"Dragon Rider School?" I echoed. My own words sounded like they were coming from another person, high pitched and squeaky. Caedmon's little body shivered and his razor sharp nails dug into my skin.
She looked at me, her brows lowered. "Didn't you hear the dragon? Gosh, didn't the General tell you anything?" She facepalmed, letting out a pained groan. "Why me?"
"Well, yeah, but.. but I didn't think... I don't even know what I thought but..." I stared over at the great golden beast chomping on the unfortunate chicken. Feathers flew around its muzzle, plastering over its nostrils and floating to the floor. It unleashed a massive belch.
"Then what? What's the big deal?" Avery asked, arms folded.
"I didn't think... I mean. It just.. it talked to me!" I protested. With every word my voice just got higher and higher as if I was getting repeatedly nailed in the crotch.
"I'm a she. Not an it," the dragon corrected, raising a metallic talon.
I squeaked and backed up, raising a hand instinctively as if that would help me against the inferno that was sure to follow. "I gotta.... uh... pee pee!" I managed before turning tail and ran for dear life.
My feet just kept going, carrying me farther and farther away from the talking dragon. I had no idea where I was going but I just needed to go. I needed to breathe. I could feel both golden stares glaring between my shoulder blades. Caedmon fell off my shoulder and plopped in my hoodie. I felt him struggle for a second before giving up and chilling there like it was his own personal hammock. His warm little body bumped against my back with every footfall.
I don't know how far I ran. The faster the landscape moved the more trees and shrubs appeared in its place. My fingers began to tingle with numbness, every breath chilling my raw throat. My muscles were beginning to shake by the time I staggered and plopped onto the stump of a rotting tree. The sharp smell of decomposing wood was too real. The birds trilling in their treetop homes even sounded real. I looked at the leaves under my feet, brown and pocked with insect holes. Real. But this couldn't be real. This couldn't be. Dragons, dragon academy... all that stuff was from like, TV shows and movies. I closed my eyes as hard as I could, hoping to wake up in my crummy mattress with the construction sheets, to hear Marietta screaming at me. Her annoying shrill would sound like a heavenly chorus right about now.
Instead I heard a timid "meep?" as a tiny head nudged my neck. A little warm tongue plunged onto my neck. I shrugged hard when tiny teeth nipped my earlobe. "Hey," I said, my voice low and sad. Caedmon stamped his little paw before rubbing his cheek against mine. His touch was smooth and dry, not slimy as I used to picture reptilian creatures to be and his scales were warm and waxy. "Meep?" He asked again, his voice plaintive like a kitten's. I scooped him off my shoulder and held him with my thumbs scooped around his front legs. "What?" I asked.
"Meep." he mumbled, resting his head on my thumbs. His huge purple eyes that took up most of his head were now looking watery like a sad cat meme. His little snout shivered as he snuffled, his tiny ears lowered and were sagging in utter despair.
"Oh Caedmon, why are you so sad?" I whispered. At this point I realized I'd rather step on legos the rest of my life than make him sad.
He hung there, his fat little belly heaving. He leaned back his head, mouth opening to reveal his neon blue mouth and shiny white teeth. "Meeeeeep!" He wailed.
"Aw buddy, don't be sad. Don't cry! It's okay!" I pulled him close to my chest, covering his back with a protective hand. "Can you... speak too? Can you tell me what's wrong?"
He just sniffled as his tiny claws latched onto the front of my sweatshirt like a little monkey. His scales shivered under my darkening fingers. "You're cold," I whispered, my breath fogging in front of me.
I had no idea where I was or what I was going to do but I did know one thing. I had to keep Caedmon safe. I looked around but by now had no idea where I was. All around me was trees and shrubs of no particular significance. Wow, this had to be the dumbest thing I've ever done. It was not only stupid, but embarrassing.
I remembered something that one of my foster parents told me. If you ever get lost, just stay where you are. We'll find you there. Well, that was when we went to the mall, but same premise, right? If I wandered it would only get me more exhausted and lost.
So I sat.
Who knows how long I sat there, just begging for frostbite or an evil moose attack or something. Caedmon knocked out in my hands after only about ten minutes, his little body radiating enough heat to keep my fingers a healthy pink. Occasionally I called out a timid "Hello?" or a louder "Helllooo!" But the only response was the chattering of a chipmunk and the rapid-fire pecks of a woodpecker.
"I heard you're a kid that's all for the American Way but I never thought you'd take the Liberty or Death ideal this far."
I jumped up at the voice and Caedmon squeaked as he was propelled off my lap. I snatched him out of the air and pulled him to my chest, whirling around. "Who's there?"
Two sets of glowing eyes fixed on me in the growing darkness before their forms emerged from the undergrowth, revealing two camo bedecked figures. Their build and stature gave them away as teens, probably around my age.
"Oh crap," I wheezed, backing up and tripping over my seat, falling right back on the stump.
"Hey, hey," a female voice this time assured me. "Chill out. We're not here to hurt you. We're just taking you back."
"This place really isn't that bad," the deeper male voice said. I saw a flash of white buckteeth as he laughed. His hair was almost nonexistent in the military style and his ears were way too big for his head.
I raised my finger and pointed at them furiously, opening my mouth and trying to spit out the words I wanted to say. Finally they came forth sounded forced as if they had been squeezed from my lungs. "Your eyes are glowing!"
They looked at each other and I flinched as the girl unleashed a donkey bray laugh. Her eyes crinkled as she looked back at me. "You should look in the mirror!"
"What?" My grip tightened on Caedmon. His eyes bugged out a little more.
"Dude, your eyes are glowing purple," the male spoke up, taking a step towards me. I stare up at him. Man, this guy was tall. "I'm not going to hurt you." He assured me. "Can I see your dragon? I've never seen a shadow dragon before." He held out his hand towards Caedmon.
Caedmon sniffed it delicately before sticking out his neon tongue and shrinking back into my shirt.
The girl slapped him on the bicep. "You're not doing it right! Watch me," she shoved him aside to approach me.
I slunk away much like Caedmon had. "Guys, stop."
"Oh. Sorry." The male said sheepishly. "I didn't introduce myself and I'm already trying to pet your dragon." He laughed. "My name is Dustin. I'm a new cadet too. Just got in the program last week."
"And I'm Song," the girl extended a hand. "I know your welcoming committee wasn't the best, but really, this place isn't that bad. I hear you kind of fell into this so I'm sure discovering dragons are real has been a bit hard..."
"A bit hard?" I couldn't help but wonder what all these kids knew about me. "You could say that!"
"But they won't hurt you." Dustin said quickly. "Come on, we'll explain everything." He held out a huge hand towards me.
I just sat there for a moment, staring at their faces. Finally I sighed. "Okay.." I said, taking his surprisingly hot hand and pulling myself to my feet. Caedmon's stomach growled in chorus with mine and he looked up at me plaintively.
"And just a warning--Avery is going to be pissed that you didn't clean the stables. Expect to be hounded about it for the rest of your life," Dustin said with a hearty laugh, patting me on the back and nearly sending me face planting into the ground.
I bit back a wheeze. "Is she seriously..."
"Your commanding officer? Yes." Song said, brushing some of her shiny black hair out of her face. "Even the General is a bit scared of her. But don't worry. You'll learn to deal with her and keep out of her hair. Where are you from, Justin?"
Didn't they already get that from my file or something? I inwardly seethed as I responded. "Washington."
"Washington. So... close to the base we have down there." Song said.
"So you just decide to rob it?" Dustin laughed.
"I was bored," I said defensively.
"Seriously?" Both of them grinned at each other before directing their cheery faces to me. "You've got to tell us about it sometime!" I was walking slightly behind them so when Dustin suddenly stopped I bumped into his back. "Oh no." I heard him whisper.
I stepped to the side. "What?"
"Who told the General?" Song gasped, her voice so freaked that I felt my own heart stop. Caedmon let out a scared squeak.
"Run! Run!" Dustin yelled, plunging into the thicket. Song was by his side, her arms pumping. I raced after them as fast as I could, breathing wildly. What was going on? I could see a light in my peripheral, too small to be a search light but too large to be a flashlight. It was a moving at an alarming pace, gaining and losing shape with the obstruction of trees.
I huffed like a wolf trying to blow down the three piggies' house as I struggled to keep up with the two. The glint of those dreaded sunglasses were everywhere, in the breaks in the tree canopy, in the glint of a moth wing, in the dead leaves below. What would he do if he caught us? Everything from medieval torture to forced listening to Despacito on repeat ran through my brain. I couldn't get caught. Caedmon clung on tighter, his claws raking my skin in his fright.
I dared a look over my shoulder and found that whoever was the source of the light must be hauling butt because it was coming closer at an alarming speed. I'm pretty sure even Forrest Gump couldn't outrun this guy. My breathing was coming out in ragged gasps and black spots were crowding my vision. This was it. I'm going to die. If our location wasn't already given away, Caedmon's high pitches sobs and my desperate gasps sure had. I hardly even saw where my feet were landing. I was pretty sure if I went any faster my feet would detach and leave my body behind. And all the while, the light drew closer and closer, splintering between the trees and dancing around me like the bars of a poison.
Heck, I was a criminal. I had a reason to be afraid of spotlights. But when the searing light shone on the back of my hand, I felt something different. Pain, like I had gotten scratched by a cat and coated it with germ-X. I admit, I shrieked like a baby as I tripped over a log and smacked right into a puddle.
I scrambled to my hands and knees just in time to see the light leap through a fork in a tree and land three yards from me. No, I'm not joking, the light jumped. A creature made entirely of horrid, burning light dashed towards me, its shimmering mouth open wide to eat me whole.
I was going to be killed by a Patronus!
As I cowered under the shadow of the log I fell over, suddenly everything made sense to me. I had made it to Hogwarts a few years too late. Which would be awesome if I wasn't going to die the same day.
A scaly paw rolled the log over, revealing me like a worm under a rock. Without the added barrier the light raced over every exposed area over my body, bathing it in fire. As I held my hands up to protect my face from the glare, I watched as they turned a horrific shade of red then gather and swell with horrible boils. It became fleshy bubble wrap before my eyes. I could hear Caedmon's scream of pain, his little heart beating frantically against my chest. I fell on my back wordlessly, my eyes burning but too swollen to even close.
I felt like I wasn't the one burning to death in the muck. It was someone else. As crazy as it sounds, I could see myself for a split second like I was looking at myself from above. I could hardly recognize the boy sprawled out on the forest floor. It looked like a nasty piece of bacon with some black hair on top. Then I watched as the shimmering dragon melted in on himself, bright light spinning like a tornado before a man stepped out, the light disappearing into his body so I could just make out who he was before passing out.
Mr. Sunglasses.