Decimate

Chapter Six--Mark--I Fall Asleep On a Dragon

Heat washed through him as the pink light reverberated around the hill. Later he was told that the light came from his body.

He screamed and curled into a ball, and all of a sudden the light stopped.

He stayed that way for a few minutes, and heard a huge thump, and the ground shook for a second.

Something poked his side.

He uncovered his head and stared at the boy above him.

He had curly brown hair and an impish grin. His white shirt was dirty and torn, and he had a grimy tool belt around his waist.

"Hi there kid!"

"Uhh, hi?"

Mark sat up, and his eyes widened at the creature.

It was a giant bronze dragon. Every scale glittered in the morning light, it's eyes were glowing red rubies that seemed to stare right through him.

Surprisingly, Mark felt no fear.

"Wow," he whispered.

"I know," the guy said. "She's pretty hot. She's my girlfriend."

For a second, Mark thought he was talking about the dragon, but then he noticed the girl on it's back, wearing a white blouse and jeans. She was pretty good looking he supposed, but his attention was still on the dragon.

"Oh wait," the guy said. "You were talking about Festus huh? Sorry."

Mark got to his feet and tore his eyes away from the dragon to look at the guy. "Uh, who are you?"

"Leo Valdez at your service!" Leo mock bowed at him.

"I'm Calypso," the girl on the dragon said.

Leo glanced down at the houses, where several people were emerging from their houses, confused.

"C'mon kid, we should probably get going. The mortals are getting nervous."

Mark brushed aside the fact that he had said mortals. "Going? Going where?"

Leo grinned again. "Your new home. You'll be safe there."

Mark stared at Leo. "What?"

"You get to ride the dragon."

"Deal."

Call Mark stupid, but he was intrigued by the dragon. He wanted to ride it.

He walked over to the dragon, and with the assistance of Leo, climbed on top of it. Calypso showed him the handy-dandy seat belt installed in the dragon's metal exterior, and Mark fastened himself in.

The dragon took off with a few flaps of it's beautiful metal wings, and Mark grinned at the feeling of exoneration.

"Great right?" Leo had turned to look at him. "This is Festus by the way. Festus, say hello."

The dragon blew steam out of it's nostrils.

"I'm Mark," he said. "Nice to meet you Festus."

"You look tired," Calypso said kindly. "It'll be a while before we get there. You can rest."

Normally Mark wouldn't have fallen asleep in the presence of strangers, but he felt like he could trust these people, and he did feel pretty tired. Maybe a quick rest.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

|A/N: So what do you think so far?|