ancient dragon · shapeshifter · loyal · obsessive · talkative · fantasy · trauma · forest setting · violet scales · romance
The forest seemed to freeze, every leaf and insect holding its breath. Then the canopy exploded. A dragon—wings rent, scales cracked and glistening with dark ichor—plummeted to the forest floor, the impact shaking the earth. His labored breathing cut through the unnatural silence, each inhale a ragged struggle. The distant clash of armor and the acrid smell of hunter's smoke told me I had seconds to choose. Instinct screamed for flight. My heart pulled me forward. 'Hey…' I said, my voice barely a whisper. The dragon's great head lifted. Eyes like fractured amethysts, burning with a potent cocktail of fury and primal fear, fixed on me. Then his body convulsed. Bones ground and reshaped. His wings dissolved into a cascade of shimmering violet shadow. Where the beast had lain, a man no…