Freezing Wings

Chapter 38

{Riland's POV} 

The ice was a deep blue color, the color of the deep ocean here on earth,  but transparent enough for me to figure out what it was holding. From what I could tell, it was a chunk of skull, white bone stained with black blood frozen in the ice. 

All around me, there was pieces of it, hidden between the huge tracks left by the dragons and whatever it was. The mixture of red and black blood made the snow reek of death and rot, and Kymari were everywhere, each gathering samples of blood and frozen flesh from the ground.

Far off to my left, there were two craters, caused by the two dragons that had killed the thing that was scattered around me. They had already been taken away, and their injuries were being cared for at the hospital, before they were to be transported to a separate pen. 

The pure fact that the dragons were still alive was a scientific anomaly, and we wanted to study them for a bit. We were going to let them go at some point, but for now we would monitor their condition, not only to gather data, but also to let them recover.

Their reaction to it had collectively caught us all off guard. It was the first time we had ever seen them to attack something else, or even be violent. Whether it was a rivalry between the species or a problem between the six specifically, we didn't know. All we knew was that the moment they saw each other, they began to fight, with no regard to the ones around them.

The two sides had practically ripped each other apart, and from the beginning they had gone for the kill. If one was weaker than the other, they would have died, and this was shown by the scattered remains of their corpses around me. The thing was weaker than the dragons, even two on one, and they had paid the price for putting their lives on the line. 

However, the dragons had not gotten out of the fight unscathed. The vets that had appeared onsite had said that each had lost at least 25% of their blood, more than enough to kill them, and each had both multiple broken bones. The way they had not only stayed alive but stayed conscious was - according to science - impossible. And not only had they stayed conscious, but they had also been fighting, without losing any vigor. 

It was something we had never seen with any other species on Earth, and not only wanted to study it, but also make sure they healed correctly. This was not only our home, but theirs too, and over the seven years their presence had become one that was looked forward to. For them to die when we could help was something none of us wanted to happen.

 Not only that, but at the time we saw their existence similar to that of an endangered species, due to them being a population of less than a hundred. So long as we could, we would at least attempt to keep the race alive, and hence their being taken into our care.  

After picking up a grand sum of twenty hunks of skull - and only skull, it was all in one place - from around me, my communicator vibrated on my wrist, signaling a message. I rarely, if ever, got a message from those who actually had my communicator number, so it was most likely important. I opened it up, a small hologram of words appearing in front of my face.

My boss had already been notified and was back at the embassy, interrogating the Trillip and its crew. The message was not from someone here, but instead from one of the cities far to the south. Word travelled fast, and nearly every city on the continent had at least gotten a report of what had happened.

"The animals involved in the altercation seem to have a connection to a particular species that resides in City A4O9M, and there will be a report on your desk by sunset. In addition, there will be an officer sent to that city within the next five days, once the transfer is approved."

The message was from my brother who lived down south. He  had a position very similar to mine and would automatically be notified when something like this happened. They were probably sending someone up here to verify what happened, as well as get a comprehensive evaluation of the incident. 

However, I didn't know why they did. At the time even we, the ones who had just watched it go down, had no idea what was going on outside of what was obvious. But that was none of my business. 

After reading the message, I sent a short thank you back and went back to the embassy to notify my boss. On my way there, I stopped by the hospital. 

As soon as I walked in, one of the nurses stopped me in the hallway and directed me outside, to the back field. It turned out that the dragons were too big to fit inside, so they just set up a large tent behind the hospital before they were to be transported to the pen that was being built.

[Think like the tents that a circus is held in, just a bit bigger.]

Inside, there was a perfect example of organized chaos. It was a giant hub of activity centered around these two giant animals. Machines whirred over the sound of voices as nurses, doctors, and interns went everywhere, each with a set mission in mind.

Some were in surgical gear; stitching the scales back together, others were monitoring the dragons vitals, some were assisting the surgeons and getting reports done, while others were running around looking for their already low supply of gauze. The amount of cloth needed to wrap the wings and neck of these two was astronomical, evidenced by the many empty boxes.

I just stood near the exit, looking over it all. From what I could make out from the crowd, the dragons were side by side, passed out cold. Their breathing was steady and strong, so loud that I could easily hear it over all the ruckus. A large face mask covered both of their features, an IV attached to their forelimbs.

I watched for a while before I walked away, towards the embassy. There was no real reason for me to stay, and I still needed to work out what exactly had happened, so I left.

The next time I saw them was four days later.