Sanin had been standing guard with the battle axe, ready to go on the offensive against the rapidly approaching minotaur. Glancing back, his eyes widened at the sight of John's latest change. John's eyes were wide as a burning sensation slowly moved through his body. The transforming orc stared as the hair evaporated on his arms; the skin underneath divided into tiny segments reddish in color -- scales. John wanted badly to itch his rapidly expanding body, but his new black claws, as long as his old fingers, made him realize that was a bad idea.
Sanin went pale as John grew and grew. His stomach and abdomen blew up like a balloon, and grew a covering of thick yellow skin, capable of stopping any arrow. The rest of his body was now completely covered in red scales, atop still growing muscles. His lengthening neck forced him to duck his head, which grew a snout containing sharp teeth and eyes that could see in the dark dungeon as if it was daytime. John felt what used to be his shoulder blades push out from his back and expand into wings, folded tightly against his body. Sanin was shaking at this point, his knees knocking together. He jumped backward as John's growing tail rubbed up against his feet. What was once a scary-looking orc was now an infinitely more terrifying dragon.
"J...John?" Sanin asked. John slowly turned his head to look at Sanin. The smell of fear wafted from the quivering dwarf, causing John's new dragon instincts to awaken. It was as if there was a neon sign reading "FOOD" pointing to Sanin. John opened his mouth, baring his rows of teeth. John's new leathery wings burst open from his back, making him appear even larger. Sanin quickly backed up, gripping his axe tighter.
A roar from directly behind him made Sanin wheel around. A badly bruised minotaur was charging towards him, ready to gore the dwarf on his horns. At the last second, Brian looked up and stopped in his tracks as the huge red dragon stared menacingly at him. John's super hearing heard Brian swallow hard. During his transformation, John felt the sensation of fire swimming around his body, as if it was in his blood. At this moment, this fire seemed to collect in John's chest, which he felt become very warm. He was ready to attack. Brian had the appropriate reaction to anyone staring down the barrel of a flamethrower - he turned tail and ran like hell. John fired an impressive jet of flames after him. Sanin dove out of the way as the fire caught the tip of Brian's rear fur. He yelped as his butt caught fire, slapping at it and only making the situation worse. For the second time during John's ordeal inside the labyrinth, Brian ran far away from John.
John was able to take control of the dragon instincts. "Come on," he yelled at Sanin with a deep, rough voice. "There'ssssssss not much time!" he hissed.
"For shit's sake!" Sanin yelled. "You tryin' to roast me along wit' that beef? And where the hell are we goin' anyway? We'll just wind up back--"
John cut him off with a loud roar, sat back on his rear legs, and blasted the wall with a targeted blast of flame from his mouth, blackening it. John then pounced at the wall, slamming into it with his huge body. Result: John went through the wall like it was made of graham crackers. Sanin gaped at the scene he just witnessed. John's long head and neck poked back through the hole in the wall to look at the gobsmacked Sanin. "You were sssssssaying?"
Sanin meekly followed the crawling dragon through the new "doorway". John figured it was time to cheat at this maze. At least now he had room to stretch a little. John repeated the process with every wall he and Sanin came across. Some walls were tougher to plow through than others, but John discovered his long black claws were like diamonds: they could practically scratch through walls without themselves scratching. They might have actually been diamonds. After blasting through the dozenth wall, John and Sanin came across nothing but dirt on the other side. "Now what?" Sanin asked.
John sat down on his rear legs once again. "I need a minute, that fire issssss taking a lot out of me," he said with his gravelly voice. He felt his heart pounding strongly inside his thick chest. John loved the power that came with his new dragon form. He felt as if he could do anything as an orc, but being a dragon really blew the ceiling off his potential. "I could get usssssssed to this," he thought. John blinked. "Wait, I even hisssssssss when I think?" he thought, cocking his head.
After resting for a few minutes, John told Sanin to wait where he was, and to yell if Brian was approaching. John began scratching at the exposed dirt with his diamond claws to make an escape tunnel. Within almost no time, John had the start of a tunnel that he could fit through. Big rocks in the way were no match for John's diamond claws. In fact, the only problem was the dirt getting in John's eyes, and even then, John found he had a second set of transparent eyelids that he could close to protect his eyes. John kept digging. His instincts for wanting to spread his wings and take flight told him he was on the right tracking, and to keep digging upwards.
Soon, John scraped a solid surface with his claws that he couldn't scrape through. He blasted it at close range with his fire and jabbed at it a few more times, but couldn't break through. He roared in frustration, backed down his tunnel a few paces, then leapt at it. With a shower of rock and debris, John the dragon burst through into another room surrounded by rock. Sunlight! Freedom! John's instincts screamed at him. He was ready to start breaking down more walls to get out to freedom, when he heard the faintest sound: a whimper. He wheeled around and saw only a blurry human-like shape. He removed the protective membranes from his eyes, and what he saw made them grow wide. It was what appeared to be a female elf, covered (barely) in rags, terrified of the dragon that had just burst through her floor. John looked closer at the surroundings. Iron bars...this elf was in a prison cell. The labyrinth was built above a prison? Then...
"John!" Sanin's voice cried out from down in the hole. "The cow's comin' back! Help me!"
John held his gaze on the beautiful elf for a second. Then he yelled "I'm coming!" and slid on his belly down the tunnel he made. At the bottom, he spun himself around and dug his claws into the dirt. "Grab on to my tail! And hold on tight!"
Sanin did so, holding the battle axe, just as a loud roar came from close proximity. "Go go go!" Sanin yelled. John crawled back up his tunnel, towing the dwarf behind him. When they both emerged, John faced the wall that had a barred window, charged himself up, and got ready to attack the wall. He was about to strike when he heard Sanin gasp after noticing the occupant of the cell. "Oh my God! Princess Jenny! You're...alive!"
John stopped dead and looked backwards at the elf. "Princcccccccesssssssss?" he whispered.