Revelation

It was settled, then. Anna and Ashton were taking me hostage while we left everyone else behind in the cold desert, all so Ashton could play scientist. I knew, deep down, that nothing was wrong with me. What was frustrating was that I couldn’t get them to see that. All they saw was a potential Howler ready to snap.

And I can’t say I blamed them. I was to become a lab rat, and then what?

“This isn’t right,” I said.

They both looked at me, willing me not to move or do anything rash. I could believe one of two things: what they were saying, or what I was feeling. This feeling within me was so much stronger than all their words. I almost wanted it to be the opposite. Going along with what they wanted would be easier. But I knew I was right. I had dreamed the answer, and I knew this answer to be true. The Wanderer had spoken to me in that dream, that revelation. I had to believe in myself, and that was all that mattered.

“We’re doing this all wrong,” I said. “You need to listen to me.”

Anna and Ashton moved to block the doorway. I ignored them.

“The xenovirus,” I said. “We have it all wrong. There’s more to this than its trying to take everything over. There’s a reason, and I’m going to find it out.”

I was standing, now. Anna just looked at me, her eyes pleading with me to sit down, just as I had been. But I couldn’t just sit. I had seen too much.

Everything hinged on this.

My vision swam; Anna’s and Ashton’s forms became wavy and ill-defined. The rest of the room swirled, and then stabilized. Without even looking at myself in the mirror to my side, I knew. My eyes had changed.

I had to get out of here.

I walked forward.

Anna reached for her katana, drawing it out.

“Stay back.”

Her eyes were afraid, pained. I didn’t want her to look at me like that.

“Let me out,” I said.

Anna stood in front of the doorway, refusing my request. She thought she was helping me. She thought she was right. I thought I was right. I knew, from her eyes, that she would never kill me. Her drawing that katana was a useless gesture.

“Don’t do anything, Alex,” she said. “I’m warning you.”

She looked at Ashton quickly. Ashton reached into the cabinet.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just stay still, Alex.”

“What are you doing?” I asked again.

Ashton retrieved a syringe, filled with a clear liquid. Probably a tranquilizer.

“No!”

In unison with my roar came a great howling from above, the tremendous sound piercing through the ship. Ashton covered his ears as Anna closed her eyes, the horrible shriek shocking us all with its sound. A gust of wind swooped past the ship.

A xenodragon had come.

Anna looked at me, as if I were to blame for this.

“What do we do?” she asked Ashton.

Then, Gilgamesh’s side was pummeled by a colossal force. The lights flickered as we were sent tumbling to the deck.

This was my chance. I scrambled to get up before either Anna or Ashton could. Fate had provided an escape, and I was going to use it.

“No!” Anna screamed, grabbing my leg.

I fell to the hard deck, doing my best to crawl away. Anna was strong, though. She reached, trying to pull me back into the clinic. I could hear her katana blade scraping on the deck.

“Now, Ashton!” she yelled.

In my peripheral vision, Ashton fumbled for the syringe, which had rolled away toward the wall. Time was running out. I didn’t want to hit Anna. Instead, I twisted myself, wrenching free of her grasp.

She shrieked in frustration, crawling forward. I gasped, scrambling up and aiming for the blast door.

I stumbled again when Gilgamesh shook beneath me, only this time I didn’t fall. I pressed the exit button, and the door hissed open. I ran down the ramp into the cold, dry air. Screams filled the night as the dragon circled in the darkness above. Shots fired from around the camp, echoing across the desert flatland.

As soon as I ran away from the ship and into the dark night, the dragon wheeled around, coming straight for me. I wasn’t afraid, though. I merely stood still as its form slowed and two legs came down, alighting on the ground gracefully. It stood before me, staring down at me with white, peaceful eyes. It seemed strange to think those eyes peaceful.

I knew, instantly, that it was here for me, and I knew what came next. I reached out a hand, stroking the dragon’s neck. The light pink scales seemed to vibrate at my touch.

“Alex!”

Anna stood on the boarding ramp, her katana drawn. Samuel and Makara were circling around from Gilgamesh’s front. They, too, stood in shock as they saw me touching the xenodragon. Michael slid to a stop, a cloud of dust rising before him.

I looked into the dragon’s eyes, feeling it understood everything without my needing to utter a word. My friends continued staring from beside the ship, doing nothing, as I walked around to the dragon’s back. It remained on the ground, waiting.

The yells of men sounded in the distance. Several crested the hill, toting guns that they now pointed at the dragon.

“No!” Anna shouted.

The men didn’t listen. They shot, spraying the dragon’s side with bullets. The dragon cried out in pain, but I imagine those bullets were more akin to the stings of angry insects than any sort of death-blow. Those scales were like armor, and it would take more than conventional bullets to pierce them.

Then I understood why the dragon was here. It was going to fly me away.

I felt that this was inevitable, and I had no reason not to try. It was now or never.  Going back would mean returning to Skyhome and being Ashton’s lab rat for who knew how long. If I really felt I was right, I had to prove it, and that meant flying this dragon wherever it was pleased to carry me.

I crawled up the dragon’s leg, settling onto its back, between the two ridges I knew were there. It was just as it had been in my dream. As soon as I sat, the dragon gave a roar and cast off, flying away from the ship, leaving behind the curses of men and gunshots and fire and chaos. The wind was cold, but I leaned forward, and the dragon’s warm body helped shelter me from the elements. Below, I could hear Makara and Anna yelling, could hear Samuel and Michael shouting, chasing after me. It was futile. They were already becoming smaller with darkness and distance.

I wondered, for a moment, just what the hell I thought I was doing. A moment of doubt overcame me as I rose into the darkness on the back of this gigantic beast, this dragon that could turn upside down, right now, and end me forever. It was a terrifying thought, and I clutched the dragon’s ridge in front of me more tightly. Then I calmed. I didn’t feel like I was in any sort of danger. Now, out of the camp, I felt safe. Wherever this dragon was taking me, it was where I was supposed to be.

The dark ground passed beneath. I wondered if Anna and Ashton had been right, after all. If they had been right, the xenovirus was now leading me to my doom. But if the virus wanted to kill me, this dragon could do it, right now. The fact that it didn’t meant I was being carried somewhere for a reason.

Another thought struck me. Maybe it wasn’t killing me because I was part of the xenoswarm.

And that thought didn’t scare me as much as it should have.