The Dragon's Pit loomed before Baines, a cavernous maw carved into the mountainside, its jagged entrance exhaling a faint, sulfuric warmth. The air thrummed with ancient power, a pulse that seemed to resonate with the very stones.
Baines stood motionless, his sharp gaze fixed on Smallfoot, who now bore a human form that radiated an unfamiliar intensity. 'She's changed,' he muttered, his voice barely audible over the distant rumble of the pit.
The transformation was stark, not just her newfound ability to shift into a human guise, but something deeper. Once a 3rd star dragon, comparable to her rider, Smallfoot's strength now eluded precise measurement. She hovered in a nebulous space, stronger than a 3rd star, but not quite a 4th star.
'Or is there a different ranking for dragons?' Baines mused, his mind sifting through possibilities. Her aura had shifted, exuding an air of maturity, dominance, and a subtle undercurrent of danger that marked her as a true dragon.
