Under the same Shadow

Patrick and Furia are going to make a long trip to Corpus Cristy. Out of their safe place, who knows what surprises they might encounter.

Under the same Shadow

A few days later we had it all set up: Jack, Thomas, Alan and Oliver would go in the pickup; it was loaded with extra fuel, food and water for a nonstop trip until Corpus Christy. Once they arrived, they would call the number the security guard gave me to find him. That way they would be ready for our (Furia and I) arrival a few days later, right then I would call them with Jack's phone. Clyde destroyed mine before leaving Lubbock. It was a long trip, Furia couldn't fly by day and she couldn't fly a whole night nonstop.

There was the matter of Furia's alimentation during the trip, we wouldn't hunt from farms, The Government could track missing cattle and figure out where we are heading. Furia would eat only wild fauna, if found. We had to be extra careful, now that we made a huge move with Hobbs' City Manager killed.

Furia and I went hunting in the morning of the day of our departure, while the others departed at that day's first light. Once Furia finished, we went to the lake; where she asked me...

What do you know about this Bermuda Triangle?

That wouldn't be much… Its corners are the tip of Miami, Florida; The island of Puerto Rico and the Bermuda Island. It's famous because anything which gets through it never comes out. Ships, planes… all suddenly gone with no trail of what happened…

Furia chuckled and said… And that's exactly where we are heading into!?

It always marveled me... it was so intriguing... What's in there? What happens to the ships and planes? Was an Omni-eating monster the responsible? A Black Hole? Is there the secret of the universe and everything!?... Now I can say backed by all truth that there is a couple of dragons protecting millions of eggs. I know this since the day you met Clyde, when he told me the truth about everything. And I still can't believe I KNOW it.

Having said his name, I felt a taste of loneliness remembering I wouldn't see him again.

I miss Clyde too. Furia said fixing an eye on me; her warm expression helped me recover.

We spent the rest of the day walking, talking and reviewing aspects of the trip. When light began to die, I saddled Furia, bid farewell to Clyde's mother; his father and brothers were still cold at me. I put on my flying goggles, climbed onto Furia, strapped up and took off.

Slightly over an hour later and flying at a soft pace, Furia was tired. We landed far away from any sign of civilization so she could rest well. We walked to a lake Furia saw before landing, not very far from where we landed. I unsaddled her and we rested there and listened to music. After a while, I turned off the music player to save battery. Then we conversed…

We skipped from topic to topic for a couple of hours until Furia felt like flying again. I got everything ready and got on the move again. An hour later Furia was done for the night. I unsaddled her and we both went to sleep. At first light I saddled her and we continued the journey by foot. In the way I trained with Vital Energy. I practiced most of the time with the Chain Blade, another part of the time I used it to create a stronger throwable. If we were going to fight a Dragon, I couldn't rely on Furia doing all the work, I had to find the way of making damage as well: I needed to create something capable of penetrating Dragon scales. The rest of the time I spent it being carried by Furia when I was too tired to even stand.

It's a shame we can't fly during the day… daylight fills me with energy. Furia commented.

By noon we arrived to a pretty hilly zone, we couldn't reach much long distance view on any direction. If it wasn't because of the compass and the map we had, we would get lost at any moment. At least it protected us from being seen from the distance… yet that worked both ways… we wouldn't notice danger from the distance.

It began like a buzz in the air… without any direction, because of the hills around us. Furia and I stood still. I readied a pair of Daggers while Furia prepared to exhale fire. Suddenly, around fifteen meters away from us, a 4x4 vehicle climbed the hill at our right at high speed and, with very loud music, heading towards us. It braked hardly and after sliding around a meter on the dirt, it came to a stop and the music was shut. I crossed my arms, my hands ending at my shoulders, and got ready to rain blades at them. Furia slightly lowered her head and showed her fangs in a furious expression. Then there was arguing inside the truck. I could hear the voices, but didn't catch what they were saying.

Suddenly they opened the doors and four guys got out, taking their sunglasses off. We didn't do a thing, Furia and I just waited for them to pull the next card. One of them frantically went back to the truck and picked up a shotgun. When he came out he screamed "Get down!" and pumped the shotgun. I began the swing, Furia ignited a flame, but one of the other guys jumped to the Hunter and shoved him to the ground, taking the shotgun from him.

My blade was already powered for the throw, so I continued it to the sky. The Hunter was too far from us for Furia to reach him with her fire; she exhaled it as a distraction to cover me.

They aren't all Hunters… Said Furia; with impression in her voice.

An opportunity we won't waste, we might get him to spill something out…

-I'm not armed! I will approach! -I yelled at them as Furia and I began to walk.

The Hunter still tried to get the shotgun from his friend but the others were backing him up. He ended up trying to explain himself to them. Furia and I were just eight meters away when he said…

-I can't explain everything; he is going to kill us all!

-I'm not going to kill anybody! -I said, still walking. I stopped at five meters from them. The Hunter turned and pointed me with his finger and said…

-Bullshit! You will slay us all like you did with Hobbs' City Manager!

-I went there peacefully and he drew on me. He also killed my friend.

-You are EVIL! You Riders won't rule the world! If I don't stop you, someone else will!

-I don't…

I completely lost track of what was happening. What is this guy talking about? They are who already rule the world… Why did he call me "evil"? Don't they prevent people from finding Dragon Eggs to keep the world working as they please?

Then one of the others intervened.

-Could you two at least explain what the hell is going on?

Then the Hunter spoke…

-Dragons are Demons! They possess people who find their eggs to do as they please! The only way to protect humanity is to find the eggs and send them away because they are indestructible, and if an egg is found that person must be killed if the egg had already hatched! I belong to a secret society that has protected the world for centuries from these monsters! My father taught me, and he was taught by his father and so on…

I didn't shut him up because it was so twisted what he said that I wanted to hear where it ended. Then I said…

-That's not true. Dragons are our friends. Each human is destined to find a dragon egg to then raise the dragon and live in friendship and harmony. Your Society's objective is to prevent people from finding their dragons so they can't open their eyes from this sick world YOU have created.

-And you got this from!? That Black Demon told this to you!? Snap out of its grasp!

-No, it was taught to me by a close friend of mine, who didn't even had a dragon, and won't ever know what it is like to have one thanks to you.

-That's impossible! Only the members of my society know about these deeds!

-What you have been taught is wrong and I can prove it.

-How!?

-To start, you are all alive. You, who tried to shoot me, are still alive and unharmed. And I encourage your friends to touch my dragon with the guarantee of not getting the tiniest wound. Who goes first?- I said as I turned to the three guys standing by his side.

There was a moment of silence, then one of the guys said…

-F**k this s**t! If this ends it, I will touch the dragon, and if I am killed then you'll kill this dude. -He said handing the shotgun to another of his friends. He proceeded to aim at me.

I'm not comfortable with this stranger getting close to me. Furia told me.

I know, but this is a special situation; plus, he won't have time to try anything.

You better be right…

I covertly readied a pair of daggers and paid pure attention to his moves as he got closer. When he was close enough, he stretched his arm and touched Furia's side of her head.

This is one brave none-nuts… Commented Furia.

-This is amazing… - he uttered.

Furia arched her neck up, getting her head out of the guy's reach, also startling him a bit.

-My name is Patrick Darst and this is my dragon, her name is Furia, and she is not evil.

-No… No… This… this can't be… You are trying to fool us! - Said the Hunter.

-No I'm not.

Suddenly the guy with the shotgun hit him with the back of the gun in the stomach and said.

-Shut the f**k up Wesley, for Christ's sake! He at least is proving his point!

-Can I touch the dragon? -Said the one in the back, who hasn't made a single move since this all started.

-Of course.  - I said.

With the same daggers ready, I paid attention to this new guy approaching Furia. He touched her arm for a moment; then she moved slightly away from him. The one who made the first contact with Furia approached me and offered his hand. As I dissipated the blades, he said…

-The name's Owen, you seem to be the right one to answer what is going on here.

-The truth's long and the sun burns. Do you have a carp or something to stay underneath?  -I said shaking his hand.

-Yeah, but your dragon won't fit…

-Don't mind her, she likes the sun.

We all opened the carp and the camping chairs they got. They offered me beverages but I rejected them. I knew it was an exaggerated security measure, but I couldn't take more risks than which I have already, so I drank from my own supplies. I began by telling them the whole story of the world and ended with how I found Furia. We spent the whole afternoon there, talking and commenting about the world. I saved to myself the details of where I was heading and what I was going to do exactly.

Wesley didn't participate at all in the conversation. He just looked at me with horror.

-Sorry for hitting you with the shotgun Wes… are you ok?  -said the one who still carried the gun, but not aiming at me, he had it resting on his shoulder.

-I'm fine… I just can´t believe it… my whole life is a lie… all this time doing what I thought was right and it seems to be a lie… The others must know of this… -Said the hunter with a determinate tone.

I quickly intervened.

-Hold it there, buddy. We don't know how the ones behind all this would react. By doing that, you could ruin my whole operation.

-Then what should I do? Sit and wait?

-That exactly.

-I won't let my comrades' lives get wasted like all that already have!

-Neither will I! A lot of people have died to find me… To keep me alive and get as far as I am to fail now! (Sigh)… I assure you, the truth will be revealed… to the whole world… but at the right moment, OK?

-We will all get a dragon?  - asked Owen.

-If I succeed yes; that's a promise.

-Then I want to go with you, as you said, all our lives are bullshit. I want to be part of what you are going to do.

-Sadly I cannot let you come with me. Yet I will think first on you guys once this is over.

-Have this then…

Owen wrote on a piece of paper all his contact information.

-Contact us even if you fail, I wouldn't like to die on the waiting.

-I will contact you, no matter what. But I got to warn you; I don't know how this will develop, nor how long will this take. Plus, you can't tell anyone about this, anyone. As you have discovered today, you will never know who can be a Hunter.

-A Hunter? - Said Wesley, surprised.

-Sorry, but that's how we refer to your people.

-Don't be sorry, "Hunter" is a fit title due to what we do. We call ourselves "Guardians", even though we guard nothing.

-Can I ask you something Wesley? -I said.

-What?

-How do Guardians create a family, to then inherit the story to the children?

-What do you mean?

-Isn't there a protocol for the case the mate not accepting the Guardians' ways?

-No…

-What if they try to talk with someone else about the secret?

-It hadn't happened… We offer our mates a completely financed life. We free them from the world's necessities such as working. No one would say no to that, so we just raise the kids. Why do you ask?

-Oh… nothing… just mere curiosity.

We all continued talking and getting to know each other. When night arrived, we wished each other a good trip as Furia and I took off. At first we didn't head to Corpus Christy in fear of being followed, later we recovered our track and flew straight.

What an afternoon… you did manage him to spill something out… acknowledged Furia.

Real far from what I expected… They aren't evil, they are like us… just told what's right and with enough hope and determination to believe it and carry it as a duty.

Just that we are the ones who carry the true story.

Yeah… which means… they were deceived centuries ago, their blood chains have been telling lies since…

The Great Massacre… Furia said completing the sentence.

Of course…There is no way to force a whole generation to carry a mission they don't share objectives with, just as simple as the son who doesn't want to be the same profession the father is. They lied to their sons; they modified the story for them to be a mission. A mission where the world's sake rest on their hands… Who would say no to that?

And while being already financed by the Vatican, they wouldn't get involved with the world. Not having to go to school, nor college, nor having to work, it isn't just a mission, it's a blessing!

One nobody would turn against… that's why it was so difficult for the Dragon Society to assure a child would carry the story. Their child's backs weren't covered; they had to learn both stories, the one they teach you in school and the one told by your parents. Having the knowledge of multiple possibilities… they had the opportunity of making a choice.

To carry the weight of the world or fall for the illusion of free will this world offer humanity.

Two nights later, from our encounter with the "Guardian", Furia and I arrived to the outskirts of Corpus Christy. By that time, I got better with the Chain Blade and had well knowledge of the new throwable; it was heavier, stronger, with way deeper penetration and damage, and it required much more energy; I called it The Spear. I proceeded to call the guys and waited for their call back. They would now ready the signal which they would guide us with to the safe landing zone. Once I got the call, we took off towards the harbor.

Flashing light! Furia snapped; and with unspoken agreement, we flew towards it.

Waiting for us were our friends and the security guard. They greeted us as we landed. I was so glad to finally meet a known face. Then the security guard introduced himself…

-Didn't had the opportunity of telling you my name, it's James Alison.

I shook his hand while answering.

-Patrick Darst, Furia (I pointed at her)… How did you manage to escape Hobbs?

-All the data they have about me is fake. I came here that very same night. They will never find me. Your friends told me about your partner back then… I'm sorry. We will make those damn Hunters and the whole Government pay.

-Thanks… Speaking of Hunters…

I told them about my encounter on the way here. They were very confused, but still, that didn't numb our minds from our mission. Later I asked James about the situation in this harbor.

-This harbor, (James answered) and the ship along, is owned by my family. We are all brothers, cousins, and if not, as close as… You'll meet the crew soon. Some details have to be set before the departure; it will take a couple of weeks. In the meantime, Furia will spend the day here… (He guided us to a huge storage building) she will be able to go out at night to fly and stretch up. Anything else, you just call for it…

Tell him I'd like some meat right now. A couple of days are what's needed for me to call a hunting night.

I delivered the message and James guided us to the meat locker in the building. We took out a skinned pig.

-I don't know if it's healthy for a dragon to eat meat this cold but… WOW!

James got startled as Furia heated the pig with a short flame and then proceeded to eat it.

There was nothing more for James to show us tonight. Our friends were staying with some members of James' family. He told me I would stay with him, for he was the one I knew. I wanted to stay with Furia, but she said…

You do need to sleep comfortable, especially after our trip. We can meet up again tomorrow…

I guess I'll listen to you… we didn't sleep more than a couple of hours each night…

Then we all headed for each of our staying places. When James and I arrived to his home, he introduced me to his wife and kid. After introducing myself, I made a few tricks with Vital Energy, and then we called it for tonight. Before going to the foldable bed I was going to sleep on, I took a shower. That was the best shower I ever took, I think I did an hour there. When finished, I went to sleep.