A'ight. It looks like this thread is winding down, so hi! Author here.
Trufax: I hadn't decided until I actually wrote the scene whether the sword would kill the dragon that the knight had become or the knight that was inside the dragon. I even had to leave it overnight while I pondered. In the end, I decided that the thematic resonance was stronger if it was clear that the knight really was a dragon (which in turn underlined that Timor was, in fact, a knight.) Also, someone quoted Draco's action-hero quip, with which I was unduly pleased and which may have helped push me a particular direction.
If anyone makes a focused reading of what I will laughably call my body of work, choices and essential natures are themes that crop up a lot. (Also things with wings and flying in general.) I am both attracted to the idea of essential character, of a primary and "true" nature, and yet unable (and unwilling) to accept it as true and immutable. I also read a lot of pop-sci neuropsychology, which is part of what went into this story. The brain is mutable; what you think is what you do and what you do shapes what you think. You are what you think you are, if you think it regularly enough, but you can also deliberately think other things if you want to, so in a way, you are what you want to be. You have inclinations, but you can either repress them or enhance (or exacerbate) them. Perception also skews things; what other people expect of you influences what you do, which in turn changes what you are (as above).
I don't think Timor could have made it as a knight without Draco (and Lessa.)
It pleases me that people were mostly okay with Timor's dual nature. The official reviews of this story complained about inconsistency within the narrative because of the way both versions of reality are true at different times to different people (or even the same people), but this, to me, was kind of the point. Timor is a knight (because he chose to be). He is also a dragon (because you can't ever get away from what you used to be. Not completely, at least, and not without a lot of pain and struggle).
Some random reactions:
- I'm desperately curious now. What did people
expect to happen? There was never any question for me; a dragon who is a knight obviously must fight a knight who is a dragon. (And Sir Timor died in part because I wanted him to end on a high note; I don't know how much longer he could have maintained his dedication in the face of the world insisting what he was and ought to be. This way he was as fully a knight as he could ever be; knights, fantasy knights, nobly sacrifice themselves in defense of their ideals.)
- Jeez, two people compared me to Peter Beagle. I think Mr. Beagle should feel very insulted. ("The Last Unicorn" is one of my favorite, favorite books, and I reread it at least once a year.)
- Tropes, archetypes, and platonic ideals fascinate me (part of that essential nature thing above), so if you like seeing them made concrete and forced to dance, you will probably enjoy my other stories as well. In particular, I would recommend checking out
The Cowboy, the Horse, and the Scorpion which also explores the idea of changing who you are, reasons why you might, and whether you succeed. (It has a happier ending.)