PART 4 – LOGISTICS OPERATIONS CENTER

Finally, I could enjoy the flight without the disturbance of whistling projectiles or planes buzzing around me like pesky mosquitoes. It was a gratifying and unique experience I had never encountered before. Despite the pleasurable sensation, I still felt unease. I remained in an unknown place, unaware of the potential dangers that might lurk.

Before all this madness, I was an ordinary person following a predictable routine. My path was quite basic: from my parents' house to university and then back home. I didn't usually go out partying on weekends, and my friendships were limited, which might have seemed uncommon for a college student. In that sense, I was a somewhat boring individual. But now, I soared the skies with a beautiful woman in tow, dodging bullets as if we were in a sci-fi movie. However, the excitement I expected to feel wasn't what I had imagined. Had I completely transformed into something not quite human? The rationality and memories that make me human are my only solace.

"You're amazing," whispered the young woman, then added aloud, "We're close, start descending!"

As we approached our destination, I sensed the scent of several people and heard voices discussing our presence. Apparently, they had detected us for some time. It was challenging to go unnoticed with the enormous torch I had ignited in that forest. The smoke spread so much that it began to move with the wind and was visible from afar.

The voices debated fleeing, hiding, or fighting, but they couldn't reach an agreement. They didn't seem to have noticed their friend on my back. Furthermore, with the sun almost at its highest point, spotting a black dragon like a cloud in the sky wasn't difficult.

I decided to descend near a lake, by the trees. Elora said nothing. The location was at an intermediate distance from the camp, so as not to startle them with my imposing presence. I decided I would wait here. The woman got off my back and lay down on the grass. I approached the lake, using its surface as a mirror to examine myself.

My face and body were no longer human, which had been obvious for some time, but seeing it up close was striking. My scales gleamed in the dim light, and my eyes, deep and black as night, seemed to contain centuries of wisdom and power. My wings spread out, with dark membranes and a majestic span, projecting authority and magnificence.

The woman broke my reverie with her words:

"Thank you very much, you're incredible and very clever. You located the outpost camp without any trouble, and you defeated that aviator with great ingenuity."

I wasn't paying attention; I was too focused on the lake's reflection. Was this what I would be until the end of my days? My stomach began to ache, my head spun, and my reflection had multiplied by four. I couldn't suppress the thoughts, questions, memories, and feelings that came one after another.

"What's wrong with you?"

I started vomiting into that reflection, the liquid expelled from my mouth was yellowish and flowed like water from an open tap. At that moment, I didn't know it, but I was under a kind of emotion-suppressing spell during stressful episodes. It's part of a dragon's ability given by evolution for the survival of the species. That's why I learned to fly fast and came up with good ideas to escape not only from the cavalry but also from that plane.

I passed out and fell into the lake. If it hadn't been for the girl and her companions, I would have drowned, as apparently the water was deep enough to completely cover me.

When I woke up, I was chained to a moving vehicle, unable to move; the chains were more secure than the debris that had fallen on me. But I wasn't alone; someone was gently patting my head, and by the touch, I knew whose right hand it was.

"Grrrr," I growled in disgust.

The woman stopped caressing me and spoke:

"Sorry, but it was the only way to transport you. My mission was to capture the Drakontos egg from that secret facility. Your awakening wasn't part of the plan."

There was a brief silence as she thought about what to say next:

"However, thank you very much for saving me. I promise nothing bad will happen to you."

That was the last thing she said during the vehicle journey; she just kept stroking my head and neck until she fell asleep. Finally, as the sun was setting again, the truck stopped, and the doors opened.

The way I was restrained, I could only see forward, so the journey was really uncomfortable, and I wished I could stretch my legs every now and then. When a couple of people got on the truck, I thought another wish had come true, but it didn't turn out that way.

The woman woke up from the noise of the doors and approached the two men who boarded; she whispered something in their ears, and I could hear it perfectly well.

"Don't hurt him."

Everyone I met either wanted me alive or dead. It seems like I'm part of some plan that I'll eventually understand, or maybe never. The woman left the truck. The two men were dressed in dark blue, as if they were police, and they were about to take me out of the huge van. One went to the end where my tail was, and the other stayed where my head was. The man's hand began to burn with green fire, and he brought it close to my face.

"Ready over there?" asked the man with the flaming hand.

"Yes, and you?"

"I'm finishing sealing his mouth; I don't want to lose my hand."

"But it's unnecessary," he started laughing, "These are grade three magic ropes," he finally said.

"But you should never trust these creatures, especially not with ropes designed to tie up people, not, well, this," he gestured at me with both hands.

The man threw the green fire at me, and I closed my eyes reflexively. The fire stuck to my huge mouth, and if before I could only growl, now I couldn't even breathe.

"Hey, I think you're suffocating him."

"Sorry, that was my mistake," he stretched his right hand and removed the fire covering my nose, "There, it's time to get him out."

The man ignited his hands again and grabbed the chains that restrained me, starting to lift me.

"He's really heavy, don't we need more people for this load?" commented the man holding me from behind.

"I don't think so, or are you just a weakling? What would Sarán think if he saw you complaining?"

As if that comment bothered him a lot, the man from the back lifted me even higher than before. Both men got me off the truck as best they could and left me on the grass.

Once on the ground, several people approached the area. I heard them talking, and I recognized two voices. The first was the woman I had carried on my back. On the other hand, I only knew her voice from the outpost camp; she was the one who said we needed to remain hidden.

"It's a historic moment, don't you think? Not just because we captured a mythical creature of value and incalculable powers, but also because we stole from the human kingdom right under their noses."

Everyone presents began cheering. The woman seemed to hold a high position, so if I wanted to improve my situation, I would have to communicate with her. The woman revealed herself to me, reached out, and removed the fire covering my mouth.

"Please, what a lack of respect towards me as a mage," the woman shouted angrily. "Do you doubt me? Well, forget it, it's not time to fight; it's time to celebrate. We have a guest today."

But no one said anything, as the woman had freed me, and now everyone began discreetly stepping backward. Some remained in their place, but the majority were ready to run at any moment.

I stood up on all fours and stretched each limb to relax my muscles.

"Lieutenant General! Have you gone mad?" yelled an older man.

"What's going on? Don't you trust our military power? Weren't we chosen as the best for this mission? Or were you referring to our guest?"

The man was visibly affected by that woman's words, but he stayed in place, clenching his fists. The egocentric woman began walking in my direction. Everyone reached for their rifles and guns.

"Relax, our guest is someone reasonable. If he wanted to, he would have killed us all a long time ago. Elora told me how you saved that pilot; you're not going to harm us, am I wrong?"

I extended a claw from my foot and began writing on the ground. Soon, the ground was filled with words, unfortunately, only I could understand them.

"He's trying to communicate," said a soldier.

"Maybe he's sharpening his claws to tear us all apart," commented the one who sealed my mouth.

The message on the ground said in English: "I am human, I am not evil, and I do not intend to harm you." The woman approached to read the message.

"By the patterns, it could be a message, but I can't decipher its meaning. Could it be an ancient language?" the woman commented while stroking her chin.

Everyone present had pointed ears, like the first people I saw when I hatched, but only the horseback soldiers had normal ears, like the ones I had before I became this scaled creature. It wouldn't be possible that the present ones are the so-called "elves" from popular culture; they could also be "goblins," but they weren't green. Additionally, they all had green, blue, or red eyes, matching their hair colors.

She called someone and whispered in his ear: "Take note." The man grabbed a notebook from his back pocket and, with a pencil he had behind his ear, began writing what I had inscribed on the ground.

I was as still as I had ever been in my life by my own will. I was afraid that any action of mine would be seen as aggressive, and everyone would launch an attack. The tension in the air was palpable. My only option was to patiently wait for a resolution, whatever it might be, as long as they didn't attempt to harm me physically.

Since everyone spoke English, or at least that's what I heard, I thought they might have been able to read my message and were considering what to do next. Also, as everyone was dressed as military personnel, I believed it was a hierarchical bureaucratic matter, typical of the army, given the slowness of such resolution. After all, it's not every day a dragon appears right in front of your own eyes.

The wait felt eternal, not only because everyone was staring at me with their hands on the gun trigger, but also because I could hear some whispering about either fleeing or killing me. A woman appeared with a very strange-looking phone and handed it to the lieutenant general. She took it with both hands, as it was quite large, and the woman whispered in her ear —"It's our empress." Then she silently departed, just as she had appeared.

The conversation between them was quite monotonous; I could hear both of them with an unprecedented clarity. I felt like a voyeur every time I heard others' conversations; a most curious sensation.

"Yes! I'm Lieutenant General Mibreg, it's an honor to have you here and hear your voice."

"Stop wasting time with so many compliments. I've heard from the State Council that you have a Drakontos in your possession," she spoke excitedly through the phone about my discovery.

"For now, yes."

"What do you mean? Be clear, Lieutenant," she responded firmly.

"I mean that for now, it hasn't escaped us and remains submissive to us."

"If it's tied up, I want you to release it. It could be our ultimate weapon to end this war; we need it on our side, and if not... well," the woman on the other end seemed to harbor many doubts and didn't finish what she was about to say.

"Don't worry, I've released it. I judged that it's someone intelligent and aware of its situation. Also, it's trying to communicate with us, only we don't understand those strange letters or what they mean entirely."

"If it's true that it's someone intelligent..." she took a few seconds to speak and then continued, "I trust your ability to make decisions, and I'll believe in you once again. I want to speak with him."

"Alright."

Without hesitation, she began approaching me with the phone in hand. Since I knew what she was going to do, having heard the whole conversation, I remained still, waiting for her. Everyone around me seemed scared by Mibreg's actions and seemed to want to say something, but they remained silent, either because they knew who the person on the phone was or because they owed respect to their officer. No one spoke, although, just in case, they gripped their weapons tighter.

"Mr. Drakontos, I wanted to apologize for all the mistreatment we've given you. If you feel you must do so to quench your anger, you can have my body, but I have one last favor to ask," she brought the phone toward me with both hands. "I want you to listen to what my sister has to say."

Who does she think I am, a cannibal, a murderer, the evil on earth? Even if I were angry about the mistreatment, I would never harm anyone. We can always discuss things and reach an agreement, as long as the other party is willing, as it is now. Besides, for sisters, they don't seem to drop formalities when communicating, although I don't care much; I just need to gain the favor of that so-called empress, who seems to be the one in charge of this matter.

I snorted in approval and lowered my head toward the small phone, small from my perspective. I growled to make myself heard by the woman, and she began speaking.

"It's an honor for me to be here and now to be heard by you, oh, great Drakonte. I am Empress Korón Ba Sasa, and I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the entire empire for the mistreatment you had to endure because of us," she paused briefly.

I imagined her bowing on the other end of the phone during that strange pause.

"This isn't how I should say things, it's not proper for an empress to communicate so improperly in front of someone as important as you, oh, great Drakonte. However, I can't trust you, as you know I have an empire to protect, and I cannot allow someone who has the capacity to destroy it to enter.

I think she's giving me too much credit; the truth is, I'm not so big that I could destroy buildings, maybe to eat people and burn small forests like in the past, but it's something that would never even cross my mind to do.

"On the other hand, if you could give me your word of non-aggression, we could meet in person to handle these matters more efficiently. Because I've been told you can't communicate in our language, but you can understand it, and it's my responsibility to propose what I want."

What does she want to propose to me? Why doesn't she want to tell me over the phone? Is it a way to check if I was someone they could reason with? Is she afraid of me and wants to verify that I'm not so dangerous? There was no way to find out, so all I could do was keep doing what I had been doing since they untied me, listening.

"I want to talk to the lieutenant general. I need to discuss something with her."

I moved the phone with my nose and remained waiting. However, I found it strange that she referred to her sister by her military rank and Mibreg didn't do the same; a rather suspicious attitude on the lieutenant's part.

"I want to see him in person," she finally spoke to her sister.

"As you command."

And that's how an ordinary person like me, at least before the scales, would meet someone from royalty in person for the first time in his life, not through photos or videos on the internet or history books.