It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The stranger could barely process what she was seeing.

"Holy shit, it’s real," was all that ran through her brain.

She continued to gape at the…dragon. It was large, the body at least ten feet long, possibly double that counting the tail. Crouched as it was, with it’s tail wrapped around it’s front claws, it was hard to measure exactly how big it would be fully standing, but she guessed that standing on all fours it would probably be about twelve to fifteen feet tall. The tip of it’s tail was flipping back and forth in agitation. She felt her gaze move, unbidden, up the dragon’s tail, noting that it was relatively smooth and rounded, with a slight crest along the top. The tail thickened as it neared the animal’s body. It’s front and hind legs appeared very muscular and well defined, tapering down to elegant but strong-looking digits, each tipped with a pointed, black claw. Her eyes continued absorb the vision before her. The dragon’s skin was a bright silver color, the only darkness being the creature’s claws and the black ridge running from the tip of the tail and getting slightly larger as it ran up it’s back. The slight shifting of muscles under the beast’s skin mesmerized the stranger. It was like seeing water…alive. The creature’s wings were tucked firmly against it’s sides, and the stranger could see that black outlined their very edges. She continued her visual tour up the dragon’s long, sensuous neck, to it’s delicate head. The black ridge marking continued here, highlighting the animal’s long, rear-pointing ears and almond-shaped eyes.

"Oh Goddess, those eyes," the stranger breathed, having just made eye contact with the dragon.

The dragon’s eyes changed color. At first they were blue, a dull bluish-grey, the color of wet slate. Then it was as if a spark was lit deep inside the cat-like pupils. The creature’s eyes swirled with every color imaginable; it happened so fast that the stranger could barely even register the shades that appeared before they were gone. Then they suddenly turned black. Slowly, starting from the pupils and spreading outward, the darkness was infused with pale green, which intensified until the dragon’s eyes were a blinding emerald brilliance; the color of the ocean before a storm, all darkness and light at the same time.

The dragon uncoiled itself and started to walk toward the stranger. She could do nothing but stare dumbly into those amazing eyes. Dimly, a part of her registered some bit of her brain screaming softly in horror as something so large and, well, basically terrifying, moved gracefully closer. She couldn’t move. She just had to see those eyes…those eyes…those eyes…that soul…