I awoke with the strangest sensation. As my eyes opened, slowly… threatening to close again at any moment, it felt like I was in a dream whether my eyes were shut or not. The events of yesterday felt like a dream, for sure. A whirlwind of emotions had stirred up inside of me as the goal I’d been stifling within myself all my life had not only made itself clear, but slapped me in the face with its presence. The desire, the longing for a body I felt comfortable in… vindicated in an instant.

 

Impossible, I thought. It couldn’t have. 

 

Plenty of mornings in the past I’d woken up from dreams where I had all the riches and comfort in the world, only to be laden with sadness upon waking up and realizing it was all my imagination. When presented with that situation, there’s only one option to get the day started. Open your eyes, take the disappointment in stride, and move on.

 

I forced my eyes open and held my breath, expecting to have woken up in my quarters back at the castle. And yet, the ceiling I stared up at was not the ceiling I remember. It was rocky, like a cave… like the cave I remember hiding with the princess yesterday. My eyes widened.

 

“Good morning!” Princess Renee’s voice boomed. I turned my head, mouth agape, as the cave’s echoing of her voice rang through my ears. The tall, maroon dragon with piercingly red eyes staring down at me, a torn dress still hanging on for dear life around her neck and chest, her spiky tail gently thumping against the ground, wings absentmindedly flapping and creating a slight breeze that caused the mane running the entire length of her back to flutter… the princess really had turned into a dragon. And, if she really did turn into a dragon, then that means that what happened yesterday…

 

“...was true?” I whispered out loud. Taken aback again at the sound of my voice, I covered my mouth. It wasn’t totally different from how it used to sound, but there was no mistaking that a woman’s voice escaped my lips.

 

“What?” the princess had asked, her head tilting like a dog’s. “What is true?”

 

“I’m a… a woman? I’m still a woman?” I stammered out as I quickly rolled out of bed and onto my feet. “Where’s that mirror?!”

 

A few thunderous steps was all it took for the princess to reach the mirror resting against the cave wall. I wondered if she was going to bring the roof down on us as I held my hands out for her to place it in.

 

There was no mistaking that the form that reflected back in the mirror was the feminine look I recall from yesterday. Gorgeous white, wavy hair flowing down my face and chest, with some of my bangs conveniently falling over my eyepatch. My scars were still present, yet my chin was devoid of stubble or hairs, and my facial features had softened a lot. 

 

I reached one hand up to the top of my head as I looked at my reflection. Where my antlers once were, now was totally empty. Nothing. Something that was regarded as a symbol of masculinity, toughness, experience, weathered away by the witch’s spell.

 

“That witch… she really didn’t curse me?” I mumbled aloud. “I’d always seen witches as harbingers of doom and misfortune. At best they seemed like evil pranksters. Yet…”

 

“It seems they’re not all bad,” the princess added, having watched me this whole time, eyes wide with excitement. “Doing a favor for you, at no price but a seemingly uncomfortable sneeze? How admirable!” 

 

I tried to regain my composure and look at least somewhat dignified, although I couldn’t resist twirling a piece of my hair between my fingers. My face felt hot with excitement and fluster. 

 

“Princess-” I started.

 

“Call me Renee, please. I trust we’ve gotten far more intimate thus far to drop the formalities,” she stated with a flourish of her hand, before bringing it up to her chin. “I may not be in line for the throne any longer either…”

 

“Ah, sorry,” I muttered, feeling my face become even more flush with embarrassment. It is a bit unnecessary to be so formal here… “well, uh, Renee, did you, uh… feel it, too?”

 

“Feel what?” she asked.

 

“When I f-first…” I cleared my throat and took a second to regain my composure. “When I first saw my reflection yesterday, you’d think I’d see a whole different person. Yet, instead I felt I finally saw who I really was. I was filled with such a strangely happy sensation, something was so indescribably correct about the new body I had, er… have. Confusion and excitement, bliss and bewilderment, all bubbled up at the same time.”

 

Renee looked at me with a soft smile, and stomped over to rest her hand on my shoulder. I had to process the fact that just her palm was about the size of my face, each finger ending with an extremely sharp, black claw.

 

“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” she sat herself down, and curled her neck over me, closing her eyes serenely. “The feeling of restlessness, and longing, and incorrectness all your life… being gone in a flash. It may not be the same for you, but… I’ve experienced that feeling. From a young age, I just did not feel like my body matched me. I would usually resonate far more with the supposedly villainous dragons in the stories my mom would read to me. Her hatred of dragons always felt so… personal.”

 

I could see her smile slowly shrink as she recalled her mother. The queen of the entire country, who’d spent her entire reign trying to exterminate dragons and gain control over the neighboring lands where they’d fled to. No wonder it’d be so difficult for her. The cave fell silent, and we sat there contemplating what we’d been talking about. 

 

With our new forms being so fulfilling, there wouldn’t really be any reason to return to the lives we had before, I thought. “It’s kind of like we were both just born again,” I whispered, softly swiping away the silence, “We don’t have to return to anywhere.”

 

Even though it was a leap from her previous statement, Renee turned to me with a shining, hopeful look in her eyes that revealed that’s what she was waiting to hear. No doubt she’d been thinking we were going to work our way back to the castle sooner or later.

 

“Really?” she asked, as her tail gently thumped against the side of the bed. 

 

“I believe so!” I shouted, with an air of confidence. Yet that confidence was false - my mind continued to be plagued by the fears of being recognized, being turned in as a traitor, backstabbed or tricked all for a bounty… but what could we do about it? Just ignore our happiness? Somehow return to a life that felt like pieces were always missing? Who would benefit? Can we even go back? Should we?

 

No.

 

“I-in fact, I’m confident it’s the only right decision here!” I blurted out. Taking a deep breath, I stood up, yet firmly grabbed Renee’s hand and looked her in the eyes. “Defying the cards we were dealt all our lives is the sole path forward - the only path to happiness and freedom! To toss the cards aside and go find another game to play, one that makes us happy, one that we like better! Something that’s entirely ours!!”

 

My breathing was deep. Renee seemed shocked at my sudden outburst, but her shock quickly turned into a toothy grin.

 

“S-so… eloquent!” She remarked, before immediately pulling me close for a hug, eyes watering with tears. “You are correct! That is the only way!”

 

It was contagious, I couldn’t help it. Tears fell down my face as I embraced her, locked against her for what felt like hours. When we finally pulled away from each other, she sniffled, then giggled softly. Her smile lessened slightly as she looked towards the cave’s entrance.

 

“You may want to find a disguise, though,” she said.

 

“Right, yeah. I’m sure this battered royal armor is a dead giveaway, even with my changed features. The armor plus my scars would no doubt draw attention in that town nearby,” I mused. “I could go shopping… I still have my paycheck.”

 

I reached for the coin pouch I had tossed aside yesterday, and jingled it. It definitely sounded like enough money to at least buy one set of clothes. But my attention was brought to another issue Renee seemed to have glossed over, as she shook the walls once more with her small hop off the rocky shelf of the cave I’d slept on. 

 

“Hey, you can’t really be disguised, though…” I said, weakly, “You sure you’d be okay with that?”

 

“We will just have to figure something out! It may be safer for you to be seen alone, though,” she responded, hesitating slightly at the last part, “I do not want to put myself at risk right now, just as much as I do not want you to be at risk either. If we can travel further from the castle, we may find areas that are not hostile to dragons.”

 

She put on a reassuring smile, although I could tell there was a hint of discontent. Still, she was right. Not much could be done to make her form very disguisable right now…

 

“The sooner the better!” I shouted. “I will find a way for you to enjoy life to the fullest, the soonest!”

 

I meant it, and I think she could tell.

 

Both of us have had the paths of our lives suddenly changed for the better, an opportunity many don’t get… it’ll surely be a bumpy road to travel, but as I tossed aside my armor and walked out the entrance to the cave, I finally felt confident that things would be alright.