Dragon in Hiding (Book Two in the Dragon Insurgent Series)

Chapter 2: Sudden Flight

Sudden Fight

Mr. Sumter had been planning a trip to Sumter Corp. with his family for the last year. It had to be planned that far in advance because Sumter Corp. ran on that time-scale. To even try and plan it a month in advance would have been impossible, because the schedule was so packed. Even though I had only been at their house a few weeks, Josiah and his father agreed that it would be a good experience for me to join them. Little did Mr. Sumter know that his own son was manipulating him into letting the only escaped dragon into his headquarters. It would be his last mistake if my family had anything to say about it, but I was not going to let that happen. I knew that Mr. Sumter's men had not been able to talk to my parents or sister from the reports, mainly because they were almost entirely under sedation. To do anything otherwise would have been suicide.

Josiah and I had a plan to get the last password. We would trick him into thinking there was a problem in the bay were my parents were being held, and Josiah would cut all communications to the area. The only option would be to go down and check for himself, allowing me to follow him right to my family. We left the house at about eight in the morning, being that it would take most of the day to tour the complex. We traveled for about ten miles when all of a sudden the car was knocked onto two wheels as a second car ran into us. It stopped us dead and destroyed the engine. We had no choice but to abandon the car, and right into the waiting hands of whoever had set this trap.

We piled out of the car, and Mr. Sumter pushed Alicia and Josiah between him and the car. Mrs. Sumter was obviously terrified, but she bit her lip and stayed silent. Around the car were about twenty men, each armed with some kind of firearm. The one in front of us stepped forward, and I had a weird sense of de ja vú. He spoke through a mask, and now that I had noticed, they all had the same masks on. They were blank white faces with only a hole for the mouth. The eye holes were covered in a fine mesh, so we couldn't see their eyes.

"Mr. Sumter." he said, "I do believe you have some car problems. We would be happy to help you get to your job, provided you pay us ten billion dollars."

Mr. Sumter stood tall, "And why would I pay such a ridiculous amount?"

I could hear the smile in the man's voice, "Because if you don't then the children will be shot where they stand. If you agree we will take you and your wife to Sumter Corp., but the children will stay with us. Any foolish antics will result in their immediate execution."

I heard Mrs. Sumter gasp and try and contain a sudden burst of curses. It seemed only the threat of her children being shot held her back. I wasn't going to let this bunch of thugs threaten my friends, so I stepped forward, stopping about halfway between the kids and the leader. I noticed a slight hesitation before the leader spoke up, and I took that to mean he had not expected me. From what I could tell, they had expected only two kids, not three.

"And who is this brave young fellow?" he asked sarcastically, "Some long-lost son we didn't know about?"

Before Mr. Sumter could answer, I spoke in a voice filled with venom, "I'm the one who's going to kill you and every one of your men if you don't back off right now."

The leader laughed like he had just heard the funniest joke ever, "Is that supposed to make my scared? An unarmed boy verses twenty armed men? You would be dead before you could take one step."

Mr. Sumter called out behind me, "Aaron, don't be a fool! You can't win this fight and you know it!"

I called over my shoulder, "The only fool is this clown. I am going to win, and he is going down. Josiah?"

"Yeah?" he called back.

"When I let loose on these guys, get your family to safety. Got it?"

"Ok." he said.

I didn't give the men time to think on my statement. I let loose my dragon roar, and shifted into my true form. As I grew in size, I made sure not to hit my friends with my tail as it appeared. While I transformed, the leader let loose a choice string of curse words, somehow fitting in the words to attack. I could feel as bullets started to hit me, but my scales had grown to a thickness that they simply bounced off. I turned my head toward Mr. Sumter and his family to make sure they were not hurt, and saw that everyone but Josiah was staring at me. Josiah was able to push them out of harm's way, but only by sheer force of will. I turned my attention back to the men surrounding us, and I quickly took half of them out with a tail whip. The rest soon found out it is not a good idea to get too close to a dragon when it's angry. My flame turned another seven into piles of ash, and the remaining scampered away in terror.

Only when they had all gone did I settle, once again checking to see if the Sumters were unhurt. Assured that they were not harmed, I shifted back into my human form, and walked up to the destroyed car. Just as I was getting within ten feet of them, Mrs. Sumter stood up and placed herself in front of her children.

"Not a step closer." she said with a shaking voice, "I don't know what you are, and I don't care. I just know that you are not coming near my children."

Josiah spoke up in a much calmer voice, "Its ok mom. Aaron is just looking to rescue his family. He traveled here to find them and get them out." He walked past his mother and stood next to me, "I trust him with my life, and had he not saved us, we might all be dead."

I could see the battle going on in her head, it was evident in her eyes. Part of her wanted to get her child away from the creature that had just killed and scared off twenty men, and the other part was telling her that in all the time I spent with them, I had never even hinted at a violent tendency towards the children. After a hand being placed on her shoulder by her husband, she finally relented.

"I still don't like the idea of having a lizard standing next to me in line," she said, "but given that you did save us, I'll let it go."

"He's not a lizard mom." Josiah said, "He's a dragon. His family is the ones who are being kept inside the deep levels of Sumter Corp. right now."

Mr. Sumter now looked confused, "But the creatures inside Sumter Corp. are simple beasts, unable to think of anything accept violence."

"That is because all father wants to do is break his wife and daughter out of the prison they are being kept in." I said, "Wouldn't you feel the same way if your family was being locked in a room and sedated every second thought?"

A look of clarity broke out on Mr. Sumter's face, "I had never realized that anything besides a human could have such complex thoughts." He looked at me, "I need to know. Can we repair the damage we have caused to your family?"

I nodded, "All you need to do is sedate them until they can be moved, then bring them outside into an open space. Once there I can use my true form so I can prevent father from attacking when he wakes up."

"And if he still attacks?" Mr. Sumter asked.

"Then I will do what I can to protect you from him, but I cannot guarantee anything." I said, "You can ask Elli about having to trust me. She was the only one who was allowed into our cave. She was betrayed just as much as we were by the other men in the exploration group."

A look of recognition crossed his eyes, "Elli as in Elena? I know her. She was the leader of the main expedition but was dismissed because she was considered to have been driven crazy by her findings. The entire time we talked she spoke of the dragons as if they had feelings and could communicate. We dismissed her report out of hand. We never thought that anything could be considered human in reference to intelligence."

"Then I suggest you listen to her more often." I said, "If she hadn't won my trust, the expedition would have never found us to begin with."

We discussed the finer details of how we were going to free my family, but it would all come down to whether I could stop father from attacking in time. I hoped that I wouldn't need to attack him in order to stop him.