Dragon walker: Cog in the machine

Inside any ship lies a dragon. Eating water and coal, breathing smoke and steam. The hunger of the dragon never dies, it’s metal mouth open to devour all you give it. Feeding this flame was the job of the coal boys. Allen walker was such a boy. A cog in the machine who long ago abandoned his dreams of becoming a dragon pilot on the flight decks above the boilers. His job was simple, requiring no complex thought. Keep the fire roaring in the dragon’s belly. The flames forever hungry would die without food.

Each shovel of coal turned up ash and dust that turned Allen’s body as black as the coal he was shovelling and just as flammable. The counted the days, the seconds on the ship and how long he has to do this mind-numbing forsaken job. He joined the navy to become a nautical pilot, but without parents, without education and influence to his name his dream turned into the dust that settled on his skin. Now he was given to the ten thousand tonne machine that was the carrier, the same as his fellow boiler boys, all young man, all forsaken. Even the dragons on the stall desks above where nothing but cogs. He remembered seeing them when he moved into the belly of the carrier. They had this same empty gaze on them, slaves to the wishes of the captain and the admiralty.

Only when the ship took port could he see a glimpse of a dragon, boiler boys lived their lives in the belly of the best, near to the dragon who’s mouth they fed. A dragon who right now demanded fuel for war. The enemy was spotted and the ship demanded full steam ahead to give enough head speed for the dragons to take to the sky without problems. Allen did not know where he was, nor if the enemy was near. He was cut off from the world in the box of coal and steam, He had his own dragon to tame. “More coal!” the foreman bellowed over the thundering fires of the boiler. “Boiler 3! More coal!” he shouted. “If you value king and country you put more coal in that dammed boiler else I feed you to the dragons myself!” Every bigger shovels of coal, ever more speed. Allen could no longer count the boys they lost to the war, slipping falling in the fire. Last week they lost five good man to a coal fire in one of the fuel bins. Alas the machine cared for nothing, they could be pig to a slaughter for all it cared. The turbines had to keep spinning, the fire had to keep roaring.

A pang on the hull of the ship emanated trough the boiler room, for a moment an icy silence felt, like even the fire has died down out of fear. All knew that pang, all feared to hear it. The pang of metal on metal, the pang of an undetonated torpedo hitting the thick armoured hull. At this depth? It was defiantly below the heavy armour belt. As soon as the silence felt, the buss of the boiler room returned, new life has been breath into the workers. The fear of death made man run. The foreman only hoped to even process the pervasive power of an undetonated torpedo on the hull of the ship. How the foreman had to keep the boys back, the fire must not boil to hot.

Little known to Allen something was dropped through the flight deck, it crashed through the wood and into the belly of the beast. The blast that followed of the two hundred kilo bomb bend the ship. It left the boiler room disorientated to what just happened. The dividing plates that separated the boiler room from the turbine room had buckled. Allen could feel the sudden loss of speed, the ship was slowing down and into two of the five boilers the pressure was building in rapid speed.  “Close the hatches!” The foreman shouted, almost as unphased what ever happened. With that command the mouth of all the dragons closed up, the firing hopefully dying out. “she is going to blow!” one of the boiler boys said, looking at the pressure on the boilers. The foreman glanced a sweaty glance before giving the unthinkable order. He shouted into the command tube running to the bridge. “Boiler room is going to blow! Orders!?” but all that came back was blood.

“Sir?” Allen pointed to the meters entering the danger zone. The foreman took a deep breath, looking at everyone. “Abandon ship…” he said with a quavering voice. “run and hope that you reach the deck before we blow.”

Allen dropped his shovel where he stood, his heart pounding, his adrenaline rushing.  He had to climb twenty decks to safety and even if he reached it, he could only hope on safety and not a POW camp. He rushed to the third portside staircase, a staircase reality quite in the rush going around. It couldn’t lead straight to the top but it led to one of the weapon balustrades around the ship. If the command tower was gone, the main stairs could be inaccessible. He could only hope his guess had turned alight. He ran the stares, taking two three at the same time. Water was pouring down the corrivated metal stairs. Steam was collecting near several doors revealing fires raging beyond and the screams.

Men were burning alive within the metal convinces of the ship, the safe metal compartments had been turned into a hellish death. Only on the first stall deck he could see the extent of the damage. The deck was covered in bones and blood, parts of which were once great dragons that had been where the blast was. The dragon deck had filled with smoke of fires raging deep within the ship. A dragon on the far end of the deck was roaring, he was in pain but couldn’t escape from the hell that was now his nest. Chained to the stall he could only look at his pilot laying before him. A pipe had lodge itself into the torso of the pilot, blood rushing over the hot metal ground. Allen wanted to open the door to the weapons belt but he stopped and turned to look at the dragon. Should he? He could see the fear in the dragon’s eyes, the first emotion he ever seen from the beasts and he felt like the eyes reflected his own soul. The dragon turned to Allen, as if it begged for its life and Allen stepped towards the dragon, slowly at first but then running past the corpses of other dragons. He reached the pilot’s dead body, he reached for the silver chain around the pilots neck and pulled the dog tags from the pilot and pocketed them.

He was properly going to die no matter what, might as well free a dragon even if that might mean being eaten by one. He hit the release button of the chains that held the dragon in place but to no effect. No power that could release the heavy chains. The release bar was luckily still in place. Hanging in the class cabinet next to the button. “hold on big boy” he said to the blood and soot covered dragon. The heavy metal bar slotted into holes in the ground and one by one the chains released. “please don’t eat me” Allen begged as the last chain that hold the dragon’s neck back was released. The dragon moved its head close to him and snorted, taking in his scent. Its maw opened and he knew he was done for.

The dragon yanked him by his cloths on its own back. Allen could feel the soft leather of the saddle and gripped into it. It was not for long that the dragon was speeding to the side elevator, the only one lowered. Claws on metal screeched trough the burning desk as the dragon climbed the walls of the elevator to the flight deck. The carnage didn’t stop, as they came on top they were sprayed by seawater from a bomb that barely missed them. Up in the sky dragons under the bright red and yellow flag flew, breathing fire at anyone who dared to take their air domination from them. Dragons under the orange flag scrambled, trying to flee with their side somewhat intact, the dragon crew scrambling to put some sort of defence as the fought for the lives of themselves and the great dragons. Allen and the dragon under him could only hope they escaped without being spotted.

“Fly!” he shouted to the paralyzed dragon, it gazed at the carnage on the deck. Dragons with wings, heads, tails and legs blow off, some where nothing but a pile of bones as bombs had struck them. It made Allen sick, the sight, the smell of burned flesh and the screams of dragons and man burning alive. Pounding on the red hot hull of the ship in desperation. “FLY!” Allen shouted again and tried to wake the dragon from its trance. The dragon slowly took to the sky and flew low across the waves. They passed enemy ships, only escaping as they were too busy shooting at the dragons in the sky. Some fired machine guns at them but all missed, the flaks were to slow and couldn’t aim this low.

Behind them the carrier heaved partly from the water as another explosion send the water rippling, steam and fire erupted trough the flight deck silencing the screams from those who are trapped inside of the ship. Soon fire spread trough everything that remained from the ship. Allen could feel the heat while flying away from the ship.

Sea water splashed against Allen’s face, washing the soot from his face. The dragon was getting cleaned from the gore and soot, warm orange and sand scales were revealed from below them. It was one of the new dragons, one that never seen war. It flew with an break neck speed, flying as fast as it’s wings could carry it. Allen couldn’t navigate, Allen could only cling to the dragon’s harness with the fear of falling off. He had no harness to secure him, he couldn’t control this beast and he was yet again left in the clutches of someone else. Though away from the battle, in the distance the roaring of fighting dragons, he felt free for the first time in his life. The water cleansed him and the dragon finally gained some height, no longer was his washed by the salty water. Allen could hear the dragon heave with the raw power the speed required but now it could rest. Slow down a little.

The island where they landed was small, not settled by any, no air base, no ships in sight. The dragon laid on the beach resting. Allen could only hope it was recently fed. There was no fresh water to be had, no food that he could find. He sat in the sand, placing himself against the hide of the dragon, using one of its wings to partially shield himself from the hot midday sun beating down relentlessly. “Thank you for not eating me” he petted one of the large forelegs of the dragon.

“And thank you for not leaving me to burn or drown.” A soothing voice filled Allen’s mind. His face turned white and he looked around for an explanation. “who said that!?” he jumped to his feet, looking around if somewhere was sneaking up to them. “Can you see anyone?” He asked the dragon as if it could speak. “We are alone little human” the voice came again, it was defiantly feminine but with an odd rumble in it. Slowly Allen turned to the dragon, it was the only one here, the only one… but no dragons never spoke, they could not. They were just beasts. His mouth opened and closed without sound awestruck looking at the dragon. He just pointed. “I believe you humans said it was impolite to point” the voice spoke again. “Please tell me your name little human so I can one day pay the depth you bestowed on me” Words finally formed in Allen’s mouth. “Who, what, how?” he stumbled over his words. “Oh, my apologies, I forget that besides the pilots no human normally hears dragon voices.” The voice spoke again. The eyes of the dragons where sharp on Allen. Finally he started to see other emotions in those eyes, relief, sorrow, and pain. “Dragons speak?” He finally managed to say. He gotten an affirming yes from the voice in his head. “Well sort of, we speak in the way we see fit. But my pilot died so I am free to speak to those I want.” Allen managed to slowly regain his wits. “Why you are not allowed to speak?” he asked, closing over the obvious first question the dragon asked him

“Would you want to speak to a beast? An animal? People would think you mad” the gaze in the dragon’s eyes turned soft with sorrow. “I pray you to keep it to ourselves that we spoke trough” Allen suddenly nodded “You have a name dragon?” he received a small snort of hot air over his head from the dragon “I hoped you showed a bit more respect, but old habits die hard it seems. You can call me Tanith, it’s the name given to me by my previous master. What is your young one?”

“Allen, Allen walker” Allen responded to the dragon. “They told me you would eat any human who ventured to close” The dragon gave a low rumbling laugh. “Well why would you free me then?” Allen looked into the dragon’s eyes. “Because I saw myself in you.” A stern look formed on the dragon’s face as it stared at him “Explain.” it demanded. “The fear, to be trapped and burned to death? To be just a play thing to those in power?” Tanith’s face turned soft again as she leaned close to the human. “Whatever job you did on that hell place, you reek of fire and ash” Allen gave a soft laugh “Well I fed another type of dragon so to speak.” “You are a pilot?” the dragoness asked “No no, I worked in the boilers. I put coal in the fire, nothing more nothing else. I am luckily I even made it to the dragon decks.”

“I am lucky you did, you might be the only non-pilot who ever thought of freeing a dragon.” She turned to sorrow again “Even though there was nothing much left to save from that bomb…  my brother…” she pulled her face into a wrinkle and looked down…Was she? Crying? “Brother?” Tanith nodded “One moment I saw him in the hall, getting ready for fighting, the next moment…fire, death. I could only see part of his wing after it, the rest gone… Oh my sweet brother, luckily death came quick.” Allen just sat down next to the dragon, gazing down at the sand. “I have lost my parents to a bomb” he said softly “I know how you feel”

“This damned war.” She growled to him “I wish I could just fly off” She kneaded the warm sand between her large claws. “that’s desertion, they could hang you for it” He was answered by a growling laugh “Hanging a dragon, I would like to see them try. I owe no allegiances to them they treat me no better than cattle.” Tanith looked to the distance for a long moment before bringing her attention back to Allen. While she did not speak, Allen could see the worry in her eyes and the wonder. The possibilities and the fears, when she spoke again it was for a single question.

“what do you want Allen? You want to be a pilot?” The dragoness asked him looking him dead in the eyes. ”Why do you ask? Why does it matter” Allen asked in return “Because you might not have an option. I might just set you off somewhere along the coast but people will ask where you came from… perhaps question you if you are a deserter…but if you fly on my back, the corps properly have no choice but to make you a pilot. Dragons don’t bond easily”

Allen’s gaze followed the dragon’s flank down the sand and into the fast ocean. “Well I always wanted to become a pilot. I just never been in any position to join the corps.” He could feel something large and warm settle on his lap, looking down he could see the large tail of Tanith on his lap, holding him against her body. “that settles it then.” She hummed softly “We can’t stay much longer here, without food or water. When you are ready we fly.” Allen pushed her tail from his lap and dusted some of the soot and sand from his clothes. He was aware that his clothes left a black mark on the side of Tanith where he was pressed against her. “you are going to clean that when we are back home” she teased him before letting him get in the saddle again. “At least I now have someone to talk to.” She hummed softly, getting ready to launch herself skywards again.

Her mighty wings beat the sky into submission as she lifted into the air. She took a few rounds of the island before flying north. The sun was just about on their left as it passed its highest point of the day. Allen could see the island disappear into nothingness as Tanith gained distance and altitude from the island. Yet again he was surrendered to someone else who knew what he should do, through this time he was happy to have someone in charge.

Talking to Tanith was difficult with the wind in his face. His words hardly ever reached her. It made him wonder how the pilots even communicated effectively with the dragons. Could they to learn this strange mental speech? We tried to get closer to her head to speak better with her but only resulting on nearly slipping and falling to a watery grave. He resorted to just make himself comfortable in the  saddle. Listening to Tanith’s stories and occasionally screaming question.

They arrived near land when the sun was setting, Tanith banked to fly along side the land for a while until they reached a port with a large city. Allen’s eyes opened, he knew the city, they set sail from it. He lived there. The port of New London was filled with ships of the fleet that just scraped by. It seemed they were not the only one who were hit. Somewhere barely afloat, others loaded to the brim with survivors that slowly gotten unloaded onto the docks.

“Allen right saddle pocket. Get the flag, put a knot in it and wave it.” Tanith commanded sternly and lowered herself slightly to be seen. Allen fumbled with the pocket but managed to get out their coloured flag in the air. He loosely tied the knot and then barely waved it in the air. Soon enough two dragons took to the sky, intercepting them. One of the dragons raised two signal flags.

“They ask if we are okay. We should follow” Tanith responded by holding her wings and rocking side to side to acknowledge the messages. The dragons formed a lose formation with the two dragons leading Tanith and Allen to one of the airbases. Their landing was hard, Tanith nearly collapsing in exhaustion when she made contact with the ground. Soon there was a buzz around the landing zone as helpers scurried to the spot. Allen was slowly pulled from Tanith, receiving distrusting gazes from the crew around. His sooty clothing, barely even showed the insignia of the ship he served.

He was held there and then while the medics looked over Tanith. “Just wait. And when asked tell the truth but not that I am talking to you.” She assured him as a tall women walked up to them. She wore a rather thigh leather outfit and carried one pistol on each of her hips. Her golden hair was cut short and she wore a aviators cap with googles to protect her eyes. “You” she said with authority, her voice formed by command. She pointed at Allen. “You are not one of us” On her shoulder Allen could see the admiralties rank. It took a moment but as she arrived he saluted. “No ma’am I am not from the corps”

“At ease” she commanded him and Allen could relax ones more. “Now tell me who the hell you are and what the hell you are doing with one of our dragons.” The air became charged and apart from two beefy looking crew members to each side of Allen, most of the crew moved backwards. “I am Allen walker, cadet of the first class carrier Goliath” his answer send a wave of murmur along the crew gathered. “Silence!” the admiral shouted. “Cadet, your answer raises more questions. The Goliath was supposed to guard us. What the hell is someone from the Goliath doing over here? And where is Tanith’s pilot?”

Allen took a deep breath and reached for the silver dog tag. He read the name and handed it over to the admiral. “I am sorry for the loss of your pilots ma’am” he steadied himself, being the bearer of bad news was never good. “I don’t know the details what happened, but the Goliath got attacked. By the time I reached the decks all but Tanith was dead. I freed Tanith from the burning wreckage and she flew me here” He could hear a soft hiss from Tanith “Idiot you slipped up. Normal people don’t know a dragons gender”

Suddenly Allen gotten cold while the admiral inspected him. “Alright Walker. I am Admiral Evans, First commander of the south air force, you may address me as Admiral Evans or Ma’am understood?” She gazed sternly at Allen as if he was not taught the proper manners. “yes Ma’am” he replied. “Now, follow me.” The admiral said “Captain Smith” she called one of the doctors over “Make sure the dragon is put somewhere warm and safe. It must have gone through hell and back to end up here.” She walked off in the direction of the camp with Allen in short tow.