"Great. Then you'll like this," the old wizard said, handing him a necklace.
The necklace was beautiful, no question about it. It was intricate, made of gold and with gems that really looked like rubies. The center showed a dragon with outstretched wings, its head portrayed in profile and with flames that he was belching. It was beautifully detailed and a work of great craftsmanship. The boy, Jared, forgot the door that had disappeared into thin air to stare at this amazing jewel.
"Ask the lady with you to put it on," said the man dressed as a wizard calmly. "If she resembles a dainty damsel wearing this amazing necklace, she can have it for free."
Amazing! That must be a deal!
"Hey! Shelly! Look! Don't you want to try it on?" he asked her.
"No! I want to get out!" she said, her voice getting anguished.
"Do not fret, young lady," said the wizard. "I am certain you shall look ravishing with this around your magnificent swan's neck."
He deftly took the necklace from Jared's hands and clipped it behind Shelly's neck.
"Oh!" exclaimed Jared. "You really look beautiful with this, Shelly! You'd be even more elegant with a medieval dress!"
"Oh, I agree," said the old man pleasantly. "Yet I do maintain that a set of scales covering your body would suit you best, young damsel."
"I... Just let me out, you freak! Let us out now!" she snapped.
Shelly wasted no time in attempting to remove the necklace but it wast too late. It had found its newest victim. It targeted women and the old man knew it. Of course he was a real wizard. Dressing up as that in human world, in plain sight of mortals, was just an added layer of fun he particularly liked. Others claimed such clothes while walking amongst mortals just required courage and a sense of the ridiculous that not all wizards and sorcerers were brave enough to bear and stuck with human clothes for more discretion. To each their own. Shelly was getting frantic and Jared stepped forward to help her but stopped, mesmerized by the sight in front of him. Shelly's clothes turned to threads and ashes. However, she did not remain naked for long. Before long, purple scales spread across her skin, light and dark. Horns and spines erupted from her skull and backbone. Claws replaced her fingernails and a long tail as well as wings made their coming and twitched as they felt their new existence. Yet Shelly also... shrank. Once her dragon form was complete, she started to shrunk, her features becoming immature and quite underdeveloped. Soon she was not higher than a feet and a half and she slid out of the necklace but twisting her head. It was too large for her now, that much was certain. Interestingly, though, she kept a replica of the necklace into her scales, their colors where it used to be different but that made a gorgeous impression. It endowed some of her scales with a ruby and golden sheen which matched the rest of her purple ones and the dragon impression suited her immensely. Jared could not help but stare at the superb creature in front of him that had been his girlfriend. She was utterly dazzling. Gorgeous. Mesmerizing. Enthralling. Enchanting. Simply put, there were no words for it. So much so that he forgot the presence of the wizard next to him. This was unwise. The wizard seized the young man by the throat from behind and forced his jaws open to slip in a potion. Jared coughed but the effect of surprise had him swallowing it. Instantly, he crouched to the ground and he felt himself shrink. Pressed on all sides, his bones snapped into new positions, his skin hardened as scales appeared, and three new limbs, a tail and two wings, grew out of the bone and organic tissue already in existence. Jared barely registered it, as his brain wars already dealing with the alterations upon what already existed like his mouth and nose changing into a snout and his teeth lengthened and sharpened. Drastic changes that meant his brain could not keep track of everything happening. Moreover, a hard encasing, from which he could not escape, started to cover him and once inside, fluid filled it, warm and thick, almost flesh-like. Once inside, the pain subsided as quickly as it had arrived and in that dark space, Jared relaxed. He was secure and warm. A perfect place to drift into a deep, deep slumber, because he felt exhausted beyond measure. What more could he ask for?
The wizard smiled. Oh, these two subjects had ended up as perfect specimens! The boy's scales had turned out like that of a peacock's feathers, even though that was impossible to see now that he was inside his large white egg with light green and blue markings on it. As for the young damsel, she was a very juvenile female dragon and her transformation had left her extremely tired and dumbfounded. That would be expected. The wizard placed the egg and the dragon in a cage with plenty of hay and a nest of soft down, silk and velvet that had no difficulty in prompting the dragonling to sleep. He set a bowl of water in the cage. Food could wait. He would now make the door reappear. He would contact the magical realm this evening, after closure. Certainly a dragon couple would be interested in adopting one or both of these cuties. Doubtlessly that mortal boy would have been thrilled at the idea. As for the maiden, well... The wizard told himself while making himself coffee that her new life would be a million time more interesting and pleasant than that of a human. Besides, he had made her into a beauty, the sort of elegance and incredible looks that she had not possessed as a human. She was sure to attract more attention and admiration as a dragon. Yes, he had done more than one good deed today, the wizard told himself with no small amount of pride.