"Once We Were Dragons" by George Zebrowski

First appeared in World Literature Today.  Reprinted by Elton Elliott, Bruce Taylor.

Summary:

Humans become dragons and try to get back to being dragons.  They suspect delusion or simple desire to become dragons.  Or maybe they always were dragons.  Or maybe they became dragons to stop war.  They attempt breaking an engine of illusion.  They have only one place to turn...

Commentary (spoiler hint):

Odd if symbolic ending, foreshadowed by an early humorous aside:

"[T]his... delusion.... gives itself away as such, too much so.  Much too much like a literary conceit."

A bit too much exposition.

A common Zebrowski motif is that wish or desire can become literally manifest, as seen in "The Word Sweep" or "Solidarity".  One might say it's implied in others.