“Van!” Sang shouted as she rushed forward, drawing her sword as she charged at the Messenger. It merely raised its hand and a blast of force was emitted from its fingers, knocking Sang backwards. She hit the ground hard, but stood up and charged again.
“And you still try? Even in the face of overwhelming superiority, you try? It will be such a shame that a warrior of your caliber will be nothing more than a mindless husk in a few hours,” the Messenger said.
Sang felt another blast of power strike her and throw her backwards. She had completely underestimated how powerful this creature was. She felt the wind get knocked out of her as she scrambled to stand back up.
“Is… that… all… you’ve… got?” Van wheezed as he continued to turn more and more red. His hand dropped down to his side as he pulled out a small bottle. He crushed it in between his fingers, shattering the glass and causing a red ooze to drip over his hand.
“A potion’s not going to do you much good,” Yvgo said, shaking its head. “At least not without you drinking it.”
“Not… for… me,” Van gasped. Sang stood up in time to see that the little Dragon had crawled over to the puddle of red liquid that had dripped onto the ground, and had begun to lap up the potion. It hissed a little as it drank it. But then its head began to shake slightly, and a moment later, it was howling and shrieking. It turned around and looked at the Messenger.
“A curious… creature,” Yvgo said, taking a step back, “but easily killed.” It raised a hand to emit a blast of power, but was too slow. The Dragon howled and rushed as fast as it could, with blinding speed, leaping and latching its teeth onto the side of the Messenger’s long hand. The Messenger let out a loud piping noise as it buckled and thrashed, trying to get the Dragon off of it.
Van immediately fell to the ground, gasping for air. “Sang, it’s distracted!”
Sang nodded and began to snap off arrows. The Messenger raised its other hand to repel the arrows, but the Dragon was still fiercely attacking it, leaping from limb to limb and biting into the alien’s flesh. A few arrows bounced off to the side, but one found its home and lodged itself right into the side of the Messenger’s face. Greenish blood gushed out of the wound as the creature collapsed to the floor. The Dragon continued to bite and claw for quite some time still, until the Messenger stopped moving entirely.
“Is it dead?” Van asked. Sang shrugged and slowly walked closer. It wasn’t moving at all. Slowly, she peered over to see that the Messenger’s eyes were still open. The Dragon had ceased from its violent attacks and was instead lying on the ground, gently snoozing with its eyes closed. Whatever kind of potion it had drunk seemed to have worn off immediately upon the alien’s collapse.
“Truly, humans are the most admirable species,” the Messenger said as it slowly blinked. Sang grabbed her sword and pressed it against the creature’s forehead. “Resilient and able to overcome all obstacles, even in the face of impossibility. Draco is pleased with your actions, Sang. End this vessel’s life now. End it and be free. Take your reward.”
Sang glanced at Van, and he nodded.
“Tell Draco that I’m not going anywhere,” she hissed as she shoved the blade down hard, stabbing the creature right in the brain. It let out a hideous shrieking noise and then ceased moving completely.
“That was intense,” Van remarked. “I’m so glad that Potion of Burning Rage worked.”
“No kidding,” Sang said as she turned to look at the Dragon that was quietly snoozing. It seemed to have a smile upon its face.
Behind the two of them then, there was a strange whooomph noise. Sang leapt up and turned around, her bow in hand. In front of them was a pod. It was about the size of a small airplane, and it was smooth and made of chrome. The ramp to the pod was open, as well, leading into the ship.
“Whoa! I think that’s how the Messenger guy travels!” Van said as he walked toward it. “Hey, stay away from there—it could be some kind of a trap!” Sang warned. “Trap, schmap. Come on, let’s look inside. I bet we can find some kind of a clue,” Van replied as he walked right up the ramp.
Sang sighed and gently scooped up the snoring dragon. It nuzzled against her a little as she carried it toward the ship. She didn’t like the looks of this strange pod and she certainly didn’t like the fact that Van had just climbed in like an idiot. This entire adventure would have an extremely disappointing end if, somehow, he got killed inside of that pod. They had defeated three powerful foes in a single day, and he was going to risk it all for this? Why did she even bother trying to save his sorry ass?
“Check it out!” Van said as he waved her in. She looked inside the pod and saw that there were dozens of screens and computer consoles. There was a single chair at the helm of the ship, and a few harnesses lining the walls for people to strap themselves into.
“Interesting,” Sang said as she sat as the console and began to fiddle with the controls. A dev console popped up, prompting her to let out a sigh of relief. She could change the log-in credentials from here, allowing them to finally get out of the game! She was ready to log out and never ever think about this game again. As she deceived the log-in blocks, the console began to hum a little. There was a high-pitched whine next, causing the Dragon who was sleeping in her lap to suddenly open its eyes and look around. The whine continued for a few moments and then ceased. Next, words began to sound from the console. The voice was deep and throaty, a voice that seemed to resonate and shake the very pod itself.
“There is no hope. We will win. Tremble at the future,” the voice said. The pod began to slowly hum and vibrate then as the screens caught fire.
“Ah crap, let’s get out of here!” Van shouted as he leapt up and scrambled out of the pod. Sang followed after him and they managed to clear the pod just in time, before it erupted into a massive fiery explosion. The warm heat of the flames pressed against Sang’s back as she held the Dragon tightly, shielding it from the debris.
“Man, I am so glad that didn’t blow up earlier,” Van said, turning around and facing the wreckage of the craft once the immediate blast of heat had worn off.
“Whew, yeah,” Sang said. “Well, we’re free now, right? We can log out, so let’s go ahead and get out of this wretched game.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Van said. “I’m exhausted!”
“Ex… hausted,” mumbled the Dragon. Van and Sang both stopped and looked at the creature. It wriggled its way out of Sang’s arms and leapt onto the ground before slowly walking around in a circle, sniffing about.
“Van, can Dragons talk? New ones?” Sang asked.
“Uh, I dunno. I mean… this thing isn’t exactly acting like any AI I’ve seen in the game,” Van replied as he looked at it curiously. The Dragon turned its attention to the both of them and yawned, opening its big mouth wide. Sang could see that its baby-sharp teeth had already emerged in its mouth, and its scales were forming relatively quickly, as well. It was growing—and quickly.
“Earth?” the little Dragon asked as it tilted its head at Sang. “Is… Earth?”
“What?” Sang whispered as she crouched down to look the creature in the eyes.
“Far away, across the stars,” the Dragon whispered back. “In a realm beyond eye and a realm beyond light. We rest. But far we are. Draco consumes. Close and hungry, violent and clever, they are unending, like the locusts of the field, or the ants of the valley.”
“I think this Dragon is an Other!” Sang shouted. “We can talk to it! It can talk!”