I remembered, from a short-lived Dungeons and Dragons game that my friend Mike had run, a creature from Chinese myth called a Kirin. A beast like a unicorn or horse crossed with a scaled dragon. As I looked up at the intimidating lightning-shrouded form of the teenage dragon I knew that I would not stand for being treated like prey.
My stomach was swimming already from the anxiety and near panic, but I had the ring, and a mind to use it. No one had seen me use the ring. No one had seemed to care so I said my wish then and there. "I wish," I said, looking her dead in the eye, "I was an anthropomorphic Kirin, greatest of all dragons, fearful of none." I shivered as I felt the change once more.
A thrilling heat ran through me, lightning jumping from the dragoness in front of me to my mane, turning it to shining copper as it passed. My skin split, painfully, and I shuddered as the coppery scales beneath pushed free. I was growing as well, matching my description as "greatest of all dragons", taller and taller till I stood over the eight-foot teen dragon before me by at least a foot and a half. She extended her hand, her offer still in place, although now she seemed less certain, more struck by my form and power. The changes continued as I spoke, a basso growl of a voice filtered through sharp teeth, my tail flicking past my hooves, trailing sparks.
"Food sounds killer." She smiled up at me, eyes flicking to the horn that protruded from my head, arcing back for another solid foot. I took her hand and said, "Lead the way." As she did, every tread drew sparks from the ground, and I stumbled once, finding my foot seem to catch on empty air for a moment. Paying it no heed aI followed the dragoness' swaying cobalt tail, pausing only to examine my form in the reflective glass of a store we passed on the walk further out into the suburbs. I was a magnificent creature of copper scales and a mane that rippled like silk but looked like a nest of live wires. My coat had tinted from red to a dark brown and my equine shaft had grown strange, causing me to glance down at it for a moment.
I had the pendulous balls and flare of a stallion, but the shaft itself with a slick pink, and strangely ridged, with sharp edges like I supposed, a dragon. My companion paused as we reached our destination, "Simon's Free Range Stockyard", and smiled at me. "I'm Amelia, by the way. Amelia Venoxix Jones." I grinned, "It's a pleasure, Amelia. I'm James Smith." She smiled, "So, do you prefer pork, lamb or beef?" I glanced at the stockyard and realized what she was asking, feeling my stomach rumble.
Now I'd never been a vegetarian, but the thought of what she might mean still made me feel a little strange. This time though, unlike the panic she'd put in me, it was a good strange. It was a powerful thought and I smiled. "I haven't eaten since breakfast. How about beef?" Amelia smiled and took my hand again, tugging me in through the oversized doors like the gleeful teenager she was, out on a date with a handsome match.
The owner of the place, a human who must have been Simon, smiled as Amelia came in and greeted her by name. They spoke briefly and I examined the front area. It must not get too much business I thought, with only one family here to support them, but it seemed to be doing well. How much was this man paid to essentially store their pantry?
I was interrupted by Amelia gesturing to a large swinging door nearby that she pulled me through. The other side was a large courtyard with heavy flagstone pavers that were stained in places with soot or fluids. A moment later a gateway opened nearby and a panicked young steer bolted into the courtyard. Amelia immediately set to chasing it.
I watched for a moment as she toyed with the creature, letting it run out of reach several times, though she could easily have clawed or electrocuted it. I would have thought to feel bad for the thing, but instead, I felt instead a need and desire to hunt it myself. I set my new body, powerful and swift, into motion, chasing the steer with Amelia. We played with it, letting it escape one of us only to reach the other and wheel about, the cow's eyes rolling. We were laughing, loud and booming laughs that filled the courtyard until the young animal began to flag and stagger and Amelia looked to me. Her eyes asked a question she had no need to give voice to and I stepped in then, quick as lightning, and a claw speared the poor thing through the skull, dropping it dead to the ground.
Our meal was red, raw, hot, and bloody. Steaming entrails and haunches of meat torn by animalistic claws and powerful jaws. My hair and her scales grew coated as together what must have been a thousand pounds of meat disappeared into our bellies. I could see her taut stomach swelling slightly as she ate, feel my own do the same. Some aspect of our rapacious biology, I thought, driving us to eat such great quantities. No wonder the stockyard owner did well. As we finished our meal Amelia smiled at me, looking me up and down hungrily. I wondered if she'd ever had a proper opportunity to find someone like herself in her recently re-written memories. I had made no provisions for other non-humans after all. It was only her family, one police officer, and my aunt in this world.
She smiled at me then, meeting my eyes. "Hey, James. This was really fun. We should hang out again, yeah?" I nodded, smiling. I was still a teenager and had temptations that stirred me, but I held them in check as she walked over to a nearby wall and began to shower off the blood and viscera. I made up my mind then that I would...