Chapter 4: The Ally

I hear a door unlock - in a vain attempt to be silent - and look up at G’reth; his forehead is still pressed against the glass, asleep. He must’ve not heard it. He did notice, however, the interruption in our link and wakes up, looking at me a few seconds after. I look behind me to the opening door, then back at him scared.

 

‘I can’t let them take you,’ he says with a steely determination. He opens his jaws and bears hit teeth in a savage growl I can’t hear. He backs up a few steps and braces himself to let loose flames. A dark glint shows up in his eyes as the armed men come towards me with an M16 and a TRANQ gun. I am aware of others around me but I can’t see them. I start to warn him, but he can’t hear me through his fury and G’reth sends fire towards the glass without falter, heating up the clear barrier. It turns red in a minute and he smashes through it, the melted glass clinging to his scales. He gives off a violent roar and spreads his wings to the sides. Dodging a syringe of sedative, he goes for the M16 while the other reloads his gun. I turn around just in time to use my scales to shield him from a flurry of bullets and then lunge at the shooter when he stops firing. I don’t go too far from the green dragon so I can watch his back as he deals with the first two men. I find myself in a one on five fight and, when G’reth gets rid of the other two men, helps me take on the men I am fighting against. The number drops to three and we make them follow us into the trees to use to our advantage.

 

‘Go up to the tree tops, it’s your strength. Use it,’ I instruct him and he goes up. I hide in darker shadows and wait patiently. When I hear the men, I crouch down and get ready to spring. I know that, above me, G’reth gets ready to blast them with fire. They stop right where we need them to and I lunge when G’reth’s blue-white fire lights up the area. The men give out a cry of surprise and one of them shoot at the diving dragon and the bullets bounce off his scales. A few, however, find their way into one of his wing joins, disabling him and he crashes into the ground. I become furious and finish off the remaining hunters quickly. I run over to G’reth, instantly checking his wound and hoping it wouldn’t be permanent. It would make him go crazy if he couldn’t fly again. It would do that to any dragon, but because of his love for flying, it would make the loss even worse. I place my snout under his jaw briefly. Avoiding his outstretched wing, I lay down behind him, placing one of my own wings over him like a blanket. His breathing is heavy.

‘Why does this have to hurt so much? I hate bullets,’ he rumbles a moan. I feel hot blood on my wing and, adjust it so it isn’t resting on the wounds. About thirty minutes later, I hear a hunter approach us and I let out a deep growl, partly confused as to why there was only one. I get up and stand over G’reth in a protective stance, wings slightly lifted on either side. Fire licks my teeth, as I hold it in my mouth in anger. When I see the one they call Jake, I let up a little when he stops walking for a minute. I start to bristle again when he walks forward again, and I hear him mutter a curse under his breath. He raises his hands about head height to show me that he has no weapons.

 

“Hey, I’m not here to hurt you. I am here to help him.” He nods towards G’reth lying on the ground.

 

I let out a snort, “Yeah, right.” Jake flinches.

 

“Holy crap, I am crazy trying to negotiate with a dragon,” I hear him say under his breath. Then he addresses me again, “Look, if I wanted either one of you dead, your friend here wouldn’t be alive right now. So, if you don’t want me to help him, I’ll just walk away.” He points his thumb over his shoulder towards the door.

 

I hear G’reth’s voice in my head, ‘He’s right. Let him come. If he does try to hurt me, he has no weapons so it would be an easy kill.’

 

‘But what if he has reinforcements with him?’

 

‘I don’t smell any other hunters besides this one.’

 

I sniff the air focusing on every detail of it while still eyeing Jake, ‘Okay.’ Then, I say to Jake, “Fine.” I let up and nod to Jake, letting him know he can approach us.

 

“Right, I just have to do this without getting killed in the process,” I hear him mutter to himself as he walks over to G’reth, wary of me. I give a short laugh, but keep a careful eye on the human. “Okay…what’s his name?”

 

“G’reth.”

 

“Okay, G’reth, this is going to hurt. A lot. I’m not even going to lie. Pulling bullets out hurts like a b***h. You want anything to bit onto?” G’reth nods and I knock a small tree down, giving it to him to bite.

‘Thank you.’

 

“What the…!” Jake looks around, then gazes at G’reth who gives him a wink. “How did you do that?”

 

“Like this. Just think and we can hear you so long as you are in our link.’

 

“What do you mean, ‘link’?”

 

‘A ‘link’ is when two or more minds are ever present. You can feel the other as if they were right next to you, even if they are a two days’ flight away.’

 

“So, I’m in your link right now?”

 

‘Yes,’ I say. I give G’reth a look that said, ‘What are you doing?’ He didn’t notice it.

 

‘Try it, now,’ G’reth says.

 

‘Hello?’ We hear Jake’s voice.

 

‘Hi.’ G’reth and I say at the same time.

 

‘This is so cool!’ Jake has a very childish moment, nearly jumping up and down with excitement. I almost laugh until he turns towards me, ‘I never asked you what your name is.’

 

‘Grace.’ I sit on my haunches

 

He regards both of us for a second before going back to what he was doing. “You ready, G’reth?”

 

‘Just get it over with.’

 

“Okay. Here goes.” The tree splinters when G’reth’s jaws lock onto it and his eyes squeeze shut.