The Marilians

by Beth Worsdell

  It grew in size as it uncurled; its razor-sharp talons hit the ground and sank into the dry soil. Raising its head to the sky; it shook a long main of jet-black fur as a lion would do. The dragon turned to face all of us. It looked from one face to another with eyes that sparkled like stunning emeralds. Not only did this dragon have huge golden bat-like wings, but it also had a large singular horn like a twisted unicorn horn, which protruded from its forehead just above its green eyes.

  I watched as the golden dragon gracefully made its way to the other waiting dragons. Christik began to rein in her power, closing the star passage and deactivating the Gate of the Gods. Once the barrier was gone and the pink stone was back, Christik turned to face me and glided in my direction.

  “Come, Mel, I would like to introduce you to the Long or dragons as you call them,” she said with a smile.

  I was sure that Christik and all the angels, as well as her parents, could feel my excitement and nervousness. Christik reached out her hand for me to take, and without hesitation, I took her hand in mine, and I let her take me to the dragons. The Elders and angels followed closely behind.

  I could sense how excited my baby was. She wanted to be close to them, and it felt like she was jumping on my bladder, treating it like a trampoline. I put my hand on my bump and thought to myself, ‘You’ll be able to meet them soon, baby girl.’

  As soon as Christik and I were standing in front of the dragons, they all lowered their heads in a bow.

  “Thank you all for coming here, Longs,” she told them, “We have brought you all here to fight for this planet and the human survivors. The Marilians are coming, and we can’t let them win. Will you all fight with us?”

  Qui stepped forward, so he was standing right in front of Christik, and he lowered his head, so they were literally eye to eye. Christik reached forward, and she placed her right hand gently on his face between his eyes and nose. I could see little sparks between them as they connected, and Qui closed his eyes.

  “It is so good to see you, Qui,” Christik told him affectionately.

  Qui opened his eyes, and he raised his head.

  “It is good to see you too, Christik,” he told her, just as affectionately, “We will all fight for you and with you, my friend.”

  Christik gave the dragon a big smile, showing how pleased she was, and then she turned back to me and the elders.

  “Mel, meet the mightiest of Longs from my world,” she said.

  I turned to Lindaz.

  “You have many of them on your world?” I asked, surprised.

  It was already a shock that they had four, and I still couldn’t believe that they were actually stood in front of me, it just didn’t seem real.

  “Yes, we have many on our world, Mel. The others are coming through the other star passages our angels activated,” Lindaz said. “Go and meet them,” she added, pointing at the dragons with a big smile of her own.

  I was full of nerves as I stepped towards Christik and the dragons; my pulse started to race as my body released its adrenaline. When I reached them, I stood next to Christik, and the dragons seemed a lot bigger and fiercer so close up. I could feel the heat of their breath coming from their nostrils, and it heated my already hot skin. Tian, Shen, Qui and Ying all began to move, and they lowered their heads so that their eyes were all level with mine.

  “They are greeting you,” Christik said gently.

  She gave me a nod of her head, indicating for me to move forward more. With my pulse racing and my heart pounding in my ears, I walked up to Tian first, placing my hand onto his face just like Christik had done. He closed his eyes, and I felt his power through my hand as well as a connection that I didn’t understand. When Tian opened his fiery red eyes, I removed my hand and moved on to Shen. When I placed my hand on Shen, I felt the same connection to her as Tian, and it was as if my soul was reaching to them. Being so close to her; I could tell she was female. Her face and body were sleeker with softer angles than Tian, and her hips were wider.

  Ying was also a female dragon, and my connection to her when I touched her wasn’t quite as strong. I felt a nervousness coming from her, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of me. Lastly, I greeted Qui, placing my hand on his face. His brow was a lot more pronounced than the other dragons, making him look a lot more aggressive, but funnily enough, I felt the strongest connection to him out of all of them. My baby girl started to bounce on my bladder again, and I knew instantly that she felt the strong connection too. This time, there were sparks with the contact, and Christik gave a small gasp. I removed my hand and took a few steps back, so I stood next to Christik again, and when I looked at her; she had a look of sheer surprise on her face.

  Turning back to the dragons, I dipped my head low in respect before looking into their stunning eyes.

  “Welcome, and thank you for coming,” I told them sincerely.

  “We will always come to the aid of our angels,” Qui said with his rich masculine voice, “They saved my race when our own world was dying. We owe them everything,” he added.

  Chapter 19

  As I stood before the four dragons and absorbed Qiu’s words, I realized why there was such a bond between them, Christik and the angels, and why they were so willing to fight with them. I felt so honored to be in their presence and also relieved that we had them on our side.

  “Will you follow us back to our main craft?” Christik asked.

  “We will,” Qui answered for all of them.

  Christik turned to the angels and the elders, and she started to lead the way to our small craft, and I followed. As she reached her parents, she gave them a nod of her head. Instead of her parents following us to the craft, they began to glide towards the dragons.

  “Mel, if you could come with us please,” Evest said with a smile, “I sense that you and Qui have a very strong connection.”

  I was so surprised by what Evest said that I looked at Christik with wide eyes.

  Christik just smiled and nodded her head in the direction of the waiting dragons. I took in a deep breath and began to follow the elders. When we reached the dragons, I stopped and watched as Evest glided up to Shen. The dark blue dragon lowered the front of her body for the elder and Evest gracefully slid onto her back in one swift movement.

  Lindaz walked up to Ying, and the gold and brown dragon lowered herself as Shen had. Even though Ying had wings; Lindaz was just as graceful mounting her. I looked from the elders to Qiu, and I wondered how the hell I was going to mount him. The raised steel colored scales all along his back looked as though they could cut me in two. Gingerly, I approached him, his massive muscles rippled underneath his blood-red shining scales. I looked into his fierce face.

  “I don’t know how to get on your back,” I told him honestly and feeling very embarrassed, knowing that the elders were watching my every move.

  “I will help you,” Qui said in his very masculine drawl.

  As I stood and watched him, his sharp silver scales on his back appeared, sinking into his spine before my eyes. ‘Thank goodness for that’ I thought to myself. After all of Qiu’s silver scales had vanished; he lowered himself as far as he could go, and he moved his front leg forward.

  “Stand on my leg, young one, and I will help you up,” he said.

  I reached forward and placed both hands into the side of his lowered neck; his vivid red scales were cool and smooth against my fingertips. As soon as I stepped on into his leg, he began to raise it. I had to use my hands against his body to keep my balance, and within seconds, I was high enough to cock my leg over his thick muscular back.

  Luckily for me, I was able to get on with the first attempt, and as I sat perched on his back, I suddenly felt very proud of myself. I was very aware of how excited my baby girl was at being so close to the dragon. She obviously felt the connection as strongly as I did.

  “Are you ready, Mel?” Evest called over.

  “Yes!” I answered.

  Adrenaline began to flood my bo
dy again, and I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen. Only one of the dragons had wings, so I was assuming that the dragons were going to run, full steam ahead. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  I felt Qiu’s power building before I actually saw it. His power seemed to engulf us both, and I felt it flow through me in a huge wave. The moment it reached my head, both of us gave off a shimmering red aura. I looked over to Evest and Lindaz, and they were glowing the same colors as their dragons too.

  “Hold on to my scales,” Qui commanded.

  I gingerly gripped two of his large scales just in time before he began to rise from the ground. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I felt him curl his body, so his front legs touched his back, and his power seemed to build at the same time. Then boom, his power surged at the same time as he straightened his body, and we pelted forward as I held on for dear life. Qiu raised his head to the clear blue sky, and we were soaring upwards, the hot wind was blowing in my face.

  Moments later, we were flying high, and I could see the small craft the angels were in just ahead of us. I held on tightly to Qiu’s scales, and I looked behind me. The other dragons and the elders were easily keeping pace. They all looked so graceful flying through the air in a V formation, each giving the others room to maneuver.

  The flight back to the main craft was amazing. I could see everything so clearly, unlike when I’d flown in a plane. I could see huge green areas where the angels had already healed the earth and also the brown areas that they hadn’t reached yet. It was eerily quiet as we flew, there were no noises of planes or cars, no factories in operation, only the rush of the wind blowing past us. I’d never really paid attention before to the amount of noise we as a race made, and the contrast was startling.

  Our journey back seemed to happen in a flash, and we were soon approaching the main craft. ‘How on earth are the dragons going to get on board,’ I thought as I felt Qiu slow down. I watched as the small craft ahead of us entered the hanger through the side of the ship, vanishing from sight.

  As Qiu and I got closer to the hanger entrance, I could suddenly feel the dragon shrinking beneath me. ‘Oh God, please don’t let me fall off now,’ I thought as my nervousness grew. Qiu dipped his head, making me lower my own body as I held tightly to his scales. I could feel my baby bump pressing against the dragon. I needn’t have worried because Qiu gracefully swept into the hanger like an eagle, swooping inside before landing softly in between the small crafts.

  I let out my breath, not realizing that I’d held it, and the relief that swept through me was intense. I stayed on him and watched with intrigue as the other dragons and the two elders entered and landed with the same elegance.

  “I will help you down, Young one,” Qiu said with his deep rumbling voice.

  Qiu slowly lowered himself, making sure that I was still able to keep my balance, and then he raised his leg again for me. I held on tightly while swinging my leg over his back and reaching for his leg with my other foot. I knew I wasn’t as graceful as the elders, but I didn’t really care. I just didn’t want to fall off and end up as a heap on the floor, looking like a beetle on its back. Luckily for me; my feet found the dragon’s leg, and Qiu lowered me to the ground.

  As I stood there in the hanger, I was acutely aware of how wobbly my legs were. They felt like jelly, but I wasn’t surprised. I think I’d clenched my thighs against the dragon’s body holding on for dear life the whole journey. However, what a ride! ‘I can honestly say that I would happily do it again and again,’ I thought with a smile.

  ‘That is good to know, young one, as you will be riding me during the battle,’ I heard Qiu say in my mind.

  “Damm it, another one who can read my thoughts,” I said with a laugh, “I look forward to fighting with you, Qiu!” I told him honestly.

  Qiu dipped his head at me just as Christik and the angels walked over to us.

  “We have a large room for us all to use,” Christik said politely, “Can you sense it?” She asked.

  All four of the Dragons dipped their heads, and then they were gone; they disappeared in a split second.

  “Come, Mel, we will meet them there,” Christik said, and she glided towards the hanger exit.

  We were soon arriving at a massive room, similar to the one where I’d spent time with the animals we’d rescued. When we walked in, all of the dragons were there, and they seemed very relaxed for the time being.

  I walked over to Qiu, and as he lowered his head, I raised my hand, and we connected again.

  “Thank you for helping us, Qiu,” I told him softly.

  I lowered my hand and, as he raised his head, his huge sparkling eyes locked with mine.

  “You are welcome, young one,” he replied.

  “You all seem to have a strong connection with the angels,” I said with a smile.

  “Like your race, we were on the verge of annihilation, young one. The Marilians are an ancient race, who have destroyed many planets by taking all resources and races for their own,” Qiu explained. “When they came to my planet centuries and centuries ago, they couldn’t change us, but they did destroy our planet.”

  “So, the Angels took you to their planet?” I asked.

  I could feel the heaviness in the great dragon’s heart and the sadness from all of them as they listened to Qiu’s words.

  “Yes, when the angels arrived after the Marilians had gone, they knew it was too late to save our world. They refused to leave us behind, and they invited us to live with them,” he told me.

  “But how did they get you to their planet?” I asked.

  Qiu appeared to smile at the memory.

  “The angels built a star passage on our world so we could travel through it. When we arrived, they went out of their way to make us feel at home,” Qiu said. “We will fight with them whenever they ask us too.”

  “I feel the same way about the angels too, Qui. I owe them everything,” I told him sincerely, “My husband didn’t want me to fight, but there’s no way I can stand by and let my family and friends fight the Marilians without me, Qiu.”

  Qiu looked at me with understanding, and he smiled.

  “Sometimes, the hardest fights are the battles against our loved ones’ wishes. They need not worry for I will be fighting with you, and this time, I am not a hatchling,” he said.

  “We haven’t got much time, Qiu. The other Longs have all arrived, so we need to get you all into position,” Christik said with urgency in her voice.

  “Exactly how many of you are there?” I said, totally surprised.

  “There are hundreds of us now, thanks to the angels,” Qiu replied with a smile.

  I couldn’t help but smile back at the dragon. I hoped that I would live long enough, so I could get to know about the dragons and get to know them.

  “Let's get this show on the road!” Christik called out.

  Christik walked up to Shen, and then she raised her hand, placing it onto the blue dragon’s forehead.

  “This is where I need you to be Shen, my angels are waiting for you,” she said.

  Next, she did the same to Ying, Tian and lastly to Qiu. The dragons dipped their heads, and I watched as the elders and Christik mounted the dragons.

  “Come, young one, we have a battle to win,” Qiu told me as his fiery eyes glowed brighter.

  Not wanting to keep the others waiting, I mounted the fierce blood-red dragon, and then I looked to my angel friends.

  “We can do this!” I told them, feeling my confidence build within me; “we can win this together.”

  The elders and Christik all looked at me with confident smiles. They all dipped their heads, and then they were gone. ‘Are you ready,’ Qiu said in my mind, ‘I was born ready,’ I told him.

  In a split second, we also vanished from the room, and when we reappeared, we were on the ground next to the main craft. ‘We are fighting from here?’ I asked Qiu with my thoughts. ’No, young one, like the angels, we can only travel like that within short
distances. We will fly to our allotted location, ‘he answered.

  Qiu’s body began to rumble beneath me as his power grew, and he rose from the ground effortlessly. My whole body buzzed with power as he curled himself before raising his head and surging forward. I could just about see the elders and Christik high up in the sky, all flying in different directions on their dragons. We headed east, and Qiu soared in the darkening sky. The sun was setting, and the oranges, yellows and reds reflected off Qiu’s red scales, making his already shimmering body look even more magical. The wind was trying to whip through my tied-up hair, making escaped wisps trail behind me.

  ‘Are we going to where my family are?’ I asked, feeling desperate to see my family. ’Yes, and we will be there soon, young one.’ Qiu replied in my mind again.

  We flew for what felt like an eternity, but in truth, it was only a matter of minutes. I could feel us slowing down as we approached the town that we'd visited with Tracey, and I could still see people walking to their hiding places. My mind began to think of all the people who wouldn’t be fighting. ’Christik, are the non-fighters safe in the underwater cities? ‘I reached out to ask. ‘They are all safe, Mel, do not worry, concentrate on staying alive, please, ‘she said, and I could feel her genuine concern.

  The buildings loomed as Qiu slowed right down, landing in the park area where hopefully, the Marilians would eventually land. As Qiu’s feet touched down, I reached out to my husband. ‘James, where are you right now?’ I asked.

  Within seconds, he replied with confusion in his thoughts. ‘We’re at the library, baby, hang on, how the hell are you able to talk to me from Cubanaz?’

  There was a long pause, mainly because I knew he was going to go ballistic on me. ‘I’m sorry, baby, I couldn’t go and leave you all,’ I told him in a rush of words. ‘I’m in the park area, but I have awesome backup.’ I could feel James’ frustration, worry and upset flowing through the mental connection, and I could almost hear him take a deep breath as he resigned himself to the knowledge that I always put my family first.