Eventually, you roused yourself, wincing. You seemed young, from what I could tell of humans. More than a hatchling, newly adult. A similar maturity to me, though it had taken me a while longer to reach the same stage. The thing in your hand still pulses blue, but the gold had vanished You put it and another that did not glow on a chain around your neck. They hung against your sternum. The blud faded. Your hands shook. My gaze sharpened. Hundreds if years agim humans created seals to house our magic, stealing our power and banishing us into the world of Vere Celene. In a cruel twist of fate, the centuries passed, and humans, with their shorter lives, had forgotten what they had done. The ignorant little fools worshipped dragons as gods, with no idea how much their 'gods' despised them.

It would have been easy to kill you, especially if I had still been in my dragon form. A simple swipe of talons. A snap of teeth. Soft flesh would part, blood welling red.

You panted like an injured animal caught in a trap.

And the hunger bloomed.

I pressed my palms against the stone. My stomach hollowed against my spine. I wanted to eat. I wanted to devour. Your arms crossed over your stomach as you doubled in pain. With a deep chill, I knew; It was not my hunger.

Still, I craved. I wanted to dart across the distance between us, to sink my fangs into your neck, even as the thought repelled me. Something about you was not prey. Yet I am so hungry for flesh.