{Arthur’s POV}

Arthur soared through the sky, Kaia sitting in his open palm, enjoying the wind on her face and clutching his claws for support. He was currently heading back in the direction of Graycott, to find Caesar. He had thought of putting Kaia on his back to ride, but the moment he had thought that every cell in his body screamed with outrage and fury. Being mounted like a common horse didn’t sit well with him. And it wasn’t just his draconic instincts, Arthur himself didn’t enjoy the thought either. So, having Kaia sit in his palm was the second choice, which she didn’t mind.

They flew like this in silence, Arthur watching the ground and Kaia enjoying the moment. After ten minutes of flying, Graycott came into sight. Arthur flew over it, angling and turning northwest while using Graycott as a sort of compass to guide him. The wizard said it was located under a village, so he was on the lookout. He decided to relay this information to Kaia, who began watching out as well.

As Arthur was watching below him, he felt hunger pains in his stomach. Ugh, his morning activities seemed to be taking their toll. He would have to eat once he got back to the lair. There was so much to do all the time he always forgot about the small things, like food.

After five minutes of flying above the grassy plains, he went over a large hill and spotted a river in the distance. Great, he was feeling thirsty. He glanced over to Kaia and rumbled out, “Let’s take a break at that river over there. Then let’s continue northwest.” Kaia nodded, shouting above the wind, “Good idea, Highness!”

She grinned as Arthur sped up, gliding downwards as he grew closer to the river. Arthur landed fifty feet from the medium-sized river, folding in his wings and depositing Kaia on the grassy plains. He moved forward with Kaia to his right towards the river, reaching it and dipping his head down for a drink. It was nice to gulp down the water, with Kaia sipping some with cupped hands as well. He allowed his mind to relax, sitting and watching the rippling water and the tiny fish darting around.

Kaia finished drinking her fill and turned back to Arthur. “Should we continue now Sire?” He opened his mouth to respond, but a new voice from behind interrupted him,

“Hey, big, tall, and red! Your in my territory!” He turned to see a young man, wearing commoners clothes and pointing at him. Kaia scoffed and approached him, but Arthur held her back with his claws, observing the petulant-looking man.

“What do you mean territory, human?” Completely unafraid, the young man did a mock expression of horror while exclaiming,

“Human? Oh wait, I am a human! I completely forgot.” Chuckling good-naturedly, the man looked down at himself, raising his hands and flexing them.

...Well then. Arthur had run into a completely insane person. He looked down at them with a confused expression, saying, “You didn’t realize you were human? What is wrong with you?” The man looked back up to him, ignoring his question and quizically asking,

“Hey, why haven’t you attacked me yet? I thought that was all you red dragon’s whole shtick. Like, raah, I will kill and eat you for no reason, aah!” The man smiled jokingly at him. Caught flat-footed, Arthur almost stuttered replying,

“I do not do that, kill and eat others, as you say. I am...different.” Kaia grew agitated behind Arthur from which she had retreated. Arthur glanced at her as the man chuckled lightly, replying,

“Wow, you don’t kill and eat others? I in all my life would never have thought of a red dragon uttering those words. Hmmm, you are something special. Oh! How rude of me, I’ve been talking as this form all this time. Here, let me just…” Arthur watched as the man closed his eyes for a moment. Then suddenly, twenty feet from him stood a dragon. A copper dragon, on closer inspection. This dragon had the same body structure as Arthur, with copper tinted scales and its most notable feature being its naturally good-natured grin and long teeth. Arthur noted he dwarfed the other dragon by a pretty big margin. While the copper dragon was a good 35 feet tall and 70 feet in length snout to tail, Arthur was 60 feet tall if he drew himself to his full height, and roughly 120 feet long snout to tail. The copper dragon was lean and graceful where Arthur was bulky and muscular. Kaia stared at the other dragon in clear disbelief while Arthur was sizing them up. The copper dragon let the silence hang for a few seconds for dramatic effect, striking a slightly theatric pose, before he said,

“You know, I like to think of myself as a good dragon reader.” His voice was casually smooth, as if he and Arthur were lifetime friends. It was also naturally booming and loud. He continued conversationally in Draconic,

“And you know what I’m getting from you? Well, I can’t read you. You act civil, but you’re a red dragon. It’s confusing! And interesting.” The dragon grinned at Arthur. Was he that easy to read? He didn’t want to talk about his alignment with this random dragon, so he said,

“You... are getting off-topic. You said I was in your territory?” The dragons saw what he was doing but went along, saying easily,

“Oh, that? Yeah, forget it. Usually, when another dragon comes onto my territory I tell em’ to scram, but I want you to stay a little longer! And I’m not saying you could beat me in a fight, but you could beat me in a fight. So the fact you haven’t, means you don’t want my hill! Say, we can talk over food at my place. How about it?” The copper dragon didn’t wait for his reply before beckoning him, turning around and walking towards the large hill Arthur had flown over.

He watched them walk, debating on whether to follow. Could this be a trap? No, his knowledge of copper dragons didn’t do traps, they did jokes. Besides, he was confident whatever was thrown at him, he could handle it. He stood up and followed behind the other dragon.

Kaia followed behind hastily at the dragon’s brisk paces, whispering, “Can we trust this hooligan Highness?” Arthur opened his mouth to say something but was once again interrupted by the dragon, who had turned his head while still walking, exclaiming in a mock hurt voice,

“Hooligan? Your words cut deep, kobold. I am but a simple dragon, through and through! I have nothing to be distrustful of!” He smiled innocently and turned his head back to the large hill. Arthur ignored the dragon and replied to Kaia,

“Yes, we will be fine.” He observed the hill and continued, “So where is your lair, dragon? I don’t see any entrances.” The copper dragon replied,

“Patience! You will see my clever little entrance soon, and good food awaits! We will have the most riveting of conversation.”

They reached the hill and the copper dragon gave him a mischievous wink before simply walking through the solid hillside. Arthur uncertainly followed, phasing through the wall as if nothing were there. Strong illusion magic, he guessed. Kaia entered a moment later, and he looked around. They were inside a narrow dirt hall with a natural stone floor, which Arthur barely fit in. The copper dragon had gotten to the end of the hall, beckoning him energetically once more before walking out of sight.

He walked out of the hall into an expanse, a massive dirt room with a stone floor that extended roughly 120 feet in each direction, bigger than his lair. In the middle was a massive mahogany long table, obviously made for dragons. Have to learn to do that. The copper dragon went over to a nearby wall, saying, “Please, make yourself at home. I will be back shortly with our food. Don’t go anywhere!” The dragon gestured and the wall lowered itself into the ground, revealing another hallway. The dragon stepped into the hall and the wall raised back up. Have to learn that too…

Kaia went ahead of him, reaching the table and studying it. “This is amazing! I have to know how to build this!” She said this when Arthur walked up behind her, looking up at him with an excited expression. He let out a rumbling chuckle, replying,

“Yes, it’s quite good. My lair will become grander than this soon, don’t worry Kaia.” Kaia nodded agreeably, hopping up onto the table with Arthur’s help and sat on the edge. After a minute Arthur heard scuffling noises from behind the wall the dragon went into. The wall opened again, revealing the copper dragon carrying various foodstuff. The dragon reached the table, the wall closing behind them once more. They laid down a recently killed cow in front of Arthur, and common adventurer rations in front of Kaia, things like jerky and dried fruit. The dragon placed down one barrel that sloshed with liquid when moved. “Cant have a feast without ale!” He flashed a smile at Arthur.

The copper dragon went to the opposite side of Arthur, sitting and digging into a pig, eating it remarkably fast. Arthur hadn’t even touched his food when the other dragon was done, letting out a light burp.

“Excuse me. I eat quickly when I’m excited. I mean, I’m having lunch with a red dragon that doesn’t want to kill me!” He chuckled lightly, looking at Arthur. The dragon’s expression grew sour for a moment and he stopped chuckling. Weird. Arthur’s stomach complained about food being in front of him and not eating it, so he obliged and neatly started eating the cow. Arthur found the meat to be more enjoyable when he heated up and cooked it in his mouth before chewing. He would have found the dead cow kind of gross when he was a human, but the scent of blood and meat coming from the cow pleased his hungry stomach to a very high degree, and he found the meat to be really savory and filling.

“So, what do you want with his Highness?” Kaia said suspiciously to the copper dragon. The dragon responded by chuckling, replying,

“I don’t WANT anything, little kobold. I simply am curious about you two. You are an interesting pair, and I live for meeting interesting people!” He grabbed a barrel and popped the wooden lid open, taking a sip. He looked up at Arthur and continued,

“So, where are you two headed?” He finished the last of his cow, swallowing it whole and replying after a moment,

“We are heading to deal with a slave trafficker. And if you’re going to ask questions, could I get your name?” The dragon replied eloquently,

“Ah, we didn’t exchange names, right. I am Davit. And you are..?” Arthur told him his name. He looked confused, saying, “Arthur? Isn’t that a human name?”

“...No.”

He looked baffled for a few seconds, before regaining his composure and moving on, “Alright… So, when you say slave trafficker, do you mean Caesar?” Huh, apparently everyone knew this person. Arthur nodded, and Davit chuckled lightly. “I’ll be sad to see them go. Whenever I get especially bored I mess with his group. Ah, good memories.” He theatrically reminisced before continuing with a joyous tone, “Tell me, what did that man do to incite your wrath?” Before he could respond, Kaia spoke up and said matter of factly,

“His Highness needs this human’s riches. And also because he wants to.” Well, what she said wasn’t wrong. Arthur nodded at her words, and Davit snickered again.

“Fair enough. Say, can I tag along with you for this? You can take any gold you find of course, ill just stick around for the fun. I swear I will help!” He looked to Arthur with an exaggerated pleading expression, holding his claws together in a ‘pleeease’ gesture. He thought about it. Having another dragon basically for free would pretty much make his victory concrete twice over. And Davit seemed harmless anyways. He rumbled out,

“Sure. What sort of magic do you know, the knowledge might be helpful. And can you lead me to Caesar?” Davit nodded, replying,

“Of course, I know his exact location. And I dabble mostly in illusion magic. Like this!” He changed himself back into the human from before, standing atop the long table with a grin. Envy tore up Arthur. That would be extremely useful to have. He decided to ask,

“What spell is that? I haven’t seen it before.” Davit replied,

“Oh, this? Its shape change. All metallic dragons can do it. It’s simple really.” A thought seemed to cross Davit’s mind and he grinned mischievously, looking up at Arthur and saying, “Would you like to know how to do it?”

Hesitantly nodding, Davit let out a short chuckle before turning back into his dragon form. “Ok, it’s pretty simple. You only have to say these words once before you can naturally do it without any verbal components. I can teach you the magic words, and your draconic magic should handle the rest.” He muttered, “Look at me, teaching a red dragon the trade secret…” He snickered to himself, and said, “Repeat after me…”

Davit spoke four magical words in quick succession. Arthur followed suit, repeating the words. Every syllable spoken was echoey, booming. At first, he felt his inner magic reject the words, but by the time he had spoken the last word the resistance crumbled. A little bit of magic inside himself was turning into something different, something new. He felt knowledge fill his mind much like when he learned his other spells, giving him information on how the spell worked and how he could access it at any time.

He glanced at a worried-looking Kaia. A toothy grin from Davit seemingly came unbidden as he watched Arthur. Davit said excitedly, “You know, you might be one of the only, if not the only, red dragon to learn that. Haha, go ahead and try it!” Davit turned into a human and beckoned him to follow suit.

Hmm, should he turn into himself from his past life? It seemed fitting. Alright, here goes nothing. He briefly searched through his new knowledge and willed his form into his past human self with commoner’s clothes. He felt himself shrink instantaneously, now on two legs on the table. He felt in control of a humanoid body. He looked down at his hands and found his body still scaly and his hands had claw-like fingernails. eyes continuing downward, he saw his entire body was still scaly and red. Davit was in front of him in seconds, observing him. He said, “Well, it worked! Did you purposefully become a half-dragon?” He could still feel a tail behind him, idly swishing. He experimentally tried to breathe fire and found he could still do so. He felt incredibly weaker, and his senses were less than a fourth of what they used to be. Arthur tried to switch to a human form but found he couldn’t. He realized his magic was rebelling against it. He tried to force himself, but it wouldn’t give. It seemed it simply would not turn into a human, and his instincts chose the best alternative.

Arthur observed his form more closely. He was in a loose-fitting shirt and baggy breeches. He found he had a good two feet height on Davit’s form, so he was probably eight feet tall. Mentally he didn’t feel any different, his knowledge of spells and his reflexes were still there in his brain. As he got used to his new body, Arthur experimentally talked, saying, “I am Arthur.” His voice was deep and gravelly. He continued, “This seems to have worked out perfectly, Davit. And yes, I meant to turn into this form.” He lied, slightly embarrassed he couldn’t control his magic. Davit nodded, saying, “Well, you get more interesting by the second, Arthur. I’m glad to have helped!”

Behind him, he heard Kaia say, “Sire, truly you look amazing in any form!” He shifted around, finding his large steps to be more pronounced than when he was human. He replied, slightly embarrassed,

“Please, Kaia. Tone down the compliments. And just call me Arthur. That would make me happier.” Kaia stood still for a moment before nodding silently and mumbling an apology. He sighed and looked back to Davit, who had a quirked eyebrow and puzzled expression. He smiled again when Arthur looked at him, and Davit said,

“Well, shall we pay a visit to Caesar, friend?” Arthur replied in his gravelly voice,

“Yes. Let’s pay him a visit. It will be his last.”