FSE

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The forest was quiet, too quiet. In situations like these, Cai always found there were three causes of this, each one more probable than the last. First, his surrounding could just be entirely devoid of animal life. This was not the case, as he had already seen a few birds and even a rabbit within the verdant forest. The second cause was that a nearby caster had cast a silence spell either in order to focus on a particularly careful incantation, to meditate, or merely to get proper rest. This situation was more common than one might expect, but Cai had not come into the forest to seek a wizard. So it was the final cause, the presence of something dangerous to all the wildlife and it was the same motive for Cai having traversed through the forest. The adventurer had been hired by the villagers of the nearby village of Grimsby to rid the surrounding area of the danger, of a creature that's name struck fear no matter what part of the world: a dragon.

Now, this was not Cai's first dragon he had stalked or prepared to slay. In earlier years, when he had been part of a more regular group of adventurers, he had killed three other dragons that had likewise threatened other villages or towns. The fourth dragon he was to slay, however, would be on his own. He was not frightened though. In the years since his last dragon kill he had grown stronger, more experienced, and wiser plus he was still rather young. There would be some combat, the beast would be no more, and then he would be the richer for it. Cai had never thought making the world a safer place could be so lucrative, but it was as long as one was willing to take the risks and Cai was just that person.

Cai turned his thoughts away from his past and to the present. He stared into the opening of the cave that he was sure the dragon was hiding in due to his tracking skills. No matter what, dragons always seemed to take caves as their lairs. The adventurer often wondered why this was--caves were good shelter, offering protection from both the suns and the elements and also an ideal hiding place. However, when all of dragonkin used them extensively this last benefit was moot. He had even heard that in some places in the world it was foolish to enter a cave without expecting a dragon to be there, and doubly foolish if one did not expect to have to pay for the intrusion. Cai got to his feet and began to creep towards the cave, shading his eyes from the bright sun. The intrusion into this cave would only serve to benefit him, not the dragon inside or so he thought.

Before entering the cave, the experienced adventurer took out two potions from his haversack--one for protection against the flame, the other fro the cold--and quickly downed them. Though the fire-breathing variety of dragon was far more common, it was better to be safe than sorry. Feeling properly protected, he entered the cool cave, immediately pressing his back against the wall. He inched his way through the cave, one hand ever on his sword hilt. After a few minutes, he reached a bend in the cave's path. Slowly, he looked over the corner and then immediately pulled back upon spotting the dragon. Sure it had not spotted him, he looked again and examined the creature.

He was surprised to find that it was a rather small dragon, the smallest one he had ever seen. More surprising was that it was already wounded, multiple arrows embedded in its red-scaled hides along with a long still bleeding gash that marred its side. Noting the lack of distinctive horns or ridges, Cai determined it was a female, a dragoness. At the moment she lay on her left side, head held downwards as she painfully breathed.

The adventurer moved his head back again and considered what to do. The dragoness was heavily wounded and would make easy prey. Yet something still made him uneasy. Who or what had wounded the dragoness so? He shrugged and pushed away his worry. He had a job and he was getting paid quite well for it, not to think.

He emerged from the corner and drew his sword. As he approached the dragoness, she raised her head and stared at him with sad reptilian eyes.

"Please," she wheezed.

Cai halted. He had never heard a dragon begs for its life before. The others he had fought had remained prideful and impetuous to the end.

"Please," she repeated. "Just leave me. That's all I ever wanted..."

Despite himself, Cai felt moved to speak with the dragoness. It was a novel experience to have a conversation with one without having one's life be endangered at the same time.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Your kind," she sighed. "Always hunting me. I've never attacked any of you out of malice, only in self-preservation. You all have reason to fear my kind, but not me."

Cai paused, unsure what to say. Though he was usually loath to trust a creature, he felt only truth in the dragoness's words. Choosing to act rather than speak, he reached into his haversack and procured a flask filled with a red liquid. He held it out towards the dragoness.

"What is this?" she said, looking at the proffered object. "Some sort of poison?"

The adventurer shook his head. "A healing potion. I'm not sure how effective it will be for you, but--"

The dragoness's eyes widened in disbelief. "You are here to...to aid me?"

"Well," Cai chuckled. "I wasn't at first, but I don't think I should harm you when you never meant anyone else harm." He motioned to the potion. "I can give this to you now, but it'll be more effective if I remove the arrows first."

The dragoness narrowed her eyes at the adventurer, then lowered her head in defeat.

"Do what you must," she said. "If this is all a ruse just to kill me, then so be it."

Cai stepped towards the dragoness who did not even bother to watch him. He put the potion down and then set to work on removing the first arrow. Having taken his own fair share of the projectiles before, he was quite expert at removing them. The dragoness bellowed as he took out the first one, raising her head towards him.

"It is going to hurt," Cai said gently. "But its for the best."

This seemed to satisfy the dragoness, who lowered her head again. Cai removed the next arrow and this time the dragoness was quieter in her cry of pain. The rest of the arrows came out easily enough much to Cai's relief. Before he stepped away from the dragon, he put a hand to the gash, causing the dragon to hiss in pain.

"Who did this?" he asked.

"A cruel man," she replied. "Who cared more of the value of my parts than my life."

Cai nodded and grabbed the potion. He neared the dragoness's head and uncorked the flask.

"You'll need to open wide," he said, the dragoness doing as he said. "Oh, and be sure to swallow too."

Hand shaking, Cai poured the flask's contents down the dragoness's toothy maw. She nearly gagged, but managed to do as he directed.

"That tasted terrible," the dragoness shuddered.

Cai chuckled and watched as the wounds the dragoness had sustained begin to mend and close. After a minute, she was nearly entirely healed.

"It wasn't a trick," the dragoness said in disbelief. "You aided me of your own accord with no incentive." Cai nodded. "Aye."

"Why?"

"I would only harm those who would seek to harm others. If there's money for doing that, so much the better."

"This is unbelievable. After being chased and hounded by so many of your kind, I thought you all cold killers."

"Heh," Cai smirked. "I thought the same of yours."

The dragoness got to her feet and flapped her wings. She winced in pain and returned to her pervious position.

"I am not fully recovered," she said. "I must rest a little longer."

"Hmm." Cai put a finger to his chin. "I will return to the village and inform them of your non-hostility."

"Do you think they will believe you?"

Cai shrugged. "I cannot say, but I think they will. The wealth they offered me was out of fear, and not even their own. It seems someone else had placed a bounty upon you. If they do not sense the truth in my words, I promise you I will protect you. After all, you are the innocent."

The dragoness looked into his eyes with mirth. "Thank you. Before you leave, warrior, please take this gift I offer."

The shed scales of the dragoness around her begin to swirl and lift into the air. Cai watched in wonderment as they glowed and coalesced into a set of dragonscale wrist guards. They floated towards the adventurer and then fell into his open hands. They felt warm to the touch.

"What are these?" he asked, looking down at them. He was about to put them on when the dragoness shouted:

"Stop! Save them for when you truly need them. They will offer you a dragon's strength and fortitude, but they should be saved for a time of dire need. I am weakened now so I cannot guarantee the results for long." "I see," he nodded towards the dragoness and stowed the wrist guards in his haversack. "Thank you."

With this, the adventurer turned and began to leave the cave.

"No," the dragoness whispered. "Thank you."

Cai entered the tavern of the village Grimsby and was immediately greeted by a cheer and the village elder.

"Slayer!" the old man crowed, handing Cai a mug of ale. "Tell us how the dragon was undone!"

Cai put the mug of ale down. "She is not dead."

The elder froze and the excitement died down. The old man scratched his head and looked up to the taller adventurer.

"Then why have you returned? You seemed unharmed! Is there something you are missing to kill it? Is there anything we can provide?"

"No," Cai shook his head. "I will not slay the dragon. She means none of you harm. She only took shelter nearby to recover from her wounds. In due time, she will leave. Before then, I would advise your residents that--"

"Imbecile!" A new voice roared. Cai glanced towards the back of the tavern and noticed men wearing leather armor that he had not noticed before, obvious new additions to the village. The leader of the group, a man with multiple scars across his face, stood up and continued to spoke: "You just let it go? Do you know the worth of its hide? There is a reason the bounty I posted here and elsewhere was so high!"

"You hunt her for her scales and skin?" Cai asked.

"Yes," the man snarled, his twisted face creating a horrific visage. Upon seeing it, Cai was reminded of the dragoness's words: a cruel man had wounded her and Cai was sure this was he. "Her other parts can be put to good use as well. I'm glad we got here just now otherwise she might have gotten away. Come on, boys! Let's hunt ourselves a dragon."

"You will not harm her," Cai said, putting his hand on his sword's hilt. "I will not let you."

"That's what you think," the cruel man chuckled.

So focused was Cai on the cruel man that he did not notice one of his adversary's henchman approach from behind. At the cruel man's last words, pain exploded in Cai's head as the henchman clubbed the back of his head. The adventurer grunted and fell over, his vision becoming dark and blurred.

"Imbecile," he heard the cruel man mutter as Cai moved closer to unconsciousness. "Noble idiot."

Then Cai knew no more.

Cai returned to consciousness and found himself in darkness. As he waited for his vision to adjust, he wriggled around and quickly realized he was bound and nearly naked, only privy to a loincloth around his waist. He smiled--this was not the first time he had been tied up. Whoever had bound him were evidently not expert with the rope for Cai was able to free himself from the bonds quite easily. By this time he could make out his surroundings.

He was imprisoned within one of the village's two holding cells, the one across from his being empty. Obviously they didn't find much use for them and cared even less for their condition, leaving the floors dirty and dusty. A locked door and iron bars prevented an easy exit, because Cai was neither skinny enough to step through the gaps in the bars nor proficient in the fine art of lockpicking. He glanced to the left corner and found his equipment and armor piled up. Digging quickly through the pile, he was surprised to find his sword, but not his haversack that contained nearly everything else of use. He hefted his sword and then put it down. It was worthless if he couldn't get out.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself.

Then Cai caught sight of the wrist guards that the dragoness had gifted him. He reluctantly picked them up and turned them over in his hands as he thought.

"Strength and fortitude of a dragon," he mused. "It's worth a try."

Without further ado, he put on the warm wrist guards and immediately his hands felt like they were on fire. He gasped--right before his eyes his fingers and palm had transformed into red-scaled, clawed hands. To his surprise, the crimson scales spread up his arms, past his elbows, onto his narrowing shoulders, and up his neck. He watched as his arms became more muscular yet leaner, and then he could see no more as the transformation transitioned up his face. He held his cranium in pain as it twisted and shifted. The pain soon gave way to relief and Cai opened his eyes. Confused by his new view of red-scaled flesh, Cai touched his face with his clawed hands and found his face had formed into a draconian snout, complete with sharp teeth and two nostrils. Feeling a little top heavy, he glanced downwards and almost jumped in surprise when his eyes fell onto two scaled mounds and a flat likewise scaled stomach. He put his hands to the mounds and blushed in pleasure at their sensitivity. They were breasts--since when had he had breasts? He shifted his gaze further downward past his pinched-in waist and saw his legs were also covered in red scales, his feet converted into taloned extremities, and his stance more suited for digitigrade walking. Curiously tweaking a golden colored nipple, he felt a rush of blood to his crotch. Cai watched the bulge in his loincloth grow large, indicating his manhood was excited and erect by his new assets. It did not stay this way for long, however, as it quickly started to shrink in size and mass. The adventurer took a peek in his loincloth at the right time to see his now miniscule member and shrunken testicles descend into his crotch. A moment later, a not so unfamiliar configuration formed, though it was unfamiliar for Cai to find it on his body. Carefully prodding his new womanhood, Cai hissed with pleasure as she realized she was now female.

Blinking, Cai looked over her new body in bewilderment. She looked to her wrist and found the wrist guards had become part of her new form. She had undoubtedly just became a human-dragon hybrid, though more dragon than human, but why female? Of course, Cai realized, the scales had been taken from a dragoness, but had this really been the dragoness's intention? At this thought, Cai remembered the cruel man and his intentions towards the dragoness. Putting aside any qualms about her new form, she instead chose to focus on reaching the dragoness and hopefully helping her before it was too late.

"Strength of the dragon," Cai whispered to herself in a higher pitched and raspier voice. "This had better work."

She approached the iron bars and considered. The transformation had actually rendered her taller, larger, and stronger if even at the same time she had become more curvy and slender. She could feel new power within building up even as she waited. Without another moment of hesitation, she reached out and bent the bars with very little effort. Before exiting she returned to her pile of equipment. She retrieved her sword but nothing else. Her armor no longer fit her and though she loathed leaving her breasts exposed as they were, she was more concerned about the dragoness's safety. Within moments she left the prison and was sprinting towards the cave. Her speed was faster than she had ever run before. She also never felt like she had to stop, only halting once at a pond to briefly gaze at her reflection. The mirrored surface confirmed what she already knew, but it did not stop her from admiring her wide hips or her bountiful breasts. She was quite attractive for a hairless red-scaled walking dragoness, she had to admit and she bet--

Cai shook her head and continued her journey to the cave, not quite willing to continue with that line of thought. A few minutes later she arrived at the cave and heard shouts, the drawing of weapons, and a dragon's roar. It seemed she had arrived just in time.

The adventurer rushed into the cave to find the cruel man, who wore Cai's haversack, standing before the dragoness, while three more surrounded her. Under the dragoness's claws was a frightened man who scrambled frantically to escape. At Cai's interest, the armed men turned towards her while the dragoness stared at her in surprise.

"What the hell are you?" The cruel man asked.

"It does not matter. All that matters is that you leave before I am forced to harm you."

Cai leveled the sword threateningly towards the man, breasts wobbling as she did so. He guffawed.

"Nice tits, you scaled freak," he said, still chuckling. "Deal with her boys while I finish this dragon."

The cruel men turned back to the dragoness while the three standing man rushed Cai. The adventurer swiftly dodged their clumsy strikes and struck out at one, severing his hand. The man screamed and fell to his knees while the other two back away in fright, allowing Cai access to the cruel man. Distracted by the dragoness, the cruel man didn't notice as Cai rushed over to him and delivered a swift kick to his back. The cruel man grunted and flew forwards, landing onto his stomach and losing his weapon in the weapon. He quickly turned over and found Cai standing over him, sword raised.

"I hope the view is better up here," Cai snarled before plunging the sword into the man's heart.

The cruel man gurgled and then lay still. Turning to the other men, Cai raised her bloody sword and roared at them. The dragoness let the pinned man go, allowing the three unharmed men to drag their wounded and dead companions out of the cave, though leaving Cai's haversack behind. Breathing hard and letting the adrenaline run through her, Cai stood still for a moment. Then she remembered the dragoness and rushed over to her. The adventurer was elated to find the dragoness unharmed.

"Are you...?" the dragoness said, staring at her rescuer.

"Yes, the one who spared you." Cai said.

"Very good. Then," the dragoness looked over Cai's new body. "Thank you for saving me once more. I'm sorry about your new form--I didn't mean for my gift to do that. Worry not, it'll wear off soon enough."

"Wear off?"

The dragoness nodded.

"And what if I don't want it to?"

The dragoness cocked her head. "Don't want...?"

"Can you make it permanent? I'm so strong, so powerful--faster even! Well, can you?"

"I did not think..." The dragoness paused and then stood to her full height. She began to circle around "Yes, there is a way, but are you sure this is what you want? You are willing to give up your former appearance, your trust among other humans, your--" The dragoness looked at Cai's breasts then down to her flat, loincloth covered crotch. "--sex?"

"Yes," Cai answered truthfully. "My appearance is of no consequence; as long as people know I'm helpful rather than harmless, they'll be fine. I've fought alongside a man with a squid head--still not fully convinced he wasn't an illithid--an most were fine with him, if wary. My sex--" Cai looked down at her altered genitals. "It's not as if I was getting much adventuring as I was."

"Hmm," the dragoness murmured. "You do not understand. You are not fully altered as of yet--right now you are infertile. If I am to lend this form permanence you will go through the same cycle as any other dragoness, of an increased libido once a year where you will be unable to resist--"

Cai waved a clawed hand. "As long as I have my strength full time I'll be fine."

The dragoness halted her pacing. "Very well. Take a scale from near your heart."

Cai did as the dragoness directed, tearing a scale free from just above the place. It hurt more than she thought. At the same time, the dragoness took a scale from the same place.

"Now take my claw," the dragoness said, offering one of her foreclaws. Cai clasped it and they both stared each other in the eyes. "I have never done this with a human, even a former one. I have with two other of my kind long gone, and we became closer than siblings, than even a mother and a child. We will share feelings and sometimes thoughts. We will know when the other is happy or sad, threatened or safe, and we will feel the other's death. I ask one final time: is this what you want?"

Cai nodded. The dragoness tightened her grip, drawing blood from both hers and Cai's limbs. The blood and scales mixed and then with a flash of light the ritual was complete. Cai staggered backwards. She bent over and groaned as a pair of wings burst out of her back. Her ass grew plump and sensual as tail slid out above it. A new fire built up in her throat, causing smoke to curl out of her nostrils, while a fire of a different kind seeded within her altered sex, rendering her fully fertile. When a roar she rose up and unleashed a gout of flame.

"By the gods!" she exclaimed. "That was better than sex."

"Er, indeed," the dragoness replied. "Are you pleased?"

Cai belched more flame in response. Flapping wings meant for short bursts of flight, she looked down at her new form with pleasure. She quickly tore off her loincloth, making her fully naked. She already began to plan where she could get measured for new raiment and armor, as well as a new weapon.

"Yes," she said. "This will do very nicely."