As I fight through my exhaustion, this enemy continues to block every hit and kick I throw her way. I guess I’ll find out what happens when I collapse, but that’s a problem for later. For now, I need some distance to keep myself safe in case she strikes back again. Throwing a plume of flame her way, she dodges readily, so I turn to retreat.

“Kira! Cease your useless flailing and accept fate! You cannot win a fight against something like me!”

Running upright is nearly impossible, and I keep almost tripping because of the claws on my feet. Now I get why birds jump so much, geez. Adding how tired I am to it, I end up falling over a few times as I run. Stupid human parts, just go away and let me be a dragon!

Turning my head around, I see her following at a leisurely pace. As far as I can tell, she isn’t in any rush to catch up, but then I guess she doesn’t have to be in a rush if I’m stuck in this world.

I’m not fast enough, so I lower myself to the ground and run on all fours. This feels far more natural. The more I run like this, the better it feels as my body shifts to accommodate this style of mobility.

Returning my focus to the god, I barely see her anymore, but I need to do something about her. Well, if I can’t beat her, then I’ll have to settle for annoying her! Spreading my wings, I take flight and now we’re picking up speed! My target is my old home, but I want to make sure she isn't following, so I take a detour up north.

In an unexpected turn of events, I’m flying a lot slower than I’m accustomed to, and pushing magic into my wings isn’t helping. This body, this middle ground between human and dragon, frustrates me as I can’t rely on my memories from either form to move. As if my brain tries to send human signals to the dragon parts and dragon signals to the human parts…

This whole situation is pissing me off! I just want to return to the real world and have fun!

Flying around, I glance at the features of the city I used to live in, and they feel foreign, and I don’t like being here at all.

Setting course toward my parents’ place, I quicken the beat of my wings to shorten the trip as much as I can. I’m getting faster again and I’m adapting. I’m gonna have to cook up something special to punish Lauren for this.

Getting close to my den, I prepare to dig my claws into the side of the wall, so I can climb inside again. With a thud, I slam into the wall, latching on. Climbing up, I enter the wrecked living room, but that’s not where I want to be, so I continue down into the clay tunnel to my real home.

The mural carved into the wall reminds me of my responsibility, and Jeannie’s door is a mark of my new family. I need some rest to clear this exhaustion so I can take up the fight to annoy this god so much that she lets me go.

Coiling up on my little dreamworld hoard, my thoughts drift and I begin to wonder whether I’ll be able to take on the invading adventurers when they arrive in Tuiran. This whole splitting headache situation started because I killed adventurers, and I’d rather not have it happen again…

Especially not if I end up in this stupid halfway form for a third time. If this is to work, I’ll have to stop clinging to the lingering thoughts of being human and plunge into my draconic nature. There is no way I can live that peaceful life my human side wants, and it needs to get with the program and realize that.

That doesn’t mean I won’t try to create some peace, though, but I need to be ready to carve it out of the flesh of my enemies. Especially those who choose to defy me. I can’t rely on instincts to force my actions, I have to take those actions willingly.

As I fall asleep, I realize that I don’t feel that old, familiar reluctance anymore. I feel whole and ready to defend what belongs to me.

————————

As I open my eyes, I glance around and see my familiar den. It truly feels like home, and I like it here. This is where I belong. And the sudden weight on my face is where it belongs, too.

“Kira! What happened?!”

Raya stands in front of me and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but I feel Lauren sleeping against me. As far as I can tell, I’m not in that stupid dream world anymore, which means I don’t get to annoy Lauren’s stupid god. I feel kinda cheated of that now…

In fact, that feeling of being cheated is gonna affect Lauren now.

“LAUREN!”

With a scream, she flails with her whole body, but she ends up in a sitting position.

“Fuck you, you evil beast.”

Yeah, she’s grumpy now. That’s what she gets for making me a coma dragon.

Giving my body an inspection, I’m relieved to see that I have none of those silly human parts anymore. I’m a complete and beautiful dragon, just like I’m meant to be.

“Lauren, I have a question. How come your stupid god made part of me be human and the other part be my real dragon self? That seems very odd to me.”

“How in the hells am I supposed to know? I was just woken up abruptly by some dumb beast!”

That’s fair, she wasn’t there to see it. It does feel like it has some significance, but for now, I’m gonna deal with what I need to right now, like Raya!

“Raya! I’m back, and I feel good!”

“I can tell. Welcome back, Kira! It’s good to see that you’re feeling better.”

Not sure how she can tell, but I guess she’s just clever like that. Getting up, I turn to leave my den and get some food. I have done far too little eating lately, and I intend to rectify that! The exit feels a little snug, but I make it up and out, and it’s time to visit the butcher!

“Lauren, I need some of your spices, I deserve a proper breakfast after what your god put me through!”

I don’t get a reply, but I do get a sense of amusement for some reason. That’s a little ominous. I’m just gonna focus on visiting the butcher with Raya instead. Looking up, the sky is a beautiful blue and I’d say it’s about early noon, which leaves plenty of time for goofing off. Turning my attention back to Raya, I bring up the topic of how long I slept, and she’s quick to inform me that it was for three days, which brings a different topic to mind…

“Did you stab Lauren when I fell asleep, Raya?”

“No! And I’m insulted you feel the need to ask! I haven’t stabbed her in days!”

Given that she just told me I had slept for three days, that can be true while also having stabbed Lauren... I’ll need to look into that later and curb this stabby behavior of hers.

“Raya, what’s the situation with the adventurers coming to attack? Have they made any moves?”

“Wreyn has kept me informed, now he calls me Dragonbringer too…”

Her little pouting face is adorable, as she talks about how the Dragonbringer stuff is spreading and she’s powerless to stop it. Having aired her grievances about that, she turns the topic back to the adventurers.

“He expects them to reach the meadows surrounding Tuiran the day after tomorrow. Our rocks caused enough of a commotion to slow down their preparations, it seems. Wreyn says he has informants in Plainshold keeping him up to date on how they are doing.”

That’s good, but I guess it was too much to hope for them to stop their silly attack entirely. It doesn’t matter, determination fills me as the thought of standing up to these interlopers comes into focus. I feel no hesitation at the idea of reducing this enemy to ash. Well, maybe some hesitation, I can’t rob ash, and I want to grow my hoard.

Reaching the butcher, it occurs to me that it’s smaller than I remember, in fact, everything is smaller than I remember... DANG IT! I’ve grown again! Stop it, Growth!

“Raya, what’s the damage? How big am I?”

“Three and a half or four murak tall at your shoulder, I think.”

That’s so tall… Raising my head up, I can indeed see over the buildings. Looking back to where we came from, there are clear indents from my feet, and the street-fixer goblin is going to have his work cut out for him. I’m definitely getting heavier. Why can’t magic just make me light as a feather?!

It’s a good thing we’re at the butcher, because I need a distraction from all this growing business. At least it’ll be intimidating when the fighting starts.

Fixing my gaze on Raya, I give her an expectant look. She usually jumps down and fetches the butcher by now, but this time she doesn’t seem to be in any rush.

“Do you expect me to jump down from all the way up here? I’ll break something, you overgrown lizard!”

Right, the growth… And now I am an overgrown lizard! Dang it! Fine, I’ll lower my head to allow her to safely dismount. As soon as she feels comfortable with the height, she jumps and enters the building. Looking at her go, there’s something odd about her, but I can’t place it.

A moment later, she comes back out absolutely loaded with meat! How is she that strong?! It’s like twice her body mass, as far as I can tell. The butcher follows suit after, and he gives me a look, and he smells a little scared. Rude, I’m not scary at all.

Being the helpful dragon that I am, I use my dexterous tongue to snatch up a bunch of the meat and eat it. Deliciousness fills my mouth, and I want more. With her load lightened, she glares at me for no apparent reason.

Looking her over, her skin appears to be darker than I’m used to, so that’s peculiar.

“Raya, you look different, what’s going on?”

“You should be familiar with how I look drenched in spit by now!”

A fair point, but not what I meant. There’s definitely something going on with her, she’s got all this strength, she feels more magical, and she’s definitely changing color. Nudging her for an answer, she grumbles something about Wreyn.

“Wreyn said something about Dragons’ magic being so powerful that it influences those bound by a pact. So his guess is that I’m becoming something closer to a Dragon.”

Oh… Uh… I don’t know how to respond to that. Judging by her tone, she isn’t upset about it, in fact, she seems somewhat indifferent. Nudging her again, I make sure to check if it does upset her, since it sounds like I’m to blame here.

“Of course not! I was one of the weakest goblins in town and now I’m the strongest by far! Neithro and I sparred, and he says I’d be a troublesome foe for most adventurers! It’s like I’ve got my very own blessing, and I love it!”

Phew, that’s a relief. I am curious what sort of pact we have, I certainly don’t remember any such thing going on. That’s something we’ll have to look into to make sure there isn’t anything bad going on. There is one obvious thing to look out for, though…

“Raya, make sure you keep your head clear, dragon instincts can be a bit overwhelming.”

With that sorted and not at all postponed, I turn my attention back to the butcher, who has brought out a small hill of meat, and it looks delicious. I’m tempted to heat it up, but I’d rather not light the town on fire.

Grabbing the pile with my mouth, I set out for the gate, so we can have a barbecue. Before joining me, Raya hands out a wooden token and sets off to join me. She’s having to jog next to me to keep up, but I’m just appreciating that there’s still room next to me. So far, anyway. If this growth keeps up, I’ll run out of street!

Stolen story; please report.

“Lauren, if you’re up, could you fetch Joras and meet me at the western gate? Bring spices!”

That’s that taken care of, now I just need to get there myself. Looking around at the townsfolk, they appear to be quite happy as I’m met with smiles and cheerful murmurs. The people are everywhere and behind me, the crowd fills the street agai- I’ve been hitting buildings with my tail… Dang it. Okay, no problem. That’s just job security for the construction sector.

Stupid, unreliable growth spurt! Luckily, my tail blade has been doing most of the damage, so we’re looking at cuts into the buildings rather than bludgeoning, so that’s something. Surely, cuts are easier to repair than big holes.

I don’t actually know what’s easier to repair, but I’m gonna go with that and say it isn’t that bad. It’ll buff out.

Given the property damage I must have caused since leaving my den, I’m a little surprised at how nobody seems to care all that much. I’m not sure I’d be as tolerant of something like that, but I’m benefiting from it, so why would I question it!

I’ll just have to try a little harder to limit my incidental destruction, but for now, we’ve reached the western gate and Raya looks at me before bursting out laughing. I can tell why she’s laughing, but I don’t like it…

“Who has problems with size now, Kira?!”

Yeah… There’s no way I fit through that gate anymore, which means from now on, the eastern and western gates are out. Dang it. I don’t really have room to turn around either, so I’m a little stuck.

I can’t even tell Raya off because my mouth is still full of food. That’s a problem I can solve, though! Swallowing the chunks of meat, I watch as Raya turns pale, and I give her a wide-toothed grin.

“That was for sharing, Kira!”

“Sorry, my growing body needs all the food I can get.”

Turning my attention back to the problem at hand, I don’t see much in the way of solutions here. As far as I can tell, I’d break the entire gate if I tried to go through it, and if I turn around, I’ll have to break something else, so I think my only option is to try following the wall north. The northern carriage gate should be big enough for me.

There’s no way Raya will be able to follow next to me, so I lower my head and tell her my plan. She gets on and we get moving. It’s very snug, but I’m managing without causing too much of a ruckus. We’re making good time, but now Joras and Lauren might make it there first.

“Kira, look at the wall behind us.”

I do so, and the wall is wavy… That’s peculiar. As I try to figure that out, Raya starts laughing again and points down next to us. Turns out every time I breathe, I push against the wooden spikes of the palisade, causing a dent... Geez, this new size takes some getting used to. Tuiran will just have to deal with a wavy fortification because I refuse to hold my breath until we reach the northern gate.

Brushing against the logs of the palisade does feel surprisingly nice on my scales, like a small massage as I walk. I might have to look into finding some logs to lie on so I can give myself a belly massage with them.

Oh dang it! I wasted a golden opportunity! I could have felt what it felt like to sleep on me in the weird dream world! Argh! Do I look into going there again? For a moment I’m thinking yes, but I really shouldn’t. I’m out of there and I should stay out. Getting beaten up wasn’t all that enjoyable.

I’ll have to make sure to try it if I find myself in a situation like that again, but I really don’t want to become that weird dragon-human thing a third time, it was very uncomfortable.

All this walking is making it very apparent that I should start delegating food-fetching to others and just fly in and out of town.

Finally making it to the northern gate, a sense of relief pushes its way into my mind as the street opens up and there’s room for me to not have to be so careful. Having to control the natural sway of my body is hard work, and I deserve a treat for doing it.

The gate seems quite busy today and there are a bunch of people gawking at me, I’m sure I would have noticed sooner if I hadn’t been so busy trying to not destroy everything. Gawking back at the crowd, I’m seeing people of all sorts of species, like scalefolk, a couple of dwarves, and some fuzzy people. In fact, here comes a scalefolk right now, bowing to me for some reason.

“Greetings, Great Dragon. It is a pleasure to meet you again.”

Again, huh? I have no idea who this person is, but she seems nice. A moment later, some dwarf joins her and pulls out a piece of meat from his satchel, holding it out for me. Leaning my head down, Raya jumps off me, and I gently grab the meat with my lips and bring it up high before snatching it with my mouth. It’s delicious! I approve of this dwarf! He gets it!

“Lauren! Some dwarf gave me food! It was tasty. Come thank him for me at the northern gate!”

A wave of confused annoyance flows back to me, which I will choose to interpret as an enthusiastic acceptance of my request.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t see this many foreign species here before falling asleep, so that seems like a rather abrupt development. But if it helps grow Tuiran’s economy and in turn results in more tribute for me, then I approve! I will be keeping an eye on them, though; I have no idea what all of these people might get up to.

Focusing my attention on the scalefolk, I ask about their business here and how they decided to visit.

“We are simple adve- Explorers and traders. After our encounter, we were, admittedly, curious to know more. Unloading most of our goods in a nearby town, we set course for Oakhold, where we learned of the local lord offering tax relief for traders willing to visit Tuiran. A tempting offer to say the least.”

Well, it sounds like Wreyn is doing good work to benefit me and mine. I’ll have to thank him for that. My people here deserve to try all sorts of good stuff from around the world, and for that, we need trade. Or me stealing a bunch of stuff, but trade sounds better long-term.

I do find it curious that she misspoke and, between the start of the word and the sudden spike in fear, it’s pretty clear she almost said 'adventurer.' Well, aside from that lie, they seem like kind folks, and they smell like they have a decent bit of wealth, so I’m pretty sure they are, in fact, traders.

I still intend to keep an eye on them, since adventurers have been a wily bunch of aggressive jerks so far, but I wouldn’t be any better if I just judged them all without meeting them.

The dwarf elbows the scalefolk in the thigh before saying something.

“Er usi Ferrhah, cora toin er runu? [You are nervous, what did you say?]”

“E ragit runin jeb usi Vanyetreffs. [I almost said we are adventurers.]”

Whatever they’re saying has now resulted in the dwarf smelling afraid as he pulls out a couple more pieces of meat and hands them to me. They can keep talking in their weird language if it means more treats for me, as far as I’m concerned.

“Kira, you really need to learn the blessed tongue. Joras has already started teaching me and they’re talking about being adventurers, so I think they know you have a history with those people.”

Raya speaking up really scared the scalefolk lady, but this time, I’ll allow bribes in the form of treats.

“You’re not wrong about me needing those language lessons, Raya. It’s a bit of a problem that I can’t understand them, but she all but said that they were adventurers earlier. They smell familiar, though, so if I haven’t eaten them yet, I’m sure they’re good people.”

The declaration of me being sure they’re good people causes the scalefolk lady to give the dwarf a kick, and he’s quick to pull out even more treats and hand them to me. I’m starting to like this system of treats for me after every conversation, that should be normalized.

I do wonder where they’re setting up though, I haven’t really seen anyone aside from here at the gate, so I nudge Raya and ask her.

“They’re in the square, you went the opposite direction immediately, so you didn’t see them.”

That sounds like nonsense, I’m very observant. Instead of dwelling on that, I try to remember where I’ve met this couple before. I’m struggling to remember it, but I’m sure I’ve met them somewhere.

“You can leave if you want, she’s going to be distracted for a while.”

The memory of the scent is a little old, so it was some time ago. And I haven’t met many of their kin, so… Oh! The trade group in the little pavilion shelter thing!

“Kaldren! I remember now, you’re the guy who asked about Lauren!”

Oh, they’re gone. Well, I’m sure Lauren will find them at some point, I’m sure the two of them will have some things to talk about. Thinking back to that night, most of what comes to mind is that they were nice and had excellent stew. We should import some spices.

Turning my attention back to why we came to this gate in the first place, I nudge Raya and let her know that we still need to meet up with Joras and Lauren at the western gate. Moving to the gate, I gauge that it is indeed big enough for me to fit through, at least once the next carriage finishes passing through.

The draft animals seem quite uneasy at my presence, but I’m harmless, so they’ll be fine. Lowering my head, I manage to walk through the gate without breaking anything. It’s fortunate that carriages and wagons are built so big, because then I’ll fit in anything built for them!

This whole thing does bring up a question, though: if we’re about to be attacked, what are all these traders doing here? I would have imagined that the upcoming battle would be a deterrent to trade, but there’s quite a crowd here. They don’t seem to mind at all.

“Raya, how come these people are here when we’re days away from being attacked?”

“I don’t know, blessed people are dumb.”

That’s a fair point, and I hadn’t considered it, but I am going to point out that she said these changes were like having a blessing of her very own. For some reason, she picks up a rock and tosses it in one hand for a bit.

“This will do.”

Right in my freakin’ nose! Dang it, Raya, stop having good aim! The little rascal managed to nail me right in that sensitive spot too! No more treats for her, that’s for sure. Time to use that trick Coma Kira taught me with the hot air.

Focusing on my magic, I let out a breath of heated air toward Raya, and she leaps away as soon as it hits her.

“What was that? Can you use invisible flames now?!”

"Indeed, I can! Fear me, for you know not where I will attack!”

With me being the victor, it’s time to focus up and go do what we’re actually out and about to do. Lowering my head again, Raya is quick to jump on, and we take the very short flight to the western gate. For some reason, a sense of annoyance and exasperation hits me from Lauren, so she might have stubbed her toe or something.

Joras is standing outside the gate, so he did get here first. It’s good that he’s here because I need that thinking brow of his. Landing near him, I throw him a quick greeting and mention that we should probably wait for Lauren to get here.

But we’ll be discussing this weird dream world I was in and what it means because some parts of it are too strange for me. For now, though, I lie down and Joras joins me as he launches into a rant about language and how it is a gift from the gods to keep the blessed united. I’m not sure how that works, but a common language certainly is smart.

“The Gods looked at the world and saw the warring peoples and decreed that understanding each other must be the way forward, so they gave us a common tongue to bridge the divide. And for those without language, they gave us the Mind Bridge potions. Understanding is divinity and can help broaden your horizons.”

Called it. My people here are super divine and worthy because they tried to understand me very early on, even after the whole Charo situation. Thinking back to all of that fills me with a sense of joy as these people have grown to mean quite a bit to me. The galloping in the distance is a bit distracting, though, and it’s kinda interrupting my reminiscing.

“Kira! If you tell me to meet you somewhere, you had better fucking be there from now on!”

Okay, that’s fair. I did get a little distracted and forgot about her coming to the northern gate. So to diffuse the situation, I bring up how trade is flowing into the city and it looks like they’re bringing a lot of fun stuff.

“Oh! And Kaldren is here somewhere, the guy who asked about you! I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you again. That’s the guy I wanted you to thank, he kept giving me treats, so he gets me.”

That does soften her mood a bit, which is good, but we do have something important to talk about. As she approaches, she dismounts her horse and joins our little circle. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to say this, so I’ll just throw it out there and see what people think.

“I’m pretty sure I’m one of these traveler things, and Lauren’s stupid god agrees. She pulled me into some sort of dreamworld and split me in two. One part Human Kira, who I once was, and the other part Dragon Kira, who I became in this world. But the personalities were mixed up, and I don’t know what to make of it.”

Raya is the first to speak up. “You were human? That must have been awful.”

“It was! Well, it was in the dream world, because it was my dragon self that was the human, but before getting killed, I was fine with being human.”

Joras seems to have something to say next, so I hope that’s something big and important.

“I believe everyone but Raya suspected you were a traveler. Your behavior is simply too odd.”

Never mind, that’s neither big nor important, it's a bit rude, actually.

“But the way you describe splitting and how the split happens is interesting. If I were to wager a guess, I would say your dragon self craved companionship and associated being human with it, so it became human in the representation. At the same time, your human self wanted safety, and I can’t think of anything safer than being a dragon, at least when you grow up.”

Maybe, it doesn’t feel entirely right, but I think it is the right course. Giving Lauren a look, she gives me a look in return. I’m curious what her opinion on this is, she basically started it with all that prayer business.

“Stop calling my Goddess stupid, you blasphemous beast…”

Okay, fair. A quick apology later and we’re back on track. Well, we were back on track when Lauren decided to drop a bit of a bombshell on us.

“I had a vision before leaving Arrenfret, given to me by Merciferus. It said The Cataclysm Wakes, the Darkness Walks, and a Traveler must be found. I’m pretty sure you’re the traveler I’m supposed to find, but I don’t know what the Darkness or the Cataclysm are."

That does sound like the kind of cryptic nonsense I’ve started associating with that weirdo.

“Do you think the Darkness could be the Shadow Man?"

All eyes focus on me, and I feel a little self-conscious for some reason. Questions about the shadow man pop up from all three of them, so I just give them a quick rundown of my encounters with him and how he gave me directions and helped prevent the assault on Tuiran from becoming even worse.

“So that’s why you returned… We were sure you should have stayed away longer, so we weren’t prepared at all. But I can’t say, I’m not feeling anything from Merciferus, and I have no doubt she’s watching me. Maybe if I met him, I would know.”

I have no idea how we would even set up a meeting, but given Raya’s history and how I’ve mentioned him before, I suspect they’ll all forget by tomorrow. I need to ask Neithro about him to see if he remembers.

Changing the subject, Lauren asks what Merciferus was like, and I bring up all about how evasive, dodgy, and punchy she was. I’m not a fan of hers, to be honest.

“Do you think you might have misinterpreted the situation and she let you out because you reunited with your other self?”

…Maybe… But that doesn’t make me look good, so I’ll have to deny that for a bit longer. Instead, I point out how she just gave weird comments instead of giving me instructions. It would have been so much easier if she had just told me what to do.

“That’s not how Gods work. They guide their faithful through trials and it is exceedingly rare for them to intervene as much as Merciferus has done lately. In fact, our texts only mention such intervention before… Oh… Shit! Our texts only mention intervention three times, the first was against the Abomination. That thing’s defeat created The Pale Sands, a lush jungle turned into a desert overnight by the wicked magic unleashed. It’s south of Immarderen’s capital, Narien.”

Huh, I know a Narien, and to the south of it, there’s a famous tourist destination for sand surfing.

“The second time was against The Dead King, a cruel monster from my homelands, whose forces grow over time and the undead wash over the lands, resulting in so much death. Their assaults hit our fortifications every year, but they grow stronger over time. As far as we know, The Dead King is animated by the source of the Corruption.”

Which I appear to be immune to. Merciferus didn’t seem to have anything to say about it in the dream world, so I’m sure it’s fine for now.

“And the third time was against Karvoric, the aspect of Famine. An ooze monster so powerful it would consume the land without the intervention of the Gods. It left vast swaths of the north desolate, and to this day, you can find places with evidence of the monster.”

Geez, what sort of crazy world did I plop into here…