I woke to discover that sleeping arrangements had become... complicated.
My new body took up roughly three times the space it used to, which meant the bed I'd carefully crafted from shadow-hardened wood and moss had approximately the structural integrity of a particularly ambitious cracker. It had given up somewhere around 3 AM with a crack that sent Lira tumbling into my beard (she'd decided it was a "nest" now) and prompted Pip to relocate to my horns.
Nyx, being a dragon and therefore immune to concepts like "personal space" or "physics," had simply draped herself across my chest in her new dragonkin form and refused to acknowledge the disaster. Her tail was wound around my thigh in a possessive knot that would require either diplomacy or bolt cutters to undo.
"Morning," I rumbled, my voice noticeably deeper now, like someone had run it through a reverb pedal made of granite and existential dread.
Nyx cracked one eye open, scales shimmering in the dawn light filtering through the cracked window. "Morning, giant." Her grin was pure mischief, her voice... actually hearing her voice instead of just feeling it through the bond, still sent a thrill through me. "You're going to need bigger doors."
She wasn't wrong. I'd already taken out two doorframes just trying to get to the bathroom last night. The fairies had declared it "performance art."
I carefully extracted myself from the tangle of wings, tails, and unconscious fairies, trying not to fling anyone across the room accidentally. My new tail had opinions about balance, mostly that I didn't have any. I caught myself on the wall, leaving claw marks in the stone.
"Oops."
The System chimed, entirely too cheerful for this hour:
[Daily Quest: Don't Destroy Your Own Fortress Current Success Rate: 23% Furniture Casualties This Week: 7 Recommended Action: Invest in Reinforcement Enchantments (or just give up)]
"Fortress?" I said. "This is a glorified tree hollow with delusions of grandeur."
[QUEST AVAILABLE: BUILD SOMETHING WORTHY OF YOUR NEW STATUS]
[REWARD: PEOPLE STOP CALLING YOUR HOME 'TRAGIC']
[ACCEPT?]
"You know what? Fine. Yes. I accept."
Through the bond, I felt Nyx's amusement. "You're going to build us a proper home?"
"Apparently, the System thinks my current accommodations are embarrassing."
"The System is not wrong." She stretched, her dragonkin form all dangerous grace. "But first... breakfast. You promised the fairies you'd make that 'Earth pancake' thing."
Right. The pancakes. I'd made the mistake of describing them once, and now Lira wouldn't let it go.
"This is going to be a disaster," I muttered, trying to figure out how to use a spatula with claws that could shred steel.
"Undoubtedly." Nyx smiled. "I cannot wait to watch."
Later That Morning - The Announcement
I'd gathered everyone at the camp's center: Nyx (amused), the fairies (excited), Elder Mirielle (patiently waiting), and the various creatures that had decided my territory was safe (curious).
"Alright," I said, standing on a rock so everyone could see me, which was less necessary now that I was eight feet tall. "We need to talk about the elephant in the room."
"What's an elephant?" Dewdrop asked.
"Large animal. Not important. The point is..." I gestured at the camp. "...this place is too small. We need actual space. Proper defenses. Somewhere people can live instead of just survive."
"You're building a fortress," Elder Mirielle said, smiling.
"I'm building a home. There's a difference."
"Is there?"
Lira zipped forward, hovering at eye level. "Does this home have running water?"
"I can make running water."
"Heated running water?"
"...I can probably make heated running water."
"And proper rooms? With doors that close? And windows?"
"Yes?"
"And a kitchen that doesn't involve cooking over an open fire?"
I looked at Nyx for help. She was grinning, clearly enjoying this.
"I'll make you a kitchen," I said to Lira. "A nice one. With... whatever kitchens need."
Pip floated up next. "A library?"
"Sure."
"With organized sections?"
"I'll try."
"And comfortable reading nooks?"
"Pip, I will build you the best reading nooks in Shadowfen."
She beamed, and I realized I'd just committed to a level of interior design I was completely unqualified for.
"This is going to be expensive," I said.
"You absorbed a dungeon heart," Elder Mirielle pointed out. "You can literally reshape reality within your domain. Cost is not your concern."
"Right. Reality bending. I keep forgetting I can do that now."
[QUEST UPDATED: BUILD ASHENHEARTH]
[SUGGESTED FEATURES: EVERYTHING EVERYONE JUST ASKED FOR]
[GOOD LUCK]
"I'm going to need help," I admitted.
"Obviously," Lira said. "You'd probably build everything at the wrong scale and forget about furniture."
"I wouldn't forget furniture!"
"You forgot furniture in your current shelter."
"...That's fair."
Nyx wrapped her tail around mine, a gesture that still made my brain short-circuit. "I'll help. It'll be fun. Like building a nest, but with more rooms and less instinct-driven obsession."
"Somehow that's not as reassuring as you think."
Day 2 of Construction
Turned out, reshaping reality was exhausting even with a dungeon heart's worth of power.
I'd started with the basics: foundations. Using my Earth Manipulation, I shaped stone from the bedrock itself, creating a base that could support... well, whatever madness we ended up building.
Nyx helped by marking out spaces with her shadow magic, temporary walls that showed where permanent ones should go. The fairies flitted around, making suggestions that ranged from "practical" to "architecturally impossible."
"We need a waterfall," Lira announced.
"In the fortress?"
"In the grand hall. For ambiance."
"Lira, that's insane."
"You literally just made stone flow like water. How is a waterfall insane?"
I looked at Nyx. She shrugged. "She has a point."
"Fine. We'll have a waterfall. In the grand hall. For ambiance."
Pip added, "And a hidden library with a riddle for a door."
"Why does it need a riddle?"
"So knowledge is earned, not just stumbled upon."
"That's actually pretty reasonable..."
"And the shelves should reorganize themselves based on what you need to read!"
"Pip, that's going to be a nightmare to enchant."
"But you'll do it?"
I sighed. "Yes. I'll do it."
[SKILL INCREASE: FORTRESS BUILDING LV. 4] [NOTE: YOU'RE GETTING BETTER AT THIS] [NOTE 2: THE WATERFALL IS STILL RIDICULOUS]
By the end of the day, I had foundations, the rough outline of walls, and a headache from everyone's "helpful" suggestions.
But I also had something else: purpose. Not just survival... creation. Building something that would last, that would shelter the strange family I'd found.
That night, lying in the wreckage of my bed with Nyx draped across me and fairies nested in my beard, I felt... content.
"Tomorrow we frame the walls," I said.
"Tomorrow," Nyx agreed, her tail tightening around mine. "And maybe add that sky balcony I asked for?"
"You want a sky balcony?"
"For sunbathing. In dragon form."
"...I'll add a sky balcony."
Through the bond, I felt her satisfaction. And underneath it: that fierce, possessive love that still took my breath away.
Mine, she sent.
Yours, I agreed.
And somewhere in the distance, I swore I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, many of them, heavy, moving with purpose.
The forest was about to get more crowded.