Chapter 7
A Heated Retreat
Cosmo groaned as he picked his head up. Rubbing his eyes, the blurriness slowly disappeared. He noticed he was in a cell, which didn't surprise him. He grew angry at letting himself get caught so easily. He been through enough training to know how to avoid that.
Looking at his surroundings, he noticed he was in a standard cell like the ones on earth were. Walking to the metal bars in front of him, he attempted to place his paws on them, but received an electric jolt in return. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to let him know that escape through those would be more difficult than before. If escape was even an option that is. He also noticed the bag he had strapped to him was gone.
"Isis?" Cosmo lowly called out. The fur dragon wasn't in his cell so he assumed she was elsewhere.
However there was no answer. Cosmo grew worried as he tried his best to look through the cell bars into the room he was in. There were other cells in the room, but were empty. The hallway was thin but the ceiling was high. The floor was also made of cold white tiles.
Cosmo's own cell was void of anything. No bed, no toilet, nothing. An icy chill ran down the dragon's spine. He didn't know where his friend was or what was going on, but he did not like it one bit.
Then he heard the room's door open. Unsure of what to do, Cosmo quickly pretended to still be asleep by lying on the floor the same way he was before. Hearing footsteps approach his cell, Cosmo grew more nervous than before.
"He's still out," one man said. "Do we wait?"
"Yes," a woman replied. "He needs to be awake for us to perform the tests."
"Any news of the female?"
"The relic's radiation didn't seem to do anything to her at first so they were performing diagnostics on the device."
Cosmo immediately knew the female was Isis, but he immediately knew she was in trouble. The relic's radiation didn't exactly sound friendly to him.
"Let's get back to the lab, we'll check on this one later."
The two humans slowly made their way back outside of the room. Cosmo stood to his feet and began to think. What were they doing to Isis? From what he was able to figure out, they were exposing her to radiation. But what was this relic they referred to?
"Yo!"
Cosmo jumped. Turning to the cells only exit, he noticed a small fox staring at him through the bars.
"Orion."
"You look like crap," the fox said plainly.
"Orion, they have Isis. They're doing something to her."
"I know," the canid replied, his tone low and depressed. "They have this machine of some kind. They threw Isis in, turned some knobs, and said something about a relic."
"We have to free her and find out what's going on around here."
"Well I'd love to but I have to free you first. I don't know anything to any what's it around here. Any idea's?"
Cosmo looked through his cell doors and starting searching. Then he spotted it. A panel near the wall with a few levers on it.
"How about those levers over there?" Cosmo pointed.
Orion wasted no time polymorphing into a larger version of himself to get a better look. Looking the panel over, he saw four levers, all neatly labeled of what they did. The labels said what the levers did, but there was a problem.
"Cosmo."
"What?"
Orion sighed, ". . . I can't read."
Meanwhile
The laboratory was a large room, which held many tables with various items on top of them. But the most prized was a large circular machine in the furthest corner. Many scientists were gathered around, looking into the machines window to see a frightened black fur dragon laying inside.
"Sir," a scientist began. Getting the attention of a man standing behind him with his arms crossed. "I don't know how to say this, but this machine is fine and operating at one-hundred percent."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I don't know."
Silence filled the room. The scientist looked back through the window at the female dragon and sighed. "Our readings show that there is radiation inside the container so there is no problems there."
"Turn it back on then."
"But Wade, we need to run tests on the dragon. Maybe the radiation reacted differently to her than the others."
"Is that dragon in there still alive?"
The scientist slowly nodded.
"Then turn it back on. If she's still alive the machine didn't do it's job."
Murmurs made themselves known as the scientist sighed. He turned back toward the machine and began to turn a knob on a side panel until he was interrupted by a shout from behind.
"Wait wait!"
Everyone turned to see another scientist with a yellow dragon by his side. The dragon seemed to be dizzy, almost unable to stand on his own feet.
"What is the meaning of this?" Wade begun.
"It's okay," he replied. "He's heavily drugged. We can throw him in the machine with the female."
Wade looked at this scientist questionably. "Fine, but be careful. I don't want that female getting loose."
Another scientist took the liberty of guiding the yellow dragon toward the machine. As they reached it's entrance, the door was opened and the yellow dragon was nearly thrown inside. That is until he resisted.
Before anything could be said, a fire suddenly broke out on a nearby table, setting nearly everything on top of it on fire. The few scientists in the room broke out in a panic, unprepared for the sudden situation. Wade turned his attention toward the fire and ran toward the nearest fire extinguisher on the wall. As he turned back around, he grew surprised at what he was seeing. The yellow dragon as well as the female was sprinting toward the exit.
"After them!"
As the two dragons ran out the room, they found themselves in a hall. Choosing a random direction, they decided to head straight down, not seeing a human in sight.
"Isis! Are you alright?"
"I've been better," she replied.
Now, however, wasn't the time for talk. As they ran, a voice was heard on a com throughout the structure they were in.
"Attention, two dragons have escaped the lab and are running rampant through the facility. Please be advised to avoid the dangerous creatures at all costs. Capture or kill on sight." It wasn't long until an alarm began to blare.
Running down the hall, they eventually made a left to spot a human standing in their way. He wasn't a scientist as he was armed with a weapon.
Cosmo quickly pushed Isis out the way as the guard fired, sending a cable that stuck into Cosmo's body. Volt's of electricity quickly passed through his system as Isis wasted no time to rip the cable out and jumped the human, knocking him down to the white tiled floor. Quickly recovering, Cosmo grabbed Isis and passed over the guard, who was dazed from the fall he took. Before he could get away, the guard fired at Cosmo one last time.
The cables snagged Cosmo's tail, sending more volt's into his body. Before Isis could react, Cosmo looked back and did something she wasn't expecting.
Cosmo fired a streak of lightning into the guards body. The human violently shook and fell, having a spasm attack as he did so. Yanking the cables out his tail, Cosmo quickly turned and continued his run with Isis.
"You can do that now?"
Cosmo shrugged. "I guess so."
Escaping was a cinch from that point on. Any guard or human who dared to get in their way was quickly dispatched by Cosmo's electricity. Isis made sure to follow closely behind. Running down halls and through room the duo eventually running into a scientist who merely grinned upon seeing them.
"Orion!" Cosmo called out.
Orion pointed down the hall on his left. "Exit's that direction, come on lets go!"
Polymorphing into his own fox body. The canid took his place beside Cosmo and Isis as they ran down the last hallway. As they reached the end, another human jumped in their way from a side room.
Pointing a weapon toward the two dragons, he advanced forward toward them.
"I don't know how you escaped the lab but I can assure you that you're going back."
Cosmo growled toward him. He knew what this human was pointing at him with. He was sure Isis knew as well. "What do you want from us?"
"That's none of your concern. Now turn around before I end your life." He looked toward Isis. "And you, I don't know how you're resisting the relic's radiation but I can assure you, I will find a way personally if I must."
Cosmo merely smiled. "At least answer me this, do you think you can pull the trigger on that before I let electricity fly into your body?"
The man merely smirked. "You got some spunk I'll give you that. And don't think I've noticed you my little foxy friend. I know you're standing behind me."
"And don't bother turning around either," Orion threatened. "You don't want to know what I'm really capable of doing."
The man chuckled to himself. "Fine . . . you win. I know when I'm outmatched."
"Then drop the gun!" Isis commanded.
The human sneered toward the fur dragon. "As you wish princess."
Cosmo closely watched as the pistol was dropped, but the man held his smirk. As the weapon hit the ground, it was set off and a bullet discharged from the barrel, hitting Isis in the leg. The fur dragon fell to the ground, the pain in her leg too great to stand.
Cosmo was astounded at what just happened. Quickly tending to Isis, the man quickly ran toward the nearest door, only for a fire to erupt in front of him. The man leaped over to safety and shut the door, locking himself safely inside.
"Why," Cosmo said to himself as he helped Isis stand. He looked forward to see stairs leading up to the tunnel he saw before.
"I'll be fine," Isis managed. "Let's just . . . get out of here while we can."
Bearing through the pain, Isis used Cosmo for support as they climbed the stairs. Orion stayed behind to set up a fire to block the path, giving them time to get away. Reaching the top, they noticed it was dark out.
"We can use the darkness to get away," Cosmo suggested. "Come on, I know it hurts Isis but you can do it."
Isis took a deep breath and nodded. Slowly but surely they made their way into the safety of the forest's darkness, thanks to Orion keeping the humans from leaving that laboratory.
"Twice," Isis uttered. "Twice that fox has saved us now. I can't believe this."
Getting a descent distance away from the site, the two dragons stopped to rest. The lab's alarm was still blaring however, barely audible but still there. The moon's light provided a small amount of light, but not enough to look at Isis's wound. Cosmo hoped it wasn't bad.
"How's the leg?"
"Hurts," she replied simply.
Cosmo sighed. "We need to get you to Warfang to get it looked at. I don't want to risk it getting infected."
Isis had no complaints. She decided the best idea was to wait for Orion. Cosmo kept trying to get a look at her leg but it was just too dark to look at. He felt bad for her. Not only was she shot in her leg and crippled, but she was also in that machine for who knows how long. The yellow dragon had many questions, but would have to wait until they were in a safe place and Isis would be okay.
Ten minutes passed and Orion finally found them, having little trouble to see due to his fox-like eyes. Seeing Isis's state, he polymorphed himself into a large version of himself, enough to carry Isis on his back with ease. Before they could leave however, a light suddenly flashed on and pointed itself toward the trio.
"I'll roast you if you come near us!" Cosmo threatened, unable to tell who it was.
"Well that's not very nice," a male voice replied. The light pointed downwards to reveal another human holding a flashlight in his hand. "I wouldn't move too much, you're being watched."
"By who?"
"By Everest, she takes her job seriously." The human then lowered his voice into a whispered tone. "Maybe a bit too seriously."
Cosmo darted his eyes around, but the flashlight that was still pointed toward the ground didn't help much. He turned his attention back toward the human, a bit worried of what was going on.
"Who are you?"
"The name's Archie," he smiled. "Was scoping out the place until Everest saw you and your buddy come out of there. Hoping we could help."
Cosmo was relieved upon this point. Up until now, he was convinced every human was out to kill him. "I'm Cosmo, the fox is Orion, and she's Isis. We need to get her medical help."
"Oh so you're Cosmo eh? Well plenty of time later, let's have a look at Isis."
Orion reluctantly laid himself down so Archie could get a better view of Isis. He shined his light toward her leg and spotted the bullet wound immediately. He flinched upon seeing it. Taking a closer look, he noticed the bullet went clean through the lower part of her leg and out the other side. It didn't surprise him however, it was expected.
"It doesn't look too awful bad to be honest with you," Archie informed as he began digging in his coat. Pulling out a bandage wrap from his coat, he began to wrap her leg tightly with it.
Isis cringed in pain as she felt her leg becoming enveloped in the bandage. Cosmo was quickly by her side, but she disregarded him. Archie didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her.
"Archie," a calm voice emanated from behind the group.
Turning, Cosmo spotted a snow colored dragoness with sky blue fur on her spine.
"Yes Everest?" He responded, finishing up with the Isis's leg.
"They're coming, we need to move."
Archie sighed. "I figured."
"Will she be fine?" Cosmo quickly asked.
Nodding, Archie turned his attention toward Everest. "She'll be fine but will need medicine, bed rest, and proper attention. I did the best with what little I had. Hope no one plans on getting shot again though. I'm out of bandages." Standing to his feet, he wasted no time walking deeper into the forest. "As much as I don't want to, we need to get to Warfang. I'm no doctor and I don't think Everest is either."
Even more questions than before entered Cosmo's mind. As they fled the area, he looked over at Archie, silently studying him with what he had. The human seemed to mean well, but he didn't look like he came from this world. The way he was dressed was more than obvious. Human's from the dragon realms didn't exactly dress like that, so he figured Archie was from wherever the human's from that lab was. Knowing it would have to wait, Cosmo focused on getting safely to Warfang. He was sure Isis would have appreciated the speedy escort.
Eventually the commotion from behind them disappeared and the nightly scenery began to make itself known. A chilly breeze silently passed swaying the treetops as it did so. Nocturnal animals and insects made themselves known as the group quickly continued through the shivery woods. Cosmo checked on Isis every couple of minutes, making sure she was still okay. The answer stayed the same though. With her though, she could have easily just not told the truth.
It took some time, but they found themselves coming to a break in the forest. Tired but determined, Cosmo took off towards it in anticipation. Emerging from the trees, the yellow dragon spotted their destination.
There Warfang sat in all its glory. Looking out into the many buildings the city contained, Cosmo felt a rush of memories in his mind. The many disasters, adventures, times both good and bad, was all there.
"There will be time for reminiscing later," Orion said, passing by him.
Archie quickly took the lead, heading toward the nearest entrance. "Come on now, the hospital here isn't exactly right around the corner."
Arriving at the gateway, the two guards stopped the group dead in their tracks when they noticed Archie. The human had hoped word got around to the guards that he was friendly.
"Stop right there!" a the nearest black scaled male guard commanded. He stood in front the passage into the city, blocking the path.
Archie didn't have the time to explain his predicament to these dragons. He attempted to be brief as possible for the sake of Isis.
"I'm Archie, Relic gave me permission to enter whenever I needed to."
Both guards looked at each other for a moment, then the black scaled reptile turned back toward the human, nodding toward the information he was given. "I see. I was informed about you, but I still don't trust you humans."
"Please," Cosmo said, butting in forcefully. "I have a hurt friend behind me who needs to see a doctor. Archie is just trying to help."
Cosmo didn't know the relationship between Archie and this Relic he mentioned but hoped it was good enough to let them pass. He remembered hearing the stories of how other humans attacked the city before. The yellow scaled reptile was unsurprised at the guard's reaction to seeing a human standing before them, but hoped it would have been different.
The two guards looked for themselves to see a large fox like creature carrying a blacked furred dragon on its back.
"That's quite a big fox there," one guard said, examining the shape-shifting canid. Deciding to see for himself, the guard examined Isis for himself. The fur dragoness felt a bit uncomfortable as the guard approached her to see the problem Cosmo was telling him about. He had no trouble spotting the bullet wound in her leg.
"I see," he continued simply. "Fine . . . you can go through."
"About time," Isis muttered under her breath.
Archie quickly made his way through the gate, motioning the rest to follow him through. However, he soon came upon the realization that he didn't know this city very well. The first time he actually entered it was earlier in the day. He usually sent Everest to perform any tasks that needed to be done here to prevent dragons from killing him on sight.
Street lanterns burned on their posts along the road, lighting up the way as they briskly walked. Several dark buildings decorated most of the empty space on the sides. Not many dragons seemed to be on the streets tonight though. Archie didn't know how they would react to a human and oversized fox walking among them though.
"Everest, do you by any chance know where the closest hospital is?"
"Of course," the snow scaled dragoness replied in a soft tone. "You don't know where it is do you?"
"Not a clue, lead the way?"
Everest only replied by taking the lead. She immediately turned right to a back road to avoid the main streets. Running into citizens didn't seem like the best of ideas for the moment. Directing her group efficiently throughout the city, they eventually noticed a hospital in the distance. Everest had no trouble seeing it's lights escaping through its windows.
A few random dragons took notice of them as they approached. She kept a close eye on them to make sure they weren't thinking of attacking Archie. If that were to happen . . . .
She would make sure that dragon wouldn't be able to walk away.
Approaching the entrance, Orion was forced to let Isis on the ground and polymorph into a smaller form of himself. Luckily there seemed to be no one around the front entrance to notice the fox's transformation. Explaining the existence of a shape-shifting mythological creature was something no one wanted to explain at the moment.
Everest was a bit taken aback by what she witnessed. "I didn't know you could change your size like that Orion."
"We can explain later when Isis is safe," Cosmo answered promptly. Orion hopped up on Cosmo's back, hoping he wouldn't mind.
The yellow dragon let Isis lean on him for support as they slowly made their way into the building. The interior didn't look any different from what Cosmo could remember during his last visit. Many unusually large seats were scattered throughout the large room with a reception desk off to the left side of the room. He figured the seats were that way so larger dragons could sit down as well. In the back right was a hallway that led to the many rooms patients were kept in along with another hallway on the left side of the room that led to additional rooms should they be needed. It smelled a bit nice inside as well. Cosmo noticed a few decorative plants in pots in each corner of the room with many colored flowers sprouting from it's tips.
It was fortunate that there weren't any dragons waiting in the room. It would make everything run much smoother. Cosmo noticed a pure white dragoness around his size positioned behind the counter on the left. She seemed to have noticed him, as well as Isis who was still using him for support.
"Excuse me," she began. "Is something wrong?"
Immediately Cosmo noticed her accent. It was a bit different from what he was normally used to hearing. He also noticed that along with her white scales, she had white fur growing out of her spine all the way down to her tail. This dragoness was a bit familiar to him.
"My friend has been hurt," Cosmo explained, helping Isis approach the desk. "She needs some attention to her leg."
The receptionist took notice of Isis, almost staring at her face instead of her injury. It almost seemed like she was deep in thought, connecting two pieces of a puzzle together.
"Of course!" the white dragoness suddenly replied. A nearby doctor took notice of the group in front the counter and approached them. He was clearly a bit larger than Cosmo.
"I'm sorry. What's wrong?" the doctor asked.
Cosmo sighed, a bit annoyed by this receptionists lack of help. "My friend got her leg hurt and needs medical attention."
The doctor nodded, wasting no time to take a look for himself. He noticed the bandages wrapped tightly around the leg, but could clearly see dried blood coming through. He looked back at Isis and saw her eyes were half open. Putting the back end of his paw on the top of her head, he did his best to perform his duty.
"It's hard to tell but she may have a fever. We'll have to take her in the back, unwrap that bandage, and see if we can do anything to help her. I'm afraid the rest of you must stay here in the waiting room."
Cosmo nodded in response.
The doctor took Isis and escorted her to the nearest room, leaving the rest of the group in the lobby to ponder on the events that had happened to them. Taking a seat closest to the hallway Isis was, Cosmo breathed deeply, thinking of what actually happened while they were captured for that short amount of time. Orion hopped up on the seat next to him and curled up, closing his eyes. Cosmo however was too deep in thought to notice. Who was Archie? Why did Everest seem to favor him so? Who were those humans and what were they doing there? Most of all, what was that machine for?
Was this the reason he was sent back to the dragon realm?
"Questions?"
Cosmo looked beside him to see Everest sitting next to him. He simply nodded toward her.
Archie understood. The dragon had been through a lot today from what he could tell. "Go ahead. I'll do whatever I can to make you feel more comfortable. I'm sure you're curious of who those humans were?"
The yellow reptile nodded, silently appreciating it.
Archie looked over toward the receptionist who didn't seem to be paying attention to them at all. Lowering his voice, Archie answered. "Those humans are bad news. They're part of the Ubiquitous Collection Agency or UCA for short. Their purpose was to simply collect resources for their own home. They're quite greedy. Any oil or precious they found was shipped away immediately."
"How did they get here though? They don't exactly seem like they belong around here."
Archie was quiet for a moment. He closed his eyes in thought before continuing. "You're right. They don't belong here. The UCA used a doorway called a Bravo Gate to get her from another world or even dimension. That's why they seemed to just come out of nowhere. Because they literally did. No living being around here was prepared for it."
Deeply sighing, Archie continued. "What exactly went down in that place before you escaped?"
Cosmo was a bit surprised at the question. He realized there was never any time to explain it beforehand.
"Me, Isis, and Orion was on our way to Warfang when we found that place. When we got near it to have a look, me and Isis was captured. I'm guessing they didn't see Orion because he busted me out of that place. Somehow he pulled the right lever despite not being able to read the labels."
Cosmo continued, "We had to find out where Isis was so it was my idea for Orion to shape-shift into a human scientist and escort me to the lab. One thing led to another as Orion caused some ruckus and I helped Isis escape some machine she was in. After bulling our way through any guards, we came across one guy who seemed like the leader of the bunch. Just as we thought we were about to get away, he tossed his gun on the ground making it fire, hitting Isis in the leg. We barely escaped when you found us."
Archie stroked his hand underneath his chin in thought for a moment as Everest looked toward him.
"Can you describe this machine?" Everest gently asked.
Cosmo shrugged. "Eh, it was round, had a door on it and some panels and buttons. Big enough to hold several living things inside. Had a lot of wires and tubes connecting to it through the wall behind it. I heard someone say something about a relic's radiation too."
Archie growled under his breath. "I know what that machine was."
"Is it dangerous?"
"It's worse than dangerous," Archie responded. "Thinking about it makes my skin crawl."
Everest kept quiet about the whole ordeal. She even refused to look anywhere but down toward the tiled ground below her.
"What is it?" Cosmo asked, now worried what this machine did.
"In your world, there are six artifacts spread across the forests. To be precise, they are spread around one forest in particular. Velxtra Forest."
Cosmo remembered that place. From what he could recall, Velxtra Forest was an enchanted place, specifically made to hold criminals. It was a magical maze that one could easily find themselves lost in. He remembered what was said about it. There was no entrance into that forest. There also wasn't an escape.
Archie continued. "These relics or artifacts have magical properties to them. To the UCA it was a gold mine. Finding one of the artifacts, they discovered the magic placed upon the shards. After much research, they were able to develop a machine to harvest the shards energy or radiation to their desire. That machine you described was the result."
Cosmo was genuinely upset now. "But what is it's purpose?"
Archie fidgeted, but continued none the less. Cosmo could tell just by how uncomfortable Archie was getting that this wasn't getting easy to tell. He prepared for the worst.
"The machine . . . doesn't just harvest a relic's magic. But it . . . harvests a dragon's soul as well."
At this point Everest's eyes held tears. Cosmo was taken aback by what he just heard.
"A dragon's soul?"
"Yes," Archie regretfully informed. "The machine is used to harvest dragon souls. Afterwards, they're nothing more than empty dead husks. I'm sorry to be telling you this but it's true. From what you told me, they were using that harvester to collect Isis's soul."
"But it didn't work," Cosmo explained. "I overheard that they tried, but it wasn't effective on her."
"Wait . . . they tried and she wasn't affected?"
Cosmo simply nodded his head.
"Interesting."
By this point the tears in Everest's eyes disappeared. Archie took the time to rub her head, much like a cat. The dragoness seemed to take comfort in the human's contact. It made Cosmo think for a moment. He didn't want to question her on the reaction she had. Even though she didn't show it, Cosmo could tell something was wrong with her. He decided not to impose though, thinking it would have been rude to do so. If she wanted to speak her mind, she would have done it.
Around half an hour passed. The lobby remained just as quiet as it was when they first entered the hospital. The receptionist still seemed to be minding her own business for the time being, but Cosmo couldn't shake that he had seen her somewhere before. Before he could come up with any answers to that question, the same doctor from before arrived from the hallway the group sat in front of. Cosmo nudged Orion, he was awake the entire conversation from before.
"Good news," the doctor began. "Melody will be fine. I closed her wound up and properly cleaned it. Whatever caused the hole didn't seem to leave any traces before to pick up. It will take a while but she'll be able to walk again in a few days to a week assuming she takes it easy. She has a slight fever but I'm sure it will pass. Until then a close eye needs to be kept on her just in case."
Melody? Archie and Everest looked at Cosmo unexpectedly. He knew what was going on.
"Thank you, is it okay for us to see her?"
The doctor nodded. "Come, I'll escort you."
Making their way down the empty hall, Cosmo found himself entering a nearby room. Inside, Isis awaited on a bed, laying down on her side towards the door. The doctor seemed to keep his distance from Archie however. The human didn't blame him.
"If you need anything I will be in the lobby."
"Thank you again doctor," Cosmo replied.
Closing the door on his way out, the medical dragon left the group with Isis. She seemed to be a bit out of it at the moment.
"Melody?"
"Shut up," Isis replied bluntly. "If they knew I was actually Isis we would get found out of who we actually are."
"Wait," Everest began. "You mean . . . you're the Isis and Cosmo? The one's from all those months ago that stopped that wizard?"
Isis rolled her eyes. "See?"
"I don't think I've heard of you," Archie added, leaning back on a nearby counter near the door. "Of course, I haven't really been here as that long either. You'll have to fill me in on that later Everest."
"Story time?"
Archie smiled. "Story time. Well then I think it's time we take our leave my dear Everest. Let's give these lovebirds the space they need."
Cosmo raised an eye toward that sentence. "Lovebirds? We're just friends."
"And friend-zoned," Archie said, opening the door into the hospital hallway. "Never thought a guy would be the one to say that."
Just as Archie was about to step out, Cosmo called out to him. "Wait."
Turning his head, Archie paused to see what he had to say.
"Me and Isis . . . we don't really have anywhere to stay. Would it be okay if we were to go with you? You and Everest seem to get along and me and Isis would have trouble staying here with how famous we are."
"Way to rub your celebrity selfishness all over me," Archie smiled. He looked toward Everest, then back toward Cosmo. "We'll talk it over. But until then, au revoir."
"What?"
Archie shrugged, "Something Everest used to say." He then began taking his first few steps out of the room. "Quite the wordsmith."
Offering a smile toward Cosmo, Everest bowed toward him in respect. "It was an honor to meet you two."
She quickly made her way out the door, being sure to close it on her way out. Isis looked toward Cosmo questionably as Orion silently hopped on the foot of the bed Isis was on.
"This bed sucks," Orion stated as he laid himself down on his belly facing Cosmo. "The one's at that firefighter place was better."
Isis rolled her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Cosmo asked.
"Terrible," she replied simply. "The medicines here aren't as strong as what I'm used to." Isis was silent for a moment. It was a bit too quiet for her tastes. Even the hallway just outside the door was void of any noise. "Any news about Archie and the Everest girl?"
It was then Cosmo realized he would have to explain to Isis what they talked about in the lobby. Where to begin? He started with telling her about the UCA and their goals, what the relic's were, then finally, he explained the purpose of the machine she was placed inside. Isis didn't seem to react too strongly as he explained how he was told the machine was used to basically collect dragon souls. Perhaps she was too drained of energy for the moment to give a proper response.
"So a machine that sucks up a dragon soul. What reason would that be?"
Cosmo shrugged as he sat himself down on the other side of Isis's bed. "I don't know but I doubt it's good news. For the moment, let's just try to get some sleep."
"You're spending the night?"
Cosmo nodded. "I don't see anywhere else, do you?"
Isis shrugged as she shifted over. "Bed is big enough for both of us. Just try not to wake me up in the middle of the night."
The doctor from before eventually came back in to check up on Isis and had no objections to Cosmo staying with her. It would be good for her to have someone nearby just in case. Finding her condition to be stable and healing, he casually left the room without any more disruptions. However, he wasn't prepared to what awaited for him on the other side of the door. A pure white dragoness stood in front of him.
"Shouldn't you be at the front desk?" the doctor asked.
"Yes but . . . I was wondering . . . who was checked in this room?"
The doctor sighed. "Well it's not really your business but it was a female fur dragon by the name of Melody."
"What about her companions?"
"I didn't ask for their names."
The dragoness sighed in defeat. The doctor could tell something was troubling her. "Is something the matter?"
She shook her head. "No, everything is fine." Quietly, she made her way back to her post, leaving the doctor in wonder.
"Odd, never seen her act like that before. It's almost the end of her shift, maybe she's just tired."
He didn't give it much thought as he made his way back to the lobby himself. It wasn't often he would see dragons come in late at night but it was up to someone to make sure there would be someone waiting for them.
AN: I know I have it posted I will do updates weekly but I have real life and a job to deal with right now so don't expect weekly updates. I will try but I can't guarantee. If you have any questions feel free to leave a message. Whether it be about this story or something else (like that easter egg in the legend of star I've gotten a few of those). Au revoir.