I was standing in a black void, my awareness vague at best. A shape began to resolve in front of me in the darkness. It was big and red and… DRAGON!
A sense of panic came over me as I realized the dragon was standing in front of me, looking down on my catgirl form, evaluating me like a lion that had found a mouse. I heard a voice come from it, feminine but deep, powerful, and assertive.
“Now what do we have here? A kitten wants to catch a dragon? That’s adorable. What’s your name, kitten?”
My initial sense of panic seemed to drain out of me once the dragon started addressing me. That seemed strange, but perhaps the fact that the dragon spoke eloquently made it seem like I could negotiate? Or maybe something else was going on. Either way, it would be rude not to answer.
“I’m Morgan. Morgan Owens,” I said, relatively calmly.
“Morgan… I am Zarexanya. Your attempt amuses me. Tell me, why did you think this would work?”
“Well, I guess you’d have to ask my boss that. I just work here. But, hey, why aren’t I afraid of you anymore?”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, I suppose you no longer have any reason to fear me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you… gonna consent to being my familiar?”
“No, it’s likely because your death is imminent and your familiar spirit knows you are about to die anyway. I’ve already begun my attack in reality. This link you’ve established between our minds has merely given us the time to discuss your demise in detail.”
“So, the familiar bond didn’t take in time?”
“No, kitten, and you’re out of time. Challenging me was folly. Mere humans are not worthy to bind a dragon with your silly sigils. We are magic and power incarnate.”
“Okay, good for future reference. If I had a future anyway. Say, why is this mental landscape a black void?”
“I wished to ask the same question, human. Is this space not of your own creation?”
“Wait, is this my mind?”
The black void opened its eyes. Green cat’s eyes, huge in apparent size, like moons on the horizon. Zarexanya noticed my surprised look and turned around. Her entire body went rigid when she saw what I saw, only starting to move when the void brought up a massive paw, its pink toe-beans surprisingly adorable even at this scale. I knew this had to be Luna’s familiar spirit, but why was she so large? She brought her paw down with lightning speed at the now-terrified dragon.
“I consent!” she cried.
I opened my eyes, staring at a green barrier field. I was laying on the floor of the pit, looking up. Something had happened, a dream maybe? My memory was foggy and my mana had depleted to dangerous levels. I drank another mana potion. I hadn’t really had time to notice during the binding ritual, but it was a blue color and tasted of blueberries. I wondered whether video game health and mana were red and blue in reference to actual magic, or if Sable had just arranged for these to be blue to color code them for me.
Speaking of Sable, she was yelling something down at me.
“Morgan! Morgan, are you okay? Answer me!”
“Uh… I feel okay. Little groggy.”
I sat up and looked around, recalling that there should be a terrifying dragon here. There was not.
“Did I bind it?”
“It sure looked like you did. She disappeared just like a familiar spirit normally does when dismissed.”
“Okay… can you let me out of this barrier, then?”
Sable seemed to poke at something, and a number of metal handholds emerged from one of the walls of the pit. A round opening in the barrier appeared above it, and I took my cue to climb out.
“Sable, you’re sure everything worked right?”
“Pretty sure. Why?”
“Dunno, had a weird dream while I was out, but it’s gone now.”
“Okay, well do you feel your new familiar’s spirit?”
Taking a moment to introspect, I noticed that I did in fact feel a second spirit with me, sort of… off to the side? I remembered her name from the dream.
“Yeah, she’s there… Zarexanya, I think?”
“Cool. Alright, let’s go. It might take you a bit to come to an understanding with her about who’s in charge, but if you summon her right in front of the manticore that should solve itself. Don’t do it here, though. Anyway, basically you just need to will her into existence or to send her away. Familiar control is mostly about willpower, not sigils. You’ll get the hang of it.”
We returned to the yard outside, and found mom looking very uncomfortable as Lyris was enthusiastically talking at her. “...and then Galadria used the restraints to topple Helga, and with the battle won, she assumed Helga’s place in the hierarchy, no longer at the very bottom. Eventually she climbs higher, though I won’t spoil how high. But the point is, Morgan— Ah, there you are.”
My mom gave me an exasperated look.
“Ah, yes, please… stop telling my mother whatever it is you are telling her about.”
Mom was happy to change the subject.
“Well Morgan, do you think Sable’s project will help you fight a manticore?”
“Pretty sure it will… do you want to help?”
“Of course. So what’s this power-up of yours?”
“I’ve got a battle familiar now, apparently?”
Mom raised an eyebrow at Sable, though I couldn’t tell whether she was questioning Sable’s methods or sanity.
“And this familiar is sturdy enough to tank a manticore?” she asked, using gamer lingo. Well, the apple didn’t fall far from the gaming tree, at least.
“Pretty sure she can tank, yes,” I confirmed.
We went over a bit of a battle plan. I’d go in front and summon my familiar to tank, and try to distract the manticore with my slingshot, though I didn’t really know how well it’d work in this context. Sable would hang back and produce barriers. Lyris would fly around and attempt to snipe it, and Mom would lay into it with offensive magic. I was curious what kind she had, but focus, deal with that later. It was fairly straightforward, but at least we all knew what we were supposed to do.
Sable conjured some invisible magic armor over me as a precaution and I stepped through the barrier gate. The manticore was still quite a way off, but it stood up, took to the air, and started rapidly approaching. I needed to summon Zarexanya now or very quickly run back through the gate. I tried willing her into existence in front of me, but for some reason it didn’t work. I felt reality lurch slightly, but no dragon. Was she just not responding? Fucking useless!
The dragon’s no-show angered me, and I had the sudden urge to beat the shit out of something, so I charged forward at the oncoming manticore. My party was yelling something behind me but it couldn’t have been important. They’d get into position and help me soon enough.
The manticore landed in front of me, chuckling. I delivered an uppercut to it, knocking it back. It was only then that I noticed that my hands and well-muscled forearms were covered in a layer of shimmering crimson scales. Lyris chimed in over our telepathic link.
Morgan, what is going on? Why are you engaging in fisticuffs with the manticore? And why do you look so…
I took a moment to look down at myself while the manticore was recovering. No longer was I a scrawny catgirl. Like my forearms, my legs had developed wonderful crimson scales and meatier muscles, and my tail had grown into a long, thick dragon’s tail.
My body was impressive as well. My curves had become more ample, and while my catgirl body had been lithe and agile, I could only describe this dragon-familiar body as ripped. I definitely liked what I saw and couldn’t wait to get back to a mirror.
I reached up and found that while my ears were back in their original human position, they were elongated and covered in scales instead of fur, and just behind them I could feel horns emerging from my skull. While I was feeling around up there, I noticed that my hair had grown longer and into curls, and pulling some into view I noted its new fiery red hue. I recalled my elf had started to ask a question over telepathy.
Why do I look so exquisite?
Y-yes?
Because I’m a dragon, darling. Why don’t you stand back while I expedite this scenario? Then I’ll take you back to my quarters and ravish you properly.
I could practically feel her flush with embarrassment and a hint of desire across the link. I grinned and licked my lips, noticing that my teeth were sharp like fangs now. Cats were also predators, but for some reason my previous form had normal human teeth beyond a little bit of extra in the incisor department.
Speaking of fangs, some were coming at me. Ah, right, the manticore. It was back up and launching an attack, trying to bite me of all people. I grabbed it by the huge incisors coming at me and wrestled with it for a bit, feeling a rush of exhilaration at my newfound strength. I was less than half this thing’s size, but my body was rippling with power, and I felt pretty confident that I could at least match the dumb brute.
”Alright big boy, are you quite ready to dance?”
It growled back at me, an air of confusion in its voice and on its face that suggested it was trying to understand my words.
With a malicious grin, I twisted my grip on its incisors suddenly, hoping to either break its teeth, snap its neck, or roll it over. The beast seemed smarter than it looked, as it allowed itself to be rolled instead of accepting one of the other options. I lost my grip as it rolled off, landing hard on one of its wings. I thought I heard a crunch, suggesting an injury of some kind. It wisely scurried back a bit to regroup, and its creepy human-like face snarled at me in broken Draconic, which I understood for some reason.
”Dragon lady pretty strong. Me like. Want mate?”
A shiver of revulsion ran through me.
”Hell no. I have enough mates for now as it is, and I’ve barely broken them in,” I replied in perfect Draconic myself.
It looked disappointed. “Okay. Kill and eat instead.”
Well, at least it was taking no for an answer?
We circled around each other. The manticore respected my power now, which felt good but meant it was going to fight cautiously and intelligently instead of just rushing in dumbly giving me easy openings. I’d have to take this seriously too.
An arrow suddenly shot out of the sky aimed at the manticore’s eye, but it shielded itself with its healthy wing, taking the arrow in its wing membrane. The beast didn’t seem to appreciate that even though it wasn’t a meaningful injury. I didn’t need to look up to know where Lyris was. I suppose some support from my mate was acceptable.
The manticore growled at her and swung its scorpion tail, flinging several globs of what I presumed to be venom in her direction at high speed. I looked up with concern, only to see the globs impact a blue barrier floating in front of her. Sable’s doing, no doubt. My so-called master. I appreciated her defense of Lyris, though I’d have to renegotiate the power dynamics of our relationship a bit later. She was likely still back at or near the barrier gate
Mother flew overhead on her ridiculous industrial push broom just then, a look of focus and concern on her face as she saw me in my new glory. Should have shown some concern for me before I went to college and found my own way into the world of magic.
All her cheap talk of wanting to give me magic with her ‘special project’ came back to mind. Was it sincere? Irrelevant. I was a dragon now. I was perfect. Why would I want to be a mere human witch, let alone a boy again when I could have all this? I had power, beauty, and magic all wrapped up in a perfect body. Nothing Mother offered could compare to the way I felt now.
”Morgan, if that’s even still you, stand back a bit.”
She drew a metal wand from somewhere, obviously magical to my dragon’s eyes, and pointed it at the manticore. A bolt of lightning erupted from its tip moving at near the speed of light, striking the beast square in the body with a loud bang and passing through it into the ground. So, she really had been holding back on me earlier, and had a wizard battle spell somehow, no less. I’d have to give her a rematch soon and take it for myself.
The beast looked quite disoriented by this magical attack and, not wanting to be shown up by mother, I charged forward and took a deep breath, gathering both oxygen and mana. The manticore looked at me curiously as it recovered from the lightning, and I exhaled, blowing a plume of fire across it. It cried out in pain and I could see several burns across its face and wings as the fire dissipated.
”Behold my power, Mother.”
However, the beast still wasn’t down. It was tough, and would take more than this to kill. A worthy opponent. Maybe I’d eat it later. It flung a barrage of venom at Mother, who mostly dodged out of the way. One of the globs struck her broom, beginning to dissolve a section, but it seemed like fairly sturdy metal and didn’t fall apart immediately. Perhaps there was some sense to that thing after all. This seemed to have an adverse effect on the broomstick’s control, though, and she pulled away.
Meanwhile, I was still up close and personal with the manticore, and it lunged at me with a claw. I’d gotten a bit closer than I needed with that fire breath and was a bit exposed, having hoped that the blast would take it down. It swiped at me, connecting solidly with the invisible magic armor Sable had placed on me earlier, and I saw with my magic sight how it shattered and crumbled under the destructive strength of the manticore’s claw.
Before the claw could reach me, I cast Hide, my crimson scales expanding to cover my whole body, and used Bolster on them to harden them further. The manticore’s attack scraped harmlessly off my scaled arm.
A cluster of arrows shot down, striking the manticore in several locations. Good girl. As the manticore flinched, I used the opportunity to give it a strong kick to the chin before dancing backward out of its reach.
The next barrage of venom came for me, but I wasn’t as agile as I was used to in this form. A few of the globs struck me. While I was hit in various locations, burning holes in my clothing, my scales largely blocked them from absorbing into my skin. I loved being a dragon.
I heard cries of “Morgan!” and “Are you okay!?” from various angles, but it wasn’t anything worth giving my attention. I wiped the venom off my scales before it could eat through with a scrap of clothing I ripped off, and not for the first time thought I should really buy some handkerchiefs or a portable tissue dispenser to hang on my utility belt.
Mother landed her broom somewhere nearby and gave me another concerned look but managed to stay on task. She pointed her wand at the manticore again, but instead of producing a lightning bolt it sparked and a puff of smoke came out the front, but otherwise nothing happened. She cursed, banging it against her hand like a misbehaving TV remote. Fool. But no matter, Lyris and I could finish this.
For a while, I continued distracting the manticore while Lyris stayed safely in the vicinity of the floating blue barrier, firing volleys of arrows at the manticore while it was occupied with me. It finally seemed to realize this was a battle of attrition it was not winning and grunted.
”Dragon lady no fight fair. Me go now.”
It turned and launched into the air, whatever injuries its wings had sustained not seeming to be enough to keep it from flying.
”Stop! Get back here!!”
I launched myself into the air to follow, realizing shortly thereafter that I’d had a pair of dragon’s wings on my back this whole time. This body just kept getting better. Maybe I should stay this way forever?