Even snuggled up with Caprice and resting quietly, I felt restless. It had nothing to do with the alcohol I'd drunk, and even less to do with the evening rush of customers.

Something about our fights had stirred up something inside me.

Getting out of bed without waking Caprice was probably impossible, so when I squirmed and she made a soft noise, I whispered, "Just going to the gong."

Caprice made the cutest little whine and pulled the covers around herself tighter. If my feet weren't itching I would have climbed back into bed and snuggled with her until morning.

Grabbing my dressing gown and pulling it around me, I slipped from the room and to the gong. There I spent what felt like half the night, but was probably about ten minutes, before getting up and walking downstairs.

The odd sensation came on stronger now, and what was worse everything around me felt wrong. Following my feet, I opened the front door of the tavern and stepped out into the cold.

It should be chilling me to my bones. Without my robes on, the icy wind and snow should have left me a shivering wreck in seconds—but I felt hot. Heat was pumping through my veins and driving me onward. Sparing a glance upward, I realized what the problem was.

Full moon.

I couldn't look away. The moon bled into me and started to fill my head with confusion. Feeling my feet grow and claw at the ground, I realized what I was about to turn into and with the last of my self-control—ran out of town and into the forest.

Everything felt wrong to me. My everything was too small, or just too soft, and the softest part was between my ears. By the time I reached a point where I couldn't look back and see the town, I lost control completely.

The forest at night was a different world to what it was during the day. Every tree held darkness and danger—but not for me. If I thought there was danger, I would lash out with a talon and tear at the tree. But it wasn't me.

Whatever was controlling my body was part of me, but not all of me. It was like I'd been cut in half and all the reflexes and reactions took over.

A rabbit was the first thing to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. I was hungry and wanted to eat, and when it moved my whole body launched toward it.

It was like watching everything happen in slow motion. Dragon senses were so strong that I could practically taste the rabbit already. It wove around trees and through thickets, to which I ripped down or just ignored.

The raw power of a dragon—even one as small as I was—was wild. My vision seemed to narrow down on the rabbit as it fled as fast as it could. I couldn't stop what was happening, but I didn't want to. The rush of the hunt was amazing—until the rabbit dove into a hole.

Hunger drove anger and dirt started flying. It was stupid amounts of effort to expend to get one rabbit, and after a pile of digging the part of me controlling my body seemed to agree. Pulling back from the hole, I looked around and spied more movement.

Far away through the forest something was moving, and the wild part of me in control wanted it. This was no wild race, though, my belly was to the ground and movement slow as I stalked the next prey.

Every tree I passed I could remember with crystal clarity—its smells, heat, even the soft sound the wind made in its leaves. My whole body seemed tuned in an ever-narrowing path toward the prey.

It was bigger than the rabbit, that was for sure. As I got closer I could smell blood and flesh and warm breath. It was in the open, and the moment I broke from the treeline I realized I would catch it in seconds.

As it turned, I recognized who it was. Wearing her normal adventuring gear—including holding the new scepter—Caprice looked so small and vulnerable.

"What—?" She didn't freeze even with a dragon charging at her. Her eyes locked with mine—as my jaws opened to make the kill—and she spoke two words, "Charm Monster!"

It should never have worked. A level 6 Beastmaster, even when the game was just a game, couldn't have charmed a dragon of any kind, but here I was frozen, my instinct-side fighting against the magic trying to bind it.

I could practically feel Caprice's will pinning and holding my wild self. She looked me in the eyes as the magic burned deeper and deeper and—finally—the spell finished.

The mind controlling my body was unreadable. It was still and quiet. My left foreleg slowly lifted from the ground. I was panicking, thinking that I was going to pounce, but my foot came down slowly, then another, and finally I was standing before the stunned-looking Caprice.

My head dipped down and bumped against her shoulder.

It had worked? I had no clue how it had worked, but the dragon side of me was making a soft purring sound and licking her cheek.

It had really worked.

I was nuzzling against her, licking her, and Caprice was giggling. The situation seemed defused enough that I could stop panicking, and when my stomach grumbled about still being empty, she stopped and looked up into my eyes.

"Is Caprice's big dragon hungry?" Her soft, loving tone made me shiver in my own head. She really had control of my beast-side and was treating me much the same way as she would Cuddles. When her big hand reached up and started to scratch the side of my head, I felt my body wobble and then topple.

Flopped on my side, I was still a prisoner in my own head, but Caprice would take care of me. Her hands checked over every inch of my body—telling me to roll over midway through the check—and pretty soon she let out a soft little sigh.

"Caprice needs to come up with a name for cute little dragon. Can't be Cuddles, that's already taken. What worries Caprice is that cute little dragons should be with their mommy." She'd moved from inspecting my tail to tickling her way up my side and rubbing the hard, bony ridges of my cheeks.

That's when it sank in. She didn't know I was the dragon. She'd found a young dragon rampaging in the middle of the night and she just made friends with it.

What was I going to do when this wore off? What was I going to do until it wore off? Wait, was she out here looking for me? Did she think I'd eaten me?

Okay, this was a heavy pile of shit. What could I do to fix any of it? First thing I needed to do was get rid of this dragon form, but without being able to control myself that would be impossible. All the quest took place at full moons.

That would need some work, then. What's going to happen immediately—right now? Caprice has me under control, which is good, but everyone is going to worry about where I am. It was hard to ignore Caprice rubbing my belly, but I had to think my way through this. How could I tell Caprice not to come hunting for me?

My belly gurgling seemed to halt Caprice in her attempts to drive a dragon crazy with attention—well, a dragon and me. "Dragon hungry? Haven't eaten, have you?"

I didn't do anything but just stare at her adoringly. My wild side (I think I'll just call it my dragon side) seemed content to ignore their hunger now, but that didn't seem to be enough for Caprice.

"Well, let's hunt." Those three words made my heart jump. Caprice sounded so wild and feral she was nothing like the cute and cuddle-happy kobold I knew. She pointed off to the forest. "There's nothing big enough for a growing dragon here, so Caprice will show you where some big bunnies are. You'll like them."

Caprice took off at a loping run and I kept pace with her. It wasn't until we neared a recognizable part of the forest that I knew what she was doing—the rabbits and rabid rabbits! This was perfect!

When I spotted the first one, my whole body stiffened and I felt hyper-aware again. Only the ground between me and the two big rabbits mattered. There was something holding me in-check, though. I couldn't move until—

"Go get 'em," Caprice said.

Joy, excitement, and hunger all combined as I raced toward the two. I clamped my teeth around the first before it even had a chance to respond.

"Boost Ferocity! Enhance Weapons!"

As each of Caprice's spells took hold, I felt stronger and more powerful. The rabbit in my mouth crunched a few times and hot blood filled my throat. Gulping it down, I turned just in time to see the second rabbit charge at me.

All the time I'd spent out here fighting rabbits and getting chewed up by them, and now—like this—I had one trying to bite my leg and doing no damage. Duh, of course. I'm a dragon and dragons have so much damage resistance most creatures can't even so much as tickle them. Err, me.

Feeling my talons close around the rabbit and squeeze, the creature died and was added to my mouth. This time it was more than just the hot blood of the rabbit, the squeeze had spilled its guts and, despite everything my normal palate told me would be good, the taste and feel of it sliding down my throat was amazing.

Having food in my belly was good, but I needed more. My dragon self let out a little whine and looked toward Caprice. Gah, I knew where the cave was, if we went into them there'd be plenty of rabbits.

But all the dragon side of me could do was follow orders. Caprice's orders, at least. I might be a wild killing machine, but I had a collar and my leash was held by one of the few people in the world I could fully trust.

Goddess-Molly:-

Dusky? Is something wrong?

The message box twitched and trembled around its edges, but it was really there and I let out a mental sigh of relief.

Dusky Rose:-

Yes! I tried to do the weredragon quest, only things aren't working right.

Goddess-Molly:-

Yeah, the game is falling apart all over the place and becoming more real. Well, fantasy-real. So you got the quest and became a weredragon, and tonight's the first full moon. What's the problem?

Dusky Rose:-

The biggest problem right now is I turned all the way into a dragon and I can't control myself. It's like all my reflexes and emotions have the stick and I'm stuck in here without any levers to pull.

Goddess-Molly:-

You're in great danger! If the guards catch you, they'll kill you!

Dusky Rose:-

Well, here's the thing. The first person who ran into me was Caprice. You should have seen her! A dragon charging at her and what does she cast? Charm Monster! So here she is with a freaking dragon as a pet!

Goddess-Molly:-

And here you are being her pet. How embarrassing would it be, on a scale of one to ten, if I told her about it when she sleeps?

Dusky Rose:-

For her? Absolute zero. For me? About a thousand. Can you tell Taffy?

Goddess-Molly:-

Taffy? She's your sweetheart?

Crap. How much had Caprice told her? Why did this bug me? I'm an adult, dammit!

Dusky Rose:-

Yeah, and she was there with me when I started the quest.

Goddess-Molly:-

You need to bring her into my realm. Actually, you should bring all your friends who don't have a dedicated god already.

Dusky Rose:-

Okay, but if I remember this right, I'll be stuck like this for three days. How do I get Taffy to do the thing to get her to see you?

Goddess-Molly:-

I have gained a few powers now, Dusky. It will cost me a little, but I can slide into her dreams. I'll do so now. Expect to have her aware of your situation come morning.

Dusky Rose:-

Thanks, Molls. I don't know what I would have done without your help here.

Goddess-Molly:-

Just try to relax and keep Caprice safe. She's going to help keep you from going completely crazy.

The chat window crackled and fell apart, leaving me seeing in the perfect dark of the bunny cave at night. Caprice was at my side, one of her hands on my shoulder, as we walked deeper.

She ordered me to attack bunnies left and right, and like a good pet I did so. I couldn't say it was enjoyable, but if someone had to hold my leash—she was the one I'd pick. Well, her or Taffy.

"Well, someone is full of rabbits now. We should go home before Julia wakes." Caprice turned around—which was easier for her in the tight tunnel—and started back toward the entrance. It took a bit more work for me to turn, and for that I was thankful I wasn't trying to do it myself.

Walking back through the dark cave it was strange how well I could see. Even the walls hid nothing from me as every crack and root stood out in full detail. When we reached the mouth of the cave, the forest beyond wasn't all that much clearer to look at despite the full moon lighting the way.

Then it hit me—I had draconic vision. I tried to remember back to what that meant, because I knew for sure it wasn't just being able to see in pitch dark. Some dragons could just see through stealth and invisibility, others could see even when blinded—but I didn't plan to test out the latter.

Dragon-me seemed perfectly happy now my belly was full. I yawned nearly five times before Caprice led me to the back of the tavern.

"You're going to have to sleep back here. Caprice will get in all kinds of trouble from Julia if she sneaks a dragon into her bedroom." Opening the gate, she pointed to the stable that was, thankfully, empty.

It wasn't my bedroom, but I was in no position to argue.

"Now stay there until Caprice comes for you, and don't eat anything!"

----------------------------------------

"Hey, so that scratch got you into this mess, did it?" Taffy's voice stirred me from my sleep. My dragon-side lifted my head up and licked Taffy from her chin to her forehead. "Ugh. You smell like something died in your mouth—which probably happened. So, what's up?"

Ugh. Molly didn't tell her I couldn't talk?!

After a moment, though (and another lick from my dragon-self), Taffy let out a groan. "Right. Your—Your friend did say you can't speak or control yourself. So what's the deal? Caprice has control of you, right, so you won't go crazy and hunt everyone down, but can't you even give me a hint that you can understand me?"

Damn her. Look, if you can hear me, dragon-me, just lick her a whole bunch. Caprice will giggle if she comes out and finds out you're doing it.

Dragon-me stopped after just two licks, but that was only because Caprice came out of the tavern. My head shot up and Taffy was ignored in favor of Caprice.

"Taffy found dragon! Aww, she likes Taffy!" Running right up, Caprice wrapped both arms around my neck and hugged.

"Yeah, Molly told me about her." Taffy looked up at me with a smirk before looking back at Caprice. "Apparently she needed to borrow Dusky to go somewhere else for a bit, and wanted to make sure we were all safe. She sent her little friend here."

"Dragon is from—?!" Caprice cut herself off with both hands over her snout. "Right, we aren't meant to say her name, are we?"

"She didn't get a chance to explain everything, but if that's her deal, I'm fine with it. She seemed nice and sensible." The tone Taffy used was a bit softer than I would have expected, but then she knew I was getting harassed by other religious types. How much had they talked?

"Did—she—say how long Dusky would be gone?"

Taffy nodded. "About three days. Guess we're not going to do any adventuring in that time. Shame, we'd really picked up our—Why are you smiling?"

"We can still adventure. Now we have better DPS." Caprice nuzzled at my neck, and it was all I could do not to melt at how cute she was being. Dragon-me was in full agreement, letting out a deep purr. Before all this I didn't even know dragons could purr.

"Dragons can purr?" Taffy asked. "Because she just purred."

"Of course dragons can purr." Caprice seemed to know a lot more about dragons than I realized. Or she was just making it up. "She's probably hungry, too." Nope, probably just making it up.

On cue my stomach made a little grumble.

"See! Caprice take her hunting for rabbits again." As soon as Caprice stood up, I stood up too. She stepped out of the stable and led the way to the back door of the tavern. "Wait here while Caprice gets her cloak."

When Caprice went back inside, Taffy reached out a mailed hand and rubbed between my shoulders. It was a reminder that even as a dragon I wasn't all that big. "I'm coming with you, just so you know. Then you can at least get some more significant things to fight."

Even if I couldn't direct this body to do what I wanted it to, the underlying dragon-me understood Taffy was a friend and leaned against her. Was it cute or disturbing that my tail was wagging? I'm going to go with mildly confusing—since having a tail at all was new.

Still, it was nice just to relax with Taffy, even if I wish I could control this big hunk of meat and give her a hug. Well, a careful hug. I might actually be able to crush her armor if I played rough.

I expected Caprice to come out a few minutes later—not for her to lead Yaff and Chloe out too. They were both wearing their combat gear and looking far too excited to see me.

"I don't know what I expected, Caprice, but an actual dragon wasn't it. So this is the beastie your goddess sent for borrowing Dusky for a few days?" Reaching out a paw, palm up, Chloe let out a happy purr when I licked her fluffy hand. "Friendly guy, too. Okay, so how are we going to work no healer and another tank into things?"

"Do we know if she's a tank?" Taffy asked. "I assume she has good claws, Caprice?"

"'She'?" Yaff asked.

"When a goddess says she," Taffy said, "you don't ask how to figure out what bits are what."

"Dragon can claw and bit and thump things with her tail. Dragon's really tough, too. None of the bunnies last night even hurt her." When Caprice held her hand out to me, dragon-me shoved our nose against her palm and just the smell of her calmed me down.

"Well, you can't keep calling her dragon, Caprice." Taffy rubbed my shoulder, her hand doing wonderful things to my scales.

"Pouncey!" Caprice looked into my eyes. "Dragon's name is Pouncey, okay?"

It was a silly name, and was so utterly a Caprice name that it hurt, but it fit. From what I'd found last night, dragons tend to pounce like cats. I guess Caprice noticed that too.

"Alright, I can at least keep up healing if we take it slow. That last level got me two abilities—a heal and a new shield strike. So, we need to test out if Pouncey can take hits? She gets to lead the charge." Taffy nodded to Chloe. "What targets?"

Nodding to that, Chloe pointed off toward where we'd been hunting the goblins yesterday. "Well, we can physically take down those hobgoblins faster than they can hurt any one of us—even without Dusky. I say we go back there and see if any are still around. Could be fun now we're all a level higher."

"Got a new trick to try. Think we all do, right?" Flicking her dagger out, Yaff twirled it around her wrist and into the air, catching it again. "I got a stun I can do after I Backstab. Should be useful."

Caprice giggled and stepped around beside me before jumping onto my back. At first I thought dragon-me might freak out, but it seemed like having more Caprice touching me meant I was more calm. "I got two pet buffs. One is long duration, Nature's Toughness, the other is a speed buff."

As she cast the spell, I felt like my scales were coated in scales. Like I was harder and tougher and pretty sure dragon-me was in agreement with how awesome it felt.

"I got a group shout that gives everyone a stamina regen and an attack I can use when I have War Shout active. It makes the target miss more and makes taunts work better." Chloe hefted her big axe and walked toward the back gate, unlocking it.

I didn't need Caprice's encouragement to follow the others, dragon-me figured it out. Mostly, I think it was the excitement of my friends getting ready for battle that made Caprice's ride bumpy—dragon-me was practically bouncing along.

When we reached the guardhouse on the edge of town, Chloe stepped up to deal with the guard and found us a new quest while Caprice rubbed the ridge down my neck. It almost melted my brain with how good her big fingers felt. At least my dragon-side and me were both in agreement—Caprice is the nicest kobold ever.

That she was the only kobold I knew didn't really have any bearing on that.

"I got a quest for more hobgoblins. Nothing as fancy as the last one, they just need twenty scalps for a reward. I guess we go back to that cave?" With her axe hanging over her shoulder, I could see Chloe's mostly-bare arms rippling with the muscle deep under her fur.

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

"Pouncey will show them, won't she?" Caprice rubbed my crest again and I was in full agreement with dragon-me's happy little purring. Without a word of verbal communication we started moving. Yaff was somewhere in the lead ahead, and even with the crazy-good senses I had I couldn't detect her until we were on the familiar road and she melted out of the darkness beside me.

"Two lookouts in the same spot as before. They're not all that smart." Yaff held up a bag of gold that smelled amazing. When dragon-me stepped forward and sniffed at the bag, Yaff used her paw to bap my nose. "Typical dragon. Okay, you get a coin for every goblin you kill, okay?"

Dragon-me wasn't really smart enough to figure it out until Yaff pulled two coins out, pointed ahead of us, and made a biting motion. I could feel the meaning of the offer sink into dragon-me—and felt excitement rise.

"Let me down first, Pouncey." A command from Caprice was impossible to ignore, and no matter how excited and eager dragon-me was to find and kill the goblins, I stopped and leaned down for her. "Good gi—"

No order to attack came, and none was really needed. I crashed through the forest until I smelled the hobgoblins' stench, then located them quickly and leapt at them.

I tried to will dragon-me to engage both of them at once, but it was razor-focused on its first target. Goblin blood tasted not-good, but dragon-me didn't overly care. Clamping my jaws around the goblin's throat, dragon-me completely ignored the second goblin nocking an arrow and drawing its bow.

Reality slowed to a crawl. The hobgoblin's snarling expression—the backdrop of its hand aiming the arrow at me—chilled me. I could already feel the pain from the memory of my getting shot by one of these guys.

It released the string and time started again. The arrow flew toward me in the blink of an eye and struck me in the neck. I was already expecting pain, and I think that emotion was raw enough to color dragon-me's focus.

I let go of the bleeding-out goblin and looked down at the broken arrow at my feet—sniffing it for traces of blood. My blood. But it was clean. The arrow hadn't pierced my hide!

There was no pain, no blood, and practically no distance between me and the second goblin. Dragon-me pounced on them—ignoring their dagger trying to find a place in my throat as being ineffective—while I clamped my jaws down on its throat.

"You should try clawing at them if there's more than one. You'll do a lot of damage to their bodies and keep you aware of what's going on around you." Yaff, of course, was standing just beside me. She didn't have her daggers drawn—she was just watching what I was doing.

When the goblin stopped moving, Yaff leaned in and started checking their items. I watched her doing this and nosed at the bag of coins she had on her hip.

"I'll give your coins to Caprice. She can hold on to them until the day's over, okay?" Yaff asked.

Dragon-me let out a little whine, but when Caprice caught up with us and pressed her hand to my shoulder, dragon-me relaxed utterly.

"Here, Caprice, hold onto these for Pouncey. She has nowhere to put them out here, and we can figure something out for her at the tavern." Yaff passed Caprice two coins. I knew this with absolute certainty because dragon-me followed Yaff's hand as she pulled out the coins and passed them to Caprice.

Lifting my head a little from the pouch Caprice put the coins into, I focused intently on her face—or dragon-me did. This apparently earned a pat on the head from Caprice.

"Don't worry, Pouncey, Caprice'll look after them for you," she said.

It reassured dragon-me enough that a lick of thanks was in order, apparently. So now I know what kobolds taste like.

"Caprice, you need to check if she's hurt. She can't tell you and I need to keep my head on fighting. So, call when Pouncey needs healing, okay?" Taffy walked up and rested her shield hand (and her shield) on my shoulder.

If I'd been in control, I'd have pounced on her and licked her senseless, but since it was dragon-me I just found myself leaning against her leg.

"Forget it. Their arrows literally bounced off her hide and the one blade they swung at her almost broke the goblin's wrist. It stopped so suddenly." Yaff reached to my neck and rubbed first where the arrow had hit and then where the second goblin had tried to stab me. "You're a tough sort, aren't you?"

Apparently I was!

"C'mon. Let's see if there's anything left in that damn cave." Chloe walked past us and headed in the right direction.

I didn't really need her directions, but dragon-me watched her intently and waited for her to gesture toward something ahead. Keeping my belly low, dragon-me almost crawled through the underbrush until the three goblins that Chloe had seen were visible.

Three. I was excited to see how dragon-me would accomplish this. Creeping forward, I was right at the edge of the forest from their little clearing before I pounced.

Not gaining height from the pounce, my fangs dug deep into the left leg of the first goblin, clamped down, and then my whole head jerked back from the limb.

"Nature's Acceleration!" Caprice's spellcasting wasn't just heard, it was felt.

New speed filled me, and leaving the first goblin to scream without a hamstring to run with, I turned to the next one. It had swung a spear around and put it between me and it while the third drew their bow behind them.

I shouted inside my head—I screamed for dragon-me not to do what I knew they were planning—but it was to no avail. My back legs bunched up and I was sent forward as that goblin braced the spear against the ground with one of its feet.

The spear bit hard into my chest. Thick, corded muscles caught the tip and stopped it from pushing deeper, but the pain was shocking. I learned, though, that dragons never respond to pain with fear—dragon-me was furious.

Reaching up to the spear with one talon, dragon-me snapped it off and inhaled. The goblin at the back stepped to the side and shot an arrow at me, but it didn't distract dragon-me from flexing new muscles in my chest and expelling a torrent of red/white flame at goblin-head level.

The smell of their flesh searing was topped only by the dry, gasping screams that left their throats. I walked forward and, with the bit of spear still hanging out of me, slashed at their throats to end them. When dragon-me remembered the third goblin and turned around, it was just as Yaff became visible.

"Backstab." Yaff's knife went clear through the goblin's neck from one side to the other, and afforded me the sight of life leaving the goblin's eyes. "Shit. Taffy!"

Taffy didn't just run toward me, she practically ran into me. "Not as indestructible as you thought, huh?" She clamped her mailed fist around the spear haft, causing more pain for a moment, then she pulled it out.

Dragon-me screamed in pain, and though there was anger pumping hot through me, it wasn't aimed at Taffy.

"Life's Blessing. How's that?" The warmth of Taffy's spell soothed some of dragon-me's anger, but it strengthened the tie between the two of us. When dragon-me leaned against her leg, Taffy crouched down and kissed me on the nose. "If you're in there, Dusky, I'll try to keep nearby. I promise."

And now I know what my girlfriend's face tastes like, and given her coughing and spluttering, she knows what a dragon's maw that has swallowed some goblin blood recently smells like.

"Is Pouncey okay? What happened? How did they hurt Pouncey?" Caprice stole dragon-me's attention away from Taffy.

"One of these goblins was a bit smarter than the rest." Yaff walked over to one of the burnt goblins and pulled the spear handle from its hand. "Long spear. Dug it into the ground when Pouncey turned on 'em. When Pouncey came down on it, the spear dug through her hide. She wasn't happy."

"I didn't know she had a breath weapon," Chloe said. "Did the fire lose us anything? They don't need scalps to know how many we've got, but you get extra cash, right Yaff?"

"I got it. I got it. Here you are, brave dragon." Yaff stood up from the two corpses and flicked three coins at me. "Here you go."

Dragon-me snatched the three coins out of the air with my right fore-claw. Looking around, I spotted Caprice holding out a hand to me. Dragon-me set the three coins in her palm.

"Good girl, Pouncey. Caprice will take care of your treasure hoard." She slipped the coins in her pouch and rubbed my head again. Head-rubbing, by Caprice, was just about the best thing in the world.

"That should clear us to the entrance of their caves. Come on, Pouncey, let's get some more of them." Yaff led the way through the woods without using her stealth so I could follow. There was, of course, two of the big goblins with the cleavers. "Hold back. Let me snare one and bring the other over. You pounce them as they reach me. Got it?"

Dragon-me didn't get it. Tilting my head to the side was their best method of showing confusion.

Yaff sighed. "Just wait here for me to bring you one."

I could feel the edge of understanding in the flood of excitement. Dragon-me sat my butt down and I watched as Yaff took two steps forward and vanished.

Itching to move, dragon-me wove my head from side to side and shifted my weight between my foreclaws. It was kinda cute how excited dragon-me got for hunting.

"Backstab! Dazzling Strike!" I'd played enough of this as a game to know a rogue's backstab/stun combo chain when I heard it. Yaff turned and ran as fast as she could back to me, though I saw one of the big goblins was stuck with vines and roots trapping its legs while the stunned one had a barbed trap right in front of it.

The goblin broke out of its stun just as Yaff got halfway to us. Its first action was to step into the poison trap, the barbed thorns lashing at its legs and poisoning them. Yaff had definitely been working on this pull-style, and I liked how it kept her safe and staggered the mobs.

When the goblin was almost on top of us, Yaff patted my shoulder. "Sic 'em, Pouncey."

It was kinda awesome to feel all that bunched-up muscle release and send me through the air right at the goblin. This one didn't have a spear, but I realized those cleavers were probably going to actually hurt. All that aside, though, the goblin didn't expect to have a dragon pounce at it from the treeline.

Landing hard against the goblin, I pushed it down and raked at it with both foreclaws. It felt great to be in the action again, even if I wasn't in control. Two more raking strikes landed before the goblin rolled to the side and threw me off.

Dragon-me didn't spend long on the ground. Back onto all fours quickly, I moved close, dodged the swing of the goblin, and brought my tail around to sweep its legs out from under it. This time I delivered another two swings with my claws and a bite at the creature that caused a spurt of blood from its neck.

Pain—two lines of it—lanced down my side and made me jerk my head around to see the second goblin beside me. It drew its axes back to swing again when someone shouted behind me.

"Taunt!" Taffy clanged her sword and shield together and stomped forward to shove her shield right into the goblin's face. "Blast of Life!"

The pain in my side vanished as quickly as it had come, not that dragon-me was waiting for that. Clamping my teeth down again on the downed goblin, I shook it like a rag-doll.

"Backstab!" Rag-doll the goblin might be, but now it was very dead with a grinning Yaff pulling her blade clear and cleaning it. "Go help Taffy."

It was the last word that made dragon-me turn my head and look at Taffy. She was engaged with the second goblin, but there was something wrong here—something really wrong that I wanted to scream and shout about. But I couldn't say a word so instead I pounced the goblin.

Taffy stepped back as I sent the goblin flying with me landing on it while clawing and biting. "Have you got this one, Pouncey?"

Growling from the corner of my mouth, dragon-me picked up the goblin by the throat and whipped it around in the air.

"I'll take that as a yes. When you've killed it, come and help." Taffy locked eyes with me for a moment and I felt a chill of knowledge. "We got jumped back in the forest."

Dragon-me understood that there was more going on, clamped my teeth tighter around the goblin's neck, and took off running after Taffy.

The goblin didn't do so well. Its neck was full of hard ropes of muscle, but that only meant that I didn't drop it—and it slammed into the ground, the trees, and everything in between.

There were eight goblins and, in the middle of them, Chloe had given up her big blade to use a shield and sword. Her coat was covered in blood that my senses could tell was hers. Behind her, Caprice was laying on the ground and not moving.

Taffy froze for a moment, just long enough to cast, "Life's Blessing!" The bright glow of her magic rushed from her and into Caprice—who stirred on the ground.

Seeing Caprice okay, dragon-me turned to face the goblins fighting Chloe. Growling as I ran, dragon-me swung my head back and then pitched forward again—throwing the now-dead goblin at the group before Chloe.

Do it! Kill them all!

Something must have filtered through to dragon-me, because I pounced over the first goblin (the one with its dead friend on top of it) and then spun around to knock all the rest over.

"Blast of life! Group Taunt! Arc Taunt! Fucking just—leave my friends alone!" As she shouted, I saw Taffy grab Chloe and pull her out of combat then step up to take her place. "Yaff! Get in here and kill this crap!"

"War March!" Chloe sounded rough, but her voice was loud and a rush of energy poured through me. "Kick their butts!"

I was all claws and fangs and tail. As one goblin tried to stand up, I'd body them down or lash out with my tail, and give them a slash with a claw or two for good measure.

When none of the goblins looked capable of being alive, dragon-me blew out a wuff of hot breath and turned to Caprice. With two big bounds I reached her and pressed my head against her side. I wished upon everything—even begged Molly—to just let her be okay. Just let her be safe.

"Pouncey?" Caprice asked. "Pouncey okay?"

"Life's Blessing! Life's Blessing! Life's Blessing! Ugh, I think that's all I got." Taffy looked like she was a bit wobbly, but it was probably just low mana. She shook it off quickly. "Fuck all this, let's head home and work out what went wrong."

"Are you still hurt?" Chloe asked, looking at Caprice.

"Caprice is okay. Is Chloe still bleeding?" As she spoke, Caprice reached out and started petting me. I'd never been so relieved by a physical touch before in my life.

"Yeah, but Dusky made a few flasks up. Damn that girl is handy to have around." I'd completely forgotten about my "healing potions" I'd made. A few coppers of alcohol in a flask and—A powerful glow of healing magic flooded Chloe as she took a swig from a little bottle. Given it was one of the one-and-done spells, it had to be a Major Heal. "Remind me to get her to make a dozen of these."

Oh, I'll remember that!

"Okay," Chloe said, looking over at Taffy. "We're getting out of here and working out a better plan to do this. Taffy, you tank anything we run into on the way home, Caprice, get Pouncey into the fight as fast as you can and stay close to Taffy's back. Yaff, work your magic where you can. Let's go."

The walk back seemed more on-edge than normal. We hadn't won or done well and it reminded me of what'd happened when I got shot. When we reached the tavern, and everyone started going inside, Chloe stopped Caprice from putting me in the stable again.

"She saved our butts, and if she was sent by your goddess, I think she deserves a place by the fire." Chloe held the door open for me, and dragon-me wasn't going to turn down the invitation.

"Caprice!" Jules' shout drew my attention and dragon-me looked over to her. "I don't know why, but this is another of your pets, isn't it?"

"Hold up, please, Julia?" Chloe said, sounding a little weary. "We just had a bad day and I invited the big kitten in. She won't break anything, will you Pouncey?"

If I could, I would have shaken my head to blow their minds. Instead, Pouncey shook my head.

"See? She's perfectly fine. Us, on the other hand, just had a bad day." Chloe walked over to the big couch in front of the fireplace, only to have Jules stomp over.

Jules stepped up in front of Chloe and glared at her. "Okay, I'll accept Caprice's pets are incredibly well-behaved, but she needs to be washed—along with all of you. And no armor on the couches!"

With a sigh Chloe nodded, then looked down at my feet. "Right. Caprice, are you up to cleaning Pouncey?"

When I looked down at my feet (dragon-me apparently following Chloe's look), I saw there was goblin blood and flesh lodged under them. Picking one of them up, dragon-me started to suck on the claws and lick the gunk out. Not for the first time today I learned what goblins taste like—I wish I could forget it.

"Look, Pouncey fine. Pouncey clean herself. Come on, we need to go upstairs and get clean." Caprice, despite everything that had happened, was still trying to be cheerful and bossy.

When they had all filed upstairs, Jules approached me and reached her hand out for me to sniff (something that dragon-me was happy to oblige). "I bet I'm not going to get any sense out of you, but given the amount of monster that's under your claws, how much of Chloe's own blood is on her coat, and the stains of kobold blood on Caprice, I think I owe you a spot by the fire for bringing them home safe." She leaned forward and kissed me on the top of my head. My brain, still spinning from how much she'd noticed, failed to realize I'd just gotten an amazing look down Jules' shirt until it was over and she'd walked away.

Dragon-me kept up cleaning my claws, doing both sets at the front and then showing an insane amount of flexibility and cleaning my back claws.

I was just done with the last of my claws and stretched out in front of the fire when Jules approached. "Pouncey? That's what they called you, wasn't it? I figure you deserve a treat, so here you go."

All my attention was on the amazing-smelling thing she held out. It was a bone, but not just a bone. There was a rich aroma of stew and vegetables and a million delicious things. Dragon-me looked up at her, wagging my tail, and opened my mouth in rapt anticipation. I can't really argue with the plan—I would have probably done the same thing.

It had to be a leg bone from one of the sides of beef I'd helped buy. Jules carefully set it in my mouth and reached her hand up to rub my cheek. "Hopefully the girls will be back down soon."

I purred. Well, dragon-me purred, but again I was on-board with the sentiment. Clamping my teeth down, the flavor of the bone and juices washed away the taste of goblin and sent me to heaven. Try as dragon-me did, the bone wouldn't shatter. Turning it in my mouth, though, dragon-me sucked on one end and the rich, infused marrow filled my mouth.

If goblins tasted like the worst thing ever, this marrow was the best thing ever. Dragon-me seemed to agree, because I let go of the bone and started chewing on the length of marrow—spreading its flavor around my mouth.

I guess I got so distracted with it that I didn't even notice Caprice and Taffy until they both reached out and patted my shoulder. Dragon-me turned my head and looked up first at Taffy and then to Caprice. Caprice was dressed in her maid dress, but it was Taffy—similarly dressed—that surprised me. Similarly dressed meaning she was wearing a dress. Dragon-me set my head down between the two so they could both pet me without having to lean down. Long, flexible necks were weird, but useful.

"So," Chloe said from the bottom of the stairs, "we got split up."

Yaff, her hair hanging down her back almost to her rump, wearing a bathrobe, walked past Chloe and made her way over to the couch. "We sure did. I thought you were keeping up with Pouncey and me."

"We were." Circling around the couch, Chloe jumped over it to land beside Caprice. "But then I saw Caprice had some goblins chasing her."

Caprice's hand on my nose trembled a little. "They must have been coming from behind us. I was trying to bring them to Taffy."

"I heard Chloe use her taunts on them. I guess I figured she had things under control—with Caprice there too—and headed up to check on Yaff and D—Pouncey." Taffy looked at Caprice, her hand landing on Caprice's bigger one on my snout. "I taunted the one goblin Pouncey hadn't killed and let her rip it up, then rushed back. That's when I saw a bunch of goblins on Chloe."

Taffy and Yaff both looked at Chloe and Caprice. For that matter, I did too.

"They kept yelling for help, and more would come running. As quickly as I could kill them, they'd yell out and another two would come running." Putting an arm around Caprice, Chloe squeezed her shoulders. "And every time they would pile onto Caprice."

"Caprice would have kept coming to Yaff and Pouncey, but Caprice didn't want to leave Chloe behind." Caprice leaned into Chloe's hug and buried her snout into all that soft fluff.

Chloe was purring softly. "I shouldn't have taunted them off you. I didn't think. All I wanted to do was protect you, Caprice." That's when something occurred to me—were they in a relationship? Caprice had said she was straight, but she certainly seemed to be trying to get into Chloe's bathrobe.

I only blinked my eyes closed once, but when I opened them again it was to find myself curled up with Molls. Looking at her, I realized it was the first time all day I'd moved this body with my own will. "Can I speak here? Huh. Thanks for warning Taffy."

"Why are you still a dragon?" Molly asked me. It was a little confusing—enough that I turned my head and looked back at my body.

"I don't know. You're the goddess here." My voice seemed deeper than when I was a half-elf. "Reminds me a bit of Espy Death, though. You should have seen me fighting, Molls, the goblins didn't stand a chance."

"Your fights with goblins aside, I spoke with Father. He claims no wrongdoing. Said that those who aren't aligned with a known god should be considered suspect until they announce themselves. This means if you stand up for yourselves, he'll find out that you're the ones who follow me." Molls reached out to me and started rubbing my neck.

"Do you have any allies?" I asked, leaning into the rubbing fingers.

She sighed. "Several, all of which would love for me to owe them a favor."

"So make it something they wouldn't owe a favor for. A trade. What could we offer them that would make them not care if I used their name as cover?"

"We could ask, but that would reveal you to her." She looked at me for several seconds before laughing. "Not that she'll recognize you now. Very well, let me—"

"So this is your realm?" The new voice dripped with seduction and venom in what I knew would be called femme fatale by Hollywood. "Pet dragon too? Very cute."

She was everything I expected. Half elven and half spider (though the spider part was huge), the goddess trailed down from above somewhere on a thin web before dropping lightly to the ground. Completely naked, she didn't seem the least bit embarrassed.

"Mother, this is the first among my followers. She is disguised as a dragon for now—you can understand why." Molly gestured at me.

"Oh, look at the poor thing. So young and weak. But you're lying, Molly." With a flash of light the intruder turned fully elven—still without clothing—and sat down on the chair beside Molly. "I can smell a were-creature, dear, and your follower reeks of it."

"Molly, please don't lie for me." I tilted my head to look at her and had to admit that she was absolutely the kind of hot that would get me killed in seconds if I asked about it. "She's protective of me, will you forgive her?"

"Cute, though." Mother of Monsters reached her hand out and stroked my cheek. "I can see why she'd be defensive. So, what do you want of me?"

I realized she was talking to me, but trying to include Molls too. I had to keep control of the situation because if Molls started asking, it was another goddess asking. Me? I was just a mortal. "Father—"

"Ugh. Do you have to mention him?" Mother asked.

Snorting, I rolled my eyes as much as I could. "We've got the same opinion of him, then. His followers keep bugging me because—because I'm normally far smaller and far more of a healer."

"And he likes to think healing is his domain, when it totally isn't. Go on."

"I'd rather not paint a target on my back as a lever to use on Molly, so I wanted to play a trick on his followers." The moment I said it, I knew I had her attention. Her eyes were bright, and when she nodded slightly, I continued. "Do you have symbols and magics associated with your followers?"

She leaned forward, her hand on my cheek sliding under my jaw and lifting me up so my head was at the same level as hers. "You wish him to think one of my cults is starting in—wherever it is you are living—just so he keeps stewing about trying to find Molly's followers?"

"Y-Yes."

Licking her lips with a forked tongue, I caught sight of sharp fangs in Mother's mouth. "I like this idea. I'd like it more if you killed someone—anyone—in my name. Yes, that will be the price for my lending you aid. One person must perish by the time the plot resolves. I don't care who." When I didn't act immediately, she let go of my jaw and sat back. "Do we have a deal?"

It was a big thing—a huge thing—to not just accidentally kill someone, but to plan to. "By someone you mean—?"

"Human, Elf, half-Elf—Any of the races that the place you reside in would deem—Let me simplify it. Whatever settlement you live in, it has to be someone there. Kill one such and your side of our contract will be settled." She was purring, just not how Chloe would purr. Mother loved the idea of me killing someone.

My friends—definitely not. Then the guards were discarded. But then some faces started to bubble up in my mind and I felt a shudder at the way I realized I could kill one of these people. "I know who, but it will mean you have to make this very convincing."

"Molly?" Mother asked. "If you ever tire of this follower, please allow me to take her into my fold. I am positively aching to find out who she has in mind." She turned her full attention back to me. "What's your name?"

While I tried to remember if a god knowing your name gave them power over you, Mother waved her hand. "I promise not to use it to affect you. I just need to send you some trinkets, which means I need a moment of a dream with you."

"I—I'm kinda stuck like this right now. Full moon and—"

"And you are so new to this you haven't gained the ability to control yourself. Like a pretty little virgin monster, aren't you? No matter. Two nights from now I'll scoop you up into a dream and bestow the trinkets. I promise I won't hurt you." Her words, I could tell, were masking more intent. Sex. She was probably going to try to have sex with me.

Honesty was needed. I didn't want to get involved with her. "I'm spoken for."

"Even as a dragon?"

"Especially as a dragon."

Mother let loose an expressive sigh that spoke volumes about what the dream would have involved. I hoped dragons don't blush. "Very well. The one thing I can give you right now, however, is my blessing."

She started leaning forward again, but this time she held my head still while she leaned over me. When her lips touched the skin between my eyes and a little further up, I shuddered at the touch of her darkness. I also kept my eyes closed because of the damn show she was putting on for me.

"There. If you get too excited and kill your mark before the deal starts, any of his disciples will recognize my taint on the murder." Letting go of me, Mother turned to Molly. "Your followers bargain just as well as you do and seem to have a good grasp on pragmatism." Her eyes strayed down then back up again, inspecting Molly the way a lover would their mate. "I look forward to seeing you both again."

"Dusky Rose. My name is Dusky Rose."

She smiled and vanished quicker than she'd come.

"Dusky, you know you're going to have to follow up on that, right?" Molls asked.

"Yeah, Molly, I do. It'll be easier as a dragon, too, because I won't have to drag anyone else into it. Could you imagine me as a weak little healer actually killing one of Father's followers?" I looked up at her to see her eyes wide. "Yeah, I figured that'd get your attention. I think it will make Mother quite a fan of you, too."

"That will be kicking a hornet's nest!"

I nodded. "And what will they think did the kicking?"

"A monster that belongs to She Who Hungers." She'd figured that out, at least, which meant that Father's minions hopefully will too. "You're playing a dangerous game, Dusky."

"We both are, Molls. We just need to make sure we win." Tilting my head, I leaned against Molly's side and let out a soft grunt. "Now, the hard part. I need to find one of their priests isolated and alone and somewhere I can deal with them fast, but the hard part is getting me there at all. Can you do something that gives me control of this body in the real world?"

Her hands roaming over my cheek and head felt so good I closed my eyes and let out a soft rumble that just went on and on. Wait, I was purring again? Well, whatever works.

"No. I can't just give you control, but I can help you align a little more with your wilder side. This is going to affect you when you're just Dusky, too, since that side will be able to do the same." As she spoke, Molly found a spot under my jaw that made my whole body just go limp.

"Well?" she asked after a few minutes of the glorious attention.

"Unless you can think of another way to do it?" I asked. When she shook her head, I said, "Then do it. I already kinda like that side of me, and I know they like my friends."

A rush of warmth poured into me and I felt a new heat burn inside. It was like another and very compulsive side of myself, and that side wanted me to pounce on Molly and lick her face—which is exactly what I did.

"Dusky! Ugh, get off!" She was a god, which meant she could have just tossed me away with a thought, but though her voice was telling me to stop, her giggles and laughter sent contradicting commands.

I was still in control but, where this would have been embarrassing before, I could just relax and let my baser instincts just do their thing. "I could—get used—to this—Molls." I got my words in between licks, my instincts letting me ignore the taste of goddess, which was a new blessing.

"Dusky… Alright, get off me you oversize lizard." Now she shoved, easily able to displace me and roll me over.

Moving with the roll, I got back on my legs and walked back just as she got back up to rub my head against her side. "Thanks, Molls. I promise not to make this too awkward. Uh, can you wake me up way before morning? Also, let Caprice know I might be out and about."

"Just be careful of the guards," Molly said, then waggled her fingers at me.