Chapter Nine: The Welcoming (Part I)

Thaddeus had already left Cyan the key to the basement entrance under the doormat of his flat. Because he was housing a dragon, his flat on in the first level with a door that led down a few steps to a basement. Thins walls on all sides and slight dampness that left Cyan shivering at the entrance, he was about to forego this idea and lug the heavy crate with the vicious dragon inside to his flat. Instead, he figured it would be better to house the creature here. He was not about to let a Black-Tier Dragon loose in his flat, but keeping it in a crate wasn't ideal either.

However, Cyan could not shake the feeling of something eerie hiding within the shadows. Faint darkness that lingered along the walls and swayed with the motions avoiding the light: it didn't want to be seen. Whatever he was sensing, Cyan felt it was smudged into the concrete and painted the entirety of the room. Rubbing a hand over his sore arm, he recites what he read from the manuscript, 'Dragons and Me'. It only had a few chapters long- a chapter for each tier and their aggression. Because Black-Tier dragons were usually sold as parts rather than the whole dragon, there wasn't much information pertaining to them. Instead, he decided to treat his dragon as if it was a Red-Tier. The manuscript explained that crate training was necessary for the dragon to feel as though it had its own space. This created boundaries for both the human and the beast. The first week would be the most stressful (more-so for the human rather than the dragon) so it was adequate to allow the dragon to be crated near or within the human home up to a week; however, Cyan was hesitant to let a caged animal be caged longer than it had to be. It was already irritated since Farse had dropped them off. Cyan was scared to stick his hand back into the cage to wipe it down and the spray bottle had run out of water. The dragon easily grew stressed by the sudden commotion and lack of space as it went from considerably grouchy to downright irate. It began snarling and frosting up the glass. The sounds were so raucous, Thaddeus nearly called the authorities in panic as one of his patients began to grow hysterical. Apologizing profusely to the elderly woman and then his neighbor, he quickly took the dragon around back instead of through the complex.

The dragon seemed no different than when he had gotten it hours ago.

Of course, he couldn't expect a mere car ride to fix years of damage. Still, Cyan hated to admit he may be a bit out of his depth. With a grunt, he lifts the cage once again to arrange it in the room. He can feel the dragon's shifting form clamping down in an attempt to make itself heavier. Cyan's newly trained army muscles flexed as he heaved the cage up higher having a lifting contest with a half-human formed dragon. If anyone could see the pair now, they would think them mad. The Dragon kept a steady stream of Dragonic profanities that even without understanding, the young soldier could guess as to what he was saying. Cyan regretted not turning off his hearing aids. It would have made this whole excursion easier. Fortunately, he was able to grow his hair longer enabling him to hide the devices from prying eyes. It was the one flaw that stopped his father from completely choosing his way of life. It was because of his son that Cyan would never hear with a device again. The young soldier harbored no resentment towards his older brother. It was his fault for following after the teenager and by chance, his right ear was scarred where the bullet whipped past it nearly putting a hole in the side of his head. Soon, it got infected and that infection spread to the other ear. By then, it was already too late. Providence C didn't have the fancy medical facilities like A or B and if he had suffered serious trauma, they might have flown him to Providence D where he might have suffered far worse treatment. Shuddering at the thought, he was just glad the army allowed him to serve, and as long as the devices weren't an instruction, it caused no issues. They had even given him a military-grade pair of hearing aids and custom fitted them to fit each ear. The sleek, black devices fit perfectly into the canal. They didn't need to be removed or charged and didn't irritate his ears.

Cyan was grateful as well as a tad envious of how easily accessible these resources were to the residents in the higher Providences. In Providence C, there was no disability support. If you couldn't work, you didn't eat. Cyan had watched from the window of his father's business car as they drive past men and women with missing limbs and children who couldn't even spell their names. As badly as his father wanted to change things, he didn't have the resources to do so. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the man turned a blind eye to the Slums and focused on the richer areas of Providence C portraying a beautiful suburban area that hid the dark truths about the system in place. As Cyan donned the military outfit, he was in no place to question his status or the King's system. No matter how much his father cursed and sneered their lifestyle, at the end of the day he was able to sleep in a warm bed and eat three meals a day. That was more than some of the families that lived beside them.

Cyan dropped the crate in the center of the basement trying not to inhale too deeply as the stench of damp concrete made his nose twitch. There were no windows and only one door leading to his flat. The space screamed 'cell' instead of the room; however, this had to be better than the steel cage the creature had been living in all its life. Judging by its reaction, the dragon wasn't properly trained. Cyan figured he could begin by giving it space and gradually build it up to staying in the flat.

No matter how good of a plan that was in his head, something to him it wouldn't be that easy.

There was still the matter of the Controller. He was hesitant to use it. Whatever reservations he had, he would have to get over it. Their Training started at the end of the month which is a little over two months away. The Controller was a newly advanced piece of technology developed a little over half a decade ago. It was recently used with a collar, but Dragons are now chipped. The chip rests at the base of their primary spine in their reptilian form. Chips had always been used in smaller animals. When Dragons servitude and prisoners of war were first introduced, they had been collared. This system was in place for a while, but it was found that the collars could easily slip off the dragons if they didn't adjust to their shift. Sometimes it prevents the dragon from shifting completely in the neck causing a 'bottleneck' where the spine unnaturally curves or becomes bunched up. At one point in time, the collars would adjust with the dragon and began to choke them because they grew too tight after the shift. It was later decided that chips would be used- the kind with GPS and electric shock to keep a dragon in place. If a dragon was chipped, they were issued a wristband that would be scanned at all public buildings and entities. No dragon was allowed to roam freely without one. It was standard procedure for every military personal to be issued a Controller and a wristband for their dragon.

The Controller was a sleek black remote that slipped easily into the pocket and the lanyard would hold his military ID badge and his dragon's tags as well. As the 'Master', it was recommended that they discipline their dragon using the Controller. The electromagnetic pulses made even the most resilient dragon bow down and tremble with submission. The creatures were sensitive to higher frequencies as well so the Controller featured a whistle that drove dragons crazy and made it hard for them to move.

Cyan had witnessed the power of a Controller when he visited his mother along with his father to give her the dragon. Like a fancy new car, his father showed it off like it was nothing. Upon fiddling with the Controller, he accidentally pressed the shock button and the dragon threw its head back in pain. Its dark eyes rolled into his skull as it shrieked before crumbling to its knees and sobbing.

Cyan's mother quickly tore him away from the scene pressing his head into her apron, but he couldn't forget the way it looked. His father laughed it off as a joke while his mother weakly scolded him. The light banter didn't leave much room for the oppressive air that surrounded the dragon whose eyes were barely open. Because it was so young, a shock like that was almost deadly. Willingly shocking a creature into submission went against everything Cyan believed in as a healer. He wouldn't unnecessarily hurt anything unless it was vital.

He couldn't escape the ideology of having it on since it was a part of his attire. It was a required piece of military article. Since not every dragon responded to the more humane efforts and it was time-consuming to train that way, the force seemed to work better. Slipping the lanyard around his neck, the Controller rested comfortably against his chest. The deafening silence surrounded him as the dragon seemed aware of what was to come next. The flat door was locked and it was only the two of them here. Worst case scenario, no one else would get hurt if the dragon couldn't get out and it would only eat him.

Shuddering at the thought, he placed two fingers under his chin, pressing against the carotid artery. His blood sung with vigor as it bounded against the skin. He was aware the dragon could probably hear his nerves as well and smell the sweat masking fear.

——————

From inside the cage, Aiden stirred slightly. The sickly sweet smelled wafting off the young soldier made him drunk with disgust. It was fear mixed with excitement- a strange combination that never ended well for him. He couldn't see the man, but he could make out the sound of bones lightly cracking probably due to strain. The young soldier was strong; he could admit that. He could make out muscles flexing then stretching between the light curses. Through a crack in the sheet that covered his cage, he saw the outline of the smaller man with hands resting on hips. The sliver of a sleek, black remote hung around his neck like a fancy piece of jewelry. Aiden felt his jaw lock a bit as he narrowed his eyes that temporarily flicked into slits. He noticed the man didn't make any move to use the device. Instead, he was mumbling to himself seemingly occupied. The quickened wet patter of a heartbeat echoed through the damp room was a lot calmer than most humans he had encountered previously. The lack of emotions on his face suggested paralysis of emotional engagement.

Humans loved to make faces. Yet, this one didn't. Through the haze of fever Auden was experiencing, his darkened vision blurred by white light did not deter him from preparing as he extended his claws.

Whatever happened, he would ensure he won this fight.

As the shift of the atmosphere brought a realization to both their thoughts, each party seem to be aware of the situation. A stalemate could only last but so long before a preventing party threw in the towel. As the clock struck one am, Cyan reached out towards the heavy latch with steady hands and small steps.

'So much for sleeping tonight,'

He sighed inwardly as the clink of the first latch echoed through the empty room.

'Sleep is for the dead,'

Cyan tumbled backward into the nearby wall as a familiar guttural voice invaded his mind.