An ancient divine dragon accepts death at a human hero’s hands, then wakes into a new life as Dolan, a villager on the frontier. The change replaces an immense, solitary existence with a small community and a human lifetime. A trip to investigate the nearby swamp introduces him to Celina, a lamia looking for a partner.
Celina’s difficulty is social as well as magical. She is half human and half snake, and becoming part of a human village is not something either she or Dolan can take for granted. Their friendship turns his second life into a question of who else can find a place in the community he has come to value.
Dolan’s human appearance belongs to a life of farm work, hunting and meals with neighbours. These modest routines offer pleasures the ancient dragon did not know. That gives the village more importance than a quiet stop before the next fight: its everyday life is part of what makes this new existence worth living.
