Previously

Tired and drained, the former captain had yet to realize the dangerous situation he was in, especially in the man's hands. "W…who are you?"

"Galen Drake... fascinating, creature you are," The ginger-haired man spoke as his hand reached out to stroke Laurence's cheek.

They fought…

Chapter 2

HUMILIATION brought him further down to hell than his treason did. Laurence was in his cell once more, bounded tightly and harshly to the wall, mouth gagged, and even ankles shackled. He lost an inhuman battle against someone that wasn't human-a demon? A beast? He wasn't sure, but that Galen Drake resembled a dragon. Drake had him pinned down in no less than a minute when the fight started, and no matter how much the Captain struggled, he was forced into a submission. His lower back was hurting from all the excessive, non-stop romping for what could have been hours on end; it was a disgusting notion to still feel that man's semen inside of him.

Hatred and anger was seared in his mind and body whenever he thought of Drake. The next time they meet, he would gladly kill him in his hands.

What do they need of him anyhow? This so called serum was making his body change and he was sure it couldn't be good. He stared down at himself, looking at his ankles. Near the edges of the thick shackles, there was a bit of gold on his skin. His mind maybe playing tricks on him, but he was clear of head at the moment than he ever had in the past week he had been here.

He could recall the conversation between Dr. Kwon and Mr. Drake before he passed on the bed. "He still needs one more. Just one more shot, and then in four days, he'll fully transform. We will need to find a bigger spot and move him there without any suspicions," Dr. Kwon.

"That will be inconvenient, Dr. Kwon, for there is no such place, especially not now. What we could do is get on a Dragon Platform. There had been many of those as of lately. We'll take a ship, buy it, and off we go. And we must flee at great haste. There had been many dragons flying around and all are looking for the missing people, especially Laurence."

"We'll provide a distraction. We'll dump all the dead bodies at Bristol, and then we'll be on our way. We'll hire a couple of Winchesters to do it. In any case, we need to leave. We must head to America."

"Georgia or—"

"Georgia."

The cell door loudly opened and Laurence lifted his head to see those thugs again. Once more he was pulled away to the room and strapped down on the table, and this there were chains instead to keep him still. Unaware of his own strength, they were taking prior caution on handling him after what they had witnessed.

Dr. Kwon came in to his vision, holding that blasted syringe contained of that red liquid. "This is the last dosage…let's hope you live," and with that, he injected the serum. The pain started off as a bee sting before gradually the fire spread throughout his body. Laurence felt his throat sore as he yelled and screamed in agony while his body felt like it was scorching in hell. Any day, he would rather take the whip lashing at his back than this; it was unbearable.

There was liquid in his mouth, gurgling at his throat and he coughed it up. Blood. Dr. Kwon cursed beside him and started shouting orders. Hands were on him now, and the doctor kept barking, "We're losing him! We cannot lose him!"

Laurence did not mind for death to come for him now, even if it takes a few seconds, but then one name came into mind.

Temeraire.

"The grave news at Bristol had spread quite rapidly. Exactly twenty five people that went missing a month ago were found in the streets, heaped in a pile. Fortunately, none of them is Laurence, so it is safe to say, he may still be alive," Tharkay said though the news did not soothe Temeraire's fears, because, for certain, these captors were certainly planning on killing him if they did not care for the many murdered.

"This is serious. The kidnappings have turn into serial murders. Nobody is safe," Granby grimly said as everyone shared the same feelings.

"We'll look there at Bristol then!" Temeraire decided, getting up. "The enemy must be somewhere around Bristol, or in some neighboring towns!"

Iskierka then got up and protested, "There is no way I'm letting Granby anywhere near a lunatic murderer! You may have let your Laurence get captured—"

"I did no such THING!" Temeraire roared angrily at her for saying such a remark and Granby had to get in between the two huge dragons. "Iskierka, my dear, stop that! You don't say that!"

Iskierka turned her head, refusing to apologize, "Well, it's true! He didn't send any escort to go after his Captain! It may as well be his fault—"

"Actually, Iskierka, if you don't mind me cutting in, all three of us are at fault," Tharkay said, pointing at Granby, himself, and Berkeley. Maximus' head raised at such an accusation, peering down at the human, "What do you mean by that? How could—and I don't mean any offense Temeraire—but how could Laurence's carelessness be my rider's fault?"

Berkeley then smacked his dragon's side. "That's exactly the point of it all. Carelessness! We've heard of these kidnappings before we went out that night. We should have warned him instead of letting him leave. And by God! Who knows many times that Laurence draw the short end of a straw!"

"Then it's settled, so please help me find him just a little longer. Your riders don't have to leave your side, they have their own crew," Temeraire said, his anger subsiding as he was now pleading for help until they find his Laurence. "I know he's still alive! He has to be! And the first clue we could get is at Bristol!"

"Then I have suggestion. Temeraire, you, Arkady, and I will head to Bristol," Tharkay said. "The others should continue to search around this area. I have a feeling that this event was merely a distraction from our focus, but nevertheless, we might be able to find clues at Bristol."

"Mr. Tharkay, are you saying that they know we're trying to find Laurence?" Captain Harcourt asked.

"They should know by now, but it seems there's likely a reason why they hadn't dumped him yet to save their hide from eight dragons." This cause them to pause and think for a moment before finally, Harcourt decided, "We'll leave after breakfast. We'll follow your suggestion, Mr. Tharkay."

As the cows were being served to them, Kulingile couldn't help but asked his fellow dragons. "Why do humans kill humans?"

Iskierka raised a brow at such a miniscule question. "Well, in war, it is reasonable to kill an enemy. We've killed other dragons, you know."

"I know, but this one isn't a war. What is their reason for killing so many?" Kulingile asked once more with a clarified question, before proceeding to bite the head of his cow, breaking into the skull. Temeraire paused a moment, wondering that, and so did the others. It made no sense, in fact, it would be considered uncivilized. Laurence did say it was illegal to murder someone and take a life, yet in war or in desperate times, that notion is pardoned.

However, these weren't those times. These were a people kidnapping the innocents from the streets and then weeks later; drop them in the middle of town for all to see. Temeraire then spoke, "I don't know the reason, but I shall ask them before I rid of them. They will surely pay for taking my Laurence."

Temeraire flew up high alongside Arkady with Tharkay riding him. They soon arrived at the outskirts of Bristol so they wouldn't cause much panic. Tharkay got off and said to Temeraire, "I'll be right back. I'll go see for more information. In the meanwhile, ask around here." With that Tharkay left him and both Temeraire and Arkady waited.

The cold wind blew in, but not enough to chill the dragons. Still, they could smell death all the way out here from the town. Temeraire knew that smell too well and he could only hope that Tharkay's sources and assumptions were correct. They were just about to go on a long expedition and to bring more support on dragon rights. So far, it had been quite a battle and Temeraire was working on many contingencies to bring more supporters. America was more promising next to France and China as dragons and humans there seemed to have equal rights and are able to do various work. And Laurence...

"Your captain is very dear to you, isn't he?" Arkady suddenly asked. "I've seen it time and time again, but I could hardly believe it. Is he that worth it to you?"

Temeraire didn't hesitate on answering that, "More so than any gold, diamond, or treasure in the world."

"Excuse me!" Someone called from above and they looked up from above to see an orange longwing and he landed a couple of meters away from them. "I beg your pardon for the intrusion, but are you two here for the incident at Bristol?" He asked with an accent and tone resembled that much of a polished gentleman behind any astute office desk.

"Yes. We are looking into it. You don't suppose you have any helpful words of it?" Temeraire asked, but he paused a moment. "My name is Temeraire and this is Arkady. We're on a mission to look for my captain and a friend of ours believes that he is involved in this incident as he would have the same captors to which have caused such an obscene play in town. His name is William Laurence, have you seen him?"

"The name is Felix, and no I have not seen your captain, but I do have helpful words of the incident that may give some enlightening," Felix explained, stretching his wings for a moment to adjust for a long standing and talking. "It happened last night when the town has went to sleep. I work here as a guard, get paid by the governor to stand watch. So far, my work has to do with stopping dragons from eating livestock that would pass by here, and give any travelers—both human and dragon—a fair warning not to cause trouble. Two Winchesters were each carrying a big sac that would have carried at least a dozen of sheep; they rested for a while over that top of the hill where I had come to greet them. They were couriers, but with no riders. I asked of their riders, but they were quite hesitant on that part, and instead told me—I suspect a lie—that their captains told them to deliver this package alone in town."

Temeraire tilted his head. A courier without a captain? That didn't seem right, and the only couriers he knew without a captain was Moncey and a couple of others from the Pen Y Fan breeding grounds. "How would you know they were captains?"

"Well, they were wearing those harnesses with the symbol of His Majesty's, so I'm assuming they are in service of the Aerial Corps."

"And the package they carried could be the corpses?"

"That is correct, at least when I flew over town, the sac looked to be the same color and material. In any case, I let them through since they looked harmless enough; I never thought they were carrying dead humans. Quite gruesome really at the thought," Felix said, shaking his head, showing his disgust. "The Governor yelled at me this morning as I told him this. Quite amusing for a little one to yell, but I suppose it is fortunate I haven't lost my pay. Although, you would do me kindness if you solve this mystery quickly and that is why I am telling you this. Their names are Seneca and Laelia, and one of them said they came from Portsmouth."

Portsmouth. Yes, that's where they should be, at least nearby it. "Thank you! Once our friend has return, we shall leave at once!" Temeraire said excitedly. It is fortunate that captors would underestimate a dragon's knowledge at times like these when information is crucial to finding his Laurence.

They continued their discussion until an hour later, Tharkay had returned to them and they took off. Temeraire explained everything to Chinaman of the discussion he had with the guarding dragon. "Hmm, that confirms the story with the Governor of Bristol then. He said something of the sort of the guarding dragon, Felix, that he had information that two Winchesters carried it. He would be questioning the Aerial Corps for it." Temeraire peered at him closely at the weak and shuddered voice, seeing Tharkay so pale. "Are you sure you are alright, Mr. Tharkay? You don't look so well."

"Was it gruesome? The heap of dead men?" Arkady questioned as he seen this human braver than most of any, never showing an inch of weakness.

"…Gruesome indeed as if the gates of hell spat out vomit of Cerberus' latest victims. Believe me, Temeraire; Arkady…you both would be throwing up your breakfasts." Tharkay would never wish to tell them truth of it. Half of the corpses were rotting, showing skeletons while the other half was fresh still like a day old. They had missing limbs and their bones were bent in the strangest way. One that he could not forget was a human corpse whose neck was impossibly stretched out to thin, head twisted, and its back had its shoulder blades protruding out perpendicularly from the spine. To his surprise of examination, many of the corpses were missing limbs. The coroners said commonly it'd be arms, legs, and the most peculiar was teeth, canines precisely.

As they passed over the town of Bristol, bells of the church were heard ringing at the new hour for new sermon to pray for the dead.

Hours had passed and they met up in Portsmouth Covert. Tharkay was in the meeting room with all the other captains and Admiral Vinson of Portsmouth Covert was present. As he finished his story, many had a variety of grim and green faces.

"What man exists to create such hell, I will never understand…But Seneca and Laelia are couriers that had gone missing a month and half ago, including their Captains: Magellan and Follett. They must be doing this against their will, and if they were here in Portsmouth the entire time, we would have known," Admiral Vinson explained to them. "And if they had passed by here several times, it would be hard to tell, considering that couriers come here daily."

"Then, if you don't mind, Admiral Vinson, we will be keeping a lookout on them and question each Winchester," Captain Harcourt spoke. This wasn't just about Laurence anymore and they would have to use all their resources to solve this, involving many of the constables and night watchmen. "This is very serious now, Admiral. We have to put all our efforts into solving this crime."

Admiral Vinson nodded and after a moment, he asked, "This incident… I suspect Mr. Laurence, former Captain of Temeraire, would be involved."

"He too went missing a week ago, sir," Harcourt confessed grimly. "We've been doing our best searching for him, but it seems we'll have to start with this crime in order to find him."

"I will dispatch a letter to neighboring coverts to keep a look out on the two Winchesters. Any Winchester without a rider must be questioned and if resisted, be captured alive and unharmed if possible," And with that, the order was done and Captain Harcourt was pressed to continue to run things as they are.

Outside, Temeraire was curled around, extremely sad and worry of the outcome. What if it would be too late? That his Laurence would be dead by the time he found him? He can't just wait around here and not search for him. They have their information and it would be to look for Winchesters, right? He stood up, stretching and flapping his wings for the long flight and he was noticed by his friends.

"Where are you heading off to?" Iskierka said, turning to him. "Captain Harcourt told you to stay put."

"Why should I? I'm not in any under obligation or oath to follow orders. I am going to look for the questioned Winchesters and I'm going to find Laurence. I've been waiting all the day today and I'm tired of it!" Temeraire complained.

"And you shan't go alone, Temeraire!" He looked down to see Emily getting off of Kulingile and walking up to him. Ever since Laurence resigned, Emily became the first lieutenant on Captain Demane's dragon. Kulingile lifted his head, looking over to them. "What? But Emily, you're in my crew."

"And you have Captain Demane and also Sipho; however, Temeraire has no one at the moment," Emily argued as climbed on Temeraire, attaching her carabineer to him.

Temeraire was happy that he had at least one of his crew back temporarily. "Don't worry, Kulingile, once Laurence is found, she'll return. For now, she is in my crew. We will be back and tell Demane not to worry, I'll keep her safe," he said and with that, he was off before any of them would try to hold him back.

"It's good to be riding with you again, Temeraire. Now, let's go find those Winchesters, so we can find the Captain," Emily said with encouragement. "After all the times he went through, I am certain he lives yet."

"I hope that is so…" Temeraire said, praying, even to this God that his Laurence had worshipped, to bring him back safe, sound, and alive. Then, as if his prayers were answered, two Winchesters were flying about with two cows, fleeing to the East.

What is happening to Laurence?