Chapter 4: A Critical Error
It had been almost 4 weeks since Borgos and I went to the forest and found out that someone wants me dead. Borgos and I waited a while upon returning to our secret training grounds, just in case of...well, you know, some guy blowing my head off. However, about a week ago Borgos and I started going back to the forest, but we always were cautious and traveled together. I'm worried about Borgos, though. See, he thinks it'll be alright for him to train on his own when I'm too busy to go with him. I keep trying to convince him not to go on his own, cause that's what they want us to think. See, I figure that they'll be all, "hey, let's leave 'em alone for a month and then sneak up on 'em when they let their guard down."
Yeah, I'm not falling for it.
But the idiot is.
Yesterday I had a project to do, so Borgos figured he could just waltz into the forest, alone, and not even tell me where he was going. All I find is a note stuck to the fridge saying, "Going to train at the forest, be back around 7."
Yeah, so I book it to the forest as quick as I can, and ream Borgos out.
You think it worked?
Naw!
The idiot's been going to the forest all week alone. I don't have time to baby-sit him, so I finally yelled at him today and told him if he wanted to get a bullet through his head, that I hoped it at least knocked some sense into him. Yeah, not a smart move on my part cause he went anyway, but still. What kind of a moron goes there alone, human or not? I know it's almost been a month since the encounter but still...
To make matters worse, that Damian kid hasn't been in class much, and I don't trust him one bit. He keeps saying he's got some family issues right now, making our teacher all sympathetic; the slime ball...
But let's backtrack for a second.
The past 3 days Damian's been in science, 'aight? Get this; he knows it's me he's hunting. See, I didn't tell Borgos, cause he'd either beat him up, or cause some other scene to draw attention. But in biology, he keeps looking at me slyly, almost mockingly, like he knows a secret. After Borgos stormed out on me today, within an hour I found a note under the door. Wanna know what it said?
I know what you are.
Yeah, lovely ain't it? It's almost 10pm and Borgos still isn't back yet. He's been gone almost 3 hours. I'm hoping he's just going for a walk to calm down. I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but the bloke can be a bit thick-headed sometimes...
Alright, it's 12:30am, and I'm jogging to the forest. There's been no sign of Borgos, and I've already called him twice, texted him, and left two messages. Not too mention my legs feel like they're on fire, since I haven't run this fast in a long time. I arrive at the forest within 5 minutes; a personal best. I can't see Borgos anywhere, and I'm worried if I call out, I might alert anyone else out here...
But hey, sometimes you've gotta take risks, right?
"Borgos! Borgos, man I'm sorry, please if you're here, I just need to know you're alright! Borgos, please answer me!"
My voice echoes eerily through the quiet night, and then fades like a poltergeist. A cold whistling wind begins to pick up around me, tousling my dark hair, and I can't hear any reply from Borgos. I call out for another 10 minutes, trying not to let my imagination get the better of me. Suddenly, I hear a noise, and I shift into a sub-human state on instinct. My black wings are out, and I have assumed a defensive position. Luckily, it was just my phone vibrating from a text message.
A text message from Borgos.
To my relief it reads:
Yo, Ace. Sorry I overreacted. You're right, it's still dangerous, and I shouldn't let my guard down. Sorry I didn't answer your calls or texts, I had my phone off. I'm home now; I was just walking around campus to cool down. Where are you?
I was just about to text him back when I heard a twig snap close to me. I jumped, heart pounding, waiting to take to the sky if need be. I was too tense; I had to calm down and hone my senses. I waited for what must have been 10 minutes in my defensive position, before I finally began to relax. Another 10 minutes went by before I let out a long sigh, and slowly began walking to the edge of the forest and back home. It seemed strange but it felt like I was being watched. I blew it off though; I'd been feeling that way for a good 30 minutes and nothing had happened. My phone, annoying as always, vibrated again, and I glanced down at the text message I expected to be from Borgos.
Only, it was from an unknown sender.
Hello, Ace.
The snap of another twig rang throughout the night, and this time...
I knew I was not alone.
Without a moment's hesitation, I shifted part way into my dragon form and was about to 'accidentally,' cough fire in someone's face when something cool pressed against my skin. I tried to move, but found my limbs locked into place. Whoever was around had paralyzed me.
"Hello, Ace."
I snorted, and found I could still move my mouth...these suckers didn't realize that I could burn them to a crisp. "Hallo, mate. I presume you're not here for tea?"
"A dragon with a sense of humor; how very...interesting."
"Put a sock in it mate, stop flirting with me and get down to business. My friend's expecting me any second now, and he'll call the police," I retorted, hoping the lie would help get me out of this mess.
A chilling laugh floating into the air before being swept away by the wind. "Oh, Ace, you're hilarious. You think I'd be stupid enough to not check your cell phone? Hacking things isn't that hard, you know. You're lying through your teeth."
"Look mate, I'm a busy bloke, and I detest cowards, alright? And for the record, I don't have teeth, I've got fangs mate. If you wanna talk to me, stop cowering in the dark like a rat."
"Brave words, Ace, brave words indeed." I heard Damian say, as he stepped delicately in front of me.
The clouds were just parting, and it was a full moon tonight. With my enhanced vision, I could see him twice as well as a normal human. He looked sinister in the darkness, half his face submerged in shadow, and the other grinning with a crooked smile.
"You know Ace; we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. I can be a formable enemy, or a powerful ally. Which will you choose?"
How about a toothpick? Don't wanna ruin my pretty fangs once I rip your guts out. "Is that so? What do you want, mate?" I growled.
"It's not exactly what I want," he began, before smiling and saying, "But what the government wants. You see I- Ah!"
Damian leapt back as I blew flames in his face. As soon as the fire hit him, I felt the invisible force trapping my limbs slither away and release me. I didn't hesitate, and batted him in the face with a wing before jumping twenty feet into the air, and taking flight.
It'd been nearly a month since I'd last flown, and it felt good to stretch my long, leathery wings. I shifted into full dragon form, a task that took 10 seconds, but was hard to maintain. See, if someone was too fatigued, it was hard to stay in dragon form, and it takes a lot of energy to keep up. However, your senses and strength tend to be at their peak, so I figured the following. Option A: Risk getting caught, but keep some energy to fight and try and burn up Damian (which he's unlikely to let happen again).
Or, Option B: Morph into full form, and fly as fast as I can back home (and stay above the clouds so people can't see me. Plus who's going to be awake at 1am? And they'll just mistake me for a UFO or something anyway).
I must have been flying 300mph, or more, but I wasn't about to look back and risk getting caught. Hopefully the stupid bloke hadn't thought to bring backup; not that a full-powered dragon couldn't handle them, but still. I didn't like that stun gear of his...
Within a minute I saw the town in sight. If I kept up this speed I could be home within the next few minutes, and then I'd be home-free. Borgos and I could pack up and disappear without anyone noticing. Yep, I wasn't about to let some clowns pretending to play secret agent catch me.
Within a few seconds I was soaring over the rooftops. I estimated one more minute before I could arrive above the school and descend. I was in the home stretch and pushed myself faster and faster. I was almost there...just a few more seconds...
Oddly, it appeared to be snowing softly. It seemed a bit early for snow, but there wasn't time to ponder it. I didn't remember snow having a smell either...huh...oh well.
...Yes! I'd made it! I could see the school, 15 more seconds and they'd never be able to catch me! I began to slow down slightly so as not to break anything (not me of course, but the trees and houses), and slowly began my downward descent. I was probably a few thousand feet above ground level, so I was going to go slow, and shift the last twenty or so feet as to minimize my risk of some moron screaming, "It's a UFO!" and alerting the whole damn school.
Alright Ace, a nice and smooth descent, let's go...carefully...easy does it. Alright, just two minutes or so, you could even slow down more, mate. Nice, alright, only about 800 hundred feet left, not much... wait. Something didn't feel right... was I...slipping? With a sickening realization it hit me the same time my wings vanished, and were replaced by two human arms.
I was falling.
Don't get me wrong, I'm strong and a hundred feet might leave me with a broken arm at best, but 800 hundred feet?
The snow seemed to be stopping, and as one flake landed on cheek, I realized what it was.
Bloody hell.
Somehow, Damian, and whoever else worked with that rat, had found a way to shift me back in to my human form.
Well damn, I didn't see that one coming.
The ground was coming up fast, and I could make out the trees.
Shit, shit, shit!
Alright Ace, calm down...uhh...try shifting again! Even only partly, you only need your wings...Damn! It's not working...damn it! What the hell has Damian done?!
I kept trying to shift, but I felt so weak suddenly, even lightheaded. I couldn't concentrate, and my focus began blurring as I began to pick out recognizable shapes; trees, buildings...
In a last desperate attempt at saving my self, I tried with the rest of my strength to call for help, hoping Borgos would somehow hear, but I couldn't even yell. I keep trying to shift, or at least get my wings back, but my limbs felt like jelly.
As the ground rushed up to meet me, I knew it was over.
And then everything went black.