Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 17 (2/3)

I had never been to that part of the caverns before, but as we walked towards the Baths, Jen told me it was one of a few different 'landing points' that were used only by the Dragon Warriors. They lead directly back into the main headquarters within the army base and from there it was a short walk to the locker rooms.

Once in the locker rooms, we parted ways with the men of our group and headed into our private lockers.

"I really hope someone finally cleaned bath 5!" Sarah began as if that were the biggest issue in the world.

"Sarah, no one cares about your spoiled life problems," Susan replied with a dry tone.

"I care! And what's spoiled about my life? I have to bath the same as you!" She went on.

Their conversation went back and forth as we changed and finally entered into the bath itself. Jen remained her quiet, stoic self. My mind was mostly empty as I went through the motions of disrobing and gathering up the cloth towel I needed, but I couldn't help but feel awkward.

Before, I had never been invited with the group. Not even when we had been in training together. My duties as a messenger insured that I remained on duty until late at night when there were few people in the baths.

They were very full now.

The room itself was huge, much like all the other caves within the colony. However, this one had been carved from the stones much more than any other. Every bath was a different size, each one large enough to hold over a dozen people. There was an aisle that ran down the center, with pools on either side, and steps that lead down into them.

The water in them was warmed from the hot springs that fed into canals that gave fresh water into all of the pools. The very floor beneath my toes was warm to the touch, and even after a hot day in the desert, a warm steam bath was always relaxing.

Clearly, the architects had priorities when making that place.

Walls were not one of them.

On the other side of the bath cave, was the mens side. With nothing but steam between us it was something I wasn't quite ready to get over.

There was more than one reason I normally went so late at night to take mine.

"Ahh, this is the highlight of my day!" Sarah exclaimed as she eased her way down into pool number 5.

"So I'm guessing you don't care if someone cleaned it now?" Jen questioned with a smirk and placed her towel down and followed Sarah in.

"Care? Hell no! That's yesterday's news. The whole darn place is messy, I doubt they'd pay any more mind to this old tub," Sarah said under her breath.

"Augh, Sarah why is nothing good enough for you?" Susan asked and slipped in behind them.

I clutched my towel against me tightly but when it was my turn to get in, I dropped it and charged in, completely missing the steps. Water sloshed out the sides and splashed over everyone in the pool and I froze in the water, my nose barely above the surface.

"Jaya! Is this your first time here or what?" Sarah exclaimed and shook her hands like there was dirt on them instead of water.

"Come on, it's water," Jen said and leaned against the back side of the pool without mind.

The other girls in that pool gave me a short dirty glance and then either smiled or shook their heads. The warmth of the water sent a feeling of ease through me and the water made my limbs feel light. I could finally relax.

"So I was talking to Gaven again today!" Sarah began.

"Argh, not this again," Susan whined. 

"No no, this is interesting!" Sarah insisted and went on, "So he was telling me that the other day, someone from his group had actually tried to breathe fire."

Jen turned her head at the conversation and I couldn't help but be interested as well. Fire? From a dragon? I guessed that was how the tales went. 

"And?" Susan asked.

"Oh, so now you're interested?" Sarah shot back.

"We all know a fire breath is extremely rare, and those who ever had it were numbered, and since gone," Jen broke in and both Susan and Sarah gave her a dry look.

"Well, anyway, as you can guess it didn't work," Sarah crossed her arms. She opened her mouth to continue but I cut her off.

"So fire breath is real?" I asked. 

Sarah's sour attention turned to me when I filled the empty space and I felt her annoyance. 

"If you call three dragons ever, real. Then yes, I guess so." Jen replied.

I blinked in shock, that it was even real. 

"So what was that all about today?" Sarah asked with a sly tone.

After a moment of silence, I glanced around and saw the three of them watching me. My head shot out of the water and my mouth hung open.

"What was what?" I stammered and looked between them.

"You know what I'm talking about, breaking rank? Weren't you the one JUST THEN questioning why anyone else would do it?" She went on.

I pulled my lip back and looked around frantically. I didn't know what to tell them. I certainly couldn't say that 'my dragon self had decided to do it. Against my own will.'

"Um, well I just kind of got lost in the moment," I finally replied.

"Hm, lost eh? Seemed pretty on target to me," Jen spoke up. I glanced over and saw her eyes boring into me. I swallowed nervously and sunk into the water more.

"Yeah, what was that about anyway? Don't you know not to mess with that one?" Sarah joined in.

"What one?" I questioned. I knew who she was talking about, but I wanted her to say more.

"That Omega guy! Everyone knows he's a bad omen. Like getting the grim reaper in a tarot reading!" She went on.

"What the hell is tarot reading?" Jen asked, her face scrunched up in questioning. Sarah waved her curiosity away and kept her attention on me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Haven't you heard the story about his last platoon?" Susan asked me.

"No," I turned to face her, attention locked.

"But you're friends with someone in his group, right? Haven't they told you about it?" Sarah said.

I looked between them both and blinked.

"What are you going on about?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"He got a bad rep after his entire platoon was taken out a couple of years back," Jen spoke up. "It's not like he wasn't hurt himself, though, and there were others there to see it happen. Myself included. I was human at the time." Jen told me. "He fought like any other, but the poor fellow is now considered bad luck because he was the only survivor of 12."

"More like Mr unlucky 13," Sarah joined in.

"Come on, you weren't even there. You have no idea what war is like!" Jen went on.

My mind went blank even as their conversation continued. How Jen had fared in the fight as a human. How she felt about returning as a dragon now. The conversation died quickly after that. No surprise there.

But I couldn't help but keep asking myself the same question. How had such a powerful dragon gone unnoticed? Was I the only one who saw it?

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