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The soreness in Korriana's legs made her frantic pacing painful. Her entire body ached, but she couldn't rest. She needed to divine a method of escape. The glazed over stare of her cellmate made sure Korriana never gave exhaustion a thought.

Her last attempt was discovered when one of the bandits fell into it. She had been careful to hide the hole in the darkest corner where human eyes couldn't see, but when five of them came in...

She shuddered thinking about the way they had grabbed her and held her down. The way the one with the scar on his face tasted of salty fish. He had been so rough with her that it still hurt to move her neck. The others were no less abusive.

Afterwards the wizard had commanded her to stop digging and that was that. His control of her extended no further than his precise spoken word, but he had been very specific. She managed to retain a sense of independence, but looking at the princess, that might be temporary.

She cursed. The man was small and pathetic compared to her new draconic body. If he had no command over her, she could easily rip him to shreds. He had however made it very clear that any sign of a threat would be effortlessly parried by a word.

What he didn't know was that his commands had a weird way of overriding previous ones they conflicted with. She had seen it. One of his first commands was for her to not attempt escaping, but then told her to follow the commands of his subordinates...

Her mind twisted with unease as she remembered the burly man who had tied her up and taunted her. He had bound her wings so tightly she needed magic to restore feeling to them. Then he bunched her feet together, gagged her, and told her to "try escaping". She had struggled, kicked, and cried as he filled her full of his seed.

She knew that if the wizard understood the control curse he'd be more careful. So she pushed herself to give no sign of disobedience while he was around. She just hoped she wasn't overplaying her act. She would also need some luck, as chances were he'd figure out the flaw and devise a method of stamping it out.

A pair of footsteps around the corner alerted Korriana to return to the act. She bent her knees, twisted her face into a pathetic frown, and let her neck droop low to the ground. It wouldn't do for them to see her deep in thought, she had to present herself in submission.

The two men rounded the bend, one a younger man with a cocky grin, the other a scared middle aged human who Korriana recognized as the bandits' leader. The older man had his arm in a sling, he was dripping a trail of blood.

"Shouldn't have challenged him," the younger man gave his sagely wisdom.

"Hush boy," the leader scolded, "Ya talk too much."

Korriana took a careful step back from the men. She knew what was coming, but she didn't intend to make this easy for them.

"You!" the leader pointed at Korriana with his chin, "Heal me."

Korriana slowly crept up to the man and touched his wounded arm with her snout. She focused on casting her spell, which took a bit of extra thought at the moment. She chanted the familiar nonsense syllables and ancient words of power, feeling her soul intermingle with his. For a brief moment she could feel his emotions. He had just lost a lot of trust for someone, though the specifics were beyond her.

"Seriously though," the younger bandit chuckled, "He enslaves dragons."

The older man unslung his newly healed arm and snarled, "No un speaks ta me that way."

Korriana's face twisted in excitement for a brief moment. Luckily neither saw. She calmed herself and pondered the possibilities of this information. She wasn't sure how to approach, but if he already hated the wizard, maybe she could convince him to turn her free just to spite him. Or more likely, he could be convinced to turn on the wizard.

"Sure," the younger man forced a humorless laugh, "Just don't get yourself killed. We all trust you, and would be pretty lost without you in charge."

The leader's anger slowly faded into a warm smile. "Thanks," he stated, "It's good ta hear."

The two men extended their arms tapping their inner wrists together. The gesture seemed practiced yet casual in an almost endearing way. For a moment Korriana felt a lot of empathy for these men.

The younger one hooked a thumb over towards the princess, "I think I'm gonna to pork the fatty. You want in?"

That moment passed quickly.

"Nah," The leader looked over at Korriana, "I need ta proply thank my healer."

Korriana took a step back on reflex. Watching Princess Laughter roll onto her back, never expressing any sort of emotion. The bandit unfastened his pants and made no ceremony of falling upon her. Korriana had to look away.

"Change," the older man commanded.

Korriana turned to look at him quizzically.

"I know you dragons can shapeshift," he stated, "An' I want a real woman."

The crystal dragon sighed, and attempted to conjure the magic that allowed her to shift between forms. Thus far only the wizard himself had made the request, but she had hoped it wouldn't come to this. She struggled to focus her will, the energy slipping beyond reach. That wasn't right. The process was normally effortless.

The bandit lord stared at her impatiently.

Korriana took a moment to try again, but the mana wouldn't come. Her healing spell worked fine, so why did this not function.

"Maybe I wasn't particular enough," the man grumbled, "What forms you got?"

Korriana sighed, "An elf form and this one."

She omitted the kobold body she was born with. At the moment she wasn't sure it hadn't been permanently replaced with her draconic shape. Then again, she wasn't entirely sure her elf self would ever be available again.

"An elf?" The man groaned, "That'll have to do. Turn into it."

Korriana reached for the magic one last time. The power was present, just beyond reach. Maybe if she had enough concentration...

The pat pat patting of the man behind her replaced any sort of focus with disgust. She could hear him groan lightly, satisfying himself. The princess made no sound.

"I can't," Korriana admitted.

"What?" The bandit shook his head, "Why?"

Korriana pondered, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh making it difficult to concentrate, "I don't know."

The man looked her up and down. His obvious disapproval should have meant nothing to her, but Korriana felt a stone burning in her stomach. Glancing over her wing at his companion, his face twisted with disgust.

"Fine," the man grunted, "a hole's a hole."

Korriana attempted to protest, but the domination curse prevented her from resisting. A dull pain in the back of her head accompanied the soft thud after he roughly pushed her over. The man rolled her onto her back and loomed over her, his face one of vague disinterest.

The bandit lord hawked a loud bit of mucus into his mouth and spit onto his hand. Korriana looked away in disgust as the man lubed himself, her eyes regrettably falling on her friend being defiled. The crystal dragon closed her eyes, not sure what else she could do, as the man fell upon her.

There was no foreplay. The man lined himself up, and thrust into her dry passage. It hurt. His thrusts were rough, potent, and uncaring. He just wanted to get off, no reason for her to enjoy this. Tears formed in Korriana's eyes as the man painfully slapped against her sore legs. She couldn't resist, she couldn't even look at him.

Nearby the younger man let out a satisfied groan. Korriana instinctively looked to see his back arc in torrid glee as he filled the princess full of his warm cum. A small bit of thirst contaminated her disgust.

The older man took Korriana's neck in one hand and forced it down. Korriana gasped for air, his tight grip making it difficult. The pain of his repeated battering didn't make things any easier.

He came. No warning, no fanfare. He laid upon her for a moment, his grip tightening to the point she couldn't breath at all. She should have struggled, but something in her broke. She was just a hole.

He released her, stood, and pulled his pants up. The two men gathered themselves and nodded to each other. As they casually talked about "real women" and how much they missed them, Korriana looked over to her friend. Princess Laughter had died inside, her mind broken, she was unwilling to even act like a person anymore. Korriana found herself empathizing with that feeling.

The bandits pulled Korriana and Laughter to their feet and paraded them through the dungeon. Much of this level was worked into comfortable living space, like a large family unit lived there. Whatever did had been driven out and the bandits didn't take care of it.

Beyond the living area was a chamber of proper cave. Large and uninviting, it was lit by glowing fungus and crystals on the walls and the torches of around six score bandits. Korriana had to assume that was all of them as it was many more than she was aware of.

Addressing the crowd was the Wizard Lister. He was just winding down from some sort of speech, his audience only somewhat amused. They seemed to dislike the man, but their body language hinted of the sort of fear that would keep them from dethroning him. As what Korriana formally assumed was their leader led her and the princess through the crowd, the bandits regarded them with a mix of humor and curiosity.

Brought to the front of the crowd, Korriana sat annoyed. The wizard was using her as an accessory. He put his hand on her scalp, and declared her his secret weapon in this confrontation.

"She'll match blows with the dragon while we slay the lesser beasts," he declared, then in a lower voice her commanded her, "You will fight the dragon below to your dying breath or his."

Realization dawned on her. Korriana managed to find the wizard before he attacked her home, but didn't manage to stop it from happening. With his mental dominance over her, she'd only made the problem worse.

The wizard then called for the bandits to take arms and march after him. They did so, but not with the soldier like obedience he inferred. They seemed reluctant to take his orders, only doing so because it was something they wanted to do anyways. Maybe she could use this.

"Wizard," Korriana ventured.

He looked at her disapprovingly. Behind his rather weak poker face it was obvious he was trying to figure out why she could speak at all.

"I question their loyalty," Korriana continued.

The spindly man fondled his beard and looked back at his followers. He regarded her with a cold questioning look that sent shivers down her spine. He had apparently made an example of their former leader, who was now staring daggers at the man, so maybe he'd take the bait.

"Never speak without being asked a question," the Wizard commanded.

Korriana felt her curse shift under his words. She had learned to feel when previous commands had been overwritten, two or three were shifted out by that, but she wasn't sure what they were. It did put a stop to that plan immediately. She'd be his weapon.

As she was marched through the familiar passages of the dungeon, she felt the fear rising in her belly. A deep part of her knew that she was going to die. She was about to go into battle, and she wasn't going to make it out. Worse than that, she might have to hurt people she cared for.

She didn't stand a chance against Thalthas in a fight. He was older, stronger, and his breath weapon was set to kill rather than mildly annoy. He'd be reluctant to fight, she hoped, but she was commanded to kill him and knew he'd defend himself.

The march down the mysterious, spiraling staircase was awkward on four legs, but it led directly to her home. The Kobold caves themselves would be full of traps, maybe that would thin their numbers.

"Span out," the bandit lord commanded, "Check fer traps."

Korriana's stomach churned as she watched a dozen men begin to sweep the area. They were amateurish, but they managed to find most everything. One accidentally sprung a needler receiving several poisonous darts to the face, which got a small laugh out of some of the men. Otherwise they managed to make a trail without too much hassle.

They marched through the major chambers into the city. It had been evacuated save for a small band of militia in the town center, around three score Kobolds armed with sharpened sticks and weighted leather straps. Above them on his perch, was the the maroon scaled dragon Thalthas.

Korriana took another look at the bandits, their faces twisted with humor. Not only did they outnumber the kobolds two to one, they were larger, stronger, and had the option to turn into magical beasts. The kobolds had a stronger dragon, but the bandits had two... though the princess looked like she could barely stand... the wizard would balance that out. This wasn't going to be a battle, it'd be a slaughter.

No. A voice in the back of Korriana's mind reminded her that the Dragon was stronger than that. Thalthas would be able to handle this. He would know exactly what to do. He would... stare directly at her with shock on his face.

Though the distance made her uncertain, she could see signs of relief, joy, and confusion in Thalthas's eyes. He looked ready to run to her immediately. Her heart sped realizing how much she missed him, and how afraid of him she was.

The bandits marched the main street until they were within archery range of the kobolds, neither side presenting ranged weapons. The wizard stepped forward as though to negotiate. Thalthas sat up regally to address the man.

"I hope you have good reason for this invasion," Thalthas began, his voice booming and echoing.

The wizard opened his mouth to speak, but instead of negotiating, he invoked a spell. He pointed a finger at the militia and a shot a spark of energy. Several of the kobolds reacted to leap away, but the resulting fireball engulfed a majority of them. The deafening roar of fire and screams of sudden pain sent shock to Korriana's system. Worse, she knew that would signal the start of the attack, the pain in her head urging her to follow her orders.

She rushed forward, ignoring the kobolds jumping out from their hiding spots on top of the little dome houses. The resulting onslaught of thrown stones missed her. She rushed by the wizard, causing Thalthas to hesitate instead of employing his breath weapon. She collided with the larger dragon sending him off his perch, down to bottom of the trail up to his chambers.

Thalthas hit the ground hard. It took him a moment to recover, or it would have if Korriana allowed him that before baring her claws at him. She raked at his scales, tearing gashes into his soft underbelly. Thalthas roared, throwing Korriana off him with a single claw.

As she rolled around the cave dimmed with the wizard's darkness spell that would cloud out the fungi lights as well as the bandits' torches. They all immediately became hulking, black furred beasts and started leaping onto the houses where the kobold ambushers had thought themselves safe.

Korriana rolled onto her feet, looking Thalthas in the eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment. His face was a mix of confusion, fear, anger, regret, and... lust. Korriana's eyes traced over his massive form, he was twice her size and could easily overpower her.

She hesitated, her mind at conflict with the curse. She didn't want to hurt him, assuming she'd even be able to, but thinking like that caused her head to throb. Maybe she could distract him, get him to let his guard down before she struck. She could entice him and... the curse shocked her with sudden pain, the curse apparently knew better.

"Korriana?" Thalthas's voice was quiet, breathy, and strained.

The crystal dragon nodded, solace in her eyes. The great dragon before her writhed in confusion, so she reluctantly pressed the attack. Her claws dug into his neck with queasying pressure before Thalthas took one mighty claw over her chest and twisted her onto her back. Hitting the ground knocked the air out of her, and even after she could respond, his frightening presence and single claw, with which he pinned her, kept her docile.

"Why are you doing this?" Thalthas demanded with kingly wrath in his voice.

"Command curse," Korriana groaned to her own surprise. If only she could have said that sooner...

Thalthas's eyes widened in terror, then sharpened with understanding. He turned to face the wizard in time to be struck in the face with a lightning bolt. The shock tore Thalthas from his feet, and gave Korriana a jolt as well.

Thalthas roared in defiance as several of the shadow beasts leaped up at him. The Akuaki bore terrifying claws that could rend dragon scales almost as readily as human flesh. Thalthas bellowed in agony trying to throw them off him with little success, the creatures clung to him with claws dug in, slowly bleeding him.

Korriana watched in horror, the pain in the back of her head urging her to come to the creatures' aid. She tried to fight it down, to ignore the pain. It grew, tearing her thoughts out from under her, her body moving towards her dragon on its own. She dug her claws into the dirt, gritting her teeth against the psychic pain. It became daggers in her spine, acid in her eyes, and rusty nails in her soles. She screamed in fury against the curse, trying to wrestle a bit of her mind back to maybe do something, anything that could help.

She became aware that the wizard was casting a spell. The ground under her feet felt like broken glass. She tried to identify the spell, but her brain was checked out. Her body writhed with the intensity of a house fire. She rushed to Thalthas's side. Her legs convulsed with the sensation of being covered in a thousand razor cuts. She opened her mouth and used her breath weapon.

A blast of light in a rays of every color engulfed the brawl. For a brief second, the Akuaki vanished, a quartet of blinded bandits falling to the ground around Thalthas. The wizard shrieked with alarm, the loss of vision distracting him enough to lose his spell. Thalthas took a brief moment to consider what just happened, confusion painting his face until he turned back to see Korriana. The wizard recovered quickly, beginning another spell, during which Thalthas unleashed his own breath weapon.

The wizard and a pair of confused bandits behind him were thrown back by a geyser of steam. Their bodies flew a dozen meters as their skin cooked into a bubbling red. This was likely an immediate death, but Thalthas wasn't done.

He trampled one of the bandits before him into a bloody puddle as he pursued the wizard. The cave rumbled with his every step before he leaped at the stringy, red man. He tore the wizard's left arm off with a claw and took his jaw around the mans head biting it off halfway down his shoulders. He then turned to spit the head out at a nearby Akuaki.

Korriana watched in silence. The shock of the violent visage great enough for her to ignore the pain. The wizard was dead, but her home was being destroyed by his minions. The Akuaki continued to chase down kobolds, easily ripping them apart. Korriana tried to bring herself to fight, to stand up for them, but the pain, now remembered rather than experienced, had taken its toll.

She fell to the ground exhausted, thankful that the pain had subsided. Her curse was likely lifted, not that it would matter all that much. The darkness spell was still in effect, and the bandits she had turned had become shadow beasts once more. They'd probably kill her, and as exhausted as she was, she couldn't do anything about it.

In the distance, through the passage the bandits arrived in, a small force charged in. They had swords drawn, shouting things Korriana couldn't understand, flashes of light beaming off their blades as though they were enchanted. The Akuaki around her regrouped with the others trying to handle the new threat.

Korriana squinted. With the last of her breath, she recognized them. It was the Orcs.

Korriana woke upon a mountain of gold, nuzzled against a dragon. Her body still ached, the yawn and stretch were both painful. She tried to get up, but a claw pushed her back down by the shoulder. She looked up at the dragon... her dragon. He smiled, never opening his eyes. Korriana sighed in good humor, then promptly passed out again.

Korriana next woke with far less ache, though its ghost still haunted her. She noticed Thalthas was awake, he had a book open, tiny in his great claw. She watched him for a while without saying a word. She took in his concentrated gaze, how carefully he turned the pages of the tiny tome, and also his form.

She laughed. It was a light laugh at first, but the halfheartedness of it struck her as funny, so she laughed again much harder and louder. She was alive, free, and home. She was a dragon, and had been accepted unto the arms of another. She was at that moment happier than she had ever been in the whole of her life... except maybe when her dragon had taken her in and gave her her name. Was Traptap even her? It felt like an entirely different life.

Thalthas stared down at her, brow raised. His face read well enough that he didn't have to speak the question, "What's so funny?"

Korriana rubbed up against his belly. She hadn't realized it before, always homing in on his massively muscular limbs, but "You've got quite a bit of belly."

Thalthas blushed, looking away.

Maybe it was because she had seen the ridiculously meat-headed Prince Dawn in his golden dragon form that made her realize how chubby he was. Maybe she was just too infatuated with him to see his flaws. Maybe he had gained weight while she was gone. It didn't matter, his soft underbelly felt wonderful to cuddle up against.

"It's cute," Korriana amended.

Thalthas put the bookmark into place and set his tome aside. He sighed, and looked down at Korriana with tender care in his eyes. His face then scrunched up and he looked away. He nodded his head as though he were trying to figure out what he was going to say. The massive dragon managed to look quite vulnerable in that moment.

"I'm sorry," he finally spoke, his voice cracking, "I knew it would be rough, but..." he looked at her for a brief moment, tears in the corners of his eyes, before turning away again, "I shouldn't have allowed the duel..." he bore his fangs into a growl, "I can't believe how stupid I was..." he thrashed his head about violently, "and then you got caught up with this wizard, and..."

Korriana watched quietly until he said this, "That happened before the duel," she corrected.

Thalthas stared at her thinking, "In Bogragog? That's what happened?" He slapped his head with a palm, "He forced you to scout for him!"

The crystal dragon laughed, "No, his plan didn't go that smoothly. He was rather incompetent. Just had some rather powerful spells." It felt good to laugh at the late wizard, before visions of what he did to her creeped in, "He..." she couldn't bring herself to telling Thalthas what happened.

The great big red scaled dragon curled his snout into her cheek, "It's over now."

***

The warmth of his breath on her subsided her rising nerves. She sighed, then coyly nibbled at his neck. Thalthas drew back in amusement, giving her a warm smile. She took the opportunity to kiss him.

She was treated to the surprising heat of his tongue sliding across her lips. A fire burned in her loins as the great dragon pressed his weight into her. His steamy tongue knifed into her mouth, wrestling with her own in a hot tangle.

They broke from the kiss, Korriana's head spinning. Thalthas tried to nuzzle back into her, covering her with one of his mighty wings, but Korriana wanted more. She nibbled at his neck again, kissing a trail down to his shoulders. She rubbed her cheek against the soft of his neck, nudging him onto his side.

Thalthas rolled over with a heavy breath. His eyes were lustful, but his face read of concern. He didn't want to push her. His worry made the warmth in Korriana's belly grow yet more.

"Please," Korriana whispered, "I *need* you," she left a long emphasis on the 'need' which resulted in a pressure in her side.

She glanced back to find what had poked her, and was not disappointed. The two dragons then traded identical sly grins with raised brows. The gesture struck Korriana's humor, to which Thalthas waggled his brow intensely. She snorted, putting a claw on his chest.

Thalthas then tried to roll back to his feet, but Korriana held him down more firmly. She kissed him again, briefly, before trailing nibbles, kisses, and little licks of her tongue down his neck, his muscular chest, and his chubby belly. His excitement grew against her, throbbing and ready as her body slid against it. She snaked down around him, breathing hotly on his manhood. Thalthas gasped, his claws digging into the horde.

Korriana slowly dragged her tongue up the underside of his bulging erection, causing Thalthas to shudder in anticipation. She kissed the tip, tasting his salty precum.

For a moment she just stared, she had dreamed of this for the whole of her adult life. Now she had him all to herself, and she could take him however she wanted. She licked her lips and gave him her most sensual smile. His response was one of incredible longing.

She took his shaft in her maw and slowly worked her way down. She dragged her teeth lightly up, getting a shudder. She let her tongue dance around his hot member. He tasted something like savory wine, a strange thought perhaps.

Suddenly Thalthas took her horns in his claws and bucked into her. She was so surprised she almost bit down. He slid into her throat testingly, being surprisingly gentle. She caught her beat back, working her tongue as he did. He groaned warmly his thrusts growing forceful. He was close.

Korriana pushed her dragon down by the belly and pulled herself off him. She stared into his eyes, licking her lips, his face flush, his breathing heavy enough to heat the chamber. She could take him any way she wanted but...

"I want you to take me," she whispered.

Thalthas hastily rolled to his feet and rushed to her side. He paused, staring at her for a moment. There was no hurry, so he relaxed his pace. Gave her appraising looks. Circled around his mate for a moment. He nibbled at her wing, testing its strength. Stepping forward he nudged her chest with his snout, breathing steam up her neck.

Instinct took over Korriana as she froze up, her neck stuck upward, her wings tucked formally. Somehow she knew exactly what he was doing. Her heart sped up as he sniffed her claws. He was appraising her. She felt her body tense as his claw trailed her flank. He wanted her to mother his wyrmlings.

Thalthas stopped behind her, urging her to lift her tail with a motion of his neck. She was so much smaller than him, that he didn't mount her, he simply loomed over her his chest against her back pushing her wings aside. He dropped his head next to hers and looked her in the eyes. His face read with an emotion she didn't recognize, a warm one that made her knees buckle and her face flush.

"I love you," he said.

Tears formed in Korriana's eyes as he kissed her. They held in a pure, electric kiss for what felt like an eternity, a heavenly wonderful eon. He pressed into her. Korriana broke the kiss to gasp, but Thalthas pulled her back into it. He slowly pushed in, finding a surprising amount of resistance considering how ready she was. Her body tensed as he bottomed out, her need had been filled, but still wanted. She might never have enough of him.

He bucked into her, gently at first, trying to keep hold of the kiss. It was difficult for him, she could tell, to hold back. He brushed into her, his body shaking above her. He hit just right, causing her to break the kiss dropping to her elbow with a moan. She pushed her ass back letting him him guide her back down with his motion.

Korriana's body tensed as Thalthas lost his inhibitions, thrusting with fervor more suitable for a great dragon. He pounded her down into the horde with mighty stokes. She cried out in torrid love as he filled her utterly with his intensity, again and again and then, with his divine seed.

They lay panting for several minutes, Thalthas collapsed upon her, still inside. He pinned her under his weight, making it a little difficult to catch her breath, but there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

A shriek sounded from the large doorway. They both shot up at one, knocking heads and struggling to find footing in the horde. Thalthas managed to get off her only by changing into his human form and rolling down the pile of coins.

The sound came from Princess Laughter, who was accompanied by a pair of adventurers. Korriana blushed to see their reaction. The princess tried to hide her approval, failing miserably. Korriana then noticed she was holding hands with the bald, cloaked man who had forced her to drink the love potion. Korriana struggled to her jellied feet, an attempt at a snarl readied for the man.

"Don't," the other adventurer warned. It was the Orc from the tavern. Was he one of the ones who lived in this dungeon?

Thalthas stood, fully clothed in his human form and brushed dust off his tunic. He then offered a hand to the Orc, and they tapped knuckles in brotherly fashion.

"Sorry I couldn't arrive sooner," the Orc stated, "It was difficult to coordinate my men. I had to challenge the former chief to a duel to get their attention."

Thalthas sighed, "If you hadn't we likely wouldn't have survived. I thank you."

The bald man eyed the mound of money with greed in his eyes, "Any chance for a reward?"

Before Thalthas could say anything the Orc declared, "Not necessary. I doubt he could afford it."

Laughter punched the Orc in the ribs fruitlessly before the bald man gestured to the horde. She whispered something to the man before realization dawned on her, her eyes growing wide. The princess laughed loud and beautifully, her namesake upheld gracefully. The burglar obviously didn't understand and just stood there offended the whole time.

Korriana finally managed to climb down the horde of illusionary wealth and approached the bald man. "So why are we letting him live?" She asked.

The Orc laughed, "Turns out the cure for her curse is true love. We're waiting for the potion to wear off to see if it develops."

Laughter squeezed her new boyfriend tightly, he didn't exactly seem excited about the whole thing.

"If it works," the Orc continued, "He'll be royalty. Otherwise he'll be thrown in prison."

They continued to talk for a while, discussing plans for a continued alliance. The entire time Korriana couldn't to help but think she was forgetting something. They decided to have a formal discussion in Bogragog in a few days. Eventually their guests left, deciding that they could handle the aftermath of the dungeon without aid.

Just before leaving the Orc told Korriana, "I came here to avenge you. I'm glad rumors of your demise were exaggerated."

While she stared after the Orc, Thalthas came upon Korriana again, kissing her deeply.

"Up for a round two?" He purred.

Korriana giggled giving him a waggle of her brow.

"Want to try something new?" Thalthas traced a finger up her throat, "I want to love all your shapes."

Immediately the crystal dragon reached for the familiar power to change into her elf form. The magic slipped out of focus. She panicked a bit and tried again. She thought that her curse was over. She tried again, failing.

"What's wrong?" Thalthas thumbed a tear from her face, "Did I say something?"

"No..." Korriana sighed, "I just..." she choked on the words, "I can't shapeshift."

Thalthas's eyes scrunched, then widened. His face twisted into considering an invisible numbered list, then he laughed, "You're pregnant?"

Korriana stared at him confused, "What?"

"You can't shapeshift with eggs in you," he laughed hugging her around the neck.

Happiness welled up in her. She had thought her fertile years were behind her, that this would never happen for her. She needed to get ready, to make a nest, to make sure she had a safe place to raise them. She craned her neck around Thalthas. It was comforting to know he would be there for them.

A thought cracked through her mind. She wasn't able to shapeshift before the battle. When was the last time she had done so? Did ascension count? How many possible fathers were there? What if the wyrmlings came out Akuaki or gold dragons? What could she say?

Thalthas held her tighter, "I know it's scary, but you'll be a great mother."