The Hybrid Mage

Act 1: Ch.33 - The First General

"Lieutenant Alex!"

My heart jumped as I was snapped out of my daydream, bobbing up and down in my seat as the HMMWV rocked from side to side as the four-wheeler drove over the rocky terrain. Sitting next to me, driving the military vehicle, was Colonel Arron Maxwell.

"Mind not staring off into space before we arrive at the site?" He grumbled sarcastically as we approached a massive grey fortress, the walls towering so high they could almost tickle the clouds while the huge double metal doors slid open as we slipped through with ease.

I looked out the window, getting an idea of the military camp within these enormous walls. It was like a small city of tents with the occasional cabin like houses where I assumed the soldiers slept. I noticed other larger structures built into the sides of the walls that looked like oversized garages around four hundred meters long. Some seemed to be housing all weaponry and vehicles while others acted like hospitals. The injured laid out on raised stretchers while doctors and nurses attended to their wounds. A maze of roads snaked in between the many structures, soldiers crossing them while military cars sped past them, a few soldiers practically had to jump out the way to avoid being hit.

"Boot camp was worse, but this is just a shit hole." I muttered, winding down the window to be graced by the smell of smoke and sweat, the sound of chants, groans, marching and the humming of engines filled my ears.

"It's been ten years since the dragons started to attack the D.C.E, since the C.F.R don't like to invade they're currently a much bigger threat. Plus," Arron sighed as we passed a man being carried in a stretcher, half his face practically burned off with both legs and an arm seemingly bitten off. "Fighting dragons generally cost more lives."

I sat back in my seat and rolled up the window to stop the smell of burning flesh beginning to sneak up my nose.

"Is this all necessary sir?" I asked. "You said there were three thousand two hundred active personnel here, I count one thousand injured and or dead soldiers. Is that really a price worth paying for a single dragon?"

"Your ability to guess the current situation with pinpoint accuracy from witnessing all this for just under a minute is impressive Lieutenant. But you'd do well to remember not to question you're superior." Arron warned; I sucked in a quick breath as I was reminded of my place. "But this isn't just some dragon Alex."

We suddenly took a hard right, taking us onto a long straight road that led directly down. At the far end I spotted multiple personnel, forty soldiers dressed in hooded body armour surrounding a large dome shaped structure that had what looked like a huge white blanket draped over it. As we drew closer, I noticed more details within said blanket.

Long dents in the fabric running down to the bottom along its side. Gaps in the material this blanket is covering I see. The dents seem almost cylinder like but cut in half resembling a cylindrical semicircle. Interesting... bars!

"That blanket is covering a cage, right sir?" I said, speaking my thoughts prompting the Colonel to raise eyebrows in pleasant surprise.

"I guess I didn't give you enough credit for your deduction," he said sounding slightly proud. "Yes, it's a cage and I think you can already guess what's in it."

I nodded.

"A dragon and as for the type," I continued while rolling up my window and sticking my head out into the cool breeze that blew past me as the military vehicle drove on. I narrowed my eyes, squinting on the massive, covered cage, concentrated on smells wafting up my nose, the pressure of the air against my skin and the sounds that reached my ears "It's a Queen, right?"

"Ok how did you figure that out?" Arron snapped, the impressed tone in his voice vanishing. "How are you doing this?"

"Judging by the size of this cage the dragon is narrowed down to two species, Colossal or Queen as they're relative in size; I just had to figure out which out of the two." I explained. "Unlike the rest of the dragons, Queens don't have wings, just a head a snake like body with no limbs. That cage is more like a tower than box, it's too thin to keep something like a Colossal Dragon with a pair of wings for arms sticking out to the side. Queen's also have a distinct smell that's not noticeable unless you're looking for it. A slightly sickly-sweet smell that's from the oil that their scaly skin secretes. Any other dragon would smell like charred wood or smoke. And as for your other question," I stuck my head back in the car to bravely give Colonel Arron Maxwell a smug grin. "My Unique Skill makes me very, very smart."