“Stay close” Zoey reminded her wife. “This place has a lot on offer, but it’s easy to get lost.”

Freddie leapt slightly. “Right...” The human had forgotten the way that her draconic paramour could speak directly into her mind when she was in her true form. It felt as if the great beast was speaking directly into her ear. But even with such a close link, Freddie only half-heard her. Her eyes were wide, trying to look in every direction at once. The incandescent, multifarious wonders of the Goblin Market were staggering.

Stalls draped in boldly coloured fabric were everywhere, seemingly placed wherever the vendor could find space. Occasionally the mobile store fronts formed patterns, aisles to walk along or regimented rows, but it was mostly an outright maze that Fred could only navigate with Zoey’s assistance. On occasion, the human had to reach out a hand to steady herself against her wife’s emerald flanks, even if just to remind herself that this was all real. Over the sea of kiosks, Winifred could see larger stores built into the tawny rock of the walls surrounding her. Some had upper-story windows cut right into the wall above the entrance, others had exposed levels that extended so far up that they seemed to arc overhead like an unsteady skyscraper. Fred almost lost track of Zoey as the dragon swung her considerable bulk around a corner, scampering to keep up and goggling all over again at the towering complexity all around her. Multiple wide stone staircases rose from ground level, crisscrossing and intersecting overhead like a spiderweb in defiance of gravity. Large glowing crystals hung everywhere like miniature suns, casting a warm light on the crowds that teemed around her.

The crowds... Fred brought her attention back to them. They were as multifarious as the space around them, every colour of the rainbow and like nothing the human had ever seen before. Burly, grey-skinned creatures bedecked in armour crafted from bones loped past a gaggle of squat, furry creatures that seemed wrapped up in a five-way argument. A tall, slender creature with arms that moved like snakes walked in long, deliberate strides on legs the thickness of saplings, its equine face and blank, milky eyes taking in everything around it like a hunter seeking prey. There was the occasional cloud of twinkling, chromatic light zipping about at head height. Some flew close enough for Fred to hear the chatter of squeaking voices emanating from within.
And of course, there were the goblins. No matter where she looked, there were always goblins. Short, in every shade of green imaginable and seemingly all of them staring at her with their wide, yellow eyes when she looked their way, only for them to immediately busy themselves with whatever they had been doing as soon as their gazes met.

“Are you sure this entire place is underneath the north viaduct?” Fred finally had to ask Zoey.
The green dragon swung her head back to address her, her curtain of mossy hair brushing over several passersby.

“Not entirely, sweetie. The entrance certainly is, but it’s like my sanctuary, it exists in its own space. You just have to look in the right place to find a way in.”

“Good.” Fred smiled wryly. “When you brought us under that bridge, I was worried you wanted to score drugs…”

“We still could!” Zoey chuckled. “Everything is for sale down here…”

“Including a solution for me…” Fred sighed.

“For us.” Zoey corrected her wife, giving her an affectionate nudge with the bulk of her body. Fred giggled as she tried to keep her balance. “You aren’t the problem, the law is.”

“Right.” Freddie chuckled nervously, once again aware of all the eyes on her. Humans were not welcome in the goblin markets, if not outright forbidden. The only reason that she could even set foot here was the company of her escort, the great green dragon that happened to be her spouse. She fidgeted with the jade bangle on her wrist, something that marked her as a “consort”, whatever that implied. Zoey had assured her that, for the moment, it would protect her from the repercussions of being a human amongst the Elderkind. Elderkind was just another word she had to add to her growing new lexicon.

Fred took a moment to look up at her partner, whom she had only recently found out was actually a millenia-old dragon. Zoey had shared her real name with Fred in the grove. It was long, and elaborate, a cursive saga that sounded more like a song when spoken aloud. Freddie didn’t blame her for shortening it to just “Zoey”. Apparently relationships between dragons and any other species, especially humans, were quite rare.

The massive green beast parted the crowd before her like a surging current, her long tail keeping steady behind her. Every once in a while, a bloomed flower would fall from the branchlike crown of antlers that rose from her head. Few of the falling blossoms touched the ground, snatched up by someone in the crowd. The great green dragon’s presence was more than physical, everyone here showed deference to her, quieting their business as she walked past and moving aside to give her space. Some even bowed or uttered small prayers, showing a level of respect that most would reserve for royalty.

“So you’re…important down here?” Fred asked hesitantly.
“Important enough.” Zoey mused in her head. “The worlds above and below owe a lot to dragons, though not all of it is good. I’ll tell you all about it, when we have the time.”

“My Lady!” a voice cut through the crowd. Fred blinked. It sounded familiar.

“Elemet! Rookleaf!” Zoey’s voice chimed out with the warm tinge of welcome. “What luck to run into you two!”

A mismatched couple had detached themselves from the crowd. One of them was slender, slightly taller than Freddie and a pale green from head to toe. Her partner was much taller, her head nearly level with Zoey’s and every inch of her looked to be made of stocky muscle. Freddie felt a slight blush tint her cheeks. Aside from a few clusters of leaves spread across the green one’s skin, neither woman was wearing a stitch of clothing. Zoey looked up at the tall one's face. Beneath a tangled curtain of tawny hair, her nose was bulbous, and a few sharp teeth poked out of her mouth like tusks. Fine, blonde hair covered most of her body, thickening into a carpet along her back, lower arms and crotch. A long, lion-like tail rested on the ground behind her, swaying between a pair of clawed, digitigrade legs..

Fred squinted.
“Ellen?!”

The brawny creature let out a booming, raucous laugh that Fred immediately recognized. Ellen was always big, loud and boisterous, but she had no idea that she had an appearance to complement it. Fred turned to the slender green woman next to her, picking up the recognizable contours of her face and her sparkling emerald eyes.
“Rachael…” The human muttered. “This is unreal.”

The green woman smiled. She brought up a thin, boney hand to rest on Freddie's shoulder, her shimmering silvery hair reflecting every colour around them like a cascading aurora. Two long, pointed ears crested her iridescent mane like fresh sprouts emerging from the earth.
“I see you’ve been enlightened. Welcome, Freddie.”

Fred had known Ellen and Rachael for years. The couple were close friends that she had met through Zoey, sharing many memorable get togethers and double dates over the years. The two even owned a cabin out in the woods that Zoey and Freddie occasionally used. A lot of pieces were clicking into place.

“So…” She began. “You two have always been…”

“Of the trees?” The green elf laughed. “Yes, Freddie. We’ve been friends of Our Emerald Lady for over a century. I can’t tell you what it means to finally see you among us, as we all are.” A slight look of worry entered her face. “Although, is this sanctioned?”

“Who cares if she brought a human here?” The blonde troll snorted. “If anyone doesn’t like it, they can take it up with the Lady. I’d like to see that.”

“I’m not looking to start a war.” Zoey chided, then bowed her head low to nuzzle against Freddie. “Though I’d be willing to fight one for you. I brought her to the goblin market for a way to address this little issue.”

“Humans are expressly forbidden from all but our outermost circles.” Rookleaf crossed her thin arms. “Let me guess…You’re looking to remove the human element, aren’t you?”

“That’s the plan.” Freddie offered a nervous smile. “I’d give anything to stay with Zoey and be a part of her world. Even if that means becoming something new…” She neglected to mention how much she had already changed in the past few weeks.

The green dragon began to move again, the other three keeping pace with her.

“Zoey said that most humans who get this close just have their memories erased by some spell.” Freddie continued. “You guys really guard your secrets closely.”

“Old laws” Elemet snorted. “They’re honestly for the best, but they can get annoying..”

“We respect the Old Law.” Zoey chided. “We’re just…bending around it a little.” She turned her head, curving her entire body like a snake to duck into a narrower passage that led off from the main chamber. “C’mon sweetie, we’re here.”

“Oh.” Freddie nodded, her heart suddenly in her throat. The wild nature of the market had left her feeling like none of this was real, but now here she was, growing closer to a new destiny with every step.

“We’ll see you later.” Rookleaf nodded as the two couples began to move in different directions. Ellen offered her a cheerful wave, but eyed Fred in a way that made her feel odd. It was as though the troll was getting one last good look at her.

Freddie followed her partner, falling back in step with the slow, ponderous gait that the huge dragon maintained. From her side of Zoey’s flank, the human passed by a long line of stalls and storefronts, all showing off shelves of bubbling potions, strangely luminescent artefacts and libraries of strange runes and symbols written on everything from parchment to bone.

“So” Zoey inquired as candidly as possible. “What form were you thinking exactly?”

Fred blinked, realising that she hadn’t really given the idea any real thought. It had seemed too fantastical.
“I uh…I’m not sure? I could be anything?”

“Within reason.” Zoey nodded. “You’re more familiar with your options than you think. Consider all those mythical creatures and beasts you recall from stories and folklore. Any that stand out to you?”

Fred looked over at a tank full of iridescent fish that swam in small, frantic circles, forming a whirling rainbow.
“What about a mermaid?”

“You could…” Zoey dipped her head from side to side noncommittally. “Though we’d need to put in a freshwater pool, or move to somewhere with a coastline. I’m certainly not keeping you in the tub all day.”

“Hm, hadn’t thought of that…” Freddie tapped her chin. “What about a centaur?”

“Extra limbs…” Zoey huffed. “You’d have to learn to walk all over again, and they’re tricky to fold away when you want to appear human. It’s why I’d also recommend against a drider.”

“Never really liked spiders..” Freddie wrinkled her nose. “Do you have any ideas?”

“What about a wulver?” Zoey offered. She had swept her head around to nose at an assortment of dangling charms. “They hail from Scotland. A lot like werewolves, but much more sweet-tempered. Excellent at fishing.”

“Not sure how I’d feel about all that fur.” Freddie rankled. “I already spend enough time a day brushing.”

“Maybe a false unicorn?” Zoey came to a stop, curling her long body behind her and nearly sweeping Freddie off her feet with her tail from behind. “We can’t make you a real  one, I’m afraid. Only other unicorns can give that gift, and they’re very stingy. But as a false one, you’d stay on two legs and get a little magic.”

“I don’t think I’d survive the dirty looks from the full-blooded unicorns.” Freddie rubbed her arms, then turned to the storefront that her partner had brought her to.

A squat, potato-like creature behind the table stared at her from under flabby eyelids. It scratched at its few hairs with one long, bony arm and smiled with a very wide mouth full of many, many needle-like teeth.

“My Lady. How can this humble purveyor provide for your needs?”

“Hello Rogwylde.” Zoey nodded. “I find myself in need of a curse. A potent one, that sinks right down into the bones. Permanency and absolute transmutation are necessities.”

The sagging creature known as Rogwylde tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I may have a few...but that is some serious magic. Who in all the fair realms has got you that upset?”

“This dear heart.” Zoey’s mouth parted as she let out a rumbling laugh, ferociously distinct from the soft song of her mental voice. She bumped up against Freddie ever so gently with her forward shoulder.

Rogwylde looked over at Fred, then down at the jade bangle on her wrist, his black, sunken eyes sparkling like obsidian.
“Ahhh, Roggy sees what you intend. Clever as always, my lady. She is…special?”

“Deeply.” Zoey nodded. “So let’s get this right on the first go, shall we?”

Freddie looked over the eclectic display of items up for sale. The clutter of hanging jewellery, dusty old books and vials full of indeterminate substance all reminded her of that fateful trip to the curiosity shop that had led to her new femininity and opened her to this entire world.

“Um, you said that I would be able to appear human? After -um, after I change?”

“Oh yes.” Zoey nodded. “We’d like to include a full glamour that will work with the curse. Attuned to how she looks now, if you please.”

“Of course, my Lady.” Rogwylde bowed his head. “But that would accrue an additional price…”

“Not my concern.” Zoey interjected.

As the squat shopkeeper busied himself behind the counter, Freddie voiced a concern.
“You keep saying ‘curse’. Isn’t that bad?”

“It’s our best option, Love.” The dragon brought her head low to nuzzle against her partner. “Enchantments and the like can be dispelled, but nothing has quite the sticking power of a good curse. Besides, it’s only dreadful if you’re against it. Most humans are opposed to the idea of transforming into an entirely different species.”

“Silly them…” Freddie tried to nonchalantly lean against the shop table, only to realise a second too late that she had planted her hand into something that was fizzing. She jerked back upright, away from a mound of colourful dust that was foaming where she had touched it. She shook off her affected hand, wincing in anticipation of a pain that did not come. Instead, she saw that her entire right hand had turned a deep green.
“Does…does this come off?”

“Mmm, that’s a lovely shade of emerald.” Zoey crooned. “We’d match if you were to…” Her eyes lit up with sudden inspiration. “Rogwylde, can you manage a kobold?”

“Easily, my lady.”

“Wait, a kobold?” Freddie’s eyebrows raised, her thoughts instantly filled with images of low-level RPG enemies that fell by the dozens to the sword of a novice adventurer. “Isn’t that a little…puny?”

“Not if you’re bonded to a dragon!” Zoey was talking excitedly now. “Entire kobold settlements go generations in search of a draconic patron! But you’re already with me! You could become an extension of me, we’d share everything! I could bond with you in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine…”

“That sounds promising.” Fred bit her lip. “I’d be…”
She couldn’t believe that this was the first question that came to her mind.
“I’d be cute?”

“The cutest.” Zoey leaned in and blew a puff of misty breath over Fred, making her giggle.

“I..” There was no point in agonising over this kind of thing. Fred could spend the rest of her life going back and forth on a choice like this if she didn’t commit.
“Let’s go for it.”

Zoey let out a deep, trilling croon of excitement and nodded back to Rogwylde, who shrugged and began to assemble the commissioned curse.

“What does my Lady offer in exchange?” He asked as he worked, not looking up.

“A carved bone of the Aopterix.” Zoey reached one massive clawed hand up to dig into her long mane of mossy hair. “And a cuneiform sigil of the fallen Beleshari.” She placed a long tusk covered in runic decoration and a polished clay tablet bearing an elaborate inscription on the table in front of him.

“Haven’t heard?” Rogwylde offered casually. “The Beleshari are making a comeback. That sigil isn’t as rare as it used to be.”

“Damn, they’re resilient.” Zoey rolled her eyes. “What then?”

Rogwylde fixed the dragon with one of his polished black eyes while the other stayed on his work.
“Brass Lexicon of the Chimeric Empire. Third Dynasty, if you have it.”

“You know, most Elderkind would hesitate to rob a dragon.” Zoey mused, the barest hint of a growl rumbling in her belly.

“It’s a fair trade for custom work. Rogwylde guarantees quality.” He responded, unperturbed.

Freddie had next to no idea what they were talking about, but she knew haggling when she saw it. Zoey glanced in her direction.
“Fifth Dynasty.” She firmly proposed, digging back into her mane and placing a disc of polished brass on the table. “Pre-collapse.”

Rogwylde stared at the offer, then fixed one eye over at Freddie.
“She seems nice. Rogwylde agrees.”

He added a single drop of liquid into the bowl he had been working in. There was a spark and a fizz, and he withdrew something wrapped in paper from smoke pouring off his workstation.
“Rogwylde wishes you all the best for you and your paramour, My Lady.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, as always Rogwylde.” The great green dragon nodded, accepting the package. “Come on Freddie. You’ve got big things awaiting you..”

—---------------------

The return to Zoey’s grove was a blur. Despite the panoply of fantastical sights all around her, Freddie was focused entirely on the tightly wrapped parcel she clutched close to her chest. This was change, real change. Awakening her gender had been one thing, a massive transformation in her own right, but this would be leaving her very humanity behind. Even if this promised glamour would retain her current appearance, beneath it, she’d always know what she really was. It simultaneously thrilled and frightened her to think of it. But the burning desire for discovery, the chance to go on this grand adventure and have Zoey by her side pushed her forward.

Zoey curved most of her considerable bulk around Freddie, looking down at her. Every once in a while, Fred could feel a strand of mossy hair tickle the back of her neck.

“Are you ready?” Zoey’s voice softly sounded in her head. “I know that I’m asking a lot of you. If you wanted to wait, or maybe we could-”

Freddie tore the package open. A plume of violet smoke poured out, enveloping her head and shoulders. She breathed deep. Blinking through the mist, she could see some carved piece of wood nestled in the wrapping paper that the smoke was pouring off. It seemed to be burning up in the reaction, reduced to a few cinders, then crumbling away to nothing. Fred brought her hands up to her face, feeling her heart thunder in her chest as an intense sensation of vibrant energy overtook her body, like a sugar rush crossed with a panic attack.

Freddie staggered, and Zoey brought her head low to support her.
“Is it..supposed to…” the human mumbled. Her skin felt tight on her bones.
“Just breathe.” Zoey spoke soothingly. “I’m right here. Everything’s okay.”

Freddie’s eye felt too big for her head. She blinked, staring at her own hands. Her nails were sharper. Stubbier fingers ending in pointed claws. She flexed them, feeling her skin start to curdle and grow thicker, drier. It started on the back of her palms first, The same green tone that had coated her left hand began to spread, everything the emerald wash touched consolidating into scales. Then her hands were new, still hers but entirely fresh. They were smaller, and her pinkies had vanished, leaving her with four-fingered claws. Her head swam as her perspective shifted. Her height was evaporating, the ground rushing up to meet her as the canopy above fled further upwards. She staggered on her foreshortened legs and Zoey was a wall against her. Keeping her upright

“You’re doing wonderfully. I’ve got you.” She whispered.

With a sensation that felt as though she was swallowing her own body, Fred felt the bulk of her mass shift downwards. Her shoulders grew slimmer, her entire rib cage contracting on itself fluidly and all the extra flesh she had cultivated north of her waist reorienting in her hips and backside. Her pants split at that point, while every other part of her wardrobe was hanging off of her shrinking body, her shorts were failing to contain a butt that was awash with her new, scaly texture.

“Let me just…” Zoey huffed, a cloud of mist rolling out of her nostrils and enveloping the changing Fred. She felt a new tingle as the fabric of her ill-fitting wardrobe fizzled on contact, coming apart and evaporating to expose her new body. Her hips were huge, wider than they even used to be, her plump, scaly thighs rubbing against each other with each slight movement. Her spine shivered and Fred felt something new manifest in the air behind her, brushing at her exposed rear cheeks and growing longer.

A tail, she had a tail now. Fred felt a smile creep on to her flush face as she flexed unfamiliar muscles, feeling the stubby new limb thrash behind her. Her foreshortened legs stumbled slightly to keep balance as her whole body wobbled at the momentum.
“Look at that…” Zoey said bemusedly.

“I feel…fuh feel-ach!” Fred barely managed to mumble as her face shifted and stretched, her skull changing shape like putty. She ran a thickening tongue over teeth that were fusing and solidifying into boney ridges as her mouth lengthened into an angular snout. She blinked, and opened bright yellow eyes that felt so much larger than she remembered. Her hair was melding together, turning into a row of hard, bumpy scales that ran across her scalp and down the back of her neck. The changing woman quivered, digging her sharp toes into the dirt as the path of raised scales plunged all the way down her back and to the tip of her tail. Two points on her skull tingled as the last of her hair twisted upwards and consolidated into a pair of short, tapered horns, a smaller set growing in right below them. Freddie brought one of her small hands up to feel them. The slightly curved horns were absolutely a part of her skull. They felt like handles, and the thought filled her with the sudden desire to be gripped and led around by them.

With one last flare of stimulation, the change completed itself. Freddie let out a cry, her new tongue lolling out of her mouth as she panted, the exertion of the transformation hitting her all at once. She stumbled, barely able to stay on her feet, and finally worked up the courage to look at her new body.
She was undeniably reptilian. Her whole body was covered in green scales that nearly matched Zoey’s, though hers were duller and more pebbly. Wider, smoother scales ran from her neck, down her chest and along the inside of her thighs, creating a sensitive underbelly. Her chest…her breasts were gone, and she’d just gotten the damn things too. At least they lived on in the glamour. Granted, their formerly impressive heft seemed to have found a new home down south. She brought her claws back to feel at her ass, her fingers brushing up repeatedly against her tail. Her butt was huge, even bigger than when she was human, and she had a pair of thighs to support it. They felt like fleshy tree trunks. She was smooth between her legs, but Freddie could feel a familiar intimate tingle below her tail. Kobold anatomy seemed to be much more compact.

Kobold. That’s what she was now. That’s what she’d always be. She looked down at her clawed feet and was reminded that she was barely three feet tall now. So much of her had been compressed or reduced or discarded entirely.

“You came out beautifully, dear.” Zoey’s voice resounded in her head.

“Muh…I did?” Freddie asked, finally turning to her partner. Her voice was higher pitched, and raspy. Then she saw her wife and all other words died in her throat.
She had never really understood before.. She had tried to act like it was normal to know a dragon, but seeing her now through the wide, yellow eyes of a kobold, she realised that it would never be normal. It was extraordinary. Zoey’s great draconic majesty sundered her. Everything about her was absolute perfection, every inch of her scaled body, every lock of her green hair. The perfect form, her age and wisdom and grace. Freddie felt her knees buckle, unable to contain the ecstasy she felt just looking upon this beautiful creature. It was the greatest privilege of her existence to merely stand in her presence.

Freddie cooed breathlessly as the very tip of her dragon's tail was under her chin, guiding her face back up.

“Easy now.” Zoey sang. “I should have warned you, Kobolds have a very instinctive…appreciation for dragons. Try to remember who I really am to you. Who are you?”

“I am…” What was she again? Whatever her dragon needed her to be, of course. But there was something else, something that came first. Something more important. “I’m your wife. You’re my wife.”

“I’m yours.” Zoey nodded. “First and always.”

The dragon’s tail wrapped around her little body, pulling her in close until she was nestled up against her.

 “Mine…” Freddie breathed. “This is…this is so much.”

“We’ll have all the time in the world to figure it out.” Zoey brought her long neck around, curling up until her head was beneath Freddie. “The link between dragons and their chosen kobolds is deep. Now there are so many more gifts that I can share with you.”

 The kobold happily flopped forward into the carpet of soft, mossy hair. “A nice place to sleep would be a start.” Her little tail waved in the air above her. “That was…intense. Took a lot out of me.”

“Whatever you say, dearest.” Zoey nodded, an element of bemusement in her voice. Clearly there was something about obeying a kobold that she found very funny.

“Rest…” Freddie nodded. The toll that the change had taken on her body and mind began to make itself known. “Zoey I…I love you. So much.”

“I love you too.” The dragon murmured, and the kobold finally let sleep take her, wrapped up in her lover’s body.