Shattered Stars

Betrayed

"Now that we have an accord, there is something important you should know," Kyrom announced to everyone. "The transformation process consumes an immense amount of energy, so we cannot begin the voyage until all upgrades are given. You have twelve hours to individually decide on which upgrades, if any, you shall receive. May you all be wise."

With that, he bowed. The Colonel told everyone to return to their rooms and that each individual who decides to upgrade should report to Kyrom immediately.

As everyone scattered around the room, I managed to catch Skylar's eye. He looked away, took a few strides, and leapt into the air. He was on the middle walkway with a few wing strokes. He was so hasty in his movements he almost crushed a Grephen against the wall. I turned to follow him but someone grabbed the end of my tail.

"Wait!"

I looked back to find Chester gazing up at me. He shrunk back a bit. "Sorry, I just have a few questions to ask about the upgrades. 'Cause I just want to be completely sure, y'know?"

Several other soldiers had crowded around Vatria, all seemingly eager to ask her similar questions. I sighed and turned to him. "Go ahead."

"Alright, thanks, I'll be quick. First, how useful is the implant?" He pointed a thumb at his head. "'Cause it better be worth putting something that disturbing inside your head."

"Heh, definitely," I said, chuckling. "It's really helpful in combat, and it can do almost anything really, like putting you to sleep in less than a minute. It's really intuitive."

He nodded. "Cool. And being a Drake, is that something I'd want to do or no?"

"Well..." I shrugged and looked to the side, trying to find the best way to put it. "You'll have to decide for yourself. It's not like you're filled with a constant sense of euphoria, but flying is nice. You'll probably have super strength like I did before they put these cuffs on me. The muzzle is annoying sometimes, you'll struggle to talk normally for a while, and the tail feels weird at first. You'll get used to those pretty quickly though."

"Hm," he muttered, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I think it might be worth a shot. Not like I have much of a choice anyway. Thanks a lot, bro." He held out a hand for a handshake.

"No prob." I shook his hand, then turned and spread my wings in preparation to leap to the middle walkway. I glanced back at him at the last second with the tiniest smile on my face. "Oh, and you also won't have a penis."

His eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"Later!" I chirped as I drove my wings down. I was eager to have a talk with Skylar. A few flaps later, I was jogging along the walkway trying to remember where our room was. Once I found it, the door slid open automatically. Only Skylar's tail was visible from the entrance.

"Go away," he moaned as I stepped in and slid the door closed behind me. He was curled up in the corner again. His head lay on the floor, glaring at me with half-lidded eyes.

"I just wanna talk," I pleaded, sitting on my haunches a few feet in front of him.

"Well I don't!" he shouted, hiding his head under a wing.

I sighed deeply and a pang of guilt went through my chest. "Listen, I don't blame you for being angry. I shouldn't have been so quick to make the decision without you."

Silence overcame us while I waited for him to respond. He didn't move.

"But what choice do we have? It's either join the fight or get sent back to Earth and be dealt with by the government. There'd be no chance in hell they'd let us walk around freely with all the things we know. You know me, I hate fighting too, but at least if we go with the aliens we'll be fighting for something that's actually worth defending."