Knight and Serpent (enemies to lovers o/o, may contain strong themes)

Monsters roam the Outlands of Aurum, and the people of Oaken Keep need heroes to protect them. So, the Knights of the Crown are enlisted to slay monsters and keep the kingdom safe from any sort of danger that might cross them.

But when your character, a knight, meets a shapeshifting dragon, there is something strange about this monster. Whatever it is, it causes the knight to spare the beast, and in return the monster shows the knight mercy in turn.

But what happens when the knight keeps returning to the dragon’s den up on Mount Phobos? Well, romance, obviously.

Rules:
I’m okay with gore, strong language, NSFW, violence, and dark themes.
However, I am NOT okay with bigotry.
Also, don’t be a dick.
I’d prefer a more experienced writer for this.
No one liners!
Don’t be overpowered or overly edgy.
Have fun!

Template to be posted if/when someone joins.

(No need, and of course you can join!)

(We can use templates! I’ll keep them short though, to keep stuff from getting too complicated.)

(I’ll just post a very short one and we can begin!)

Name:
Age:
Gender/Pronouns:
Appearance:
Basic Personality: (like, one or two basic traits at least.)
Fatal Flaw:
Other:

(Nope! Well, preferably your character would be like, 20 or older but otherwise no limits.)

Name: Maker Crow (Maker is a formality, and Crow is their name.)
Age: 103, in human form tends to take the appearance of a person in their 20s.
Gender/Pronouns: They are however they present as. If they take the appearance of a woman, they are a woman. If they take the appearance of a man, they are a man. However, dragons have a more complex view on gender and gender roles and don’t tend to take those on except around humans, whether for purposes of deception or otherwise. As for pronouns, they will use the pronouns that correspond to whatever they are at the time.
Appearance: In draconic form, they are fifty feet high and have six golden eyes like molten lava. They have pitch black scales that would shine in the light and show hints of fire underneath but are always covered in thick ash from their volcanic home. Their claws, attached to eight long, muscled limbs are long and sharp, and they have minor chips and cracks on their scales from knights always trying (and failing) to kill them. They never like to go fully human, taking the form of a two eyed, masculine-presenting mostly human being with brown skin dark as the sea and eyes like melted gold, smoky black scales running down their neck and back and forearms and thighs, with hints of gold beneath the surface. Their human form has a flat, wide nose and prominent cheekbones you could cut yourself touching, along with retractable claws on their six strong arms. Their human state stands at about 6’4”, with a broad muscular body that could give a warm embrace and slice your throat in the same moment.
Basic Personality: They are calm, and calculating, a very tricky individual who will do whatever it takes to get what they want. They don’t much care for other people, preferring to live in solitude with their inventions and make deals with people to create things for them in order to add more treasure to their hoard.
Fatal Flaw: Their possessiveness, their callousness.
Other: Has some major parental issues that they generally leave unaddressed.

(Thanks! Want me to post a quick starter?)

(Fantastic! I’ll pull something up in just a minute!)

Crow paced around their sleeping cavern, hollowed out in the side of the volcanic mountain. They were in their more humanoid form now, tinkering with their newest bio-form. It was a small mushroom, one that could spread quickly if given some soil, and it could decompose anything within just a few hours of eating away. Well, living beings were generally tougher, and maybe not anything strictly speaking, but that wasn’t the point. The monsters wanted to use this to their advantage in the war, and since the only way to defeat this thing was to cut it off at the root, and with how it could spread so quickly, it was a force to be reckoned with that, if all went to plan, the Knights of the Crown would not be able to reckon.

They put away the mycelium and went to the entrance of their cave. Knights always came around this time of day, and so it was good to just get things over with. They shifted into their dragon form, with its impenetrable scales and broad wings that could knock you into next week.

Crow circled around, lying near the entrance of the volcanic cavern. It was just shy of the actual cave entrance, but close enough that Crow could smell….

“Come on out, human. You won’t win this fight.” they laughed, getting up and walking to the entrance of the cave. They knew where they stood, and they knew even better where the human stood, giving them the unfair advantage.

The cave was boiling, you could feel the heat from outside. Someone even in light armor would barely be able to stand it, with how the heat edged it’s way into every nook and cranny of your being. Crow could withstand it, they were a dragon of course, it was natural to them to seek warmth.

The way the place was designed was as a labyrinth. Twists and turns and giant halls running through the mountain and under the ground, it allowed them safe passage that no human would even be able to begin mapping. Their brains were too small to comprehend it, anyways.

“It’s all worthless, you know. I’m quite large even by dragon standards, but my scales are small and closely spaced. You won’t penetrate my armor, you won’t find any weak points on me, really the only chance you have is getting me to shapeshift and you surely won’t get past this cave entrance to even attempt finding out how.” they said, crawling closer to the edge of the cave. If the human wanted to escape, they wouldn’t even get the chance before the beast pounced. Crow had excellent vision for even the smallest of ants, and they could certainly find a pitiful human if they wanted to.

The dragon circled around to the entrance, looking for the human. And then spotting him, and in a flash picking the man up with two huge talons as if he were a mere insect. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? You have two minutes to give me a reason as to why I shouldn’t just eat you now and spare myself the trouble.” Crow growled, their breath hot and heavy in Flynn’s ear. They didn’t like going through the trouble of doing this, but there was a sort-of hospitality code when it came to imposters, and Crow was a little old fashioned.

Crow took a moment to consider this. They then carried the man to the far side of the cave, taking great care not to harm him in any way. They gently set the knight onto the ground, and then suddenly shifted down, down, down, into their more humanoid form. They still managed to be taller than the man, and they chuckled at this fact.

“Duel me, then, we’ll settle the terms and prepare for battle.” they said, smiling a wide, sharp-fanged grin at the man.

Crow crossed their six arms. The human didn’t seems to be particularly enthusiastic, despite the fact that Crow was giving him a fighting chance. They were even in their more humanoid form, one much easier than their previous to strike down.

“I will settle for this form, and this form only, if it gives you any satisfaction.” might as well make this fair, Crow thought. They breathed, hard, chest moving up and down rhythmically.

“I will also allow you to choose the location of the duel, and what tools are available to use besides flesh and blood and bone. Bones that will likely end up splintered by the end of this, either mine or yours.”

“I thought you were a valiant and noble knight! But now I see you are just a weak little coward, worth less than dirt. Very well, you may train. Do not come to see me again unless it is for our duel.” Crow growled, ushering the man out of the cave. Their heart raced and their eyes were darting around the area as they forced the man out of their home.

Something about that knight… distracted them. Maybe it was his courage in the face of a possible end, maybe it was his beautifully beating little heart like that of a mouse, maybe it was just those deep, deep brown eyes that Crow could stare into for hours and-

No, they mustn’t get distracted, they had an important duel. And while they would almost certainly win it, Crow still… worried, for some reason.

Crow’s heart raced, and they needed some air. They exited the cave and began to climb directly up the mountains, scraping their weathered palms on sharp rock and bones scattered around from anyone who wasn’t Crow that tried to climb the place.

And then they waited, for what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably no more than a month or two, maybe three. Humans were impatient and rash, especially in the case of fights, he’d show up eventually.

And weirdly enough, Crow almost missed him. Almost. Missing the man would be a sign of weakness, so Crow didn’t really miss him, just… almost missed him.