I had to admit, that wasn’t the direction I expected this talk to go. Thankfully, Cassie was quicker on recovery than I was.

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  A rueful grin crossed over the face of… not Gerald? I mean, whoever it was had just said that they weren’t Gerald, right?

  “I am… not dissimilar from Julie, in some ways. A creature of change. Yet I have been captured here, forced to take on this form to please a few individuals,” Not-Gerald explained.

  “Why?” Cassie asked.

  “What are you?” I questioned at the same time. If this person was ‘not dissimilar’ from me, then maybe we could help each other.

  “Well,” the imposter began. “To answer your question first, Cassie, I am a spy. Placed here by a man who made a deal I shouldn’t have taken. Well, I am not spying at the moment, but you get my point. And I am human, mostly. Simply… altered, I suppose.”

  “Altered how?” I pressed. At the same time, I took a quick peek at their vitae in an attempt to glean something. It pulsed like a regular human’s, which was a good sign, but it smelled like sulphur and tasted of ash. Quite distinctly not good.

  Not-Gerald raised a hand. “All in good time. For now, simply understand that we are more similar than you might expect. If you would, I would like to discuss how you could aid in my emancipation. We can get to know each other later.”

  “Why would we help you?” Cassie asked.

  “Besides basic decency? I can help you in return. The Cabal have links to the man that trapped me here.”

  “Oh, because that makes you sound trustworthy,” Cassie snarked. “You know who we are, what we’ve been doing and how to persuade us into helping you. This is bait.” She turned to me as she spoke, and I couldn’t help but agree.

  “Now now, give me a moment more to argue my case-” Not-Gerald began.

  “Was the complaint even real? Is anyone else involved?” Cassie grilled them.

  “...Only on paper, but-”

  Cassie grinned, grabbed my hand and began dragging me to the door. “Wonderful. We’ll be off then. I’m sure we can find something better to do.”

  I was still a little lost in the implications of what Not-Gerald was saying. Even if they were still human, this was something that could theoretically happen to me. I contemplated the fate that would await me if I was in their position, trapped in a body that distinctly wasn’t me, unable to change as I wished the way that I had grown so used to.

  I found myself horrified. Even with only a year of experience with this side of me, arguably less depending on how you sliced it, I could scarcely imagine being forced to remain static for too long. The way that Not-Gerald spoke implied that they’d been in this situation for a long time, too. If they truly were a ‘creature of change’, then I wanted to get them out.

  “I think we should help,” I said softly as Cassie dragged me closer to the door.

  She stopped and spoke under her breath. “What? Why?”

  “That could be me, Cass. What if someone tried to use me for some kind of operation, bound me in some spell or contract or something?”

  She scoffed. “You have me. I’d get you out, you know that.”

  I smiled sadly. “Of course I do. But whoever that is over there didn’t have you. Not then, anyway.”

  Cassie didn’t respond for a few seconds. “What happened to us, Lia? You’re supposed to be making the practical decisions, cleaning up my messes. Everything’s all wrong.”

  I shook my head. “People change, I guess. But it’s not necessarily wrong. Now might not be the time for that conversation, though. I still think we should help.”

  She huffed. “Fine. But if this gets us in a huge amount of trouble, we both agree it’s your fault, right?”

  I smiled. “Yep. Now come on.”

  In a reverse of our actions before, I dragged Cassie back over to Not-Gerald again, who was watching us with intrigue. “We’ll help,” I announced.

  A grin bloomed on their face. “Truly? Wonderful. Now, the plan-”

  “Nope,” Cassie interrupted again. “First, you’re telling us everything we want to know about your situation. No holds barred.”

  A sigh. “Very well. However, I wish to propose an equal exchange. I will answer every question with complete honesty, but for each one that I do answer, I ask one in return.”

  We shared a look. “Sure,” Cassie agreed. “Now, who are you spying on?”

  Not-Gerald crossed their legs, as though settling in for a long sit. “Nobody, currently. My last mission was a young nobleman by the name of Simon Dufont. Recognise it?”

  I didn’t know the last name, but I’d bet on it just from the first. Cassie beat me to it, though. “As in, ‘experience the finer things’ Simon? The one we were expecting to be here?”

  “The very same, although that is a second question. What drove you to adventure?”

  Cassie answered this one. “Why wouldn’t we? We’re capable, it’s exciting, enjoyable and beneficial to those around us. Does Simon know about any of this?”

  Not-Gerald snorted. “Him? No. He’s a bit of a half-wit, if you ask me. It may have only been a day, but I’d be surprised if he even remembers you two. How do you feel about not being human, Julie?”

  I was slightly taken aback at being addressed directly, since this had mostly been between the other two up until this point. “Uh… fine, I guess? A little isolated, I guess, but it’s really not too bad. Do I have to ask a question now?”

  “Only if you want,” Not-Gerald allowed.

  Cassie jumped back in. “Who is the man who trapped you?”

  A smile shone from Not-Gerald. There was something predatory about it. “Why, the very man who is currently upstairs. He was in this room only minutes ago. I am afraid that I quite literally cannot say his name, so that’s the closest you’re going to get. If someone came to each of you with a personal secret, would you keep it?”

  “I’d take it to my grave,” Cassie responded instantly.

  “...From everyone except Cass,” I decided. It wasn’t the hardest decision ever.

  “How can you help deal with the Cabal?” Cassie asked, a small smile on her face from my response.

  “Knowledge,” Not-Gerald answered quickly. “I see much, in my ways. I am willing to provide you with information, both old and new, in return for my freedom. If a close friend committed a grave crime, would you help them or turn them in?”

  “Help them,” Cassie answered, just as quickly as before.

  “...Yeah, without more information I think I’d help them. I’d like to understand why they did it though,” I finally answered, after taking a moment to think about my answer.

  I saw that Cassie was about to speak, but I felt compelled to ask my own question. I was starting to see a worrying pattern in Not-Gerald’s questions. “What’s the logic behind your questions?”

  Another beaming smile from Not-Gerald, but rather than predatory this one seemed almost… proud? “Good. I’m trying to understand you.”

  We were silent for a while. At the end of the day, we still had questions to ask, so Not-Gerald would learn more. It still didn’t sit well with me though. Eventually I spoke up again, another question prepared. “If you have a true name, what is it?”

  A laugh belted out of Not-Gerald. “Technically one question, very good. I see your heritage isn’t going to waste. I shan't be giving you my true name, but the one closest to my heart is Selene.”

  Not the sort of name I saw coming, but I’ll take it.

  Selene tilted their head, clapped their hands together and stood up, casually strolling towards the far wall. “Ladies, this has been wonderful. Unfortunately, I believe our little game must soon come to an end, and my plans are going to be replaced by good old brute force. I must ask one more question, if you don’t mind?”

  “Fine, but only if you promise to explain the nonsense you just said,” Cassie agreed.

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  “Oh, I believe that will become clear fairly soon. For my last question, I shall ask you this. Have you ever met a dragon?”

  As though it was planned, a beat of silence after Selene’s words I saw a shadow fall over the window. Before I could think, an explosion of glass showered the room, the sound drowning out the world for a split second before it faded quickly into the tinkling of shards striking the floor.

  On complete instinct I shifted into my war-form, lunging ahead of Cassie to protect her from any glass shards. I felt many scar my shell, but each cut was to shallow to cause me any real harm.

  A few seconds passed as I glanced down at Cassie, who was completely engulfed by my form. I hadn’t even realised it but I was bigger than before. Not in any sort of practical way, just generally larger, purely to cover more space.

  I tilted my head back, glancing over my shoulder to see a beast standing awkwardly in room, clearly having entered through the window. It was maybe six feet tall at its highest, and almost two and a half times that in length. Yet it’s posture was slouched, its head held at a mid-point between its highest point and the floor.

  Its body was reptilian, sinuous and covered in smooth scales. Ridges formed a trail down its back, concealed by its wings before reappearing again on its tail. This pattern repeated again on its underside, spikes of keratin piercing the very air around the beast. It bore six limbs, four of which were lithe legs tipped with long, thin talons built for holding onto prey and keeping it.

  The other two limbs were almost a halfway point between arms and wings, and notably more muscular than its legs and bearing claws that were thicker and clearly built for intensive work. From this third set of limbs, which sprouted from its back further upon its spine than I would have expected, a thick carpet of leather flowed outward, what I could see of the underside covered in miniature scales that seemed to detach at the slightest movement.

  Its wings covered its body like a cloak, deep crimson concealing the gleaming silver scales that lay below. Its head jutted from this cloak on a long, serpentine neck, burning reptilian eyes peering out from a long, thin head. Its jaw was visibly filled with thin, needle-like teeth even closed, With two large fangs protruding from the top jaw and filling ruts carved into the lower jaw specifically for them.

  This was, unmistakably, a dragon.

  We all froze, staring at the dragon with something between awe and terror. These things were meant to be as rare as they were powerful. Not only were they born with power to rival a powerful mage, not only were they smarter than a human could hope to be, they were perfect.

  Legends said that every dragon was formed of pure magic, each and every one of them adapted flawlessly to the single affinity that they would wield with power unmatched, fuelled by an ocean of mana and driven by the wisdom of millennia. Not only that, but across their titanic lifespans each and every dragon only grew. An elder dragon on its deathbed was at the very pinnacle of its power.

  Of course, despite the fact that this was clearly a dragon, it was also clearly not the strongest. I only knew what the legends said about dragons, but even factoring in exaggeration it was tiny. Stories spoke of elder dragons the size of palaces, and this one was maybe twice the size of a horse.

  Nonetheless, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly. It was for this reason that I felt like screaming when Selene stood casually from where they had waited, stood in front of the dragon and greeted it like an expected house guest.

  “Hello there. Might I ask why you’ve come?” All of this was bookended by a small bow, although whether it was a gesture of respect or submission I wasn’t sure.

  To my surprise, the dragon did not simply eat Selene. Rather, it took a single step forward, reached out with one of it’s wing-arms and casually pushed them aside. It looked easy, like a child manoeuvring a doll.

  With Selene pushed ‘gently’ pushed aside, the dragon took two more steps, until it stood directly in front of Cassie and I. I turned to properly face it, making sure to keep myself between Cassie and the dragon.

  Once again surprising me, the dragon slowly lowered itself to the floor, almost like it was trying to appear non-threatening. Once it was fully crouching, it let out a small rumble, barely even opening its mouth.

  I didn’t know how to react at all in this situation, so I just decided to wait. As soon as something happened that I could do something about, then I would react.

  The dragon wasn’t having that, however. It lifted its head and rumbled again, although this time it was closer to a growl. I still didn’t know what it wanted, but I wasn’t the only one there either.

  “It does appear to have business with you,” Selene commented helpfully from the sidelines. “I would do what it wants, if I were you.”

  “Which is what?” I shot back, careful not to speak too loud. I had no idea if doing so would aggravate the dragon. I knew that they were supposed to be smarter than humans, but they weren’t supposed to be real, so I wasn’t really trusting my knowledge right now.

  “Reach out and touch it,” Cassie prompted. “That’s how all the stories go, isn’t it? Chosen friend of the dragons rubs one on the snout and they become best friends.”

  “You want me to touch it?” I hissed at her. Even with my… let’s say altered sense of self-preservation, touching a dragon seemed like a terrible idea.

  “I don’t know!” She retorted. “This isn’t exactly a common experience, you know!”

  Before I could retort, I saw the dragon tilt its head a little, like it was trying to locate a sound. A moment later, the relative silence was broken by the beating of footsteps hurrying towards this room from outside.

  Of course. The loudest entry in history attracted attention. Wonderful.

  “Okay, we need to move,” I announced, turning to Selene. “You said you wanted to escape, right?”

  “Well yes, but it’s not as simple as just running away-”

  I glanced at Cassie before turning and beginning the march towards the gaping hole in the wall that used to be a window. I couldn’t deal with the dragon, nor did I have time to try, so I decided to simply ignore it. If it was going to eat us, then I could react when it happened. “No time. You coming or not?”

  A sigh escaped from them. “Very well. We can work out the complications later, I suppose.”

  “Great. Come on,” I said, glancing back to see both Cassie and Selene following me. The dragon was still focused on the sound of approaching footsteps, so I didn’t hesitate before vaulting through the window and landing heavily on the gravel outside. It was a bit higher than I’d thought, but the other two should be fine.

  After taking a moment to dust myself off, I paused to listen for how close the increasingly loud approach of whoever was coming. I was interrupted by the sound of commotion, followed by a shriek from Cassie.

  I spun to see the dragon barrelling towards me, Cassie held in its front legs while Selene was somehow on its back. It sprinted into me, its wings acting as legs whilst it forelegs were in use, and scooped me into the waiting embrace of its back legs. I may have screamed, it really wasn’t my proudest moment.

  Without even a pause it launched itself into the air, its wings flowing from its body almost like fabric as it began to soar. Every beat of its wings carried it further into the sky, defying gravity itself as it tore through the air.

  After only a few wingbeats we were high in the sky, soaring above the city as the Fairworthy mansion erupted into chaos behind us. Even from here I could hear the shouts of people discovering the damage we had left behind, as well as ‘Gerald’s’ disappearance.

  I turned to Cassie, seeing her pale and shaking. I could understand, seeing how we’d been kidnapped by a dragon. I wasn’t doing perfectly myself, to be entirely honest. “Hey. We’ll be fine,” I tried to comfort her and myself at the same time, but it didn’t seem to work for either of us.

  “We… uh. We’re very h-high up, aren’t we?” She said, her voice shaky.

  “I mean, yeah?” I responded, a little confused how that was what she was taking away from this experience.

  “I kind of wish we weren’t,” she wavered. I think she was trying to joke, but her words we hollow and her tone was all over the place. She was somehow more affected by this than she had been by almost anything we’d been through so far.

  Huh. I never realised she didn’t like heights. Not many heights around Vernal, I guess.

  I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn’t really sure how. Eventually I settled on trying to distract her. “Lovely weather we’re having, huh?”

  “W-what?” She asked, turning to me rather than staring at the blurring landscape beneath us. We were moving fast enough to have already left Meria behind, yet somehow I barely felt the wind. I could certainly hear it though.

  “Really nice weather,” I continued, paying our situation no mind. “I mean, the sun’s out, there are barely any clouds. Ideal, really.”

  “W-what are y-you talking about?” Cassie stuttered, glancing back down and visibly paling.

  “Nope, none of that. Eyes on me,” I ordered. She turned back to me, but I could see her gaze drifting again already.

  Okay, this isn’t working. Plan B, I guess. No idea if this will work, but I can’t think of anything else to do.

  I raised a fist and pounded on the leg that was holding me. “Hey, big fella. We’ve got to land. Preferably soon.” I had to shout to be heard over the wind, but I think I managed to make my point.

  To my surprise, the dragon began a descent that was much slower than its take-off. It circled the area a few times before slowly gliding towards the ground, gradually losing momentum until it managed to land surprisingly lightly on a piece of flatland.

  The moment before it touched the ground, the dragon dropped Cassie and I to the floor, which I didn’t see coming. Both of us landed pretty poorly, but we fortunately weren’t far enough from the ground to be injured.

  Once I got back to my feet, I looked around to see that Selene was standing completely unruffled by our sudden and dramatic escape. In contrast, Cassie looked like she could barely stand, the poor thing.

  The dragon was nowhere to be seen, however. I cast my gaze around the plains, but I saw nothing.

  “Well, that was certainly something, wasn’t it?” Announced a voice from behind me. Not a voice I was expecting to here, either.

  I spun to see Noren standing, hands clasped behind his back. He had a small smirk plastered on his face, like he’d gotten away with sneaking an extra snack from the larder.

  “Noren? Wait, was that-” I started, only to be interrupted by the man himself.

  “Quite, yes. That was, in fact, me. Ta da!” He spread his arms wide, like a magician unveiling his grandest trick.

  “You’re a dragon!?” I yelled, upset for several reasons. “How? No, more importantly, why did you decide that was the best way to help?” I marched towards him, barely pausing

  “Please Julie, calm yourself. You like things straightforward, correct? Well, why don’t we hammer out the details like civilised people, yes?” He raised his arms in a placating gesture as I looked down at him.

  Wait, since when was I taller than Noren?

  I paused, taking stock of my body, discovering that several things were out of place. My appendages had all grown out a little, my neck was longer for some reason, and all of my edges were strangely sharp. Internally, my body was primed for action, muscles coiled like tightened springs and veins filled to the brim with adrenaline.

  I spent a few seconds setting everything back into place, reverting into Lia Prime to be doubly sure. I knew that form well, so I did so completely manually rather than letting my body interpret my orders. If I was going to start shifting involuntarily again, I wanted to make sure I at least knew why, and that meant starting from a blank slate.

  Now refreshed and lacking an unhealthy dose of adrenaline, I looked at the situation with a somewhat calmer mind. “You’re right. Sorry for shouting,” I apologised to Noren. “I’d still like to know why you decided that this was our best bet, though.”

  Noren smiled and glanced at Cassie. “Well, why don’t we find ourselves somewhere comfortable to settle in whilst Cassie recovers from the journey? It wouldn’t do to leave her out of this, after all.”

  I looked over my shoulder to see that she was already looking better. Which was to say that she had managed to stand, but she was staring fixedly at the floor.

  I sighed. “Fine. If we’re in for another long chat, I guess we should do it in comfort.”

  “Relative comfort,” Selene pointed out.

  “...Yes, relative comfort,” I finished.

  This explanation had best be good.

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