The Dragon Paladin

Chapter 5

It was three days later now, and my isolation time was over. As I make my way walking slowly back to the place, my mind is racing at the speed of 5 thoughts a second. Will they recognize me as the one who nearly killed a person?  The half-breed? The thought of being half-dragon, it scares me. Will they throw me out? Will Ayla and Jondalar still accept me? I know they knew who I was, and it scared them. I'm standing just outside the settlement now, my frozen blood pumping through me. I didn't need to eat while I was hiding, but now that my heat is over- that's what I'm calling it, I figure I'm an Omega- I've taken from nearly every fruit tree and pulled up every thistle plant on my way. The roots can be eaten like carrots. But now what? All I can do is walk in and hope for the best.

As I'm looking around for either Ayla or Jondalar, I notice that people are avoiding me. The children are running away, the adults are giving me a wide berth and wary glances. This sets me on edge. I finally spot Ayla at the edge of the camp with a basket of something in her hands. I go up to her quietly and kneel in beside her, waiting for her to finish talking to the other person. She jumped when she saw me. This was something Ayla taught me about women of the clan. If they wanted to get a man's attention, she should kneel in front of him until he tapped her on the shoulder, the signal that he'd acknowledged her and she could speak. I was waiting for this signal. Instead of giving it, Ayla walked away with the person she was talking to. She knows I knew she knew I was there! So was this it? Would she really not hear me out? I should have known. They all recognize me.

"Ayla." I hear her turn around and I stand up to face her. "Do you hate me?" It's like she couldn't see me, but rather through me. I look behind her and see the men grabbing their weapons: all manner of spears, harpoons. I don't like the look in their eyes. Why are they coming towards me? My heart stops when I realize that they're after me. They think I'm an evil spirit. I turn and run as fast as I can, the hunters hot on my tail. Spears are whizzing all around me as I try and lose them over  the open fields, one very nearly catching me. My heart is pounding in my chest, my ears ringing. I need to lose them soon, I've only just come out of heat and hibernation, my body is still weak from the fever and lack of food. I feel my arms growing again and gladly drop to all fours, putting in an extra burst of speed.

I don't know how long I'm running, but at this point it's only Ayla and Jondalar who are still chasing me, on their horses. This is bad. They have crossbows. I'm hoping for a break soon. I look to my right, and spot a path heading down the wall towards to river. This would be a bad idea, because I would have to spend my time looking for where to run and I'd be easier to shoot. Not far to my left is a wood. It would be a good idea if it were down by the river, giving me a place to hide. But it's not, and I wouldn't be able to run. I mean I would, but I'd just be making a lot of noise and would be easier to track. Think, Ellie, think! An arrow whizzing past my ear makes my decision for me, and I take the turn leading down to the river. There's sure to be a cave I can hide in at some point, right? Right? I hear a thundering behind me, and take a look over my shoulder. They followed me?! What is it gonna take to shake them? The best I can do until then is just zigzag out of their range. Crap, they're gaining on me! Someone, help me!

??? P.O.V

There was a strange sound coming from somewhere outside the cave, something like horses chasing some kind of beast. Poor thing, it's crying for help. In a split second that seemed to stretch, it ran past. It looked in at me and my heart leaped into my throat. I saw a hybrid dragon. She's a scared, tired omega, fresh out of heat. And she needs help. Once she's passed, two horses carrying armed riders rushed past. I quickly grab one of the guns, jumped into one of the smaller shuttles and flew out after them. This planet, Doniira, looks so much like Earth that sometimes I forget it's not. 

The pod zooms out of the cave and soon I've overtaken the riders. A couple of blasts from the gun pointing from the back and they give up the chase, turning tail. The hybrid is pretty fast, though. I swing the pod around and open the back door. She just swerves out of the way and keeps running. The look on her face was pure terror. Panic attack. I groan inwardly and try again, with significantly more success. As she tries to dodge a second time, I grab the collar of her shirt and pull her in, closing the door. She bangs on the door, screeching, as I head back to the cave. I park the pod, and slowly walk over to the now silent hybrid.

"Hey." I keep my voice low and soft, so as not to frighten her. "It's gonna be okay." I kneel in front of her. "You're gonna be okay. You're safe now." She starts making weird noises, that almost sound like words.

"I have no idea what you're saying," I tell her. "It just sounds like growls and grunts."

She stops trying and crawls into herself. Hunters. Ruthless, merciless. I keep asking my brother if we could start wiping them out, and his answer is always no. My team sent us here to look for a weapon, but we haven't found it yet.

I open the door, and the hybrid slinks out. She  curls up by the fire. I wish I could communicate with her somehow. Then I remember something I read in a book my brother found. The Fury species would rather work with another species, than fight it. Which is why they're so hard to find. The local colonies have been hunted almost to extinction, save for a few. They've learned that people bring death, so they fight to protect themselves. Well, let's hope that this works.