Dragon Riders (Book 3 of the Dragon Series)

Chapter 10 Cyren

Cyren

Billions of years ago, before this planet was flush with creation, it was just a swirling ball of dirt. There was nothing here except us. The remainder of my people, the neo nights, had to flee our home planet. We landed here, crashing into the thick crust of the Earth.  It was a primitive planet compared to ours. We would have to start from scratch and learn about our new surroundings. As we explored, our bodies acclimated to the environment. The large globe of burning heat was much warmer here than on our planet.

We began to build our new existence and tried to respawn our kind after suffering a devastating loss. Only twelve survived with me; we lost one when we arrived because their body wasn’t able to make the proper changes. It happened with our kind sometimes, but she was one of the last females.

I am not sure how long we were here before it all changed. We were standing outside our shelter when there was a tremendous sonic boom and a flash of light. It made us all deaf and blind as we stumbled around. The only thing we could do was lodge ourselves deep into the core of the Earth to get away from the light and sound.

From there, our survival instincts kicked in, and we were wrapped in a gel-like cocoon. We fell into a sleep-like state as the cocoon provided us with nourishment. This was where we remained, deep inside the core of the Earth, for billions of years.

When we woke, our cocoons had all but evaporated; completely shriveled up like the skin of a snake which meant that the cocoon was no longer receiving nutrients. I woke up after billions of years with soil and rock in my airways, and I struggled to breathe. I could feel movement around me as the others must have awoken as well. I communicated with them through a telepathic signal to follow my voice signal, and I began to dig through the layers of dirt, rock, and clay.

We finally broke through the Earth and emerged into a world that did not exist the last time we had been on the surface. Everything was green and flush with vegetation. Creatures scurried around the floor, diving into bushes in fear of the creatures emerging from the crater in the ground. I continued to commune with the others, waiting for them to breach the surface. I counted ten, meaning we were missing one. I continued the high pitch tone, demanding them to follow, but to no avail. They must have perished.

We looked around us and tried to recognize the planet we were on. It was thick with green plants, giant trees, and the orb in the sky was hotter, making the air feel wet on our skin. The climate had changed significantly since our first arrival. Suddenly we heard a screeching noise and the sound of metal clanging together. The others scattered; some dropped back down into the hole while I took cover behind a thick, moss-covered tree.

Two strange-looking beings walked towards us, speaking to each other in an unknown language I had never heard. They looked weary and held metal objects in their hands and strapped over their chests. They stopped when they saw the crater and continued to speak to each other frantically.  I watched them curiously from my place as my camouflage hid my body from sight. They walked by me to investigate the hole and slowly walked around it, pointing the metal objects at it as they chattered back and forth.

What are these things? Knowing that they couldn’t see me, I walked closer to them. They seemed to stiffen when I was closer as if recognizing that they were not alone. They continued to speak to each other faster and in a higher pitch. The creatures were several heads shorter than me, their skin a strange color, and only seemed to have patches of fur on their heads and faces. I noticed a movement behind one of them and recognized one of my kin, also camouflaged,  getting a closer look as well.

I raised my arm and felt the long, venomous stinger slide from my wrist. I looked to Jareth, and he positioned himself behind the other man. In unison, we slammed the stingers into the necks of the beings. Our bodies shrunk and bent to take a human form; their language and speech stored in my memory. I could feel the evolution of these strange beings.

“Cyren,” Jareth said, and I looked at him.

Jareth in human form is a lot like his neo night. He was still taller than average, with long silky blonde hair, green eyes, and light blue skin. I was shorter than I usually was; my body looked strange, with two large mounds on my chest that Jareth did not seem to have. I noticed the difference in our anatomy as well as his genitalia seemed to react to mine.

“Jareth,” I said, testing out the new tongue. “We seem to have overslept.”

“What are these things?” he asked and looked down at the dead man at his feet. “What is this place?

“Humans,” I said. “We are in a rain forest. These beings live on this Earth.”

“But how?” he asked again and looked around. “There was nothing here before the light.”

“Perhaps it shook something loose, and things started from there,” I said. “But I don’t understand what woke us up.”

“Jerry! Steve!” we heard a voice yell. “Are you two sucking each other off back there? Come on, guys, it’s time for lunch!”

Jareth camouflaged himself but stayed close. He gently rolled the bodies into the hole. I was intrigued by these creatures and wanted to get to know them more. I watched the man round the corner, and he stopped when he saw me, eyes widening as he looked around.

“Oh, uh, excuse me, miss,” the man said, flustered. “Are you okay?  You shouldn’t be out here. Do you need help?”

I didn’t respond but walked closer to him. He smiled at me as I approached; eyes scanned my naked body up and down while licking his lips. The knowledge I gained from the first man told me this was lust. He wanted to procreate. I stopped until I was face to face with him.

“What's your name?” he asked. “Do you speak English? Why are you blue?”

“My name is Cyren,” I spoke. “I have been here long before you; you woke me from my slumber.”

“You were sleeping out here?” he said, looking around.

“No, I slept in there,” I said, pointing to the hole in the floor of the forest, and his eyes widened. “Would you like to see?”

He looked at the hole then back to me with surprise. I walked forward, and he followed me to get a better look. He peered in when he was close to the edge, but it was dark enough that he couldn’t see the others hiding further back.

“Um, wow,” was all the man could manage to say. “I can help you; we have a truck and stuff. We are out here surveying for wood.”

“You’ve already helped me so much,” I said, and the sound of my voice lulled him into a trance. His eyes drooped, and his head tilted forward as he stood still. “How many men are with you?”

“Ten,” he said.

“Go find them and bring them here,” I instructed. “All of them.”

“Yes, Cyren,” he said and turned to walk briskly away.

I turned to commune with my fellow neo nights, who were still in the hole. When the men arrive, they are to gain their knowledge like Jareth, and I had done. It only took one takeover for you to discover the secret of their existence. Jareth remained concealed as he watched on.

“What the hell is this about?” I heard a grating voice. “What is so damn important you need the whole crew?”

“You will see,” the man said in a mechanical voice.

“What kind of weird s**t are you doing with Jerry and Steve?” asked another voice.

“You will see,” the man repeated.

I used my camouflage to hide as the man appeared with the rest of his crew.  He walked to the edge of the hole and looked down. The other men were no longer annoyed but very curious about the spot. They all stood around the opening, looking in.

“Hey, is that Jerry’s shoe?” one man pointed out. “Is that a hand?”

Jareth walked behind them and began to shove the men into the hole. The men began to scream at the suddenness and screamed even louder when they saw the rest of my kin. It didn’t last long, though and shortly, one by one, a human-shaped neo night emerged, looking around curiously.

“How did this happen?” Jareth asked.

“Evolution,” I replied. “Something must have jump-started this planet into creation.”

“But they are destroying it,” said Drago spoke in a deep voice. He was always the largest of us, and he towered even in his human form. “Our sacs dried up because they are taking the Earth’s nutrients.”

“They are destroying our home,” Mauve spoke up; she was the only other female in our group. 

“Then it’s time we take it back,” I said. “We were here first.”

Over several months, we learned that there was much more to this world than humans and primal animals. Some humans turned into animals, Gods and Goddesses have all taken a claim on our planet.

We have managed to find ways of survival in this new atmosphere. We preferred to stay hidden in nature while working to find ways to take over. The easiest targets are the worst offenders in our home. Humans have destroyed the sanctuary that the world is.

Along our journey to rid humankind on our planet, we discovered our abilities have interesting effects on the animal/human hybrids. When we use our stingers, it doesn’t kill them like it does the organic human. The venom infects their body and brain, turning them into mindless beasts. When we made this discovery, Drago and Jareth had the idea to use the creatures against the humans. Almost like a zombie army. I didn’t see the point, honestly, until we found out about the dragons. For three months, we acquired several dragons among other various shifters to begin our takeover on the humans.

It’s only the beginning.