing me to dive into the depths to finally escape them. Huh, I thought I’d have to give up since drowning is apparently quite the painful way to die, but this just feels like there is water in my lungs. Uncomfortable, but not exactly painful. I don’t even feel out of breath? I just feel cold. Well, this is a dream, what was I expecting?

Well, at least I was able to ‘peacefully’ spend the next hour or so just swimming towards the endless depths of the pond until I finally woke up.

Yeah, there were monsters or something in the endless pond, but honestly, why would I care about burning them to a crisp with my new dragon fire? Even if people I knew showed up, I wouldn’t know as I mostly kept my eyes closed during the entire trip. It’s not like a black void is interesting to look at.