Surge

I watched the electricity surge through the entire system before the lights shut off.

"What was that?" Goliath had stepped back from a sparking control panel.

"Lightning," I looked up at him, "Sorry. I forgot this whole place is metal."

I looked around slowly. Something was odd about this place.

"Does this room look funny too you?" I looked up at Goliath again.

"I can't see," Goliath looked at me, "The only thing I can see are those big eyes of yours."

"Oh right," I jumped up over the railing, "I forgot that I can see in the dark. I can help you get out of here."

"How do you forget that you can see in the dark?" Goliath stood up cautiously.

"This whole place is lit up twenty four seven," I grabbed the duffle that had spare uniforms for me from next to Goliath, "I don't really use my night vision. I think I use my infrared vision more."

"Infrared?" Goliath looked at me, "I didn't know you could use infrared."

I shrugged. I created a ball of lightning just off the tips of my talons. It lit up the within five feet of it. Giving Goliath a point of reference. I circulated lightning around the whole room slowly.

It only lit up the seats in the back rows. It made it so Goliath could see what he was doing as he booted everything back up slowly. I took advantage of the space while I had it. Jumping around the room. Goofing around with the amount of space I had while I had it.

I probably scratched up a few of the seats, but I really didn't care as I flapped my wings playfully. It didn't matter if I was a bit awkward in my dragon body since Goliath couldn't see me. Eventually my human body would become the one I rarely brought out. Wait. I stopped.

I can mimic the things I eat. Why not test that out? I switched into the first form I could think of. Basilisk. Having no legs was weird.

I didn't like it. I released the transformation spell, and went back to normal. I was starting to worry about my mana level when the lights came back on. I let all the little lightning trails I was maintaining die out.

"Do you know how much it takes to overload this place?" Goliath frowned.

"No clue," I cocked my head with a smile, "I'd imagine it's a pretty good amount."

"You dumped enough voltage in this place to power a city or two," Goliath gave me a funny look.

I was glad I wasn't drinking any water. I would have spit it out. My jaw actually dropped. I snapped it closed with a click of my teeth.

"That much?" I dropped my head looking at him curiously, "I wasn't even trying."

It was Goliath's turn to be stunned.

"What do you mean you weren't even trying?" Goliath asked.

"That only cost me about ten mana," I smiled nervously, "It cost me more to make those sparklers so you can see."

"You can't make an attack like that normally," Goliath seemed curious.

"No," I shook out the tension in my scales, "Anything else like that would have cost my whole reserve."

"A breath attack is stronger than your normal spells," Goliath looked thoughtful for a second, "Do you have any other breath attacks?"

"I've only ever tried one," I snorted, "But it's not really an attack."

"Show me," Goliath didn't bother with opponents this time.

Just setting up a target wall for me to aim at.

"You might want to plug your ears," I warned him as I jumped down to square up.

Goliath didn't ask. He just did. I inhaled slowly, and then roared like I'd done with the wolves. Only this time I didn't restrict the air down to a level that wouldn't hurt anyone. The wall was blown away easily by the air pressure alone.

"Whoops," I watched the destroyed wall dissolve back into the ground slowly, "I didn't realize I was restricting it that much before."

Goliath didn't hear me at all. I rushed up to him, and healed his bleeding ears quickly with my healing springs spell.

"I think that's enough for one day," I grimaced at my own stupidity.

I tried to ignore that Goliath was there at all, and switched forms quickly. Getting dressed even faster than I'd switched. I felt the exhaustion of switching right away, and almost lost my footing.

"Does that spell drain you that much?" Goliath was cleaning the sides of his face carefully.

"The transformation?" I sat down with a huff, "Yes. The roar? No. Channeling mana into my lungs, and changing it into elemental energy is almost as easy as breathing normally."

"That does line up with the dragon mythology," Goliath pulled up a few files on his clipboard as he sat down a few seats from me, "Can you do it in your human form?"

"I don't know," I snorted, "I never tried."

"Why don't you try now?" Goliath raised an eyebrow.

"Too dangerous," I relaxed back into my seat, "I don't care if this place is sound proofed. I'm pretty sure someone heard that."

"Siding with caution," Goliath smirked, "Not a bad plan."

We both sat in silence for a little while.

"You're right," Goliath suddenly spoke up.

"About what?" I debated on getting up, and going back to my room.

"Human nature," Goliath tensed, "Human's would kill something like you simply because you're an unknown."

"I know," I focused on him.

"Mob mentality would have an army rammed down your throat in five seconds flat," Goliath frowned, "Just because of what you are. One of these days, if you keep growing stronger like you have been, you'll be strong enough to take down enemies that we couldn't face with an army."

"So what's your point?" I didn't like this conversation.

Sure getting stronger was my goal, but hiding was another main goal at the moment.

"I thought about killing you when I saw your eyes," Goliath's frown deepened, "I hesitated because I still saw you as a kid. You've never hurt anyone without a good reason, and I wanted to kill you just because you existed. I didn't even know I hated Archaics that much."