Fate Of The Dragon

by Richard Lovegood

  “We talked about what happened, and we both agreed that we still want to be married. That was a huge relief! I was starting to worry about that. We talked about how we should have taken fertility tests, but since we both saved ourselves for marriage we didn’t think it was going to be an issue. Well, we were wrong. So, we then started to talk about what other options there were. The first was some kind of fertility drug. We quickly dismissed that idea, because we didn’t want a huge family of eight kids on the first go. Granted, I may be exaggerating a bit, but needless to say we didn’t like that option.

  “We also discussed adoption. We both seemed to really be in favor of that one! I pulled out my phone and starting searching for locations nearby. Luckily, there were two that were super close. So, we got dressed after our session at the table, and headed out to the first adoption agency that was the closest. When we walked inside, we were shocked at how many people were in there. I must have counted somewhere around 10 couples, none of which looked happy to be there. It didn’t make sense. You would think they would all be filled with hope and joy at the mere thought of qualifying as an adoptive family. That’s not what I saw. Every single one of their faces were filled with dread and despair. All of the men were groaning and had trouble sitting still. One guy had a frozen bag of snow peas in his lap.”

  “Were we at a urologist’s office or an adoption agency? Honestly, at this point, I wasn’t sure. I mustered up some courage, ignored the current crowd, and walked up to the window with my wife. The receptionist was frantically typing away on her computer. ‘I’ll be right with you, sir. Please stand by.’ She said. While I waited, I looked down at the paperwork on the counter. The bold lettering across the top had the name of the company; and yes, they are an adoption agency. The lady stopped typing and looked up at us. ‘Are you looking to adopt, too?’ she asked with a sense of hesitant sarcasm. I said we were, but we wanted to know what happened to the men out in the lobby. ‘Have you been injured, sir?’ I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. She pointed to the choir of groans, and asked me again ‘Have you been attacked or have you been otherwise injured, sir?’ Uh, I wasn’t sure, but I was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute.

  “I asked what was going on, and she began to give me the run down. Apparently, every single man in the lobby had had a vasectomy against their wills. When asked if I wanted explicit details, I politely declined her offer. I didn’t need to know, and she was becoming more sarcastically impatient. I told her that I just wanted to start the process for adoption, and she said ‘Yeah. Everybody else in this room does too.’ At that point, walked back into the waiting area and took a seat.

  “We began talking to one of the couples next to us. Come to find out, this plot was much thicker than I had initially thought. Back up in Los Ricos, there was a group of men who clothed themselves in old school monk robes with hoods. Given the environment, people thought they were some new act in town. What nobody knew was that these guys were, and probably still are, apprehending males and taking them hostage. While captive, the men were gagged, blindfolded, and tied to a chair. Each male was then stripped of their pants, and a vasectomy was performed…with no anesthesia.

  I winced.

  “Yeah, I know! Super painful, right?” Chuck continues. “One of the guys asked after his operation was complete why this kind of thing was being done. His captors told him that it was for population control. They started in this town here, Los Pobres, and they were given orders to cycle through Los Ricos as well. Either the captor was very smart, or very stupid because he didn’t have any problem telling more of the reasoning behind the madness. There’s some kind of prophecy in place that says a certain male child will be born within two years’ time who will raise up an army to aid in the fight against evil. It’s very vague and medieval sounding, I know. So, these guys were apparently hired by someone here in Los Pobres and told to neuter every single male between the ages of 13 to 50. The guy looked at me and asked if I had been caught yet. I paused and said that I hadn’t. He told me to flee from this city as fast as I could. Taking his advice, and with my wife’s face a sickly pale color, we left.

  “My wife and I hopped back in our car, and sped home. We were so scared and had no idea what to do. Our dreams of children had been crushed, and adoption seemed like it was going to take longer than normal. We most certainly didn’t want to get caught, and I didn’t want to get captured. So, we prayed and went about our normal routine, but remaining ever watchful. Breakfast, work, home, dinner, sleep. Every week day was the same, and during the weekends, we didn’t leave the house at all. This pattern went on for about a year, until the day of our anniversary. It had been one of the roughest days I had ever had at work, and to come home to a candle lit bubble bath was awesome.”

  Chuck’s face became an expressionless stone. His voice became flat.

  “That night was magical. The wine was delicious, the bubbles were frothy, and my wife was truly amazing. Everything was perfect. Perfect until our bathroom door burst open. It was like something out of a movie. There, in the doorway, stood four cloaked figures; one brandishing a curved knife with a serrated edge. ‘I really hope we are disturbing something’ one of the guys said. Within an instant, all four of them lunged at me and grabbed me. At that point, I didn’t care that I was naked, I chose to fight back as best I could. I wrestled and wriggled and tried to get free of their grasp. Being fully covered in soapy bath water has its advantages. I slipped out of one guy’s hands, and I slid free from the second one. My wife was screaming. She grabbed the empty wine bottle and cracked it on the back of the head of the closest intruder. He went limp and fell to the ground, while his face bounced rigidly off the corner of the tub. I punched one guy square in the face. He reeled back holding his nose. I tried to spin and kick the next guy, but this is where it’s not a smart idea to be covered in soapy water. I slipped and fell flat on my back on the tile floor. Mr. Broken nose and the other two were on me instantly. They had me pinned to the floor and I saw the gleam of the knife come into the light. At that moment, my wife attacked the knife wielder with what was left of the broken wine bottle. Unfortunately, this only stunned him momentarily. Almost instantly, knife guy stood up, and back handed her across the face. She fell limp and sank back onto the floor. ‘Why are you doing this?’ I hollered. The guys told me the same thing that I heard way back at the adoption clinic. ‘Who hired you?’ I demanded. All the while I’m kicking and fighting to get free again. ‘Why would a young punk such as yourself want to know a thing like that? We are merely following Mr. Jeffers’ orders.’ The guy holding the knife roared at the top of his lungs, ‘You idiot! Are you trying to blow our cover?’ I fought, kicked, bit, squirmed, but to no avail…they won. Now, I bear the scars of that hideous operation. But I know something now, that the other guys didn’t get to find out. I know the name of the possible leader, and I know the location. Well, at least I have the starting city, and its right here!”

  19

  Transformation

  There are swirling colors everywhere now. My vessel has a crack in the front glass, and fluid is starting to seep in! This isn’t good at all. Mashing all the buttons in a panic, I try and figure something out to help me. Nothing is working though! This is just great! I’m in a piece of junk, crap-tastic vessel that is allowing me to possibly drown in the now incoming fluid. I break free from the arm restraint that my data pad was secured to, and I try and plug the hole in front of me. My efforts are in vain, because the extra movement I’ve made increases the pressure and makes the hole bigger. The fluid pours in and begins to fill my transport rapidly. As the liquid reaches my face, I panic and start kicking. I hold my breath because I don’t want to die! I shut my eyes and try to think of how I’m going to escape. This is not at all what the captain was talking about. I stop struggling for a moment and try to remember exactly what he said. Something about only one of us reaching this sphere thing and plunging to the center in attack mode. Yes, I did that. What else
was there? Nothing comes to mind. I open my eyes and see that there is nothing left of my vessel, and that I’m floating in the mass majority of the swirling colors! Looking down, my craft has dropped and is now dissolving. Great.

  The colors swirl faster and faster, becoming brighter. It stuns me and I inhale sharply. Wait, what?! I can breathe in this stuff?!

  A female voice speaks. “Welcome to the egg. Please state your name for genetic verification and gender designation.”

  “Uh, Aiden.” I say.

  “Thank you.” She says. “Verification: complete. Designation: male. Begin transformation stage.”

  This is creepy. What is a transformation stage? I need to ask this egg-thing a few questions first. I am not sure if I signed up for this or not. “Uh, ma’am can you tell me what’s going on here? I think I don’t want to do this anymore. What do you mean by the transfor…AHH!!!”

  The colors swirl violently around me, getting closer, and then explode in a flash of white; making my body split in two pieces.

  “Transformation: complete. Begin fertilization stage.” The female voice says.

  I’m seeing double. Everything is quite fuzzy in appearance. I locate where the other half of my body went. It’s glowing. I’m glowing. I’m confused. I feel warm now. I feel very, very warm now. I start to melt and dissolve! NO! I thought I did everything right! “WAIT!”

  “Fertilization: complete. Activate growth hormones.”

  The perimeter wall of my prison shudders but maintains its shape as there is a small explosion within. Then I hear my own voice blended with the female voice introduce the next stage. “Growth hormones: activated. Begin transport to incubation chamber.”

  We lift up from our current spot, and swiftly move through the northern hall that I had come down initially. We make it into the chamber and slow down our speed. It seems that we are floating, and sort of gently drifting down. We come to a landing on one of the side walls of this enormous chamber and come to a complete stop. Here comes another stage introduction. I can feel it.

  “Transport: complete. Activate life support.” We say. I look to the far wall on the other side of the chamber, and a very thin cord shoots out from it, instantly connecting itself to me…us…whatever.

  “Life support: activated. Begin incubation period.” That’s very interesting. I wonder what happens during the incubation period. At this point I don’t care. I’ve been through way too much in a short matter of time. I think I’m going to take a nap.

  “WHAT!?” a loud female voice screams with enthusiasm. “Show me the video. I want to see the whole thing.”

  “Yes ma’am.” The crew member pulls up the video feed from the chamber and displays it on the main monitor. “Captain, the video is ready.”

  “Excellent.”

  The captain watches her main screen with delight. She knows that the last encounter with her vessel's mate was a sad one. However, seeing the one seed that made it through, despite the horrible incident, has made all the difference. She watches the replay as the tiny swimmer makes the long journey up through the chamber, into the north hall, and reaching the egg. What a joyful occasion!

  "I have to show my gratitude. Turn the monitor off for now, ladies. We will check back in with our new tenant later on." the captain says. She closes her eyes and leans her head back, "Thank you for our new resident, Your Majesty. I ask for proper guidance and wisdom for the appropriate care and maintenance as time progresses."

  "You are most welcome. He is to be a leader of a new nation. Ensure that he receives the right nutrition and keep him from harm."

  The captain smiles and says, "Yes, Your Majesty! It shall be as You command. What shall his intake of food consist of?"

  "Every kind of fruit and every kind of vegetable is permitted to be eaten. Do not consume any kind of dairy, meat, grains, nuts, or spices. Do not consume any liquids except for water. Follow these instructions and I will bless him greatly now."

  "As You command, Your Majesty. It shall be done." the captain says with a bow. She turns to face the crew on the bridge. She smiles and asks, "Did everyone understand the instructions from His Highness?"

  The crew responds, "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

  "Excellent. Prepare the communication feed to our new resident. I intend to greet him." the captain says.

  "Roger that." the crew says. Bells ring and whistles chime. The main monitor comes on and shows live footage of the incubation chamber.

  "Ma'am, we are live. Your microphone is ready and standing by."

  "Well done." the captain says. She steps up onto the platform and speaks into the microphone. "Hello, and welcome new resident. We hope you will enjoy your stay here with us on board the vessel H.B. Brie Scarlet Duncan. We expect to have you with us for approximately 280 days. If this length of time seems too long for you, feel free to inform us and we will see to it that the necessary arrangements are made for your departure. For the time being, we ask that you take it easy and enjoy your temporary lodging. If you need anything at all feel free to notify us here at headquarters and we will do the best we can to assist you. Should you require food, just give a small little pull on your life support cord, and food will be delivered within the hour. We do ask that you hold all food requests until after your hands and arms have developed. On behalf of the entire vessel, we welcome you and we hope you enjoy your stay. Thank you."

  The captain steps off her podium, the microphone slides back to its hideaway, and all is quiet in the bridge. She smiles a big smile. This is the moment she has been waiting for. Her vessel has wanted a baby for six years now. Now that moment is here.

  One crew member stands up and says, "Ma'am, how much of that transmission do you think our new tenant heard?"

  "That is such a wonderful question! It's hard to say, really. We will find out sooner or later exactly how much. For the time being, let us relish this day!"

  20

  A Little Mold on the Onion

  My eyes grow wide.

  Jeffers. I knew that there was more to his story. “C…c…c…Chuck. You h…h…have to g…g…g…get me out of here.”

  “Where would you go?” He asks me.

  “Los R…r…r…Ricos. I can’t b…b…be here.” I manage to say through the pain.

  “Dude, you aren’t fit to go anywhere in your current state. I think you need to sit and rest for a while. The less you are on that busted hip of yours, the better off you’ll be.”

  I know Chuck is right, but I need to get out of here. What if Jeffers’ goons find us both here? What if they kill us stone-dead without a second thought? My stomach rumbles tremendously, reminding me that I really need to eat something. “W…w…w…would you h…h…happen to h…h…have anything to eat?”

  “Funny you should ask. I do have this granola bar in my coat pocket. I know it’s not much, but it might take the edge off.” I’m not sure if he’s being sarcastic or not, because I don’t think that a wimpy bar will take any kind of edge off.

  I nod my head, because at least it’s better than nothing at this point. The wrapper flies off the granola bar, and I lift it to my mouth to take a bite. Chewing on it brings me back to when I was in elementary school. My mom used to pack my lunches for me, and every now and then there used to be a granola bar in there. My favorite ones had the chocolate chips and peanut butter in them.

  “I h…h…have to stop J…J…Jeffers.” I say.

  “No offense, but in your current state, I don’t see you stopping anybody.” Chuck says. “You need rest and you need a proper meal, because your skin looks rigid and pale. That’s not good, dude.”

  “I’m a…a…aware of th…th…that. I j…j…just feel l…l…like I h….h…have a new p…p…purpose.” I say.

  Chuck immediately starts laughing.

  “P…p…p…please don’t l…l…laugh at m…m…me. It’s b…been my whole l…l…l…life story, b…b…being laughed at.”

  “No! I’m not laughing at you, man. I’m laughing because
what you said reminded me of something I heard on the radio.”

  “W…w…w…what’s that?”

  “It was during the morning show of this Christian radio station that I listen to. It’s a husband and wife team that are on from 6:00 am to about 10:00 am. They’re incredibly funny, and they have a huge heart for Jesus. Well, one day the guy was talking about his second job as a radio announcer for his favorite college football team. One of the players…”

  I stop him in mid-sentence. “Is th…th…th…there a p…p…point to this?”

  “Yeah, hang on I’m getting there.” He says with a laugh. “One of the players on the team was involved in some brutal injury caused by a play that went wrong. He went in for a tackle and twisted his knee, or something like that. I don’t know the full extent of the injuries, but I do know that the guy was out for the rest of the year. The coach told him that he could come back next year, provided that he followed the doctor’s orders and healed up the right way. Well, long story short, the guy did manage to come back the following year and play again. The radio announcer referred to that experience as ‘a little mold on the onion’. His wife laughed hysterically and asked what that was and he explained. He said that there was one time he found an old moldy onion in their pantry. Instead of throwing it away, he got curious and chucked it into their backyard. ‘Kind of like giving it back to nature’ he said. You could almost hear the proverbial lightbulb go off above the wife’s head! She said something like ‘Oh! So, you mean to tell me that you put it back to be replanted?’ There was that awkward pause before the guy came back with ‘Yes. Yes, I did. In a way, it’s kind of prophetic if you think about it. I allowed the onion to go back to where it was first grown. Since it became moldy, it needed to be put back in the ground to die only to be reborn again. That’s kind of what God likes to do with us. There are times when we get a little gross; maybe consumed by our own desires if you will. God will then take us to a wilderness and move us through a process of cleansing. Next thing you know, the mold is gone and you have become a new person; or a new onion! Ha ha!’ They both laughed for what seemed like five straight minutes. I had to pull over because I was laughing so hard! But, it’s so true! Especially in your case, dude. Based on what you told me, you have been led into a pseudo wilderness yourself.”