Tarragon

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Taste

-Mantis

A warm, coppery taste filled my mouth. How close had I been to dying?

Every bone in my body wanted to run away, I just wanted to forget about everything and hide away in a hole for the rest of my life.

The assassin landed on their back. Like I had done so many times before, I stood up and ran. I felt the familiar sensation of my magic returning, and I made a realization- the assassin was blocking my magic.

Somehow, they were entirely canceling my ability to use Energy. The assassin quickly caught up to me, but now I had an idea.

The assassin dashed towards me, swinging their sword. I ducked, and screamed into their ear with every single bit of strength my body could muster. I felt my magic briefly return as they forcibly shut their ears with their hands.

I knew what to do, now. I wasn't powerless anymore.

-The King of the New Order of the World

I stared at the orange flower. I had grown so fond of it that I had almost forgotten how deadly it was. I took a sample of the Olka in one of my hands, and put it into a vial. It was time for the initial test.

The subjects were a few unimportant dragons- a couple snow dragons I had taken when they were hatchlings, and kept them alive and around for testing.

They were currently in a glass viewing room, with a flat bed of soil on the ground, and metal walls on three out of four sides.

I placed the vial into the machine, cork-side down. Lights flashed on as the system went online. Flowers began blooming inside, and small yellow-orange vines began sprouting between the flowers. I noted down an increased presence of the vines, more professionally known as Olka-B(1).

I looked at the dragons inside. A small cloud of steam wafted up towards the dragons from the flowers. As it passed through them, their eyes changed in color. Two of the three dragons immediately went into formation. The third, however... did not.

It seemed to fight the Olka, almost immediately breaking its control. It lashed out, smashing the ceiling lamp, and tearing the Olka and B-1 out of the soil.

I commanded the other two dragons to attack the defector. They took care of the issue, and I almost ordered them to kill the dragon immediately. However, I knew they had a use.

I brought them to a small, dimly lit room, and shut the door, taking off my mask. As had happened with so many other people, they seemed horrified by what I looked like.

"Annex. Do you know why I spared your life?"

"Y-you didn't spare anything. You're just going to kill me when you're done with me! I saw what you did to Capitol after the last experiment, I-"

"Just shut up. How did you do it?" I asked the dragon again. They were quivering, backing away from me.

"I- won't tell you! You can't make me! Your tricks don't work on me!"

"Oh, how beautiful, dragonling. You aren't immune to anything. I think you've forgotten that thousands of guards live in this castle, under my absolute command. I have a Titan! You're but a child."

Engram popped up next to the child, seemingly only visible to me, "How can you do this to them? Annex never deserved this. They're just a kid!"

"They're a monster, like all the rest of them. I'm doing the world a favor-"

"The world has changed! Humans and dragons can live side by side! I've seen it with my own eyes, the world isn't the place you grew up in!"

"The humans have lost their sanity, and the dragons are pulling the strings. I'm liberating everyone from the constant threat of dragons above. I'm a hero, Engram!"