by Andy Holland
Bren had only worked on this project for nine months, since his eighteenth birthday. This was no labour of love for him, on the contrary, he had just signed up for one year of full-time service as it meant that in the long run, he would spend less time doing this work. His family had been disappointed with his lack of enthusiasm for the project, after all, it was his grandfather who had been responsible for conceiving the idea of building these islands in the first place, but Bren couldn’t get excited about it. He was more interested in following his cousin, Clay, into the diplomatic service, which, during this time of constant change, would be a very exciting place to work.
Still, he didn’t mind the work too much though. The old man was a pleasant boss and led by example, never chiding him for not pulling his weight, and when Bren looked back, he had to admit that he hadn't been very useful when he started. But Sol had only ever encouraged him to work harder in a kindly manner, patiently showing him over and again how to do the same tasks till he perfected them. Kane had been marginally less patient but had never done anything to cause Bren to complain. Kane was nearer to his age, but at twenty-eight he still seemed very old to Bren. He was a decent sort though, and Bren was glad to have him as a companion. Like Bren, after having worked continuously for six hours, Kane was clearly very relieved when Sol announced that it was midday, time for their only daylight break, their lunch.
"How are we doing for supplies?" Bren asked as Kane returned with their lunch, slightly dreading the answer. Food and drinking water was towed in on a small barge at the beginning of a roster along with any other supplies they needed. But they were getting near to the end of their roster and what limited delicacies they were given rarely lasted this long.
"Still plenty of vegetables and fish left," Kane replied, spreading out a rather disappointing selection on a large flat rock. "We're running low on everything else."
"Just two more days," Sol reminded them, helping himself to some dried fish. "We'll hardly starve."
"They'll have to bring in more next week," Bren pointed out. "They start using four dragon crews then. We'll really see this place take off then."
"I hope so," Sol commented. "The sooner I can call this place home the better. It might not look like much now, but in twenty years' time, this place will rival XXX. It'll be the centre of our civilisation."
"If you say so," Kane replied, unconvinced. "But you wouldn't get me to leave XXX. It's where we started this way of life and always will be the heart of our nation. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely behind this project, but I'll never see it like you do, Sol."
"Where's your sense of vision?" Sol asked. "You need to expand your mind and see what this place could and will become."
"Hey, what's that over there?" Bren asked, noticing two distant silhouettes approaching the island from the east. "Are they Golden Dragons?"
"Must be," Sol replied, barely glancing at them over his shoulder. "Although I'm surprised they're coming from over there. They must have flown past without stopping, which isn't like them."
"You know those Golds," Kane replied. "Too curious for their own good. They're desperate to find new lands. I still can't understand why they bother."
"Lucky they do," Sol replied. "Otherwise we would have never built this place. Go and fetch some food from the boat. They'll be hungry."
"I'll help you," Bren offered, jumping up and hurrying after Kane.
"Funny that," Kane remarked as they crouched in the barge, selecting what fish to offer the Golds. "They look too dark to be Golden Dragons. Don't their scales look black to you?"
"Maybe," Bren replied, peering over the side of the barge to look at the approaching dragons. The light was reflecting from their scales, making it hard to see what colour they were. "But who else knows about this island? It can only be Golden Dragons. Remember, they can take different forms. Maybe they're just trying out a different Dragon.
"I don't know,” Kane replied. “Look, just stay low for a minute. Let's see who they are."
The two dragons were getting closer, and sure enough, their scales were almost entirely black, except for some streaks of silver and blue. It wasn't a form that Bren had seen or heard about before.
"Greetings!" Sol hailed as the two dragons drew close. "How are you today...?"
He didn't finish his question. Without any warning, the nearest dragon struck, a strange blue flash like lightning that killed the old man instantly. He was dead before he hit the ground and smoke rose from his body. Kane pulled Bren lower into the boat and looked through a gap.
"They killed him!" Bren gasped.
"Shush!" Kane urged, clamping his hand over his mouth. "They're landing!"
The two dragons landed next to Sol's still smoking body, transforming quickly into a man and a woman who were not of any race that Bren had seen before. Like their dragon form, their hair was black and shiny, with streaks of blue and silver. Their skin was pale, almost silvery in appearance and their eyes were very dark. They strutted about haughtily, regarding Sol with contempt.
"To think he dared to look directly at us," the woman said. "And he failed to bow. You showed him mercy by killing him so quickly, brother."
"That was not my intent," her brother replied. He kicked Sol into the sea. "Let the fish have him. That's all these people are good for."
"What was this slave doing so far from home?" the woman asked. "And how did he get here?"
"I don't know," the man replied. "They have no boat here." He clearly hadn't noticed the tiny wooden barge on the other side of the island. He bent to study the ground. "Look at this. This is no natural rock formation. These stones have been cut and carried here."
"What? Someone built this island? How could anyone even do such a thing?"
"I don't know," he replied. "But it was done, and it was done recently. These sharp edges will wear away over time. I’m telling you, this is no ordinary island.”
“But who could have done such a thing? You don’t really think that slave could have done this, do you?”
The man stood up and looked around. “Not on his own, he couldn’t. Search the island!”
"They'll find us!" Bren said to Kane, dropping down even lower. "We need to get out of here before they do. They gave no warning when they killed Sol."
"They'll see us transforming," Kane replied calmly, still watching them. "And they can transform faster than us. Much faster. You saw them."
"But what else can we do?" Bren asked.
"I can buy you some time," Kane replied. "Stay quiet and begin transforming as soon as they look away. You just have to get out of here." He stood up and ran, heading towards the other side of the island.
"Where's he going?" the man said with a laugh. "There's no way off this island."
"Perhaps he means to swim all of the way home," the woman replied. "Look, he does!"
Kane had reached the far shore and dived into the water. If only his transformation weren't so slow, he would be safe. Bren saw the woman run to the edge of the island and look down into the water. She still hadn't started to transform, there might just be time for him to escape. Both of them were distracted now, so Bren sneaked back to the water's edge and began his own transformation.
"He's a dragon!" the woman said in amazement, still looking at Kane. "Look, he's beginning to transform."
"Stop him!" the man shouted. "He can't be allowed to escape."
Bren's scales were now covering his head and shoulders. Kane must be at about the same point. Another few more seconds and he would be able to dive and escape these two, and neither of them had transformed yet. They might just have enough of a headstart.
He could see the woman turn back to the man and smile cruelly at him. "As you wish, brother." Without transforming, what looked like lightning shot from her outstretched arm and struck the water. Bren could hear a very brief, agonised scream before silence. How could she have done that? She hadn't transformed!
"Search the island," the man commanded. "There may b
e more of them."
Bren was now covered from head to foot in scales and was starting to enlarge. His transformation was far from complete, but he could now dive and stay submerged while he completed his transformation. Whether they saw him or not he couldn't tell as no lightning struck the water above him, and now he was safe from them, far too deep for them to use their weapons on him. He could remain submerged for over an hour and would travel quite a distance during that time. He was still shaking as he swam through the dark, cold water. His two friends had been killed with no warning, and no provocation and their killers had used a weapon that he had never seen before. What manner of monster were they, and how had that evil woman done what she had as a human? No dragon could use their flames while they were in human form.
Bren swam hard, powering through the dark water and heading to his own home island. It was too far to swim the whole distance in half a day, but there was a boat anchored midway between the island and his home, and he would just make it before nightfall. The whole journey would take almost one day. But what would take him a day would take a flying dragon just a few hours, even less for a Golden Dragon. He had never seen people or dragons like these before and had no idea who they were or where they came from, but what he did know is that he had to get back and warn everyone of this new menace. If the Golden Dragons could fly to this island, then it was just a matter of time before these dragons worked out how to reach his home, and that really didn’t bear thinking about.
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