“What happens now?” you ask the dragon.
You’re fearful of what his answer might be, but slightly calmed by his gentle demeanor. If nothing else, it didn’t sound like you were going to be directly harmed. Still, it didn’t sound like you were about to receive a prize either.
“The path you chose was one of greed. That is the path of the dragon: always wanting more and never having enough. I was once like you, concerned only with amassing treasure. But after so many years trapped in my brother’s prison, I have lost all desire for earthly delights. I have no interest in material wealth anymore, and so it seems my brother has finally found a replacement for me.”
“A replacement?”
“Indeed, the changes are starting already.” You look down at your hand and notice black scales beginning to form. “You will take my place as a dragon, trapped in this world, and I will be able to return to yours.”
As your own changes were beginning, you see that the dragon is changing as well. Every scale that falls off of him, grows on you. Every inch he shrinks, you expand. Every minute he becomes more humanoid, you become more animalistic. You find yourself unable to move during this process, unable to speak or look away from the changes being traded between the two of you. You feel yourself growing bigger, more powerful, more muscular, more magical. New wings unfurl at your back as they retract on the dragon, who is quickly transforming into a copy of your old self while you become like him.
Your body surges with power and yet you are helpless to do anything about these changes, though at the same time you’re not sure if you want to. Despite the oddity of what is happening, despite the fact that this dragon is taking your form, you can’t deny how amazing you feel. Everything about this body feels right, as though you are being given everything you always wanted. You feel fulfilled. You feel a greed for a more impressive body fading away. Why did this dragon—now clone of you—want to give up such power? You feel like you would gladly trade places with him, so why did he seem so eager to give it up? As your clothes fade away and reappear on him, you found the strength to push past the curse’s paralysis and ask him as much.
“Why don’t you want this?”
“Oh, envious youth,” he smiles wryly. “I have lived in that form for a millennium, I have attained all that I possibly could and always wanted more. You feel now a power unknown to you, but eventually it will become mundane. You will seek out treasures and find them boring after mere decades, with centuries left of life to fill. This form you now hold is immortal: both a miraculous gift and a terrible curse.”
“You seek a mortal life then?” you ask, finding yourself talking more like the former dragon.
“I do. And I’m sorry for taking yours,” he says, sounding more like you. “But that’s how my brother set it up. At least you know your family and friends won’t be missing you.”
As the transformation completes, you find yourself a massive and powerful black dragon staring down at the human you used to be. He looks up at you with your own eyes and ruffles your own hair nervously.
“Well, uh, I guess I’ll be going then.”