Dreamwalker

Dreamwalker shouted and struggled as the jet-black creature effortlessly dragged her weakened form into a maze of black walls. A low burn had settled in her throat; she gagged as she thought of how the sensation came to be there.

The creature dropped Dreamwalker against a wall and spewed more liquid on her, but this time, instead of feeding it to her like an overly-aggressive mother bird, it let the stuff drop onto her claws, where it quickly solidified.

Dreamwalker screamed at her captor as it walked away, screamed at it for daring to look like a dragon, for capturing her, for hurting her. She tugged at the stuff sticking her to the floor for what felt like days before a spasm wracked her body and her muscles gave out completely. She whimpered as she watched the gray swirls on her lavender-colored body slowly distorting, changing color and shape. The burn in her throat spread through her until she was crying out in agony.

At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she felt it there when she woke up. In her pain-blurred mind something spoke to her, called to her as one of its own. One of the Hivemind.

Dreamwalker fell silent, listening and watching her scales turn black. Even when her captor returned she thought nothing of it and remained silent and motionless.

Bolts of fire crashed around her and she was out of the Hive, blinking up at the smoky sky as Drones fell around her. A Guardian asked her if she was okay, glancing worriedly at her transformed body and the blue runes that were the only remnants of who she had been. The Consciousness still whispered to her, but she also still felt her own mind through it, and her own mind had one question only.

Now what?