Muse Silver-Green

I awoke to the attack, and my entire body tensed. I read over the notes. The thing I like most about my replacement is how well Paisley documents everything.

I guided my fellow Muse to the cot and drank my morning beverage.

There is nothing as amazing as a mug filled with hot chocolate. But my drink tasted bitter and salty because my fear and tears flavored it.

Charlotte landed in the large shuttle lot outside the gated dragon community, surrounded by solar ships.

Two of Deb-Dagger's science ships landed, and one battleship hovered, firing at The Red Claw Village's primary school. Lasers hit a field, and it began to burn.

A dragon struck an emergency button on a tower with his tail. Artificial rain fell within the village.

Charlotte Shuttleman shrunk to the size of a dog. Her glowing arms removed tiny bags. Their luggage grew to its actual size.

She shrunk down further, and Holbrook disguised her as a galaxy pendant.

"What happens if you shrink with us inside? I mean, our cargo seems to be fine when you expand, but what about living beings?" Mason said. "None of the other living spaceships I met shrink."

"They do, and you become tiny. Special squishing is magical, weird time-related stuff. Watch an episode of Doctor Who, and while you still won't understand because it's completely different, at least you'll be entertained."

"Holbrook, shoot at them if they fire at me."

"Okay, fine." Mason walked out of his hiding spot and called the ship. "Land now. Did you hear about the traitors and rats?"

"Yes, but we evaded them. Our mission is to destroy Red Claw Village if they don't give us the sky rat." He used a scanner app on his cell phone.

"There are twenty-six active life forms aboard The Majestic Electric Eel and two hundred in the Mantas. Fifteen thousand of Deb-Dagger's followers are neither sleep nor awake."

Mason attempted to call the ships, but there was no answer.

A teen answered. "Her creepy cultists are staring into space."

Escape pods exited the ship. The battleship fell from the sky into the surrounding mountains. Dragons flew to save their semiconscious attackers.

Doctors and officers spoke to Holbrook, Charlotte, and Mason. "We want you to stay in the nesting pods overnight because Red Claw is in lockdown." The dragons left.

Holbrook texted Gloria and her family.

A military truck full of dragons parked next to them.

They were taken in separate pods. Each pod contained a shower, toilet, and a large-screen TV but no real bed except an inflatable.

At dawn, dragon doctors and officers gathered them in one room.

They read over Holbrook's warrant and handed it back to her. "The cult-like behavior of the group causes a catatonic state."

Holbrook's hand touched her weapon, and her body stiffened. "Deb is seeing how far her followers are willing to go."

A dragon leaned in, his voice soft and high. "She manipulates her followers and twists their minds with praise and lack of sleep."

The living spaceship shrank down to a pendant-size and fell asleep as Holbrook fastened her to her clothes.

Mason, Holbrook, and Charlotte left together.

Authentic, icy rain poured from the overcast sky. Dragons flew in and out of their warm tower homes, created from stone, glass, and tin.

Holbrook spoke to Mason. "Three or four generations live in a family tower connected to a cottage."

"Were Zander and Gloria born here?" Mason asked.

"Zander lived his first thirteen years as a dragon. We knew he was chosen, but the shifting was a surprise."

Dragon shepherds and their dogs herded animal sheep into their pens. Signs for turkey and ostrich farms pointed down the road.

Holbrook and Mason ran under a blue and gold awning, trying to keep dry. They ran by an ostrich farm, and the school tower, and they turned right on a stone path toward the shopping district. Holbrook tried to avoid the muddy puddles.

Massive windows advertised what was inside the stores and cafes.

She guided him along a stone path. "This is the hot chocolate shop, which means we have four blocks to go. We could take a cab, but the town is beautiful."

Dragons in the shop's window drank from barrels topped with cream. Homemade marshmallows floated through the air with some sort of magic that I didn't understand. Mason and Holbrook walked by the Dragon's Curiosity Shop. Dragons walked in and out with snow globes.

Signs in the bookstore promised light reads from twenty-five-pound novels.

Mason's stomach growled. "May we take Gloria and Charlotte to dinner here?"

"Yes, we should. Far Bread is delicious cloud bread, and it's embedded with different herbs depending on the order."

Seen through the window, a dragon grilled the egg batter. She re-cooked it on both sides with her fiery breath. Customers broke the eggs into pieces, dipping them into several sauces.

"We're almost at Gloria's family store." Holbrook pointed to a grocery shop that doubled as a soup restaurant.

Furniture and paint buckets were displayed in the window of the shop.

Dragons wiped their hind legs on a mat to avoid leaving splotches of mud on the orange floor tiles.

A female dragon hung wool capes, caps, and blankets for sale on racks. Holbrook dragged Mason down an aisle of homemade soap toward the counter. Two-pound-sized saltwater taffies, cotton candy, and sticks of sugar-free gum were sold near the register.

An old dragon waved at them and tightened his cloak.

"Hi, Stew." Holbrook grabbed Mason's arm. "Mason, may I introduce you to Gloria's grandfather, Stew?"

"We met," Mason said.

"Are you trying to prove I murdered Quin?" Stew asked.

Mason sighed to himself. "If you did it, confessing would make my life easier, but no, I have stronger suspects."

"Criminals sometimes try to explain their way out of it; when they've been caught or try to act helpful. I didn't kill them, so there is nothing to confess." He frowned. "Please don't ask Gloria about AI and VTuber models. She isn't very good at programming and is only a hobbyist."

"I wasn't planning on it." Mason stared at the massive dragon.

Stew spoke again. "Oh, Holbrook, I'm glad they let you go. Thank you for showing up. Gloria is in the back tower. She is in the family prayer room."

Stew picked up a tray of apples the size of Holbrook's head. "Take this to Gloria, but only if you are heading that way. She won't eat."

Mason and Holbrook exited the building, trudged over a stone path, and entered the tower.

In the first room, dozens of dragons wrapped blankets around their massive forms and were either sleeping, nesting, or reading from single lofts that climbed the stonewall. Stray hay drifted down.

Holbrook and Mason walked from the main room into the kitchen. A dragon rummaged through a two-story refrigerator, and two others stirred onion soup pots on a long metal stove.

Holbrook led Mason to a hall. Three rooms were marked by signs: Nesting Room, Shower Room, and lastly, Prayer Room.

Holbrook knocked on the door. "Gloria, it's me."

Gloria opened the door and sat on the gold and blue circular rug. "Thanks for coming. I've only finished talking with the police. They're calling me a hero, and yet I feel like a horrible, ghoulish creature. This isn't who I am."

Holbrook set the bun down on a table and embraced her friend.

"The survivor's guilt I felt eighteen months ago drove me to therapy, and I'm going again. There is no shame in receiving help. My issues couldn't be fixed with your friendship." Holbrook's hand rested on her weapon.

"What happened?" Mason asked.

Holbrook placed her hand over her eyes. "Before I joined Agency-14, Separatists took over the resort."

Gloria spoke. "Holbrook helped four hundred escape. After she went through therapy, Agency-14 was interested in training her. Before that, they only hired those with superpowers, chosen ones, or friends of the old king."

"Agents purposely left me behind despite my protests." Holbrook rocked. "Zander is alive because he came back for me."

"I need some sleep." Gloria closed her eyes.

"Your grandfather wants you to eat first." Holbrook pushed the heavy apple onto the table.

"Okay, I'll eat." Gloria ate as they talked. "I found that only one of the men died. He had a seven-year-old son, and though he was considered a monster, he was a dad to that boy. And now, the boy needs to go into a corrupt orphanage. Stay and talk to me. Please stay for a couple of weeks and go with me to the therapist's office. I hate to go alone, and my family won't understand. They all call me a hero."

"I'll talk it over with Charlotte when she wakes, but I'm sure she will say yes to a bowl of pumpkin soup," Holbrook said. "We'll be your agency protectors."

"Will you be on the planet?" she asked.

"Yes." Holbrook hugged her.