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Part 9: An Unexpected ally

I was so tired, I couldn’t see clearly and I could hear whispering voices all around me.
I opened my eyes and found myself strapped to another metal bed and to my surprise I found that I was human again.

“What happened?” I said confused “Last I remember I was turning into a dragon and now I’m right back where I began. Did the transformation wear off?” I wondered.

I looked around but I couldn’t see anything. Everything was dark, excerpt for the bed I was strapped to and it was illuminated by a bright light directly above me.

I then noticed the whispering seemed to be getting louder.

“Who's there!?” I called into the darkness and suddenly the whispering stopped.

For a moment there was no noise, complete silence… and then I heard footsteps approaching from within the darkness.
I turned to look toward the footsteps and I saw someone silhouetted in the dark.

“You really are pathetic!” said the shadowed figure.

“What do you mean!?” I asked angrily.

“Your life as a human is over and a new life is beginning, but you haven’t the will to do what is necessary. Your friends died for you to gain this power and you won’t even avenge their deaths, I thought they were your friends” he replied mockingly.

“I didn’t know!!” I argued “I couldn’t save them I…I...I just want this to stop!” I yelled with tears in my eyes.

“It’s in your power to make this stop. You can stop them… make them pay for their crimes, kill them….” As the shadow said this, he came closer to the bed and I saw…. Myself…

The other me, this reflection of my human self grinned darkly and brandished a syringe.

“You can’t be real...what are you doing!?” I said frantically as he drew closer with the needle.

“Your pain will go on forever…because you couldn’t do what needed to be done” He said coldly and then the whispering from the darkness began again. I starting struggling against my restraints in panic but the other Virgil continued to get closer and pointed the needle at my eye.

“No NO NOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“Aaaargh!” I woke up and I was sweating and gasping “Oh…oh man…a nightmare” I said in between breaths.

I rubbed my head feeling sick and exhausted. I was still deep underground in some kind of disposal area and thankfully not back in that room with the restraining bed.
I slowly got up and felt strong enough to move again, I looked around but couldn’t see any obvious way out of this place apart from the trap door high above me.
There was no way I could break a way through to get back up above, not to mention I didn’t yet know how to fly and a dimly lit junk heap was not an ideal practice area for flying.
There had to be another way out…

Suddenly I felt hot, my whole body was starting to burn and I soon realised with a mix of fear and excitement that this was it…

There was no going back now.
The final stage of my transformation began, and it was painful. My whole body began to grow and I collapsed belly down on the ground and writhed around the floor in pain.

My wings grew larger, more muscular and finally reached what I assumed was their full size and width.

My trousers finally ripped apart dropping to the ground in shreds as my legs grew larger with extra muscle and then my torso felt weird as it began to stretch and grow.

I rolled over onto my back at this point as my midsection grew almost three times longer than before and I was now twice as tall as a fully-grown human.

Next my throat felt dry and it was a little uncomfortable, as my vocal cords seemed to be changing a little. I then I let out a loud roar that sounded similar to a car coming to a screeching stop.

I just roared like a real dragon…at least I think I did...I had no form of reference at the time.

Anyway… the heat finally died down and the pain subsided, I lied there gasping and then, I slowly got up.
It was finished, my human life gone and my new life as a dragon had begun.

I examined my new body and I found myself proud of the powerful creature I’d become.
But what is there for me now? Even if I did escape this place…where would I go? If I tried to walk down a city street now, I’d be captured and locked in a research lab forever.
But then the memories of the nightmare I had had, returned and I filled with rage. I knew what I had to do now, I was going to rescue Jack and Darius, find Trask… and kill him.

Nothing else mattered to me now and so I started to make my way through the piles of junk looking for a way out but I found nothing.

This ‘Hole’ I had fallen into was clearly meant to bury all this garbage and just seal it shut, I was losing hope but then I found a section of concrete wall that looked different, newer.

I walked over to the wall and tapped it. From the noise that my tapping made, there was a good chance that it was hollow on the other side.
It was also possible that there might be nothing but earth behind the wall, but it was worth a try. I took a few steps back and then I charged at the wall and hit it with my shoulder.

I smashed completely through the concrete like it was made of cardboard, but then I tripped and fell to the ground.

I wasn't hurt and I found myself in a large underground tunnel lit by old electric lamps connected to wooden support beams.

I groaned still feeling a little weak as I got back to my feet, but I jumped in fright at what I found standing only a meter away from me.

A much taller, female dragon stood in my path and her features where closely similar to mine, apart from her colour and her size.
She had green scales and her scale plate armour was a deeper shade of green, an amethyst coloured mane of hair and she was at least twice as tall as I was.
She was also wearing what looked like a silver bracelet with strange runes on her right wrist.
I didn’t make a move, she just stared at me and then she knelt down to look closer.
My mind was racing with questions. Was she another of Trask’s experiments? Was she here to capture me? She’s much bigger than me so she’s bound to be strong, what am I going to do!?

But then she smiled and spoke.

“You’re Virgil aren’t you?” she asked, I looked at her surprised and answered.

“Y….Yes” I answered nervously “Who are you? Are you another one of Trask’s experiments?”

“No, I’m a true dragon, my name is Shara and I came here to find you, little one” she answered reassuringly, but I was still cautious of her and I backed away a step.

“Don’t be frightened, I’ve come to get you out of here. I was the one who sent you the message on the computer before” she said comfortingly.

I thought back to the Data room and remembered the message.

“That was you?” I said.

“Yes, I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you then. But Trask has eyes all over this facility, it’s only now that I’ve been able to reach you, although I didn’t expect you would escape the disposal area on your own” she said impressed, I began to feel a little more at ease from her words but I kept a cautious stance.

“You don’t trust me do you?” she said grinning.

“After everything I’ve been through in this place, can you blame me?” I replied sceptically.

“I suppose not” she sighed “what can I do to convince you?”

I stood there thinking on this and I thought of an idea.

“I need to find a friend of mine who has also been brought here. If you help me find and rescue him, I’ll follow you out of this facility.

“Very well” She nodded smiling “First we’ll need to exit these tunnels, I know the way” Shara stood back up to full height, nearly brushing the ceiling of the tunnel with her horns. She then turned around and proceeded up the tunnel.

I followed behind but kept few steps distance between us, just in case this dragon turned out to be lying. And yet, as I looked at her I felt like I was walking next to a familiar presence.

Pushing these odd feelings aside I decided to try and talk to her and see what this dragon might know.

“This place… is obviously a mine, but…” I paused as I noticed something odd about the tunnels. “But the tunnel walls have dozens of untouched ore veins. Why dig all these tunnels if not to mine ore… but to find something” I wondered.

“You are sharp” said Shara chuckling. “You’re right, these tunnels were drilled out to find something… but that’s not important” she said obviously avoiding something about this mine.

I was about to press the matter but she immediately added something else.

“Trask had most of the mine used as the foundations for the lower levels of this facility, we however, are in an unused section” she answered and we continued up the tunnel.

After traversing a few more passages I noticed the silver bracelet on her right wrist.

“That’s an interesting bracelet, it seems more that just decorative” I said.

“Huh? Oh this!” she replied holding her wrist up. “It’s a piece of dragon technology, in fact this little device helped get me here undetected” she replied.

“How exactly?” I asked curious.

“Like this...” Shara then pressed one of the runes on her bracelet and her whole body glowed like she was wrapped in a semi transparent, luminescent skin. The next moment, she started to shrink and then her wings shrunk and eventually vanished.

The glowing suddenly grew so bright that I had to cover my eyes and after a few moments the glowing stopped and I opened my eyes.
I looked on in amazement. Shara had somehow turned into a human woman who looked to be in her thirties. She wore a large lab coat and glasses but still had the same amethyst hair now tied back.

“How did you do that?” I asked in awe.

“This device compresses my body down to the size of a human, and creates the illusion of a human woman” she explained holding the bracelet up which had somehow also shrunk to match the fit of her now human shaped wrist.

“I never would have imagined such technology exists” I said excited over the thought of such advanced technology. “I assume this is how dragons have remained hidden from the human race?” I asked.

Shara then pushed another rune on the bracelet and reverted back to her true form once again.

“My people have been watching the human race in secret for a long time. Only under certain circumstances do we reveal our true forms in a place like this, but we are here because of Trask’s experiments” she said with disgust in her voice.

“I understand…” I said darkly “I’m going to make Trask pay for what he’s done here” I said angrily.

“He’ll be dealt with in time, but for now I need to get you to safety” said Shara.

“Not until I find my friends” I said adamantly.

“Virgil, I have to get you away from here. Trask must not get his hands on you” she argued.

“Why? Because he needs me to create more dragons, is that it?” I asked getting frustrated.

“No, it’s more than you realise”

“Then tell me what’s going on here! Why is all this happening, why?…why…”
I felt weak again, I was having trouble focusing and my eyes were heavy.

“Virgil, are you okay?” she asked looking worried.

“I… can’t…I feel so…weak” I collapsed at that moment and blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I woke up on a large sofa and I could smell something was cooking.
I raised my head and found myself in a deserted cafeteria. How did I get here? I wondered, suddenly I heard someone in the kitchen and then Shara appeared in her human form carrying a tray holding a least six very large cheese burgers.

“Shara?” I said fatigued as I tried to sit up, she quickly placed the tray on a nearby table and pushed me back down onto the sofa.

“Easy little one” she said making sure I was comfortable “you’ve gotten very weak. Of course that’s what happens when you don’t eat anything throughout your transformation” she said amused.

“Of course!” I said slapping my head in frustration “That’s why I’ve been getting so tired, the transformation must have exhausted all the energy I had in my body, leaving me (for lack of a better description) running on fumes” I said.

“Exactly” she replied laughing “After you fell unconscious, I carried you here to help you get your strength back” she said holding the tray out to me, I quickly took it and began wolfing down the cheese burgers.
I hadn’t realised how hungry I was, and I quickly finished the whole contents of the tray and I was starting to feel better.

“Ah! Thank you” I said grateful.

“Your welcome” she said smiling.

I reclined on the sofa with sigh as my stomach felt full, but then I noticed something odd.

“Umm…why have you taken human form again?” I asked.

“Oh” she began looking a little embarrassed “I’m too big to move effectively through the corridors in my true form” she explained.

“Then how did you get me back here like this?” I said incredulously indicating to her currant human shape.

“I may be in human form now, but my strength is almost unchanged” she said “But I will admit it did take some doing to carry you through some of the smaller doors in this place, you’re not so small any more yourself” she added amused.

“I guess not” I said laughing “So, you brought me here, but surely you must have had to avoid the guards?” I asked very curious to know about this.

“By now” I continued “Trask would no longer need his men to be watching the exits of this facility and so I assume they would be back on patrol”

“No need to worry about that” she replied “A friend of mine named Dalgyon is keeping the security busy on the first floor” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Is he another dragon? I asked with enthusiasm.

“Yes he is. And while he keeps the guards attention, I’ll find your friends and then we can leave” she said assuring me.

“I’m coming with you!” I argued as I again tried to rise from the sofa, but Shara once again pushed me back down.

“You need to remain here and rest, I’ve locked all the doors to the cafeteria so you’ll be safe until your strength has returned” she finished and turned to leave.

“Fine” I grunted annoyed “but I want you to tell me everything when you get back!”

“I promise!” she said and then she opened the main door and locked it behind her as she left.

I had no choice but to stay here for now, I was still tired and I wouldn’t be much help to the others if I collapsed unconscious again.
I laid my head back down to try and relax, but then I heard a voice coming from somewhere.
It was barely audible but I could just hear it, I got up and followed the sound and as I entered the kitchen I found the source. A guards radio sitting on a shelf and I could hear what was going on upstairs.
I sat back down on the sofa and listened to it, they were apparently losing a desperate struggle and they were now trying to fall back.
I hoped Jack was not anywhere near this, I hoped he was okay.

To be continued

Description

Part 9: An Unexpected ally

I was so tired, I couldn’t see clearly and I could hear whispering voices all around me.
I opened my eyes and found myself strapped to another metal bed and to my surprise I found that I was human again.

“What happened?” I said confused “Last I remember I was turning into a dragon and now I’m right back where I began. Did the transformation wear off?” I wondered.

I looked around but I couldn’t see anything. Everything was dark, excerpt for the bed I was strapped to and it was illuminated by a bright light directly above me.

I then noticed the whispering seemed to be getting louder.

“Who's there!?” I called into the darkness and suddenly the whispering stopped.

For a moment there was no noise, complete silence… and then I heard footsteps approaching from within the darkness.
I turned to look toward the footsteps and I saw someone silhouetted in the dark.

“You really are pathetic!” said the shadowed figure.

“What do you mean!?” I asked angrily.

“Your life as a human is over and a new life is beginning, but you haven’t the will to do what is necessary. Your friends died for you to gain this power and you won’t even avenge their deaths, I thought they were your friends” he replied mockingly.

“I didn’t know!!” I argued “I couldn’t save them I…I...I just want this to stop!” I yelled with tears in my eyes.

“It’s in your power to make this stop. You can stop them… make them pay for their crimes, kill them….” As the shadow said this, he came closer to the bed and I saw…. Myself…

The other me, this reflection of my human self grinned darkly and brandished a syringe.

“You can’t be real...what are you doing!?” I said frantically as he drew closer with the needle.

“Your pain will go on forever…because you couldn’t do what needed to be done” He said coldly and then the whispering from the darkness began again. I starting struggling against my restraints in panic but the other Virgil continued to get closer and pointed the needle at my eye.

“No NO NOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“Aaaargh!” I woke up and I was sweating and gasping “Oh…oh man…a nightmare” I said in between breaths.

I rubbed my head feeling sick and exhausted. I was still deep underground in some kind of disposal area and thankfully not back in that room with the restraining bed.
I slowly got up and felt strong enough to move again, I looked around but couldn’t see any obvious way out of this place apart from the trap door high above me.
There was no way I could break a way through to get back up above, not to mention I didn’t yet know how to fly and a dimly lit junk heap was not an ideal practice area for flying.
There had to be another way out…

Suddenly I felt hot, my whole body was starting to burn and I soon realised with a mix of fear and excitement that this was it…

There was no going back now.
The final stage of my transformation began, and it was painful. My whole body began to grow and I collapsed belly down on the ground and writhed around the floor in pain.

My wings grew larger, more muscular and finally reached what I assumed was their full size and width.

My trousers finally ripped apart dropping to the ground in shreds as my legs grew larger with extra muscle and then my torso felt weird as it began to stretch and grow.

I rolled over onto my back at this point as my midsection grew almost three times longer than before and I was now twice as tall as a fully-grown human.

Next my throat felt dry and it was a little uncomfortable, as my vocal cords seemed to be changing a little. I then I let out a loud roar that sounded similar to a car coming to a screeching stop.

I just roared like a real dragon…at least I think I did...I had no form of reference at the time.

Anyway… the heat finally died down and the pain subsided, I lied there gasping and then, I slowly got up.
It was finished, my human life gone and my new life as a dragon had begun.

I examined my new body and I found myself proud of the powerful creature I’d become.
But what is there for me now? Even if I did escape this place…where would I go? If I tried to walk down a city street now, I’d be captured and locked in a research lab forever.
But then the memories of the nightmare I had had, returned and I filled with rage. I knew what I had to do now, I was going to rescue Jack and Darius, find Trask… and kill him.

Nothing else mattered to me now and so I started to make my way through the piles of junk looking for a way out but I found nothing.

This ‘Hole’ I had fallen into was clearly meant to bury all this garbage and just seal it shut, I was losing hope but then I found a section of concrete wall that looked different, newer.

I walked over to the wall and tapped it. From the noise that my tapping made, there was a good chance that it was hollow on the other side.
It was also possible that there might be nothing but earth behind the wall, but it was worth a try. I took a few steps back and then I charged at the wall and hit it with my shoulder.

I smashed completely through the concrete like it was made of cardboard, but then I tripped and fell to the ground.

I wasn't hurt and I found myself in a large underground tunnel lit by old electric lamps connected to wooden support beams.

I groaned still feeling a little weak as I got back to my feet, but I jumped in fright at what I found standing only a meter away from me.

A much taller, female dragon stood in my path and her features where closely similar to mine, apart from her colour and her size.
She had green scales and her scale plate armour was a deeper shade of green, an amethyst coloured mane of hair and she was at least twice as tall as I was.
She was also wearing what looked like a silver bracelet with strange runes on her right wrist.
I didn’t make a move, she just stared at me and then she knelt down to look closer.
My mind was racing with questions. Was she another of Trask’s experiments? Was she here to capture me? She’s much bigger than me so she’s bound to be strong, what am I going to do!?

But then she smiled and spoke.

“You’re Virgil aren’t you?” she asked, I looked at her surprised and answered.

“Y….Yes” I answered nervously “Who are you? Are you another one of Trask’s experiments?”

“No, I’m a true dragon, my name is Shara and I came here to find you, little one” she answered reassuringly, but I was still cautious of her and I backed away a step.

“Don’t be frightened, I’ve come to get you out of here. I was the one who sent you the message on the computer before” she said comfortingly.

I thought back to the Data room and remembered the message.

“That was you?” I said.

“Yes, I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you then. But Trask has eyes all over this facility, it’s only now that I’ve been able to reach you, although I didn’t expect you would escape the disposal area on your own” she said impressed, I began to feel a little more at ease from her words but I kept a cautious stance.

“You don’t trust me do you?” she said grinning.

“After everything I’ve been through in this place, can you blame me?” I replied sceptically.

“I suppose not” she sighed “what can I do to convince you?”

I stood there thinking on this and I thought of an idea.

“I need to find a friend of mine who has also been brought here. If you help me find and rescue him, I’ll follow you out of this facility.

“Very well” She nodded smiling “First we’ll need to exit these tunnels, I know the way” Shara stood back up to full height, nearly brushing the ceiling of the tunnel with her horns. She then turned around and proceeded up the tunnel.

I followed behind but kept few steps distance between us, just in case this dragon turned out to be lying. And yet, as I looked at her I felt like I was walking next to a familiar presence.

Pushing these odd feelings aside I decided to try and talk to her and see what this dragon might know.

“This place… is obviously a mine, but…” I paused as I noticed something odd about the tunnels. “But the tunnel walls have dozens of untouched ore veins. Why dig all these tunnels if not to mine ore… but to find something” I wondered.

“You are sharp” said Shara chuckling. “You’re right, these tunnels were drilled out to find something… but that’s not important” she said obviously avoiding something about this mine.

I was about to press the matter but she immediately added something else.

“Trask had most of the mine used as the foundations for the lower levels of this facility, we however, are in an unused section” she answered and we continued up the tunnel.

After traversing a few more passages I noticed the silver bracelet on her right wrist.

“That’s an interesting bracelet, it seems more that just decorative” I said.

“Huh? Oh this!” she replied holding her wrist up. “It’s a piece of dragon technology, in fact this little device helped get me here undetected” she replied.

“How exactly?” I asked curious.

“Like this...” Shara then pressed one of the runes on her bracelet and her whole body glowed like she was wrapped in a semi transparent, luminescent skin. The next moment, she started to shrink and then her wings shrunk and eventually vanished.

The glowing suddenly grew so bright that I had to cover my eyes and after a few moments the glowing stopped and I opened my eyes.
I looked on in amazement. Shara had somehow turned into a human woman who looked to be in her thirties. She wore a large lab coat and glasses but still had the same amethyst hair now tied back.

“How did you do that?” I asked in awe.

“This device compresses my body down to the size of a human, and creates the illusion of a human woman” she explained holding the bracelet up which had somehow also shrunk to match the fit of her now human shaped wrist.

“I never would have imagined such technology exists” I said excited over the thought of such advanced technology. “I assume this is how dragons have remained hidden from the human race?” I asked.

Shara then pushed another rune on the bracelet and reverted back to her true form once again.

“My people have been watching the human race in secret for a long time. Only under certain circumstances do we reveal our true forms in a place like this, but we are here because of Trask’s experiments” she said with disgust in her voice.

“I understand…” I said darkly “I’m going to make Trask pay for what he’s done here” I said angrily.

“He’ll be dealt with in time, but for now I need to get you to safety” said Shara.

“Not until I find my friends” I said adamantly.

“Virgil, I have to get you away from here. Trask must not get his hands on you” she argued.

“Why? Because he needs me to create more dragons, is that it?” I asked getting frustrated.

“No, it’s more than you realise”

“Then tell me what’s going on here! Why is all this happening, why?…why…”
I felt weak again, I was having trouble focusing and my eyes were heavy.

“Virgil, are you okay?” she asked looking worried.

“I… can’t…I feel so…weak” I collapsed at that moment and blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I woke up on a large sofa and I could smell something was cooking.
I raised my head and found myself in a deserted cafeteria. How did I get here? I wondered, suddenly I heard someone in the kitchen and then Shara appeared in her human form carrying a tray holding a least six very large cheese burgers.

“Shara?” I said fatigued as I tried to sit up, she quickly placed the tray on a nearby table and pushed me back down onto the sofa.

“Easy little one” she said making sure I was comfortable “you’ve gotten very weak. Of course that’s what happens when you don’t eat anything throughout your transformation” she said amused.

“Of course!” I said slapping my head in frustration “That’s why I’ve been getting so tired, the transformation must have exhausted all the energy I had in my body, leaving me (for lack of a better description) running on fumes” I said.

“Exactly” she replied laughing “After you fell unconscious, I carried you here to help you get your strength back” she said holding the tray out to me, I quickly took it and began wolfing down the cheese burgers.
I hadn’t realised how hungry I was, and I quickly finished the whole contents of the tray and I was starting to feel better.

“Ah! Thank you” I said grateful.

“Your welcome” she said smiling.

I reclined on the sofa with sigh as my stomach felt full, but then I noticed something odd.

“Umm…why have you taken human form again?” I asked.

“Oh” she began looking a little embarrassed “I’m too big to move effectively through the corridors in my true form” she explained.

“Then how did you get me back here like this?” I said incredulously indicating to her currant human shape.

“I may be in human form now, but my strength is almost unchanged” she said “But I will admit it did take some doing to carry you through some of the smaller doors in this place, you’re not so small any more yourself” she added amused.

“I guess not” I said laughing “So, you brought me here, but surely you must have had to avoid the guards?” I asked very curious to know about this.

“By now” I continued “Trask would no longer need his men to be watching the exits of this facility and so I assume they would be back on patrol”

“No need to worry about that” she replied “A friend of mine named Dalgyon is keeping the security busy on the first floor” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Is he another dragon? I asked with enthusiasm.

“Yes he is. And while he keeps the guards attention, I’ll find your friends and then we can leave” she said assuring me.

“I’m coming with you!” I argued as I again tried to rise from the sofa, but Shara once again pushed me back down.

“You need to remain here and rest, I’ve locked all the doors to the cafeteria so you’ll be safe until your strength has returned” she finished and turned to leave.

“Fine” I grunted annoyed “but I want you to tell me everything when you get back!”

“I promise!” she said and then she opened the main door and locked it behind her as she left.

I had no choice but to stay here for now, I was still tired and I wouldn’t be much help to the others if I collapsed unconscious again.
I laid my head back down to try and relax, but then I heard a voice coming from somewhere.
It was barely audible but I could just hear it, I got up and followed the sound and as I entered the kitchen I found the source. A guards radio sitting on a shelf and I could hear what was going on upstairs.
I sat back down on the sofa and listened to it, they were apparently losing a desperate struggle and they were now trying to fall back.
I hoped Jack was not anywhere near this, I hoped he was okay.

To be continued