by Calista Skye
He comes in close and sniffs my hair. “We don’t need to. Our situation has improved greatly. Want to see?”
“Why? What happened?”
“The negotiations were tough,” he says as he grabs my arm and pulls me along, “and they took a while. But I think the result is worth it.”
He leads me through the woods for a half hour. Having no idea at all what he’s talking about, I don’t dare feel relieved yet. But I’m cautiously optimistic. If he says our situation has improved, then there’s a good chance it really has.
It’s dark, and we come upon it suddenly, first only as an eerie green glow among the trees.
And there it is, big and sleek and incredibly scary.
I stop short, ice filling my veins. “What the fuck?”
“Magnificent, yes?” Caronerax beams. “Our transportation. It will take us to Earth. You and me. And all the other dragons, except Kyandros and Aragadon. And Yranox, but he can take care of himself.”
Five small aliens are gathered in a group on the ground next to the huge flying saucer. I have never seen one before, but I immediately realize what they are.
“Those,” I hiss as my knees go weak from terror, “are the Plood.”
“Yes,” Caronerax confirms with satisfaction. “The Plood. They’ve spied on me since shortly after I arrived here. Sent by my father, the king. Dragons trust nobody, as I told you.”
I want to cry from fear and disappointment. “The Plood are the aliens that abducted us from Earth and put us here in the first place.”
“Not these ones,” Caronerax says, frowning. “But they are hive creatures, so I suppose it’s the same thing. Does it matter?”
“Yes, it fucking matters!” I finally find some anger. “Have you lost your mind?! They’re filthy kidnappers and traffickers! They killed one girl and are responsible for many more being killed by dinosaurs when we were first dumped here. If you think I’m going anywhere near them, you must be crazy!”
“But,” the dragon tries, genuinely confused, “they have agreed to take us to Earth! You and me!”
This is insane. I can’t process it. “And my friends? The girls who are now waiting for me in Bune?”
“They will stay here, of course. Don’t worry, they will be dead within a couple of months at most. Their escape ship has no chance of working, the Plood tell me. You will never have to deal with them again.”
My hands ball up into fists, all by themselves. “Not have to deal with? They’re my friends! I’d rather die than leave them here!”
The dragon’s jaw drops. “But… do you like them?”
“Yes! I fucking love those girls! I’m not going anywhere without them. We’re not dragons! We don’t hate each other! And none of us are going anywhere at all with the fucking Plood!”
Caronerax tries to take my hand again, but I evade him and take a step back.
“You don’t understand,” he says. “Hear me out. The other dragons will come with us to Earth. They will gather hoards there, they will become my people and army. We will conquer Earth. I will defeat, dethrone, and kill my father and become king of the dragons! And you will be my queen. We will own the Earth, with all its riches. I will command the dragons as their king. We will rule the universe!”
I take another step back, away from this madness. “Oh, hell no.”
It’s the first time I’ve seen a dragon looking forlorn. “I don’t think you understand, Jennifer. We will be king and queen. You will own your planet!”
“I don’t want to own anything,” I tell him, acid tears burning at the corner of my eyes. “I only want to go back there and live in peace and quiet. I don’t want any dragons plundering and pillaging my home planet!”
“But they need to,” Caronerax says patiently. “They can’t find hoards here! The Plood say that Earth could be a rich place. The other dragons will gather their hoards there and become my people. Our people. As well as the inhabitants of Earth, who will be our servants. Do you understand how strong this will make us?”
“I don’t want to be strong,” I tell him. “Not like this. I want to go back to a safe Earth with my friends.”
He gazes at me with his blue and yellow eyes. “Are your friends really more important than me?”
I back off more, shaking my head. “I don’t want this. I don’t want to be queen. I don’t want anything to do with the Plood ever again.”
“Then perhaps you should continue on your own,” Caronerax says, his voice cold. “Without me. Go to your useless spaceship and your pitiful friends. While I prepare to rule the universe. You would only hinder me and slow me down.”
It’s all too huge and much too crazy. It’s like a nightmare, and I can’t make any sense of it.
I turn my back and run blindly through the woods, away from the Plood, away from the crazy dragon.
Branches and vines whip around my head, and I scrape my ankles against rocks and bushes. But I have a strong urge to put as much distance as possible between me and the Plood. I thought the dactyls were scary. But those little Plood with their cold eyes and their total lack of morals… fuck no. God knows what they would do with us.
I’m out of breath, and I have to slow down. My breath is going ragged in a sore throat as I try to not break down in hopeless tears. If he’s right, and the escape ship is in fact useless, then I’m running to my death, pretty much.
“Fine,” I whisper. “Then I’ll die with the girls.”
Again, I almost walk right into the bobont.
Running around it, I pick up the thing I had almost finished making before, then stand there and take in the gigantic creature.
I have nothing to lose now. Nothing. My very life feels cheap.
The bobont’s skin is rough and hangs in curtain-like flaps, as thick as a luxurious mattress.
This will probably kill me. But he can walk faster through the woods than I can. Much faster.
I eat as much of the berries and fruits as I can to lighten the pouch and give me energy.
I sling it around my neck, hold onto the spear, and place one foot at a horizontal fold in the bobont’s thick hide. Kicking off from the ground, I stand there quite securely. But I have to get much higher.
I slowly climb up the bobont’s side, thankful for the darkness. When I look down, I can’t see how high up I am.
It gets easier the higher up I get, because the bobont’s body curves off and becomes level and flat at the top.
I sit down on the living mountain and take a short break, calming my breath.
Dammit. He was so great. And then he turns out to be only a power-hungry jerk who is good friends with my worst enemy, the Plood.
Shit, the terror of that abduction. The horror when I was taken by the dactyl and dumped in the woods, the absolute nightmare of being prisoners of the dragon Troga for months until Caroline freed us...
No, I don’t want to think about it. I have to use my anger and disappointment as long as those things give me courage. Because this is not something I would have dared otherwise. Not at all.
And I’m not where I’m supposed to be yet.
Gazing up, I notice the neck isn’t swan-like anymore — the bobont is stretching it out ahead of the lower body I’m on, munching on treetops further away.
I was never the most athletic girl, and I’ve never considered rock climbing as a hobby. But this is not a rock, I remind myself. This is an animal. A living, moving dinosaur the size of an office block. Much easier.
I climb a half-foot at a time, moving slowly out on the endless neck and praying the dino won’t suddenly move. I can’t see the ground, but it must be a long, long way down.
It helps that the bobont’s neck is as thick as a big airliner and pretty flat on top. The thick, wrinkled hide also helps. It has the texture of rough sandpaper, making it about impossible for me to slip.
When I finally reach the bobont’s head, there’s light on the horizon and I can see better.
I have some trouble pa
ssing the final joint between the neck and the head, but finally I’m straddling the giant’s immense head, right behind two of its eyes. There are many small and big horns that I can hold on to, and the crunching noise of the dinosaur eating treetops is much louder up here.
I eat the remaining two salen fruits with no appetite, but they don’t make me feel any better. I’m crushed by Caronerax’s plan. We’re just too different — our goals and desires are completely opposite.
Why did I tell myself it might work? That damn love nest Marshie made! It made it so easy for the dragon to twist my mind.
Did he twist my mind? Maybe not on purpose.
I meant it, though. I did love him.
I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to keep the tears away.
It’s not to be.
The bobont swings its head around, but I’m sitting pretty safely up here and don’t let it bother me.
I take the bright yellow skins of the salen fruits and attach them to the newspaper-sized fake butterfly I made, attach the thing to the long spear with an even longer vine, and hope it will work. If not, I might have screwed myself really badly coming up here.
I dangle the butterfly in front of the bobont’s closest eye and hope that what worked for Heidi on the other dino will also work for me on this one.
21
- Caronerax -
The trees pass by faster now that I don’t have to slow down because of Jennifer. And yet my progress is intolerably slow. The Plood rejected my wish that they fly me to the place I have hidden my cache, stating that they prefer their flying saucer not to be seen.
They are infuriatingly rigid sometimes, sticking to their principles and contracts.
Well, at least they will ultimately be useful to me.
I don’t need Jennifer. The Plood know where her home planet is, and once there, the other dragons can gather their hoards with my assistance. I can add to mine, as well. Then, when we’re all in our dragon forms, that planet is mine and the dragons will easily accept me as their king after I kill my father. I am of royal blood, after all. Visibly so, with my blue and yellow colors.
My brother could have made that much more difficult if he were there, but now that he seems to be here on Xren, that is one complication less. I could not have wished for a better situation.
And yet I keep looking behind me, hoping to see a soft little face and a round, delicate body clad in the ugliest garment ever seen, walking steadfastly with rolling hips and a shy smile whenever she sees me looking at her.
All she wants is to be back on her home planet. Safe and sound.
With her friends.
That last idea is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I hate every other dragon, as they all hate me. In Jennifer’s place, I’d be overjoyed at leaving my compatriots behind on an alien planet while I went somewhere else.
She is strange. Not dragon-like.
I close my eyes briefly. That’s the point, isn’t it? That’s why she intrigues me, that’s why I enjoy her company so much. She’s different. Totally. And she lit up my world.
My hand goes to my chest. The ache has worsened considerably since the encounter with the cavemen. They caused further damage in the wound, and it keeps seeping thin ichor.
Who must pay?
The one who has erred.
Surely, Jennifer erred in injuring me. It is she who must pay.
With what? She has no hoard, as such. She tried to give me that diamond, but I can’t tell if it’s real, and it didn’t work.
Perhaps if she got it polished. Or if she had something else of value. A little bit of gold would do fine.
Maybe.
I get to a clearing in the forest, and it takes me several heartbeats to realize it’s the same one where the tribesmen bound me and tried to violate Jennifer.
I hiss in frustration and bang my fist on a nearby tree, breaking it in half. I’ve been walking the wrong way!
“Curse this ground-slaved form,” I seethe as I turn on the spot to hurry back the way I came. I’ve lost a lot of time, and I’m not getting any stronger. My cache is still far away.
I need to find it, to heal and to Change so I can talk to the other dragons from a position of strength. I must still convince them to come with me to Earth, inside the Plood ship.
They will be skeptical, thinking it’s a trap. I most certainly would think that.
But they are desperate for hoards and will ultimately join me.
And then the universe will be mine.
22
- Jennifer -
It’s the smoothest ride I’ve ever had, including some ferries and airplanes. The bobont makes its way through the wood, flattening everything it encounters and breaking massive trees at the root like toothpicks. But I barely notice it up here, it’s so far below me.
I only hear the occasional crack when a particularly thick tree trunk snaps. Otherwise, I’m above and ahead of everything.
The whole creature flexes gently with each long, lumbering step, and the head is kept as still as if it were fastened to the ground. The whole thing reminds me of videos I’ve seen of hawks and owls that keep their heads perfectly still, even if their human handler moves their body around. As I recall, it’s because their eyeballs are fixed in their skulls and they can’t move them, so they have to move their entire heads instead. I guess something like that is going on here.
It’s unexpectedly pleasant and comfortable, and I don’t remember Heidi mentioning riding on a bobont. Maybe I’m a trailblazer, at long last. I could do without the smell, but it’s not that much worse than your ordinary landfill on Earth.
Our progress may look slow from a distance, but we’re easily moving three to four times faster than I could walk. And in a straight line, totally ignoring small hillocks or streams or fallen trees or anything else that would force me to walk around.
I can also pretty much ignore other creatures — I doubt any dactyl would want to get close to this thing. It’s a totally peaceful dinosaur that only eats leaves, but the sheer size has an intimidation factor that should not be ignored.
I’m controlling it with a spear that has a string with a dangling, fake butterfly on it. It’s Heidi’s method that I’ve been prepared for the whole trip, and finally I can use it.
It shouldn’t be possible, but the bobont is obviously also somewhat scared of those fluttering things, despite its thick hide. I guess it worries about one of those things stinging it in the eye or maybe in one of its small, trumpet-shaped ears that are pink on the inside. Those must be the only vulnerable parts of it.
I only have to keep the butterfly dangling in front of the one eye I can reach, but that’s enough. As soon as I lowered my fake butterfly and shook it, the bobont got to its gigantic feet and started walking straight ahead because I kept the butterfly fluttering right behind the eye, almost out of sight.
I travel like this until early afternoon, when I look down and recognize the place. The village should be to the right, and I want to check on it. I dangle the butterfly on the left side of the eye, and sure enough, the humongous dinosaurs slowly turns.
I don’t want to get too close to the settlement, because this bobont could raze it all without knowing it.
And now I can see it. There’s the army camp, and there’s the village, with the fields and the groves of fruit trees. And theeere… are the remains of my house, now a heap of rubble.
I place the butterfly right in front of the bobont’s eye, and it immediately stops as fast as it can.
I raise myself onto my knees and look down and ahead, as high above my old home as if I sat in a helicopter.
There’s no sign of life in the village. Nobody’s sitting by the main fire, and there’s no flame. There should be someone cooking lunch about now, there should be some toddlers and babies to be seen. There should be movement, at any rate.
But there’s nothing. The place is deserted. The army camp looks desolate, as well. Not a single shed is left standing, not a single tent.
I scratch my chin. Of course, they would all have heard the bobont coming from far away, and maybe they’re hiding. But I don’t think so. The caveman warriors don’t usually hide from anything.
I’m not in a great mood from before, but seeing the village I’ve lived in for two years destroyed and abandoned sends further pangs to my heart. We made a good place for ourselves, damn it. The best village on the planet. And now it’s in ruins.
I turn the bobont around, which takes several minutes because it’s still standing in one place. Then I do my trick with the fake butterfly and the bobont starts walking in the direction of the flat marsh where Bune is now.
I’m not sure what I wish for.
I want the girls to be okay, of course. I want them to be safe. I want the siege Ashlynn mentioned in the letter to be over.
And I want the escape ship to work.
But would that make any difference? If Caronerax gets his way, he’ll be going to Earth as soon as possible, to plunder and pillage. There might not be much of an Earth to come home to for the girls and me. We know Plood ships work fine.
Did I make the wrong decision? Should I have stayed and talked to Caronerax, convinced him to have the Plood take us home? Him and me and the girls, without the other dragons?
I probably should have. But those Plood froze my mind with terror. That saucer… still the thought of it sends chills down my spine. I remember so well the one that abducted me. It looked just like that, and it totally horrified me. I’m still badly traumatized by that whole event, like the other girls are, too.
Him and me. Caronerax and Jen. We were an unlikely couple. But no more unlikely than Kyandros and Mia. Or Aragadon and Eleanor. They make it work. We could have, too.
I believed that this was it. That he was the one. And now, while the pain is still raw and untreated, I don’t regret it. I felt it, I dared it. I followed my instincts and took a chance that it was right.
And I think it was, for a while.
I miss that dragon, though. He made me safe, and he looked at me with such intensity. He stroked me and made sure I was comfortable. He applied the healing paste to my shoulder without me asking him to.