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My dreams were awful that night. I knew I had made the right decision to stop myself and Serafine before we went too far but my subconscious was punishing me for my decision. Night-terrors filled the night, each one different but oddly the same. Well, I should say that the start of each was different but the ending was overwhelmingly frightening in similarity. I was always trying to escape in the start of my dream, either running through the woods or through a dark tunnel in a cave or swimming away from Serafine. It was an uphill battle that inevitably ended with me being captured. It was a torturous night filled with thoughts of being devoured. I would watch in slow motion as I was thrown up into the air, peaking above her, and then plummeting towards her awaiting maw in the same fashion as the human she ate today. I wished I would have never gotten into this mess.

I looked over at Serafine who was shivering on the other side of the room. It was when I noticed that I, too, was cold. I wondered how she ever slept alone, it really was uncomfortable. My mind hurt from the ease at which I was able to change thoughts from how afraid I was of her to worry about her. It was like I was living two lives inside my new body. Maybe I was. Maybe my personality split when I transformed but it didn't seem right to be able to care for someone who could kill me on a whim in only a few days. I saw her start to wake and pretended to sleep. My eye was just barely open, enough to see what she was doing without alerting her of my consciousness. She woke licking her lips with a smile on her face. It seemed she had a good dream and I worried that it was about me. She glanced over at me and her expression immediately sobered from a smile to one of sadness. She seemed to sit there for a while, just looking straight out of the cave and, if she was anything like me, she was probably thinking about what happened yesterday or what was to come today.

She finally stood up. “Hey, are you ready to go. We should leave if we want to get there at a reasonable time."

I stood up, trying my best smile. She smiled back. “Yeah, I'm ready to go."

Serafine turned and jumped into the air, speeding off without another word. I followed close behind.

We flew silently for hours. It seemed like she wasn't in the mood to talk. I decided I would break the silence. “Hey, Serafine? About yesterday…"

She turned her head. “It's fine Nathaniel. I just… misinterpreted what you wanted. I should apologize." She turned her head forward and continued to focus on her flying.

I wasn't sure how to respond. I just wanted to tell her the truth but I wasn't sure if it would make things worse. “Sera, I just… It's hard to explai-"

“Oh, I thought it would be easy to explain. I know you just don't like me that way and that's fine but I wish you didn't let me believe otherwise. I know it's partially my fault for not reading your intentions. It just seemed like you were accepting everything I was doing to try to show you my feelings. I let you stay with me. I brought you food, I-I mean what am I supposed to think when you wrap yourself around me when we sleep?"

I was taken aback at the sudden surge of emotions that she had kept bottled up until now. “Serafine, I just need some-"

“Some what? Time? That's fine Nathaniel but I might not be around when you have enough time to figure it out. She said, her voice cracking with a held back sob."

She turned around and started descending towards a plateau on the side of a mountain that we had been approaching for a while now. We both landed near the entrance to the cave. She faced forward and continued on inside.

The cave opened up to a large round room that looked as though it had been hollowed out by hand, or rather, by claw. In the center, a large fire had been constructed with what looked to be entire logs. The room was large enough to accommodate fifty or more dragons and looking around the room, it was doing just that. Easily fifty dragons were either standing or sitting around the fire talking amongst themselves. A few had noticed our arrival and turned to walk towards us. Serafine walked towards a group that seemed to know her and sat down with them.

I debated on whether or not I should follow her but my attention on Serafine was stolen away by a new presence.

“Hi there. I don't believe I've ever seen you before. Are you new to this area?"

I turned to see a shimmering silvery purple dragon approaching. “Uh… Yeah I guess I am pretty new here. Nice to meet you, I'm Nathaniel."

“I'm Kalthese. That isn't a very normal name for a dragon, it sounds almost human in nature.

“Yeah, my parents were the type to be in close proximity with humans."

“Oh, who wouldn't want to be close to those little things? They are just so delicious and plentiful whenever they make their little settlements."

I laughed uncomfortably. “So where are you from?"

She looked around the room. “Well, you see, I live here."

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were our host. Thank you for the great gathering!"

“It's no bother. I love having dragons over from time to time and my land grows abundant with food this time of year so I see no harm in having a get-together like this."

“You don't mind if we hunt here tonight?"

“No, I encourage it. Every year, we all go out for a group hunt and feast on the offerings of this land. Actually, if you look, it seems some are getting ready. It shouldn't be long now."

I turned, and indeed, dragons were starting to make their way towards the cave entrance, unfurling their wings and shaking off the settling of their muscles from when they were sitting. I tried looking for Serafine but couldn't seem to pick her out from the sea of scales.

“Looking for someone?"

“Well, kind of. I mean I came here with a friend and she seemed to find her own space quite quickly."

“If you don't mind me asking, why did she leave you alone?"

“It's… a bit hard to explain. I don't know if I really want to get into it." I said, while still looking into the crowd of dragons. My eyes suddenly found their mark, Serafine was walking towards the cave entrance with what looked to be a large grey dragon.

“Who's that?" I asked Kalthese, gesturing towards the grey dragon.

“Oh, that's Somos, and it looks like he finally decided to talk to that white dragon that he's been talking about."

I could feel my heart start racing. “What?"

“Yeah, Somos has really wanted to meet that dragoness, I would have introduced her to him but I barely know her. She doesn't come to these sorts of gatherings very often. He seems to like the soft-spoken girls. He has good taste too, she is quite beautiful with her agile figure."

I felt a caress along my back, I turned my head to see Kalthese's wing draped over me slightly. Her head closed in on mine until she was mere inches from my face.

“You know, you're not so bad yourself." She whispered.

I shook her wing off me. “I'm really sorry, I think you've got the wrong Idea. I'm with that white dragoness over there."

“The one with Somos?"

“Yeah."

“I think you've got to move on, when Somos picks a mate, they stay with him."

“What do you mean?" I asked worriedly.

“I've never seen a dragoness give up a chance to mate with Somos, it is a privilege to spend a night with him." She looked off into the distance as if recalling a fond memory. I assumed it was about the large grey dragon. “Follow me, she whispered."

I followed her, still looking back at Somos and Serafine flying off together for the hunt.

“Speaking of spending the night, I noticed that you're single for lack of a better term and I thought you might like somewhere a bit more private." She said, leading me into what looked to be her private bedchambers.

I was roughly shoved into her nest, landing on my back in the soft bed made of old clothes and blankets from humans I assume she had eaten. I sunk into the pile a fair ways, showing just how much fabric made up the bed. It certainly was quite a large collection.

“Do you like the bed? It's made from the cloth that the humans weave. I have to hand it to them, they are good for more than just consumption. They make such nice padding for a nest, don't you agree?"

“Urm, yes , it's very soft but.."

“Shh, don't worry about anything else right now, just let me take care of you." She said, crawling up next to me and curling around my body. It felt as though she had attached herself to me.

I shuffled out of her grasp but she didn't seem to stop. Claws grasped at my scales as she hung onto my body. I started to get nervous at her advances. She seemed as though she wasn't going to let go. I could feel her heartbeat quicken as she held me close. “Kalthese, I can't do this. I still like Serafine."

“Serafine's gone off with Somos and he's probably in the middle of doing the same thing to her as I am to you, so just relax and enjoy your time with me." She noted as she continued her attempts at pinning me down playfully. I didn't return anything. She continued trying until she realized that I was not having any of it.

“Fine, I give up. It seems like you don't want to have any fun. I've never had this issue before. I can see why Serafine left as well."

“Excuse me?" I asked defensively.

“Well, you're weird, no dragon ever passes up sex. It's just a normal part of life."

“For your information, it's more complicated than just sex. I would prefer if you didn't jump to conclusions. I would do anything for her but I couldn't do that at the time."

“So how did you ruin your relationship with her then? I mean you seem pretty concerned about her wellbeing, but she seems to not even notice you, and you said that you two came here together. She's obviously very unhappy with you right now.

“Well I ruined my chances with her because I wasn't ready to move onto the next step in our relationship. I had some personal things to work out before I could even think of staying with her long term. It wasn't like I didn't want to have sex with her; I just couldn't make that decision at that moment."

“So, why can't you stay with her?"

“It's a long story."

“I've got time."

I told her what happened, from the very beginning. At first she was skeptical that I was once a human, but she seemed to start to believe me when I explained where I got the potion from.

“You're telling me that a wizard named Josthaan gave you a set of potions to turn you into a dragon and then back again? She asked, astounded."

“Yeah, he had some old potions on hand. Somebody never picked their set up." I explained.

“I should say so, that rotten old man said he would hold on to my set for as long as was necessary."

“What?" I asked confused.

“I know Josthaan… well, I don't actually know him but I did get a potion made for just such an occasion. I wanted to see how humans lived for a little while. They're so interesting the way they live in their little packs." She started to explain.

I looked at her dumbfounded.

“So, I trapped this little man in the woods and made him ask Josthaan for a dragon to human potion and a reversal." After he came back, he told me that Josthaan would start working on them. After hearing how long I would have to wait, I got a little angry."

“What happened?" I asked.

She pointed at her stomach. “Let's just say he was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

“So why didn't you pick up your potions?"

“Look at me. I can't just waltz into Josthaan's house and ask him for my potions. I'd destroy his little hut. Not to mention, he doesn't even know I wanted the potions."

“Good point." I said, chuckling.

Suddenly, I felt a little queasy. My insides felt tight and strained. I growled my pain.

“What's wrong?" Kalthese asked.

“I- I don't know." I managed between my core muscles contracting.

Suddenly, I was blinded by a piercing light. I immediately realized what was happening. This was it. I was going to turn back into a human.

I opened my eyes, looking around groggily. “What happened?"

“That reversal potion decided to start working," Kalthese said.

I looked up to see her silvery lilac scales shimmering above me. Her size was truly monstrous now that I was a human again. “I need to find Serafine."

“Not like that, you can't," Kalthese interrupted my train of thought. “She'll snap you up before you can get a word out."

“I have to talk to her. She doesn't understand why I was so mean to her. I need to make things right!" I looked around for a way of getting me to her. “Kalthese, can you fly me to Serafine?"

“Well, I guess I could. I haven't been the best host tonight anyways. I don't think anyone will notice my absence." She said picking me up with a paw. She sprinted over to the edge of her cave and bounded into the air, spreading her wings and speeding into the night.

“I can't track their scent. There are too many other dragons around." Kalthese called down to me.

“Try flying low to the trees, she usually flies just above the treetops."

Kalthese dived down just above the trees, leveling out while trying to find their scent. Finally, she caught Serafine and Somos' scent through the rest of the dragons.

“It's still fresh, I don't think they're that far off," she yelled. We continued flying for a few minutes, following her path until we found a clearing that we could land in. The clearing was still quiet fresh with their scent which was a good sign. It meant that Serafine and Somos were not too far ahead of us. Racing through the forest, I felt my heart start to beat with a strength I hadn't felt ever before. My excitement and fear heightened as we neared their scent. That's when I saw it. Two dragons lay within a soft grassy area hidden well with thick trees, one a large silvery dragon and the one underneath, a soft shimmering white dragon. Kalthese ran around the private area trying to find a way in. It was completely blocked from the sides. They must have flown in through the top.

“I'm going to have to go in from the top," Kalthese whispered, turning around to head back to the clearing.

"Please hurry, I have to talk to her."

“You really must love her." Kalthese said.

“Yes, of course I do."

“More than life itself?"

I paused for a second, finally realizing that Kalthese had asked the most important question. “Yes, more than life itself."

“Well good, because that's what's on the line if things go sour. You realize that, right?"

“Yes," I said, gravely. “I don't care. I have to apologize."

Kalthese was coming up on the opening to the private clearing that held Serafine and Somos. She dived in through the canopies, spreading her wings almost immediately after. Somos looked up as Kalthese landed gracefully beside him.

“Hello Somos," Kalthese said.

“Kalthese," Somos exclaimed, surprised. “I didn't expect you to show up outside of your cave."

“Well I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't left with another dragon."

“I didn't think you felt like that, you never showed any interest in me."

Serafine spoke up. “Listen, I don't really want to do this Somos. I appreciate the gesture, you were very sweet and all, but I have someone else that I don't want to let down right now."

Somos looked at Serafine disheartened. “Well I'm not going to force you to have sex with me. I just thought you would enjoy some time with me."

“I'm sorry to have given you the wrong impression but I was in the wrong mindset when I accepted your request to follow you. I… I have to go."

“Wait a minute," Kalthese interrupted. “I think I know what you're going to do. I suggest you wait until me and Somos leave before you depart as well. I wouldn't want you forgetting anything."

Somos looked at Kalthese. “I'm going with you?"

“Come on big guy, I know you enjoyed the last time," she said with a teasing lick along his neck before turning around and swiftly flying away. Somos wasted no time in following her.

Serafine looked around, trying to figure out Kalthese's riddle.

“Hey sera." I said sheepishly.

Serafine looked down, her eyes widening. “Nathan. You're a human!" She exclaimed.

“Yes, yes I am."

What happened?"

"I drank a reversal potion before we met but it had delayed effects. I knew it would happen within this week. I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner."

“So, are you going to be a human from here on out?" Serafine asked, anxious to hear my answer."

“No, I think I can find one more reversal potion to change me back."

“That's great." Serafine said, a forced excitement emanating from her tone.

I have one more thing that I have to tell you Serafine."

“What is it?" Serafine asked.

“I love you, and it was wrong of me not to show you that. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me and I wouldn't wish for any other fate than this one. I'm ready to show you that I want you as a mate and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to figure it out. I just hope that you'll still take me.

Serafine stared into my eyes for what felt like an eternity. I waited intently on her next words.

“You… love me?"

“Absolutely, I love you with all my heart. You have made me feel more happiness than I ever have in my life.

“Oh Nathan. I would love for you to be my mate. I could not ask for a better dragon to share my love with than you."

Well, I'm not a dragon at the moment, but I think I have an idea on how to fix that. Do you want to fly home?"

“We can fly home tomorrow, I'd rather spend time here with you." Serafine decided.

TO BE CONTINUED