"Please" She spoke with such desperation within her voice. A desire to transform this tragedy into one of naught but happy endings.
Yet it was too late for such a nascent idea. A service that could only be rendered with true devotion. That part of me, who had told me of her use, of that part of her that belonged to me and to my hoard.
A growl echoed from my lips. True and gutterall. With a ferocity that scared those that watched over me. My own body morphed back to its own form. It was like shedding clothes, restricting clothes at that.
And for the first time in days I truly spread my wings. For the day before, and the day before that. I was merely confined to that prison of a body.
With excitement in my eyes, with a manic grin. I whipped my head around. Lightning within my mouth as I let loose a terrifying roar. One of challenge, a testament to the strength I would show.
As within the moment I was there. By the side of my errant treasure. Who had found herself in trouble so.
The centipede's found warmth within their bones. Not because of any feelings, no, it was mere fear. A bone deep… No, a soul deep fear that echoed through that skeleton of theirs. For they had no bones, merely a carapace, an exoskeleton that hid their features from the world.
I smirked, as well as I could with such a body. That same lightning, a blue thunder, rose from the sides of my mouth, from the inside.
And within the moment. I let loose. There was no doubt that they were dead. Bodies burnt, another clinging to that wretched life of theirs. Only to be crunched underfoot. His head ripped from the rest of their bodies.
For he was the strongest… of their own species. Of the ones that had appeared before my peerless strength.
I roared once more. The sky echoed with my power. As Erryn nuzzled against my neck. My own tail wrapping her in a warm embrace.
Well it wasn't exactly warm as with each and every step I took, I took her form closer and closer to the source of that horrid scourge. For they were nothing more than that. Mere pests that I broke between my claws.
Nothing against the might of a true dragon. Lightning that echoed from my mouth, along with that same great roar. Turning them into a sort of non-paste. Their death throes a symphony of music to my ears.
A growl… an echo of light within my teeth that showed of my smile. That terribly great set of teeth that had picked them… the centipedes apart with a single tear.
Yes, they were nothing more than that. A scourge between my fingers. To be purged at my discretion.
"Good…?" I growled within her ear. A symphony of strokes and tones that had to be translated into her own language.
Speak Beast
She cast another spell. The essence of which I found horribly interesting. More interesting than the words of thanks she gave to my form. To the might of my tail as it whipped across her form and further towards that woman.
Irene. She had suffered egregious wounds. And because of such… she licked them. Grabbing her arm with a grit of her teeth. Only to place it on that fleshly sown flesh.
A glimmer of hope within her eyes as she poured some blue potion on top of it. Likely some form of greater healing. That she had obtained from some apothecary. A potion at that.
Was that rare? Was the pain within her eyes telling me of the value of it, or was it true pain that she felt at the severance of her arm.
I did not know. And it caught my curiosity. Not more than that magic.
The essence. It was like an amateur artist's rendition of a dragon. Words and letters that suffered at the hands of some novice wordsmith. Like they had a glimpse of the ether, of the beyond and tried to write what they could not comprehend within this essence.
I spoke. Trying to untie the terrible words, the horrible spellings. Any and all misconstructed language I could find.
And when I was done, my arm lit with power. One that flowed instinctively from my heart - my draconic side told me - and into the air. From that same claw.
I spoke a sentence. A brief one that inscribed those words into the air just as she had. But they were more refined. They had a certain professionalism about them that her own could never replicate.
Translate
I found my ears taking in sound differently. The lips of Erryn and the others sounded coherent to my ears. Like they had been given a hint of draconic. To please my ears.
"Erryn." I spoke. My voice more… more accurate to the age of this body. A voice that sounded both childlike and powerful.
"Yes?" She asked. Her voice trembled. No, it was not just trembling her entire body was. Like she had…
I refused to think of such thoughts. The Erryn of mine was one of dignity and amusement. As should be for a part of my hoard.
"What is the value of such a potion?"
I pointed my claw to her comrade…? To her friend? Enemy?
Honestly I knew not what their relationship was. And had no desire to know more. But it seemed as if my honest comment had gone unheeded as Erryn rose. A laugh within her steps and mouth as she pat my neck with a playful touch.
"Truly… truly you are a dragon. For wealth to be the first thing upon thy mind."
Her speak had changed. More formal, yet at the same time with a certain… informality about it that changed with every word.
I looked back over to Irene, her face scrunched in pain as her arm sewed itself back together. Nerve endings and tissue that connected with the other. Reaching within the open air. Trying to find the other.
And when all did. Her arm pulled the broken piece back. Healing it back together.
"Enough for Irene to cry upon the loss."
I snorted and turned my back. Ignoring the crippling stares that threatened to run and flee in fear for the first threatening move of mine.