There was peace, a quiet calm that held Thrae's mind in easy contentment. Until she was suddenly aware of the scent of dirt and the hard ground beneath her. She sat up in a rush with a gasp and glanced around. A few spiders crept over the walls and she shied from them quickly.

"So it wasn't a dream..." her voice was sweet and youthful, airy even and her curious and wide blue eyes studied the girl who slept sitting up beside her. The next thing the catch her attention was her own arm, then her hand. She was human again. Then fear gripped her and she started at the other girl. What if this fay became angry that she was human? She started to get up, but the other girl looked up and blinked at her, then stretched. Thrae watched her uncomfortably, glad at how thick and long her tresses were, however she tried to cover her body with her arms anyway.

Lira looked at her, she found herself captivated by the vision of this glowing maiden, her hair and body illuminated by the light shining into the cave. The way she covered herself, she wished she had found some article of clothing for her, but at the same time felt the strange desire to pull her arms away and-she frowned frowned, she could physically tell this frightened the girl, and though the red-head took pride in this, she didn't want to scare her off. But what to say? 'Good morning' wasn't exactly the right thing to say. What if this girl spoke another language? She had to say something, didn't she? Suddenly her stomach growled, loudly. Lira didn't smile or laugh at this, but the other girl did. Her face broke into a child-like smile and the most adorable giggle Lira fancied she had ever heard. She couldn't help it, Lira laughed too, finally, the other girl spoke.

"Good day, my name is Thrae."

Thrae? Lira, inclined her head. Thrae was the draconian word for air. Perhaps this girl was fay after all, and despite her accent, at least they spoke the same language.

"I'm Lira of-" she didn't want to confess she was a runaway Brinzellian princess, "of the sky." She had forgotten telling her name earlier.

"Oh forgive me," replied Thrae, "I'm from Sh...." she couldn't tell a dragon fay she was a lost princess from Shireglen, she floundered, unable to lie, but unable to tell the truth. She was saved when Lira spoke again.

"From shhh?" she smiled, a brilliant flash that send a rush through Thrae's veins, were all fay this beautiful? "You don't have to tell me. I'm sure unicorns have some secret haven somewhere in these woods. No need to give up your secrets to me."

So she didn't know where unicorns came from? Was that something all fay knew anyway? Or was she not fay? She had to be, she had been a dragon after all. Nothing was making sense, she hadn't a clue if fay knew everything about each other or not. She smiled, and her stomach growled, louder than Lira's had. This time, Lira laughed first and then stood.

Thrae almost fainted again, the girl was curvy and she felt very humbled by the size of the girl's breasts and she shyly covered hers in comparison. Lira offered her a hand and she took it, still covering her breasts with one arm and stood.

Lira hadn't thought this far ahead. She couldn't go back to the castle, and she didn't know anything about hunting, she wasn't even sure if she could change back into a dragon again and even if she could, was she just supposed to gulp down a cow whole? Disgusting.

"We should find a stream. Somewhere to bathe would be nice, maybe we'll stumble upon a meal as well."

Thrae nodded and walked with her out of the cave. The morning sun was bright and the scent of wildflowers drifted over from the nearby meadow. She wondered, if she had been a unicorn still, perhaps she could have grown a fruit tree on the spot to feed them.

By noon, neither girl was conscious of her nudity. Both believed they were in the presence of a fairy who saw the bare flesh as entirely normal. Finally, with pain in their stomachs, they came upon a stream, which they followed to a river. Lira, splashed fearlessly into the water first,

"Oh, it feels good, join me!" She waded deeper and dunked her head, coming out a moment later, skin glistening and hair stained a deeper crimson than before. Thrae crept to the water's edge and walked slowly in, tensing and hugging herself as the shock of cold gripped her. She moved slowly, trying to let her body adjust but it was for naught, Lira sent a wave of cold water over her that drew a shriek from her lips. In retaliation, the light-haired princess splashed back (it was weak in comparison), and that was it, a frenzy of splashing water and giggled erupted from the stream. It continued in earnest until both girls were laughing too hard to splash anymore.

Suddenly the sound of rustling brush had both girls on edge, Lira pushed Thrae behind her and stood like a warrior ready to protect.

"They be a couple of water nymphs, and nice to look at too." said a man's voice, Thrae's whole body turned red with shame. Lira peered harder at the brush, "If there be nymphs, there be dragons too. We'll find and kill the beast from yesterday, for a king's ransom, we'll be rich Culley."

"I think they seen us!" hissed a second voice.

"Well then we better introduce ourselves," She didn't wait to see their faces,

"Run!" she whispered sharply, pushing Thrae. Thrae shot off like a spooked deer with Lira close behind. The men shouted after them, and she was sure they'd give chase. She didn't dare split up from Thrae and fought just to keep her in sight as she leaped and ran behind her. In spite of their fear, she couldn't help but be mesmerized be the way the other girl looked as she ran. She really did look like an elf, or an angel. She was so content watching the girl's hair billow behind her, she barely had time to call out when the girl tripped and fell over a fallen log in front of her. Lira almost ran the damsel over, but leaped around her, spinning to face the direction they'd come and dropping to all fours over the girl and instantly baring her teeth.

"They ran this way, hurry!" she heard the deeper voice call. She felt herself growl and felt the burning again, this time it was less intense. She felt the spines, the wings the tail rip from somewhere inside her. She felt the muscles grow and change and before she knew it, she once again towered over the forest floor, Thrae was screaming beneath her and was struggling to crawl away, her snowy white leg now covered in the scarlet of blood. Lira stepped forward, turning broadside to block off the princess from the intruders.

They ran into view, plainly the hunters from the previous day and she was glad she was able to transform, glad that they hadn't recognized her. Their faces of sport and fun were once again replaced by ghostly white fear. They both raised their crossbows and shot, the arrows harmlessly bouncing off as Lira decided to approach them, wings spread, angry, making herself appear far larger than before. They stood their ground until she let out a terrible roar and shot her jaws down, as if to snatch one up and eat him. She never would have done such a thing, the idea of eating a man was revolting, but it was their fear she counted on, and it worked. The men screamed and ran. Lira felt inclined to give chase, leaping after them and growling and gnashing her teeth until she though she smelled urine coming from the two, then she yielded her chase, screeching after them to make sure they continued to run.

After several minutes she turned back, lumbering back toward Thrae, or rather the scent of her blood. her heart felt heavy, it was just a scratch. She hoped. She thought to change back to her human form, but if she did, would she be able to return her dragon shape? She figured it was better to try anyway, so as not to frighten her little doe. Her little doe? She felt herself frowning as her form melted back to the shapely human woman, how strange was this feeling?

Thrae was sobbing, and had propped herself up against a tree. She had been so terrified, so very afraid in the run from those men, and Lira's transformation had deepened her terror. The throbbing pain in her leg made her cry harder. However at the same time she felt warm, the other girl had protected her without hesitation. Fay or not, she felt touched by her actions and decided they would be friends. She feared that that friendship would end when the fay discovered was a human, but for now that didn't matter. All that mattered was seeing her face, any friendly face to help her.

Sorry it took so long!

• Something about the way Thrae thinks of Lira is interesting to me. Her first reaction is fear of Lira's reaction. Like she follows Lira and interacts with Lira out of fear, necessity, and desperation. Something about her introduction to Lira seemed a bit unnatural and forced, but I'm sure that it's because the whole situation is unnatural.
  
  
• I love how you play with the connections between the two girls. Thrae's name is Draconian for sky and she was the innocent unicorn. Once again, it's a connection to Lira's new existence as a dragon. I also like how Lira introduces herself as "Lira of the Sky" and that's what Thrae's name means. Lira of Thrae? It makes me feel like there was some sort of connection between them since the very beginning, since even before the story started.
  
  
• '...a brilliant flash...' I like this description of Lira's smile. I really like your use of description in this chapter, particularly that line as well as the way you describe the scents and smells of where they are. Most people just rely on sight, so I like your use of smell instead. It gives a vivid and creative description of where they are, leaving the visual details to the imagination of the reader. I always appreciate your choices in words, such as how Lira protects the 'princess', relating Thrae to a princess in Lira's mind even though she doesn't know the truth. I love that.
  
  
• I find it interesting that Thrae doesn't notice that she's human until she sees her limbs. Didn't she hear herself speak? I do like the way that you describe her voice, though. Giving it description makes it feel like the first time that we've heard it, even though it isn't, and that it's the first time Thrae's heard it too. It feels like the reader is discovering her voice with her for the first time and I like that.
  
  
• You stopped switching points of view as often, I appreciate that. It makes the flow of the story easier for me to follow. I also like how most of the story is from Lira's point of view. For some reason, I find her thought processes more compelling and interesting than Thrae's. I get this wonderful sense of contradiction from her. She has a strong sense of what is proper despite strutting around the forest in the nude.
  
  
• I just wanted to point out two of my favorite scenes. The chase scene is one of them. I like how Lira describes Thrae as an elf. It gives me this beautiful image of her running. I don't know why, but I like the image of them dodging trees as they run. Another one is also part of the chase scene, but closer to the end. I love when Lira skids across the ground and turns. It's a very cool image and a nice, animalistic reaction that reminds me of her dragon side. This base, natural reaction also makes me think of how much I love finding the different contradictions and layers to Lira's personality. She has this sort of a reaction despite her almost constant need to be proper and elegant.
  
  
• Random: Growling stomachs are the world's best tension-breaker!
  
  
• Random (2): The horror of being self-conscious in the face of overwhelming beauty. Thrae, I feel your pain!

I wish there was a "like" button haha, I like your post. The image of Lira skidding over Thrae on all fours liek you said is my favorite, same with the chase..and the hunter's voices, I could almost hear them.

The one thing I didn't get, is when he goes "where there be nymphs tehre be dragons" how in heck would you draw that conclusion? lol but he's an unimportant character, who cares about his reasoning. xD

I was wondering about that logic, too! I wrote it in my notes but couldn't find a nice place to put it in my review (my notes are random, slightly cracked-out, and always include a lot of comments that I never put in my posts). I just figured it was just something to keep the story moving.

And thank you! I'm glad that you like my comments. ^^