Without so much as another word the dragon's eye blazed like orange fire. Instantly, Faye was tossed into a mental hurricane and the world dimmed around her. She was flooded with memories and feelings. But most of all there was pain. Even when her brain couldn't register the pain anymore her body still felt it. She was on the hard stone screaming so violently that she began to choke on her own blood.

  Still, through it all, she could feel the dragon there. A solid and steady presence just outside the edges of her own mind.

  Just when she thought she could handle it no more a deep-seated rage and defiance filled Faye. No way would she give up and die after all the hard work she had put into this.

  At this point Faye could feel her body begin to stretch and bend. She had begun to change. She suddenly felt like she was crawling out of her own skin. But Faye was determined to fight it out. No way would this thing dominate her!

  "Fascinating..." said the dragon just before a serene darkness consumed her mind at last.

  Faye sat up with a gasp. The first thing she registered was the orange eye looking at her. The dragon. She supposed that that meant she hadn't died then.

  The dragon laughed. "No, you are not dead."

  "I don't hurt..." she was in awe. She had just been in so much pain, but now, nothing. If anything, she felt better than normal.

  "Yes, once the process is done the body heals quickly."

  Faye gazed down at her hands, her fingers seemed a little longer and thinner, but otherwise she didn't feel much different. "have I changed?" she asked still feeling confused from her ordeal.

  She ran he hands over her body. Her breasts had defiantly grown for what that was worth. Her frock was now tight across her chest. Actually, she had filled out altogether. No longer was she half-starved, but full and healthy as she hadn't been since her father had died.

  Standing up to get off the cold damp floor, her hair tumbled down around her. No longer was it mid-length and curly, but waist length and wavy. That would take some getting used to. Though the only reason she kept it short was out of habit. At the orphanage they made sure the kids hair was kept short in case of lice. As a grown woman she just never got out of the habit.

  What was most obvious to Faye were the changes that hadn't happened. She wasn't short and stocky like a dwarf, nor extra tall and skinny with pointed ears like an elf. Since she had no scales that ruled out dray-kin and, for other obvious reasons, meant she wasn't a dragon either. Had she somehow stayed human? She had heard rumors...

  "I don't understand" she said feeling a great deal of sadness. "I'm the same... mostly."

  Faye stumbled a little with the force of the dragon's laughter. "It may not appear so now" he said kindly "but once you get to Stine Wood I'm sure that will all change."

  "Stine Wood?" she asked, confused "Why would I need to go there? What am I?"

  "Stine Wood is where the Daemon Forming ritual takes place."

  "Daemon...?"

  "Yes Faye, you are Daemona."

  "What? That makes no sense! Searx women never become Daemon- or Daemona! Whatever!" Faced with something she did not expect when she had thought she had fully prepared, began to stress her out. "I barely even studied up on the Daemon because I believed it wasn't even an option!"

  "Searx females become Daemona as often as the males do. They just never survive the Awakening. You are the very first to do it, at least to my memory."

  "B-but what makes me so special? Why would I make it when no other has?"

  "That's fairly easy to answer, even if the reason is rather convoluted due to the inate nature of Daemona. They are naturally week creatures. To survive the Awakening a Searx must be strong. So, the females destined to become Daemona are also too week to survive the Awakening. Hence, none survive. However, you are not weak. Very far from it, as a matter of fact. So, you lived."

  "What does that even mean? If Daemona are weak but I am strong then how can I be Daemona?" Faye was so confused that her head just wasn't processing information the same anymore.

  The dragon chuckled, clearly amused with Faye's distress. "You are a special kind of Daemona." He said. "You appear to be a breed of Daemon that's been lost since before my own birth. And I've been alive a long time. You are Domina."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "W-what does that mean? Domina?"

  "Hmm. That's where it gets tricky. I don't know specifics. The Daemon race is very animal like, and have the ability to sense the dominance of others. Dragons also do this, as do wolves and a few other species. Most males are dominant and strive to be the best. And most females are submissive, generally sticking close to home. You seem to be the opposite." Explained the dragon. "You are a female with dominance. There hasn't been one in an age."

  "Do I have to do anything?"

  "You do whatever you want!" He laughed. "If someone has a problem with that then they can just take it up with you and deal with the consequences of confronting you. From what I heard in my dream walks, Domina tended to create packs of their own, usually comprising of many females and a few males. I don't know the details. Perhaps when you are done at Stine you should head to the kingdom of Vairem, in the lands of the Care'Os Desert. It is a Daemon kingdom and should hold more information for you."

  Faye took a long moment to process all of that. Not only was she now a race that she knew next to nothing about, but she was a breed within that race that was mostly forgotten? How does a person handle that? She took a few calming breaths. This was fine. She would do what the dragon suggested and go to Vairem as soon as she could. Surly an entire kingdom of Daemon would have some information on what she was, and what that meant for her future.

  "It's a shame you came out Daemona actually..." The dragon seemed to mumble to himself, interrupting Faye's thoughts.

  "What do you mean?"

  The dragon looked surprised that she had heard him, probably not realizing he had spoken out loud. "I have been doing this for several centuries and have gained a knack for seeing what someone will become. I thought that you were destined to be a dragoness."

  "What!" Faye exclaimed... well that would defiantly have been interesting. Probably easier to wrap her head around actually.

  "Dragoness have highly dominant and self-assertive personalities, and tend to be aggressive and self-important."

  "I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that description..." Faye mused, though if she was honest with herself she couldn't deny any of it. For a moment she leaned against the cool stone wall next to the dragon's eye and contemplated his words.

  "I think you would have made a stunning dragoness..."

  Surprised and a little flattered, Faye smiled at the dragon, suddenly feeling quite affectionate toward the him. "Thank you." She said happily. Rather sad that she was so hurting for complements that one from a giant lizard who had just eaten several people she had known all her life felt nice...

  Making a sort of snorting snarl, which caused a wisp of smoke drift in front of his eye, the dragon seemed embarrassed. She no longer felt any fear at all toward the dragon, merely a comfortable familiarity.

  "Hmm." said the dragon looking beyond Faye into the darkness. "It would appear that your time is up. The next Searx has entered the cave..."

  Startled, Faye gasped, glancing behind herself, worried that the next person was about to sneak up on her. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to take up all of your time."

  Laughing again the dragon said "Not at all. I don't often get to talk to people. Come this way." He said and there was a loud grating noise as the dragon's eye disappeared and his scales scraped on stone. He moved, revealing an enormous cavern where he once stood. The only light was what Faye assumed to be bioluminescent moss dotted all over the ceiling, hundreds of meters above and below. The whole village of New Birth could have fit in the dragon's cave. "Just follow the path and stay close to the wall so you don't fall. The way is not long and you will soon come to another door. Those who have successful Awoken will be just on the other side."

  Confidently making her way to the path Faye looked back at the dragon. At first she had thought that his scales were black, but in the dim green glow of bugs and moss it was difficult to be sure. His orange eyes looked down at her almost two stories above her head. He seemed to be clinging to the wall, his immense body disappearing into the shadows.

  "What's your name?" Faye asked, suddenly curious.

  He lowered his head so that they were at eye level once more, and studied Faye with a discerning eye for a moment. "True dragon names are not given out lightly to non-dragons." he said seriously "With the aid of magic they can be used to hold great power over us." He winked at Faye "But if you swear to keep it to yourself I can tell you." Faye nodded enthusiastically. The dragon chuckled causing several stones to slide down the wall, "The dragon language is not words, but pictures and feelings. Are you ready?"

  "Yes" Faye almost whispered.

  She closed her eyes as her mind filled with images; a tall, tree covered mountain, an ocean, the sun setting over a large boulder on an empty plain, and the endless desert. She also tasted some sort of meat that kind of made her a little ill, and could smell a flower she could not place. She committed it to memory, glad and honored to have received it.

  "However," said the dragon when he was done "for the sake of simplicity you may call me Thane."

  Faye giggled at the absurdity of him having such a normal, human name, especially after learning his true one. "Thank you, Thane." She said reaching out a hand and touching his smooth scales on his large snout. With another embarrassed snort, Thane gave her a gentle nudge to get her started down the thin and dangerous path.

  "Off with you women," Thane growled, turning back to his post "or I will change my mind and keep you here with me."

  Faye sighed, surprised that she was actually coming to miss the dragon that was Thane. She said goodbye and then continued on her way to the door. Upon reaching it she saw that she could actually make out delicate carvings in the wood. Her eyesight must have improved.

  Just beyond this door was the first step to her new life as a Daemona. A Domina, whatever that might mean. It was a life she didn't expect, but perhaps that was for the best. She wanted adventure, and what was more adventures than diving into the unknow.

  "Here's to your new life Faye!" She whispered out loud to herself. When she opened the door, it was with a large smile and a hunger for her new experiences.