A Tale of the Shapeshifters

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑿𝑳𝑽𝑰 - 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕

Author's Note

Warning: This chapter has a sex scene between two dragons. It is not graphic and very brief, but I still wanted to warn y'all.

~❦︎~❦︎~

Icy waters splashed into Isolde's face, tingling her spine. They traversed across her body, seeping into her gown. She felt the droplets under her ribcage.

"Ayy... who's done this?" she shouted, coming to fruition. Wiping the water from her eyes, a blurry figure came into view. "Athena...?" she gasped.

The girl helped her mother up off the floor. "Henri said you fainted."

Henri's traveling coat slid off of the woman's body as she rose. "That I did," Isolde said.

The woman turned her head around, taking in her surroundings. Henri sat in the corner with Sir Claudius, their foreheads pressed together. The dragon had drifted off into a deep slumber once again.

Isolde whipped her head around to face her daughter. "Where did you run off to?" the woman asked, her eyes stern.

The blossoms of Athena's cheeks wilted. "I went to find... a friend of mine and Sir Claudius."

"A friend, ya say?" Isolde put her hands on her hips, arching one of her thin brows.

"Y-yes." Athena twisted her head, peering toward the rocky entrance to the dungeons.

Sunlight filtered in; a skinny, yet curvaceous, black figure stood in the spotlight.

Isolde squinted, then her eyes widened once she made out the sight. "A woman? I thought we were the only ones who knew of Sir Claudius—"

"Not a woman, Ma." Athena grasped her mother's hand. "She's another shapeshifter."

Isolde's mouth fell open. She let go of her daughter's hand, standing still in shock.

Athena bent down to grab the coat, then sprinted toward the front entrance. Heart of the Flame stared Athena down as she paced toward her. The girl covered her eyes with one hand, extending the coat with her other.

"Put this on," Athena demanded.

"What? No," Heart of the Flame retorted.

"Do. It."

Heart of the Flame humphed, then wrapped the cloak about her slender figure—flapping it over her body with contempt. "I don't understand why I have to do this."

"Because me Ma would have a fit if she saw yer bare body!" Athena whispered, her voice hoarse and her eyes bloodshot.

"Ah, so that's your mother?" the woman said, smirking. "Why did I imagine her being more... catlike?"

Athena rolled her eyes. "You know I was born human, Heart of the Flame."

"I know. I know." The pale woman turned her head, her eyes moving away from the fireplace and Isolde. She squinted, and her blue eyes glowed in the darkness of the dungeon. "Is that...?"

"Yes," Athena responded. "Come on. Let me introduce you to my Ma." The girl moved forward, heading toward the fireplace, her head hanging low.

Heart of the Flame followed behind her, but her eyes remained on the far corners of the dungeon, on that black, slumbering figure. Mountains of gold were on each side of him, and a small man sat in front of him. Heart of the Flame raised a brow.

"Ma, this is... 'Heart of the Flame'." Athena winced, looking back and forth between the two women.

Isolde glanced up and down, from the woman's bare feet to her otherwordly hair. "Is that your real name?" she asked.