ALAS THE LAST DRAGON RIDER

Alas was running in a thick forest, he was trying to escape from a group of men that were trying to catch him, while trying to wrap up his mind around the idea of humans pursuing a four years old kid through the trees, when he come to the clear and was meet with a set of eyes, the size of a twin bed, red as lava, with a bright yellow hollow surrounding a reptilian pupil. Alas was sweating and panting. “Who are you?” Asked the creature behind those eyes in a raspy voice that echoed inside Alas head.

Alas woke up sweating and screaming to the top of his lungs, he opened his eyes and was in a room made of rocks, his arms long and boney, his hands covered with spots and scars, and old looking, his bright red hair was gray now. He was home, he just had a nightmare, where saying the maids who entered the room to help him.

“I need Corine, someone go and fetch her, I need to speak with Corine” was all he managed to say, remembering the promise he made years ago, the one he had forgotten due to mundane privileges, assumptions and his Alzheimer.

Alas was almost 90 years old now, he knew he didn’t have much longer, but he needed to right the wrongs of human history, and fulfill his promise.

…

Corine -For the records can you state your name?-

Alas- My name is Alas, first dragon rider of humankind (or at least that we know of). This is probably the end of my story, but I want to tell the truth about this world before I completely lose my memory, so our future generations will not make the same mistakes the ones before me did, and we can maintain the peace with the dragons.

Corine looked at her grandfather not willing to interrupt him.

“You’ll see humans are terrible creatures”-Alas proceeded- “I’m one of them, so I know we are capable of terrible things. Stupidity is the worst of our flaws. We experiment without measuring consequences; we test the limits of nature beyond what is comprehensible; we don’t know when to stop; we get greedy and blind with power; we have been on the border of being the doom of our own species more than once. I’m old enough to know that, and I had suffered enough losses thanks to our unmeasured stupidity.

Today they see me as one of their heroes, one of their saviors. I walk with the banter of “the one who enslaved the dragons” across my back, what a lie. They don't understand the dragons saved me; humans were the ones that brought this upon them, and left us to doom as a result of their negligence.

Corine was looking at her grandfather as if he's losing his mind, why does he talk about humans like that? What was he saying about dragons being his savior? She thought her grandfather could not distinguish between reality and fantasy any longer.

“It is my turn to tell my side of the story, not the one written in history books, or the stories from those who had lived to praise my successes. I’ve been quiet for so long, but this time I’ll right all of the wrongs humans have done” Said Alas with a tear rolling down his cheek. He knew he was losing his memory, he knew he barely had time, he could feel it in every single inch of his old body. It was now or never, and he needed Corine, his blood, his granddaughter to tell the story, she was a writer after all.

“Are you prepared to learn the truth about what happened between humans and dragons a little more than a hundred years ago?” Ask him to Corine.

“Yes, I am all ears. You know I’m always down for a good story” Reply Corine, skeptical and thinking this was just one more of his grandfather's fairytales. Alzheimer has made him a little delusional, but Corine enjoys his company, and has gathered ideas for some of her best sellers out of Alas tales, so why not grant him this last wish?.

CHAPTER 1: Unfortunate Beginnings

In the little town of Fairfield, in a country that no longer exists, in a house that looks more like the ones you can find in medieval times, than the one expected in modern days, during a cold night in March of 2030, a mother was about to give birth to a little boy.

“Mary, please lets go to the hospital, it is not that far and the doctors can help you with the pain. They’ll give you medicine to improve your suffering”- Said Matt, preoccupied as anyone can expect from a first time father to be.

“Nooooooooo!” -screamed Mary- “I don’t want to be taken to the hospital. Haven’t you seen what they do to the babies there? They test them for new abilities; put them through those weird machines and inject so many vaccines onto their little bodies, I don’t want that for our baby”-Marys’ thick accent combined with her sobbing made her words almost incomprehensible.

Matt knew Mary was right, but what else can he do? He doesn’t want to see Mary suffer, she seems to be in so much pain. Even though he studied medicine, he wasn’t fully aware of what complications to expect during childbirth, especially with all the recent anomalies humans have been developing due to the radiation.

Who will ever imagine Humanity will live long enough to see post apocalyptic times, today's lives seem as if they were plugged from fantasy books.

Mary was a healthy woman, 5’ 4”, fair skin, the greenest eyes you can imagine (almost yellowish) and her most notable feature, her wild long red hair, which was now plastered all over her face due to the sweat emanating from her body during childbirth. She was a healthy and strong woman, always willing to help in town, at least that was until almost 5 months ago, when her belly started to be too noticeable, and she was prompted to stay at home, so no one in the village would notice her pregnancy.

Matt on the other hand was a giant of a man, six foot seven inches of pure muscle, developed over the years of helping build and rebuild the houses of the village, after every dragon attack. He was born and raised in Fairfield, therefore he had witnessed every single one of the dragon's attacks and despised those evil creatures, until he met Mary, a foreign girl, and got a new perspective of life, brighter, more fulfilling even in those uncertain times conditions.

Matt and Mary had reduced the risk of having an abnormal child, because her pregnancy was a traditional one, in opposition to the methods use on fancy medical facilities, in which you can select everything from your kids physic (eye color, hair texture, skin color) to the cognitive abilities base on what our society needs the most. We were harvesting kids instead of letting nature dictate its course. As usual Humans did not take into consideration the risk…”You’ll see as everything with humans, those techniques were still experimental, and there were high chances for the babies to develop some anomalies” but scientist didn’t care, the society didn’t care, no one cared.

In any case, both Mary and Matt knew the implications of going to the hospital, being questioned about the newborn; the high chances of their kid being tested for unusual powers or abilities or determining the lack of them.

Everything was meant to be better in 2030, things were supposed to be easier, but something went wrong at some point in our history, things were barbaric during those days. It was hard to believe Mary and Matt were not living in the age of knights and kings. Buildings have been destroyed by missiles that were aimed to kill the dragons, and ended up destroying entire villages and even countries. We created the “Monsters” and destroyed our world trying to get rid of them.

“Yes, another proof of how barbaric and stupid humans can be when we become greedy on our experiments, forgetting that nature has reasons to don’t allow us to coexists with certain “predators” during the same time line… but I’ll tell you more about dragons in the future, now we are talking about my birth, cause if you want to understand your present, first you need to know your past.”- Said Alas to Corine, interrupting his train of thought to make a point of his disgust for Humans; Corine has never understood why his grandfather hates humans so much, if they were the one who praised him and tell stories about the magnificent dragon rider.

Where was I? -Ask Alas to himself, his memory was already failing- Oh yes! In the living room of that cottage in Fairfield, where mom and dad were expecting me.

After the back and forth about whether or not to go to the hospital, Matt and Mary came with the same conclusion they had every time they spoke about their babys’ birth in the past: they'll have this baby at home. Matt has basic medical knowledge so he can evaluate the baby's vitals, and Mary has read everything about breastfeeding and postpartum treatments, so they should be covered. They didn’t care about special powers or anomalies, they’ll love their son regardless of it.

“Come on baby, you are almost there. Keep pushing” -Said Matt encouraging Mary- “One more, just one more”.

Mary pushed with all her strength and finally she brought to the world a wonderful baby boy. His skin was pale; his hair a shocking red; and his eyes? his eyes… Those were like the ones of the dragons, their color was almost reptilian, they have pupils like the dragon's eyes, but were shaped like human eyes, those were an odd mixture of yellows, reds and greens, and when that baby looked at him it was as if he can read his whole soul, and understand every single thought Matt was having. Even though Matt and Mary thought they would have a normal baby, this boy was anything but normal.

“Hi Alas, welcome to the world” said Mary exhaustedly, talking past the shocking image of her newborn, she felt dragged to him and hypnotized by her babys’ eyes.

Matt just knotted his head, he saw Mary and the baby curiously, he knew the baby was his; but those eyes, Matt could not pass beyond those eyes. He knew it was a possibility, but he has discarded it. He loved Alas, but he was afraid, so afraid of the powers he must develop.

“Mary, we need to take him to the hospital” said Matt cautiously, measuring every single one of his words.

Mary looked at him panicking “What are you talking about? We spoke about this already, Alas is ours to keep, he is our baby. He is the hope we have been waiting for”.

“Mary, we need to know what abilities he has beyond those eyes, if he can do anything to endanger us or himself. Is for our safety and his as well” said Matt.

“No! Please don’t, they are going to take him from us, you know that '' pleaded Mary with tears of fear and exhaustion rolling down her eyes.

It was devastating. What an impossible choice for this parents who had lost so much already, deciding between keeping their baby a secret and raised him without knowing if he would have any special needs, endangering their own lives and safety, or taking him to the hospital not knowing if they will see him again, nor what type of experiments the doctors and nurses will be running on their baby. Unfortunately they never got the chance to decide.

CHAPTER 2: An unexpected savior

“Grandpa? Grandpa, what happened? Why didn’t Mary and Matt have the time to decide what to do with you?”

“Oh Corine, my sweet child, that is why I ask you specifically to write my story, cause you asked the right questions and keep my old mind on track” Said Alas to his Granddaughter a gorgeous twenty one years old lady, with toasted skin colored like the ones described for islanders on the old history books; and a contrasting red hair, similar to Alas ones, but wilder, so much wilder, you cannot comb it even if you tried to. Corine was 5’ 5” and she carried at least 100 pounds of pure curiosity on her body, everything else bone, muscle and skin, making her the perfect candidate for Alas to trust her with publishing the honest version of his life, without fancy add-ons.

“You’ll see Corine, sometimes some memories are painful, even if you cannot fully remember them, and when you are old like me, and your brain is as tired as mine, it rather go to more happy places… but you are right, let us continue with the story”

The Dragon alarm sounded in the village of Fairfield, abruptly interrupting Mary’s and Matt’s dilemma. They looked at each other expectantly, Mary was too weak to run, if they went to the village bunker then everyone (including the guards, especially the guards) will notice the newborn baby, and they cannot predict how they will react, the new family was going to be fine during the attack, but what would happen after?; decisions, decisions, decisions, under those circumstances Mary and Matt hug each other with their baby between them and brazed for the worst. They stayed at their little cottage, which was no more than a one floor storage with the most basic supplies.

The Cottage had been rebuilt dozens of times because of dragons and human attacks.They knew the cottage wouldn’t hold, but they hoped it would protect them if this attack was real and not a false alarm. Incredible how the first memory of Alas was of his parents sacrifice, faith and hope, traits he wouldn’t see often in his years to come.

This attack wasn’t a false one, a dragon landed right over the small cottage, taking part of the roof with it. It peered inside of the house, desperately looking for something. Alas parents tried to hide but it was too late, the explosion came almost instantly, no time to react, no time for goodbyes, the beginning of their lives as a family and the end of it. Some things were never meant to be.

Alas didn’t hear an “I love you” from either of his parents during those moments, no fair wells, no nothing. He has known love from his mother, a little fear from his father, hope and sacrifice from both of them, and a sentiment of loss and sorrow from somewhere he wasn’t able to point at the moment.

“Here my dear Corine, is where history will go wrong and the reason why I want to be able to tell my own story, and not the one written by those who are only seeking for glory” Interrupted Alas.

“What do you mean? We all know you are an orphan, how will this moment change anything” -reply Corine not understanding, this was the first time her grandfather told his own version of his story.

Alas ignored Corines’ question as if he was reliving the moments from all those years ago.

Baby Alas survived the accident, but no one knew, no one came back to the little village to check if there were any survivors, no one came to the little cottage to check on Mary and Matt, no one knew about the newborn baby.

For two days baby Alas cried, and cried uncontrollably but no one heard him on the desolated field where the cottage once was. During the third day the rest of the village came out of the bunker (at least the ones who were able to take refuge there) and they came to see what they can save from the debris of their houses. It was a horrible scenario to watch, the emptiness, the destruction, the smell of scorched bodies and the desolation. The villagers didn’t felt any of those things, they were desensitized there were attacks almost every month. People locked their feelings and were used to the losses.

There were no rich or poor at Fairfield, poverty was the only lifestyle for those villagers. Survival mode was at its pike, the villagers were scavenging what was left of the village, for canned food, matches, fabric to sew new clothes, or anything of use. There among the debris Carola finds little baby Alas, his little voice rough after two days of crying, it sounds so low, such a tiny whisper coming out of his little body, trying to hold onto this hard and unfortunate life.

Carola was one of the few remaining old ladies of the village, if not the only one, she wasn’t keeping count of that. She had long white hair that she kept braided on a single braid that went from her head to her mid back, her eyes were foggy, deep lines adorned her body and a constant frown expression was tattooed on her face, cause she cannot find reasons to smile anymore. She was strong, but not as she used to anymore, the years haven’t been good with her; but she was clever. Clever enough to know when to run to the bunker, and when to stay at her cottage, clever to feed the guards on Fairfield so they can look after her, and now she wanted to be clever enough to take the unfed baby to the hospital, but as soon as she glanced at his features she knew she couldn’t, she knew it will be the doom of the baby, she felt compelled to help him, just one look at those reptilian eyes and she felt as if the baby can read every single one of her thought, and she didn’t find it on her to leave him behind. With lack of better judgment Carola grabbed a sheet of fabric that was on the remaining of Mary and Matts’ bed and wrapped it around her body, covering the baby and caring him on her back; she looked around and was able to find a baby blanket with the name “Alas” on it and scratches of baby clothe, among a few other useful things -”These will need to do”- Said Carola breathing heavily “Let's go home little Alas”.

CHAPTER 3: Unfortunate circumstances

It was impressive how Carola had managed to keep Alas alive and a secret for the past four years. It was as if the gods had remembered the little village of Fairfield (or at least what remains of it) because since that unfortunate last dragon attack, that took the life of Alas parents and other villagers, the town hadn’t seen a dragon. It was so amazing that more and more people were coming to live in Fairfield. Due to its safety, some high rank militaries were coming to the village as well, they were bringing their families, building new towers, and helping to improve the lifestyle of the villagers, providing them with access to more food and supplies than the ones they could gather prior to that last attack.

Alas wasn’t allow to go out of the house, Carola was grateful for the movement in town and the revitalization of the old village, but she was also terrified cause that means more chances of someone finding out about Alas and bring him to the new military installments in town, who knows what they will do to her for hiding him or worst what would happen to poor Alas, so young and vulnerable, and all alone in the world. “The gods forbid” thought Carola while leaving the house to search for supplies, after instructing a grumpy four year old Alas to hide, and not let anyone see him.

Alas loved when Carola got out of the house to buy supplies, he was little but he was smart, he knew what the old woman was thinking. Since he was a baby Alas was able to hear people talking even when their mouths were not moving. He has come to learn that he was listening to their thoughts and that he wasn’t supposed to, cause it wasn’t usual that a human could listen to other humans ideas. He knew it was wrong but he did it anyway. Through Carolas’ thoughts Alas was able to see his parents, or the memories she had of them anyway; he learned that his parents were good and kind to the old woman, and that was part of the reasons why she could not abandoned baby Alas under the debris the day she found him. He has also pieced together parts of the village, how it used to be and how it looks now, and especially what areas to avoid when he sneaks out of the house. He knew to avoid the military installments and how not to get caught, he was afraid of what other humans can do to him if they figured out that he existed, Carolas’ thoughts were more than vivid about this topic in particular.

“If I leave now I’ll be able to play with some of the other kids and go to the bakery before Carola comes back”- Said Alas to his old Teddy bear, one old raged toy that Carola found abandoned near his family’ cottage and bring with her the day she found the baby. Alas fixed his trousers, grabbed some dusty glasses from under his bed, and was on his way out, not before taking a look in the mirror and noticing he hadn’t covered his bright hair yet. Carola tried to keep his hair short, arguing that she liked it that way, but Alas knew it was so he can hide better when he was alone in the house “on a world so gray like this, his bright red hair would pop anywhere” he has heard the old woman think more than once. After glancing at himself he grabbed a gray hat from his little chest of treasures, two marvels to exchange and out he went.

The new town of Fairfield looks completely different since the last Dragon attack, it use to have only two streets, and now it has six secondary streets where the government had build apartment complexes, with gyms, pools and other facilities, that were only allowed in places where Dragon attacks didn’t happen, and the main street where all the new businesses where relocated, including Alas favorite place, the bakery, he can treat himself with sweets if he was lucky when challenging the others kids when playing with his marvels.

Fairfield was the mecca of this post apocalyptic era, where people pretended that Dragon fights and militar attacks were not happening, living as if everything was like it used to be in the 2000s. Alas didn’t understand what most of those things mean, he wasn’t alive in the early 2000s and he didn’t remember when Fairfield was only two streets away. Any recollection of these events was based on the thoughts he read from other people, so to him people where just been people. It was amazing how much life on earth had changed in thirty four years.

“Humans are the doom of us all '' sight Alas putting his hands on his pockets repeating out loud the thoughts of an old man who was playing chess nearby.

Alas loved to go out, but sometimes it was too much for him, especially once he reached the main street. Lots of people, lot of noise, lot of thoughts cramping one over the other. Today was busier than ever on the main street, there was an special parade in town (hint on why Carola went out so early to buy supplies) and it was an special event meant to happen to show the supremacy of men over dragons, but it was to much, Alas was only four years old but he was listening to the thoughts of almost thousand people at the same time. Alas was panicking, his ear throbbing, his head hurting, his breath shortening, poor little kid.

“This is too much, too much” repeated Alas through short breaths, he was trying to back away from all of the people gathering around the plaza, but they seemed to be pushing him forward and forward, as if they were not noticing him, until he fell face forward crashing his glasses, and leaving a little scratch over his left eyebrow. One of the Men around him tried to help him stand up, making Alas lose his hat “Oh no!” he thought “My hair, they will know” another wave of panic running through his little body. Without noticing he made eye contact with one of the Captains of the military forces settling in town for the parade. They were eye to eye, Alas noticed the tension in the air and the recognition emanating from the man in front of him, Alas read his mind and knew that the captain will not allow him to go home without and explanation, Alas knew he wasn’t on the record of special and not special kids, he remember all of Carolas fears, and took his only chance to run, run as fast as he could, as far as he could. He was little and knew the town, he had seen it a couple of times with his own eyes, and more than a thousand times through other people's thoughts, he knew every corner, every wrong turn and every little hole through which he could fit and lose the men following him. He knew that his only chance of seeing Carola again was running to the end of the village, to the forest that marks the limits of the old Fairfield town where his parents' old house used to be.

• Chapter 4: An unexpected encounter

Alas can tell he was lost on the woods, he has been here before but he entered the woods through a different area this time, he was so focus on losing the men following him, that he didn’t stop running until he sessed hearing their thoughts in his head; it was late, he was lost and he was hungry. Alas was getting cold, and missed Carolas’ presence more than he was expecting.

The thoughts on that captain's mind were so awful, they scared Alas. How can a grown up think about doing such atrocious things to a kid, just to determine what he was made of? How can someone who doesn’t know him hate him so much, just because of his physical appearance? Alas had heard stories about people hating others for their skin color or their place of origin, but after the dragon attacks and massive destruction of continents, humans had form alliances to fight against their common enemy (the dragons) therefore no one was supposed to judge Alas for his appearance, but they did, this captain in particular did, and his men didn’t care to follow a scare toddler into the woods to capture and torture him.

“Who are you?”- a raspy and intrusive question interrupted Alas' train of thoughts. He laid down scared, thinking that the men had caught up with him.

“Do not insult me, comparing me with those filthy men” -come the voice again- “Who are you?”

Alas looked everywhere, adjusting his eyes to the dark forest, trying to find who was talking to him, but he couldn't make out a single silhouette beside the ones from the misshapen threes in the forest.

“If you promise to help me, I can guide you out of the forest. I know the way pretty well” Said the raspy voice again, making Alas shiver. A sensation of alert tingling on his little arms, he was doubting himself, this adventurous kid, so full of curiosity was doubting himself.

“I don’t know who you are” said Alas, pretending to be fearless, or as fearless as a four years old can sound “I need to go back home, they should be worried by now”

“What home? You do not belong to them. If you go back they will capture you and test you, see how much you can resist, just as they did with the others”-Said the voice growing louder and angrier, but there was something else in that voice, a hint of sadness that Alas couldn’t ignore.

“Ok, I’ll help you” Said Alas “But promise me, you are not going to hurt me and you will help me to get back to Carola, without being caught” tried the boy playing smart.

“Oh little boy, I cannot promise such things. If you help me you’ll earn my eternal gratitude and I promise not to hurt you, but I cannot guarantee that you’ll see the old woman again”- Said the voice -”Do we have a deal?”

Alas didn’t want to make a deal, without knowing or seeing who was asking for his help. He was a toddler, but he wasn’t dumb. He was about to run away and tried to find his own path when he started hearing the voices of the men who were pursuing him earlier. He has lost so much time, he did not have a proper cover, it was cold, and Alas can see the flicker of their lights in the distance. With no other options he decided to make a deal with the stranger who was talking to him. After that, the voice guided him through the forest, to a clear, a clear that Alas recognized from Carolas’ memories. The remaining of his parents' old cottage were nearby, flashes of the night in which he was born flickered through his mind, but it wasn’t possible for him to remember that, he was intruding someone else's memories, there was someone near by who knew who he was.

It was to much at a time, to incomprehensible for a little boy, to many emotions together, the longing for Carolas’ warm, the hunger, the tiredness, been afraid cause of the men following him, the alert cause of the stranger asking for his help, and the sorrow, the sorrow for remembering his parents when he had never know them.

Alas was starting to run towards the remains of the cottage, tears streaming down his eyes, when a pair of bright big red and yellow eyes looked straight at him. Alas stopped, suspenden on time, color draining from his face, he cannot believe his eyes. He knew what he was looking at, he knew because Carola constantly reminded him of the uniqueness of his eyes, and what they look like, the creature they emulate and the reason why he needs to hide them from others. He didn’t have much time to think about it, before a magnificent creature started to stand in front of him. A large, sleek creature, hit emanating from its body, color green as the moss he just saw in the forest (perfect for camouflage Alas thought) with a reptilian face, largemouth and pointy sharp rows of teeth, two little horns decorating its head. A majestic creature laying down in front of the tinny boy. It was a Dragon, a real life, full size dragon. Alas would have pee himself if he wasn't so dehydrated.

“What took you so long?” Asked the creature in a raspy voice to Alas.

“I can understand you?!” Exclaimed the boy in disbelief “Wait a second, I can understand a Dragons” he screams in excitement totally forgetting about the dangers it implies, forgetting all of the stories he has heard about the horrible dragons that were killing humans everywhere.

Alas stopped on his tracks ``you were the one guiding me here? Are you the one who needed my help?!” Exclaimed Alas, screaming to the top of his lungs.

“You don’t need to scream Alas, I can read your thoughts, just as you can read mine. Besides, if you keep screaming those men will follow you here, and we will not be able to scape” Said the dragon cautiously.

“How do you know my name?” “Why are you here?” “How can I read your thoughts?”

“So many questions, and so little time my boy” said the dragon, ``I'm here cause those humans you are escaping from captured me and brought me to showcase me as part of the parade they have tonight in town. But we do not have time to talk about this, you need to free me and we need to escape” rushed the dragon.

“I cannot free you, you’ll eat me” says Alas.

“Don’t be dumb, I’ll not eat my own family, what horrible ideas had this humans feed you?” Said the Dragon filling insulted.

“Family?” thought Alas.

“No time to explain now, please help me and I’ll comply with my part of the bargain. I’ll take you out of here, protect you and keep you safe”. The dragon felt the humans approaching, and she cannot fight or protect Alas while handcuffed with the Obsidian bracelets and chains around her legs and wings.

The dragon Instructed Alas on where to find the keys to free her, humans will end up coming soon, one way or the other, either the ones following Alas, or the ones who capture her, to bring her to the parade, they need to move quickly. The boy found the keys in no time, he was able to see the images in the dragons’ memory as if they were his own, so he knew where to look. Alas approaches de Handcuffs, feeling intimidated by them. Big, thick obsidian chains were covering the dragon's legs, ending on the blackest bracelets around the dragon ankles. They were so hard to open, the key was heavy, but that wasn’t the only problem, the handcuffs were taller than Alas, it was twice his size (Given or take) He needed to be on the tips of his toes to reach the keyhole.

“Hey boy, what do you think you are doing there?” A male voice shout from the limits of the two streets old village, pointing a gun towards Alas.

Alas twisted the key, and heard the shot coming out of the gun. He was waiting for the pain but it never came. Alas opened his eyes and saw the dragon magnificent wings extended in front of him, protecting him from the bullet. He made it, he was able to free the dragon in time, he made it.

The humans were rushing towards them and changing their guns from regular ones to obsidian ones, so they fight against the dragon.

“Prepare yourself” said the dragon to Alas, taking flight and graving him on her claws, blasting fire to the humans, not hurting them but blocking their view, surrounding them on a ring of fire, that would allow them to take flight and escape from the dangerous humans.

CHAPTER 5: The Scale castle

The little boy was dizzy, he wasn’t afraid of the dragon itself, but he was scared for the high and the sensation of flying. He was disconcerted “why did that man try to kill him?” “Why did the dragon save him?” “Why did the dragon call him family?” were the thoughts crossing Alas mind at that moment.

“Jejejeje, first of all little one, you can call me Donla, it annoys me every time you think of me as THE DRAGON, it is not polite. You better get used to call dragons by their names” were the first words spoken by Donla since they took flight “Second of all I’ll explain everything once we join the tribe, they’ll be more than happy to learn of your existence”.

Too much, this was too much for a four years old. How can you take a kid from the only place he knew, take flight with him and drop all of this information as if it was nothing. Alas start crying, he cannot contain his tears and fears, he wanted to be with Carola, and felt so dumb because he left his house that morning. Carola was right, he should be hiding in the house, he shouldn’t have come out this morning. Was he going to see Carola again? Was she worried about him? Oh no, oh no, oh no, what was he going to do?

Alas was exhausted, angry, sad and dizzy, he passed out on Donlas' claws.

Alas was waking up to a series of murmures, he still felt a little woozy and his vision was blurry. When he opened his eyes he saw a group of people gathering around him. They were humans but looked different than the ones he was used to, this humans looks more poise, they were tall, with elongated faces and some reptilian features, some had bright red hair like him, others had eyes likes his and for the first time he felt a sense of belonging, not needing to hide himself, he didn’t felt that different from other humans in this room.

“You are finally awake dear Alas” came a familiar voice from the right side of the room, Alas turned expecting to see the dragon through the window, and the people inside of the room panicking; but that was not the case. Walking toward his bed was a woman, long face, six feet tall, slim contexture, walking graciously as if floating, wearing a moss green rob and long red hair on a single braid, her eyes were so familiar. It was the dragon! Alas thought he must be dreaming.

“You are not dreaming, my sweet nephew. Yesterday you met me in my dragon form. I wasn’t able to transform due to the obsidian chains around my legs, but today I felt that you will enjoy my human form the most. You certainly looked spooked yesterday” Said Donla in a sweet voice.

“Who are you?” Ask Alas, head throbbing, too much information and to quick for a four years old, he felt like fainting again.

“Come, walk with me. I made a promise yesterday, I swear to protect you because you saved my life, and I am planning to keep my word”.

Alas stood up from the bed, grabbing the blue robe prepared for him by the side of it. He noticed that he was clean, and was wearing clean clothes, not the old fabrics he was wearing the night before.

He and Donla walked through long halls, made of rocks. Donla was explaining that this was the scales castle, a place where the dragons can come to rest and hide, and stay for as long as they need to. It was engraved on the mountain rock itself, rock cut with Dragon claws and smoothed using dragon fire, the map was only known by those who built the place. Everything was made of stone, and had that grayish look to it, also it smells like earth wet with rain.

“We are not that old you know?” said Donla reading Alas thoughts “I can stop reading your thoughts if you prefer, us dragons are fans of privacy, but also of trust”

“What are you talking about?” asked Alas, impressed.

“What do humans think about dragons?” Asked Donla patiently.

“Well, no one had talked to me about dragons before. I only know what I can piece together from other people's thoughts. I know my parents were killed by a Dragon, I know that my village was destroyed by Dragons, and I know that humans hate dragons due to the devastation your kind brought upon earth” said Alas on his four years old voice, fumbling through the worlds and trying to remember the exact terms other humans had use before.

Donla looks contemplative to the infinite rows of mountains through the windows. The view at this place was stoning. You can see the never ending green of pine trees, decorating the perfectly aligned mountains, a cozy fog covering the tip of them and little snowflakes falling, it was as if taken out of a dream. Everything felt so peaceful, calm and perfect, so beautiful and so different from the chaos of the human village. But what did Alas know? He was only four back then, and had never been outside of Fairfield before. He didn’t know if humans and dragons can live in peace in other parts of the world, he didn’t know how many humans were there. He didn’t even know if dragons were real before last night.

“Oh little one, you have the brain of an old man. So many worrying, I thought someone so young would be pleased to be in a magical place like this, surrounded by mystical creatures; but I guess life hasn't been good or easy for you” Said Donla “Alas I swear that if I knew you were alive, I’ve went looking for you earlier, I should have never abandoned you that day. I’m sorry”

Alas didn’t understand what she was talking about, was she there when he was born? Why hasn't she saved him? Was she a human or a Dragon?

“I’ll answer all of your questions Alas, but first let us have breakfast, you must be starving after our adventure yesterday”

“Well, I’m hungry” said Alas

And with that Donla walked Alas, through one of the long halls, to an open door, the size of the dragon he saw yesterday, and to a big table full of food and more people expecting to see him.

CHAPTER 6: The real story behind the human lies

“Corine, what I am about to tell you is the part of the story that no one knows, this is where history is going to change, this is the piece of information I need the world to know, so we can make better choices in the future”-Exhale Alas

“Keep going grandpa, I will not enhance this part of the story, I’ll write it as it is”- Replied Corine, measuring her words, she didn’t want her excitement and her curiosity to stain the solemnity of the moment.

“Take a seat Alas, I know you are little to understand a lot of the things we have to endure, but the humans had the time to show you their version of the story, now is my turn to show you ours” Said Donla seating in one of the chairs on the balcony of the highest tower of scale castle. She selected that tower because of the view, the mountains can be appreciated the most from here, it was an open space and if you look down the balcony it was an splendid free fall for any Dragon. Nothing can compare to freedom, and now Donla needed to feel that peace and freedom to be able to explain to a four years old that he was a miracle and the hope to unite humans and dragons.

“Alas I want you to be a good kid and hear me out without interruptions, ok?”

Alas knotted, not knowing what else to say, this seems important and he didn’t want to miss a bid.

Once upon a time near 2020 humans were starting to develop new sickness, war was imminent and one of the most powerful countries started running secret experiments, using sick people as guinea pigs.

Your mother and I were sisters, we were from a region on a place called Ireland. We were orphans by the age of 16th, and we were extremely poor; besides that we were sick, we develop a rare mutation that make us prone to get viruses and by inmune to medication (The infection impacted and weakened Donla and Marys’ immune system, but she didn’t thought Alas would be able to understand the implications of such statements). Your mom and I decided to sign for a research program on one of the big nations that were at war. They promise food, a roof over your head, and safety in exchange for allowing them to test experimental medicines with us. The benefits were more than the detriments of the test, the only bad parts were the side effects (which were not worse than our general sickness symptoms) and the possibility of death (which we will be facing regardless). Well that is what we thought we were doing. The truth was that the government was trying to “enhance” humans, and were using the remains of Dragon DNA to achieve such results.

A group of scientists find the fossils of a new species, they though it was a dinosaur, but it turned out to be a dragon, a creature though to be part of myths and legends. They were able to recover some samples of DNA and even recreate a miniature version of it, but it prove to be untamable and extremely dangerous for human existence. The government paying for the leading investigation pushed to have an alternative develop, as they were willing to use dragons to fight in wars. Their skin was thick, flexible and resisted fire and missiles; they could flight and camouflage. Dragons were the perfect weapon and that particular government wanted them. The scientist came out with a possible solution, it had to be tested of course, but it could work. They wanted to create mutant soldiers, humans that can develop dragon characteristics, not full size dragons, but thicker skin, fire resistance and so on. They present the proposal to the government and they agreed, using sick citizens of the world to run the first test before using it on the soldiers selected to carry the governments order, a win win situation.

They took us from Ireland on a plane to an unspecified location.The facilities were cold, and made of metal, there was just one entrance and it was well hidden (it seems odd for us, but then again it was a high security study, and with war going on, I guess we didn’t gave it much though).

I know you have never been in a bunker before, but you can take a look into my mind and you’ll be able to see how it looked. It is nothing appealing, but definitely better than where we were in Ireland. We slept on bunker beds, your mom on top and I below. The bunker consisted on a long corridor with the dorms at the end of it were all the tested subjects (aka us) were prompted to sleep, we shared that space with over thousand other people, as sick as we were, some had been here prior to our arrival, and others arrived with or after us. We were identified by numbers, and classified in groups based on our age range, sickness and time within the bunker. Once you came out of the rooms there was a large corridor, it looks like a train inside of it, only two or three people can fit together on its wide, with low ceilings, illuminated by white led lights, which were constantly flickering, giving the hole hallway a creepy and claustrophobic vibe (I never got used to the feeling). The hall took you to a larger space with insanely high walls, and it was overly illuminated, which was dedicated to eat, read and do any other activity. The last part of the bunker, or at least the last part we had access to, was at the other side of that commute area. You needed to enter another corridor (similar to the one from the beds to the commute area) at the end of it were the labs, huge facilities covered on medical stuff and staff, hundreds of doctors and nurses, wearing white gloves and mask, and clothe, perfectly clean all the time, never having real contact with us beyond the routinely questions. At the labs we got shots and pills; we were plugged into every sort of medical machines to check our vitals and medical improvements, we were tested for physical and mental enhancements, and also mutations.

We spend four years in that horrible place, high secure facility was a fancy way to called it, it was hell. More subjects came, friends died and more people keep coming to replace the vacant spaces leaved by the deceased.

Your mom and I were lucky, we had each-other, a luxury no one else had. It helps us keep grounded and keep our memories intact (barely). Most of the subjects of the test were losing their memories and went nuts, but your mom and I started developing psychic powers and were able to read each other's minds, I don’t know if we were the first to see those changes (being that we were twins) but soon other subjects had develop this same ability (we made a pact of not speak about this with the doctors, based on what we were gathering from their minds) that helped us grow together and develop our mental skills, and personal bond. After those 4 years we were physically and mentally mutated.

We were able to do more than the scientific knew, we had the sensation that we could transform into something else, we felt it on our bones, like there was something going on inside us, that was bigger, that was willing to take over. We knew about subject who were mutating into some sort of abomination, those were moved outside of the facility. Doctors and nurses told us they were let go, cause they were finishing the program, but we knew better, the doctors mouths said something, but their minds told a totally different story. We knew we can do more but we didn’t want to try it inside of the facility, it was too risky that was until one day, when one of the scientist kill Roy, one of our leaders (if you want to call it that way) that trigger us, it affected us on a deeper level. We were mentally connected to Roy, we felt his physical pain, we felt his death, a little piece of us died with him that day. Julius (Roys’ partner) wasn’t able to take it, he snapped and became a full size dragon, breaking the walls and roof of the facility, growing larger and stronger that any of us can ever imagine, killing some scientist and doctors with the debris and most of the armed men who killed Roy. We transformed as well to be able to save ourselves, our human bodies were fragile (as any human) but our Dragon form was strong, almost indestructible. We were almost Fifty dragons down there, fifty out of more than thousands test subjects who signed for this program, Fifty survivors after more than four years of this hell like experience, too little, we were few but we were massive, connected to the others minds, Julius gave the order and we followed. We flew and were persecuted by armed forces.

For years we struggled, governments came together to create a united front to fight us, portraying us as the monsters, they didn’t tell others that we were also human but genetically mutated to fight for one nation or another. They tell the media we were a lab mistake, an abomination that will endanger human life, a reason for humans to get together and fight us.

Some of us, like your mother, decided to spend her life on her human form, she was too scared to be a dragon. We were all scared on different ways, and took different decisions, we didn’t knew what we were capable of, nor the extend of our powers. We just knew hell has broken free and we were the demons and monsters humans were willing to fight no matter the cost. For your mother the transformation and keeping hiding as a human paid off in the long run, after two years of been a human her mutations were almost gone, she looked mostly human, in opposition to me (as you can see, even though I have a human morphology, I do not look like a regular human, you can still see my reptilian features).

The other portion of us (the larger part) decided to stay like Dragons, we were too afraid of our human vulnerability, we were chased with bombs, with military force, we were damaged after four years inside that bunker, the world had change so much in such a short period of time, we were looking for salvation when we signed for the program and came out as monsters, aberrations. Some of the ones who decided to remain as dragons went crazy. Lived as full time dragons affected our brains, we lost our logical thinking and started living out of pure instinct, that is why we built this place to rest and be able to be our true selves, keep the strength of the dragons without sacrificing our emotions, and human minds, as everything in life our skills and our survival depend on finding the perfect balance between Human and Dragon form.

Alas was exhausted, fascinated by the story Donla was telling him, he was excited about his mother, she was a dragon or she was at some point, but ultimately he was just a kid, he didn’t understand half of what Donla was explaining, but by the emotions emanating from her he knew this wasn’t a happy story. He was ultimately tired.

“We were only defending ourselves, do you understand that?” asked Donla, catching the little boys attention.

“I think so '' said Alas on a low voice. “They hurt your friends, they hurt you, they changed you”.

“I’ll continue now, if that is ok with you, I’ll rather finish today is that ok?”

“It is ok, if it will help you feel better” Said Alas hugging his aunt.

The governments wanted us dead, they classify our origins as top secret, they used the press and influence to sell the story of a failed experiment to revive Dragons, and justified the misil attacks everywhere using us as an excuse for the war they already started years ago. What were a couple of thousands of lives in comparison to human survival?

We were hunted! Whole countries disappear as the result of bombs, countless of lives where destroyed. Mutations star occurring in new born babies due to the bomb radiations, global crisis, the governments unify and now humans are more spared and isolated than ever, only a few knows the truth. I don’t blame most of the humans, they lost as much as we did, they were just victims of manipulated media and fear.

I knew about your birth cause I felt your mothers, my sister, pain. I came to help her, I should have transformed into a human, but I was so desperate to arrive that I didn’t notice the military convoy and the war planes following me, they were using a new type of arms, made out of oxidean, which was letal to us. The village sounded those awful alarms, if they only knew they were digging their own thumbs, I wasn’t here to hurt them, I was once a human and I was only looking forward to help my sister, but they didn’t know better. I landed on top of your house peering through the unfinished roof, I asked my sister to transform and flee away with me, so we can save the three of you, but she was so weak, drained of energy and malnourished, she just couldn’t do it. She has been in her human form for over 6 years Alas, it wasn’t natural for her anymore. I asked her to ride on my back with you and your father, but she didn’t want to leave that horrible place, she said it was her house, she was delusional with pain, stress, fear and blood lost, your father just started at us, not willing to interfere, he loved your mother and will followed her even if it costed his life, I admired him, but I hated him at this time cause he can forced her to come with me, he could have saved you. Donlas' voice coming ragged, in a rush and filed with anger and frustration.

I tried to protect the house, resisting the missiles but I didn’t last longer. I wasn’t prepared for the obsidian power and its effects on me as a dragon. I was knocked out, and through out of my dragon form, cause of the nullifying powers of the black mineral. I was barely able to hide among the debris of other destroyed houses. I tried to come back but the cottage was destroyed and you were not there. I asked around to a few villagers, but no one knew about any baby, your mom and dad didn’t told anyone about their pregnancy and that old woman did a great job hiding you. I thought you were dead until I felt you in the forest last night.

“I am so sorry Alas” said Donla crying “I didn’t meant to leave you there, it was my job to protect you, it was my duty to save your family and I wasn’t able to do so”.

I need you to understand that you are the most important achievement for us as dragons, because you represent hope. You can understand humans and dragons, you can help us change the vision of the world, we need you to be the bridge to bring together both species and end this non sensical killing and destruction, because you are the result of human and dragons’ love, hope and peace, you are the living and breathing proof that we are not monsters and that we do not deserve to be persecute and killed, we do not want to hurt humans, we are just the result of government negligence. There are less than ten dragons like me alive Alas, and we are all hiding here, but we know the governments are still performing this type of experiments, and releasing other type of dragons (less human ones) in the places they want to destroy.

“What are you saying grandpa?”- said Corine shaking “That is not posible, Dragon are evil, you ride them, you tamed them, you though us how to use them for wining wars and bring peace back”.

“My dear Corine, I’ve been a lier and a traitor to both humans and dragons, both thrusted me and I betrayed them, for fame and fortune. I hope you and the others will someday understand my reasons, I was just four years old when I learned the truth and I was been manipulating for both sides of the war to help them, cause both sees me as a valuable asset. I was greedy and had no guide, no one I can thrust” reply Alas.

“Bullshit” scream Corine frustrated “You can read humans and dragons minds alike, meaning you knew who was telling the truth and who was lying, based on the story you are telling me”.

“Oh my dear! Do you thing they did not know how to concealed their thoughts from me? They just let me see what they wanted me too, they overworked my psychic powers, why do you thing I’m losing my memory now? I know I don’t have much time, and that is why I need to tell you my story”

Corine didn’t want to keep listening to what her grandfather was telling her, she packed her things and leave the room, Alas didn’t knew if he was going to see her again, or if he will survive long enough to tell his story.

THE END (Manuscript for book 1)