Down With The Government

Chase

He was chasing. Playing a game of cat and mouse with this pull. He walked around the crowded areas. Sometimes the pull would come from one area, then it would come from another area. It always moved. Never staying in one area. This game was starting to piss him off.

The sun hurt. Being in at all day was not something he enjoyed, nor was he actually supposed to do. He was a Shade. Shade's were night creatures. They belonged in dark regions or caves. Not in the sun in the middle of the day.

"Excuse me! Would you like to buy some high end jewelry?" He ignored the voices around him. All of this torture from the sun because his body wouldn't let him ignore it. Then it seemed to fade until there was no trace of it. Annoyance flared in his mind.

Hours of his time wasted. But he felt like he needed to find that pull. Whatever was tugging at him like this had to be important. Not once had he cared about anything so much.

People jostled around him. His body had faded from the existence of solidity. No body noticed him at any given point after that. He left the bustle of the competition. His mind working to try and figure what that feeling had been.

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The dragon shifter had fallen asleep, but this wasn't his dream. This dream belonged to someone else. Whose dream it was he didn't know. He walked around. Muscles rippling underneath black scales. The sound of crying reached his ears.

A village burned. Heat licked his scales. Then the screaming and roaring of the fires started. It was deafening to his sensitive hearing. He picked his way along the carnage. Dead bodies laid everywhere. People screamed and ran in all directions. Armored men and horses chased after them. He watched a woman and her child be murdered.

Wait.

Was this real? A dream wouldn't have the details that he saw. Whose eyes was he looking through?

The original cry he had heard sounded above everything again. He turned his massive head and saw two girls hiding the best they could. The older girl looked around, tears marking paths through her dirty face.

Then he knew. She was his rider. His and his alone. He had to reach her. She was in danger. Her dying before he could meet her wasn't an option.

"Where are you?" He asked her. His large body stood in from of the two girls. He watched as she looked around. She couldn't see him.

"Who's there?" She demanded. Her voice quivered with fear.

"I'm not there yet, but I can protect you. Tell me where you are and I can help," he whispered to her. Anything to be able to get her out. She faltered. The other little girl clung to her, fearing for both of their lives.

"Talkeni."

"I will be there soon. Hide."

"Who are you?"

"Rivven."

His mind was his own. He stood. Large wings unfurled from his back. His tail snapped back and forth like a whip. Then he was flying. His wings pushing him forward as fast as they could move.

Rivven wasn't sure where Talkeni was, so he strained for the sliver of the bond he could feel. That was what he followed. Night made his magic stronger. It propelled him through the sky. Time was irrelevant. His only focus was getting to his rider.

Orange lit up the sky as he flew over the summit of a mountain. Down below the village burned. He could still see the armored men and the villagers running. Being seen was inevitable. The ground shook as he landed. Some of the armored men turned to him. Weapons at the ready.

Rivven roared.

His roar was more of a demonic scream than an actual roar. It caused his prey to seize up in fear, allowing him to silently pick it off.

The men fell. He opened his jaws and let neon green flames erupt. His focus then turned back to his rider. He forced his way through the town. Panic from not being able to find her clawed it's way into his mind. Finally he heard the scream. She was being held by an armored man. The other little girl by another. All of their eyes turned to him.

Rivven had his teeth bared. His murderous red eyes flicking between the two men. The girls were scared at the beast in front of them, and the men behind them. There was nowhere safe to go. He stepped forward. Both of the men shoved the girls towards him and fled. He crouched over them until he thought it was safe to move them.

His rider looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open.

"We must leave," he told her. Even with the bond not complete, he could speak to her through telepathy. Soon enough, his soul and hers would fuse together.

The girl was panicking. He didn't have time let her panic. Rivven picked them both up, they screamed as he took to the air. Neither one of them stayed conscious enough to scream for long though. He carried them far away. His wings carried them for hours until he deemed the distance between them and the carnage was far enough.

Once set them down, he shifted back into his human body. With as much care and gentleness as he could, he moved them to a cave. He went out and stole blankets from various places. But only ones that wouldn't miss them. Rivven wrapped them both up. After some time he shifted back into a dragon and curled himself around them. His large body keeping them warm.

He vowed to protect his rider and the girl she so desperately clung to. The Empire would feel his wrath for almost hurting them. Before, he didn't have enough reason to demolish the entire country, not that he really needed any to be honest. But now, their downfall was inevitable.