I felt furious for the first time in a while. Instinctually my breathing became shallow heaves of anger I felt towards my brother for sending me out alone in the damned forest.

I lost sight of the river half an hour ago as I marched further inward to the forest in the hopes of finding some kind of sign that Ghilya was around. The towering trees obstructed sunlight from me and left the leaf litter and decomposing vegetation I stood on pockmarked with rays of light beaming through the canopy. I thought hard about what I was going to say to Ghilya and all that I was able to string together was a measly opening statement of how I understood how she felt and the betrayal she was experiencing was justified.

“Gods, this sucks.” I said aloud to no one in particular.

I kept my submachine gun nestled close to my chest as my eyes darted side to side, scanning the local area. In the time since I was expelled from the group, I had only encountered the occasional mated pair of yellow songbirds and a red crested chameleon that looked at me with its comically large eyes as I walked past it.

The strange and yet oddly familiar ecosystem I strolled through was alive with sounds and smells both pleasant and unappealing ranging from chirps of woodland critters and the songs of stunning birds to the dank smell of rotting vegetation and moss; were it not for the fact I was being chased and hunted by every sentient creature out there I might have thought this stroll to be relaxing.

I came to rest on a fallen log I had spotted nearby and I proceeded to sit down on it. I realised almost as immediately as I sat down just how moist the surface was which had started seeping into my pants with a cool feel to it. I hunched forward with my elbows and knees touching each other to cradle my head, letting out a sigh of defeat. I sat still and motionless staring at a brown patch of grass in front of me for nearly twenty minutes deep in thought wondering what I was going to do and where to go next.

She can climb trees and disappear in the canopies and she is quick and surprisingly agile. How the Hell was I going to find her anytime soon? Maybe I could start a fire or make the journey back to the village. No that wouldn’t work, they’ll find me there.

My stomach rumbled, calling out to me that I needed more energy. My hand almost went into my backpack to reach for one of the protein bars I had taken before sickness overcame my sense of hunger, causing me to pull back my hand. It felt distasteful that I felt hungry after what had just happened so I mentally forced the sensation into the back of my mind.

A rumbling sound nearby sent chills up my spine. The slow guttural growl rumbled through the trees caused me to enter a state of hypervigilance, standing upright in an instant and scanning the local area. After slowing down my processor’s time, the world around me felt like I was trapped moving only a centimetre at a time. But, despite the slowness of my movements it was not enough to hinder my response time should I need to move fast, such as giving me enough time to reach for my machine gun and raise it to eye level to scan the area around me. A small sigh of relief escaped me when I saw nothing behind me, nor did I suspect something was hidden beyond the trees, my hands trembled gripping the weapon fiercely, the iron sights swayed from side to side with rapidity that made looking through them useless. Slowly I crept forward towards the sound of rumbling.

Shit, why would I go there, that’s probably something that’ll kill me! But I need to know, I need to know what else I could be facing by myself in this godsforsaken forest.

I crouched silently as I approached the source of the sound, the rumbling had settled into a steady pattern of low growls followed by a huff sound every few seconds. It grew louder and I engaged the sound dampening tech that was installed in my feet. I smiled at hearing my footsteps crunching under dried leaf litter suddenly go silent, no, not silent. The sound of vegetation underfoot was still there but much quieter than before.

That was when I saw it.

A copper-coloured dragon rested in a clearing with exposed sunlight shining down on its limp form. Its tail curled all the way forward so that its barbed tail tip was nearly touching its snout. Its midsection rhythmically inflated and deflated with each growl and huff it was making; it appeared to be sleeping. Its snout had several fangs poking out of its scaly lips, its whole mouth was covered in dried blood of what I sincerely hoped was from some random woodland creature that it recently devoured and not the blood of a human being. I took a step backward, eyes not leaving sight of the sleeping dragon as I began to vacate the area and run as far away as common sense would dictate. After a quick glance around to make sure the dragon didn’t have anybody else watching over it, I spotted something that drew my attention more so than the dragon did.

Partially crumbled and in a state of severe disrepair next to the dragon. The exterior looked to be made out of concrete with bars of rebar bent and twisted wherever it was exposed while the dome like roof at the centre of the structure was intact. Vines and large patches of moss had grown on the outside walls, seemingly in the middle of being reclaimed by nature. Behind the abandoned building stood a lone, tall, rusty communication tower with a dish limply hanging from the top by a loose cable. All of this was human tech, there was no way this should have been here. And the elves and dragons certainly could not have built this.

I knew I had a job to do at finding Ghilya and bringing her back and apologising but I had to know for certain what was going on. So many questions rushed through my head that I could not leave unanswered. So I carefully walked around the sleeping dragon and made certain it was not disturbed as I gently pressed the handle down.

The rusted door handle crunched loudly against the rest of the rusted door frame yet the door did not open. I tried pressing my body weight against it to force it open but to no avail. Slowly the door budged but it had groaned and creaked loudly as it scraped the floor. Then I heard the dragon move behind me, I spun around, panicking only to be relieved to see it was shifting around in its sleep. Thank gods for that!

It shifted its wings to spread out idly on its side and its tail coiled even further inward than before. I couldn’t believe that it was still asleep. After shimmying against the concrete wall I was able to find my way inside the old outpost which came in the form of one of the walls collapsing from an old tree trunk that had forced its way inside.

Once I was inside the structure, I looked around to see old computers covered in a thick layer of lichen and moss. The breach I entered through seemed to have been lined with desks and computers that looked ancient. Hanging from the opposing wall In front of me lied a banner in tatters hanging from the ceiling with small holes in the fabric all over it but not enough to make the symbol unrecognisable; A blue circle sitting in the centre of a bright silver five-pointed star on a field of crimson with a chain going from the left of the centre star point and running along underneath to the other side of the centre point of the star. I recognised this as the old symbol of Balko when we were a military power, but this symbol hasn’t been used in decades. Just how old was this outpost?

Everywhere I looked in the outpost I saw nothing but antiquity, technology not from this century. Desk lamps and paperback books littered the floor and the lone desk that sat in a crevice between two walls with a wooden chair on its side.

Further inside the outpost I entered a round room with the domed roof. The centre of the room was on an elevated platform with a single hand railing circling around the perimeter of the platform except for the steps leading into it. The outer circumference of the platform, much like the room I was just in, had desks and chairs lining the inner wall, however on top of the desks rested a white cubicle with an obsidian black screen facing outward. The cube had perforated vents on the sides and it was when I saw the keyboard attached to the cube that I realised this was a computer monitor, even more antiquated than the ones before.

How old is this place!? Why haven’t I heard about this before?

I found it rather disturbing that the outpost existed for so long ago and yet it seemed like something people would know about and yet why didn’t they? If this was a military outpost I could understand why people didn’t know about it at the time of whenever this place was built but this was built so far away from our lands that it made me wonder what its purpose was.

Just as I turned around to head back outside, I spotted something on the wall next to the entrance I just came through. Like everything else inside the building, it was covered in Lichen and was shredded in some parts but as I looked closer I noticed the faint outline of squares with large numbers written in them. Some of the boxes had a giant X in some of them which looked to have been added after the paper was printed and not before and then I realised that’s what I saw

“An old calendar, huh? Maybe this’ll tell me how old this place is.” I said to myself.

Sure enough, while partially faded, the year on the calendar could be seen as well as the month. I assumed the final box with the X in it was the last day anyone was in here. I leaned closer and spoke to myself as I read aloud the year.

“Thirteenth of Winter’s Dawn, thirty-one twenty-seven. Damn, this place is ancient history.”

Truly I was amazed by the ancient date left by the previous human occupants, over a hundred years this place has been abandoned. It is too bad that none of the equipment here looked like it was in working order or even a good place to stay for the night.

Besides, judging by the decrepit state of the building, it might have offered us solid protection. Assuming I could convince Thomas and Clarke to come here, but I didn’t want to sleep in what was essentially a mould and fungi petri dish.

Upon leaving through the exposed section, I lost my footing on the downed tree trunk causing me to slide down it’s side. First a burning sensation shot up through the side of my leg followed by pain that I barely had time to suppress to avoid disturbing the sleeping dragon outside. When I landed hard on the ground, knocking all the air out of my lungs followed by a loud crack echoing off the trees for dozens of metres. Birds squaked in alarm as entire flocks flew away from the old outpost. I looked at my hand that was still holding on to my gun and I saw an ethereal wisp of smoke slowly dance away from the barrel of my gun. My heart started beating faster in my chest again and I saw the ammo counter in my retina show that I had one less bullet in my gun.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

The dragon growled loudly as it shot up suddenly on all four of its legs, lashing its tail around fervently as it looked around trying to find the source of the sound. It hissed as air escaped its smoke-filled nostrils while baring its teeth in a display of apex carnivorous pride, I thought I had a chance to slowly shuffle my way around the outpost and out of sight of the dragon.

SNAP.

My eyes went wide and I saw that I had placed my weight on a twig.

The dragon whipped its head around and it narrowed its gaze at me.

“Oh shit!”

The dragon opened its mouth wide for me to see the menacing orange glow rise up out of its throat illuminating each fold of fire proof flesh inside its maw. In an instant I threw my legs and spun around, jumping onto the exposed concrete wall and pulling myself over. I heard a roaring sound and felt a rush of wind brush over me, blistering heat searing itself into my skin and filling my nose with the scent of burnt hair. I couldn’t hide my fear as I dragged myself into the concrete outpost. Why aren’t my glowing tattoos showing up!? C’mon, don’t tell me it was only good for two near-death scenarios, I don’t wanna die like this!

The roaring heat dissipated, taking along with it the bright glow of fire, the room was slowly reduced to its grey interior with dull green patches of moss and lichen from the bright orange glow that had filled the room. I got up off my knees and looked back to see the dead tree trunk covered in patches of fire; embers fell onto the cold rock floor setting alight any loose papers that were scattered all over the floor when in an instant, the trunk exploded into the viscera of wood chips and embers as the copper scaled dragon charged through it as though it was a mild obstacle. It looked in and saw me with its glowing amber eyes, giving me a scowl before opening its mouth once more to let loose another breath of flame.

C’mon, Daa’quardo magic tattoo bullshit! Show yourself and make this dragon leave me the hell alone!

Fire rose out of its mouth and I bolted further inward toward the domed section of the outpost, I saw the bright glow of fire coming from behind me before feeling the intense heat burn me. The flames ceased their advance shortly after the entrance into the domed section. Looking around, I couldn’t see anything that looked useful enough to help me against the dragon. I heard the sound of rocks crumbling behind me and I guessed that the dragon was trying to get in; if it let out another volley of fire it might actually get me this time.

But nothing came. No sounds of claws digging through concrete in a frantic bid to grab me nor the blazing inferno threatening to consume me.

It was quiet all of a sudden, then a thump above me took me by surprise. Another muffled thump, coming from the ceiling above. Dust fell from loose cracks that had formed in the building, occasionally a small chip would be shaken loose. The domed roof stopped casting light in the centre of the elevated platform and I realised as I looked up to see the dragon’s silhouette creeping through the moulded glass just where it was.

Its head smashed through the domed roof ignoring the glass and rusted metal frame scraping against its armoured hide. It extended its neck downwards to place its widening jaw in position for another breath attack. I ran backwards and around the corner from the exposed office which was covered in smouldering embers. The front door that I had previously been unable to open before was blocked on this side by a fallen over book shelf that had seemingly obstructed the door. In the state of panic I was in, removing the obstruction was hardly noticeable even with its broad wooden frame, it was thrown aside like it weighed nothing and kicked the door open leaving an impact in the metal frame.

I had barely run ten feet outside the concrete outpost when I felt the ground beneath me tremble slightly before being knocked off my feet. My gun flew out of my hands and landed a few feet from my reach. I had rolled over to crawl towards my gun until a tremendous force pressed down on my back, pinning me against the soft, damp vegetation.

The dragon roughly swiped its leg to the side to roll me until I was facing towards the sky and its ugly fearsome visage. It growled lowly bringing its teeth close to my face, dousing me with the rancid stench that saturated its breath.

Shit, damnable magic spell. So much for covering my ass!

How do I get out of here? Its toes command more strength than even my enhanced limbs put together. If I had something like a rock then I could- oh wait. The blade!

In response to my thinking of it, the outer casing that made up my right forearm split apart and pulled away to extend the Ithinite blade that was kept hidden within me.

It sprang out of my arm and sliced through the air and punched its way deep into the flesh in the ankle that pinned me down. The dragon roared with a ferocity that even shook the ground as it lifted its leg off me, giving me a brief moment of respite long enough for me to sheathe my blade and to get back on my feet to grab my gun off the ground. The digital ammunition counter displayed over my vision returned and I switched the safety off before I turned around and aimed my gun at the Dragon’s pained and furious expression.

After squeezing the trigger for short bursts of gunfire, the dragon took notice of me, many of the bullets ricocheted off its armoured hide. I tried to aim at its seemingly less vulnerable spots like its eyes. The dragon hoisted its wings off the ground and held them aloft above its own body, looking like it was about to take off as it slowly approached me ignoring the controlled bursts I was throwing at it until my gun made a hollowed out clicking sound within the chamber and I quickly tried to swap out the magazine but my opponent seized the opportunity to charge at me. I was able to jump out of the way in time and I was able to insert the new magazine into the submachine gun.

I studied the dragon and I had to weaken it somehow. Clearly the armour on it was too thick for the bullets to do any real damage but perhaps there was a way that might injure it slowly. Memories of an old life came back to me, all those days and weeks and months sitting at my computer and playing video games finally paid off for me as I remembered one particular game where it involved fighting a dragon in a very similar manner; man, these memories feel like decades ago, so much and yet its as though I barely remember anything from events at the start of the year.

After snapping out of my dazeful wonder on my memories, I tried to focus on how I was able to defeat the dragon boss in those games; aside from the initial opening which often established the dragon was a boss enemy and had its own health bar that was as wide as my screen before making certain parts of its body glow indicating which I needed to target first. I aimed my gun upwards at its elevated wings and flipped a switch on the enabler module attached to the side of the submachine gun.

“Incendiary!” I shouted into it.

The module beeped three times and a small whir sound came from it before a click could be felt through the weapon’s grip. I aimed it at the dragon and let loose a storm of bullets fly until I emptied the clip. Each shot erupted into small bursts of flames upon impact, occasionally leaving a small flickering flame lingering on its rough scales.

Dammit, nothing.

A new magazine and I switched the enabler module on before I desperately shouted “Thunder!”

The ammo counter went from full to empty in nearly seven seconds. Each shot that struck the dragon exploded into small blue arcs of electricity that reached out for the nearest contact point, making the dragon's scales look as though it was emanating the electrical charge itself. It rumbled rhythmically and looked at me with an amused smile and I realised it was chuckling as it slowly approached me.

“I think I felt something that time.” It spoke in its lowly growly voice with a hint of amusement. “Are you going to try every single element to take me down?”

In my head, I did an inventory check and I realised I had just wasted two entire magazines on one dragon and I wasn’t even making a scratch, let alone doing anything to deter it from me. The Viper setting did nothing and neither did Leech mode. I was done reloading the third magazine by the time I realised I was aiming at the wrong parts of its body. Despite the armoured, bullet proof design of the creature it had no protection covering the thin wing membranes; dragons were frequently known for being proud of the ability of flight, perhaps if I targeted them then maybe I could do some real damage to this thing.

I stared down the length of the machine gun, through its sights and I pulled the barrel to aim at the exposed wing membrane that was being held up high. Then I turned off the enabler and squeezed the trigger once more. As expected, the gun forced itself into my shoulder with repetitive kicks causing my aim to jerk in all directions as I struggled to keep my aim solely focused on the wings. The first ten rounds caught the dragon by surprise and the bullets shredded their way through the thin membrane. The dragon let out a pained roar as my bullets tore through its appendages before it spun around to whip its tail, with barely a second to register its whip like attack I was able to jump up and avoid it narrowly as its tail swished through the air, swiping away all loose vegetation and a hollowed-out log that was nearby.

In the distance, the log that was thrown in the air had shattered apart with a loud crunch that echoed throughout the forest. The dragon turned back to face me with smoke billowing out of the corners of its mouth and its nostrils. It gave its wings a couple of flaps before inspecting its left wing. Seeing the holes poked into its otherwise delicate wing before looking back at me with a look that said “Killing you is personal now. Everything in the past doesn’t matter anymore. This, this will be your undoing.”

It released another jet of fire that I had managed to jump out of the way, smoke filled my burning, aching lungs and I realised how hard they have been working under. I should not have focused on the pain in my chest because no sooner did pain all over my body soon arrive in my brain. All forms of pain, all forms of severity from nearly every part of me. It was tiresome to pay attention to.

My own torpidity suddenly came crashing down on me like a tsunami of tiredness threatening to claim me in its indomitable forces of nature. I couldn’t rest now; I couldn’t afford to get sleepy.

Swiftly I sifted through my enhancements while speeding up my processing ability. Time slowed and it gave me the time necessary to desperately search through my limbs’ features. On one side of my vision showed a diagram of the human body with images depicting the places parts of my body had been replaced. This might have been the first time I had actually seen the true extent of Thomas’ craft which had included implants surrounding my heart and several of my organs. One of the images of the implants near my heart opened up a menu of features which displayed my health ranging from blood pressure, beats per minute and some other features I was not well versed on knowing. But, one of the features that caught my eye displayed a function of rapidly deploying injections into my bloodstream for any purpose.

After scanning the list of different chemicals; many of whom were given long, unpronounceable names that seemed to act more of as a tongue twister than their given designation. Quickly glancing over to where the dragon was, I could see that it had just closed its jaws after releasing its latest attack. Its head slowly craned towards me at an agonising pace, each twitch of muscle could be caught in its movements sending a chill up my spine.

I selected the chemical that read “Modafinil” and a box filled with more reading popped up in my vision that said “Warning: Usage of this compound can result in Nausea, headache, sensitivity to bright lights and irregular heartbeat.”

I closed the warning and injected the compound before I looked over to the Dragon who had just turned the body to face me. Shit, its getting closer! How do I get out of this, do I jump out of the way again? No, its gonna catch on that that’s my only evasion strategy and will probably compensate for it. What to do, what to do…

It opened its jaws again, only this time it didn’t have any fire to spew at me anymore, I wasn’t going to question why, perhaps it ran out? I decided to run around it, hoping to get back inside the outpost again, maybe there was another area to it. Surely the people there had bunks or something I could in?

Just as I had rounded a tree that was between me and the Dragon, I felt a shove from behind that turned into a push which had then thrown me towards the building. Up in the air I was and there was nothing I could do about it, when I spun around, I saw the copper dragon with its head lowered. I guess he must have charged at me and thrown me with its head like a bull. My brief flight ended abruptly when I collided hard against the wall, my head felt light along with what felt like a head splitting headache. I felt something warm trickle down my neck after I had landed on the ground and my vision had become staticky.

Even the combat drugs in my system couldn’t aid me any longer as every part of me ached ferociously, too tired to lift my arms, too exhausted to even roll over onto my front just to lift myself off the ground. I felt its shadow hanging over me ominously, I could smell the rancid stench off its breath but yet it didn’t seem as bad, I’ll probably just end up adding to that terrible breath of it.

My vision began to tunnel, slowly the vision of forest and horizontal concrete walls disappeared from the inky blackness encroaching over the world around me.

As I was encased in darkness, either from my blindness or the shadow of the dragon about to devour me, I tried to focus on the last things I was feeling; I felt pretty good now, pretty calm. I focused on the sight of the forest in all its lush greenery and the shrubberies that populated the ground floor and how they gracefully parted ways when a lean humanoid figure slowly emerged from them. I couldn’t tell who it was before my vision finally gave up. But I do remember the sense of peace that seemingly replaced the terrible head injury I sustained. But I could die happy hearing nature call out to me as though I still had a chance to come back from this.

“Michael” I heard it cry out. But it was too late, I just needed to get some rest.