by Paul Cude
"You see?" asked Richie, having let her words sink in.
"I think I do," he replied. "When did you get so smart?"
Letting out a little chuckle, she tried to explain.
"It's simple really Pete. All you need do in any situation is put yourself in the other person's shoes. Think what things look like from their perspective. If you do that, you get a much more balanced idea of what's actually going on. One or two of the more rounded humans on my team do exactly that, nearly all the time, and do you know what? They're far better at their jobs, and far happier in general, than the ones who don't do it. Speaking to them about it, they claim that it's a mixture of growing up in a happy and loving environment, along with a mixture of good manners and a high regard for others. One of the other things that's very noticeable about all the same people, is that in their words, they treat others how they hope others would treat them. Admirable in design, impractical in the real world, as it doesn't often pay off, but something that everyone should strive to achieve."
He was impressed, having never heard her talk this way, and marvelled at how passionately she spoke about it all.
"Well, there you go. Not just for your benefit, but for the good of everyone. Anyway, time to get back to work," she said, smiling, scraping her chair across the mezzanine floor as she got up.
Peter stood up as well, having thoroughly enjoyed his very long, and delicious lunch. As the two left, he gave Richie a peck on the check..
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome," she replied, about to go off in the opposite direction.
"Before you go Rich, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"You seem really, really happy. Can I ask why?"
Richie let out a soft chuckle, walked up to Peter and whispered into his ear.
"If you had with Janice, what I have with Tim, you'd have a constant smile on your face." With that, she turned and walked off towards her department, waving over her shoulder as she did so.
Standing in the middle of the corridor, outside the large double doors of the restaurant, he buried his head in his hands at what he'd just heard.
'A relationship with a human, that's what we all need. This is going to end so badly, for everyone... I just know it.'
5 Frozen Scales Weigh In
It had nearly stopped snowing outside the cave. Unusually for him, Flash wasn't sure exactly what to do. Even with his fancy watch, he figured he stood virtually no chance against the two nagas. On the other hand, the two of them were very confident about taking him to his 'new home,' as they put it, somewhere he knew without even seeing, that he really wouldn't like. Not for the first time his life hung in the balance, dependant on whether he could exploit the right window of opportunity, should it even exist.
Pacing up and down in the entrance to the cave, the human shaped naga occasionally glanced over at his gold coloured partner, as the crunch of the snow echoed from beneath the soles of Flash's stolen boots.
"It's nearly stopped," remarked the fake human, as the gold coloured beast delicately flicked some more wood onto the smoky fire, with his long, muscular tail, compelling the flames to crackle and spit as tiny flecks of the new wood exploded out at all angles.
"You know as well as I do that it has to stop fully before we try to ascend. On our previous attempt in even a little snow, we nearly fell down that crevasse and died."
Staring forlornly out of the cave and into the distance, the falsehood human thief shared his feelings in a rare moment of clarity.
"I just want it to be over. I'm tired of doing their bidding. All of this... kill these, capture those, bring these ones back here. It makes me sick to the stomach."
Slithering over to his friend, the gold, snake like beast stopped short of the entrance itself.
"I don't like it any more than any other of our kind. But it's not like we have much choice in the matter at the moment. There will come a time when we get him back, and let me assure you, when we do, there will be hell to pay. We will take our revenge on their kind, mark my words," he spat, venomously.
"But they've had him for so long. Why should we believe they'll let him go anytime now?" asked his partner.
"A fair and good question, for which I don't have an answer. Those higher in the chain of command believe this is all coming to an end, and that HE will be freed shortly. Whether that is actually the case remains to be seen. Given what we've been promised in the past, I'm more than a little sceptical."
Remaining at the back of the cave, firmly against the wall, Flash listened intently, able to hear everything the two said, because they were practically shouting. Whether it was because they knew he could enhance his hearing, or because they truly believed he was their prisoner and had no way of escaping, he just didn't know. Once the snow stopped, they would attempt to move him. Where to, God only knew, but his experience and training screamed at him to wait until he was being moved before trying to escape. That in theory, should present the best possible chance, particularly if the minds of the nagas were focused on other things. Whatever was going on, it seemed to be very important to both of them, he thought, waiting for the shimmering snowflakes to cease falling from the grey and white sky beyond the cave's entrance.
Another three hours passed before the snow finally stopped. With one flick of his giant tail, the gold shaded naga destroyed the smouldering remains of the hastily built fire. Flash could feel his stomach twist and turn as his kidnappers approached him. Unsure of what to expect, he hoped that if he was going to be frogmarched up the mountain, then at least they might give back his stolen clothing. That in itself would be an added bonus.
"On your feet," commanded the human form.
Instantly he stood up, wanting to at least appear compliant and resigned to his fate. A smoky, ashy smell wafted over him as 'Gold' (the naga of that colour) came in close. Flash studied its head closely, on the lookout for any potential weak spots, should it come down to using the lethal darts in his watch in an attempt to escape. For his part, the naga just stared at him, moving its head lazily from side to side as if in some kind of trance. Flash's fear started to get the better of him, but he remained steady and still, putting on a brave face, as the humans would say. Inside, he was absolutely terrified, something that was very much a new experience for the talented Crimson Guard. Trapped against a sheer wall, facing two deranged nagas, one in human form, the other resembling a giant serpent, both with absolutely no regard for his life, it seemed things could get no worse. The moment he blinked, he realised just how wrong he'd been.
BAM!
Gold swung round in an instant, smashing him against the cold, hard, rock wall. Desperately he tried to breathe in, the blow having knocked all of the air out of his lungs. Gulping frantically, all he could manage were small, short breaths, over the pain which was tremendous. Figuring the strike must have broken at least two of his ribs, as spots started to appear around the periphery of his vision, using all his willpower, he concentrated on channelling some of his dragon magic into the damaged area, but with the cold biting at him and both nagas dragging him across the cave floor, he seriously doubted it would do any good.
With his head bobbing up and down like a yo-yo, bouncing off the solid rock, something cold and slimy started to curl itself around his prone body, squeezing as it did so. Waves of pain that came with the squeezing nearly rendered him unconscious. It was all he could do not to fade away. After forcing more than half a dozen short breaths into his weary body, he managed to move his head a couple of inches to see exactly what had happened. It was as he'd thought. Gold had wrapped his long tail around Flash's entire body, so much so that he could barely move. His view was suddenly blocked as the human shaped naga wearing Flash's stolen clothes hovered into view over him. It started to mumble words, most of which Flash couldn't recognise, which in itself was deeply disturbing given most dragons have a basic understanding of just about every language on earth, past and present. Flash certainly wasn't most dragons, and due to
his training and diligence, was pretty sure he knew every language that had ever existed, to quite a high standard. A language with words that he didn't recognise, he thought to himself, could mean nothing good in his current predicament.
The words, as it turned out, had been the naga equivalent of a mantra. This magic was designed to keep Flash warm and unaffected by the Antarctic wind and cold that he was about to be taken out into.
Leading the way, the human shaped naga, his boots crunching in the snow, climbed up the steep slope. Flash, wrapped in the other naga's giant tail, slid over the snow and rock, only occasionally feeling a bump from the rough ground below him. Looking back down the slope into the valley below him, he could just make out the handlebars of his skidoo, sticking out in the freshly fallen snow. It seemed such a long time ago that he'd arrived there. Would Casey have sent people out to search for him? Probably not in the storm, he decided.
The going was slow, as the higher up the slope they got, the more obstacles they encountered. Boulders changed from small ones that could be stepped over to monstrosities that had to be circumnavigated. Fresh snow disguised deep trenches and lethal holes, two of which the human shaped naga had nearly fallen into.
Feeling like closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, Flash was exhausted, not having had any food or drink for some time, combined with the injuries he'd suffered. Despite all this, he knew he had to fight to stay awake with all his strength; his life, quite literally, depended upon it.
After one more narrow escape in which all three of them nearly plummeted down a gaping crevasse, the group appeared to arrive at their destination.
Managing to turn his head slightly, Flash tried to view exactly what was going on. Nearby he could just make out the steady stream of running water.
"What do you think?" asked the false human form. "Want to keep him like that all the way there?"
On hearing this, Flash panicked, barely able to breathe, let alone make a bid for freedom, his heart racing at the thought of being trapped like this all the way to their final destination.
"I think it's probably best," answered 'Gold.'
Wandering over to where Flash lay entwined amongst the scaly tail, the homo sapiens shaped beast once again leant over and uttered another series of unrecognisable words. Fearing the worst, Flash channelled every ounce of strength and magic he had into breaking free, having had enough; he just wanted to fight to the death if necessary. But it did him no good. Gold's massive tail didn't budge at all. Offering up a sadistic grin as he finished off reciting all the words, the male form disappeared from Flash's field of vision, leaving him to wonder whether anything had been cast at all. Flash felt nothing, there was no difference to anything as far as he could tell. This worried him more than anything. Were they going to render him unconscious? Was it all about to end here? Two questions of many that darted around his very full, and worried, brain.
Gazing up into the distant sky which, now that the storm had subsided, had turned a warm and loving shade of blue, he wished to be anywhere else. With absolutely no warning at all, 'Gold,' shot forward at breakneck speed. In that fraction of a second, Flash braced himself, for all the good it would do, figuring perhaps a sharp drop on a steep downward slope was coming up. Imagine his surprise when a loud SPLASH bombarded his ears, before he found himself thrust into the coldest water imaginable. Writhing in pain from the iciness assaulting his body, which strangely the first mantra did nothing to protect him from, he desperately tried to fight the urge to open his mouth, knowing full well that death by drowning was particularly unpleasant. A few seconds after the initial shock, and despite the pain washing through him, he opened his eyes and looked in front of his face. A small pocket of air completely encased his entire head. Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and tried to breath normally. Marvelling at the magnificence of the magical deed, all he could think was that it would have taken an age for a dragon to achieve the same result, if that was indeed possible. It was so... simple, yet so complicated at the same time. As all of this zipped through his head, he zoomed along beneath the water of the underground stream, with great speed and purpose, gripped by the naga's strong tail. Through the bubbles and swift flow of water, he could see the human shaped naga, still sporting his stolen clothes, swimming clumsily behind them, also with a pocket of air surrounding his head. The blistering cold continued to batter his already worn body, so much so that he'd already resigned himself to whatever nightmare fate awaited him.
All of them continued to be carried on by the fast flowing icy water. Sharp twists, turns and descents would occasionally force Flash's stomach to do backflips, but overall, despite the bone biting cold of the water, the journey was remarkably comfortable. Flash knew that they were now somewhere deep inside the ice cap Law Dome. Escape now seemed utterly futile.
'Still,' he thought, bumping his head on an icy ridge, 'perhaps at the very least I can take a few of them with me.' With that in mind, he settled back and began to make plans.
* * *
Deep within Law Dome, the four prisoners' wretched incarceration continued. The human shaped scientist, along with the ragged, emaciated dragon, slept uncomfortably on, hanging on their secure chains. Staring blankly at his surroundings, whilst listening to the running water that just seemed to go on and on, intelligence flickered behind the naga king's serpent like eyes. Squatting against the cold, icy wall, having long since lost all feeling in his back, the half naked human shaped dragon continually flexed the toned muscles in his arms and legs, doing so with a faraway look shrouding his face, almost as if he were there physically, enduring the tortuous existence, but mentally somewhere else entirely.
Abruptly the cold, colourless, icy prison gurgled into life. Remaining asleep, the skin and bone dragon let out a loud, painful snore, while the human shaped scientist hung almost lifeless, too exhausted to wake. The naga king and the finely honed dragon disguised as a human exchanged the tiniest of glances. Someone, or more likely, something, was coming, they were almost certain. That's how it had happened with the scientist and many before. They always entered via the water. And it always started with the sound that they'd just heard.
Like a bath tub emptying, the gurgling continued. Strangely, the sound of the running water decreased, just slightly. It would have been barely noticeable to anyone else, but spending day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year in its company, the two prisoners could sense even microscopic changes in the running water's characteristics. Thirty seconds later there was a huge SPLASH, followed by a brilliant gold naga slithering out of the stream and onto the icy plateau next to it. Curled up in its tail lay a human, looking more relaxed than any being ever had a right to. Suddenly there was a much smaller splash, and a fully clothed human flung himself up onto the plateau.
Both the naga king and the half clothed prisoner could sense what stood before them: two nagas, one human shaped and fully clothed, and a dragon in human form, who was only now being untangled from the naturally shaped naga's tail.
Shaking some of the water from his shivering, frozen body, Flash's eyes started to adjust to the light in the icy prison. Rubbing his hands and legs together on the cold, wet floor, he took the biggest breath he could, now that he wasn't restricted by the giant tail of 'Gold.' Straining his head to look up, he caught sight of the ragged group of captives chained to the icy wall.
'So that's what fate awaits me,' he thought, trying to get to his knees.
With unwarranted brutality, the human shaped naga slammed his foot into the middle of Flash's back, forcing him back down on to the frozen, wet floor. As Flash's damp hair started to freeze to his scalp, a nagging sensation blossomed into life, right behind his eyes. At first he thought it was the pain from the cold and the shock of being immersed in the stream. But the sensation started to get stronger, almost like a knocking, but from the inside. With the naga's boot planted firmly on his back, preventing him from getting up, recognition finally bloomed within him.
/> 'Someone's trying to speak to me telepathically,' he thought.
It was an outdated method of interaction, even by dragon standards, something akin to using line of sight communication in the human world. Opening his mind, just a little at first, fearing some kind of trap, he caught a momentary sliver of recognition from the semi naked, human shaped prisoner nearest to him. Deliberately he buried his face in the icy cold of the wet floor he was lying on. The cold cleared his mind, startling him wide awake. Opening his mind fully, he listened intently as he did so.
"Can you understand me?" asked a weary voice.
"I can," Flash replied carefully.
"We have little time. You have to listen to what I tell you without interruption. Understood?"
Lying as still as he could in the circumstances, so as not to give the two nagas a clue about what was going on, he replied,
"Okay."
"If you don't act quickly, you, like us will end up trapped here. Do you have any way of taking out the human shaped naga?"
For an instant, Flash thought it might be a trap, designed to make him reveal his true identity. As quickly as that thought entered his head, it disappeared. His gut instinct told him this was for real, and that he would indeed be trapped here if he didn't listen to what he was being told. Quickly he replied,
"Yes."
"Good. Once you've taken him out, you need to get straight back into the stream and follow its course."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"If you don't do exactly as I say... we're all dead. Do you understand? I realise it's about the last thing you want to do. But look around. Do you really want to end up like this? We take a great risk to give you this opportunity. Use it well."
"Sorry," said Flash, meaning it more than at any other time in his life.
"When you reach the point where the river branches in two, you must take the left hand route. It is the only way out. The right hand route will take you further into the mountain and to certain death, while the left hand route breaks the surface towards the bottom of the icecap. You must hurry before the breathing mantra they've cast on you wears off. Understand?"