They say you should try to live your dreams.

  I had a dream wherein I would be a big, strong and mighty dragon, governing a dragon cult that worshiped me as a god.

  "Hm, not quite there, scrub a little harder, and a little deeper- oh, yeah, right there, don't stop!"

  I don't purr. The sound coming out of my throat is not a purr, it is a low frequency... uhm... Growl?

  Yeah we'll go with that.

  "Is that better great one?"

  I think I'm most of the way through to having a proper cult. The first batch of proper elites is returning on this most auspicious of days, bringing proof of having had friendly interactions with multiple cultures.

  While normally I was scrubbed in my sleep, the five days I spent catching some shuteye simply weren't enough to clean all of me, I really am very big, especially without proper supplies and tools. Maybe if I had been a janitor in a previous life I'd be of more help, but as it was, all I could do was help with buckets, mops, brushes, brooms, rakes and huge clippers made out of my claws so they could trim the scales that I hadn't noticed were broken.

  Aqua was... fierce, to say the least.

  A sting reminded me, the scales that were broken were still attached to my hide. Regenerating it only took a second, but it was incredible to think that humans could actually make me feel pain...

  Sixteen people, ten women and six men, were handling the cleanup process, mostly the final touches to make me presentable for a ceremony. There wouldn't be polish, but I didn't need to be polished for my scales to shine.

  Too bad I have no idea what silverware polishing kits included or were made of, because feeling as the cleanup crew worked extremely hard to clean me up with subpar tools only made me think I was probably wasting a lot of time just because of said tools.

  Someone walked along my spine. My vertebrae protruded a little from the spinal column, creating spikes and segments that made actually walking along my back quite difficult, especially since catching the edges of my scales would end up badly for anyone who wasn't wearing some seriously durable clothing.

  "Cleaning is done over here, Great One!" the two men who were cleaning my back, right at the base of my wings, shouted.

  "Same here! Every claw has been cleaned!"

  Calls continued to come.

  Just in time.

  "Excellent work. As promised, you will all get a bonus," I called. The ones on top of my back slid down on their butts, and the others all gathered around in front of me, right beside where the meeting platform sat. "Now, I shall fulfill your desires..."

  Sixteen people each had their own desire. Their job might have been simple, but no less important, and no less bothersome and difficult, because of it. Therefore I paid them what would normally have been an entire month's wages, for those five days of hard work.

  I... wonder if creating coins with my powers by manifesting them into existence would have an impact on Argentum's economy.

  Then I remembered, fuck it, I AM THE ECONOMY! so whatever, I'll deal with that problem later.

  After sending them away, I lit the torches and then patiently waited until the procession, led by the priestess, finally reached the little shrine that my home had become, and then the priestess led the Heroes who had ventured to other tribes and learned of them and put in a good word for us, right up the platform, already modified.

  I sat straight, I tried to look as serious as possible, and even did my best to pretend I was totally interested in the speech the priestess was giving, and made absolutely sure not to let them know I was totally distracted.

  Finally, the priestess stepped aside. "And now, Travelers Of Diplomacy, present your gifts to the Great Silver One, our lord and our master awaits your offering, that you may receive his blessing!"

  They stepped forward. As they did, the scribe immediately began writing down a storm. I did not envy her having to write on what was basically a strip of animal skin with shitty ink using what appeared to be an actual feather and not a properly manufactured quill.

  "Great Silver One, I have brought you, from the Wolf Trackers Tribe, the pelt of Big Old Angry Wolf, Scourge of the Empty And Extremely Hot Desert With Nothing But Sand In It!"

  How in the name of all that is blessed was that name only a single two syllable word!? The word used for the wolf's name was actually longer than the one for the desert... man this translation thing can be extremely inconvenient sometimes.

  But I was getting distracted. The pelt was actually huge. Like, the wolf must've been nearly the size of my head, it had gray specks all over it, the wolf's head was mostly intact, though it was scratched up and scarred and one of the eyeholes was sewn shut. It also had a wicked curved horn coming out from between the big fluffy ears.

  "By your will, please allow me to obtain the powers of a wolf and become your servant!"

  Hm... The dark blue fur would compliment her eyes well.

  "Granted," I declared, raising my claw and focusing a wave of green, blue and silver energy, all the colors for show really, on her as I enforced my will upon the world and turned this willing and consenting human into a creature of magic, tied to my will and life. She changed, fur growing on her body.

  Her limbs lengthened and twisted a little as they changed so that she was no longer standing straight and at attention, a natural curve to her legs... her tail grew out of her spine and was then itself covered in blue fur.

  I went all out, and gave her an almost entirely bestial form, strengthening her to the limits of what her body could bear and then transforming her body further, making sure to keep the process slow and painless, after all, it was a reward.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  She burst out of her clothes, but thankfully my policy of underwear was being followed, though her breasts grew and strained the bands of clothing keeping them in place, and it was obvious the loincloth covering her nether regions was growing more uncomfortable by the moment.

  It was then that I finished up, by encasing her in the armor of my elite warriors, deliberately designed to be sexy and a little ridiculous, while resembling me and my scales.

  She gasped and barked, and for a moment, I feared she could no longer talk, but she looked at her hands.

  "This is more than I could've ever dreamed for, my master!" she said, looking up at me, her snout opening and closing a lot more than I expected it to considering the words she was saying. Probably sounded weird to other people.

  "Alright, just in case, I also added an ability to assume a more human form, you'll never be able to get rid of your tail, ears or the fur on your wrists or ankles, but I do recommend changing forms when you need to take a bath or fit in smaller places," I said. "When you are on duty you will show your true form proudly for all to see. Henceforth, your name shall be Ornlu, First Alpha of the Wolf Pack!"

  The newly named Ornlu shuddered and almost squirmed in place. "You give me a great honor, I will wear my new name and form with pride, and serve you until the end of my days with all-"

  "You will work a nine to five like everyone else and so help me myself, I WILL make you take extra vacations if I catch you working more than that!" I immediately cut her off. "Same goes to the two of you, you are to set an example for everyone else to follow, rest is important, I don't want you dying during the middle of work like some kind of deranged prolonged human sacrifice, dammit!"

  There was a small awkward pause.

  "Acknowledge and accept what I said or I WILL stop all of this and go back to sleep, children!"

  "We, uh, we swear not to overwork to death?" the three said.

  "Good. Okay, Ornlu, enjoy your three days of vacation before you're allowed to return to work."

  "O...kay, moving on now," the Priestess said, clearing her throat. Some people actually laughed at the awkwardness of the situation. "Uhm, yeah you go next."

  "Oooo Great Silver One, Lord of the-"

  "The atmosphere's ruined just do the thing," the priestess said, actually looking a little amused herself.

  "Right, the Great One hates all the pomp," the warrior agreed, reaching behind herself to present to me a necklace of pearls. "I bring from the Belch Tribe," okay now this is just insulting, how did the word belch have five syllables?! "the treasure of the depths, sent to us by their chief as a reward for preventing the flooding of their village!"

  Right. Okay. That made sense.

  "By your will, I would request the powers of the Ones from the Sea, that we may be your hand in the sea!"

  "Granted!"

  I did much the same, though her transformation was a lot more extreme, as her legs fused into a tail, her feet changing into a long and semi transparent fin, glowing scales like glittering sapphires and shining aquamarines covered her tail, I made sure to go the extra length and give her one of those tails with a really thick section just under the waist that made it look like she had huge thighs, because it amused me, and I turned her long dark hair red just because.

  Needless to say, her clothes didn't survive the transformation either, and though her upper body was not changed at first...

  I then went and turned her upper body fully monstrous as well, turning her skin blue, making her hands become webbed, shrank her tits and then gave her sharp teeth, turning her ears into fins as well.

  "You may swap between this and the previous form at will. Ask Aqua how to swim through the air," I added, "should be instinctive but obviously I've not really had to try it," I said, "anyway you should be able to breathe on land as well, corrected that little design flaw."

  As a final token, I encased her in armor as well, though I had to be a bit more liberal about modifications to its design, making the bikini part look like shellfish was just a given. Had to cover her bits with a loincloth too, she did still have them after all.

  "Oh thank you so much great one!" the girl giggled.

  "Henceforth your name shall be... Ariel, First Voice of the Merfolk Chorus!" I declared. "Do not, I repeat, do NOT, accept any sort of deals that involve giving up your voice in return for legs. If you really need them, just come ask me instead."

  Ariel, still spewing a thousand thanks, moved back, slithering on her tail a little like a snake.

  It was time for the final one.

  She advanced after sparing a glance at the other two, who were lost in admiring their newly monstrous forms.

  Then she presented me with what she had brought, what looked to be the molted skin of some sort of small lizard... It was positively reeking with magical power. "I bring forth the Skin of the Lizard That Lives For A Really Really Long Time," she explained, "symbol of longevity and declaration of eternal friendship with the Frustratingly Far Away Fruit Tribe!"

  What the hell is up with these names...

  "Can I be a lizard? We fought some Lizard Kobolds on the way back here. I wanna be a lizard," the girl said, sounding and looking giddy.

  "Granted!" I called, bringing both hands up, raising the pointer claw of each hand, paw, claw? whatever, and then shooting her with multicolored zappy zaps.

  In a flash, she was covered in rich dark red scales, her face elongated into a dragon's maw like mine, and though she only had a single pair of horns that crested her head unlike my glorious crown, I paid special attention to make sure they were nice and pointy.

  I gave her a thick and short tail, more function than form really, and then for flavor's sake I gave her digitigrade legs, with wicked hooked claws, shaped just so that wearing high heels would be comfortable. Also she only had four fingers on her hands, all tipped with retractable claws that were similar to mine.

  "Alright, I recommend getting a partner to clean and oil up your scales for you," I said as I encased her in proper armor, "also try not to breathe fire through your nose, it seems fun at first, but the smell is terrible."

  "Wait I can breathe fire?"

  "Do it in moderation, it takes a while for your gas pocket to refill," I explained. "With that done, your name will be Castile, First Sage of the Lizardfolk!"

  They all lined back up. It was time to give some grand, pompous speech, to celebrate the occasion.

  I say, I did pretty good accounting for the fact I had absolutely not a single memory of the speech I had planned to give for all of them, honestly, I kinda came up with the naming thing on the spot all things considered.

  "Each of the three of you is the greatest among you. Each of you, shall now create a lineage. It will be your duty to judge among the people who is to be worthy of becoming a member of your clan. Bring to me your brightest, your greatest and most valorous... bring me those you deem worthy to become your followers!"

  "Yes, Great One!"

  "Okay everyone show is over go back home or whatever it is you had to do today," I said.

  And with that, the spectacle was through, and the shrine was cleared out but for those who worked on its maintenance daily, and the Dragon Priestess. I then curled up to go back to sleep.

  "Sir, I, uh- I was wondering if-"

  I looked at her, opening a single eye and focusing it on her. She was tapping the tips of her fingers against one another.

  "Could, uh, could I... also have a special lineage?"

  She couldn't see it, but I was rolling my other eye.

  Raising a claw, I shot a zappy zap at her.

  She yelped and then a tail covered in silver scales like mine and wings erupted from just under her shoulderblades, adjusting all of her bones and muscles in just a moment was hard but, I pulled it off.

  I also gave her a proper crown of horns similar to mine.

  "Yaaay!"

  Then I took them away.

  "You've got to earn this," I said, as I returned her to her human form. "Impress me by the next time I wake up, and I might well grant you the form of a Dragonewt," I spoke. "You will have your time, I am... tired. But if I am disappointed, the opportunity might fade... forever."

  ...

  I think...

  As I drift off to sleep and catch one last glimpse of the priestess wringing her hands with a determined face, I cannot help but think, I might have made a terrible mistake.

  Surely... surely it'd be fine, right?