Resistance

Chapter 6: Seize The Day

At least that worked to some extent as the dragon seemed to calm down, while it lifted me up and placed me on its back, before taking off with a mighty jump and a flap of its enormous wings.

As the countryside raced by below, I couldn't help but wonder what would be in store for the two of us, not only in the near future, but also in the long term. It was already evident that the dragon himself was not going to leave, and against my own wishes, I was getting fond of him, at least to some small extent anyway. It seemed that I may end up living two lives, with the dragon and the resistance. I highly doubted that I would get a positive response from the dragon if I let him find out who I really was too. I would probably end up in irons within the hour, despite what the dragon said about being different. 

The creatures were telepathic, and sent messages to each other faster than the fastest fibre optic systems of the old world. Their telepathic networks put our internet to shame to say the least. If a message needed to be sent, the other end would have already received it once the thought was composed, or that was what was told to us by the dragons anyway, and I had seen them do it often enough not to dispute the claim. Now, I had even experienced it myself with this dragon and the 'bond' thing... It was extremely useful, of course, but also posed a huge risk, like connecting a military computer to the internet, it opened up everything to the net.... 

Midway through my thoughts, the dragon broke in, saying that we were nearing the area. I looked down to see the same plains that covered the area, but smack in the middle was this enormous wooden structure, like a warehouse, those huge ones found at commercial shipping docks, but a hundred times bigger, made of wood and with practically no windows. The wood itself was a soft brown, glowing slightly in the morning sun. The roof was made of the same material, and sloped at a low angle to one side, presumably to let the rain slide off. At least they had good architects... 

As the dragon banked to come in for landing, I saw the entrance was almost a faceless wooden facade, with only an enormous door smack in the middle, big enough for a full grown dragon to enter. The doors looked to be reinforced, but as we neared the warehouse, I saw that the crossbar was merely wood. A car with sufficient velocity or weight could punch right through the thing, assuming that they used wood of a believable thickness. In front of the entrance lay the two guards that I had been briefed about. One was blue with white horns and spikes, while the other was brown with yellow horns and spikes.

Upon noticing that we were approaching, the brown called out a challenge. "Who approaches? Do you not know that this area is under guard?"

I felt Fenek prod my mind, asking, <What do I tell them? If we say the wrong thing, we'll be turned away...>

<Tell them that you're on rider bussiness, that you agreed to show me the warehouse and have to make good on the promise.> I replied, while I retreated to the back of my own mind, preparing my arguments. 

The dragon shouted down, saying, "I promised my rider that I'll show him this place, and I must keep my word."

"Then it is done. He has seen the place. Now, leave!" came the reply. 

Fenek seemed ready to comply, until I told him mentally, <Okay, here, things get serious. Just follow my lead and act serious. I'm going to do something that will hurt. Act as if it's real. Just play along.>

I glared down at the dragons below. "I havent seen the interior. I want to see that. For all I know, it's empty!"

The brown returned my glare. "Entry is forbidden. Leave. Now."

Fenek complied, without waiting for my input. I glared at him, and started to shout as loudly as I could. "Okay, you know what? Deal's off. Put me down. Now. I'm going home and you're going back to your lair or cave thing. This rider thing is off. You can't even fulfill your own damned promises!"