Veil of Shadows

Chapter 20. Wyvern

A deafening roar echoed through Shadow's base.

"Keep it contained!" He shouted, running across the platform and over to the containment vessel. A dent appeared in the reinforced steel, then another. And another. And another.

"Why did I let you talk me into this plan?!" He growled, pressing himself up against the door of the containment vessel. Another soldier joined him, trying to keep the lock in place.

"Because you value my opinion." The soldier replied breathlessly, and Shadow huffed a laugh before being sent staggering by a huge force hitting the door.

A soldier replaced him, keeping the door shut until he recovered. Another ear-shattering roar, and the door broke off its hinges, flying across the room and slamming into the wall.

From inside the containment vessel burst forth what could only be described as a creature of nightmares.

The scales covering the skin was dark, dark blue. It's eyes burned red, like fire, and the pupils were black as night itself. Serrated spines ran down its back and the length of the tail, which ended in a barbed point.

Then it unfurled its wings.

The wingspan was enormous, taking up half the room, and each of the wings was tipped with a lethal pure-white claw, sharp as a dagger and strong enough to tear through bone with ease.

Shadow watched, motionless, as the creature emerged from the container completely, and turned its head slightly to look around the entire room, probably trying to decide whether or not to eat them.

It bared its teeth in a vicious snarl, revealing a pitch black snake-like tongue. Nobody dared move. Slowly, Shadow held out a hand, palm facing down, in an attempt to calm the beast.

As it turned its gaze on him, the identity of the creature suddenly became clear. A wyvern. It let out a low growl, and its head snaked down to Shadow's eye level.

Averting his gaze to avoid agitating the wyvern any more, Shadow said softly "I have no plans to hurt you."

The wyvern tilted its head to one side and let out a sound that was almost like a purr. Somehow, Shadow knew the name of the wyvern. He didn't know how, but he did. Perfidus.

Latin for something, but he couldn't remember what.

"I have no plans to hurt you, Perfidus." He repeated, this time meeting the wyvern's unwavering gaze. The wyvern named Perfidus seemed to watch Shadow's every movement.

Perfidus moved closer, and Shadow sucked in a breath, sure he was about to get eaten. Then he felt warm breath, and opened his eyes to find himself staring into large red orbs of light.

Eye to eye. Trading secrets. Reading each other's souls and intentions. Perfidus' eyes showed hope and innocence; Shadow's eyes were close to unreadable.

At last, the staring contest was broken as Perfidus bowed his head in a gesture of acknowledgemnt. Tentatively, Shadow reached out a hand and placed it on the wyvern's head.

Nobody in the room was breathing, or so it seemed. Shadow looked up and said "Fetch every blacksmith we have. Perfidus here is going to need a big set of armor."