II- A change is in order.

Now, I do not want to say that I felt like the king of the world but getting laid by a dragoness and riding her at the head of a rather sizeable army of dragons above the clouds did get really close as a feeling.

We were high above a thick layer of clouds as the dragon army flew its way to the temple, protecting me from whatever might have decided to attack us. Not that there was anything so stupid in the sky to attack over a hundred odd dragons alone or in a group, not with one of the three lords with us.

There was little need for him to come but he insisted strongly and his arguments were very convincing. His name was Kirion, and according to Johanna, he was not only the oldest dragon alive, standing at the top of his one thousand years of age, but also still held the title of the strongest fighter. She spoke of him with great reverence and I think this was the closest thing to an idol that she had. In my opinion: it wasn't hard being the strongest when you were the size of a three story house and had claws big enough to cut a car in two. How could such a creature come into being was beyond me. Then again… magic and dragons. Who the fuck knows anything anymore?

His wing beats moved the clouds below us and the columns of mist swirled around and plunged even lower.

The sight was amazing and inspiring, and the fact that all of this was because of me choosing to become one of them. The thought was enticing and was feeling like my heart was beating together with Johanna's own. I felt one with her by some magic spell. She seemed to be happy as well, purring gently ever so often. Kirion looked at us every now and then, smiling weakly or shooting us a sideways glance.

About an hour after we left Aerym, his expression changed and hardened, several dozens of dragons doing the same not so long after. I was left puzzled until Johanna felt like sharing what was going on.

“We are getting close, prepare yourself!"

“Why should we?"

“Because it seems that humans have gotten wind of our arrival and made us a little surprise."

I craned my neck and looked below us but couldn't see anything except a little strip of land and more clouds. How did he know that there were humans below and that they were there for us, I had no idea. Probably magic and stuff like that.

The army of dragons plunged deep in the layer of clouds and emerged below, each and everyone leaving a small trail of ice crystals behind. Just like yesterday my stomach twisted and turned as we lost altitude. The air screamed around me and I felt like vomiting what little I had eaten the hour before.

Once I was in a better disposition I looked down and saw that there was indeed an army waiting for us, completely surrounding an old and rather run down structure. The temple.

Even with my sight I could see that the army was moving around and further encroaching the temple, leaving no space for us to enter and probably loading the dozens of siege weapons, aiming them at us. Were they going to fire already?

“How did they find out about this?"

“I don't know, maybe there is a traitor among us." Kirion's voice was grave and carried anger and worry. Still, he held his composure and landed in front of the army with me and Johanna, whereas the other dragons took some distance and perched on rock walls and old structures.

For a few minutes nothing moved except the wind and the tails of the dragons. From the human army there was no sign that someone was going to fire or anything. Maybe they were scared and that made things even worse: there are few things scarier than a human that is nervous and has a hand on a giant siege weapon's trigger.

Kirion took a step forward and two bolts were immediately shot towards him. Johanna yelled something, fearing that the old dragon would get wounded but before the bolts could touch him, a bluish light appeared in front and shattered the steel and wood of the projectile. Magic. This was magic. He snorted and roared, the others behind him joining in just like before. The humans were visibly nervous now.

Suddenly, three men in heavy armour and riding horses came out of the mass of steel and trotted towards us. Johanna hissed and dropped me gently on the ground, placing herself so that she could protect me if the need arose.

“Cease you hostilities humans, we have the Envoy, we have won!" Kirion shouted as soon as the thee men were close enough to let me see their faces.

“We'll see about that. Is that him?" The man at the centre pointed his sword at me, Johanna hissed again and I gulped, fearing for my life. They were really going to kill me. Then, the man that just spoke got down from his horse with practiced movements, dropped all of his weapons and… kneeled on the ground. What the hell was this?

“Begging for us to spare you, human? Tough luck. You should have capitulated earlier."

“Shut up you murderer! His highness Pembroke is kneeling to the envoy, not you!" One of the two men beside this Pembroke spoke with rage and arrogance.

“Me?"

“Yes, Divine Apostle, I beg that you see the light and help us, your fellow humans and not these monstrosities that love nothing but to bathe in the blood of the innocent!"

“Do not speak of innocence you monkey! How dare you say that after slaying hundreds of our young?" Kirion bellowed and his might shook the trees and the ground. The king and his men didn't seem to be too fazed by it, the soldiers behind, not as strong though.

“And how dare you speak to us after burning tens and tens of towns, Butcher?"

“Shut up and get lost, monkey! We have won! You won't change the course of history, not now!" The two parties seemed to be ready to kill each other: the dragons were unsheathing their claws and the humans were loading and aiming all they had at them, swords drawn and spells chanted. In order to stop these idiots from killing each other on the spot, I stepped in front, standing between them. “We have gotten the Envoy before you and we have won! Get lost and hide in your little castle!"

“Wait a goddamn minute! Wait!" I shouted with all the air I had in my lungs, which was not much at all but it seemed to work out just fine: the dragons didn't lunge at the humans and the humans didn't shoot at the dragons. The king and his men were taken a back just as much as Kirion and Johanna. “What the fuck is going on here?"

“These humans are trying to persuade you in joining their cause merely because you look like them. Do not be fooled and get back here, before they kill you."

“Us killing him? Are you out of you mind, dragon? We came here to save him from your bloodstained claws!"

“I said: shut up! Is that so hard to understand? I am trying to figure something here!"

“There is nothing to figure out Aidan, I'll take you to the temple immediately." Johanna took a step forward and I took one back. she seemed confused and the king immediately wore a smile on his face.

“Aidan, was it? Let me take you in the temple, so that we may win and save the human race from doom and suffering!"

“You will do no such thing until I have figured out why this whole situation is bugging me."

“What do you mean?" The king was confused.

“Why was I called to this world?"

“To help the humans overcome the evil dragons and lead out race to prosperity of course! Do not believe any of their lies, oh Apostle, they are nothing but liars and deceivers!"

“I don't care what you think of them, just tell me the truth!"

“I did!"

“No, you didn't! First the dragons tell me that I have come here to save them from you and now you tell me I have to save you! Who is lying here?"

“" Them!"" As I expected, both parties shouted at the same time, each trying to overcome the other and get me on their side. From the depth of my heart, a bitter realization emerged and rose at the top.

“I wasn't sent here to save either of you, which is why you both fought to get me first, didn't you? I was… sent here to do something else but you kidnapped me before I could learn what my purpose was?"

When I said that Johanna looked away from me and the humans did the same. I knew I was right in that moment. “So, this whole… charade about the horrible deeds that each of you made… was just a façade to get me on your side?"

“No! They did slaughter all of our eggs and hatchlings!"

“And they did burn dozens of towns with thousands of men and women and children!"

“Shut up! Both of you are to blame! This is a war. Tell me who started this fucking war! Now!" There was silence for a few long and excruciating moments, no one daring to speak first. The human king breathed in and looked at me, eyes full of shame.

“We don't know."

“You don't know?? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

“It means that this war has been going on for so long that no one remembers anything about its cause."

“Wasn't it going on for fifty years? I know it's a long time but how could you forget in that span of time?"

“It's been fifteen hundred years, Aidan. I lied." Johanna refused to look at me when she said that, tail tucked between her legs. “I'm sorry."

“Ok, ok, so, to make this short: you lied to me, you both have no idea why you fight and you both want me not because I am here to save one of you but because you want me to help you destroy the other race to win a war that has lost sense who knows how long ago. Am I correct?" No one spoke again, even Kirion and the king were too embarrassed to say a word. “Fine, what else did you lie to me about, Johanna? Was everything we talked about fake? Were you parents fake? Was last night… fake?"

“N-no Aidan, all I said was true!"

“Then why you lied to me about this war?"

“Because I was told to. The lords have ordered me to get you on our side. But everything that I said and did other than that was real! I did fall in love with you yesterday! I fell in love with your wit and your actions and everything there is to know about you!" Three simple words: I love you. When she said that my heart shattered, the weight of a million tons of rock crushing me. This was something of a dejavousz. Her muzzle distorted in an ugly mess for a moment. “I mean, the beer did taste funny and made everything seem better but what I now feel is true, Aidan."

“The beer… tasted funny?" Something clicked inside my head: the lords ordering her to get me on their side, her getting us drunk… “You drugged me!"

“No! I didn't!"

“Don't you fucking lie to me now!"

“She didn't, young man." Kirion stepped forward. “I did, for the sake of our race, I had no other choice."

“So you thought of drugging me and then convincing me to join your cause? Use some kind of spell or cocktail to make me fall in love?"

“See? They are nothing but liars and deceivers! Let us help you get your revenge!" The king raised his hand, extending it towards me.

“You shut up! You'd have done exactly the same with me! This is how you are! Everyone wants to win and no one wants to understand why this whole situation is just utterly ridiculous!" I had to stop shouting and catch my breath. “You know what? Fuck this! Fuck you and you and you and…" when my finger moved on to Johanna I was really tempted no to say anything but the rage I was feeling right now, a rage that shouldn't have even passed thought my mind, the pain of being lied to and used didn't stop me. “… and you. Fuck you too for lying to me!"

“I don't care what you think about us, Aidan, you have to choose a side, you can't just… refuse." Kirion spoke for everyone else, and that, the choice, to have to chose a side when both were just as fault, that was hurting me.

“Yeah? We'll see about that!"

In that moment I began walking towards the temple, alone. The king tried to stop me but with the heavy armour he had, movement was slow. His men didn't dare to touch me and just stood between me and the entrance. I yelled at them to let me pass, threatening with me choosing dragons above them unless they let me pass.

It was a good idea and it worked just fine: the five rows of armed men parted before me, leaving the entrance free for me. Their expressions were complex, a mix of fear, hope and other stuff. I saw that among the soldiers, women and young men like me, were not uncommon at all. These people must have been fighting for so long that they had to recruit women… scraping the barrel.

There were no doors at the front of the temple, only a large entrance that opened up in a hallway and nothing more. The stone had been attacked my moss and trees were growing from the cracks. Had I not been mad I could have stopped and looked at the wild beauty of it all. I marched inside, stomping my feet at each step, the sound echoing around in the empty passage. The air was getting denser and heavier around me the further I got inside the temple and an oppressing force swept over me. In a fit of anger I waved my hand and the feeling disappeared.

After five minutes of walking, I reached a room, pillars of stone, carved in all sorts of stiles and motives, were lying on the ground, broken, crumbled under the pressure of time and the elements that came in from the holes in the ceiling. At the very centre of the room stood a pristine altar and a knife, black and seemingly made out of obsidian.

When I grabbed the knife my view blurred and the room disappeared in a whirlpool of fog. When the grey fog faded, I was not in the room but in a field, surrounded by sheep and people. I looked around and saw mountains and hills in the distance, cities and caravans. A farmer wielding a hatchet passed right through my body, joining the many in front of me.

Holding the knife in my hand, I passed to the front of the crowd and saw a large dragon, shielding a smaller one, who wept in fear as the humans yelled at them.

“We were just hungry! Please, you must understand!"

“Dragons are not welcome here! We have had enough of your kind in these mountains! Eating our prey, scaring the livestock, just go away already!"

“Where are we supposed to go then? I have a young one with me: his wings are broken and he cannot fly!"

“I don't care!" A man, old enough to be my grandfather threw a rock at the dragon, hitting the smaller one through a gap in his limbs. The whelp cried and the one what was protecting it roared and spewed fire, incinerating the humans.

The scene changed and I was looking at a city on fire, dragons coming in and out of it, carrying huge bags that leaked something shiny. The human wailed and got busy trying to quench the flames as the dragons laughed and feasted on the livestock.

Another change and I was looking at a dragoness in the water, trying to stop a bunch of fishermen from crossing a river.

“There are eggs hatching right here! You can't fish now!"

“Let us pass, you beast! We need to eat too! There had been no food for weeks around here and we will pass over your corpse if it means that we can live!

Dozens of scenes like this, in which both the humans and the dragons poked, insulted, killed each other for all kinds of reasons, unfolded in front of me.

The scenes eventually got more and more violent as the true war broke out, slaughter and carnage, gratuitous violence and needless horrors. No wonder no one knew why the war started: there were too many to count. It was simply two races that were too close and a bit too incompatible to work out together.

The rage and anger I felt before started to wash away and I felt only pity for the two races of this world. They were both so clever and capable of so many amazing things and the only thing that they saw in each other was an enemy that had to be killed.

“It's not their fault: they just can't help themselves. Humans love order and laws, dragons love to live free…" A voice came from my right side. It turned around and saw a ball of light, shimmering and shining.

“Are you the god that summoned me?"

“In a way… yes."

“Why didn't you stop them? Why have you let such violence unfold for so long?"

“Because I am weak, Aidan, I have no control over this world anymore. I tried, believe me, but no matter how many prophecies and how many prophets spoke of peace, no one listened in the echoes of rage and revenge."

“Which is why you called me: someone that would talk to them from below."

“Sort of yes. I was just tired and told them that I'd send the one to put an end to their war and the first thing they did was start to kill each other over it. I never mean for things to end this way."

“Do I really need to choose?"

“Yes, humans and dragons cannot co-exist, one must win and the other must lose. The world will see a loss of much life and there will be too many bodies to count, but those that will survive will be happy."

“This is not right!"

“I know, but this is what will happen." The scenery changed and I was back in the room, surrounded by rock and moss. The ball of light had disappeared but I knew that it was still listening. “What do you choose? Human? Dragon? Take your time and remember: there is no shame in choosing."

“I…" I don't know how long I stared at my hand and at the knife in my hand but when I knew what I had to do, I gripped it hard enough so that my fingers turned white. My heart was beating so hard I might have had a heart attack any moment now.

“What do you choose?"

“If I choose dragons all the humans die or become slaves, I if choose humans, all the dragon die or become slaves or pelts or armour…. I choose… both."

“???"

“I don't want either one to die but I cannot refuse to choose, so… both. Neither fully dragon, neither fully human. A third party that will oversee things and guide them towards peace." The god didn't speak to me for quite a long time.

“I like you Aidan. Good job in surprising me. I shall give you one last piece of advice: things will get even harder now. You'll have to choose a path never before seen in any world and carve it out yourself, but I will give you the power to make you idea a reality. Truth be told, I was hoping you'd say this. Thank you."

“Before you do whatever you want to do: is my Johanna safe? Is she angry at me?"

“Her? Oh, I don't know, I'm sorry. I'd have to ask the god of that world…"

“It's… fine. Let's get this done with."

“Carve two triangles on the palm of your hands with the knife and then put them together. Pray on your knees and imagine the form you want to take. I will handle the rest."

Normally I would have been afraid of blood and even more afraid of hurting myself on purpose but this was not a normal day. without too much fear I pierced my left hand and the pain almost convinced me not to keep going. I breathed in for a few moments and then held my breath, carving the left triangle in two quick strokes. The sign glowed for a moment before I passed onto the right hand. The blood made the knife slip on the floor twice and made the second sign much, much harder to make. When I was finished the handle was slick with blood and my hands hurt like hell.

Now, both signs were glowing strongly. I tossed the knife on the ground and kneeled, scraping my knees. A little bit more pain was not going to stop me at this point.

I joined my hand and closed my eyes, imagining what I would look like if I had been a dragon in a human body? Scales? Of course. Tail? Check. Horns and ear flaps? Sure, why not? Wings? No need to even ask.

I had a rough outline in mind and was intent on making it better when the pain shot through my body like a bolt of lightning. The god had forgotten to warn me about that. In a monumental effort I opened my eyes and saw the growing scales spreading from my hands to my arms. My spine cracked a moment later and I fell on all fours, sweating profusely. I could hear the pops and cracks of who knows how many bones reshaping and fusing together, creating new joints. I screamed but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a thick stream of black fog. It tasted awful.

Another crack of my spine sent me on my back and in that moment I felt something growing out of it, poking at the stone floor: I reached with a hand and felt two small nubs of bone and flesh rise steadily out of the skin, pulling it as they jutted out. The marvel of realizing I was getting wings was eclipsed by another jolt of pain under my arms, between the side of my torso and my armpits as two more protrusions of bone made themselves known to the world. A second set of arms?

Again, my confusion was cut short as more pain invaded my mind as my whole face reshaped all at once: teeth fell on the floor in a gush of blood, pushed out by fangs and my tongue became longer and thicker, splitting into two at the tip. The new muscle failed to respond to my command and it lolled out like it had been filled with anaesthetic. I could taste the air and it told me so much: all the critters that passes through here, mated, died, marked their territory and left. It was a beautiful mess of scents and stories, mixing up in my mind.

I touched the ground and it felt weird, nowhere as cold and hard as the scales on my hands protected me from it, hard enough to not be injured anymore but soft and sensitive to the touch.

I could still not see, my eyes shut like a new-born kitten so I just curled up in a fetal position and waited for the pain to stop.

Weirdly enough, after who knows how long, I felt a tingle take over my body and the pain receded into nothingness. The changes were still going on but there was something else that mitigated it and made the transition much easier. I opened my eyes and saw that the scales had grown all over me, not leaving even an inch of skin free. They were a reddish brown, almost rusty and beautiful to me new eyes. Who was ever going to need contacts now? My attention was stolen by something far more interesting: from what was once my crotch, two very sizeable members jutted out, standing side to side at more than fifty centimetres each, black, and throbbing visibly. I moved a hand to touch them and the shock of pleasure knocked my head backwards, my new horns colliding with the stone floor.

It took me a moment to open my eyes again and look at my new equipment in detail: if I had not been somewhat of a furry before, I'd have been scared or disgusted by being what I was, I found the sets of ridges and the tapered tip so much more… appetizing. I had no doubt that this was what dragon dicks looked like but I was also sure that mine were much more beautiful.

As my tongue finally responded to my will, I gave myself a lick and found that I tasted as good as I looked: a bit spicy but sweet and addicting. A few strands of pre mixed up with my saliva and created what must have been the best combination of flavours I had ever experienced in my life.

My spine cracked one more time and the sudden movement sent my new muzzle forward and I accidentally swallowed most of my right cock in one go. The tip was well past the back of my mouth and had invaded my throat but I felt no pain at all. In the spur of the moment I began bobbing up and down to the point that I began using my own throat as a fleshlight, pumping with my hips rhythmically. Could all dragons do this? The feeling of having your own flesh in your mouth was beyond anything anyone could ever hope to resist. My tongue prodded inside the urethra and slithered down, lapping at any fluid before it could come out of the tip.

After a couple of minutes of senseless sucking and moaning, both of my dicks throbbed and erupted at the same time, shooting a load unlike any other before well past a couple of metres behind me. I had to grab both of them and pull them in my mouth, else the delicious reward would have gone to waste and since there was so much, I had to gulp it down like a refreshing drink that tasted of heaven.

The tingle kept going however and soon it moved from beyond my cocks to a little below them and a sense of emptiness assaulted my being. I moved a hand in the attempt at finding whatever was the cause of this and as I moved it at the edges on my new genital slit, I found not one, but two holes. Two? I touched one and experimentally put a finger inside: the feeling was in no way different from Johanna's vent. I needed a minute to realize that not only had the god made me halfway through dragon and man but also from man and woman.

The internal muscles of my new organ squeezed tightly at the invading finger and the feeling rivalled the one had had me come not even a minute before. Both of my cocks seemed to rise up again, even though they had not actually gone limp and throbbed again. Both of the sets of genitals demanded equal attention but I only had two hands. Wait… no, I had four.

As if responding to my ever growing lust, the second pair of hands shakily moved and joined the first one in their exploration of my female parts. Two were giving attention to my cocks and two were prodding and taking care of my vent.

“Too… many hands…"

Uttering even that simple sentence was almost like a chore, hard and tiring. My voice sounded a but raspy and deeper but otherwise I could still recognise it. One thing that changed little.

The assault of the four hand lasted not long and I came with both male and female parts at the same time. Surprisingly, I could shoot out just as much, if not even more seed as before, though this time I had not enough strength to collect or drink it. The streams rose in the air and fell back on my stomach and muzzle with loud splats, my vent gushing and coating my tail in clear fluids. Oh, yeah, the tail, I had forgotten about that.

I rested for a few minutes before slowly getting on my feet. The digitigrade stance was odd at first and I almost fell flat on my new muzzle. Ever so slowly I learned to control my tail as a counterweight and how to put my feet in front of each other without falling like an idiot. Hands I had already figure out earlier. With a contraction of my groin muscles I retracted my cocks inside. The sight was amazing and felt just as good as letting them out and I was tempted at playing with them like this for a little bit more.

“I take that you like your new body." The voice of the god suddenly echoed in the room that I realized just now, smelled deliciously of both male and female essence. “Sorry, I didn't mean to watch but I had to because your transformation requires a good deal of attention."

“No problem and yes, I do like it. Why the female part though? Isn't it kind of… unnecessary?"

“Well, I thought that since you wanted to be in the middle, might as well go all the way in."

“Can I… lay eggs?"

“Oh, yes. I made you the perfect hybrid: no matter what race or sex you mate with, you'll be able to conceive, as long as you wish for it."

“Does that mean I can only have children when I want to?"

“Yes, a little extra so that you can make sure that your offspring will not be born at the wrong moment." The thought of children around me, both from me and other women was alien and enticing at the same moment. “The second set of hands is also a gift: you love making art and crafting, this will make you even better at it.

“Thanks…" I looked at my body for one more instant. “Should I go now?"

“If you want to…"

“What about the… smell? I don't want to come out smelling like an orgy."

“You can use magic now… just think about it and you'll be alright."

Following the god's words I waved my hand and though about removing stains and smells, and just as I wished, they disappeared. satisfied with my new skill, I trotted out of the room but stopped once I realized I had forgotten something: the knife. It had transformed me, so maybe it could change others as well? If anything, it was pretty to look at.

From the weeds around the altar I weaved a small sheath and a belt, done in less than three minutes. Ah, the wonders of four hands. I was about to go out again when something in the back of my mind hit me. Offspring? Did the god say offspring? What the actual fuck?? I was not ready to have children or whelps or anything of the sort. Or… was I? Was there some problem with that? Laying with both men and women, humans and dragons alike, what was wrong with that? Surely the god didn't make me only to let me die alone with no descendants. Was this why he had given me so many attributes?

What a nice thing of him, her… it… did gods even have gender?

Now I had another problem on my mind: clothes. I was stark naked and as much as dragons went around with nothing on, my human part was still here and poked at my sense of shame. With some magic I made myself some extra clothing and put the resulting cloth, weaved out of spider webs, on my crotch, covering the front and under my tail. Since the white was rather bland I made it of a colour that seemed to go well with my rust red scales. The nice green was soothing to my eyes.

Having done all that I had to do, I walked out of the room once more and then into the hallway. My heart, no… hearts, were pounding strongly and almost made me not notice the sounds of the ongoing fight outside the temple.

With all the strength I could muster in my legs, I ran towards the exit. The first thing I saw was the corpse of a human, torn in two by what must have been a smaller dragon, since the cuts were mostly shallow. The man had died with an expression that revealed all of his pain. Further ahead, more and more corpses, humans and dragons.

My eyes flew over to the centre of the battle where the bulk of the fighters were busy going at each other. Kirion was the one that had the most wounds as dozens of harpoons and bolts had embedded themselves in his scales. Having such a big body in a rather small and packed area was not so good now, was it? I almost felt sorry for him but the memory of him admitting that he had drugged me resurfaced immediately. I searched for Johanna and saw her on the right side of the battlefield, barely avoiding a bolt, wounded and bleeding.

I didn't even try to think as I rushed towards her, wings beating strongly behind me. The feeling was incredible as I thought it'd be. A human was about to stab her with his sword but I arrive just in time to stop him. With my new strength I accidentally broke his arm and he fell on the ground, howling in pain. The scene around us stopped as the fighters of both races let go of their weapons and looked at me. Their gazes were those of curiosity but they didn't fail to make me flustered or embarrassed.

“Johanna, are you ok?"

“W-who are you?"

“Come on, don't you recognise my voice?" She frowned a bit before gasping in surprise. “There we go."

“A-Aidan?? What happened to you?"

“Well, you happened to me but this look was my idea. Now, sorry but I have to stop a war." I expected her to come with me but she only stepped back, slowly going further from me, eyes full of fear and confusion. I failed to notice this and kept going towards the two that were still fighting.

Under the inquisitive eyes of the soldiers I walked over to Kirion and the human king, who, for his age, was holding on pretty well against a medium sized dragon and succeeded in wounding her. It seemed that now I could tell the sex of a dragon just as I could tell a man from a woman. Pretty handy if you ask me. I coughed to get the attention of the two leaders but they were too engrossed in killing to notice me. I gathered magic in my throat and roared.

In the distance I could see the tree branches shake and some humans and dragons covered their ear to hide from my voice. Now I was sure that the king had stopped and even Kirion had let go of whatever poor thing was in his mouth. He spat out a few wooden beams from a ballista and looked at me with a curious gaze.

“Who are you?"

“Aidan of course, who else would I be?"

“Aidan?"

“Yes, I had a little talk with the god that took me here and we came to the conclusion, sorry, I came to the conclusion that having only one species survive was the wrong choice. I told you that I wasn't going to side with either, so… I became a little bit of both, to make things even."

“But…"

“No buts, king. You wanted me as a human to kill them, the dragons wanted me as a dragon to kill you. If I am neither and both, then you can go and suck my ass. Happy now? All your desire for victory and power made you both lose me." I sighed and looked at the two leaders, who were each equally baffled and confused. “Since I am now a third party, how about we start the peace talks?"

“No way!" The king was the first one to speak. “We won't side with a monster!"

“I stand with him. What made you think this was a good idea?" Kirion shouted. Of course they'd not accept me. At least they seemed to agree on one thing. “I would have understood if you had chosen to be human or a dragon but this??? This an abomination!"

“For once in his life, this dragon has said one good thing: you are an abomination."

“Now, now, let's not drop insults like that. I have done this for the both of your races!"

“How is becoming a… half breed that smells of male and female at the same time supposed to be for us? You are an insult to dragons for having scales and an insult to humans for walking on two legs!"

“Shut the fuck up you crusty lizard! Would you have preferred to die out?"

“Yes! Death is more honourable than having anything to do with you!" His words hit me hard. Was death better? Really? How stubborn was this old lizard? I looked around the battlefield and saw many, both dragons and humans scoff at me and bare weapons and fangs. Johanna was far in the distance but I knew she was watching… what was she thinking? Was she with them? “Just get away from my sight."

“Will you stop killing each other?"

“You have lost any right to that when you gave up on being either of us." The king spoke and raised his sword at me. The blade glowed weakly in a red shine. Enchanted weapon. I didn't move.

“I asked you a question. I am fine if you hate me and want to kill me but I need to know that what I have done was not for nothing." The king looked at me for a moment or two and then ordered his men to attack. “I see." The blades hit my scales and shattered in a shower of shards, shocking the humans. Next came a dragon, ordered by Kirion to tear off my head. I evaded the jaw that snapped where I was and supported my back with my tail, standing parallel to the ground. I kicked the dragon in the jaw and sent him flying across the field, stopping only when he crashed on a ballista.

“A monster through and through."

“Call me what you want, but for the love of god, stop killing each other."

I looked at Johanna one last time before I pulled my shadow in myself, covering my body and disappearing from the battlefield. I reappeared not too far, on the nearby mountain and looked as the armies separated, both having lost not only many men and women, but also their objective.

No human lashed at a nearby dragon and likewise, no dragon tried to kill a human. At the price of my life and social standing, I saved the two races. Who know, maybe now they'd stop killing each other for real and if not, I'd come to wherever they did and stopped them, even if it meant being hated by everyone in the world.

Before disappearing for good I shouted one last sentence, in the hope that they'd change their minds later on:

“Remember I did this for you!"