Azlo

by Maia Starr

  I sat down and felt angry. That damn reckless weredragon! How dare he go on the scout and not tell me. Even if I wasn't talking to him, he could've given me the courtesy of letting me know that he was leaving. Then I would have a chance at least to tell him. Then I would've had the chance to tell him that I couldn't resist him anymore. I wanted him. I wanted to be by his side. I wanted to be in this together. I wanted to be in his bed every night. But most of all I wanted to thank him for saving me. He thought I saved him from this blackness, and maybe I did. But in return, he saved me. Before he arrived, I was losing my mind trying to keep this village infrastructure from falling. I was frustrated all the time that I seemed to be the only one that could make things happen and keep a system going. Defending the village was all on my shoulders, and he saved me from that. I was forever grateful to him. It only made me love him more.

  “It's getting dark, Sergeant. Would you like me to take over?” a guard stepped into the tower. I looked around; the sun was setting. I scanned the sky and still did not see a formation of dragons coming toward us.

  “No, I am fine. I will be staying here,” I said.

  “Understood, Sergeant,” he said as he walked to the cabinet against the wall. He opened it and took out several blankets and tossed one in my lap.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He turned around and left.

  I waited all night with intense anxiety. I must have fallen asleep at some point. I feltthe sun blazing on my skin. I opened my eyes and the day was just beginning. I stood up and ran to the tower window opening. It was quiet. Not a sound from the village could be heard. I ran out of the tower to the next tower post.

  “Any word on the scouting party? Have they returned?” I asked the guard.

  “They have not returned, Sergeant,” the guard said.

  “Thank you,” I said as I walked out, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulders again. If Azlo died, I could not handle it. I could not handle going through the death of someone I loved again. It would crush me. I walked slowly back to my tower post. But stopped before entering in the sunlight that was beating down on me. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, absorbing the sun. Then I opened my eyes, and the light was bright. I squinted my eyes against it. As my eyes adjusted, I saw dark silhouettes in the sky. Then I could see the wings. A big smile came across my face. A formation of dragon wings was flying toward the gates high in the sky. It was him. He had returned to me, my weredragon lover.

  Chapter 13

  General Azlo Bron

  We flew in high above the coordinates of the transmission. There was a large mountain range, and we flew over the tops covered in ice. On the other side of the mountain was a large basin, a flat rocky terrain. The sun was reflecting off of a vast ocean of metal.

  “Motherfucker…” I looked over at the dragon flying next to me. He saw it too; we all saw it. Below us was a vast Clenok army, numbering in the one hundred thousand range. We could see about twenty keddle, but there were likely more. The army went on as far as the eye could see.

  I lifted my arm and gave the signal to turn around. We all flew directly straight up into the sky as high as we could go and turned in the opposite direction. We needed to get back to Providence. The army was moving in the direction of the village. This was not good. No amount of electrical fence or my army of two hundred soldiers would survive against a Clenok army of that size. It was impossible.

  We flew for about twenty miles after seeing the army. I gave the signal to land on a nearby rock ledge.

  “Everyone accounted for?” I asked.

  “Yes, the numbers are here,” the captain said.

  “You all saw what I saw,” I said.

  “I have never seen an army that large before. It was heading in this direction as well,” the captain said.

  “It was impossible to get a count, but it had to be more than one hundred thousand strong,” a scout said.

  “Yes, those are the numbers I was thinking exactly. It is a very large Clenok army; there is no way we can defeat it. Even if we were to attack it miles away from the village, there would be more than enough cyborgs to continue moving to an attack on Providence. We need to get back as soon as possible so that I can put a plan into place,” I said not knowing what that plan would be just yet.

  “We are ready,” the captain said.

  “Let's go,” I said. Then we jumped off the ledge and flew in the direction of Providence.

  Bam! Boom!

  “Fire!” I shouted as laser blast flew by me. We were under attack.

  “Where is it coming from?” the captain shouted.

  “Evasive flying!” I shouted as I flew in an eratic pattern, zig-zagging over the sky, making me a hard target. I could fly directly up as high as I could, but I needed to see where the fire was coming from.

  “There’s nothing below us!” the scout shouted.

  I looked down at the ground expecting to see a band of cyborgs, not the large army, but a small band like the one that had attacked Providence. I could not see anything.

  “They’re in the sky! Coming at us!” the captain shouted.

  I looked directly ahead of us. Coming at us were the same drones I had seen before. The ones that had taken Dr. Vanessa Lopez from Haven Brook and the one that had dropped cyborg at the bank. But this one looked different.

  “It’s armed!” the scout shouted.

  “Take it out!” I commanded.

  “There’s another! And another to the west!” someone yelled.

  “Take them all out. We can’t have them follow us!” I shouted. Then we went into full attack mode. I shot my blaster gun at the drone headed straight toward me as I weaved in and out of its line of fire as it shot at me. It was not going down easily. It was coming straight for me, and I was head straight toward it. Then I felt a sting on my arm. I looked at my right arm; I was bleeding. I drew the fire within my belly, and when I was within a couple of yards from the drone, I released fire and fury from my mouth. My dragon’s fire hit the drone, and it burned to a crisp and dropped out of the sky.

  “Fire! Use your fire! It fries the circuits!” I shouted to my team. I flew after the drones, taking out more and more as fire filled the sky from the Veruka team of soldiers.

  “They’re gone! We got them all, General!” the captain flew next to me shouting.

  “Good. Those fuckers!” I said.

  “You are bleeding, General!” he said.

  “It’s just a scratch. I got grazed. Let’s fly high and out of sight. Follow me,” I said. I flew straight up as far as our lungs would allow in the thin air of the upper atmosphere of Earth. We now had a new enemy. These drones were now armed, and that meant they had an air assault team. Even if it was a small one, it was not good for defenses that relied on high walls around human colonies. It was probably why the machines were starting to build these drones. They were smart. They were evolving to take out their enemy, and that was terrifying.

  When the village gates came into sight, I was surprised to see Sheila standing on the fence. She waved an arm at me enthusiastically. She even looked to be smiling.

  “Take the scouts back to the base. I am landing on the gates,” I said to the captain.

  “Roger that, General,” he said. “All of you with me!”

  I flew in low over Sheila, making a circle around her before finally landing on the fence beside her. She looked at me with wide eyes.

  “You returned.”

  “Of course I—” But I didn't get to finish my sentence before she ran into my arms. She threw her delicate arms around my waist and pressed her cheek against my chest. I was surprised by this sudden change in attitude. When I left, she wasn't even talking to me. What had changed?

  “Damn, it feels good to have you hold me,” I whispered.

  “I was worried that I was not going to be able to hold you ever again,” she said looking up at me with her green eyes. I brushed her red hair away from her face.

  “I will always co
me back to you, if you want me to,” I said.

  “I will always want you to. I am sorry about being angry. I didn't know the details of what you had been sacrificing just to be with me. Now I know, you could've died waiting for me. Why would you do such a stupid thing?” she said.

  I was surprised that she knew. How could she possibly know?

  “It was worth risking it. My heart made the decision for me, even if my body was against it,” I said to her. She got up on her tiptoes and tilted her mouth towards me. I wasn't going to reject the invitation. I pressed my lips against hers and kissed her deeply. It felt good to kiss her and know that she knew everything about me now. There were no more secrets between us. Not only did she save my life, but now she wanted me, and I wanted her.

  “You’re hurt!” she said noticing the blood oozing down my arm.

  “It’s just a scratch. A blaster grazed my arm,” I said.

  “So you had a battle? You came under fire? What happened? Are they close?” she said one question after another.

  “Yes, a small one, and no, they are not close, but there is another army that is near… it is a lot, and I will explain it all to you,” I said.

  “I need to clean that wound. I can at my home,” she said.

  “Let's get out of here then,” I said scooping her up into my arms. Before she could answer, I flew off of the gates, and toward her home.

  I set her down on her feet in the grass in front of her home.

  “Tell me about the scout,” she said walking toward the door and unlocking it. I shifted out of dragon form and then followed her inside.

  “It is bad news: very bad news,” I said. She went to the kitchen and poured water for the both of us. She handed me a glass and drank herself as she walked back to the kitchen to grab a small white box. “Tell me.”

  “There is a very large army over the mountain range three hundred miles from here. They are headed in this direction, but there is no way to tell if Providence is the target. They could shift direction at any time, especially with the mountain range in the way,” I said.

  “How large is the army?” she asked.

  “At least one hundred thousand strong, maybe more,” I said.

  The glass and white box fell out of her hand and crashed onto the floor.

  “Seriously? That big? It is unheard of. I have never known of a Clenok army to be that big, even in the major cities during the first attacks,” she said.

  “It is true. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Is that what happened here? You engaged in battle with this massive army? Are you so reckless?” she said as she sat down next to me and opened the white box. There were medical supplies in it. She poured water on my arm washing the blood away and dried it with a towel.

  “No, that is another story entirely. It is also not good news,” I said.

  She sighed. “Tell me I don’t know if it can get worse than an army of one hundred thousand Clenok cyborgs coming at us to annihilate us trying to make humans go extinct,” she said as she got out a white roll of bandage and ointment. “This isn’t bad. It’s not deep.”

  “I told you. It’s just a scratch. Our dragon skin is thick and protective.”

  “So what caused this graze?” she said as she gently applied the ointment on my arm and began to wrap the bandage around it.

  “It was one of those drones.”

  “What? Seriously? It was carrying cyborgs again? The cyborg shot at you?” she asked.

  “No, the drone did. They were armed drones. Lots of them. We were flying about thirty miles out from the massive army, and these drones started firing on us,” I said.

  “Fuckers!”

  “Yes.”

  “They were armed, and there were lots of them?” she asked with her eyes wide.

  “Yes, there were about fifty of them. We tried to shoot them down, but they weren’t that easy to kill. Then I got in fire range and shot my dragon fire at them, and it fried them. They fell right out of the sky,” I said.

  “What? Wait, you can shoot fire from your mouth?” she asked.

  “Yes, did I not tell you? You have not seen any Veruka do this since we arrived?” I asked.

  “No, I have not seen that. That is incredible. I don’t know what to say other than when can I see it?” she laughed.

  “Tomorrow, I promise,” I said.

  “Are you sure you got them all? What if they followed you here? How fast did they fly?” she asked as her army leader instincts kicked in. It was what I liked about her. One moment she was feminine and sexy, and the next she was a hard-core Sergeant with military cunning.

  “No, we made sure we took them all out and then flew in a way that they cannot. But one thing is for sure: the Clenok are evolving. They see these high walls around the human colonies, and they are finding a way around it,” I said.

  “So that's it. No matter what we do, even with your army, we are doomed. We will die,” she said.

  “No, I will think of something. I just need time,” I said.

  “Time is something we don't have. And since we don't have it, and may die anyway, I don't want to spend my last days in a panic. I want to spend them with you,” she said as she threw her leg over me, straddling me as I sat on the couch. She put her hands on either side of my face and kissed me. This was delicious.

  “Does this mean you want me to shift to dragon form?” I asked knowing her fetish.

  “No. I just want you as you are now,” she said running her hands through my hair. I sighed. This was more than lustful sex like we had the first time. This was real. We were going to die if this army reached us and she wanted me to make love to her. I was more than happy to oblige.

  I kissed her trembling pink lips. I put my hands around her small bottom and held her to me. She moaned and rubbed her body against my chest.

  “Let me take you to the bed, Sheila,” I whispered.

  “Yes,” she responded.

  I stood up, taking her with me as she wrapped her legs around my waist. I laid her down on her bed and looked her over. I wanted to remember every inch of her small human body. Her body was now part of my own body. I had claimed this human female for myself. She was mine.

  I kissed her again and slowly unbuttoned the shirt she wore. She watched me with her green eyes. There was desire and sadness in them. I wanted to take her fear of death away, even if just for tonight.

  “Kiss me again,” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said as I pressed my lips against hers. I felt that feeling radiate through me again; it was the euphoria waking up inside of me. It took over my senses like the dragon fire inside of me was burning stronger than ever.

  I pushed her shirt off and took off her bra. Her naked breasts were there for me to enjoy and so I clamped my mouth on one, fondling her hard nipple with my tongue, then the other. She sighed and pushed her fingers into my hair. I kissed and nibbled on her until my cock felt like it was going to explode out of my trousers.

  I unzipped her pants and pulled them off of her. She was now naked on the bed. I licked her thighs and ran my long tongue down her leg to her feet. Then I licked her all the way up once more, stopping at her wet center. She parted her thighs for me and licked and sucked on her until she exploded into orgasm, but I was only getting started.

  I stood up from the bed and disrobed. I wanted to be as naked as she was.

  “You are so beautiful, Azlo. I have never seen anything like you. You are sexy, and my protector,” she said.

  “I would give my life for you, Sheila,” I said.

  “I know. You have proven that over and over in more ways than one,” she said. Then she opened her arms to me, “Come to me. Make love to me like this is our last night together.”

  “Whatever you wish of me I will do it. I am yours, and you are mine, and we are bonded,” I said. I moved hovering over her, placing my body on top of hers. I pressed my skin against hers. She was so soft and smooth. Then I pushed my cock inside of her slowly, inch by
inch. Her warmth enveloped me as she arched her back to meet mine. I watched her as her lips curled up into a smile as she received me. Damn, it felt good. The colors turned bright. My heart beat faster. The fire inside of me raged. I felt bliss wash over me like water had been poured on me. It was a fantastic feeling of white light hitting my very core. This was what being with a human female did to a Veruka weredragon. It brought complete euphoric joy to the point of insanity.