by Darren Lewis
“Daddy! No! Please! Don't leave me! Wake up!” She shook his body as if by force of her own will she could restore the life taken. She howled and screamed at him over and over until she felt Cole's large paws on her own shoulders dragging her away. “No! Let me go! Cole!” Ellie turned into the red dragon's chest and clenching her fists and grinding her teeth Ellie let loose a silent scream into the heavens. The cords on her neck stood out and her eyes burned with fury.
I'm going to kill them all!
The promise made she collapsed to the ground, painful sobs wracked her entire body as she punched the grass. She was dimly aware of Cole's mind, pressing on hers, enveloping her, comforting her. Whatever he was doing she saw a black wall encircle them both and force her into sleep.
Aftermath
“Plume! Thank the White and Grey, you're alive!” Rox cried, throwing herself into the brown rabbit's chest. The last time Rox had seen Plume he'd been charging the green dragon Malachite all alone and Rox had feared for his life. Plume grunted in pain and shock but couldn't stop the grin that manifested itself on his normally acerbic face. Eridan had dropped the black rabbit off at a point far enough away from the fires where she could enter the warren undetected.
“I'm a little battered but I'm ready to take on those evil bastards again.” Plume stated with venom. Rox pulled back slightly and Plume's eyes widened at the expression on his leader's face. “What? What's wrong, Rox?” Rox's mouth quivered, not wanting to speak the words. She took a moment to look about at the rabbits wandering terrified all around her. She grabbed Plume's paw and led him to an unoccupied hole. “What, Rox?” Plume repeated, his fears mounting.
“The dragons.” Rox said, her voice weak. She cleared her throat and straightened her neck. “Cast saw what they did…they found their way to Ellie's home.” Plume felt a streak of cold enter his body and he sat back on his haunches. “They killed them, Plume!” Rox sobbed. “Even her brot…” But Rox couldn't physically finish the sentence, her mouth refused to utter the word and Plume, though the thought was ridiculous, was glad of that. He slowly rose, moved to Rox and encircled her in his forelegs, his staff dropping, forgotten, to the dirt floor. Out of view of the rest of the warren Rox let her tears run freely and her emotions full rein. Her heart felt torn as her body convulsed with each cry of grief. Plume's face felt wooden and his mouth heavy. He could not think of one platitude or thought to give voice to. He remembered when Rox's mother, Storm, had been killed by a fox and though understandably devastating he knew instinctively that was the way of the world, parents will die before their offspring. To hear about such a young one dying by such a heinous act was almost beyond his comprehension.
“Rox?” Another voice came from the entrance to the hole. Plume looked up and with a great deal of relief saw it was Cast, Rox's father and keeper of magic for the rabbits. The old white rabbit looked utterly worn down from his heroic attempt to save Ellie and Cole earlier that day but Plume saw fire in the rabbit's eyes, eyes that had witnessed through magical means the destruction of Ellie's home and family. Rox took a moment to compose herself and turned to face her father, leaving Plume to retrieve his staff. The grief still burned her eyes and the fiery anger she felt rushed with abandon through her mind. Cast, though fully prepared to accede to his daughter's orders, knew the next words from Rox's mouth would alter the destiny of his race for good or bad. Staring at her father instilled a small amount of calm in the black rabbit and Rox took a quivering breath. Her responsibilities as leader, not only of this warren, but warrens like these throughout the world, came to the fore. Though she would aid her friend however Ellie asked, her duties must conserve as many rabbits as possible or every living thing would face the slow death of the world itself.
Cast entered and laid a paw on his daughter's shoulder just as Plume joined the small group.
“Send word to all warrens about what has occurred here today.” She instructed her father. “Tell them their lives are under threat but under no circumstances are they to engage the dragons.” Her eyes found Plume and she continued speaking while studying the warren's protector. “All our young and their parents will relocate to the nearest warren including those who wish to leave.” Plume's eyes widened in expectation. “I'm committing those who volunteer to remain to help Ellie, in whatever she wishes to do next.” Rox's voice had dropped to almost a whisper as all three rabbits contemplated their immediate future.
“I'll see to it.” Cast responded, breaking the heavy silence. “Plume, will you organise the relocation of the families?”
Plume looked back and forth between Rox and her father before simply nodding and leaving the two of them alone.
“Am I doing at least one thing right, father?” Rox asked with a small snort of derision.
“You always ran your own way, Rox. But in doing so you found Ellie and all that comes with it.”
“Well, we failed to save the world. If we're lucky enough to survive the attacks from the dragons, we still have to survive mankind.”
“We can never know the consequences of our actions, Rox. We just do what we can.”
Rox sighed and slipped her paws onto her father's shoulders.
“Thank you.”
Bound
Malachite circled the destroyed house high above. He'd watched calmly as the red dragon carrying Ellie had emerged from a dragon thread. For now, the moment to unleash his fury upon the girl was quenched, the emotional confusion of the bonding tiring his thoughts and actions. So Malachite watched quite dispassionately as the girl and dragon raced about the destroyed house, neither pleased at taking so much from her, nor displeased at not wishing to descend and make good on his promise to her for a painful death.
Malachite turned and allowed the winds to carry him away on his outstretched wings. A slight wriggle from his chest brought his attention back to the child.
Cold. A tightness within the body. Short breaths.
Malachite instinctively lowered the child until it came into contact with his hide near to where fire was produced inside his body.
Warmth. Pain inside, growing.
Malachite tilted his head and his eyes widened as the child's thoughts impinged on his own body. From deep within he felt the turmoil of his stomach accompanied by a rush of hunger. He nodded and opened a thread to take him back to the temple. Perhaps he could track one of those interfering rabbits for the young human and feed it. Without a backwards glance or thought regarding his destruction over the last twenty minutes Malachite entered the blackness of a thread and vanished from the sky.
Unprepared
The steel grey sky above the temple, observed through human eyes, could easily have been interpreted as a grey shroud covering the world, never-ending, eternal. However, through eyes forged in the fire of magic the bleak sky revealed a wealth of information.
Corvus groaned flexing his right wing as he emerged from the deep pit. Mud caked his wings and when he was again on solid ground, he shook them viciously causing another groan to issue forth. His head pounded with the rhythm of his heart and the ache compelled the dragon to squint his large eyes. A groan became a growl as his memory replayed his traitorous brother, Eridan, swinging a bent metal bar at Corvus' head. The impact had resulted in a long painful descent back into the dark pit created by the troublesome rabbits who had saved the girl and her dragon.
Ignoring the pain Corvus looked upwards and studied the vast amount of dragon threads piercing the sombre sky. The threads used by the dragons for moving quickly from one place to another, left behind distinctive trails in the sky only visible to other dragons. Two were of immediate interest to Corvus, one of black and one of red. The threads circled and intertwined before vanishing in an electric blue mist followed by the colours of two of Corvus' group giving chase.
Despite his anger, Corvus found a knot of hesitation and worry in regard to his planned course of action. Initially his plan was to strip the girl of her memories to learn as much as possible about the new
world he and his fellow dragons had woken to. Their slumber had lasted untold seasons and the black dragon was canny enough to acknowledge a lack of information may lead to their downfall. When the girl escaped however the path had led him here to this hillside and into the midst of a race of magical rabbits. Corvus snorted his disbelief at such a proposition but he had spoken to a member of their race twice now, and twice he had been made a fool of. Placing his confusion aside over the rabbits Corvus knew this day was lost and he and his kin must return into hiding while they considered a new course of action.
A flash of blue lightning from high above brought Corvus from his reverie and his spirits soared even as his heartrate accelerated as a dragon emerged into the lead sky. Perhaps his kin were bringing him the girl or his treacherous brother. His hopes were dashed as quickly as they were built as the dragon saw the green sheen of Malachite's hide.
* * *
Cold darkness gives way to light. However, not warm light.
Rush of wind beating its hard fist.
A roar of displeasure and the wind abates, stopped by…by…something.
Screaming, shouting, more anger but now tinged with fear.
Scared!
Do not be scared.
Protect!
I will protect you!
A flash of orange fire.
A warning. Away, we must go away.
We are unnatural. An abomination. Outcasts.
No. We are not. Malachite, we are not! We are together.
YES!
Kill to protect. Protect to kill.
Kill my leader for you?
For us, Malachite.
YES!
* * *
Malachite pushed Corvus' limp body into the dark pit. Defeating the black dragon was a relatively simple matter. Corvus was suffering the effect of falling into the pit by design of the rabbits and then receiving a tremendous blow to the head from a metal pole. As Malachite swooped to the ground he'd noticed the black dragon and leader of the dragons swaying upon his paws as he attempted to track Malachite across the sky. Gliding lower the green dragon had simply tilted his entire body and aimed his talons at Corvus' head. The weight behind the impact had driven Malachite's talons deep into Corvus' brain and the black dragon was dead before Malachite touched the ground proper.
Elation rose in Malachite's mind but its source came from his would-be rider.
Hide. Protect. Grow. Came as a whisper, light, barely registering. Malachite's gaze was drawn upwards as the dragons returned unsuccessfully from chasing Eridan and his son. He looked down into the pit holding their deceased leader and then at the young human.
Malachite nodded.
Ten Years Later
The day we fell: 2018 C.E.
Mary leapt from the highest step of the coach and was instantly assaulted by an intense barrage before touching the ground. She yelped in something akin to pain at the cold onslaught. Wind and rain acted in unity, driving against her entire body, pushing her into the open door of the coach and causing her light raincoat to meld instantly with the contours of her body. Squinting and grimacing into the sharp deluge Mary heard laughing as some of her more well-dressed classmates grinned and chuckled smugly, comforted in the knowledge that even though their coats were more suited for an ascent of Everest, they were warm and if not completely dry, then close enough.
“Come on, Mary.” Mary's arm was snatched and she was pulled away from the coach's door as others descended into winter's savage attack. Shrieks accompanied by yet more laughter told Mary she was not the only one dressed inappropriately for the day. The wind and rain lessened somewhat as Mary was pulled close into the minimal shelter offered by the coach's side. Wiping the water from her sour face Mary squinted and saw the smiling face of her friend Gabby.
“Bloody hell, Mary. This is fun isn't it?” Gabby smiled tighter and Mary sighed inwardly, not wishing to upset her friend. Gabby, as she promised she would, had successfully reigned in her excitement on the coach for today's journey under pain of a Chinese burn from Mary herself. Now however Gabby's exuberance had returned tenfold from, it seemed, being cooped up for far too long. Mary sniffed her agreement and displeasure and caught the sharp tang of salt in the air. Above the sound of the swirling wind and complaining students, Mary fancied she could hear the roll of the sea. Gabby caught her friend's look and she pointed towards a large building standing fifty metres away.
“The sea's that way, behind the main building. We're still quite a way inland as the site is massive.”
Mary nodded absently and hunched her shoulders, not really caring what direction the sea was in or the size of what they were here to see. Her only concern was getting out of this ridiculous weather as soon as possible and into a warm room.
“Okay everyone pay attention!” A new voice intruded upon Mary's misery. “Please make your way to the main entrance. Remember we're still in a car park so no running. I said 'NO RUNNING!'” Mary snorted a laugh as nearly the entire class, as one entity, made a break from the coach to the safe harbour offered ahead. With a laugh, Mary grabbed Gabby's arm and propelled her forward. Gabby attempted to shake her friend's grip away.
“No, Mary! I can disobey our teacher perfectly well thank you.” She protested. Mary grinned into the buffeting wind and kept pushing Gabby forward as they both giggled. Behind them, she could still hear the exasperated shouts of their science teacher attempting, with little success, to coral his students who had all become temporarily hard of hearing.
“It had better be warm in there!” Mary screamed into the rain.
* * *
Mary yawned and instantly jerked upright as an elbow connected sharply with her ribs.
“Hey!” She whispered fiercely to her attacker but Gabby was already facing the front of the room again and simply held a finger to her lips. Mary raised a finger of her own at her friend and tried without success to watch the 'Welcome!' with an exclamation mark, video, playing for them.
The promise of a warm, dry haven was short-lived. On entering the building, warm air instantly banished the ills of the winter weather. Even the harsh remonstrations over safety by Mr. Harris felt far away, as Mary bathed in the blasts of the heating system. The warmth was stolen away quickly however as all the class were herded into a dismal conference room. Its walls matched the grey of the outside world and without functioning heating either it seemed to be doing its best to match the conditions, with the added punishment of uncomfortable plastic chairs. After finding a seat, Mary quickly began shivering, her clothes still wet and hair hanging limply from her forehead. Misery descended upon the room as the door closed while they waited for their teacher to return and the windows rapidly misted blocking the dreary view. Gabby seemed to be the only student taking the room in, her classmates were holding whispered conversations as if talking at any volume would invite more problems. Though it did not seem possible at the time the video started, misery sank to new levels as nearly all realised the dull information doled out on screen by a fake tanned soap opera star would go on for a while. Mary shivered once more and rubbed her thighs.
“Remember, your safety is paramount. Elm-sea B operates a no tolerance rule on running, jumping and no…” Mary screwed her eyes and looked at the screen, “chewing gum!” The soap opera actor on the screen grinned inanely and Mary wondered how many teeth the man had in his mouth and if they were his. She heard a snicker of a laugh and raised her eyebrows at Gabby.
“Seriously?” She asked, nudging her friend with her shoulder. Gabby shrugged as the class groaned and cursed at the awful attempt at humour. Gabby leaned in close to Mary and without taking her eyes from the screen whispered into her friend's ear.
“His crap-eating grin just reminded me of that episode where he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant by another man but that's for the best as she might be his twin and the other man is wanted by the police for stealing cows and selling them on the black market.” Despite her discomfort Mary snorted a laugh at Gabby's ridiculo
us breakdown of soap opera drama. Before Mary could add her own over the top storyline the video clicked to a stop which was met by a chorus of ironic cheers. The door to the conference room opened and Mr Harris and another man wearing a hi-vis jacket entered.
“Thank you for taking the time to watch our safety video.” The man announced sardonically. “Now if you'll follow me the tour will begin.”
Gabby squirmed on her chair and squeaked with excitement.
* * *
“The site was first developed back in 1964 as a caravan park but it was forced to close. The government's energy department purchased the land with a view to place a nuclear facility at the site.” The guide stopped and pointed at the cement floor. “The first layer was put down by royalty itself in 1973.” Gabby tutted, clearly frustrated by the type of information being imparted, Gabby wanted technical information and nothing else would satisfy her. Mary smiled at her friend's reaction and eased into a steady pace. As she thought about her friendship with this strange girl the words of their tour guide washed away and her movements became automatic as she was led about gigantic pieces of machinery. The two girls had only been friends for less than a year but the solidity of their relationship was clear for all to see. Mary, for her part, had only moved into the local area and school eighteen months ago. Her father had served in the army but injury on duty had forced an early retirement. She was quite used to being a 'barrack rat' as she was commonly known in schools and though it did not faze her it made cementing any long term friendships difficult. Even now the effect still resonated in her school life. Her parents promised this was the final upheaval as they relocated close to her grandparents, who she barely knew, and her place in a school a permanent fixture. Still the old fear remained and the difficulties in forming lasting friendships kept her at a distance from her classmates. Gabby however changed everything.
