And then, Ash nudged Lily insistently.
"Hm?" Lily blinked, lifting the little dragon gently into her arms. "What is it, Ash?"
Ash pointed at its glasses with a small claw, tapping the frame twice.
Lily tilted her head in confusion. "You want them off? But you liked them so much…"
Still, she carefully removed the eyeglasses and held them in her hands, watching as Ash hovered in the air before her, then moved forward a little.
For a single breath, the world seemed to pause.
Then the air shifted.
Mana surged outward in a sudden, overwhelming tide, pressure rippling through the street like an invisible wave. Ash's small form stretched violently, shadows peeling away as if discarded, its body expanding upward in a heartbeat.
Scales thickened and darkened, wings unfurled with a thunderous rush of displaced air, and in the span of a breath, the adorable little drake vanished. In its place, a gigantic dragon filled the street.
