You know your life has issues when a cure to your curse is more of a hindrance than the affliction. Well, azuchroma was not technically a cure, it just helped stave off having fur and hooves for a while. It was also a flower that sometimes proved incredibly hard to find, becoming virtually unheard of in the winter. Most people regarded it as a useless weed for decorations, but alchemists know it for the strong magic nullifying properties.

Which made no sense why the damn stuff had to cost so much in the off-seasons. It was the only thing that Karen knew to stop her from changing into a horse frequently. She barely had enough to pay for a flower and still rent the skiff needed for another wayward adventure. The damn boat proved to be worth every copper paid, leaking through several holes while fighting the ex-knights attempts at rowing. Every wave sent her rocking about in a string of unladylike curses. The silver horse pendant flailed against her neck even more than her chestnut ponytail.

Imagine how hard steering the hunk of driftwood would have been in unfavorable weather. Karen had expected a chance to enjoy some sun and steady waters, but that was for people that could afford standardized rentals, not economy super saver bargains. By the time she reached her island destination, the boat was filled to her ankles, and her clothes were soaked. Next time she was going to leave the sailing to professionals.

Discovering no legendary treasure actually rested on this island did little to restore Karen's mood. It was not a massive piece of land, able to be surveyed in under an hour. Still, the bard back at last night's inn insisted relics of godly power were stashed away by a great wizard. The woman hardly cared about becoming all-powerful, long as any of the old junk cured her.

Apparently, the lost treasure was a small pile of gold and a doll on a marble pedestal at the island's center. A dragon plush toy to be more accurate. Karen picked it up with raised eyebrows finding nothing overly impressive about its design. The fuzzy surface was still soft to the touch despite being out in the open salt air. Eyes and wings seemed to be made of firmer material like leather. An insignia under one front paw claimed 'made by The Soft Awakening Co.'

She almost considered leaving the thing but ultimately stuffed it inside a bag with the more valuable metal trinkets. Even selling it to a toy shop for some coppers went a long way for a mercenary. More importantly, were the wild patch of blue azuchroma flowers growing across the northern side of the island. That ended up filling a whole nother bag securing Karen's humanity for probably the rest of the year.

Or the next few minutes, as she failed to notice the long white horns growing out from under her bangs. Peach human skin darkened until it became engulfed in brown scales, causing an annoying itch under Karen's clothes. She only paused from picking flowers long enough to scratch her cheek with grumbling about bugs.

Carrying both sacks back to the boat was a cinch. After all, Karen's body was stretching higher towards the sky with almost every step she took. Boot heels sunk heavy into beach sand while depositing her cargo. A gap opened between her shirt and pants, revealing a stomach full of light brown scales. The fact that all her clothes were getting uncomfortably tight brought only minor concern. It was not uncommon for the horse transformations to speed up a little under vigorous activity. She could help herself to a flower once she was back on the open water for the mainland.

Pushing her skiff back into the water set off a chain of events to finally alert Karen, something was amiss. The flexing of her forearms caused bubbling muscles to shred through the sleeves of her shirt, showing off enormous scallie biceps. Just as the boat hit water, pressure rushed up her spine, tenting the bottom of her pants.

SHRRRTTT!!

Karen could not hop into her craft fast enough to prevent the entire seat of her pants being rent apart by the rapid growth. She looked back aghast to find a muscled lump of scales pushing out of her backside. It only continued to grow as she watched, becoming almost as long as the boat itself before narrowing into a pointed tip.

This was definitely not a horse's tail.

"Wharrrt dar frrrr...urrhk?" Karen tried to cry out, only to find her tongue too big for a human's mouth. It flopped out across her chin, raining drool from its forked end. Attempts to stuff it back behind aching jaws alerted her to how sharp her teeth were also getting.

CHUUT!

"Gaahrrgle!?" Karen staggered to remain standing as her boat support felt increasingly constrained. The craft was continuing to float out to open sea, but she was more worried about the sickle black claws busting out the fingers of her gloves to try steering.

The...paws that exploded out the rest of Karen's gloves barely looked capable of holding an oar anyway. Thumbs migrated back against bulging wrists to become numbs, while 'fingers' lost most of the joints needed for gripping. She could only fumble at the air awkwardly, watching both arms continue inflating with enormous strength. Pauldron straps snapped off the growing biceps to vanish with loud splashes into the sea.

"Hnngh!" Karen's breastplate was not far behind. Her back arched with a massive heave that popped her rib bones outward. The armor plate flew off their explosive girth into the waves while undershirt ripped in half, exposing the round muscular scales underneath. A complete lack of mammary glands did not stop Karen from suddenly feeling top-heavy, not to mention queasy from her internal organs shifting.

CRUNCH!

"RWAR!?" Karen fell forward from the heavy frontal weight and now a sharp pain in her hips. Luckily she barely managed to catch forepaws on the edges of her boat. Still, the fact her boots were pressed against the far side alarmed her to just how big she was becoming.

Another series of rips made Karen glance at her lower body. A feat that was getting easier with the extra length adding onto her neck. What remained of her pants tore from an expanding backside while a lengthy lizard tail splashed at the ocean's surface in frantic flicks. It had become so long the majority of it was plunged deep below the water, making Karen fear its shine might attract hungry fish.

The rest of her legs were becoming increasingly less than human. Pant's legs billowed out around hulking thighs before splitting their outer seams. Harden leather boots were apparently no match for the sharpness of hind paw claws. They pierced through smoother than butter, easing the tension when large paws tore the rest clean off their soles. Karen took turns kicking each broken shoe off her digitigrade back feet, nearly rocking her mass off the boat in the process.

Becoming increasingly naked did not bother Karen so much as the fact all four paws were trying to balance on the edges of a boat much smaller than herself. Some more crunches around her waist saw the end of hip pauldrons, joining their sisters into the blue abyss. The flat, angular shape her butt was taking against the flow of her spine said she would not be standing upright anytime soon either.

KREEEEEEEACKLE!!

"Oh, no…" Karen growled, wincing at the way her face was pushing out in small, hard cracks. The little button nose became flush with the expansion of her upper lip, promptly being carried off at the end of a lengthening bridge.

More importantly, was that Karen's long dragon body continued to grow pounds by the second. The already rotten foundation of her boat strained and cracked with her bulking mass, widening holes to flood the bottom with saltwater. Karen whipped her extended neck around frantically, unable to see anything of aid past her forming muzzle. Currents had already drifted her far out from the island that trying to row back with her tail would be a wasted effort.

"What the...oh...oh fffnnnrrrgggRWARRR!!"

Cramps seized up behind Karen's bipedal shoulders, forming acutely pointed boils that tore through her shirt scraps. The entire garment was exploded into confetti with the emergence of two wings, fit with flapping leathery membrane connecting under the lengthy arms. New muscles instinctively stretched them into a wide span, inadvertently giving her craft a brief sail to coast on.

Karen was just relieved when the pain passed, opening her mouth in a joyful growl that shot blue flames into the air. She clapped narrow jaws full of gnashing teeth a few times before twisting a four-foot-long neck to regard her new growth. If she hurried, she could grab the bags and fly to land before…

CRUNCH!

"Aah!" Karen's tail jerked with the collapse of boat struts under her. A split had formed completely down its middle, severing even it's seat rests. Despite trying to keep still, the new dragon could feel her mass continue to expand, causing the weak support to crack ominously. Alarmed eyes narrowed with an annoyed snort of defeat. "Well...why does it always suck to be me?"

SPLOOSH!

Karen had no time to cry out before plunging into the cold sea around her. The boat and all remaining possession in it became nothing but victims to the frantic thrashing of her mighty limbs, and destructive claws.

Hours later, a giant brown dragon dragged her sorry ass onto the mainland beach. Karen could barely see where she was, much less where to go, through her soggy cloak of red hair, so settled on flopping for a breather when her paws felt some solid ground. The scales of her sides puffed and deflated with her labored breaths while her long serpent tail dug trenches in the sand.

After a minute of letting the pain of quadrupedal swimming subside, Karen lazily brushed enough bangs aside to see the end of her thick draconic snout. More importantly, she could make out the moored boats of a fishing dock. At least she got back to the right place, even if a forty-foot long dragon had to now explain why their rental boat was not coming back.

Something small and wet slipped from behind Karen's horn to land on her muzzle bridge with a wet splat. Sapphire eyes went cross, only to narrow in annoyance to find dragon plushie had followed her to shore somehow. Not counting the horse pendant still hanging around her neck, it was now the only possession left from this adventure. Just the law of nature that the treasure and azuchroma would be lost to the depths, but not the sources of her problems.

Maybe if she gave the merchant a big fanged smile while asking politely, they could trade the doll for a single flower.

Assuming azuchroma can cure spontaneous dragonification...