Mickey Reichert - The lost Dragons of Barakhai

"Orna and Narladin," Aisa corrected the names.

Zylas simply stared at Collins, brows rising in increments.

Collins flushed, realizing his mistake. "That wouldn't look suspicious or anything-guys running around as humans when they're supposed to be Lassie or Mr. Ed."

Zylas smiled, though, no matter the translation, he could not possible get the nuances of the joke. "Horses."

"So, we have to go in while Orion and Aladdin-"

"Orna and Narladin," Aisa restored the names again.

"-are in human form without raising suspicions from anyone who thinks he's seeing double."

"Essentially," Zylas left the table to sit cross-legged on the floor near Prinivere. "We'll have people keeping the real Orna and Narladin engaged and away from the castle."

Ijidan crawled cautiously across the chest, snatched a nut from Collins' plate, then ran with it. Becoming accustomed to animals in his food, Collins barely tracked the squirrel with his gaze. "So, these guys-"

Aisa interrupted again, "Man and woman."

Collins jerked his attention to the bird/woman. "What?"

"Orna is a woman," she explained.

Now Collins whipped his attention to Zylas. "You'd better be being the woman."

Zylas looked away.

"Aw, crap." Collins shook his head. "I have to be a woman?" He shook harder, sending his brown hair into disarray. "Why can't you be the woman?"

Zylas looked at Prinivere, who bowed her nose to his head. He looked back at Collins with a neutral expression, though his eyes sparkled with mirth. "Switch time," he reminded.

"We could work around that." Collins suspected they could, though it would unnecessarily complicate the matter.

Aisa let out an indignant snort. "What's wrong with being a woman?"

Collins backpedaled wildly. "Nothing at all-if you are one. But I don't know anything about being female." He threw up his hands. "Hell, if I understood women, I'd have one as a girlfriend." Probably along with a Nobel peace prize.

"Orna's known for being moody and somewhat standoffish," Zylas said.

That did not further endear the part he had to play to Collins. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not supposed to mean anything. It's supposed to serve as an excuse for why you're not wasting time and energy trying to interact with other guards and servants when you need to keep focused on a secret mission."

Good point. Collins still felt suspicious of the role, and he looked anxiously to the dragon. "Are you going to actually turn me into a woman?" *Only your face will resemble Orna's. That's as much as the spell can do. The rest you will have to… handle.*

"Handle," Collins repeated aloud. So long as he avoided a communal bath, he saw no reason to do anything more than tape a few socks to his chest. He might not even need to do that. Athletic women tended to have boyish bodies, and his would definitely pass. "For how long will I have a woman's face?"

Prinivere fidgeted, which alarmed Collins. He had never before seen her reveal her discomfort.

"What?" he demanded, ignoring Zylas' frown. The rat/ man would not like the way his companion addressed the lady. *We don't know,* Prinivere admitted.*The others have lasted only until their change, but you.*

"… don't change," Collins finished for her, terror creeping into his heart. His chest felt full. "You mean, I might have a girl face forever?" *Not likely, but I can't say for sure.*

Clearly still irritated with Collins' discomfort, Aisa muttered, "It would be an improvement." *The illusion might not carry into your world.*

The dragon's words did not soothe him. "The translation spell did." *At the worst, I can make another illusion to restore your face.*

At first repulsed by the idea, Collins forced himself to consider it. If the first mask took, he had no reason to think the second would not also. She might even be able to improve upon the original, to even out his ears, to enhance the chin and cheekbones, to widen eyes that tended to squint and add more green to the hazel. *I can do all that,* Prinivere sent, reading his thoughts again.*Though I don't know how long any of it might last.*

Collins realized he would have a tough enough time explaining his new look without having to worry about it wearing off at some inconvenient time. Finding himself no longer hungry, he rose. His concern about a cross gender disguise seemed suddenly ludicrous compared to the Herculean task he had accepted. His reticence had to appear inexplicable to people who daily turned into creatures whose differences from their normal state went way beyond gender. "All right," he said in a resigned tone, accepting everything in two simple words that scarcely began to cover the situation. He was about to risk his life-again-for a cause in which he had no stake but the happiness of friends that, even if the plan worked perfectly, he might never see again.

The room itself seemed to huff out a relieved sigh. Korfius came to Collins for affection that the man delivered by petting. The normalcy of the interaction allowed Collins to forget the future for a few moments. He closed his eyes, his mind carrying him back to Algary campus where he sat on his bed stroking the dog, escaping only the familiar pressures of impending exams and assignments.

Korfius loosed a contented sigh, then whined softly, rose, repositioned his body, and settled beneath Collins' hand again. Wondering if the dog's restlessness stemmed from sensing his own discomfort, Collins sucked in a deep breath through his nose then exhaled it through his mouth, trying to blow away the tension. Korfius loosed a long whine that was almost a howl, filled with entrenched and inexplicable pain. The dog disappeared from beneath Collins' hand.

Collins cycled another calming breath, then opened his eyes. Korfius huddled in a dark corner of the cave, no longer a dog but a naked, shivering boy. A mop of blond hair fell around his heart-shaped, pale face; and he hugged his long, scrawny legs with arms equally so.

Aisa headed toward the boy, but Collins scrambled to get there first. No matter how inexperienced a comforter he was, he would be preferred. By skidding in front of Aisa, he did reach Korfius first, though the parrot/woman had to stumble backward to keep from running into him.

Collins put his arm around the sobbing boy, saying nothing, allowing the child to find his voice at his own pace. At length, Korfius shifted position, burying his tear-streaked face in Collins' grimy shirt, and managed to sob out muffled words. "Why-why-we're back in Barakhai, aren't we?"

"Yes." Collins pulled Korfius closer, sparking a dim memory of worrying about petting him in dog form because it might seem like child molestation. Though he now held a naked boy, he did not worry about a matter that now seemed silly and trivial. Korfius needed him, and he would support his best friend as well as he could. There was nothing sexual about comforting a loved one.

"Don't you" Korfius wheezed out. "Don't you want me anymore?"

"Want you?" Collins repeated. He squeezed Korfius. "We're a team, Korfy-pup." He used the pet name that had stuck after a woman in his housing complex had coined it. "Forever."

Korfius snuggled against Collins. "Forever?"

"Forever," Collins said emphatically, though he had no idea how long "forever" might last, given the risky assignment he had just accepted. At least until tomorrow.

"Then why…?" Korfius started but never finished. He seemed to struggle with words as he never had before, presumably because he had not used any for longer than a year and a half.

"Zylas and Falima asked me to come, and I did. I wasn't going to leave my forever pal behind." Feeling guilty for every second he had forgotten Korfius' origins and had treated him as just another dog, Collins listened intently and hoped he was getting through. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you."