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_ In which Alex finds that much has changed; attempts are made to adjust to new circumstances; the conclusion. (5000 words)

Many thanks go to [Dracasis](%5C) and Guri; without their help and insight this story wouldn't have been half as interesting.

2010 Gren Drake_

Consciousness returned quickly, awareness rushing in on Alex's senses. She felt strange, like she was suspended in water and surrounded by darkness. Of course, her eyes being closed probably had something to do with the darkness. She opened them, but still saw only darkness.

No, wait. There was a candle. A line of candles extended around her. She tried to stand, but her body didn't move in the way she'd intended.

Looking around she saw that the candles formed a ring around her. It looked like there was at least a hundred. Beyond them she could see silhouetted forms move in rhythmic motions.

What was going on?

She tried to speak, but her throat produced only inarticulate noises. What was wrong with her? She remembered being badly injured There was no pain now and she could feel her limbs, but the sensations she was getting from them were wrong and they weren't doing what she told them.

A light flared above her momentarily blinding her and filling the chamber with its radiance. She was in a hexagonal room with a domed ceiling. The silhouettes outside the ring of candles were dragons, a dozen of them. They'd stopped moving and all were watching her.

Had they healed her? Perhaps that was why she felt so strange. The strangeness could be a side-effect.

It was only then that she saw a sight that made her gasp, staring. She wanted to look away or close her eyes, but she could bring herself to do neither for laying in a crumpled heap in front of her was her body. It was both naked and badly damaged. Bits of bone protruded from her flesh. The lack of visible blood suggested someone had washed her before...

Before she died?

Was she dead? She felt alive, but then why was she staring at her body? Did spirits feel alive?

Her introspection was interrupted by one of the dragons stepping forward into the circle with her and her body. It was Jiaka. The pack that had been strapped to her stomach was absent now as was her medallion.

"What is your name?" Jiaka's deep voice echoed in the large room. Her voice was flat and stilted as though reciting the words from memory.

When she tried to answer, Alex found she was still unable to produce coherent sounds. Jiaka stood in front of her patiently, watching but not moving. Alex tried once more to speak and this time the sounds came together. Her voice was rough and surprisingly deep in her ears, but it was comprehensible.

"Alex."

"Are you sure you are not Ditar?"

Alex blinked. It was a strange question; why would she be Ditar? She was a woman, he was a male dragon. They didn't have anything in common! And why would she be unsure of who she was?

"Very." Her vocal cords had caught up with her mind. The word was without the roughness of before, but still rather deep.

Jiaka nodded, then turned to the dragons outside the circle. "It is done." The other dragons started moving about, extinguishing candles and packing them into flat crates they brought in from outside.

"Come, Alex. The others can clean up here."

Alex tried to stand once more, but while her body was trying to obey her it still wasn't moving right. She turned her head to look at her body; what was wrong with her?

The problem was evident at once, as was the reason and meaning of Jiaka's questions.

She was Ditar.

She was in his body, at any rate. What had become of his mind? That could wait, though. At least she now understood why she'd been having trouble standing. That brought a second thought. she managed to rise to her haunches and looked down. The hide of her belly continued down with only a slit interrupting its surface, but that was what Ditar had had. With one forepaw she tentatively reached down and inserted a digit into this slit. She met resistance just inside and, moments later, her toe was pushed out as a penis began to extend from her body.

She was male.

Jiaka, noticing Alex not following her, stopped and turned to look at the former-human. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm a man," Alex said.

"Well, yes," Jiaka replied. "So was Ditar. His body isn't going to change just because you were female."

"I don't suppose its possible to fix that? It's not exactly something that's going to make me feel any better."

"One of the students of magic could, but you'd need something to trade. They aren't going to do it for free."

Alex sighed and glanced down at the rapidly shrinking penis. At least it was going to be out of sight most of the time.

Getting her, no. No, since masculinity was to be her, his fate Alex knew it would be important to keep his gender in mind.

Getting his legs beneath him and standing turned out to be trivial. Taking a step was harder; lifting one of his feet from the ground unbalanced him. He could keep his balance as long as he only moved one foot at a time. More than that and he knew he'd fall over. As he followed Jiaka, he watched how female dragon walked and, when he'd built up his courage, tried to imitate her movements.

By the time they reached the stairs leading upwards Alex was walking with confidence and felt ready to tackle the challenge of stairs. These proved surprisingly easy to surmount; he supposed that it helped that they had been designed with dragons in mind. Jiaka lead him through a maze of twisty passages which seemed all alike, eventually leading to a room containing a number of cushions and a large, colourful rug in the centre.

Jiaka settled to her haunches on the rug and looked at Alex. "I have no doubt you are confused."

Alex nodded.

"The judges sentenced Ditar to death for the crimes he committed after he found you especially in light of those he had committed previously. They decided that rather than simply kill him they would transfer your consciousness into his body as you had aided in his capture."

"Transferred?" It was clear what Jiaka meant, Alex was in Ditar's body after all, but Alex was unclear how it could be done. Although the dragons had clearly retained far more use of magic than humans had over the years, he had heard nothing about them possessing such powerful spells!

"The magistars still have ancient grimoires that describe the spells used long ago. Most are difficult and the grimoires need translated when they are used and thus they are used only rarely."

"But aren't people going to mistake me for him now? I don't imagine many who have met him think very well of him. And I don't particularly want to meet anyone who did."

"A public announcement will be made, but yes, there will be mistakes made. I think you overestimate his infamy, though."

Alex's stomach rumbled as Jiaka spoke. "Oh, yes, I had forgot," Jiaka said. "Ditar had not eaten before the ceremony. I will find something for you; please, wait here." Jiaka slipped out of the room, her feet stepping silently on the stone floor.

Alex sat on his haunches on the rug and thought about just how much his life had changed. Strange, really, how Alex's capture by Ditar had lead to Alex becoming Ditar. It would be easier to catalog the things that were the same.

He looked down again at the slit that concealed his penis. With one forepaw, he reached down and gently touched the hide there. It felt nice even as it made him uncomfortable.

He looked up as he heard Jiaka re-enter the room; his hand was frozen on his slit.

A poorly woven basket hung from her jaws. Inside, Alex could see several pieces of fruit along with a couple of pieces of meat each wrapped in some kind of waxy paper. The basket was placed gently on the ground. She either didn't notice Alex's hand on his crotch or didn't care.

"Don't worry about saving any for me; I already ate."

Alex looked at the food and felt his mouth watering. He swallowed, running his long tongue over his lips in case any of his suddenly copious saliva had leaked out.

"We can eat fruit? Ditar didn't." Alex asked, picking up a piece. It was surprisingly difficult to hold on to; he had not appreciated how difficult it had been for Ditar to actually hold or manipulate anything.

"Certainly we do. Most dragons don't make a practice of raping every female they come across, but Ditar certainly did. Besides, he probably just ate it where he found it. Fruit is not all that easy for us to transport."

With some effort Alex got the fruit into his mouth and began chewing it. Fortunately his mouth was large enough to hold the entire thing since there was no way he'd have been able to hold onto it while taking a bite out of it.

"You'll probably find it easier just to grab the fruit with your teeth in the first place," Jiaka said.

Alex looked at Jiaka. "That sounds uncivilized."

Jiaka cocked her head. "Most people like to do something with there time other than eat. Those without a lot of practice with their forepaws don't have a lot of choice in the matter. The wrapping around the meat can be eaten safely as well, though it doesn't taste very good."

Alex continued to eat. As he did, he noticed that a strange odour was beginning to fill the air. It was nothing he'd smelt or even imagined before. As he ate he found the odour growing stronger and his loins felt as though they were shifting. A look down confirmed this and he felt his cheeks burn; his penis was making itself evident.

Deciding that it was a good time to take Jiaka's advice, he laid out on his belly and shoved his snout into the basket. It really was easier to eat that way, he found, and much faster. He could feel his penis extending along his belly and rubbing against the rug, but at least it was out of sight, even if rubbing against his hide and the rough woven texture of the rug was only making the situation worse; his penis was starting to leak traces of precum now as well.

Doing his best to ignore the sensations from his member, Alex peeled open the wrapped meat, grimacing as he saw it was uncooked. Still, he'd had enough in the past few weeks that it was not difficult to swallow. Keeping in mind what Jiaka said, he was careful not to take any bites of the waxed paper.

"So where do I go from here?" he asked. He meant the question metaphorically rather than literally, but fortunately Jiaka understood what he was asking.

"Wherever you'd like, for the most part. Dragons are quite capable of surviving independently. As long as you harm no one, you can probable settle almost anywhere. As a word of advice, don't find a lair too close to anyone else. They may or may not mind the company, but it does put more of a strain of the local forage."

Alex nodded and licked his lips. There being no napkins, he could think of no other way to clean the remains of the food from his face.

"What is that odour? It's been getting stronger for a while now."

"You don't need to rub it in," Jiaka said sharply.

"Pardon? Rub what in?"

"You really expect me-" Jiaka stopped suddenly, then mostly closed her eyes, her gaze turned to the floor. "Of course you wouldn't know." She paused and cleared her throat. A couple of seconds later she cleared it again. "I'm in heat," she said. "As an agent of the council my medallion prevented any heat cycles. Ditar tore it off before he raped me. Until its repaired, I'm going to be going through all those cycles in immediate succession. Even once repaired I will not be allowed to wear it until the magistars are sure that Ditar didn't get me pregnant; wearing the medallion during pregnancy is, ah, not a good idea. Its unlikely--he took me too quickly after the medallion was removed, but it is possible. Until I can wear it again, I won't be able to take any assignments so I've been given the job of watching over you."

Alex was only half listening to Jiaka. From his low position he had a good view of Jiaka's belly and could see her slit. Her otherwise blue hide was tinged red around it. He licked his lips. Despite a lack of interesting features, her slit was quite effective at keeping his attention. This fixation on her crotch disturbed him slightly--he'd never had that kind of interest in woman when he'd been one--but not enough for him to stop.

"Do you mind?" Jiaka demanded. "As much as I know in my mind you are not Ditar, it is unnerving to have his visage staring at me like that."

Alex shook his head, trying to clear it. Then, standing, he deliberately took a few steps backwards. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me."

"Instinct," Jiaka said. "I forget that you are not accustomed your body's reactions."

"If my body's going to do this every time that we're near it each other wouldn't it be better if we stayed away from each other?" Alex's penis was still unpleasantly hard beneath him.

"Try masturbating. While it won't entirely relieve the issue, I find it takes the edge off for a while."

Alex was speechless; that something not one brought up in conversation. "What?" he managed after a couple of moments.

"Masturbation. Autofellatio is popular as well, but you're large enough you may not be able to bend enough. It'll certainly be easier to just use your forepaws and perhaps your tail."

"What, here? Now?" Although Jiaka's snout was pointed at the floor, Alex could see that her eyes where on him; perhaps he was not the only one having difficulty with instincts?

"No. Outside, silly. We wouldn't want to mess up the floor. Here, I'll show you the way out; I really need to get outside myself; the pheromones don't build up nearly as much there."

Once more Alex followed the other dragon through the twisting passages; Jiaka walked in front of him, leading him, and the base of her tail was raised slightly, producing a good view of her hindquarters. It was not, Alex suspected, deliberate. She probably didn't even know she was doing it, but it was not helping to calm Alex's raging hormones. His cock bounced slightly beneath him as he walked; it felt awkward and caused him to walk slower then he might have otherwise. Thankfully, the area seemed to be deserted; there was no one to see his state.

The passages slowly lead upwards and as they did the walls became more cracked and the floors began to display a layer of detritus. When they reached the surface he could see that the walls and ceiling were now pitted and shattered and had gaping holes in places. It was more stable than the ruined city he had been captured by Ditar in only by virtue of the numerous supports and reinforcements that had been put in place.

The city of the dragons and presumed home of Jiaka's Council looked like it had been through a siege. Which, Jiaka confirmed a moment later, was because it had.

"The humans attacked the city during the human-dragon wars; only when they had forced the Council of the time to surrender and agree to the 'treaty' they had drawn up did they let up. We have maintained the city in this condition since as a reminder of the past." She glanced at Alex before continuing. "We also no longer had the mages and architects that would have been required to rebuild it; they were largely killed during the war and only now are we starting to recover what had been lost."

They walked through the wide, muddy streets of the city. Unlike the passages below these were not deserted and Alex felt his checks burning in embarrassment. Despite drawing the eyes of the couple dozen dragons they passed, none seemed bothered by Alex's rampant erection. Most seemed interested in Jiaka. Her pheromones were reaching them, he supposed as he realized that fewer were reaching him. His mind was clearer now and the obsessive urges had mostly vanished.

Alex's embarrassment faded as they reached the edge of the city and he started to step into the forest. He paused as Jiaka spoke.

"Don't worry about your safety; there are not many creatures that will bother a dragon and those that will were eliminated from the area. Why don't you find a quiet spot and work on relieving your urges while I check in with the Council."

Alex just nodded as he was still not comfortable with the discussion of masturbation. Then he walked into the woods for fifteen minutes or so before stopping in a small deserted clearing.

As much as he was uncomfortable with discussing it, Alex had no problem masturbating now that he was alone. Except that he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. Oh, he understood how it worked in theory and had even gotten some practice of a sort when Ditar had occupied the body, but he'd never actually had a penis himself. He wondered what would it be like.

He settled onto his haunches with one forepaw on the ground holding him up while he reached down and brushed the other against the member, careful to avoid its length with his claws. He had heard that a male's penis was quite sensitive and had no desire to cause himself any pain. Without Jiaka's pheromones his penis had become rather soft and even partially limp.

As it had been when it had belonged to Ditar his penis was covered in a thin, mucus-like layer that made the surface quite slick; his forepaw slid along its surface without much of an effect. He curled his toes around his length and stroked along its length. This had a much greater effect: he could feel his member stiffening within his grasp, becoming thicker and pulsing with his heartbeat. The position was awkward though, and he had trouble keeping up the stroking motions especially as his hips began to try and buck. This impulse was totally unexpected and rather awkward while he was sitting the way he was.

After a couple of minutes of trying to get the position to work he came to the conclusion that he needed to try something else; it was just too awkward, too uncomfortable. He rolled onto his back, shifting his wings so they didn't caught under him. They spread across the clearing, covering a great swatch of ground. His tail stretched away from him in a relatively straight line, though the end was twitching. His penis, rock hard once more, bobbed over his belly and precum dripped from its tip, dropping onto his hide.

Once more he wrapped the toes around his throbbing member this time using both forepaws. He ran the rough undersides of his paws over the delicate surface of his penis, only the surface wasn't as delicate as he'd always been lead to believe. He could feel the course texture of his paws and he could certainly feel the occasional accidental jab of his claws, but these things caused him no pain, indeed, it seemed they may well have only increased his pleasure.

As he manhandled himself increasingly roughly his tail thrashed against the ground knocking clumps of dirt and grass about. His hips thrusted upwards against the air. Precum had joined the mucus covering on the end of his penis. His paws seemed to be taking on a life of their own, ever increasing in the ferocity of their attack on his member.

His heart was pounding in his chest, seemingly trying to escape through his ribs. His breathing came in ragged gasps now. Thoughts of everything he'd been through lately and of Jiaka fled his mind, leaving only the thought of getting off.

A strangely familiar sensation was building, subtly different from what he had experienced as a human woman, yet surprisingly similar. His back arched as he continued, his forelimbs reaching around his broad chest to reach his almost painfully hard member.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the building sensation burst, his mind overwhelmed even more completely as his awareness of the world faded for a moment. His eyes closed tightly as his seed shot out and landed in a scattered pattern over his chest, neck, and head along with spots of the grass around him. His tail slammed into the ground hard enough to send up a small cloud of dust.

As his awareness returned, he became aware of the splotches of seed that covered his upper body. Logic flowed once more into his mind as he realized he had no way to clean up the sticky mess. Trying to wipe his semen off with his forepaws did nothing more than spread it around and coat his toes. Reluctantly he bent his head and tried to lick his seed from his body, but he could only reach a portion of his chest and his lips with his tongue. The taste remained as sweet as it had been when the body had been Ditar's.

He rolled onto his stomach and tried to wipe himself off on the grass, but this proved awkward even aside from his still partially erect and sensitive penis. He decided he needed to find a lake or river later and take a bath. Not that he knew of one in the area; he didn't know where anything was.

He flopped back onto his side, his wings stretched out across the clearing behind him. His now soft and limp penis was still visible from between his thighs, as it slowly retreated back into its hiding place. He laid there, post-orgasmic warmth washing through his body and soothing away his worries for the moment. Every moment he lay there he felt less inclined to move.

Sleep stole over him stealthily. So relaxed was he in body and mind that he didn't notice its creeping tendrils overtaking him. So pleasant was the sun filtering through the opening in the thick forest canopy above him that even as his orgasmic bliss faded it was replaced with a comfort of a more mundane kind.

It wasn't until he woke up that he realized he had been falling asleep. The sun had moved and was now setting with a fiery display across the sky. Darkness reigned throughout the forest casting long shadows of trees and bushes that almost seemed to move in the corner of his eyes.

Alex had slept in the forest before, but it seemed different here, more wild. Even the unclaimed forests in human lands were touched by humans. That was absent here. The mountain air was cooler and had no trace of the smells of civilization he was accustomed to even as he had never noticed them. All together it gave the woods a primal, untamed feel at night.

A shadow moved amongst the shadows of the trees, a form shifting in the cover of the brush. A predator of some kind? Jiaka had said nothing remained that would be inclined to attack a dragon, especially one of Alex's size, but he remained cautious, pulling himself to his feet, remaining cold semen on his body forgotten.

"Hello?" he called. "Who's out there?"

The shadowed figure stepped closer; he could make out Jiaka's body now. Her medallion was around her neck once more. "The magistars have made their determination. Ditar did not get me pregnant."

Alex smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

"As such," she continued, "I think it would be best if I wasn't around you. I know you aren't Ditar, but you look too much like him for me to forget. Whenever I look at you I think of him and what he did to me. I can still feel him on top of me."

The smiled faded from Alex's lips and he nodded. "I understand and I don't blame you. He did the same to me, remember."

She didn't reply, filling the air between them with an awkward silence. Each watched the other as Jiaka remained, standing to the side of a tree. Alex stood; he needed to find himself a home of his own, or at least some kind of shelter, before it rained next, but he waited for Jiaka to leave first.

"I'll be going now," Jiaka said after a couple of minutes. She started walking forward, passing by Alex. As she passed, she sniffed at him then stopped, the base of her tail not far from Alex's snout.

"I don't think I'll be comfortable near you, even after this heat passes." As she spoke she slipped her snout under Alex's tail and he could feel her breath across the slit that held his penis.

"Ah?" Alex said. He kept his eyes on Jiaka, even though this meant that he was staring at her ass. He could smell her pheromones and feel them affecting him causing him to slowly become erect once more. They were weaker now though whether because of the medallion she wore once again or because her heat was ending he didn't know.

"It would be best," she began, slipping around Alex, rubbing her body against his until she stood next to him with he snout near his. She spoke directly into his ear now, puffs of air accompanying her words and causing his ears to twitch with every few words. "If we were not near each other. We certainly shouldn't touch each other or breath each other's scent more than necessary."

Alex settled back onto his haunches, looking at the female dragon with his head cocked. "Really?" he asked; he had trouble believing she meant what she said. Her body language was giving him a much different message and the difference was making him uncomfortable.

"Please don't," she said. Her eyes danced around the clearing, looking everywhere but at Alex. "Don't hurt me."

"Don't what? Just what are you trying to do?" Alex was more than a little annoyed with her mixed messages and with his penis, erect once more.

"I want to be free of you; I don't want to be around you." She brushed her cheek against his.

He glared at her. "Then go; I'm not forcing you to stay!"

Jiaka bobbed her head, eyes downcast. "Thank you." She slid around him, sliding her body sensuously beneath his chin.

"Indeed?"

Jiaka's tail slid under his chin and she stood facing away from him once more. "I'll be going now."

"Really?" As Alex watched her he wondered what she was up to. What was going in inside her head? If only she'd make up her mind!

"We'll probably never meet again," she said, tweaking his ear with her tailtip.

"How unfortunate." His lack of enthusiasm was plain to hear.

Jiaka took a few more steps, rubbing her flank against his back. "You won't have any trouble finding yourself a companion. Bastard he may have been, but Ditar was a very attractive dragon."

"Thats good to hear."

Another voice broke into the conversation from the darkness. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm glad to see both of you getting along so well." A new dragon stepped out from the shadows of the forest. The new dragon was a dirty brown colour with a couple of white stripes along his ribs. He was also rather shorter than Alex, possibly as little as two thirds Alex's height.

"I am the Judge Raeni," the new dragon said. "I have been sent to find both of you. You haven't been wasting time, have you?"

"This isn't what it looks like," Alex said. Even as he said it, though, he had to wonder if, in fact, it was exactly what it looked like.

"I was just leaving," Jiaka added.

"You've been leaving for quite a while now," Alex told her.

"I can see that," Judge Raeni said, the sarcasm in his voice more than clear. Alex wondered how long he'd been watching them. "It is good that I got here before you did, then. You will both be required at the Place of Judgement with the dawning of the sun. We have conferred amongst ourselves we have reached our decision. You will hear it formally in the morning." He snorted. "It doesn't look like it will be much of a challenge for you."

"What decision?" Alex asked.

The judge settled to his haunches, looking at the pair of dragons still wound about each other. "We want you to accompany Jiaka on her next few assignments; this will allow you to understand more of our society and hopefully prevent a repeat of Jiaka's last assignment."

"That wasn't my fault!" Jiaka protested. The judge just looked at her.

"You are both to be at the Place of Judgement with the dawn. You can make your protest then. Until then."

The judge stood and walked back into the forest, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Alex looked at Jiaka; her face held an unconcealed expression of shock.

"You can't!" she shouted into the forest.

Alex settled onto his belly on the ground, laying his head across his forepaws. However long the 'few assignments' took he was sure it was going to be interesting.