Freezing Wings

Chapter 28

It started as soon as we finished and scattered.

An un-godly screeching erupted from the Kymari city, collectively scaring us to death. It came from the north side, where their port was. I immediately shot into the air, my instincts taking the reins of my body and kicking me into the sky, high above what would have been the cloud cover.

Torn chunks of alien metal were tossed up and out of their city like, instead of being thousands of pounds of technology, they were a child's toys. The Kymari, who were either out of the city with us or in their homes, emerged, weapons appearing in their hands.

The female who had been near me disappeared, reappearing thirty feet higher up on the peak, and farther from whatever that thing was. We had just finished, and most of us were already halfway back to the mountain, and the rest were on their way. There were only five adults left who didn't leave, and most of them flew off at the first sign of danger, squawking like startled birds.

 I wasn't one of them.

I flapped my wings, flying over the valley, avoiding the debris chucked at me. A mushroom cloud of black smoke appeared over part of the city, right above where the metal was coming from, green fluid flowing over the snow. It obscured the source, as well as any incoming projectiles, making it near impossible to anticipate where the next missile was going to come from.

Small, blue blasts of energy, accompanied by large, golden blasts, disappeared into the smoke, furious snarls coming from the gloom. From my standpoint, nearly two hundred feet above the ground, I could see the entire scene, and it disgusted me.

When I was human, I could barely read words three inches in front of my face clearly without my glasses. Now, thanks to being turned into a dragon, not only did I have 20/20 vision, I had eyes that were like two high definition cameras, accentuating every detail to the upmost degree, revealing everything in my line of vision. This was both a blessing and a curse in this particular instance.

A large, hunched figure stood above the ruins of a stall, bits of green glass digging into it's skin and littering the ground around it. Black blood pulsed from the cuts, green fluid spraying from a broken container next to it.

The thing looked like something out of the dark corners of a comic, the entire thing misshapen and revolting, like a failed experiment with radiation. It's skin was a milky white, practically invisible next to the snow. As it moved, it's skin shifted, a mottled pattern revealing the thing below underneath it's skin. There were black veins and gray organs, wriggling in it's stomach, as if it was alive.

It's body was shaped like a lizard, walking on four feet. But, instead of having its weight distributed evenly over each leg, it was very top-heavy, with its shoulders and arms like oak trees, but its back feet and legs very flimsy in comparison.

Its face was lizard-like, a black plating obscuring most of it's features. The only part of it that I could make out through the mask were the eyes - a baleful red, and it's mouth. It's maw was full of dagger-like fangs, black bone glinting in the light, row upon row clashing in a chaotic manner.

Dark saliva sprayed from it's mouth, a guttural roar ripping through the air. I was still far from it, nearly half a mile from the city. The wind shifted, carrying a rancid stench, like a radioactive snakeskin soaked in sulfur. My snout wrinkled as I snarled into the air, a blazing fury coursing through my veins.

I'd barely had enough time to process the fact that it was there before my mind glitched out, a red haze covering my sight and my body moving on it's own. A surge of pure fury shot through my veins, accompanied with the violent eruption of hate in my heart. I couldn't seem to control my actions as my mind was shoved to the side, pure instinct and wrath taking the reins of my body.

It took me completely off guard, this new feeling. It was pure anger propelling me forward, appearing from deep in my soul, pushing all reason to the back of my mind. I had never seen this creature before, yet, I felt murder beating with my heart, screaming for death in my mind.

Even now, years later, I don't think I could have controlled myself at that moment. Even if I was half-dead, or in a coma, as long as I was alive, I would have woken up, and gone to kill that thing, even at my own detriment.

A roar ripped out of my lungs, like the war cry of a berserker, echoing through the mountain range.