Haaa

Pant

Cough! Blood!

Pain

Pain

Pain

Wheeze

Wheeze

AH, I open my eyes, Cough! Cough Blood!

Where am I? Ah, I've crashed.

Tear, Sniff

Whine and Pain,

Ah, this is unbearable! My wings are broken, and bones are outside.

I'm tired!

CAST HEAL!

Stop coughing blood!

HEAL!

Out of mana!

"Octahedron?"

-----Down----

Hah, pain, hah

Whine, Whine.

I see men in black fatigue suits and bulletproof vests. No indications. They are running my way.

I try to get up on my hind legs, but one is bent the wrong way. Aaaargh, Pain

Whine.

Are there some rocks there or a hiding place, maybe there?

Crawl, Pain

Crawl. Pain.

Pain, Pain, out of energy.

Breath? Inspiring, pain in lungs, the bloody injury was healed, but some ribs must be broken and perforating my lung.

I have a heavy injury on my side; the scales have resisted, but the flesh between was lacerated, and the shrapnel of the missile has ravaged my insides, and the explosion broke my wings, and the fall has done the rest. It's a miracle I am still alive. The multi-layers of the shield must have cushioned the explosion. These spells were made against arrows, lances, and arbalests, not cannons and missiles. This must be updated if I have a future. But I think this is for another life...

The men have caught me and have heavy weapons; some have an RPG, and all are aiming at me.

I start to cry and whine, like asking for pity. I drop my head in submission and join clawed broken hands in a prayer position, asking for grace.

One of the men speaks to the radio IN ENGLISH!

"Hey, Major KENT, we have surrounded the wyrm. She is heavily injured. Yes, I think she can survive the travel; hemorrhage seems to have stopped. No, she is not aggressive, but she'll need sedation for transport. Bones are broken, and she's suffering immensely. There are shell shards in the side. We cannot remove them because of the risk of new hemorrhage.

The transport copter is on the way."

They are US Marines, and they are here to pick me. I think I still have value.

If I let myself sink in my blood or shadow, I don't want to be an LICH again. Noooooooo.

The men are coming to my snout, and I let them do what they want with me. I let my fate fall into the hands of God.

One comes with a syringe with a big sting, and I have always feared dentists. Dentist Trauma.

Then he sticks the needle in my gum, and the effect is immediate. Pain releases, and muscle tension drops. I relax completely. No Pain, No suffering. Just at the injuries, I sense a fire spot, but it doesn't radiate through my body. It is not an anesthetic, but morphine to release pain in injured soldiers. The medic soldier looks at me, and to his surprise, he gets a lick of thanks from my tongue. A second lick, and I close my eyes as he pats me and lets him do. Tension is now down.

Then without losing time, they fix my injured wings against my body with belts and place a bigger belt under my belly, tail, and neck. A belt is tightened around my snout to keep my jaws closed. My hind legs are also roped with my tail so I cannot injure anybody.

Then the helicopter arrives, and a tow is lowered to my position.

A camouflage net is also covering me, and I am lifted.

A second military helicopter is landing to pick up all the black men.

So I am lifted, and I see the forest getting away and again the sandy and rocky landscape of Saudi. It's a dead and desert landscape. Life there is hard, and this country can't sustain me in food. I am happy to leave this scorching hell. I could live there with a human meat regime and sucking electricity from solar panels. There is no rain here, no clouds, no storms except sandstorms. No fog, no lakes to swim. Ah, if I could fly again...

Ah, if I can bask in a normal sun with green life under me, forest, lake, caves, water, deer, fat boar, BBQ, sausages, soup. Ah, I would like a porridge or vegetable soup, potatoes, onions with bacon mm. Ah, I miss the cantina of MacGyver Zoo. They were kind to me. I would have stayed there and made a lair, and they'd help me raise the dragonet.

Arghh, now I am thinking with mother instincts. SILLY instincts are kicking in! But as a father, it would have been the same. I've always loved children.

Ah, I see the beach and the Saudi army not attacking. But there are a lot of army vehicles. They can spot us. Why are they not attacking?

I freeze, not making any movement to not attract attention from a disobedient Saudi soldier.

Ah, now we are above the sea, and two jet fighters are now escorting us from afar. I can close my eyes and follow them on my HUD, but the radar function is almost disabled due to my injuries.

Still, blood is dripping from my injuries, and I understand now why they are not closing in fast.

There is a layer of allodium trace in the explosive that injured me, and it slows down the healing and keeps the cuts bleeding, like mosquito saliva. I am in very bad shape now.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Ah, we arrive at an aircraft carrier, and we are landing on a part of the bridge for helicopters.

It's a very huge ship. So huge you don't feel the waves. I've seen on the pontoon a big steel cage with the roof open. It's more of a transport cage than a prison, but they are four big elephant cages welded together to make a bigger one.

This time the cage is brand new with mats on half of it and a stainless steel structure. Very clean.

They have also UV and IR lamps fixed inside.

I am placed in the cage, and to the horror of the other military men serving the ship, they see the black men in contact with me; the cage fully opens, and the walls are not mounted.

They remove the belts, and one grabs my horns to place my head comfortably on the mat. I let them do it, just whining when in pain.

A medic is looking at my broken wings and takes some metal tubes and belts to replace the bones in the correct position. Then he places plastic sheets on my wing and fixes the sheet with sticking tape. Then he comes with a long pressurized can, and I understand what it is. The medic is surprised by my non-reaction and confidence.

Then he sprays a yellow liquid between the metal tube and the plastic sheet. The product expands and expands. This is a cast of isolation moss that can serve to maintain broken limbs. It's often used in war.

He looks for a vein in the injury because it's impossible with the scales and places an IV bag with nutrients inside and water. Another one is with general plasma to help the heart in case of blood loss.

He pats my snout and takes a towel and a jar with water and disinfectant and starts cleaning all the blood on my head and snout.

"You are courageous, good girl, good. We'll be friends, yes?" I whine in answer.

He speaks to me as if saying, "Good dog, good. You've done well."

He tries, thinking it's not possible. He repeats the phrase he always uses by habit when dealing with an injured soldier: "Do you understand me? Do you see my finger?" holding a pen lamp:

I nod by whining.

"Ah!" he says, "Twice whine."

I whine twice.

"Ah! Incredible. If you understand what I say, whine 3 times."

I whine 3 times.

"!!!"

"Okay, first, check your injuries. Don't bite me, okay? 1 whine for yes, 3 for no."

"Do you see my finger well with both eyes?"

1 whine

"Do you have difficulty breathing?"

1 whine.

"Is it because of the left injury? Are they deep?"

1 whine.

A man comes near the medic and asks, "Are you sure you can stay like that? Do we need to close the cage? Are you safe?"

"Don't you see I am working now? We'll see later if the cage is needed. I await instructions from Kent, and all I see here is a heroic being who has sacrificed herself to save your comrades. So please show some respect even if her appearance is different from yours. She has blood like you, senses like you, emotions and a heart like us. Personally, I see no differences between her and another soldier."

TOUCHE my heart.

Tears

He places his hand to pat me, and I lick his hand and cheek thankfully.

He blushes.

"Stop, please."

So he gets up and goes to his box and takes some scary instruments.

"It will be painful. I can't put you to sleep because I don't know the effect of drugs on you, and the wrong dose could make you die or sleep for eternity. We'll have to investigate that later. It's for your good."

Then he injects some high-concentration painkiller, like those used for horses or elephants, into the IV line.

Pain is dropping. I feel sluggish.

Then he lights a lamp on his front and starts using some brownish solution, maybe iodine?

This is certainly a sterile field. Then he proceeds to remove each piece of metal shard I have in the flesh. I say nothing, I whine not, but I tremble due to the fear and pain residual but terrible.

"GOOD GIRL, COURAGEOUS ONE! nearly done, a little bit more courage!"

Then he takes a big curved needle with white wire and starts to sew back the limp flesh and fill holes with a special cotton where flesh has disappeared or burned due to the impact and explosion.

"You are very lucky your skin is like a battleship armor. I can place back the skin on the injury, but I cannot pierce the scales. Even your muscles and tissues are as hard as a bulletproof suit. I'm sorry, but you'll have scars, and I don't know if you'll be able to fly again. Some nerves and ligaments have been badly severed with the bone fracture. You got a tomahawk on you? I joke."

But some shards have a writing "Raytheon" on them...

The medic officer, named Douglass, cleans up the hole and starts to mend the other injuries.

"Sorry, we are not in a surgery room, but you are too tall to even enter that way. We are preparing a place in the hangar under the bridge with the tanks and planes where you can rest.

You'll stay in the cage. Look at her more as a room than as a jail. I can't say anything about your friends; only Officer Kent can tell you about that. I'm here to heal you."

Pat

After one hour, a machine on rolls comes and has a point on it and the other side has a metal plate.

"Don't fear it; this is a mobile X-ray scanner. It's used for detecting fissures in plane engines, but it also has a medical setting for battle situations."

So he takes X-ray pictures of the wings and body.

"Oh, you also have fractures in the thoracic cage, and some bones have perforated your lung. It's normal you have difficulty breathing."

I whine and tear.

"Okay now, lie on this side and try to rest in this position as much as possible. Here, I will place a cast of tubes and moss to fix this. You see there? You are breathing better now?"

No drink and no food for 2 days, okay? Sugar and proteins will be injected in the IV, as well as some painkillers.

"I'll come every hour to check if you have a fever. So, now, rest and sleep."

Then Douglass makes a sign to the other soldiers, and they mount the cage wall and the roof, and with a lifter, they place the cage under the ship's bridge.

There the light of the sun disappears, and I don't know when I'll see it again.

But now I need rest and to regain all my exhausted mana. The doctor has cleaned my injuries well, and now I sense the regeneration working again.

Then, after many soldiers and officers have looked at my cage, I ignore them and fall asleep.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Too long asleep??

Ah, I needed a dragon's sleep once in a while. Ahhhh, sleep a little more when I can.

ZZZZZZZZZZ

Ah, someone knocks on the bars.

MMMM.

PAIN

PAIN

PAIN

WHINE; the injuries are healed, but not my fractures.

"Hi Dragonne, This is Douglass. You have slept for 3 days, and we are now in the Atlantic Ocean. Oops, shit."

I see your scars are healing fast, but not your bones. They are not well placed, and you need food to reconstruct your bones, maybe carbon-fiber-reinforced."

"We don't have meat like your diet suggests onboard. Can you eat human food?"

Whine.

"Repeat?"

Whine.

"What are you doing with your tail? Writing?"

Okay, I take the pen in my hand and take a felt marker on a piece of paper.

Then he sees on the paper the letters:

THANK YOU

I OWE YOU ONE

"No, I am a doctor, and the orders were from KENT. I just follow orders."

THANKS

"What can you eat?"

SOUP

"Huh?

"Can you write now? How can you understand and write?"

I WAS HUMAN BEFORE.

"Ahhh, I understand now. What happened?"

EXPERIMENT ACCIDENT. FUSED WITH ANIMALS. STILL HUMAN IN MY HEAD.

"I am sorry for you. I'll ask to treat you the best possible. I'll talk to Kent."

So after a slow shock, Douglass goes to his office and meditates on the news he got,

A legendary animal beast living, unique, who speaks, who writes and was human...

Many things for one day. So he opens a box, takes a glass, and pours whisky, cold, without ice.

"What a day; the world will change with this dragon, maybe for the best or for the worse."

In the far end of the ship, I detect a sweet odor of whisky liquor. Mmmh, just a sip, please. I'll be very kind with Douglas if I can have a sip.

My dreams are interrupted by the arrival of a big metal cylinder with a fuming opening. But my hands are useless. Then a black guy comes and says, "Open your mouth," and I gulp happily SOUP. He poured the whole thing like we throw away in a sink.

Ahh, I needed one.

And I start to whistle like a happy bird, singing.

Then, sensing force and mana rushing in me, I cast

HEAL, and all bones are replaced, scars disappeared, and all pain is gone, and the super regeneration is working.

In one gesture, all casts, pipes, and belts are away, and I am again fresh like a baby dragon.

AHHHH, super.

What after dinner?

Sleep.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ