A Dragon's Tale #Watty's2015

Humanity

When I woke up, my entire body ached even worse than it had when I'd woken up at Firebase Charlie. I tried to sit up, but didn't have any luck. I felt hot all over and I could tell I'd been sweating. As my mind slowly came back, I opened my eyes to see three blindingly bright lights hanging over me.

“Aah!”, I moaned closing them as tightly as I could, “go away lights!”

“Sounds like another morning at Firebase Charlie”, Hudson's voice came from beside me.

“Hudson?”, I asked, “did it work?”

“Yeah”, Hudson laughed, “it worked brother.”

I laughed, “turn off those lights.”

Hudson laughed and the lights above me went dark. I wiped the water away from my eyes and shot Hudson a glance, he was smiling.

“I feel like a steamed veggie”, I said.

Hudson laughed, “you look like one too.”

“Help me up brother”, I said holding my hand out.

I felt weird. My entire body felt lighter, like I was a feather. Hudson pulled me up without difficulty and I sat up, draping my legs over the side of the bed. The sheets and blankets were sweat soaked and so too were the hospital pants I was wearing. My heart was still beating pretty fast and I found myself taking too many breaths too quickly.

“How long was I out?”, I asked.

Hudson shrugged, “couple of hours.”

I sighed, “do Adelind and my kids know about this?”

“Ace and Tyson do”, Hudson replied, “but only because they were snooping and Dr. Kyle caught them.”

I laughed, “Ace probably put Tyson up to it. Where are they?”

“Sitting outside waiting for you”, Hudson laughed, “get dressed and then I'll bring them in. I got your kit in the back room.”

Hudson pointed to a room in the back and then exited. I could hear Ace yelping outside and I figured he was trying to suck information out of Hudson. I smiled at myself and got off the table, finding that control of my new body came naturally, which made sense, seeing as I was a human longer than a dragon.

I walked into the back room, which had my clothes on a small cart, a sink and a shower. I quickly showered off and then dressed, looking at myself in the mirror. I looked the same as I had on the day that had started me down this path. My raven black hair, icy blue eyes and the scar on my wrist from a knife fight long ago, still a stern reminder I was inefficient up close. Not counting just being smaller in general, nothing actually differed from my dragon body. I guessed that I changed in size and appearance only, but my senses and the like had remained intact, which I didn't mind.

I walked outside where Hudson was trying ton keep Ace quiet, but having a bad time of it.

“Dad?”, Ace asked.

I smiled and knelt down beside him, “yeah, it's me son.”

“Why are you human?”, Tyson asked.

“It's to rescue an old friend of mine”, I replied, “it's only for a little while, once Hudson and I rescue him, I'll be back to a dragon, I promise, hugs?”

Ace and Tyson leaned into me and I hugged them tightly, “where's your Mom?”

“She's back at the barracks”, Tyson said, “wondering where you are.”

“Well let's go see her then”, I replied standing up.

We walked from the HQ back to the barracks. Adelind was laying in the grass watching Helix and Dusk play while talking with Ator and Vanlith

“Adelind”, I said walking up.

“Do I know you?”, she asked.

“I hope so”, I replied, “we have five kids.”

She looked completely dumbfounded, “Tyro...what happened.”

“Technology”, I replied, “I did this for a mission.”

“What mission?”, she asked, I could tell she wasn't buying it and I didn't blame her.

“A man I used to work with, Frank Davis has turned up in Yemen”, I replied, “he supposedly has intel on Project Draco. He's my friend Adelind, I gotta go save him.”

“And you couldn't have done that without wrecking your relationship with Adelind?”, Vanlith asked.

“This can be undone”, I replied, “the machine that they used can turn HDR dragons into humans and back again. As soon as this mission is done, I'm a dragon again.”

Dusk and Helix padded up to me and sat down, starring up at me with curious faces.

“Daddy?”, Helix asked, “you will come back right?”

“Yes sweetheart”, I said kneeling down and hugging her, “I promise I will come back.”

“You'll kill the badguys too right?”, Tyson asked.

I smiled, “yes I will kill the badguys.”

Hudson smiled, “I'll thwack a few for ya too Tyse, let's go John.”

“I'll be back soon guys”, I said looking at my kids, “I promise.”

I stood up and followed Hudson to his room. Wyatt and Issac were standing inside getting their gear ready.

“The fuck happened to you?”, Issac asked, “your like...human again.”

“I know”, I replied, “weird right? Let's get geared up.”

I changed out what I was wearing for tan cargo pants, a tight fitting black shirt and a sport watch. I then placed my MK-48, which had been removed from my vest, along with a plate carrier, my sword and B32R into a duffel bag and heaved it to my shoulders.

We exited the room and walked down to the air strip where a small Boeing triple 7 was waiting for us.

“Hudson, Issac, Wyatt”, Nolan said, “John.”

“General Scott”, I said, “sir.”

“Okay”, Nolan said, “you'll fly into Yemen under the radar on this jet to a public airport. From there you will be met by a attendant who will take you from the plane, past security as VIP's to a car. There's a folder in the glove box, courtesy of a spy of mine, that will give you the next step for contact.”

“Why don't we just meet him?”, Hudson asked.

“The island is an active war zone”, Nolan said, “he's been made and tortured before, so he wants to make sure your really Draco.”

“Makes sense to me”, I replied, “let's get this bird in the air.”

We boarded the jet and found places to sit before stashing our gear in the lofts. The seats in the plane were slightly larger than I would have liked, but they were comfortable and we had a ten hour fly ahead of us so I tried not to complain. Hudson sat beside me and Issac and Wyatt sat across from us.

“We are starting take off”, the pilot said, “please make sure your seat belts are fastened at this time.”

I clicked the seatbelt into place and soon the plane started forward. Soon we were in the sky, on the way to Yemen.