Chapter 11: Dragon’s Fury

The men surrounding Aeris laughed, some of them making jokes about Maggie’s reaction. As she stared at Maggie’s body, she felt a strange throb in her temple as the voices around her faded. It increased to an agonizing beating making her feel as if her head was going to split open. She wasn’t bothered by the pain. Even as everything around her faded to black, even as the pain in her temple caused her white-hot agony, the image of Maggie’s corpse stood out in her mind.

They killed her. Maggie had done nothing wrong and they gunned her down. They took her away, and for what? Neither she nor Maggie had anything of value, and even if they had stolen her, Aeris was registered. It wouldn’t take long for Master Aaron to track her down. She had no idea what they wanted, but did they have to shoot Maggie? They killed her as if it were nothing.

The leader of the mercenaries leveled his gun at her and said something, but she heard nothing. All she felt was the burning rage within her. They would know what that felt like, to be treated like their lives were worthless as if everything were a game. Yes, she would play their game, and one way or another, she intended to make sure they would never play that game again.

The moment Aeris felt a hand on her back, she spun, roaring in outrage and slashing with her claws. She took off the man’s leg just below the knee in a single strike. The mercenary uttered a high-pitched scream of pain as he lost his balance and fell over.

Aeris ignored him and leaped onto the other mercenary. Unable to support her weight, he fell to the ground, her on top of him. She sank her fangs into his throat, reveling in the bitter metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She shook her head savagely, the sweet sound of tearing flesh filling her ears.

A booming gunshot rang out, but the shot hit the ground next to her. Not that it mattered. She didn’t fear their guns. One way or another she was going to make them pay.

“What are you doing?!” the leader cried. “If you shoot her, we don’t get full price on those scales!”

“But she’s—” the other man began.

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Aeris spun around and fired a stream of ice at the man. The mercenaries near him leaped out of the way, but he didn't move in time. The ice froze his limbs. He screamed as his blood vessels burst. Aeris leaped over to the man and struck his near-frozen body with her tail. His bones cracked easily and he was flung into the nearby tree. He fell to the ground like a limp doll. Aeris froze his head with her ice breath then stomped on it with both forelegs. His frozen skull easily gave way under her weight.

“Oh, fuck this!” one of the other mercenaries cried. “Shoot her!”

Aeris spun again, sweeping the area with her ice breath, but taking care not to hit Maggie’s body laying on the ground. Most of the other mercenaries sought cover behind the nearby trees. Two unlucky ones were caught in Aeris’ attack and suffered the same fate as their friend. Their bodies fell over like large dolls, dead before they hit the ground.

One of the mercenaries tried to attack from her blind spot, but she heard his footsteps on the now ice-covered ground. She swept her tail across the ground, tripping the man and sending him face-first into the icy dirt. She leaped onto the man's back and tore at his body with her claws until he stopped screaming.

Another shot rang out, this one narrowly missing her head and striking a nearby tree, showering her in tree bark. She spun and saw her attacker had already ducked back into the cover of the surrounding foliage.

"Come out here and face me, you cowards!" Aeris thundered.

The four remaining mercenaries came out of hiding. Their eyes were blank, but they all wore the same frightened expression.

She leaped onto the closest one, biting into his neck as she slashed his body with wild abandon. She didn't stop until she had completely rent flesh from bone and reduced the human to a pile of meat.

The second man she sprayed with her ice breath until he was frozen stiff and jumped and stamped all over his body, breaking it into pieces.

She turned to the third man who patiently waited his turn. His eyes were still unfocused. Not that Aeris cared. She would've preferred if they fought back, but standing there and accepting their fate worked just fine.

The third man she grabbed by the leg and carried into the air. He was far heavier than she expected, but she didn’t care. She flapped her wings and carried him above the treetops before releasing him. He didn’t even scream as he plummeted to his doom, just wore that same blank expression on his face.

Aeris growled and followed the man to the ground. He hit the ground and bounced, but she landed right on top of him, feeling his ribcage shatter under her weight.

Only the leader remained. He was the one who shot Maggie. The one who was responsible for all of this. As she started toward the man, he blinked and looked around as if awakening from a dream. His mouth fell open in horror as he noticed the bloodbath around him.

He saw Aeris coming toward him, and scream in terror. He stumbled backward, lost his footing, and fell to the ground.

Aeris pounced on him immediately. She sank each of her claws into his arms and legs. The man screamed again.

“Shut up!” Aeris commanded. The man immediately fell silent, the same blank look in his eyes as before. “You killed Maggie. What did she ever do to you? Answer me!”

The man spoke, but his voice lacked any emotion. “We were just following orders. Kill the maid. Steal the dragon. Do not damage it. It’s more valuable alive.”

“Who gave you that order?”

“The doctor.”

“Who’s the doctor?”

“I don’t know.”

“LIAR! Who is the doctor?”

Aeris dug her claws deeper into the man’s limbs. The man’s eyes widened as if seeing Aeris for the first time and began screaming again.

Aeris growled and started slashing the man with her claws. “Who is the doctor?! Tell me! Tell me!” She screamed at him again and again. The man never answered, just screamed in horrific pain. Aeris continued to tear the man apart even long after he stopped screaming.

Finally, she was too exhausted to continue the assault. What remained of the man wasn’t even enough to call him human, just a pile of flesh, blood, and torn clothing. Anyone who saw the carnage wouldn’t know what to make of it.

Aeris walked back over to Maggie’s body. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It was going to rain soon.

The rain didn't matter. The sky could fall around them and it wouldn't make a difference. Maggie was dead, and it was all her fault. If she had never started that ridiculous search for her origins this wouldn't have happened.

Charles’ words echoed through her mind: “You need to stop prying into things best left buried.”

Aeris dug her blood-soaked claws into the dirt and let out a cry of pain, rage, and desperation. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t she have just a little bit of happiness? Was it really that selfish to want to know her origins? To want friends?

She stopped crying abruptly upon feeling a hand touch her leg. She looked down to see Maggie looking up at her. Maggie’s eyes were unfocused as if the woman had just awoken from a nap. “It’s…okay…Aeris.”

Immediately, an immense joy welled up within Aeris. It didn’t matter if Maggie was alive or a figment of her imagination. All that mattered was that she could see her again. “Maggie?”

Maggie groaned and slowly sat up. A dark bruise covered the side of her face, and a trickle of blood fell from her temple. “I’m okay…I think.”

“But how?” She walked around Maggie’s body, scanning the woman for injuries. Other than the purple bleeding lump on Maggie’s head and a few leaves in her hair, the woman was perfectly fine. It shouldn’t matter how, but Aeris couldn’t help but wonder why Maggie was still alive. The man had pointed his gun at Maggie and fired—Aeris saw it. The smell of gunpowder was still in her nose, and the ringing of the rifle’s boom still in her ears. But Maggie had no bullet holes. No bullet wound meant the shot missed, but it didn’t explain why Maggie lost consciousness.

Maggie pressed a hand to the cut on her head. “What—?” She whirled around, almost losing her balance if not for Aeris catching her.

“No, Maggie, it’s okay,” Aeris said cheerfully. “I got rid of them all. They’re dead.”

Maggie’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you got rid of them all?” She looked over Aeris’ body and her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes glistened preluding the start of tears.

Aeris looked at herself. Most of her, especially her legs and claws, were covered in blood and bits of human flesh. The area around them was slick with gore. Various body parts hung from the surrounding branches or were tangled in the tree roots. Bloodied, tattered clothing caught in the branches flew in the strong breeze like crimson ghosts. The mixture of blood and gunpowder left a heavy metallic scent in the air. The ground and nearly every tree around them were covered in a sheet of red ice.

“Aeris, look at me,” Maggie said. She grabbed Aeris’ face gently but firmly, forcing her to look the woman in the eye again, and pulled their faces close. A single tear hung from Maggie’s eyelashes, and Aeris’ blood-covered face was reflected in the woman’s green irises. “We have to talk later. Right now, we have to move; we can’t stay here. Do you understand?”

Aeris nodded. Maggie shakily stood up and climbed onto Aeris's back. Turning away from the grisly scene, Aeris ran at full speed back to the estate. She never stumbled or faltered as she weaved through the overgrown path. On various occasions, she opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it closed again. She sensed Maggie's tension, her fear. She just didn't understand why. It was a good thing she killed those men, wasn't it?

As soon as they reached the estate grounds, Maggie jumped from Aeris’ back. “Aeris, I want you to go to your room and lock yourself in. Do not open the door for anyone other than me and do not tell anyone about what happened today.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and began walking at a very brisk pace back to the estate.

Aeris went to her room as quickly as possible. The moment she was inside, she pushed the door closed and used the thumb-claw of her wing to push the latch into place, locking the door. Now that she was alone, she began to replay the day’s events in her mind. She saw Maggie fall to the ground; she could see it clearly with her waking eyes. She could still smell the gunpowder from the shot and the despair she felt seeing the closest thing to a mother she ever had lying face down among the twigs and leaves. Then she killed those men, ripped them all apart. She could still feel their flesh giving way under her claws, their screams of pain still echoing in her mind.

Aeris began pacing around her room; her mind was caught in a vicious whirlwind of thought. She also remembered feeling absolutely nothing as she murdered them. In the stories, the character felt fear or remorse after a kill. She didn’t. But what did that mean? Was there something wrong with her? No, she had done nothing wrong. Those men were going to kill her. That much was clear. She had to defend herself. So why did Maggie look at her like that?

A few minutes later, there came a soft knock on the door, quickly followed by Maggie’s voice whispering: “Aeris, it’s me. Open the door.”

Aeris went to the door and slid back the latch using the thumb-claw of her wing. The door swung open the instant it was unlocked. Aeris had to jump back just to keep the door from striking her.

The first thing she noticed was Maggie, slightly sweaty and out of breath, standing in the doorway. The next thing was how the sky had darkened further, the clouds now a dark shade of grey. Brief flashes of light ran across the blanket of grey above them. Maggie looked over her shoulder briefly before motioning for Aeris to follow her. She led Aeris around the back of the stable. Behind the dragon’s room were several large jugs of water lined up against the wall.

“This is the best I could manage without anyone seeing me,” Maggie explained. She grabbed the washcloth sitting in one of the jugs. Aeris noticed her hands were shaking. “The water’s a little cold. I’m sorry but you’ll have to bear with me for now.” She began washing Aeris. The water was more than a little cold, but Aeris didn’t think it was right to complain given the situation.

“Maggie,” Aeris began slowly, “What happened back there? I saw them shoot you.”

Maggie dropped the washcloth, but quickly retrieved it and resumed washing Aeris. The woman’s hands shook as they rubbed down Aeris’ scales. “I don’t remember much. Just the man pointing a gun at us. If they shot at me, I must’ve tripped on a tree root and hit my head,” she said bluntly.

That explained why Maggie was knocked out instead of killed and the lack of a bullet wound. A shot also would’ve left blood behind, and there had been no blood on Maggie until she started cleaning Aeris.

As if sensing Aeris’ thoughts, Maggie added, “If they had shot me, I promise you, I wouldn’t be here right now. That was a gun strong enough to pierce dragon scales, it would’ve ripped my body apart.”

Aeris twisted her head, trying to look Maggie in the eye, but the woman kept turning her head and refused to meet her gaze.  “Are you mad at me?”

Maggie dropped the washcloth again. This time, she took longer to pick it up. She stood there for the longest time in silence. Her hands tightly gripped the washcloth, wringing it as if it held all the answers and refused to share them. Lightning flashed overhead followed by the roar of thunder, making her jump. “N-No, I’m not angry,” she said, her voice unsteady. She took one of the jugs and dumped it on Aeris’ body. Aeris exclaimed at sudden pressure on her body. Aeris tried to look at Maggie again, but the woman turned away and brought over another jug. She dipped the washcloth into it and began washing Aeris again. “Besides, what does it matter? They’re dead and we’re not.”

“But you—”

“Aeris, we are done talking about this!”

Aeris quickly fell silent. She knew better than to press the issue when Maggie took that tone with her. Maggie continued to scrub Aeris scales. Neither of them said anything. After all but one of the jugs had been emptied, Maggie broke the silence: “That should do it. Now stay here until it starts raining; no one will think twice about you being soaking wet then. I’m going to go back inside and change my clothes.”

Maggie removed the bloody apron she wore and balled it up in her hands until the bloodstains couldn't be seen. "Now Aeris I want you to remember two things: first, you are not to tell anyone about what happened here today. Second, you did nothing wrong. Those men were ready to kill me and do god knows what to you. You saved my life and protected your own; there is nothing wrong with that, okay?"

Aeris nodded in response to both points. She could tell from Maggie's tone she wasn't talking to her. It was as if the woman was trying to convince herself of today's events. Just as Maggie still refused to meet her gaze as she spoke. Maggie smiled briefly, but it wasn't a true smile. The fear in her eyes remained even if the rest of her face said differently.

Aeris attempted to step closer and Maggie backed away so quickly, she almost tripped over her own feet. Maggie quickly composed herself, gathered up as many jugs as she could carry, and headed back to the estate without another word.

Aeris did as she was told and waited silently behind the stable until the rain started. It didn't start with a drizzle that increased to steady rain; it began with a heavy downpour as if the sky had overturned a massive bucket of water. She walked back to her room, unbothered by the raindrops pelting her body. She entered her room and locked the door behind her, not wanting to be bothered by anyone right now. She dropped her dripping wet body on the mattress and pulled her tail close to her chin as she curled into as small of a ball as possible.

The rain somehow began coming down harder, filling the room with the sound of water pounding against the rooftop. The wind swirled and howled, rattling the door and windows. Lightning flashed occasionally, illuminating her bedroom with blinding light whenever it did as the roar of thunder drowned out all other noise. But Aeris didn’t even so much as flinch. She couldn't care less about the storm outside; her mind was elsewhere.

Maggie had confirmed it even without saying it. She saw it in Maggie’s eyes. The woman she cared about the most was afraid of her.