Blood of Dragons - Ch 6

Chapter six: The Chaos Fae and the Sleeping Dragon

Young had delivered everything she had requested. The nanite kit, venom from the golems, blood from the specimen. She stirred the mixture until it became clear. There were days when people would call her a genius, but tonight, she lived up to that title. Synthesising a gene-slave from a nero-paralyser, and some bargain basement microbots, in an environment only remotely resembling a lab, and all under the gun of a mad man.

But she wasn’t done yet. She still needed to give the gene-slave to the almost too far gone Stella when the man thought it was for him. She eyed the remaining nero-paralyser with a smirk. Then she turned to the nearly full dragoness, her body no longer resembling anything human, now a large reptile out of myth and legend, and Eternity’s history.

“I’m going to need more distilled water.” She said.

“Why?” Young demanded.

“To dilute the formula. You can’t take it all at once or your heart will explode and you’ll die mid transformation.” She answered smoothly, not braking eye contact, steady and unnerved. She knew what was at stake.

Young turned his back to her. When he did, she took out one of her throwing knives and coated the nero-paralyser over the silver edge, careful not to let her skin come in contact with the thick, vicious liquid, like scooping up honey. When Young turned back, with the bottle of diluted water in hand she hid the knife behind her back, letting him come close. Predatory instinct left long dormant by evolution turning her species into the prey flared as Young reached across the table to hand her the water, only for her knife to slice across his arm.

The toxin worked immediately. His expression of shock vanished as he fell across the table. Clair had the foresight to rescue the beaker that held the gene-slave before it was crushed by the collapsing scientist. She then rushed over to Stella’s side and gently nudged her awake. 

“Stella! Stella! Wake up Stella!” Clair hissed.

“No. No school. I’m too tired.” The dragoness responded sleepily.

“Stella! I need you to drink this.” Clair pushed. “It’ll make you fell better. I hope.” Her confidence was waning thin, considering the conditions she had to synthesise this under. “Open wide.”

The large maul opened as wide as the owner could muster. She poured the beaker in without a second thought. It closed and she heard the maul’s contents get swallowed in one loud gulp. She then checked her pupil… only to find an almost human sky blue eye. She was regaining her human traits. She hoped the gene-slave wouldn’t take long, they needed to get out of here, preferably before any of the zombified humans found their way into the temple’s alter room.

She crouched behind the makeshift table, knife in hand, and the opening reflected in the crystal suspended in the centre of the wall before her.

As they tracked across the tundra towards the central dome, Julian couldn’t help but feel the tingle of the snow between his claws, the frigid wind on his scales, it felt rather comforting to be in the cold. The tension just seemed to vanish if not for the idea that he was carrying an ‘Black hole generator’ with instructions not to tilt it.

“You sure it’s safe?” Julian asked.

“As houses unless it’s gone past it’s use by date.” Blake answered. “Which is…” He stopped trying to recall something. “November twenty twelve.”

“But it’s two thousand and twenty four.” Julian said worried.

“Then while I still have the chance, it was nice knowing you guys.” Blake said smiling. Glenn chuckled and Jenny just shock her head.

Inside, Julian could see the damage. It looked like someone had tried to put the main radio unit back together with duck tape and rubber bands, and skateboarded though the lab, with a flamethrower. When they got to the digsite elevator, Julian pulled off the retina scanner panel and hot-wired the two exposed wires together.

“That’s it?” Glenn asked.

“It’s a closed environment.” Julian answered as the doors opened. “It’s basically there just to log personal going in and out.” Inside, he felt claustrophobic and cramped. He was bigger then his pervious human form, the one he was accustomed to for sixteen years. He noticed every time he needed to address Blake, he needed to look down, and Blake always rotated his head in a way that he felt like he wasn’t looking up at him, but rather meeting him eye to eye, the simulated sense of equality cracked the barrier that appeared when he changed. As the elevator descended, he could help but ask a question.

“Then what?”

“Oh.” Blake said, looking towards Julien with his steel grey eyes. “I still have a lot of tricks up my sleeves.” Julian flinched from the flash of vivd purple.

Had to be a trick of the light. He thought. But then again…

The elevator slowed to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a wall of ice, with a few meters of open space between them. They stepped out into the cavan and the complex of tunnels.

“This place is huge.” Jenny commented. “Thankfully they used standard protocol, dig out a cross patten of trenches, or tunnels until they find what they’re looking for.”

“Too bad they found it.” Glenn growled. “Hopefully they stopped after that.”

“Let’s spit up.” Blake instructed, producing a sword hilt from his duster pocket. “And light footsteps guys. There could be zombies wandering around. Knock them out only.”

“Won’t be a problem.” Glenn said cracking his knuckles. With the growl laced in his voice, it was enough to make Julian jump. Jenny just held up a machine rifle displaying a knob on the side. She twisted it and it made a high pitch wine. They then went down different directions of the tunnel, Blake and Julian taking one end, Glenn and Jenny the other.

“You ever fired one of these before?” He showed Julian a rather bulky handgun. “It has isomorphic nero-receptors in the grip. Just concentrate on the target and shot. Gun and bullets will do the rest. And stay behind me.” Julian nodded but eyed the sword hilt with a sense of unease.

“And that?” He asked.

In response, the cross guard extended, a purplish crystal extending out. Then a blade made from the same purplish crystal exploded out, a sharp two edged blade glowing with a strange warm and uncomfortable light that seemed to energise him. Something about this crystal edge was made to inspire fear in those the wielder was against, and bolster confidence in those who stood with him. And with sword in hand and a Russian made assault rifle by his side, Blake took the lead and Julian followed close behind.

They didn’t need to walk for long.

Ten minutes. Thats how long it took for Stella to reduce into a tall, slender almost wavy figure of a dragon, and more human proportions, what was the word they used? Anthromorpthic? The upside is that she would atleast be more manageable in terms of getting her out of this place, and maybe her retina scan would be valid again.

“Clair?” She moaned opening her eye.

“Hey.” She soothed. “It’s alright.” She heard another noise, a moan.

“What happened?” She heard Young say. “Where… where am I?” Clair turned towards the source of the voice, watching the man try to stand upright and… confused?

Her eyes widened when she figured it out.

It was almost amazing. The Temple of the Frost Emperor. If Julian had to compare it to anything on earth, it would have to be the pyramids of Giza, made of limestone and diamond. It stood in the cavernous room, still half berried in the ice with a small collection of catwalks and lifts webbing around the structure. And above it, was a giant white dragon, it’s jaw looming over the peak of the structure.

“Our friend Kaltor’le, at the hight of his power.” Blake whispered.

“Damn.” Julian half gasped. The pyramid was big in it’s own right, but the dragon dwarfed it under it’s shadow. “He’s huge.”

“Occupational hazard.” Blake shot back. “Sitting on a throne for a long time, you’re bound to put on a few kilos. That’s what I’m more interested in.” He pointed to a large jewel imbedded in the wall of the pyramid. “The Ice Heart reborn.”

“Reborn?”

“It was destroyed in the Spring Dawn Rebellion. But artefacts that powerful don’t just stay smithereened forever. They’ll reform over time. And it has the power to plunge the entire planet into a permafrost. Come on.” He gestured to a nearby lift. “We need to find Clair, and Stella, and the Professor and we need to send this place into oblivion.”

“There’s a remote control for the lifts, but I don’t know where it is.” Julian whispered. “Without it, someone is going to have to work the controls manually.” Blake nodded.

Julian stood on the lift as Blake worked the controls. The hydraulics gave a loud hiss as the platform rose… into the waiting hands of two GSO zombies.

“Shit! Stay the hell away from me!” Julian roared as they grabbed him. Apparently, what ever spell they were under, had made them a lot more durable. Julian slashed at them, dropping his gun but they got his limbs and dragged him away. But not without one of them dropping something in the process.

For Blake, he was lucky that the controls were in their blind spot, but even more fortunate when the remote for the lift mechanism fell at his feet. Less could be said for Julian as Blake watched the boy get hauled on to one of the lifts by one zombie while the other hit a button on the control panel. He summoned the elevator platform down to get himself up to the first level of catwalks, and found an alternative route that took him behind the zombie still behind and patrolling, or looking for him. It was easy enough to sneak around him, it was like he wasn’t even listening. Or maybe the thing controlling him was more focused on something else.

He pointed the inferred controller towards the controls and he rose upwards with a collection of hiss. He reached the peak, to find that there was someone standing over the alter.

“Professor Lagunov, there you are.” Blake called out to the figure standing before the remains of the pure white giant dragon emperor, frozen at the moment of his death, still trapped in the ice. “I was beginning to think the golems…” She turned, and Blake saw what he failed to notice before.

Her face was pushed out into a black scaled muzzle with sharp teeth. Her features had become draconic, including her feet, now free of boots, but her clothes were still on, probably uncombable on her tail that was poking down her trouser leg, and her wings hadn’t grown out, yet. She smiled, as her party finally released the trap had sprung around him.

“There you are my little half fairy.” Zoya hissed, her forked tongue poking out of her muzzle.

“That’s an interesting look for you Professor.” Blake said. “Among a circle of friends, I can tell you that scales are in style. And practical too, never need to wash them, just wax them once a week.”

“Are you trying to be funny Black Star?” Blake visibly grimaced at the mention of his true name.

“Just a little light humour to brake the ice. Speaking of, you’ve been doing a lot of it Zoya.” Blake said coldly. “Or would you prefer Atianc the Glaser? Julian didn’t just come down here because he was curious. You made it easy for a teenage boy to enter the dig site, and you made sure he would get your mate’s blood into his system. But where does the pathogen come into all of this?”

“Where do you think? An emperor cannot rule an empire without subjects. While this world does not have the technology yours pride itself in having, they still have enough to create a neo-gentic virus that can infect an entire species in weeks, and when the first dragon emerges from it’s pathetic human body weeks later, it’ll be too late.”

“So you make the virus mutate so it doesn’t change the population immediately, just incubate and infect the cells.” Blake concluded. “Then when the entire population been infected, the first cell’s incubation period closes and triggers that change, you’ve certainly been busy in Moscow.”

“That’s not all. Did you not think it suspicious that the destress signal was received by your office during the ad brake of your favourite reality show?”

“I do now. Who are you working with Atianc?” Blake demanded.

“All in due time. If you survive.”

“What, you’re going to test the virus on me? I’m sure who ever you’re working with told you that I have a quantum genetic lock.”

“No. You recall the girl Stella?”

“You’re the one who claimed she came in contact with your discovery. When in reality, she was your lab rat!” Blake was no longer clam, his anger slipped. His eyes flashed purple with rage.

“She’ll have a place by my side when we take this world. Even if all eight billion do not survive the change, I still anticipate that one in every twenty will survive to see the new age. An empire of a billion young dragons.”

“Well you obviously don’t need me so I’ll collect my friends, and be off.” He turned, for the exit to be blocked by a pair of larger, almost gargantuan dragon golems. “Or not.”

“I am not letting you go this easily Black Star. Resurrecting my mate will take more life force then this world can muster.” Atlianc interjected. Julian began to stir visibly, Blake hoped he wouldn’t wake up.

“So that’s what you need me for.” Blake muttered.

“The life-force of even a half fairy will suffice, but you and I both know that your core is unstable. A star next to your heart, a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. Centuries of meditation and training in the arcane arts has allowed you to keep it tame.”

“And you’ll also know that if I summon that much power from my life-force, it’ll incinerate me form the inside.”

“And if you don’t…” She stepped aside where Julian was bound to the alter with the giant dragon’s open muzzle baring down over him. In Blake’s state of shock, a golem ran up and pulled the bottle housing Kaltor’le’s soul from Blake’s pocket. “I will use Julian’s body to house my mate’s sprit and mind.” She took a bottle from the golem. “I have the alter prepared already.” She picked up a tooth that sat on the side of the alter. “Just sink the tooth into the back of his neck, and he’ll have Kaltor’le strength of ages. Just brake the vial over the wound, and he’ll returned to his majestic form.

“It’s your choice Black Star.” She hissed as she lifted the tooth over the boy’s neck and…

“I’ll do what ever you want.” Blake said, his voice betraying the slightest hit of guilt, knowing that what he had done earlier would eventually be undone, and that many would share his fate. And many more would die unless… “Just leave him alone. And let him go.”

Unless he could trick her. He hoped his voice would carry.