Sneak Peak from the Middle of the Book
Great, just great. My first mission and already I’ve blown it. I hope that they don’t find out who I am, or I’ll be in a world of trouble. Oh…right…I guess I’m already in a world of trouble: the world of the dragons. But maybe this can be an opportunity for us. We were already planning to capture this lab, so why not I use this as a way to find out what they know?“Well look who’s awake at last,” a rough, sarcastic voice reverberated through her mind as Linet opened her eyes.
“Where…am I?” Linet’s voice sounded foreign to her, and her head pounded. But as her mind focused, she could remember more of what happened to her. There had to be drugs in that stupid dart they stuck me with, she thought, stretching her aching limbs.
As she found her bearings, she took in her somewhat strange surroundings. It appeared that she was in a glass cage of sorts, about eight feet by eight feet by eight feet. The area around the cage was sparsely decorated, and everything was an almost blinding shade of white. The only furniture in the room was the cage, a single chair, and a desk covered in papers.
“You are in Fort Mysteri, a lab for magic experiments. We are the ones responsible for everything the Society knows about dragons, the scum of the Earth.” He spat out the word dragons as if he detested the way it felt on his tongue. “By the way, you should not view this as an interrogation, but a mere conversation," the man added after a moment’s hesitation.
“Really?” Linet rolled her eyes. “Then what am I doing here? For I am far from a dragon.”
“We don’t think so, and if you are telling the truth we will know soon enough.” He smirked, clearly not believing her. "Believe me, we have plenty of ways to know if you are telling the truth.”
“So... what do you know about those mysterious creatures so far?” When he didn’t respond she exclaimed, “C’mon! Who am I gonna tell anyway? I’m stuck in a cage in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Very well. So far, we have discovered that dragons are classified by the element that they control. There are water, fire, earth, air, and ice dragons, and no dragon has the ability to control a non-elemental substance.” Linet smiled slightly at this, knowing how wrong he was. “Fire dragons are the most common, then there’s ice, air, earth, and water is the rarest. So far, we have only found one dragon, a male, that has control over two elements, earth and water, but nothing else. I have yet to find anyone else that can do the same, so I have to assume he is a mere rarity.” He took a heavy and long breath before adding slowly, as if speaking to a child,“There, you’re all caught up. Are you happy now?”
“No not really. I mean, I am standing in a cage. How would you feel if you were me, you little piece of shit?” Linet asked with as much sass and sarcasm as she could muster, purposely trying to rile him up. “If I were out there…”
“Aw, is somebody throwing a tantrum? Are you gonna suck your thumb like a little baby? Should I go get your mommy?” He laughed and rapped on the glass. “This glass can withstand a nuclear bomb strike, and there is no way that you can hope to blast through it, no matter how powerful a sorceress you think you are.”
“But it hasn’t really been tested, right? I mean, if the queen of the dragons was to try to blast through it, do you think she could?” Linet asked, treading on dangerous waters and smiling from ear to ear with pleasure.
“I don’t know, but I do know one thing: if the queen of the dragons was stranded in that cage like you are, I would have something much stronger and more durable than that glass separating us.”
“What, are you scared of her or something, you big baby?” Linet asked.
“No!” The man answered a little too quickly. “Where on Earth did you get that idea?” Quickly changing the subject, he added, “Now that I remember it, I haven’t had the pleasure of acquiring your name.”
“Nor I yours,” Linet said with a smirk.
“Cocky, aren’t you? Very well, my name is Hanson.”
“I can’t say it is nice to meet you, but my name is Savannah,” Linet lied.
Just then, their conversation was interrupted when a huge, broad-shouldered, giant of a man entered the room. “Hanson, sir, I must speak with you. I have just received dire news!”
“Not now, Robert. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of an interrogation? I told you not to interrupt me.”
“And here I was thinking it was a mere conversation.” Linet laughed softly.
“You…are not helping.”
“But sir, a dire situation is unfolding!” Robert threw his arms up in the air in frustration.
“Unless someone is dying or the prisoners are escaping, leave and do not bother me again.” Hanson said through his teeth.
“But sir! We are completely surrounded! There are even enemy soldiers scaling the cliffs at our rear!” Robert bust out, almost losing breath from keeping it in so long.
“What?! Why didn't you tell me?!” Hanson started pacing, trying to figure out what to do.
“I did…” Robert trailed off, shaking his head slightly.
“Why don’t you tell me something useful for a change. Do you know what the enemy’s numbers are?” Hanson tapped his foot repeatedly against the hard, stone surface.
“Yes, uh, there are about 5,000 in the front…um…2,500 to the left flank…uh…2,500 to the right flank…and 1,000 of the enemy’s elite scaling the cliff to our rear.”
“Very well,” Hanson sighed, “It seems we will just have to make the best of the situation. I mean, it's pretty obvious that with our limited supply of food and with our meager number of 2,500 men, we won't last for long. Therefore, we must continue working. Assemble the men, and wait until they attack.” Robert nodded and left the room. As soon as he did, Hanson turned once more to Linet. “Now we can get down to business. You have been procrastinating this long enough. I will gather the other scientists, and we will start the tests when I return.”
Almost half-an-hour passed before Hanson returned, and when he finally did, his entourage consisted of a half-dozen nerdy-looking guys with long needles. “We are ready.” He proclaimed, purposely making his voice lower to sound more intimidating.
Linet shifted inside her glass cage. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“Oh, nothing too painless, I promise.” Hanson said, a smile forming on his lips. Linet cringed slightly, and, knowing that if they had needles they would have to get inside the cage to inject her, she readied herself to escape. Sadly, the opportunity never came, for the nerdy guys inserted the serum that was inside one of the syringes into a machine, which then poured the serum into a thin tube that ran from outside the cage to a machine located on the inside of the cage. The machine inside the cage injected her with the liquid, and the world around her faded into nothing.
As soon as she opened her eyes to this strange, new world, her stomach dropped from the sickening sensation that she was falling. She flailed, but there was nothing to grab onto and slow her fall.
Focusing her mind, she concentrated on the air surrounding her, willing it to cushion her. It had worked before, when she was in a situation such as this, and she knew that it would work again. Linet kept falling for a few more seconds, but the all at once: it stopped. She stayed there, suspended in the air, for what seemed like hours. It was so peaceful, but then reality had to set in, and Linet’s mind was brought back to the cage in the bright white room.
“Congratulations! You’re an air dragon!” Hanson announced after a few minutes conferring with his colleagues.
“I…am?” Linet faked confusion, knowing full well the powers she possessed.
Hanson breathed deeply and let out a huge sigh, as if to calm himself down, before replying. “Yes. That was the whole point of the test. Now, we will lock you up and -”
“Wait!” As Hanson started to turn around, Linet tried to stall him the best she could. “What if I have control over another element?”
“Are you admitting that you do?” His voice seemed to jump half an octave as he spoke.
“No, not at all.” Linet said, barely containing the smile trying to emerge
Somehow managing to contain his excitement, he straightened his back and put forth a very fake formal air. “Very well, you have caught my attention, child.” He motioned for the other scientists to perform another test on her. They held up a syringe with brown liquid in it, and a syringe with dark blue liquid in it, silently asking which one to use. Hanson pointed at the blue liquid, and the test began. Once the blue liquid went through a series of machines, she was injected with it and her world began to fade away.
Linet opened her eyes to a world of ice and snow. She felt herself slipping, and there was nothing she could do to stop herself from falling into the frigid water. Within seconds, she could feel the chilling embrace of hypothermia start to set in. Knowing there was no time to waste, and that the scientists at the lab would discover the true extent of her powers eventually, Linet decided to give them a show. She rubbed her hands together; this would be fun.
Concentrating, she melted the ice around her head with a blast of fire. Then, she forced the air above her to encase her body in a thin bubble, and rocketed to the surface. Gasping for breath, she made the air around her bring the whole of her body just a few feet above the surface. Once she was suspended in midair, Linet willed the ice that was floating all around her to gather under her feet. She snapped her fingers, and the air let her drop, where she fell onto the ice. Moving the water with her mind, Linet formed a wave that sent her back to the snow-covered land. Once there, she parted the earth, creating a small underground room for herself.
But once she jumped into the room, the world disappeared to reveal Hanson’s gaping mouth. “You…have the powers of all five dragons.” He said in awe and disbelief. A movement in the corner of the room caught Linet’s eye. One of the scientists noticed it as well, but before he could speak, a shadowed hand pulled him into the darkness. With a slice only heard by those with the most sensitive of ears, his throat was cut. His lifeless body fell to the floor with a thunderous crash.
“Who’s next?” A melodic voice echoed through the chamber as the lights flickered eerily. The rest of the scientists whimpered in horror, as the room was engulfed in darkness. “How about…you!” The voice said as a scientist screamed. The sound of scraping was heard, followed by screams of pain. The lights flickered back on, but for a split second, as Linet saw a shadowed figure choking Hanson and yet another scientist's mangled body lying in disarray near him.
“Enough!” Linet said, as she blasted through the glass, sending chunks of it flying across the room and engulfing the area in light. The figure froze, then as if by a breeze, she vanished into the shadows.
“Next time, Hanson,” The voice snarled, as it echoed through the demolished room.
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