The next morning found some disturbing noises coming from the chambers presently
occupied by the mayor. Huntchy was unafraid, though wary when he pushed open
the doors separating the dragon's room from the rest of the abode. He poked his
head around the massive oak doors to find his scaly guest still asleep. The
god-awful noise was apparently his stomach. It made sense. He must have burned,
literally burned away thousand of calories during his flight. That posed the
problem of how to feed him. A horse wasn't much of one for carnivorous
cravings. His larder was stocked with oats, and hay, and apples. A dragon ate
whatever a dragon wanted, and if pressed too far, whomever he wanted. Survival
could overcome discretion in no time flat.

     Before he could arrive at a firm decision as to what to do, the wyvern awoke. He
yawned, spitting sparks into the ceiling, his wings scraping the walls on
either side. He opened his eyes. “Morning Huntchy. Seems I have a built in
alarm. My stomach seems to be telling me I need to eat. In a body this big, I'm
afraid that means it's going to take a lot. I am uncertain at present how to
quash this insistent hunger." Huntchy knew what they had fed Maarteel, but dismissed
that immediately.

     “Well my friend, your predicament; the present one, caught my attention a moment ago.
I was contemplating what I might need to feed you. Dragons are meat eaters.
There is plenty of meat to be had in this town, but only if you stooped to
eating our citizens. I think that would be highly impolitic, not to mention
impolite. Perhaps you would care for some fish? The ocean is close, but the
fleet may still be out filling their net. Besides, you could eat all they snare
and still not be satisfied." Jon-Tom felt the rumbling in his stomach like
thunder echoing across a valley.

   “I've been a dragon before, even if not one so large as this. You're right. When it
comes to having an appetite, they do, though no more than normal for a creature
this size. Perhaps I had better find my own victuals." He nudged open the doors
leading to the outside and basked in the sun a moment, spreading his wings wide
in preparation for flight. His muscles were sore. He was amused that his talent
had left that particular detail unattended, then remembered his healing had
taken a battering yesterday trying to keep him from frying from the inside out.
A little soreness could be dealt with without complaint. Still, he needed a
running start to get airborne. Once he was up, he could smell the salt air
wafting in from the coast. He headed in that direction.

     In doing so, he missed his morning visitor. It was a lovely hare, complete with
long silky ears and a soft, if hidden, fuzzy tail. It was hidden by the folds
of a silk gown, colored green and blue, with little cascades of silken flowers
around its hems. Huntchy was impressed and alarmed at the same time. No one in
town wore such an expensive gown, nor was anyone here talented enough to have
made the material and sewn together such a masterpiece. But he was smarter than
the average horse.

    “Good Morning my lady. Have you forgiven your husband so quickly for his
indiscretions?" The hare got a sullen look on her face. “Now Huntchy! How did
you know it was me? I look nothing like my human self!" The horse was looking
her over. He had an eye for females. He may prefer his own kind, but he knew
beauty in its many forms. This little bunny was a knockout. It seemed like his
guest might be returning home soon after all.

    “My lady. No one would have the audacity to visit the mayor this early, and while
he remains in his present form, unless that person was his wife. Since you
change every other day, it was no great feat to figure out that you are you.
And may I say, you look quite lovely. I have no hankering for humans, but you
have transformed into quite the fetching lagomorph. It's too bad your husband
is presently held in the clutches of this lamentable form, bestowed upon him by
that powerful fluid he so unwisely partook of. He might then reap the benefits of
this lovely body you now possess." She stuck her cute tongue out at him.

     “You know Huntchy, I think I liked you better before. Now you sound too smart." He
whinnied. “I am smart, milady. But if you prefer, I can go back to talking as I
have for the past several years. Iffin mewords aren't too caustic for
such wunnerful ears." She giggled at the intended compliment.
.

     “Oh, speak as you will. As you've guessed, I came to see my husband. I take it he
has already left?" The horse pointed skyward. “He left to find his breakfast.
He has headed to the ocean to see if he can fill his gullet with mullet."
Sybeele tittered. “Funny! Well, when he gets back, we need to have a sole to
sole talk." She waited for him to get the humor. It didn't take long. “Yes my
lady, I'm positive you do. Just don't discuss things until he ends up with a
haddock." She wrinkled her nose at his rejoinder and smiled. “Oh, I won't He
just has a few bad halibuts he needs to break. Then I'm sure all will be fine!"
Huntchy just shook his head. What a female!

     The hare turned and bounded down the street, making good time. The horse had been
truthful; as a hare, she was much more attractive than as a human. But she
wasn't bad looking, for a human. She was an interesting case. He had never been
able to get as much information about her as he would have liked. She seemed to
tell her friends a lot, but none of it ever made much sense. Of course, coming
from another world, he had no reference points to draw off of. Here, the only
remarkable thing about her seemed to be her mutability. And now, it was clear,
a solid connection with the two most remarkable beings he had ever heard of.
The life spirit of the planet embodied, and the one who had released her.

     The latter was now stuck as a dragon. His wife, who now had his power, was
presently stuck as a hare. What a wacky couple they were. He thought of his own
misguided adventures and chuckled grimly to himself. Things happened. Then
another thought struck him. Sybeele, in her present form, looked remarkably
like one of her friends. He had no idea if that was a trick of her
transformation, or if it was more. He was going to have to do some digging into
her life. Since there was only one person who would know more than the girl
herself, he was going to be pumping him for information when he returned.

     Jon-Tom was sitting on the shoreline, watching the dim outlines of the fishing fleet
nestled along the horizon. He figured that was where the fish were, but he had
no desire to spook the normally superstitious sailors with his unwarranted
presence. He was sitting here holding his breath, wondering how long he could contain
it. He was surprised to find he could go a full ten minutes, counting off
mentally. The next step was seeing if he could swim. Flying was one thing; in
the water his wings would cause drag. He found that if he kept them close to
his sides, he could propel himself forward with his tail. It wouldn't be as
smooth as a dolphin, but it would do.

     He launched in the air and flew out a half mile from shore, folded his wings and
dived. He hit the water as smoothly as a javelin, breaking the surface with the
barest of splashes. The water was crystal clear, and it didn't take too long to
find fish. The problem was, they were all small, running in huge schools of
silvery iridescence. Their sheer numbers and reflective, ever-moving bodies
made him dizzy.  He was ready to try
somewhere else when salvation arrived in the form of a shark. Its sole intent
was feeding on the school. It paid him no mind, perhaps not even registering
that he was something alive and to be reckoned with.

     Jon-Tom had never had shark. He wasn't much on sushi, but then, he was capable of
cooking his own meal. His neck snaked out and nabbed the beast. It filled his
jaws. The ocean predator tried desperately to escape, something it had never
had to do in its life. The dragon pushed upwards until it broke the surface.
That's when he found out he had a problem. Ocean birds had learned to run
across the water to get up the necessary velocity to fly, or else were already
so light as to facilitate takeoff. A dragon might launch into the sky from a
solid surface, without additional assistance, but in water, it was impossible.

     He had yet again not thought his actions through. The shark was still struggling,
making any attempt at flying impossible. He did the only thing he could at the
moment. He paddled in place while he thought. The first thing was to put his
meal out of its misery. He hated killing, but everyone had to eat. He consoled
himself that he had just saved a bunch of smaller fish from certain death. With
a crunch, he finished the shark off. Next was flying. It turns out his wings
were wet, and his scales had trapped a great deal of water. He was now well
over a ton heavier than when he woke up this morning, including the weight of
his meal.

     He turned towards shore and took the only course he had left. He swam. An aquatic
dragon would have laughed him out of the water. But he made progress. He was
ravenous by the time he reached shore. The smell of blood and the taste of fish
almost had him eating the thing raw as he swam. When his feet and claws finally
touched bottom, he rose up, his wings at his side, water flowing off like a
torrent. A bloodied flow fell from his jaws, the shark hanging limply on either
side. Therefore, it was no surprise that he frightened a covey of beach combing
gulls and a few idle old timers looking for shells and flotsam.  They had been aware of
their mayor's recent plight, but not of his recent flight…and swim.

     Being too hungry and tired to bother to explain or apologize, he simply watched them
flee back towards town. He dropped his prize in the sand, and with a steady,
low flame, began cooking it where it was. He rolled it a few times, but it was
only half done when he gave up and took a bite. It could have used some soy
sauce, or maybe a little Tabasco, but since he couldn't do magic with a mere thought
any more, he savored it as it was. He was still working away when a bevy of
armed guards came running his way. Huntchy was with them, laughing.

     “I told you, you idiots! The mayor needed to eat, and unless you wish to volunteer for
his meals, you had better get used to the idea of him foraging as he will."
They various soldiers put down their pikes, thankful they were spared an
encounter that would normally have proved fatal. One spoke up. “We're sorry
your Lordship. The stories coming from those whom you managed to frighten told
of an enormous sea beast with a Leviathan in its mouth." He looked to the
remains on the beach. “I say, was that a Napakaluhba?"

     Jon-Tom had no idea what a napa-thingy was. Well, he did know it was delicious. He
looked down at the bones and head. The thing did have some impressive teeth.
They appeared to be six or seven inches long and glossy red, but in this larger
body, his perception of size was askew. “I went fishing, and this is what I
caught. I was hungry, so I ate it. Is there a problem?" The soldier, apparently
the leader of the group, looked up in awe. “No your Lordship. It's just that no
one catches and eats one of these. They are the top of the food chain around
here, at least when it comes to sea life. They have been known to tear holes in
boats. There isn't a net that can hold them. Even the dolphins and orcas have
the sense to shy away from them." He took his pike and pried the jaws apart.
Jon-Tom could now see that the soldier, a handsome skunk, could have crawled
into the thing's mouth with room to spare.

     “These teeth occasionally wash up on shore after storms. They are quite prized. You
have now pulled ashore an entire mouthful of them. If you were a merchant, you
would be set for life. Each one is worth two gold pieces. There must be several
hundred in here!" Money didn't mean much to Jon-Tom, not nearly as much as a
full stomach did right then. But he did catch the shark, so the teeth were his
to keep. The question was; what would he do with them? At the moment, he was equipped
with even greater teeth, scales, talons, and flame. Somehow, fish teeth didn't
seem too impressive.

     “Well, I don't immediately have use for them, but if you say they have value, it
behooves me to keep them until I can find a worthy use for them. Thank you for
informing me, uh…what's your name soldier?" The skunk did a bow. “We have not
had time to meet your Lordship. I am Dysosmos, though you may call me Dice if
you like. It's a bit of my given name shortened, and I do like to gamble, so it
works twofold." Jon-Tom chuckled to himself. It was a name he could remember.

     “Well Dice, thank you again for the information. I hope we can sit down and get to
know each other after my present situation passes. In the meantime, I will do
my best to not cause any more chaos around town." The skunk stuck his pike in
the sand. “Oh, don't do that. This place is so settled that it gets boring. In
the past week or so, things have livened up. I think you'll go far to pull this
town out of its complacency. Me and my men haven't had a drill that was as
invigorating as this." There were murmurs of agreement from the others. Huntchy
just laughed.

     “You lot need to be on your toes. Of course, one of you doesn't need the pike to
enforce the rules." Dice raised his tail
and aimed his backside at the horse. “You mean like this?" Huntchy backed away
in mock horror. “Don't you dare! Once is enough!" Jon-Tom was going to want to
hear about that incident. But for now, he was content to fly back to the stable
and sleep off his meal. It was sitting in his belly all nice like. “Gentleman.
I think it's time for me to head back and get indoors. My meal needs digesting
and I need to keep from frightening the good citizens of Hobarrow." He went to
take off and flopped back to earth. His gut was full of food, and his wings and
scales had not yet dried.

     “On the other hand, I guess I can walk the distance. He grabbed the remains of his meal
and turned towards the road. He put one foot in front of the other, plodding
along like an elephant. It seemed undignified, but it was either that or sleep
on the beach. If he had been human, that would have appealed actually. But he
didn't want sand getting wedged between his scales and his skin. Damn, he thought, I'm thinking like a dragon. So he marched on. When they arrived
back to town, there was a huge number of citizens watching from the wall. When
they realized it was only the mayor, they left. They had hoped to witness
another major event; the arrival of a sea monster. A dragon was already passé.

    Jon-Tom plodded through the streets, his footsteps echoing across the houses and storefronts.
He arrived at the horse's residence, he dropped the carcass on the stones, crawled
into his room and dropped to the floor. “Don't wake me until tomorrow," he
yawned out. “Huntchy lowered his head before he spoke. “I'm sorry I didn't
mention this earlier, my friend, but your female made an appearance here today.
She has transformed yet again, this time into a fine looking lagomorph. I was
surprised to see her, and she was surprised I figured out who she was. Perhaps
we can have some time together later to discuss some rather puzzling and
unsettling things about her?"

     Jon-Tom snorted, a bit of flame escaping his nose. “Puzzling and unsettling are two
words to describe any female Huntchy. When you throw a goddess into the mix,
things get even worse. Look at me; I've been many things, even a dragon before
now. I've done things you can't even imagine, despite your great intellect. One
thing I've learned; you'll never figure them out and you shouldn't waste your
time trying. Sybeel has learned a lot since she was dragged over to this world.
I have a feeling that's Eve's doing. But why a goddess would bother is beyond
me. And if you want to know about those changes in my present wife, don't ask
me. It makes no sense, unless she did it for me. I do tend to get bored after
all I've been through. But we'll talk about that later. Right now, it's time to
sleep." He closed his eyes and began snoring. Little smoke rings formed in the
air and collected on the ceiling.