I started awake—all of me did. Arching my neck, dragon-me yawned and looked around the tavern. It was quiet except for one other person slowly stepping down the stairs. There was barely a hint of moonlight coming through the closed shutters, but I could easily tell it was Taffy walking down with her greaves under one arm.

Okay, dragon-me, you remember the dream, right? We need to go and kill someone tonight, and it looks like Molls is getting Taffy to help—or so I hope. Will you follow her?

My vision tilted sideways as Taffy walked over to me. She reached out her free hand and set it on my snout. The leather of her palm contrasted with the dull steel I could see on the back of her hand. "Molly was in tears, Dusky. She begged me to help you—not that she needed to. So, you got yourself messed up in god business and now you have to deal with a member of those assholes across town?"

Nod. Please nod. I nodded. You're the best, you know that? I'm talking to myself, aren't I? I nodded more. Wait, when could dragon-me understand words?

I guess… I guess dragon-me learned to understand my meaning when me-me learned to chill about being a dragon.

Taffy gave my snout a pat and walked around to the side of me, turned, and sat down on my shoulder. "These things make far too much noise upstairs. Doesn't help that I had a few drinks last night." She pulled on one boot then the other, and the moment each touched the floor I knew what she meant. Standing up, she started making her way to the door while dragon-me followed closely.

It was snowing. White powder fell from the dark sky and though I had good night vision like this, it was hampered by the constant fall. Taffy didn't walk directly out from the tavern door, instead pressing close to the wall and following it.

Dragon-me kept close too, not needing me to nudge them to keep close to Taffy. She led the way to the treeline and we slipped into it and back a few yards.

"They've had people watching the tavern for the last few days. Ever since I got physical with them. Any clue where we might find one to—to send this message?" Her voice strained a little, and it hurt to hear. Dragon-me, can you rub your head against her hip? It'd reassure her and she's too awesome to feel bad.

Thankfully, dragon-me liked Taffy about as much as I did. When I leaned against her hip, she reached down and rubbed my head. "If your whole plan involves making things look like that other god's minions did it to protect you at the tavern… You know you're going to have to leave, right?"

I—I didn't. Why would I? Oh. Oh right. There are such things as witch burning and stuff.

"Unless we kill one who isn't watching over the tavern. Give them something else to worry about." Taffy looked down at me as if I could get dragon-me to answer her. "Yeah, actually, let's try doing that and see if we can manage it."

Phew. It was so great to have a smart girlfriend. Nod to her if you can. Dragon-me managed a nod, though I'm not sure if Taffy noticed the slight bob of my head as anything different.

Walking in silence together, we circled the town to the side where the church of Exultant Father was closest to the treeline. It lacked a palisade or any other kind of fortification, but in the time we spent watching it we saw two people circling around outside: guards.

"You know, Dusky, this would be a lot harder to contemplate if I hadn't grown up watching people scrape together the money to get healing from those bastards. Molly gave me this, said Mother delivered it. We just need to drop it at the scene and things will be taken care of." As she spoke, Taffy strapped her shield on and slowly, quietly drew her sword.

The two guards were walking together, visible just at the edge of our vision among the snow. Taffy reached into a pouch hanging at her side and pulled out a rock—then tossed it to our left, about halfway between the guards and the treeline.

"Hey, you hear something?"

"Out here? Probably an owl or something."

"Owls don't hunt in the dark, they're mostly about at dawn and dusk."

"Oh, I forgot, you're an owl expert. Well, Mr. Expert, you go check out the owl."

I might not be able to see them well, but my hearing was extra sharp and I could hear the footprints in the snow getting closer. When they stopped, Taffy tossed another stone.

"Hey, I heard another!"

"Whatever. I'm going back to the guardroom."

Taffy tapped my shoulder with her shield and gestured forward with four fingers, then three, then two, and finally one. The gesture turned into a point toward the owl-guy.

I had last-second doubts—dragon-me didn't. I hadn't even noticed the way my back legs had compressed like coiled springs, but I did when I leapt forward.

For all I was racing across the snow, I was barely making any sound. As I drew closer to the guy, I could see his back was to me. I couldn't look away, I couldn't hide from what I'd planned—dragon-me was a weapon as much as the sword in Taffy's hand, and I was just as deadly.

The smells and sounds of the hunt were everything. The soft noise of snow impacting under my claws, the loud stomping of the guard's own. His breathing—the smell of his breath. Dragon-me was intoxicated and hyper-focused.

Three lengths (mine, not his) from the guard and dragon-me judged it far enough to pounce. I had to watch and pay attention—I even had to help. Rip out his throat first. Don't play with him. Kill him fast and quiet.

Things became very slow. It was like in action movies when someone is entering the zone just before the violence starts. When my forelegs landed in the middle of his back and shoved him face-first into the snow.

Time seemed to speed up again, moving so fast that all I could recognize from the jerking bites I delivered was the taste. All my jokes about tasting things aside, I now knew what human meat tasted like. Blood, too.

"C'mon. We're leaving." Taffy's voice broke the spell and I turned to look at her. No, dragon-me turned, I was just along for the ride. "Wait, is he moving? Bite through his neck."

Apparently dragon-me had learned enough to understand commands. Whether it was me leaking to dragon-me or the other way, I turned back to the blood-smell, wrapped my teeth around his neck, and bit down as hard as dragon-me could.

Dragon jaws, unsurprisingly, were more than up to the task of cutting through a human's neck. Clamping down hard, my teeth met in the middle and the man's head flopped down into the red, red snow.

"Okay, spit it out," Taffy said. I didn't even realize I'd had something in my mouth until dragon-me opened my mouth and a human vertebrae fell out. Shuddering inside my own head, I saw Taffy drop the symbol nearby in the snow, and turn. "Walk over the top of my trail. Make sure to hide that I was here."

Okay, dragon-me, that means she wants us to drag our butt through the snow to hide her trail. Got it?

Dragon-me couldn't reply but for one way—actually doing what we asked. Relief flooded me as a massive trail obliterated Taffy's all the way to the treeline.

"Keep doing it. We're going for a hike." Taffy led us into the forest and we started racing toward the goblin caves.

It wasn't until first light that we got back to the tavern and Taffy led the way in the back entrance. Dragon-me, thankfully, shook just before we slipped inside, getting rid of the snow all over me.

"Do you think Caprice noticed?" Taffy asked.

I looked up at her and my shoulders shrugged. We both walked over to the couch in front of the fire and got comfortable. There was so much I needed to say to Taffy. She'd helped me do something she probably shouldn't have, and even laying my head on her lap and getting pets from her wasn't enough for me to repay that.

We'd just got settled when I heard and felt Caprice stomping down the last of the stairs. "There you are! Caprice's been worried!" When she neared, she spotted something that gave us away. "Taffy has been outside?"

"I wanted to do some practice with—with Pouncy. Working together means we need to get in sync with each other. Took her out for some early-morning hunting." He hand on the top of my head kept dragon-me distracted from Caprice. Kept me distracted too.

"Oh! Caprice like that." She walked over to us and crouched down to be closer still. "Does Pouncey like working with Taffy?"

Lifting my head, dragon-me nodded enthusiastically and stuck my tongue out to lick her hand.

"Ugh, Pouncey's breath smells like dead things. Jules is going to make a stew today, so Pouncey gets some to make her breath better." I was particularly happy she didn't know what dead thing it smelled like.

How long was a full moon, anyway? This was my second day as a dragon, and already I was creating all kinds of messes.

Taffy, bless her, yawned. "She probably needs a bit of a nap, Caprice. Neither of us could sleep so we went out and worked on our tactics a bit for a few hours. Could we just curl up here and—?"

"Sleep?" Patting my cheek, Caprice giggled when dragon-me yawned in a show of support for Taffy's idea. "Things don't get lively in here until midday."

"Thanks, Caprice." Taffy took off her boots, her gloves, and loosened a few straps to get her breastplate off, then slumped back against the couch. She was asleep before dragon-me even managed to curl my head around and stuff it under a wing.

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

There were two deities waiting for me when I woke in Molly's realm. Molly, of course, and Mother. Taffy was there too, and she looked just as uncomfortable as I felt being in Mother's presence.

I moved quickly, rushing to get between Taffy and Mother—to protect her—but there was no need. Mother looked happy.

"You two did wonderfully." Mother also hadn't found any need to wear clothing still. "Ripping that guard up like that, leaving my symbol there, and then hiding your human tracks on the way out. You should have seen what Father's people were like when they discovered the corpse."

"I'd rather not. We worked hard to be as far away from there as possible when they found the mess." Taffy, I noticed, looked over at Molly. "Was there anything else you needed my help with?"

Turning to look at Molly, Mother let out a purr that sounded like a huge cat that was very happy with itself. "Balance, your servants are the most astoundingly wonderful beings I have met in some time. We both know Father seeks to tip the scales in his favor—so please, don't hesitate to call on my aid again." She walked over to Molly and, to my shock, kissed her.

It wasn't a quick peck or even a soft one—Mother looked like she was giving Molly's mouth and lips a good tasting before finally breaking free. Molly blinked, blushed (which earned her a laugh from Mother, a moment before Mother vanished), and finally covered her mouth with a hand as she looked at Taffy and me. "I don't think we'll have problems with Father's minions snooping around the tavern again."

"There is one problem now—we can't afford to let them see Dusky. Congrats, you just became an inside-dragon." Taffy gave my shoulders a rub before she sat down on them.

"There is that." Molly slumped down and sat—a chair manifesting right under her as she did. "The biggest advantage here is that they'll be looking for Mother's minions, and Mother is going to make sure they find some traces to follow deep in the woods."

"Maybe they will be more focused on that than watching the tavern?" I asked.

Taffy set her hand on my head and gave me some gentle pats. "Do you want to risk having them accuse you, as a dragon or half-elf, of killing their guard?"

That stung. I turned my head around on my long neck and set it on her lap. "No, but—"

"We might have to leave Northwind if that happens." She didn't sound worried or sad, just resigned. "How wild will Dusky get if Caprice's magic isn't keeping her dragon side tame?" The last was asked of Molly.

"Wild. Completely wild. Dusky might be able to get it under control eventually, but you'd need to wait for her to have aged far enough that a dragon her size would be more than a ball of emotion and reaction." Molly did her best not to look at me, I could tell. This were-dragon thing was a pain.

"So we'd need to ask Caprice to come with us—if we leave." It was all just problems to solve for Taffy. "Wait, no, we need to ask her first. If things turn to shit, we might not have time to ask."

"I could ask Jules and Chloe too. I've got—There was so much money on this character I could buy all the inns in a city and Jules could take her pick." Resting my head on her lap, I purred when Taffy started petting me.

"This could all go to shit." Taffy looked up at Molly. "Is there anything you can do to help us?"

"I'll do everything I can. The game systems are all faded and I couldn't really do anything with them before, but I'm not just a game admin anymore. I'll try talking to the other gods. Setting up Mother and Father against each other wasn't exactly hard, but we're going to need more help." Molly looked concerned, and it wasn't exactly hard to piece together what about. "There is one thing I can do before you return. Taffy Sugarborne, would you become my paladin?"

"Paladin? Like those goody-two-shoes gits from—"

"No, Taffy. A paladin is aligned with their god. Agreeing to it will grant you some power from me, but you being such would also strengthen myself." Molly waved her hand in the direction Mother had just left. "A single paladin is worth a thousand followers, but it will make you more visible to followers of other gods."

"I'm kinda tough and can deal with the attention. Dusky"—Taffy leaned down and kissed the top of my snout—"is not so. She can't deal with them—I want to say yes, but I don't know you beyond what Dusky has told me. Show me what you are."

I looked up at her, marveling at Taffy's conviction but, more than that, at what she was doing for me. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No. If it weren't for you, Dusky, I'd still be working in the shop and wouldn't have had the guts to leave and take up the sword. And then I went and fell for you. There's a short list of things I wouldn't do for you, babe, and this"—Taffy nodded toward Molly—"isn't anywhere near it. Molly's a good goddess—not good as in good—I can feel how much she cares about you, Caprice, me…"

"Molls?" I asked.

"I can't help it. I just—I love this world, Dusky. I fell in love with the thing when it was still a game. It's why I connected so much with you—you loved the game too. Now I'm part of it. I want to make sure the world is stable and I want to fight for that." Molly looked at Taffy. "And I think you want to fight for that too."

Taffy stood up, which forced me to support my head again. She rolled her shoulders and walked closer to Molly before she lowered herself to one knee. "Goddess, if that's what you want—protecting everything important in the world—I'm your paladin. Don't make me regret it."

I stared at her. Molly stared at her. Taffy wasn't shaking or looking scared, but she didn't bow her head either. She looked up at Molly and her eyes seemed like they were on fire with conviction.

"I promise you, Taffy Sugarborne, that will never be a problem. I want to protect this world, whether it be from the darkest evil or blinding goodness. Will you be my shield to protect those caught in the middle? Will your sword punish those who would do harm to such people?"

The light and life in Taffy's eyes flared brighter and brighter until every part of her glowed. "I will."

Taffy disappeared. Just Molly and myself were left here alone together. I looked at Molly, studied her shocked expression. "Didn't expect that?"

"She looked amazing. She believes in this stuff more than I do." Shaking a little, Molly walked over to me. "How do I live up to that?"

"Believe in her, Molls. Let Taffy be your conscience. Let her show you how things need to be done, and you show her where they need doing." I rolled my shoulders. "You better let me get back, or she might freak out."

"Her freak out? Taffy, you have no idea. I was just a simple, solitary g—" For a moment Molly looked startled by something. Then the dream world snapped.

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I woke up to the sound of Caprice cheering. When my eyes opened and I looked up at her, I completely forgot I was not in control of myself—until dragon-me licked her face from her snout to the top of her head.

"Pouncey! Look at Taffy! She has Molly's feather on her shield and she's glowing!" Caprice grabbed me around the neck and aimed my head at where Taffy was sitting—which was pretty much right beside me.

Taffy Sugarborne was glowing. Her shield, that was propped against the couch, had a huge pair of glowing, crossed feathers on it, and the pattern was now etched onto her breastplate too. Did I mention she, herself, was glowing? Well, she was kinda looking like an angel.

When Taffy opened her eyes, the glowing stopped and she looked up at Caprice. "Uh, is something wrong?"

Caprice started giggling. She pointed one thick finger at Taffy. "Taffy met Molly!"

"We made an agreement. How did you know?" Taffy was working to straighten up on the couch, which is why, when dragon-me flopped my head on her lap, she grumbled but started petting me.

"Oh, Caprice not know. Perhaps it was Taffy's shield getting crossed feathers on it or Taffy's armor getting the same. Taffy does know that Molly's symbol is a feather?" Caprice was fighting back her giggles now, barely able to talk. "But Caprice mostly think something up because Taffy was glowing."

"I was glowing? Well, I guess she did say I'd be drawing attention to myself. Didn't think it'd be so literal." Taffy ruffled the non-existent hair on my head—she probably figured I was like a big cat. "Uh, D—dragon, can you let me up?"

Well, that's up to you, dragon-me. I'm fine laying like this all day. Dragon-me seemed to concur at first, but when it was obvious the petting would stop if I didn't move, I moved.

"Thanks. Now, what—Oh, I guess I do get feathers on my shield and armor now." Taffy picked up her breastplate and looked at it. "We came to an agreement and I made a deal with her. I guess I'm her paladin now."

Which might seem odd since paladin wasn't even a class in the game. It was a title, so I guess she could have that and be a Valkyrie too.

"There's more, Caprice. We have to keep Pouncey hidden for a few days. Today and tomorrow should do it. That's when Dusky should be back and Pouncey can go back to keeping Molly safe." Standing up, Taffy looked more solid somehow. She was already built for wearing armor, but now there was something I could feel as being far more present. Magic? Molly's own power?

"Aww. So we can't go back to the goblins?" Caprice seemed to sag, which drew the attention of dragon-me like a magnet. When I leaned against her, she slumped down onto me. "It's not fair, Pouncey. I just want to have fun with you while you're here."

"That's another thing we need to talk about, Caprice." Taffy started buckling her boots back on. "If something happens here, and me and Dusky need to leave, what do you think about coming with us?"

"Caprice leaving the tavern? But what would Jules do without Caprice here?" Standing a little straighter, Caprice seemed deep in thought. "Taffy mean if Exultant Father's followers come here looking for M—for her followers?"

"Yeah. That. I'm pretty sure you and Dusky would be akin to priestesses of hers by now, and me being what I am now—you get the idea. I'm going to talk to everyone about it, even Jules and Yaff. Especially those two. I don't know how I'll bring it up to Jules, but she needs to know. There was something else—I spoke to Dusky while I was agreeing to M—I know you aren't meant to say her name, but the cat's out of the bag for me now. Dusky said that if Jules wanted to move—if she had to move—Dusky would pay for a new tavern."

"But—How would we even get anywhere? All Caprice's things are here."

I wanted to hug her. She sounded almost in a panic about having to leave but if I left and she wasn't with me, I would become a wild killing machine once a month. Dragon-me reached up and nuzzled her cheek, then licked Caprice's face.

She stopped and reached a big hand out to rub under my chin. I felt her calming. "Caprice come with Dusky and Taffy. Dusky is Caprice's nest-sister, and nest-sisters stick together." She looked around the tavern, eyes seeming to linger at the stairs and kitchen before she looked back at the front door. "Everyone has to be told."

Not twenty minutes later Caprice had gathered not just Jules and Chloe, but also Yaff. They were all sitting at a table with a drink in front of them—all eyes were on Taffy. To give my girlfriend support, dragon-me lay my head on her lap, getting constant petting was absolutely not a reason why.

"What's this about?" Yaff was the first to ask what was going on. She was a wild card here. I had no idea how she'd react, even if Chloe and Jules weren't exactly shoe-ins either. "And why do you have that on your armor now?"

"They're related. So, you know how when Dusky turned up here she had a friend, that friend somehow became a god, and now she—Molly—is trying to stop the other gods from going all murder-crazy on each other's minions?" Taffy asked.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I'd picked up most of it," Jules said, "except the last bit. Okay, so she's trying to keep things in order. That's good. What's the deal with this meeting?"

"I'm not sure how much notice you pay to his followers, but that lot across town aren't exactly happy to have that happen. They see anything that isn't theirs as being wrong." Taffy pointed to her breastplate. "Dusky really needs someone to stand up for her, but then so does Molly—and so does everyone who doesn't think exactly like he does. Molly offered me the chance to do that and I said yes."

"Wait. Hold up." Chloe narrowed her eyes as she looked across the table at Taffy. "What happened exactly?"

"I became her paladin. She's lending me her power to help people." I could see a smile tugging at Taffy's cheeks. How much of this was Molly, how much was Taffy, and how much was the little girl who'd grown up wanting to be a hero? Boom, revelation right there. Was Taffy always going to fall into this role?

"Paladins get attention, they don't just seek it out," Yaff said. "And given Dusky's doing something for her too, and lent us a dragon until she's back—We're all in this, aren't we?" When Taffy nodded, Yaff groaned. "So what's the deal?"

"There's more to explain." Taffy tapped me twice on the head before returning to rubbing my ridges. "Molly secured the help of She Who Hungers. Evil, yeah, but at least more flexible than him. In doing so, one of his guards was killed."

Chloe's hand rose up to cover her eyes. "You killed one of F—Saying his name lets him know we're talking about him?"

Taffy shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a paladin, I don't want to find out. Anyway, I did. Molly's dragon—Pouncey—helped me. It was kicking a wasp nest, but the thing with wasp nests is they don't need to be kicked to be dangerous. The plan is to keep Pouncey inside until Dusky is back and, if his followers come for us, we're leaving."

Everyone looked at Caprice. I could practically hear the unasked question. "Caprice will leave too. Molly is a good goddess and needs help."

"She's a strictly neutral goddess," Taffy said, "who wants everyone to be able to make their own choice."

"Sounds good to me," Jules said, one corner of her mouth tilting up. "So, you're going to steal away Caprice and Dusky." She looked around the others at the table—Yaff and Chloe—her expression questioning. "Well?"

"Julia, I made a promise to you." Chloe's voice had gotten a little deeper. "I won't break it."

"And if I go with them?" Jules asked.

"That doesn't change my promise, but what about the tavern?" Chloe asked, and looked at Taffy.

Taffy's hand brushed along my cheek. I could have closed my eyes. It felt so nice, but dragon-me knew there was something important going on too. "Dusky said she could pay you for the loss of The Hog."

"I don't give a fuck about The Hog." Jules glared at Taffy. "What I care about is my sister and our friends." Her hand, balled into a fist, connected with the table hard enough to yank me back from sleep. "So, are you going with them, Chloe?"

"You'd really give-up the Hog?" Chloe asked.

"Not without a fight, and not easily, but I would."

Yaff let out the loudest and most expressive sigh I'd ever heard (which was pretty amazing since I'd survived high-school and watched plenty of anime). "I guess we all go then. Produce isn't selling so well lately, being winter. I'll be honest—I make more money adventuring than I would have running my cart all winter." She paused for a moment and sighed again. "I make more money adventuring than running my cart. Period."

"So?" Taffy asked.

"When Dusky gets back, or if you can get a message to her before then, let her know we have her back. It's weird, but before she'd come here I wouldn't have dreamed of saying I'd leave The Hog. There will be somewhere else to build, though, where thirsty mouths and tired legs exist." Jules shrugged her shoulders and looked at me. "So, we can't let them find you, huh? That means you either get a bedroom or the basement."

"She can live in Caprice's room." Caprice looked at me over the table, a big smile on her face—until it dropped. "Will Pouncey fit?"

Chloe snorted and shook her head. "Not unless we remove all your furniture. Dusky's room is bigger; she can go in there."

"What about you?" Jules asked, looking at Taffy. "Your father still lives in town. If his followers think they need to put the screws on you, they might go through him."

Taffy's face hardened. "Can you do—?"

"I know a few of the senior guards here." Jules gave Taffy's mailed arm a reassuring squeeze—not that it was likely to do much given it was armored. "I'll get a new patrol route started that goes past his shop."

"Thanks. It should be fine once we're out of Northwind."

"There one other thing." Caprice looked at Taffy and seemed to do her Kobold best at smiling. "Dusky said her inventory wasn't working so good anymore. Dusky took all her coin out of her inventory and put it in her room."

Dragon-me understood a good deal of that—I have money. Even just my own perception of the concept of money made me want to squirm and shiver in excitement. The force of the sensation reminded me that Molly had warned me that dragon-me's feelings would filter back. I wanted to see my money more than almost anything else in the world right then.

"I take it that's what Dusky meant by she could pay me for The Hog?" Jules asked.

"That'd be it, yeah." Taffy's scratching of my jaw was the only reason I didn't bound up the stairs, dig out the coins I'd hidden, and roll around in them.

"Then we need provisions. Food to get us safely away from this place. Pots and pans. All of us will need to gather our coin. Traveling gear—we are going to need to move through a lot of cold weather before it gets warmer." Apparently having the situation decided, Jules took charge. "If we still have Pouncey when we move, we can load her up with gear. If we don't, can you summon something better than Cuddles for hauling?" She looked at Caprice.

Tapping her chin with one big finger, Caprice seemed to ponder the question deeply. "Uh… Caprice think she can summon a dire donkey. Will that work?"

Dire donkey. I could vaguely remember seeing something that looked like a very angry horse. It'd work well if it was one of those.

"Yaff," Jules said, "do you need anything from your home or business?"

"Money, a few changes of clothes, and I have some food that might be useful. Lots of dried meats that keep for a long time." Smiling, Yaff drew a dagger and balanced the blade-point on the tip of one finger. "I can reach my home and pick up things and be back without being seen."

"Don't do anything stupid, Yaff," Taffy said, holding Yaff's eyes for a moment. "Okay, the rest of us are either based out of here or don't care enough about what's left to—"

"You need to say goodbye to your father." Chloe didn't seem above interrupting Taffy. "If you want, I'll come with you. Yaff can shadow us too."

Shaking her head, Taffy said, "I don't want to lead any danger to him."

"They already know he's your father. You need to go back there and explain to him what you're doing." It was Jules' turn to gang up on my girlfriend. I'd have to thank all of them for this when I was back to being me.

"Alright, alright. But Pouncey has to stay here to look after the place. Caprice can be our fierce Kobold guard." Taffy gave my nose a boop, which caused dragon-me to shake my head, and then stood up. "Let's move. If anything happens, get close to me and let me heal you."

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At the top of the stairs I looked around. Dragon-me knew the smell of regular-me, and moved toward my bedroom. I couldn't blame dragon-me for getting excited, but I swear, if you damage any of my clothes getting that money I'll make sure Taffy never pets you ever again!

The door handle wasn't easy, but dragon-me managed to get it open and I slipped inside. My memory was just fine, as was dragon-me's, so the moment the door was closed one of my claws hooked around the handle of my underwear drawer and gently pulled it out. Thanks for being careful.

Everything in the drawer looked girly. It had all my things that should never be seen by others. Well, maybe Taffy could look. With the most incredible delicacy, my claw carefully pushed things to the sides until it got to the bottom of the drawer. There it was, gold, copper, silver, mithril, platinum—all the things a dragon could possibly fall in love with. Use your tongue. Move it to the middle of the room.

The two most common coins were the platinum and mithril. My inventory had automatically accumulated the rest, so there were less than ten of each, but there was probably sixty mithril and several hundred platinum.

528 platinum, 59 mithril, 7 gold, 2 silver, and 1 copper.

The thought had been so clear, and had nothing to do with the interface, that I knew it had to be from dragon-me. Got a real head for math when it comes to money, huh?

All I got, as dragon-me started counting the coins over again, was a deep sense of satisfaction. I bet you know exactly how much that is too. Lots of money. So many gold coins worth.

The joy from dragon-me was all the confirmation I needed.

It was easy enough to relax and get caught up in the same delight as dragon-me. The money was nice to have, especially if it helped that side of me calm down and know pure joy. And it was a joy I could share in.

The sound of the door opening stirred me, but the smell of leather, steel, and happiness shoved any retaliation dragon-me might have planned aside. "There you are," Taffy said. "So this is all the money Caprice was talking about? Looks like a lot of silver."

I was purring as she crouched down and dipped a hand into the pile of coins. Dragon-me pressed my nose against her wrist, but seemed fine with her as well.

"These aren't silver." She picked up a mithril and a platinum and examined them. "Dad wasn't happy about me leaving. He cried and I cried. I told him this is something I have to do. He asked if it was because of you and I said yes.

"After that he seemed to relax more. You must have made a big impression on him, Dusky. I'm glad I went to see him—and warned him. If they—"

Dragon-me interrupted her by opening my mouth and snapping it closed. The memory of the man's blood and flesh in my mouth surfaced again, but now it was tempered with righteous anger. Yeah, if they hurt him, we will hunt all of them down.

"We're setting up some noise-makers at the doors tonight. If someone tries coming in while we're asleep, well, we'd rather not be asleep."

Dragon-me reached up and hooked two claws into the edge of Taffy's breastplate and pulled her down. I know she could have resisted and fought, but she didn't. It was nice to lay down with her, even if dragon-me was far too happy to cuddle both money and Taffy.

The door opened a second time, and once again dragon-me recognized the scent as safe. "Aww, Pouncey really likes Taffy?"

You better believe Pouncey really likes Taffy. Dragon-me liked Taffy so much that my claws were still pinning her down.

"We get each other. She seems pretty cozy here—do you think it's safe if I come downstairs?" Taffy patted at my claws, dragon-me obliging her by unhooking them from her armor.

"Julia would kick the butts of anyone who tried to cause trouble. Caprice thinks Julia has adopted a new sister." Reaching down to Taffy, Caprice just pulled her up to her feet with no apparent effort.

Taffy, I hadn't realized, was still wearing her armor. It must have been uncomfortable to lay down with me like that, but she'd still done it. "I hate to be part of the reason for all this, but—"

"Taffy, don't. Just don't. Caprice was part of this too, and so was Chloe and Yaff. Dusky was at the middle of it all, and Molly beside her—even Julia was part of this little group of friends. They started this, remember? They threatened Dusky and were going to try to kidnap her." Caprice didn't often speak so clearly or so vehemently. It was a shock to hear her let loose her anger. "Now, Pouncey, you stay here while Taffy comes downstairs."

Dragon-me was fine with that, after all, we had all these coins to count a few more times. That, however, didn't last so long since I yawned and lay down my head in the middle of the coins.

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I got hugged. Molly, in her armor and with her wings proud on her back, had me in a death-hug that she didn't seem inclined to let go of any time soon. I guess, having so much neck, I was practically a perfect target for this. "Hey, Molls."

"What's happening? Is everyone okay? Are you okay?" Molly finally let go of me and stood up straight. "Why are you here in the middle of the day?"

"Well, dragon-me found where all my coins were hidden, made a pile in the middle of the room, and curled up around them. Everyone's making plans in case Father's people come to The Hog, but I can't go and join them because I'm a stupid dragon who might be recognized as the one who killed one of Father's people."

"It's good that you're safe. Taffy has been feeding me a steady stream of almost-senses. If she speaks my name, I'll hear her and be able to see around her. I know you can't tell her that, but just try to remember it in case you need me to see something." Molly leaned forward and kissed me on the nose. "You better go back, I can feel you waking."

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When I woke, my snout was pressed into the coins themselves and I swear I could smell the difference between the copper, gold, silver, platinum, and mithril. When dragon-me poked my tongue out, I realized how acutely I could taste them, too.

Copper tasted nice, the same hint of blood as when I'd—when I'd killed the guy. Silver was clean, utterly clean and very rigid. Gold had a softness to it that threatened to come loose if licked too hard. Mithril was so hard and substantial as to almost give no flavor at all, but there was still a hint of something there. Platinum was hard, stiff, and tingly—like it was reacting to my saliva.

When Taffy opened the door, I was still completely focused on exploring the difference between silver and mithril. "Pouncey, what are you doing?"

Dragon-me lifted my head and looked up at Taffy. Several silver coins tumbled from my nose as my tail, just inches from where my head had been, thumped several times in excitement. I had to admit, dragon-me knew what was up.

Taffy closed the door behind her and crouched down to give my head a good petting. "I convinced Chloe, Jules, and Yaff to pray to Molly tonight."

The moment Taffy said Molly's name, I felt a sense of power fill the small room. I wanted to tell her, but looking up into Taffy's face, I think she knew.

"Wow, just saying her name makes me—It feels amazing." She rubbed all the good spots on my head, dragon-me agreeing with the assessment by leaning into her petting. "You're going to need to hide in here until you're back to yourself. I figure you have enough to do with your hoard and everything?"

Well, it was my hoard, why shouldn't I enjoy it. I coughed and a gold coin shot out of my mouth, pinged off Taffy's sabaton, and bounced to a stop. Reaching out with my tongue, dragon-me caught it back up and set it back on the pile.

"You got any plans in case we need to leave suddenly? Maybe get a sheet or something under that?" When dragon-me looked up at Taffy in confusion, Taffy sighed. "Okay, let me get that and your stuff packed in case you need to leave before you're you again."

Dragon-me seemed content to mostly just lay down on all the money while Taffy pulled out a backpack and started packing all my things into it. All the clothes fit, thankfully, but then she came to the harder-to-pack thing.

"I'm going to need to bag up your money."

This was an affront to everything dragon-me stood for, though since it was Taffy it only got a whine instead of a growl.

"I mean it. If we have to leave in a hurry, I am not coming up here to pack all these coins up. You can keep—I can't believe I'm saying this—these two gold coins out. The rest goes in the bag." She plucked two gold coins out of the pile and set one each on my front talons, then started to scoop the rest into a sack.

Dragon-me was upset, but the two gold were a distraction that kept me from ripping into the sack of coins. Just chill, Taffy will take care of it. She'll take care of us—uh, me. Besides, she's worth way more than just those coins.

Turning my head toward Taffy, dragon-me tilted the world to the side slightly before giving a little chuffing-snort. You think so too? Another snort. Well, good. I just hope this all amounts to nothing to worry about.

"Jules is putting together a pack of food, too. All sorts of cooking stuff, dried meat, some bottles of spirits for you to make into healing potions. We should have talked this over with the others." Taffy turned and sat on the bed and slumped down. "We could still go. Leave a pile of the money to Jules and just go."

We both just sat there in silence. It was like the world itself was waiting for something. And, just when it seemed like nothing was going to happen, Caprice threw the door open to reveal Chloe and Jules standing behind her. "I heard that!"

She stomped in and glared at Taffy. "You don't get to make that choice now. You were helping Dusky, and Dusky was helping Molly. And Molly—Molly wants to help everyone!"

Wait, what happened? How did Caprice know? Did she know about me, too? That was a level of embarrassment I wasn't prepared for. Knowing that would make it harder for her to keep me under control—keeping everyone safe.

"Don't you think I know that, Caprice?" Taffy's voice was raised too. "I want everyone to be safe, just like I promised Molly. I want you all to be safe. If you can tell—his people—that I'm gone and so is Pouncey, they'll l—"

"Leave us alone? Taffy, listen to yourself." Chloe edged around Caprice and into the room. She glared at Taffy. "You've met the people that follow him. They don't set grudges aside. If they think we harbored you, they'll drag us out and burn The Hog down.

"Even Dwarves are more forgiving than that lot. And I'll be honest, you were right. People need someone on their side. Do I like that you went and killed someone? Not really, but if you had to do it, you had to do it. Stop this"—she gestured at the packed back at the end of the bed—"and come back downstairs. Dinner's almost ready and with us all up here trying to stop you from doing something that doesn't help, Yaff is the only one guarding the bar."

Taffy looked down at me, which is when dragon-me left the two gold coins on the floor and sat up to rest my jaw on her lap.

"One thing, and one thing only," Jules said. "Any more jobs your goddess needs where you kick a wasp nest, you talk to all of us first. Got it?" It was the kind of dressing-down a mom would give. Jules had her arms folded over her chest and looked down at Taffy. "Got it?"

"Paladins shouldn't have to put up with this." Taffy petted my head and looked up at Jules. "Okay, I get it. I'm not allowed to martyr myself."

"Now stand up," Jules said and, when Taffy did, she hugged her. It was kinda funny, given Taffy had her armor on and was probably double Jules' weight because of it. "We're all sisters here, okay? You look after us and we look after you, but we all do it together. I won't let you make that kind of mistake."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be myself so I could hug Taffy too or if I wanted to do it so I could giggle at how silly the pair looked. Instead, dragon-me coughed up a silver coin.

"Do you want to come down and help us run the bar?" Chloe asked, and I could swear she sounded just a little too hopeful.

They all filed out of my bedroom, Caprice and Taffy both pausing to give me a petting that I absolutely wasn't getting used to or anything. Ugh, I sound like a freakin' anime girl in my head. When they were all out, I curled up on the floor again and closed my eyes to sleep again—this time without a goddess trying to choke the love out of me.

The next day Jules came up to feed me a joint of meat and a spare bone from the previous night's meal. Dragon-me loved it, ate all the meat and then spent hours crushing up the bones. Taffy came in for a cuddle, but kept silent. Soon there was just one more night and I should be able to turn back.

I didn't sleep, but I did close my eyes and think about everything that was going on. Dragon-me's thoughts were simple and easy to follow. Hunting and killing and getting treasure. I swear, dragon-me is more of an adventurer than I am.

Something—some sense that I know I didn't have as a human or half-Elf—told me that there was danger coming. Sitting up then standing up, dragon-me tried to make sense of what was going on.

Think, dragon-me. Use those instincts to figure out what is—

Fire. I could smell fire. Dragon-me, open the door and— I didn't get to finish my thought as Caprice slammed the door open and dove to grab the big pack on the bed.

"Come on, Pouncey, Caprice and friends have to go. There are bad people outside!" She slung the backpack over her shoulders and grabbed my healing staff from beside the door. "Move it, Pouncey!"

When we ran down the stairs together, the smell of burning got stronger. There was no fire, but everyone was gathered together with big packs. All eyes turned to me, then strayed to Caprice.

"I don't suppose Pouncey would be able to go out and persuade them to leave us alone?" Jules asked.

Taffy shook her head. "No. She's tough, and I don't think normal weapons would hurt her, but there are a lot of them out there that probably have holy magic on their side."

"So that's it?" Jules seemed angry, but I don't think she's angry with us. "No. I'm going to go talk to them."

Everyone froze as Jules marched to the front door and stomped her way outside. Through the doorway I could see there was a bonfire directly out front—about thirty feet from the door. The smell of wood smoke was stronger, but it paled in comparison to Jules' anger. "Why are you here? Go away!"

"You are harboring a monster! It attacked and killed one of our guards!" The voice was male and had some sort of compelling energy to it. "Send it out and you will not be harmed!"

"That's a matter for the city watch!" Planting her hands on her hips, Jules looked ready to take them all on herself. "Go and get the city watch and they can talk to us about it."

"If you don't send the killer beast out, we will be forced to act." As the holy man spoke, his voice sounded more and more unsettling.

Jules stood there for nearly a minute in silence broken only by the crackling of the burning wood. Turning, she stomped her way back inside and slammed the door behind her. "Just promise me one thing—wherever we go, we won't have to put up with a temple like that one."

"If there is, I'll personally set fire to it for you." Taffy got the backpack from Caprice and lifted it onto her own back. "Are they around the back, too?"

Yaff walked to the back door and peered outside. "There are a few back here. Not as many as the front. I don't think we'd make it to the trees without a fight, and if it's a fight then we'll risk getting caught up long enough for the front group to come around."

"Unless you sneak out and lay traps for them. Force them to hold still while we dodge around and away." Chloe gave Yaff a firm nod.

"Got it. The trick will be slipping out without them hearing the door open. Are the hinges creaky or anything?" Yaff reached out to the handle and tested it. Slowly opening the door, she vanished and stepped outside.

"What about if Yaff went to the city guard?" Caprice asked. "She could get them to help."

"If they aren't here, with all this noise and fire, they aren't coming. I'd say his people have them in their pocket, like they seemed to have the merchant guild." Jules was lifting kegs out from behind the bar. "How flameproof is Pouncey?"

I looked at the kegs she held, knowing instinctively they had some of the stronger alcohol in the tavern, and shivered at what she could be coming up with. Yeah, dragon-me, she might want us to run around on fire tossing these at people. It might be fine, but it might not be.

"Let's not test that now." Chloe winced, and I had to agree with her. "Alright, let's gather by the—"

"Taffy!" The shout came from outside—out the front. I recognized the voice and it made me sick to my stomach. It was her father.

Jumping to her feet, Taffy rushed to the door and paused to say, "Molly, watch over me," before throwing it open. A flare of brightness, of the faith of Father's people now opposed by Taffy's own in Molly. For a moment the two battled before settling with a no-man's-land between them. "Dad!"

"Now," Father's representative said, "we both have something the other wants. I propose a trade. Your father for that beast." He sounded slimy and horrid. Dragon-me wanted to rush out and tear him apart.

"Taffy, my girl"—her father shook his shoulders but wasn't freed of the two priests' grip. "Taffy…" The whole world seemed to slow. The fire barely moved behind him and even my own breathing felt like it was taking a week just to inhale. "Taffy—DON'T SURRENDER!"

Things were still in slow motion. As soon as her father shouted, a bowstring twanged and an arc of flame left the group circling the tavern to land somewhere above us. At the same time as that arrow flew skyward, a long dagger appeared from Taffy's father's chest. The woolen pullover he had on blossomed with a growing bloodstain and a faintly coppery smell tainted the burning scent in the air.

Jumping forward at the same time Taffy did, I thanked Molly that a dragon was better at pouncing than a Valkyrie was at charging. Dragon-me closed my mouth around her arm and dragged her back inside just a moment before Caprice slammed the door closed.

"DAAAD!" Taffy tried to wrench her way out of my grip, and when that failed she swung her mailed fist into my nose. Dragon-me, though, wouldn't let go. Thanks!

"Taffy can't do anything now!" Caprice had jumped between Taffy and the door and, thankfully, distracted Taffy from punching my face more. "They are bad, and someday we'll come back and show them what happens to bad people, but if we go out there now—they win!"

"Move now!" The shout was from behind us—from Yaff. "There are monsters attacking on each side, and I killed a few of the people behind the tavern. It's our only chance!"

Pull her after the others. Don't let her go out the front door! Dragon-me seemed to understand. Without letting go of Taffy's arm—and weathering more blows from her—I turned and started marching toward the back door.

The smell of more fire now permeated the room. Yaff was already gone back out the rear, Chloe too, Jules and Caprice were standing there and waiting for us. Just as I reached the door, Taffy stopped punching me. When my feet and tail were all on the snow outside, she'd stopped pulling on her arm.

"Let go, please?" Taffy asked. Might as well. When I let go, she rolled her shoulder and grabbed up her shield from her back, then drew her sword. "We are going to come back. We're going to come back and free Northwind from them—once we're done freeing the world."

There was some kind of heavy magic at work. I felt it like some kind of heavy cloak settling over not just Taffy but myself too. I followed her out of the tavern's back yard, trying to ignore the heat now radiating onto my back.

There was a corridor from the back of The Hog to the trees. Fresh bodies in the snow showed that Yaff had done her work efficiently. What I wasn't prepared for were the beasts fighting more of Father's worshipers to each side of that. Huge spiders as big as dogs, wolves with two heads, and even a four-armed woman hurling spells like a mad thing.

Mother had sent assistance exactly as she'd promised. We slogged through the snow and into the forest. When we all reached the tree line, dragon-me turned my head and looked back. The roof of the Lame Hog Tavern was ablaze. There was a fire reaching high into the sky. Bloody bodies littered the snow behind and beside the tavern where Father's faithful proved their mettle—and weren't up to it.

"Come on, D—Pouncey." Taffy grabbed my neck under her arm and dragged me forward into the dark and cold. Up ahead, Jules led two horses that were weighed down with packs, and Yaff was leading the way.

I still had no idea of knowing what time it was we'd left or how long we would be marching. Hell, I didn't even know how far it was to the next town. Around dawn, though, Yaff led us onto a wide road and we all stopped.

There was an odd tingle running up and down my spine, and I felt like my skin started to crawl. Jules noticed it and turned to Caprice. "Caprice, I think something's up with Pouncey."

Yeah. Pouncey was about to turn into a very freaked-out and naked half-Elf! I looked around for someone to help, and the only person that could be was Taffy. Looking at Taffy, with the light of dawn now illuminating her face better than my night vision would normally manage, I could see she was crying—had been crying, with probably every step, since her father had been killed.

Ignoring the pain and the freaky feeling, I turned myself in the snow and walked toward Taffy. Nuzzling at her, I looked into her eyes and hoped my intention could break through. I need your help!

She patted my head. "Y-Yeah. It's time to go back, isn't it? Come on, I'll walk you back to Molly and come back with my Dusky."

Her Dusky. It made my belly clench in happiness. Walking beside her, we trudged into the forest until we were out of sight of our friends. And right then I realized I had been moving the last few minutes—not dragon-me.

"If you wanna do your thing, I'll get your heaviest dress and things out. I tried to pack a selection of your clothes on top." Taffy started to lift out some underthings, while I doubled over in pain.

Everything hurt as my body twisted, writhed, and shrank back down. A huge tail, long neck, and two whole limbs faded down to my half-Elven body. Even after recovering from all the pain and trying to work out how to use arms and hands again, I grabbed socks, undershorts, a bra, and quickly set about getting clothes on. The dress would be good, but I wanted those leather pants and a shirt, then put the dress over the top of that.

In all, it took about twenty minutes for me to turn from dragon to Dusky again and get clothes on. The extra layer helped warm me up, as did Taffy hugging me tight. For the first time in days I wrapped my arms around Taffy and kissed her. The kiss, despite my desire, wasn't arousing—I just wanted to show her I supported her.

"We should head back soon. Why don't you just tell them it was you?" She put her arm around my hip and held me firmly at her side while she slung the pack back on. "Is it really that embarrassing?"

"Imagine being Caprice's pet for three days." I leaned sideways and Taffy didn't so much as flinch at my weight. "Now imagine that it feels good to be her pet. Not in a sex way, just really good and calming."

"Yeaaaah. I can see that being a bit of a strain on your friendship. Okay, for now I'll keep this secret, but Molly might let it slip." Despite the rough night and fighting that'd happened—and her tears—she felt and smelled so good. I wished we could both be safe and happy, but I guess the real world, even this one, isn't meant for happiness and safety.