by Jadyn Chase
Rose glanced back to get her bearings. They seemed to be moving in a general northeasterly direction away from the base. And then she caught sight of two other groups of dragons far out in the distance, so far off that they were just tiny black silhouettes. Yet there was no question of that these were The Sapphire and his Fleet, and The Obsidian and his Fleet, and it sure seemed to her that all of those dragons were carrying humans, too.
The Sapphire seemed to be heading almost due north. The Obsidian was already veering off to the northwest. Soon, all of the swiftly-flying dragons were lost to sight except for those in The Diamond’s group. Rose was actually very glad to see them separate and fly away like this, for she would never forget what had happened that day when the Glassy and the Shiny fleets had mixed.
Perhaps the Three Jewels had had enough influence over their children – over their clones – to keep them together and keep them following their leader.
Rose could only hope that the entire planet would provide enough room for all of them.
The Diamond and his dragons flew and flew, always over water. A few times, Rose thought she saw land far out in the distance, far to the north, but the dragons stayed over the water. Eventually, The Diamond seemed to turn due north, though Rose still saw nothing but water and could not be sure whether they were over the Atlantic Ocean or the Indian Ocean.
Battling the cold and the thin air was becoming more exhausting all the time. It was all but impossible to determine how long they had been gone, for the length of day changed greatly as the dragons flew north; but Rose's stomach, if nothing else, told her that they must have been flying for close to twenty-four hours.
She looked over and tried to see who it might be on the backs of the other dragons alongside and below her. The Warmsuits were so thick that it was impossible even to tell whether it was a man or a woman clinging to the neck of the sparkling white dragons, though.
She supposed she would find out soon enough.
But none of them were going to find out anything if the dragons did not set them down soon, for they would pass out from cold and exhaustion and lack of oxygen. Rose's own vision was beginning to gray out along the edges, which she knew well was a very bad sign and the last warning before unconsciousness.
The dragons flew on like the tireless machines they were, but their human passengers were not going to be able to stay with them much longer. For the first time, Rose began to think about the fact that this, right here, might be where it ended. She would never even feel it when she hit the water.
Finally, as she continued to search the horizon for any sign of land so she could encourage The Diamond to set them down, a movement from one of the other dragons caught her eye. To her horror she saw one of the dark blue figures begin to slide off of the white dragon's neck and then fall away towards the sea far below.
With the last of her strength, Rose began screaming. "Catch him! Catch him! He's falling! He'll die. He'll die! You've got to catch him!"
She leaned hard towards the falling figure and pushed down on The Diamond's neck, but he seemed not to notice. The dragon who'd lost his rider did not notice, either, but simply went on flying.
"Catch him," whispered Rose, hardly able to breathe. "Catch him, please . . . and take us down . . . or it's the end of us all."
She closed her eyes and lay her head down on the great neck. In a moment she would be the next to fall, and the others would soon follow.
But then she found the strength to tighten her grip on The Diamond's neck one last time as he took a sudden steep dive and turned back the way they had come.
Rose never knew just how he did it. Perhaps he didn't, either. But The Diamond managed to get underneath the tiny falling figure, dive to match its speed, and then come up again with the figure lodged on his back between the high ridge of his spine and the base of one wing.
The Diamond could not fly as easily like that, and so, to Rose's great relief, he began heading downward. And there, under a low bank of cloud, was land. The first land they had seen in many, many hours.
Rose could not reach the figure on The Diamond's back. The person wasn't moving but seemed to be fairly secure. Soon the dragon was gliding down and down towards a small beach at the southern tip of what might have been an island, or at least a peninsula.
The Diamond finally landed. Rose slid down from his neck and onto warm sand. That was all that she remembered.
Chapter 9
By the time she woke up, the sun was lowering and sending deep golden light all throughout the beach. Rose sat up and saw that all of the other humans who had come with them were either lying down or just sitting up, too. A quick head count gave her the number thirty-one – thirty-two, counting herself. And not a dragon in sight.
So that meant that all of the humans had survived their ride from Antarctica to – wherever this place was.
Slowly Rose got up and walked over to the rest of the group. It looked as though all of them were just waking up, just as she was, and all of them were very glad to see that everyone had survived – and equally pleased to see that every one of the humans, was a woman.
One of them was Ellie, and Rose was happy beyond words to see that her friend was here. They were all going to need to help each other if they were to survive.
The women all knew, without having to say it out loud, that this meant there was one female for every Dragonman. Rose felt a shiver run up her spine as she thought about what that meant. She thought back to the night she had seen The Diamond – Adam – in his human form, standing naked in the Cavern of the Three Jewels. She could only imagine what he could do to her with that lithe, strong body of his. Even now, she blushed, remembering that glimpse that she’d had of his nether regions…
It had been a long time since she’d devoted herself to anything beyond her work, and her body suddenly craved something more. But there were more important things that had to come first: food and shelter, for one.
Rose was certain that the dragons would change back into human form at the first opportunity – and then realized that she didn't see them anywhere.
Then, far down the beach, she saw the many white shapes along the curving edge of the sand where it met the grassy, brushy plain above it. The dragons were sleeping now after their long flight, but Rose was certain that they would all awaken as men.
"Anybody know where we are?" asked Ellie, sitting down with Rose and a few of the other women.
"Not me," said Rose, and the others nodded. "My best guess might be Sri Lanka. Maybe India or even Bangladesh. But we might never know for sure."
They all sat down on the pretty beach with their Warmsuits stripped off, enjoying the heat of the sun and wearing only the hospital scrubs they'd been issued at the base. "Well, right now it doesn't much matter to me where this is. I'm just glad to be alive. And warm. With air to breathe," said Ellie.
They pooled their food – mostly the concentrates that had been stored in huge vaults at the base, along with some bottled water – and tried to relax at least somewhat while they enjoyed the first meal they'd had in far too long.
The ocean was beautiful, with small waves lapping along the beach. But as Rose turned to look at the rough plain behind them, she began to notice something – and stood up to walk closer.
In the tall, weedy grass, all caught up in the remains of the brush and small twisted trees, were what looked like small pieces of wrecked buildings. Homes, businesses, what might have been a dock, and several curved pieces that might once have been part of at least one boat.
She sighed, trying not to imagine what the last moments of life had been like for the people who had lived here. If she and the dragons had come here a week ago, they would have found a thriving little community. The inhabitants here had probably lived in near-Paradise and earned their living through fishing and the tourist trade.
But that was before the asteroid had struck, sending up tsunamis across the world, slamming into places like this one and leaving nothin
g but destruction behind them.
By the time the sun had set, and the full moon was rising, the women had made themselves reasonably comfortable on the beach. They had made a few scattered campfires, and they had shared some food and clean water. Warmsuits were spread on the soft sand to serve as beds.
All they had to do now was wait for the dragons to awaken . . . either as dragons or as men. Rose and the other women did not have to wait much longer, for just as the huge, yellow moon sent its light dancing across the water, a group of silent men began to approach them from the direction of the grassy plain.
Tall, handsome, with pale blonde hair and eyes nearly as clear as ice. And, as before, each was entirely naked.
They all looked the same, of course, since they were all clones of Adam. But Rose did see that one of them was heavily scarred across his chest and back. She realized that this must have been the one who had got caught in the roof doors on that day when the Glassy and the Shiny had fought to the death.
The scarred one walked up to Ellie, who smiled at him. This was Ice, Rose realized, who had been Ellie's dragon. And still was.
The rest of the men had no individual identifying marks, yet Rose would have picked Adam out of the crowd of them at any time. He was a little taller, a little bigger, and a little more forceful in his attitude towards the others.
And he was the one who walked straight up to Rose.
The rest of the Dragonmen went to sit down with the women – all formerly controllers and scientists – who had ridden here with him. They all seemed to be talking quietly in the moonlight, and at any other time it would have been a lovely and peaceful scene. If it hadn't just been the end of the world, of course.
Without saying a word, Adam took Rose by the hand and led her to the highest spot on the beach. It was back near the grassy plain and allowed them to easily see all of the others.
But Rose quickly forgot about the rest of the Dragonmen and their women as she sat down across from Adam in the moonlight, in the soft shadows just outside of the campfires. At first she felt at a loss for words, and as always, Adam scarcely looked in her direction. He seemed to be scanning both his own Dragonmen and the black horizon out there in the light of the moon.
Yet she remained fascinated by him, and could not help reaching out to place her fingertips on his arm. He did not respond, but did not brush her away, either. His skin still felt nearly as cool as ice and, just as it did when he was in dragon form, had traces of diamond brilliance in it. Rose marveled at how beautiful his clear eyes were, clear and shining and human now – a miracle she could never have imagined.
"Thank you for bringing us here," she said softly, looking at those clear eyes even though he never looked into hers. "Thank you for saving us all. For saving the rider who fell. It's beautiful here. And we're grateful."
Adam just went on gazing out towards the water. "I want you all to be safe,” he finally said, his voice deep and sonorant. “We need you. All of you."
She smiled, feeling happy to hear him say that. "We need you, as well. You can bring us food and fire. You can protect us. You can – "
"And you can be our mates."
Chapter 10
It was a little abrupt, and Rose was taken aback somewhat, but she could only nod at Adam. "You're right, of course. Now that you can become men whenever you wish – you will want – yes."
She did not know why she felt embarrassed. Couples who stayed together would have the greatest chance of repopulating the world with children who were protected and provided for.
"You will want mates," Rose finished. "I'm sure that all of the women here want the same thing. I've talked to them, and they already have close bonds with the dragon who brought them here, because each was once one of his – one of those who worked with him while he flew. So they already feel that they know their dragon very well." Just as I feel I know you.
"The other dragons took both men and women with them. Why?"
She frowned. "You mean – the other fleets took both male and female controllers with them? The Obsidian and The Sapphire let them do that?"
"They did. It seems very unwise. What use will other men be to their groups? Those dragons will become Dragonmen, just as we have. The problem will be finding human women to serve as mates. That is why I made certain my dragons carried only females with them, just as I carried you."
Rose finally looked away, gazing down at the sand of the beach. "Adam, I am thrilled to help you in any way I can, but I'm not sure 'serve' is the right word–"
He turned his head and nearly looked at her. "You created all of us male. Why would you do that?"
She looked at his eyes again. The question had been easily answered during the days of planning Project: Reborn Fire. But she did not know what to say to Adam now.
"This was – long before we knew – before it ever occurred to us – that you would be able to shift into human form. We thought – "
"You thought that the dragons were simply animals."
"Well – yes. I'm sorry. We did. At the beginning, we had no reason to think anything else."
He cocked his head slightly at that, still gazing out over the water, but remained silent.
"For ani – I mean, for creatures intended to be weapons, it was thought that males would be the biggest and the strongest and the most aggressive. And since the Fleet Dragons had been created through cloning, there was no need to – to go to the trouble and complexity of trying to breed them. All we would have to do was clone more, which was a relatively simple task."
"And entirely under your control. The control of the humans who made us."
She closed her eyes. "We didn't know, Adam. I can only tell you that we didn't know. And now that we do – "
"Even when you knew, you still debated what to do about us. Many of you still argued that we should be kept as prisoners – as slaves – as the weapons we were meant to be – even after you knew that we had a side to us that was as human as any of you."
"I did not want to keep you prisoner, once I knew," she said quietly, trying her best to keep her voice steady. "Believe it or not, some of us had a great love for the dragons. For their beauty, their great strength, their uniqueness, their true splendor. We did not see them as prisoners or slaves. We saw them as the most magnificent creatures that our world had ever seen, or ever would see. And the moment I knew what you truly were, I fully intended to see that you were freed."
Again, he cocked his head. "Weren't you afraid of what we might do? We were, after all, some of the most effective weapons ever known. I would be surprised if at least some of you did not think we should all be destroyed."
Rose caught her breath just slightly. "I heard the rumors. I'm sure some of the team did feel that way." She was not going to lie to him. "But there were far more of us who would never have let that happen – none more than me."
"Perhaps not." His voice was distant and remote. "But, it is no longer a question. We have all brought our mates with us."
"Adam – "
"Do not worry, Rose. We all made sure to take a female who had shown a strong bond with us – a strong attachment. I think you might even call it 'love.' Do you not feel love for me?"
Rose stared at him, mouth slightly agape. Love? Rose was a scientist; she had never really thought about love. But she did know that she felt a strange sort of attraction to Adam; that she wanted him to touch her, to hold her; and that she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
"I do love you," she said at last. "I love both sides of you, every form you have. I've loved you since – since you were born, and grew into the thing of beauty that you are now."
He actually smiled a little, still watching all the other couples on the beach. "I am glad to know that. I believe that I love you as well."
She felt very strange at hearing him say that. They were the right words, but did he really understand what they meant? And then an even stranger question floated into her mind: Did he love her with a dragon'
s heart, or with a man's heart?
All she could do was smile at him, feeling both thrilled and uncertain, as he got to his feet and pulled her up to stand in front of him.
"Then it is settled," he said. "All of these women already knew their dragons well. They made the decision to leave with us. We did not make them go with us, any more than I made you. I invited. You accepted. So did they."
Rose nodded. "Of course," she said. "No one believes otherwise."
"Unlike the Sapphire and Obsidian groups, The Diamonds will not have to waste energy looking for mates. Not for a long time, not unless some of the dragons want more than one. We already have them."
He sounded quite pleased with himself. Rose reminded herself that in some ways, he was more dragon than human, and that he was behaving now in essentially the same way that he always had even when he was only The Diamond.
"Yes, all of the dragons do have mates," she said, nodding in agreement. "I can see how content all of the women are to be here." She looked again at the peaceful scene on the moonlit beach, with all of the couples sitting and facing each other around the little scattered campfires. "They are all – "
She stopped as he suddenly stepped very close to her, drawing her against his bare body. "I am glad you came with me, Rose. I never considered any other for my own mate. You have always been there, as long as I can remember. I hope you will always be there."
Rose shut her eyes as Adam’s hands ran along her arms. Her body prickled at the sensation, lust coursing through her. As he cupped the back of her head, she felt a needy desire start pooling in her core. He bent his face towards her –
"Diamond!” one of the other Dragonmen interrupted. “You have the best spot on this beach. My mate and I would like to take it. I'm sure you will find another place."
