The sketch for this drawing was shown off on my Twitter a few days ago! Follow me at: https://twitter.com/AvelicanArt

No, I'm not telling you where my hoard is. Good luck finding it.
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You peeked around the edge of a cave that was hidden in the forest. Not a single soul was in sight, except for the couple mosquitos that were attracted by your presence. You heard of a cave that was carved in the side of a mountain that was filled with gold and other treasures, and just from the single peek around the edge, you knew it to be true.

Piles and piles of glittering shiny gold coins covered the rocky floor and lit up the otherwise dark cavern. Grinning to yourself, you gripped the brown sack in your hand even harder as you carefully made your way in.

Who did this cave even belong to? No one knew. However, there were some rumors of a ferocious dragon that had an unreadable attitude and personality. Some said it was kind, while others said it was very vindictive. You hoped you wouldn’t see any dragons today, however. You didn’t need that in your life.

You set the sack on the ground and immediately started scooping handfuls of heavy gold coins into the bag. You winced slightly as they made a loud jingling sound, but you supposed it was necessary if you were going to make the biggest heist in history.

Suddenly, there was a noise from farther in the depths of the cave. You froze, hoping that it was just a coin falling over. When nothing else happened, you hurriedly resumed your looting.

Finally, you filled the sack a little over half full. You would have gladly taken more, but the gold was much too heavy for you to carry a whole sack. Grunting a bit as you slung it over your shoulder, you felt giddy as you tiptoed away with what was easily worth thousands of dollars.

As the entrance to the cave was just a few strides away, suddenly you felt a hand come down on your shoulder, gripping you hard. You squeaked in fright and turned to look, seeing a yellow scaled, four-fingered hand with sharp black claws hold you tightly.

“Leaving so soon? You haven’t even said goodbye yet.” a low voice said from near your ear. The words were kind by themselves, but you could easily detect the menacing tone that was diffused in them.

Thinking fast, you dropped the sack full of coins that was holding you down and tried to make a break for it, but the hand gripped you even tighter, rendering your attempt moot.

The figure spun you around and you could finally see who was addressing you. He was a tall anthropomorphic dragon wearing a t-shirt and pants, with yellow scales, a mop of black hair on his head, and imposing wings. He effortlessly picked up the sack of coins like it was nothing and scowled at you.

“Did you seriously try stealing from my hoard?” he shouted at you, not looking for an answer.

And yet, you felt the need to respond with “I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

The dragon rolled his eyes. “You sure won’t, once I’m done with you.”

Your legs quaked at the idea of a punishment from the clearly upset reptile in front of you. “You know, I suppose I could have assumed a feral form. Would have made things easier and you definitely would have pissed yourself instead, which would have been funnier.” the dragon continued, scratching his chin.

“Please don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything!” you exclaimed, falling to one knee and begging the large creature in front of you.

The dragon smirked, looking at his left hand as his fingers began to light up with magical energy. “Anything? Well, I could use an accountant… After all, who knows how much I have here after you so lovingly barged into my area?” Pointing at you with the glowing fingers, you felt the pulse of magical energy as it enveloped you completely.

“W-what the-- yip?! Yip!!” you exclaimed, suddenly finding yourself unable to stop making high pitched squeaky sounds as ]your face pushed out into a gray scaly snout. Your body also trembled, and your clothes got looser and looser as you got shorter and smaller.

“I think a little kobold assistant would match a dragon’s needs perfectly!” the dragon said, sneering at you as a reptilian tail wriggled out of your spine.

You looked up at the dragon and suddenly felt like you just had to help and serve him. You were a kobold, right? That’s what kobolds did! No… that wasn’t right! You shook your head vigorously to try and clear your thoughts, but as your hands crunched and gained short little claws along with your feet, it became harder to drive those thoughts away.

The dragon emptied out the sack meanwhile, and all the gold coins clattered to the ground again to make another pile. “Oh, are you finally done changing?” he asked, not really paying much attention to you. “Perfect. Now, little bold,I am your new dragon master now. Count every single one of these coins and give me their value, and maybe, MAYBE I will praise you.”

“Y-yes! Thank you, Sir!” you exclaimed, mind totally overwhelmed by kobold instincts. And you immediately began kneeling on the ground to count each one meticulously.

The dragon crossed his arms and watched the new gray kobold with little interest. He’d turn him back after he was done, maybe. Maybe after he has him build a fence or something to the cave entrance. Either way, he’d be here for a while.