The Last Dragon

Chapter 4: The Message

Guzray threw a spare jacket at the human. It was an APARS jacket.

“Wear it, and you could pass as an elf.” He paused in doubt. “A very tall elf.” The ship’s console bleeped as it locked onto the docking station. “By the way,” Guzray mentioned. “What’s your name?” The human stopped to decide if he could trust the angel or not. Finally, he answered hesitantly:

“John. John Spiro.”

John and Guzray were walking down a hall. John was wearing the jacket’s hood to hide his ears, and was attracting many curious stares from the staff. He flicked a strand of his moderately long, black hair out of his eyes and decided to distract himself by questioning Guzray.

“APARS. What does it stand for?”

“Animal Protection And Repopulation Sanctuary. Founded by the first God, Drykanous himself.”

“That must have been quite some time ago.”

“Indeed. Millennia, in fact.”

“So... where ya taking me?”

“Sirou re Heaven, to the boss’s office. If this information is as important as you say, he needs to know.”

“Heaven. You said Heaven. What’s that about?”

“Heaven translates to haven,” Guzray explained. “So when I say Sirou re Heaven, I’m saying-“

“Through the haven,” John finished for him. Guzray half-turned his head to look at John suspiciously.

“Where did you learn our language? It’s a very closely guarded secret.”

“It can wait until we talk with your boss – by the way, I never got your name.”

“We’ve arrived,” Guzray announced as he knocked on the door. “The name’s – “

“GUZRAY!” boomed a voice from inside. “Get in here and explain yourself! NOW!”

“No no no no no!” The boss fumed in anguish. “You brought a human into our haven. Our last sanctuary Guzray! This is bad. Your actions could cause the downfall of Heaven, and all of its citizens!” The boss was pacing his office nervously. John knew something had to be done. He couldn’t let Guzray take the fall for him.

“I forced him to do it,” John stated simply. The boss just snorted.

“Nothing you could say or do could force Guzray to do anything!” Suddenly, John slammed a large, black object onto his desk, prompting Scinef, who was standing near the door, to draw a weapon that resembled a cutlass. On the desk was a powerful handgun.

“And for the record,” John started, removing his hand from the gun. “Guzray can’t cause the downfall of Heaven. It’s already happened.” The boss glared at him.

“That’s not possible.”

“Oh but it is,” John corrected with what was almost glee. Probably because someone was finally listening to him. “Parmia Oscoff.”

“Parmia...” the boss murmured. “She went missing months ago... What have you done to her you sick monster?”

“I haven’t done anything.I was captured by a guy named Drake Daranison. Evil guy. And guess who was in the cell next to mine? Parmia told me many things, and I have obtained the knowledge that Drake intends to steal a certain Uzred Crasin de Feu and use it to rule the world. So melodramatic.” The boss snorted again.

“That’s impossible,” he repeated. “Even if Drake managed to discover our location, he’d never be able to get here.” The boss turned to Guzray. “You,” he demanded. “Because you brought this... this human here, you can guard him, and make sure he doesn’t kill anything. Do not let it leave your sight.” John was not enthused at being referred to as ‘it’, but decided to make a witty comment anyway.

“Not even for toilet breaks?” was his one-liner of choice.

“Stusiyo!” Guzray cried as he and John walked out the door. “Look where you’ve got us now. And when were you going to tell me you had a gun?” For some reason, John started laughing. “What’s so funny?” Guzray asked grumpily.

“Hm?... Oh, nothing. Rats have a better sense of humour than I thought!” Guzray frowned and looked down at his pocket guiltily. A small rat’s head stared right back at him.

However, John was not in such a good mood over the next week. After seven restless nights on a spare bed in Guzray’s dormitory, John and Guzray headed down to the mess hall for today’s breakfast. John sat at one of the many metal benches and tried to ignore the silence that always consumed the room when he entered. Saying the citizens of Heaven were unfriendly towards humans was an understatement. John set his bowl on the table, which was attached to the bench in much the same manner as a picnic table. The food in front of him was something similar to cereal, and it tasted like wheat and honey. Guzray ate beside him with a frustrated, and slightly worried, expression on his face. For the first time, John noticed the awkward way Guzray folded his left wing. He would have asked about it, but didn’t want to break the silence that threatened to smother him. He started eating. Every time he looked up from his food, he caught many faces glaring at him, but their gazes always quickly averted to avoid eye contact. What have I ever done to deserve this? John wondered irritably. If they hate having me here so much, why don’t they just let me leave? John had long ago given up on the hope that he could befriend anyone here, and had tried to leave on many occasions, but it seemed as though he was a prisoner now. When he finished eating, he didn’t even bother waiting for Guzray. He desperately wanted to escape those crushing gazes as quickly as possible. He swiftly took his empty dish to the counter at the front and left the room. He waited around the corner of the hallway.

“In our culture, it’s considered rude to stalk out like that,” Guzray told him, appearing from nowhere.

“Well, in my culture, it’s considered beyond rude to treat someone like an alien until they feel suicidal,” John snapped, refusing to meet Guzray’s eye. Guzray gave up on the subject. He knew in his heart that John had the right of it. After a few minutes, he decided to try and swing John’s mood.

“What’s your favourite animal,” he asked. John considered this for a moment. Apparently, Guzray’s plan had worked, as John’s expression softened a bit.

“Cockatiel,” John answered finally. “Though, more generally, birds.” Cockatiel? Guzray was surprised to find they didn’t have any of those here. He relayed this to John.

“No,” John agreed. “You wouldn’t. They’re used widely as pets; Makes them very common.” Guzray noticed a sudden lift in John’s mood, making his blue eyes sparkle slightly. “Can I see the dragon?” Guzray considered this.

He needed to feed the dragon anyway, so what was the harm in letting John tag along?

“Yes. You can see the dragon.”