by Maia Starr
"Karik! Clenok cyborgs!” there was no answer. I ran inside, running all over the house. They were not there. I did not know where they were. It wasn't like he was going to check in with me after the way I treated him. I ran to the town square. Everyone was gathered. I could not see the Veruka in the crowd. They would stand out because they were nine feet tall.
“Everyone, quiet down!” I looked to the stage to see Christopher Allen, a scout, standing there. That was not a good sign. He continued.
"I have news! There is a cyborg army of about five hundred Clenok cyborgs fifty miles away from here over the mountain ridge. They are camped. They are not moving. But they are very close. We must prepare for invasion,” he said.
Everyone screamed and began to panic. I was terrified. Fifty miles was very close, especially for Clenok cyborgs that did not need rest. If they were camped, it was simply because the keddle needed time to maneuver. We were their target; there was no doubt about that. We were lucky that there was a large mountain range in between us. But they were machines. It was possible that they were burrowing through the rock to get to us instead of going up the mountains. It would make sense. They had the power to do it.
“Everyone, listen to me! We do not need to be alarmed. Even if the Clenok cyborgs show up here outside of this perimeter, they will not get through. Our electricals will fry them if they even get close. The circuits go into the ground if we detect any activity under the Earth. There is nothing to fear. But we should go calmly to our stations. We have practiced this many times in our drills. Each of you know your position and your job. If we each do what is required of us, then we will have victory. Remember, it is not even clear if they are headed in our direction. So, for now, let us go into code red.
Everyone knows what to do. You have fifteen minutes to get what you need and get to your station, and then code red will begin. This means that all power will be turned off in the village in order to camouflage our position. The energy will be directed to the perimeter fence. All talking should be kept to a low whisper. We are in code red until we hear that this army has moved away from us. For now, it is daylight so we will be fine without electricity. But take flashlights with you and only turn them on in necessity. They should be off the majority of the time. You know what to do. We have done this a thousand times. Go now and go quietly and do not run. This is not a good time to have a twisted ankle injury. Go now,” Dr. Douglas said.
The people began to disburse. I knew my position and my job. I was to go to the medical emergency tent on the perimeter of the forest. Dr. Douglas would go in the opposite direction. The point was to have medical staff at four points of the wall in order to treat any injured people.
“Where are your dragon protectors now?” Dr. Douglas said, coming up behind me.
“I do not know. I have not been keeping tabs on them,” I said.
“That is convenient that they should disappear right when they are needed to help fight the Clenok cyborgs. This is what they promised they would do and now they are not following through. That is typical. I told you not to trust them. First sign of danger and they have abandoned us,” he said.
“I am sure that is not true. Last time I spoke with them, they were working to figure out our defenses in order to know how they can help the most. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare for invasion and get to my post,” I said walking away.
I felt him grab my arm. He turned me around quickly. Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I pressed against his chest pushing him away. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“What the hell, Douglas? What the fuck was that?” I was grossed out.
“Just in case. I had to do that just in case,” he said.
“Just in case what?”
“Just in case we die. You and I know the Clenok cyborgs are better than us. If a few of them get over the fence, we are done. We are not an army. The fence is all that we have. So if I am going to die, then I am going to sample those lips. I have wanted to for a long time,” he said as he yanked me toward him again. But I pushed back. I don't know what got into me, but I swung at him and punched him in the jaw.
“Stay away from me. I do not like you. I do not want to kiss you. You disgust me,” I said. I turned and walked away. I walked very fast back to my house. Even though I was panicked about the situation, I felt good. Punching Dr. Bradley Douglas was something that I had wanted to do for so long. I had proven that I could take care of myself against a man like him. I knew that he had hated me for a long time, and now I knew exactly why. Karik had been right about that: Douglas wanted me. He was immature, like a kid pulling on a girl’s pigtails because he likes her. I could not believe I had put up with his bullshit for so long. No more. I would never let him treat me badly again: that's if we lived through this.
I went back to the house next to mine to see if Karik had returned. I wondered if he was at the fence or had he left. Did he take my threats seriously and went back to his army? I hoped not. Even though I still did not believe that he did not know that having sex with me would cure him, I still wanted him there to help fight the Clenok cyborgs. I didn't know whether he truly had an army or not but just having the three of them was better than not having them at all. They were military men, weredragons. They were far stronger then we were. I really hope that I had not chased him away. I would feel very foolish if he took my words to leave seriously.
I went down to my basement and loaded the virus onto a small jump drive. Then I turned the laptop off and put the drive in a safe drawer. Then I went into the kitchen and loaded a backpack with some food and water. Then I grabbed my medical toolkit. It was in a black metal fishing box. It was not much, but it would have to do. I found a flashlight and put extra batteries into my backpack. Then I went out on the porch of my house. The sun was beginning to set. It would get dark soon. I had to walk through the forest in order to get to my medical point. I would need to set up a small tent that was left there already. I would just have to erect it. But I did not want to leave just yet. I was scanning the area for Karik, Jex, and Azlo. I looked up at the sky, remembering that they could fly. I wondered where they were. Did they leave the village? I watched as people were walking around the village getting to their positions. Everyone had a job to do, and everyone had a position to camp out in. We had practiced this drill over and over for years, but we never had to do it for real. This was the first time that an army of Clenok cyborgs was coming to us. Before it had just been a couple of Clenok cyborgs here and there; we didn't know what we were truly up against.
Chapter 13
King Karik Korinth
We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the perimeter fence with the human engineers. They told us how it operated and what their defenses were. It was a good set up, but I thought it was flawed. It seemed to me that if many Clenok cyborgs attacked at once that it would short out the system, maybe just in segments or perhaps the entire thing. I thought that the concrete wall was a better defense than just the electrical system. But at least the two of them together would give them some protection against the Clenok cyborgs.
But I was very surprised to find out from the engineers that there were hardly any guns in the village. They relied completely on this wall for protection. Their defense also was simply to hide. They would turn off the electricity except for the fence and just hide. They would hope that the Clenok cyborgs would just pass them by. I did not know if that would work considering that the keddle had scanners. But I did not know if they could detect human life forms. It's seemed to me that they would be able to but I did not have very much experience with them on my own.
But they did not have an army. It was because the Clenok cyborgs first decided to attack all the men that were able to enlist in the military. They took up arms wherever they could and fought against the machines. Because of this, there were very few soldier-like humans left. The men that were in the village were mostly of a science background or were those that had stayed behind to t
ake care of their families and had no military experience because of it. So there were a few guns, bombs, and the like in an underground arsenal, but it was not used for training.
“Look at that out there. It is beautiful here,” Jex said as we stood on top of the one-hundred-foot-high fence.
“Yes, it is. Mountains to the south and what is to the west?” I asked the human engineer named Marcus.
“There is a very big lake in that direction. It is very beautiful. I wish the village was built closer to it. It is about ten miles to the west. Those of us that are more adventurous have risked taking a truck out there every now and then in the middle of the summer when the heat is unbearable in order to go swimming. It is crystal clear water and very refreshing,” he said.
“That sounds tempting,” Azlo said looking at me.
“You know that we can't,” I said. “Vanessa said that the humans would be frightened seeing us in dragon form,” I said.
“Come on. We are not in the village; we are on the fence. The only one that will see us shift is Marcus here, and he is not going to be frightened, right, Marcus?” Jex said.
“No, as long as I get some warning,” he said taking a step back.
“My king, I am going to lose my mind if I do not stretch my wings. We have been cooped up here and before we arrived we were cooped up on a ship. We have had very little flying time. I think we could fly to the lake swim and be back in an hour. We need this,” Azlo said.
"All right. You are right. I have not been good to you. And now that I feel very strong, I would like to stretch my wings as well,” I said.
My soldiers let out hoots and hollers in celebration. Marcus stepped away from us. Then the three of us shifted into dragon form. It did feel good. I stretched my emerald wings and then I ran and jumped off the one-hundred-foot fence and took flight. Azlo and Jex followed. We flew in the direction of the lake. I flew up high directly into the sky. Then I flew straight down, diving. Then I stopped myself a couple of feet above the ground. I grazed along the tall grass. I could say that I've had my full strength back and I felt very strong. Being with Vanessa was a gift in more ways than one. She had brought life back to me.
We were wild as we flew recklessly over the isolated land. It was a very beautiful part of Earth, and we were enjoying it like wild creatures. We were laughing and shouting at each other. Then we finally came across the lake. I landed on the bank. It was absolutely beautiful. There was a tall granite cliff on one side, and the water was so clear it almost didn't look like there was water there at all. I pulled off my boots and weapons and then pulled off my trousers. Jex and Azlo did the same. Then we were completely naked. I flew over the lake and then dove into the water. It was very cold, and it felt amazing. Because our bodies were always burning with heat, it felt especially refreshing. I dove all the way to the bottom of the lake, swimming and spreading my wings as though I was flying in the water. I could feel splashing near me, and I knew that it was Jex and Azlo.
They were having a great time, and they did deserve this. They deserved some fun after being tied up in the village for so long not able to do any flying. I surfaced on the water and floated on my back with my emerald wings spread out under me, creating a raft. I let the sun hit me even though it was low on the horizon. It felt good. The clouds were big and beautiful. I could hear Jex and Azlo playing around. We should have been doing this every day, I thought, but then again, my weakness would not have allowed it.
“We should probably check on our ship on the way back,” I said
“Yes, my king. We will remember to do that on return. I am sure that it is still hidden within the trees considering the humans do not leave beyond the wall very much,” Azlo said.
I flew from the lake into the sky. It felt good to fly naked. I flew around the lake in a circle, spiraling down towards the water, and then dove into the water once more. I played like this over and over, enjoying this new euphoria that I felt and being healthy again. But at that moment, I thought about Vanessa. I wished that she was here playing in the water with me. If she would allow me, I would bring her here one day. Now that I was strong enough I could fly with her in my arms and bring her here. I knew that she would enjoy it. Any sign of Clenok cyborgs, we could just fly away back to the village. It was a good advantage to have over the humans.
We stayed at the lake longer than an hour. We were just enjoying it so much that we did not want to leave. But I noticed the sun growing lower and lower.
“We should get back; we still need to check on the ship,” I said. I moved to the bank of the lake and sat down on a rock, giving my body time to dry off. It didn't take very long, less than two minutes to be completely dry because the heat inside of my body made the water evaporate immediately. It was an advantage to being a dragon.
A couple of minutes later, we were dressed and flying toward the ship’s hiding spot. Just as we had thought, it was still there. There were no signs that anyone had come close to it.
“Let's turn on these systems and check in with General Razook,” I said.
“Roger that,” Jex said.
They turned the ship on as I looked through the communication log that came up to see if any transmissions had been sent to us.
“Sir, I am not getting a connection. I think that we may be too far away, especially with those mountains in between us. We could fly the ship into range if you like,” he said.
“No, that is fine. We can wait. I want to tell General Razook and the army the good news about the cure, but I want to make sure that it is indeed a cure. I want to give it another day to see if the symptoms do not come back,” I said.
“Yes, they will be glad to hear the news about the human female DNA bonding with our own. It is a miracle,” Jex said.
“Turn off the ship and let us get back to the perimeter fence. Once we are there, we will shift back out of dragon form and return it to the village,” I said.
“Understood,” Azlo said. We went through the protocol of shutting down the ship and arranged the tree brush around it to hide it again.
We went back to the village and landed in the same area where we were before. Only something was different. The humans were frantically running around.
"Marcus, what is it?” I asked.
“A cyborg army of five hundred has been spotted by one of our scouts. We are going into code red,” he said.
“Shit,” I said.
“My thoughts exactly,” Marcus said.
“I want the exact coordinates of this army,” I said.
“Coming right up,” Marcus said as he walked into the tower to write something down.
“Azlo, I want you to get back to the base camp and gather the army. I want them inside this village as soon as possible. Copy the coordinates,” I said.
“Roger that.”
“Jex, I want you to go to these coordinates and check out this cyborg army. Do not get in firing range of them. Stay out of sight and off the radar. I just want more information. Gather whatever you can and then return here. Make it quick,” I said.
Within seconds, they flew off the perimeter fence and went into action. I knew that I had to find Vanessa.
“Marcus, I will return. I will help to coordinate the defense. But I must do something first,” I said, and then I flew off the fence into the village, staying low among the trees. I flew directly to the house that Vanessa called home right at that moment she was walking down the street away from the house. I landed directly in front of her. She jumped back.
“I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you. It is just me,” I said.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“It is a long story. I just heard the news about the cyborg army,” I said. She gave me an angry look and continued to walk in the direction that she was headed toward the forest.
“How convenient that you disappeared when we are close to an invasion,” she said.
“I don't know what you mean by that. I am sick of your suspicions, hu
man female,” I said walking alongside her.
“What are you going to do now? Where is this fictional army?” she said.
“I sent Azlo to go get the army,” I said. She stopped walking and looked at me.
“Of course. You want your Veruka to come here in order to mate with the human females. That makes sense. What is your strategy? Wait until all the human men have been killed by the Clenok cyborgs and then kill the Clenok cyborgs? I can't believe you,” she said walking away.
“No, that is not it at all. Where is all of this coming from? The army is coming to fight and nothing more,” I said. New
“Whatever. If you will excuse me, I have a job to do. Make yourself useful and go prepare for this invasion where you can,” she said.
“No, I should protect you. Where are you going? You can't head to the wall. You should take refuge in the center of the village far from the invasion,” I said.
