“There is a solution to these problems,” Friya said. “Do you remember me mentioning the Jotunn, the Frost Giants? The King of the Jotunn, Engroth, has a magic item, the Cloak of Changing. This cloak, an ancient wolf skin imbued with powerful magic, allows the wearer to shift forms and become a wolf.”
“I don’t see how this wolf skin would help us.”
“It is one item of two that we need to overcome the problem. The other is a dragon heart. The Cloak of Changing, used on its own, allows the wearer to shift into the form of a wolf, but that isn’t the only thing the cloak can do. If combined with another creature’s heart, it will allow the wearer to change into that creature.”
“So, we have to find an embalmed dragon heart. I’m curious, but where would I find that? Dragons have been dead and gone for centuries.”
“Rumor has it that in the deepest vaults of Luminescent Spires, one of the most heavily-guarded items of value is exactly that.”
“An embalmed…”
Friya nodded excitedly. “A very real, very rare, and very well-guarded dragon heart.”
“So,” I said, “assuming we’re able to steal or otherwise get this Cloak of Changing from the King of the Jotunn, then march into one of the most heavily guarded and secure vaults in all of Prand, and finally get our hands on this dragon heart… After that, we need someone who’s both powerful enough and willing to be a dragon. They’re not playing a game, dressing up; once I resurrect the dragon into their body while they’re wearing the cloak, they’ll change forever who they are.”
“It’s true, you need someone who’s courageous enough, powerful enough, willing to sacrifice their current identity for the greater good… but they will also be accepting to become something potentially far greater than what they have been their entire lives. I will do this. I will become the dragon.” Friya’s gorgeous, ice-blue eyes burned with a powerful sincerity as bright as the fires of our torches.
“You know that you’d never be able to go back to being a woman once I change you, right?” I asked. “You understand the full implications of doing this?”
She nodded. “And I also know that it is my destiny. I grow tired of this human form anyway. I could almost say my human form has known its best moments. Less than a day ago, actually.” Friya’s dreamy eyes rested on my crotch for a moment before they looked up at me again with both new hunger and melancholy. “I’ve always dreamed of flying, lightning, storms—all things in the hands of storm drakes. They control the sky in every sense you can imagine. They wield the power of lightning, as the creators and originators of it, in their hearts. I do not just want to become Fated, Vance. I want to become more. I want to become something altogether different.”
Friya had ambition, that was for sure. The thought of losing this already divine body made me hurt all over. She was hot as anything and a spectacular lay, but I realized the enormity of the sacrifice she was willing to make, and I respected that. More than that, if it helped defeat the Blood God and the Demogorgon, then it was a sacrifice worth making. Maybe I could find some way for her to shift into a dragon form without it being permanent?
Still, I was getting ahead of myself.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to get any of the items needed to do this,” I said. “Dragon bones, dragon heart, the other gauntlet.”
“Well, when Kemji and Uger each wore one gauntlet, they were each able to control a dragon enough that it would not kill them on the spot and would allow them to ride it but not much beyond that. What the gauntlet allowed the men to do was to communicate with the dragon, even reason with it. Essentially, they were able to convince the dragons to fight alongside them against the threat of the Blood God.”
“Come to think of it, would I need the gauntlet at all if you would be the dragon? Wouldn’t you retain your spirit and will, like the surviving Rami inside her current merged form of Rami-Xayon?”
“Not necessarily. The spirit of a storm drake is an immensely powerful spirit. It might completely overwhelm mine when we merge. There’s no telling what will happen. If the will of the dragon dominates, then you will certainly need at least this gauntlet to ride the dragon. Because my spirit will be merged with the dragon’s, even if my part of the resurrected spirit is weak, the dragon would at least not want to kill you, as it would with any other mortal.”
“And with both gauntlets?”
“You would have complete control over it, like you have control over Fang, no matter how powerful the resurrected dragon’s spirit ends up being.”
“That’ll decide it. If I get this weapon, we will surely defeat the Blood God. Might Rami know anything about the other gauntlet? She’s one of Kemji’s descendants, right?”
“She doesn’t have any direct knowledge of this. But my dreams have shown me that the missing gauntlet is somewhere in Yeng.”
“Hmm. Another mission, another delay. As much as I’d like to see you as a dragon, the quest for the cloak, the other gauntlet, and the embalmed dragon heart will be long and prone to failure. If I can kill my uncle and his followers before they sacrifice Lucielle and completely destroy the Temple of Blood, the threat of the Blood God will have been quashed.”
“Sadly, the Blood God doesn’t depend on
