"I've never known you to make a fool out of yourself, love. And I don't think you will now." Mira replied softly and kissed him gently and pulled his arms around her waist, nuzzled his hair and took in the scent of him.

"Okay..." Mira let go of him reluctantly and looked about. They were in an opening, a meadow of sorts ringed with trees. "Whenever you're ready..."

Bran took a deep breath and looked down at the ring on his hand. "So how was this supposed to work again?" he asked her. "Just let the dragon out of the ring? Magic never was my forte you know." He looked up at her and smiled, "any words of advice before I attempt this?"

Mira slid her fingers to Bran's and ran her finger over the warm wood. "I don't think magic is what is required..." Her brows knitted together, "I should have wrote down what the dwarf said maybe...but, from the way he talked, I think all that's required is your total acceptance of the spirit within...I'm just not sure..."

"Acceptance, hmmm?" Bran said softly. "Okay. Let's give it a shot and see what happens." He closed his eyes and let himself drift, sensing the spirit harboured within the ring. It raged a little at its captivity but that was more from frustration than genuine anger. It had been confined for so long and it wanted to be free... it wanted to spread its wings and soar into the blue skies above where there were no rings to bind it.

The fair-haired elf let his soul run soothingly over scales that he could somehow feel and the beast stilled beneath his touch. The scales seemed to shift under the caress, the spirits merging and intertwining. The green and gold strands of the elf's soul twisted through the steel-grey of the dragon's until it was impossible to tell where one stopped and the other began.

His bones and muscles seemed to ripple beneath his skin as if that fragile layer was a suit of clothing that was a size too small. A growl rumbled in his chest and his spine twisted and lengthened. Scales ran smoothly over his skin, gleaming in the sunlight like burnished steel. A puff of smoke drifted from the dragon's nostrils as he looked down at Mira from faceted jade green eyes.

Erm... I think it might have worked? he sent to her silently in a tone that hovered mid-way between nerves and delight.

He stretched out his wings tentatively, his wedge-shaped head turning on his long neck to look back along the scaly length of his body.

Mira watched the whole transformation of her Vershan with a mixture of Elven curiousity, Human fear, and Draconic interest. The end result of Bran's shift left Mira gaping and almost speechless. The race of dragon that he'd become surprised her entirely, she'd expected a Silver...or a forest Dragon...but a Steel Dragon?

"Oh. Aye...it worked..." Mira nodded slowly and her breath, which she had just realized she was holding, escaped her in a little whoosh that blew several stray strands of her loose hair away from her face. Her blood was all but singing with the Pull as it sent electric tingles through her body, and now she understood why Yarwin had told her the sound of 'Chel's voice was almost like a touch, a gentle soothing thing like no other touch he'd ever felt. She could almost feel his presence in her mind and it only made the Pull stronger and more intense than she'd ever felt. This was her mate and the dragon in her was intensely thrilled with his form.

"Gods...you're as finely built in this form as in your elven form, Bran..." Mira breathed quietly into his mind.

Indeed, the dragon he had become was sleek and elegant, built for speed and grace, not the thundering hulking form of her father or brother. Trembling fingers reached out and traced the muscles of his shoulder and slid across his warm burnished scales.

A soft growl rumbled in the steel dragon's chest as her fingers ran across his scales. I'm glad you think so he replied. Slightly tentatively he stretched out his wings, feeling the pull of muscle and tendon as they unfurled. The part of the elf that was now draconic wanted to feel the freedom of the air beneath those wings. Will you come and fly with me? he asked Mira.

Mira's fingers slowed their gentle tracings, her eyes drifting shut at the feel of his voice again. "You didn't think I'd let you go alone?" A ripple slid through Mira's body and shortly thereafter, Mira stood next to Bran in her own Dragon form. Her jade eyes sparked with a slight glow of pleasure and appreciation as he stretched his wings and the muscles along his shoulders and back flexed accordingly.

He was built Speed and grace...but with deadly strength. A sound something like a deep feline purr rumbled out of her...she'd never touched another Dragon out of love or desire before and the desire to do so now was overwhelming. Mira angled her head slightly and slid her cheek and neck down Bran's, smiling inwardly at the feel of his scales on hers. The scent of him was intoxicating...possibly even more so now...

"Love, you're also as distracting in this form as you are in your Elven form...and you still smell good..." Jade dragon eyes filled with mischief as she pulled slightly away.

"And flight in this form is, I suspect, nothing like flight in your raven form..."