Greyson put down the 66 late the next evening. It had been a long flight back home on account of the endless American jets that had been pursuing us and the countless times Greyson had to change course. When the hatch came down, the smell of moist air and the sound of beating rain filled the cabin. I saw a bolt of lightning fire off in the distance and thunder followed in close pursuit. In the light of the 66's cabin, I could see Nolan and Ness had come out to meet us.
“Did you save my friend?”, Ness asked.
I stretched and walked out of the jet, “he should be fine, we left him on Artimus' battleship because of how badly he was hurt.”
“Speaking of hurt”, Sozenn said walking out with Avrae and his mother, “this kid lost his arm in an engine gear, it needs to be looked at.”
Nolan walked up to them and inspected the little boy's cast arm.
“I'd like to take him to the hospital mam”, Nolan said.
She nodded and allowed Nolan to take her son off her back. Nolan started for his car and I followed him.
“What is is this Vietnam?”, Nolan asked as he placed Avrae in the passenger seat, “having your jacket open went out in the 60's.”
I laughed, “Hey I was hot so I opened it.”
Nolan shut the door of his car with a thunk, “by the way Tyro, Faline wanted to see you earlier, but since you weren't here I told her I'd send ya down there when you got back.”
“When you get to the hospital tell her I'll be down shortly”, I replied, “I gotta get my kids from the hatchery and then I'll head on down.”
Nolan nodded as he hopped into his car. I turned around and headed for the hatchery. Adelind was standing just inside the doorway talking with Mark, who seemed tired.
“You look like hammered shit Tyro”, Mark greeted.
“Like you look any better”, I replied, “take it your ground to dust too huh?”
“My shifts over”, Mark said, “there are a couple of older kids in here that have been giving me two levels of hell all day.”
“Ace can straighten them out”, Adelind said.
“If only he were big enough”, Mark laughed tiredly, “your cubs are asleep in the back. Come in and get out of the rain.”
Adelind and I stepped inside. The inside of the hatchery was painted in a tan color. There was a blue carpet that lined the floor that was rife with little Feral's and Anthro's ranging from hatchlings all the way to kids about Avrae's age. There were toys spread out all over the ground and you had to be careful where you stepped or else you might end up slipping on a bouncy ball or getting a Jack shoved in your paw pad.
Ace and the others were curled with one another in the corner of the hatchery, trying to ride out the storm by my guess.
“Hey guys”, Adelind said, “wake up.”
Tyson popped open one of his blue eyes, “guys is not here at the moment, please leave a message after the beep.”
“Come on guys”, I said, “it's late and I think you would all be more comfortable in your own beds.”
Tyson yawned and rolled off his perch on the top of the mass, waking the others as he did.
“Would you take them back and put them to bed?”, I asked turning to Adelind, “Nolan told me that Faline wanted to talk.”
“What about?”, Adelind asked.
“I bet it has something to do with Taro”, I told her.
Adelind sighed, “don't be long.”
“I wont”, I said kissing her cheek.
“Can I come Daddy?”, Helix asked.
“Wouldn't you rather go home?”, I asked.
“No”, Helix said looking up at me, “I'm not really tired.”
I looked at Adelind, “fine with me”, she said.
I scooped up Helix and started out of the Hatchery. The rain had started coming down harder now and the flashes of lightning and the thunder clasps were more frequent. I quickly walked off the base and flagged down an MYT that had roof on it and “Taxi”, written on the side. The cabin was dark and there was soft music playing, heavily shadowed by the rain beating on the roof.
“Where to?”, the driver asked.
“Downtown”, I answered, “Fort Talon Hospital.”
The driver nodded as the MYT started forward. We pulled to a stop at the lights and made a left turn before coming to a stop behind a couple of older looking cars who looked like they were about to race. The driver turned on his blinkers, changed lanes and went around the cars, stopping at another red light.
“No one likes to get stuck behind Camaro's”, the driver said, “we'll go around their little drag race.”
The driver picked up from the stoplight and then turned onto the freeway, which, even at 1 in the morning was still full of cars. Their lights reflected off each other and the neon that was under a few of the customized ones made the entire road seem like it was a strip of living Neon.
“Pretty”, Helix said curling against me.
“You should be in bed sweetheart”, I said nuzzling her.
She yawned, “I know.”
After another half hour or so of driving, the MYT pulled in to the hospital parking lot. It was a wide, thirty story building with sporadically lit windows which I assumed was because most of the patients inside were asleep. There were a lot of high dollar cars parked out front and I could see Nolan's Bowler parked right up front.
“Do you need a ride back?”, the driver asked.
“Yes”, I answered, “I shouldn't be too long.”
The driver nodded to me as Helix and I stepped out. It was still sprinkling so Helix and I hurried inside. The lobby had a pretty spacious layout. To my right was a blue carpeted area that had four chairs lining the outside, forming a U shape. In front of the chairs was a black couch that had a lamp stand beside it and a coffee table in front of it that was full of old magazines. A few of the chairs were occupied while others were empty. To the left was some kind of a gift shop and what looked like a book store, though a hospital seemed like a weird place to put either. The front counter was set in the back of the room next to the elevators and was manned by one person who seemed like he was about to fall over from border. Helix and I walked up to the counter.
“Can I help you?”, the man asked.
“Tyro Serelath to see Faline Salanth”, I said.
“15th floor”, the man answered me, “room 204.”
I nodded and Helix and I walked over to the elevator. I punched in the numbers on the elevator key pad and up we went. About 15 seconds later the elevator dinged and the door opened in what looked like a small waiting area. There was another black couch against the wall next to a couple of vending machines. The room numbers were stuck on glowing signs that were easily visible from where I was and I could already see Faline's room. Helix and I walked down the hallway and entered the room, finding Faline on one bed and Avrae on the other.
“Faline?”, I asked, “I'm kind of knocking, the door was open.”
“Hey Tyro”, she said, “damn...you've gotten big.”
I smiled, “yeah, I guess I have. How are you feeling?”
“Like I've been locked in a cell for 20 plus years”, Faline said, “until you guys came and rescued me I never thought I'd see light again.”
“I'm sorry”, I said looking down, “and...I'm sorry I got your mate killed.”
“You didn't get Taro killed”, Faline said, “he got himself killed. Serves him right for being a complete dumbass.”
The words stung like I was being shot. I couldn't believe one of my best friends was laying there saying her dead mate got himself killed. The worst part was that she didn't even seem to care.
“...You don't even seem to care”, I said, feeling like I was about to cry, “everyone else does...you don't.”
Faline gave me an empty look.
“I loved him”, Faline said, “I still love him and I always will love him, but...that doesn't change the fact that he was being stupid when he pulled that crap.”
Her voice cracked, I saw a solitary tear run down her face. I walked over and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into my chest and grabbed my jacket.
“In a way”, she said through her tears, “I'M the one that got him killed. I got captured 20 years ago in a convoy escort...because I was being a moron. If I wasn't a complete fuck up at everything I do, maybe Jack would still be alive and Shadow wouldn't have had to grow up without his parents. I miss him Tyro. I miss him so much!”
I hugged her tighter. Helix climbed up on the bed and licked Faline's cheek. I felt awful for her. If the feeling that I had gotten my friend killed wasn't bad enough, now I had this to deal with. After crying hard for a few minutes, Faline pulled her face out of my jacket and looked at Helix.
“Is this your baby girl?”, she asked.
I smiled and nodded.
“She's beautiful”, Faline said.
Helix blushed, “thank you.”
Faline smiled, “your welcome.”
She turned back to me, “I want to join Raven. I owe that to Jack and to Shadow.”
I nodded, “I'll talk to Nolan about that in the morning, right now it's late and I need to be getting home...but before I go...there's something you should know.”
“What's that?”, Faline asked.
“Do you know who Lung Wei is?”, I asked.
She nodded, “Jack, Firedrake and I used to take Shadow and Nina to his temple a lot, he helped us with raising them a lot.”
“Then my telling you this is going to kill you”, I said, “he's a traitor.”
Faline looked like I'd just stabbed her.
“He's working with the Us government”, I said, “his plan from the beginning was to lure in rouge dragons with the resistance and then kill them. In return for what, I can't say, because I don't know. What I do know and can tell you is that we stand at a cross roads, us on one and World War Three on the other. We've passed the point of no return. Nolan has openly declared that we are going to war with the US, and that he fully intends to win.”
“Wow”, Faline sighed, “just wow.”
I shook my head, “I gotta go....hey where's Helix?”
Faline pointed across the room. Helix was laying on the bed with Avrae with her wing over him. I had been so focused on Faline that I hadn't seen her get off the bed. Her eyes were closed and she looked happy. I smiled, certain that I was looking at someone who Helix was in love with. I walked over to the bed. Avrae and Helix were curled against each other with their tails twisted together. Helix had her wing over him and her head next to his. Both of them were purring contently. I nudged Helix, she looked up at me, her eyes saying that she was tired.
“Let's go honey”, I said picking her up.
“Before you leave Tyro”, Faline said, “I want you to have these.”
Faline handed me a small brown paper bag that was jangling a bit, “I feel like you need to have these, I don't need them anymore.” Not knowing how to reply, I nodded and left the room. I walked back down the hall with Helix on my back and rode the elevator down. The MYT was still out front waiting for me. I climbed in and lay down as the driver started for the base. As we turned onto the freeway, I opened the bag Faline gave me. Inside, were dogtags.