Chapter Text
It had been three years since Tifalia and Vilio's reunion show. Time passed surprisingly slowly, given how fearful Tifalia had been of her long life. But peacefully, it had indeed passed. The couple enjoyed going from place to place, making others and themselves happy in their ever-changing world. They currently resided in Calida, the Scholar City. The visit was initially planned for a few days, enough time to help Tifalia's parents with their newest research venture.
But why did they think anything as normal as that would have lasted?
Outside the city limits, in the meadows and plains around Calida.
"Could you help me get a little higher, dear?" Meria called up to Tifalia.
"Gotcha, Mom!"
Tifalia reached out her hand, and the magic circle for the earth element materialized. It glowed orange along the rock wall of the ravine. Thick roots grew out of the dirt and wove together, providing stable platforms for her parents to continue collecting the gems of this newly opened gorge. The ravine wasn't huge, only about ten feet across at its widest. But it went a good mile down into the earth.
Tifalia smiled at her magic. Weaving these roots was now as easy as braiding her hair in the morning. She had truly grown skilled in her dragon magic. Raijel gave a thumbs-up to his daughter as he packed away more stones that his wife handed him. Tifalia watched them from the top of the ravine, magically holding the vines attached to her parents in case they were to fall.
The wind began to blow, and Tifalia looked up from the ravine's edge to the deep blue skies. She could smell water and electricity in the wind, even though the world was a perfect summer morning. There was not even a cloud on the horizon.
"Something wrong?" Raijel called up.
"I smell a big storm coming… but not for a while." Tifalia looked back down as she readjusted her headband in the wind. "Vilio should be back before then. Once we pull you guys out, he'll fly us to the tower, and we can hunker down."
Tifalia's parents glanced at each other with wide eyes. They then smiled, and Meria called up. "Wow, your senses really have expanded! If a storm is coming, it has to be miles off!"
Tifalia nodded to them, then nervously sniffed the air to make sure she wasn't mistaken. Yep, the rich smell of wet soil and shocking afternotes of ozone. "It's going to be a downpour."
"We'd better hurry then. One more bag should be enough for a sample size," Maria said as Raijel gently threw their bags filled with dusty multi-colored gems over his shoulder. More roots grew a pathway to the next cache of uncovered gems.
As Tifalia watched them, she couldn't help but think about her changing senses, well, her changing body in general. Vilio and the Dragon Island Chief had warned her that her body and mind would undergo many changes as a Dragon's Bride. After five years, Tifalia thought she'd get used to it, but every once in a while, a new change blindsided her. These would have continually distressed her if she had been the same girl she was at sixteen. Earth magic and super senses were not part of the everyday life she had once clung to. But now she could smile and laugh at each new challenge, each adding color to her perfectly unordinary life married to the Archdragon.
"Thank you again for helping us, dear," Raijel said as he and his wife carefully picked away at the wall. "Because of you and Vilio, we jumped on these newly opened ravines before the other researchers."
"And the merchants." Meria dryly added.
"And the merchants. These are rare, spirit-grown gems. Merchants would have wasted them on some jewelry set."
"Hey now, Dad. I saw you pocket that stone in the beginning. Wasn't it Mom's favorite color?" Tifalia said with a sneaky smile.
Tifalia hid her laugh as Meria turned around and began play-lecturing her husband about correctly using Sage Tower resources, all while not so subtly asking about how big and shiny her future gift was.
Laughing along with Tifalia were the earth spirits she had gotten permission from to harvest these stones.
"You guys did so well growing the gems," Tifalia told the little spirits. "What made you uncover them?"
"When two fey beasts-"One dust ball of a spirit began to explain.
"Taurus to be exact." Another earth spirit cut in. Itself twisted in self-confident vine knots, so proud of its knowledge.
"-got into an argument, they made these ravines with their clashes. We saw humans looking down and heard a few talking about how this is where someone would bury treasure!"
"So we got together and thought, 'we do have treasure buried down there! And we want people to see all our hard work. So why not make them shine just enough to attract attention?" Another spirit said as it floated around Tifalia like a dandelion puff on the wind.
"You are much too kind." Tifalia smiled as she let the floating puff rest on an outstretched finger.
"But we'd never imagine a dragon would come asking for our little stones! We should be the ones thanking you. Now our work really is like the treasure hoards of fairy tales!"
"Oh, that's sweet, but I'm not a full dra-"
A roar in the distance made Tifalia jump to her feet. Her parents couldn't hear it, but Tifalia could make out the angry snorts of fey beasts. Their mana then smacked her senses. They were earthen in nature, and by what the spirits had said, she could guess they were the two Tauruses.
Taurus were bull-like earth fey that thundered like stampeding coal and snorted smoke. She then felt as their mana collided, most likely coinciding with the two bulls actually colliding. In Tifalia's senses, it felt like rock scraping against rock. She winced as she held her head. The little spirits began to panic, begging her to move. Tifalia then felt the beginnings of a tremor deep within the earth.
Tifalia fearfully glanced down at her parents, still none the wiser.
"Mom, Dad!" Tifalia screamed. "Get out of there!"
Tifalia didn't wait for her parents' reaction as she shoved her hands into the ground, another magic circle appearing before her. Her parents barely had enough time to grab their bags before Tifalia's vines began pulling them up. Tifalia had to be careful, pulling too fast or with too much power would hurt them, but even her fastest felt like a snail's pace as she felt the coming tremor.
The spirits screamed and held on to her, trying to strengthen her as the tremor rolled under them. Thanks to the spirits, Tifalia didn't fall head-over-heels into the ravine, but it made Tifalia gasp and lose concentration. The vines stopped pulling, and she had to desperately grab onto her magic to keep them from letting go of her parents entirely. Then another head-splitting collision of the Tauruses made Tifalia and the spirits shiver. Even her parents could feel how the ground shook.
"No…" Tifalia whispered as she witnessed the ravine collapsing in on itself, charging its way towards her suspended parents.
Milliseconds passed as Tifalia came to multiple conclusions at once. She wasn't skilled enough to pull her parents up in time; even if she did, the ravine would fall away before they could get to safety. She was going to lose her parents.
Again.
Tifalia's head felt like it split open again, but it wasn't from another collision. The two Tauruses were the ones to stumble this time as they felt an explosion of mana. In fact, every magical being around, fey or spirit, felt it as Tifalia dove into the ravine.
A massive, clawed hand wrapped around Raijel, squeezing the air out of his lungs. Meria could only stare down at her husband in wide-eyed incomprehension as she dangled from the fanged jaw of a great bronze dragon. The dragon braced itself on each ravine wall, the limbs not used to catch Raijel digging deep into the earth. A building-sized earth magic circle was on each rock face. This blazing power caused the earth to freeze, suspended in the air, as the dragon willed the collapse to halt.
The dragon huffed. What sounded like annoyance to the two humans was actually pure relief from Tifalia. She didn't know how or why, but the earth didn't crush them. She now had to get out of this awkward position. With a groan, Tifalia heaved herself upwards. She threw her free limbs out to catch herself on the rock wall. And slowly, with more magic than most humans would see in their entire lifetime, Tifalia inched herself out of the ravine, parents in tow.
Once Tifalia reached the earthen lip, she lugged her new mass onto solid ground. She put her parents down, letting them catch their breath as the ravine quietly closed behind them. Tifalia glared in the direction from which the two Tauruses were fighting. What she had meant to say was something along the lines of 'Stop fighting! You're hurting others with your earthquakes.' What came out was,
"STOP!!!" A dragon's roar to equal and surpass even the collapsing of the earth.
The two Tauruses couldn't fully distinguish the dragon, just a metallic shimmer in the distance. But they felt her well enough. They took one direction each and bolted, never stopping to look back at their once sworn enemy.
Once they were gone, Tifalia sighed and sat back on the grass. But the sensation felt… off. She felt each blade of grass, even the plants she wasn't touching directly. If she focused, she could even feel the little tick tick tick of insect legs as they crawled along. Tifalia swallowed hard and forced herself to look down. She…she was much taller than she had last remembered.
"Dear?" Maria asked, her voice low as she tentatively approached Tifalia. Her left hand was outstretched as if she were about to catch the massive monster in front of her. "It's fine, dear. Everything's fine."
Tifalia felt the building panic and tried to tamp it down. Then her flicking tail came into view, followed by wings curling in at her sides.
The Tauruses ran even harder as an inhuman screech shook the land behind them.
…
Vilio was in town for the day. His excuse was that he had errands to run before dinner tonight, but really, it was to give Tifalia time with her parents. So Vilio decided to use his morning to listen in on some lectures in the Sage Tower. He wandered into this particular auditorium because its lecture had the longest title. Vilio knew nothing about "the algorithm of ley lines and how they relate to crop production." But boy, did he like seeing the researchers' passion for the topic.
Vilio had gotten many strange looks when he waltzed into the auditorium. He supposed the older researchers weren't used to seeing a young man like himself willingly stopping in. (Or maybe it was the sword he always had at his side. But he kept it sheathed and peace-tied when in buildings!) But as Vilio was the only one to ask excited questions about the dry presentation, he won the group over. Soon, he had the originally sleepy room of researchers foaming at the mouth over a tenth of an inch difference in stem growth. And that was what Vilio loved about being able to travel the world. He continued learning new things, things he would have never given a second thought to if he had stuck to his original mission.
One of the researchers to Vilio's left released a small gasp and desperately reached into his bag.
"Are you ok?" Vilio asked, seeing that the man jumped like he had been shocked.
"My mystic tool. It's going off again!" The researcher said as he pulled out a box with a little needle that wiggled back and forth. "That must mean the two Tauruses are at it again."
Another researcher turned to him and looked at the data. "Again? One hasn't won the territory yet?"
"Looks like it. More ravines are going to form at this rate. But hey, I heard from higher-ups that someone found spirit-grown gems in the last ravine. So as long as they keep their dispute from the city limits, we might get more than just tectonic data from this!"
Vilio bit his bottom lip as he heard the researcher talk about the ravines around the city growing and collapsing. He glanced out the open window across the room, wondering about Tifalia. This being the Sage Tower, he couldn't see the street level. Even his heightened senses couldn't pick out anything particularly this high, but his creeping bad feeling kept his eye darting.
Vilio froze.
It was distant; he almost wouldn't have noticed it if he wasn't looking, but it was there—an explosion of earth power.
Vilio's CIRCUS training came in surprisingly handy as he ran towards the window. He vaulted, flipped, and slid over the assembly of desks.
"Sorry! 'Scuse me!" Vilio apologized as he jumped through the open window. He heard the chorus of yells behind him, but before he had fallen past the window, he turned into his true dragon form. He soared towards the ravine Tifalia had mentioned this morning.
After a few wing beats, Vilio saw the ravine's beginning. His heart raced even harder as he saw nothing more than a scar on the land where a deep canyon should have been. Vilio pushed himself to soar. He followed the rubble, searching desperately until he came upon a scene that nearly knocked him out of the sky.
Below was a brown dragon, a little smaller than him, but with the same body type. Like a drunk, the dragon was bumbling to and fro as two little figures ran around her. Those had to be Meria and Raijel. Were they being attacked? No, the humans seemed to be trying to calm the dragon. What was another dragon even doing out here?! Vilio was about to call down when he met the eyes of the new dragon. Bright amber, but so full of uncertainty. How many times had Vilio looked into those eyes before?
"Ti-Tifalia!?" Vilio gasped.
"Vilio!" the new dragon roared, pure relief replacing any fear her face held.
Vilio dove down so fast that he nearly collided with Tifalia. She tried to run over to him, but her new number of legs did not seem to agree. She fell face-first as Vilio nearly crushed her as he overshot his landing. They untangled themselves with many half-spoken apologies. However, when they finally looked face-to-face, they found themselves mute.
When Vilio looked over Tifalia, he saw so many similarities to his human wife that he was almost ashamed not to have noticed her sooner. Tifalia's brown scales had a pink tint to them, just like the undertones of her hair. And two prominent horns on her head swirled like gazelle horns, but Vilio could only think about the braids she did so faithfully before each show. Then her eyes were still as radiant as polished amber.
"Your-your…" Vilio whispered. He saw Tifalia cringe back from his uncertainty, and he quickly smiled and put every bit of excitement that he possessed into his voice. "Amazing! Just look at you! I thought you were beautiful as a human, and here you are putting every other dragon to shame!"
Tifalia nervously laughed as she clumsily wrapped around Vilio with her wings and tail, half in affection, half to keep herself upright. It was an awkward hug as dragon bodies weren't made for this kind of interaction. Vilio had to hold back a surprised squeak at the touch, but he reminded himself that Tifalia didn't know dragon customs. Humans needed this kind of touch when distressed, even he felt the need while in his human body. Tifalia just wanted support, and he was more than willing to give her all she needed. He held tightly to her, letting his natural warmth radiate.
Tifalia sighed and leaned into her husband. "It's… a surprise to say the least. I know your village chief warned me about physical changes." She looked down at her scaled chest and shook her head. "He said I wouldn't be able to transform, though!"
"Yeah, I didn't think so either," Vilio said in a low voice. He raised his head in thought, then rested it between Tifalia's horns. "S'pose it has something to do with me being the Archdragon? Regulas never took on a Dragon's Bride. Then again, maybe we don't have good records? Dragon's Brides were few and far between…"
"Either way, this is all a bit…" Tifalia petered off.
Vilio squeezed her as a laugh rumbled deep in his chest. "A bit much?" Vilio rubbed his head under Tifalia's chin in an affectionate nuzzle. He then looked up into her eyes. "What happened?"
…
After Tifalia quickly explained the ravine collapse, Vilio grumbled and let out a puff of smoke in the direction of the two Tauruses' clash. He then turned to her parents, who were awkwardly standing by.
"Are you two ok?" Vilio asked.
"We're fine," Meria said as she gave her husband a tight one-armed hug. "A few bumps and scratches, but not anywhere near what we would have had if Tifalia hadn't saved us."
"You're really something else." Raijel told his daughter, "We would have never done this if we had known the Tauruses were still fighting. We were told their seismic activity had ended days ago and… well…"
Raijel looked away, seeming overwhelmed by what had just happened to them. But Vilio's eyes narrowed as Raijel's body language stayed stiffly straight.
"But we really must focus on you, dear! A dragon! How are you feeling? What can we do for you?" Meria asked, still holding tight to her husband, never letting the two dragons see her right arm.
"Mom, Dad? You two are ok, right?" Tifalia murmured, unable to raise her voice.
The two humans tried to smile for her, but their smiles were as stiff as their stances.
"Mom, Dad! What did I do!?" Tifalia tried to run to them, but she didn't make it more than two steps. Tifalia's new bulk shook the ground as she tripped and nearly slid into her parents. Vilio, thinking fast, gripped her flailing tail in his jaws and yanked her back before she bowled over her parents. He uttered a quick sorry as he flipped into his human form and ran past her. Tifalia stayed sprawled on the ground as she watched Vilio force the two apart and look over them.
Red.
Red on Meria's arm and down Raijel's sides. Vilio looked to be worriedly reprimanding the two as they tried to play off their injuries. Tifalia couldn't make out their conversation as everything had gotten too loud in her head.
Had… Had Tifalia done that to them? Why could she feel and hear each ant below her? Why did her body react too fast yet not fast enough? Why do these new limbs send her constant sensory signals? Why, why, why-!
Now this was a feeling Tifalia knew well.
"I'm about to lose control!" Tifalia screamed as another great earth magic circle bloomed from under her.
Vilio reacted instinctively, grabbing the two humans and jumping into the air. He was a dragon flying away as an incredible explosion of plant life and rising earth burst from Tifalia.
"Tifalia!" Vilio shouted as Tifalia's parents echoed him.
A new jungle shot high into the air, nearly catching up with Vilio before it slowed with a deep groan. The trees and plants that grew too high for their natural support fell with deep, resounding crashes. What was left was a sudden patch of jungle growing in the middle of plains and foothills.
"I'm ok!" a little voice shouted from the verdant mass.
"Tifalia." Vilio sighed as she started descending.
"Dear, we're coming down. We'll figure this out togeth-" Raijel began.
"NO!" This roar made Vilio stop midair. "I'm not safe to be around!"
"Tifalia, dear, we want to help-" Meria tried.
"You can't help. You're hurt, and I'm either going to crush you or strangle you with magic or-. I'm too… I'm too-argh!" Another orange flare of light and another impulsive growth of plants. "Get them out of here, Vilio! I'll be fine!"
Vilio stayed hovering in the air, fighting his need to dive down to his mate. But he felt the pained way the humans were holding themselves between his claws. These two needed help. He gingerly moved the two to his back, having Meria hold Raijel with her good arm so neither fell. They yelled at him, telling him to go down, but Vilio turned towards the city.
"I'll be right back, Tifalia!" Vilio called.
"Oh no, you won't!" Tifalia roared through the thick foliage. "I'm literally a dragon now! Nothing's going to hurt me out here. You won't return until you have nothing but good news for me. Don't you leave them alone!"
It took every bit of Vilio's self-restraint, but he flew away. "I'll be back before the storm!"
…
Storm? Right… storm.
Tifalia found herself alone, tangled in her own plants. She looked up at the still shining sky, but she could feel with even greater contrast the coming pressure. She sighed and tried to pull her magic out of the plants as she had done many times before. But it refused. She gave a frustrated yelp and thrashed all her limbs, new and old. But she just found herself deeper into the lush plants.
Fan-tastic.
Tifalia closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe normally. Slowly, she took a true account of herself. She was a dragon now, which meant new limbs and stronger powers. Magic changes weren't new to her anymore. She could deal with this. She, was, fine. Tifalia had to repeat that many more times before she could say it truthfully. But once she did, she could open her eyes and not be overwhelmed.
"Are you ok, missus?" An earth spirit floated over Tifalia. A few others wafted their way down to her.
"Yes. I'm about to recend my magic in this area. Can you guys help me? You can have any of the blossoms or seeds I accidentally grew if you do."
"Oh, we would love to!"
"What do you need done?" Another spirit asked.
The little spirits got to work, chatting away as Tifalia kept her breathing steady. She had to make sure she didn't think too much about her parents or this new body or all the emotions she had calmed would swirl again. But she could think of Vilio, especially the excitement he had when he first saw her as a dragon. It almost made her blush as she struggled to stand on four legs.
Thanks to her, Vilio had been in many accidental jungle traps like this. Whenever her earth magic rampaged, he could have instantly used his fire to burn it away. He never did, even when it was highly inconvenient. He would gently move it aside or wait until she could pull it back. He treated her magic just as tenderly as he did her. That thought brought a trepidatious smile to Tifalia's face.
Once she was free, Tifalia looked over the jungle. What surprised her the most was the raised earth beneath everything. She had only ever controlled plants before, not the very ground beneath her. She remembered the collapsing ravine and realized just how much earth manipulation she had done. Tifalia reached out and found that dirt and rocks moved under her claws as easily as wet clay. When she pulled away, the claw-shaped divots stayed in the exact position she had left them. She felt the magic leave her, but she summoned no magic circle.
"Maybe this is like how Vilio can breathe fire with no obvious magic circle?" Tifalia said to herself.
Tifalia held her clawed hand out, opening and closing her fingers. Many silent moments passed. She only stopped when she noticed the spirits looking worriedly on. She gave her best smile with her new fangs, though with how some of the spirits flinched, it might have been more of a grimace.
"I'm fine, just getting used to things," Tifalia said.
The spirits nodded, and some returned to jabbering, but it was quieter. Once they sorted the plants, Tifalia tried to step back so she would have a better vantage point. She didn't trip this time, but she had to wobble her way back.
"Ok. First, get rid of the plants, then we learn to walk!" Tifalia roared. She would learn this form! She would not sit around worrying about her parents or her sudden change! She would, be, fine!
With a deep breath and an orange spark, the out-of-place jungle returned to the prairie grass. The spirits around cheered and threw some of the saved petals to the wind to celebrate. Tifalia smiled with them. She then stretched out her wings and wiggled her entire body. The spirits oohed and awed as Tifalia readied as if she were about to fight a demon.
"Ok, make way. I'm going to walk."
…
When the sun started casting longer shadows, but the sky was still blue, Tifalia gave herself one last challenge before considering herself walk-certified. Run a hundred feet with no crash.
The casualties of her training meant a lot of destroyed earth. Thankfully, her dragon body was so durable that she felt nothing more than embarrassment at all her spectacular spills. The spirits were here to play and encourage her, but they had no expectations. They simply cried when she failed and cheered when she succeeded. It took many dragon-shaped divots in the ground, but when Tifalia finally ran flat out for a hundred feet, she let out the least dignified squeak a dragon could create. Tifalia found a massive flower crown big enough to get around her horns, placed on her head with a shower of leaves.
"Thanks, guys," Tifalia said as she collapsed happily. She then looked around at her training grounds. "Wow, I really tore up the place, huh?"
The spirits all said it was fine, that bare earth meant new ground to grow, but Tifalia wasn't satisfied. She looked down a dragon-shaped hole and shook her head. She then reached out with her claw and started pulling at the earth. It responded to her immediately, but not quite in ways she expected. She was trying to flatten out the crash site, but instead, she made a small hill. When she tried squishing it back down, flowers bloomed under her claws, to the many spirits' cries of delight.
"I… Didn't mean to. But it is nice." Tifalia whispered as she smelled the new floral scent in the wind.
Moving earth was a freeing sensation she only felt when planning a great show or cooking a delicious meal. She looked down at her clawed hands, gripping and releasing them as she felt her power flow through them. She smiled as she thought of all the ways she could use this. But she remembered Zafora's strict lessons (a little too well at times) and knew she needed to learn her limits. So she looked up at the spirits with a determined smile.
"Does anyone have something they want done around here?"
And so Tifalia took every spirit's suggestion, after all they had done for her, they deserved a little play time with an earth dragon. They worked until Tifalia could see distant building clouds. The scent of rain was now on the breeze, and animals were starting to find shelter.
Tifalia panted as she walked back to look up at her newest piece. She had been trying to make a sculpture to represent the spirits that so kindly let her parents mine their gems, but she never had the art skills people like Paschalia had.
"Oh, it's perfect, missus!" one of the spirits exclaimed.
Another spirit bounced on her snout. "Another, another!"
Tifalia gave an uncertain chuckle as she looked at the field of tall cylindrical towers with waving shapes on top (they were supposed to be spheres, but Tifalia couldn't in good heart call them that). One would have been odd enough, but the spirits kept asking for more. Now, the field was an army of strange obelisks. Behind the towers were arches, flower beds, and even a massive cave Tifalia sculpted from the earth.
"I think that's enough for now," Tifalia said. The spirits whined for more once again, but Tifalia shook her head. "I think you should all find some shelter yourselves. It will rain hard, and the water element will outbalance you."
The spirits continued to complain, and Tifalia continued to thank them. But in her most motherly voice, she sent them off. Tifalia bowed goodbye, tuned the spirits out of her senses, and then walked to her cave.
Tifalia looked at the soft grass on the hill she had dug the cave out of. While art sculptures might not be her future, she felt proud of her cave. Inside, the cave was more than twice her size, and carpeted in moss, which she had tended. The walls were smooth as if done on a potter's wheel. This was no monster's lair; this was a cozy hideaway. Tifalia nodded at her work and came inside. She was about to lie down when she felt the need to circle the moss, much like she had seen dogs do on blankets. She tried to ignore the impulse, but the moss would be more comfortable if she patted it down. She was wrestling with her human thoughts and dragon instincts when she felt strong mana approaching her.
"Vilio?"
Tifalia stuck her head out and was met with an empty, greying sky. Then, out of the forest came a single woman. She had long purple hair, but that was the most Tifalia could make out at this distance.
Who's that? Tifalia thought. While fiends are gone, it's still not smart to travel through forests alone. And the road to the city is far from here… Tifalia trained her senses on the woman and realized her mana was not human. Oh, a fey beast. That makes a bit more sense. She probably has a village out in the woods.
Tifalia was about to leave her be when she saw the woman stop. She was now close enough for Tifalia to see how she stiffened. Tifalia worriedly looked around before realizing how weird her magic practice might seem to a passerby. She had created a field of unexplainable structures in the middle of the wilds. Then Tifalia made the mistake of making eye contact with the fey.
Unexplainable structures, with a dragon out in the middle of nowhere.
"Hey! Wait! I'm not scary!" Tifalia called. But of course, it came out as a roar.
The woman tripped on her dress and fell back, wide-eyed. She held her hand out like she could keep Tifalia back. Incoherently, she mumbled apologies for intruding, only audible to Tifalia thanks to her superior hearing.
"You can pass. Don't worry about me! Just hanging out here for a bit." Tifalia tried.
The woman scrambled to her feet and took off in the opposite direction. She disappeared into the forest before Tifalia could think of something better to say.
Tifalia's ears flattened against her head, tail flicking. She then let out a sigh and collapsed on the cave floor. While lying, she wondered how Vilio dealt with this. He was so cheerful and approachable. No one, not even children, went running from him. Then Tifalia's tail stopped as she realized it was his human form he showed off to most people. In fact, he had been in his human form for almost the entirety of their marriage. He only turned into a dragon when traveling or performing.
Tifalia supposed it made sense; thanks to her being a human, they mostly lived and worked in human settlements. There wasn't a lot of space to be a dragon. But even still, Tifalia felt so out of place in her dragon body, she wondered if Vilio felt that way about his human form. Then again, he had much more time than she did to get used to his form. And half of Passio was built for human-sized creatures, which must have meant dragons were comfortable in either form.
Vilio's expression earlier came to Tifalia's mind. When he first saw her as a dragon, his eyes lit up like she hadn't seen in years. She smiled to herself as she let her mind wander. It was pretty cool being a dragon, and once she got used to it, she was sure she would have more ways to connect with Vilio. That was an exciting thought! She would have so many more-
Tifalia had gripped her father too hard and stabbed him in the side.
With nothing to focus on, the image forced itself to the forefront. Tifalia quickly shook it aside, but it had been a long time since Vilio flew them to the city. What was going on? Were her parents that hurt?
When Tifalia first caught her mother, she bit her arm. Although she had readjusted to holding her mother's shirt in her jaws, it was her arm that Tifalia's maw reached first.
No, no. Tifalia was fine. She saved her parents. They would have died if she hadn't dove at them with all her strength. They would heal and be a happy family again, just her as a massive lizard fey.
No, not even that! She would figure out how to turn back into a human. Then…
"Nothing good will come from having a dragon's power, anyway. It just doesn't suit you."
"Don't you value your ordinary life, Tifalia?"
The memories rose from the deep like bile. They were all the things Vilio had said before he was forced to make Tifalia a Dragon's Bride. She had changed so much from that time that those words no longer felt like a rejection as they did then. Instead, she started to hear the complicated mix of emotions that Vilio initially hid under those words.
"Once you wake up, hate me as much as you want."
Vilio had whispered just after transforming her. She couldn't see his expression then, but she could hear the pain in his voice.
Tifalia looked out at the gathering storm and grimaced. "Get here soon, Vilio."