VERNON'S POV

“Wake up.”

My eyes slowly opened. My vision wasn’t stable and I could see was blurs. The room smelt dusty and felt extremely claustrophobic. As my vision cleared up, the room became familiar. The ceiling where the glass windows were was completely shattered, allowing dirt and rocks to fill the gym. All around, students were either trapped under something heavy, or passed out on top of something heavy. By the looks of it, not everybody was.. alive.

“What’s going on?” My vision focused on the speed-devil next to me.

“You missed the announcement; we’re at war and need to get in position.” Hoshi looked around the room with a saddened expression. Sometimes I forget that he’s an upperclassmen and he knew most of the students here. I know I’m just a freshman, but seeing people hurt isn’t really making me feel that good either. “Are you hurt?” Hoshi extended his hand and I took it.

“Not that I know of. Where do people from the Martial Arts unit meet up?” I looked at the cuts running down Hoshi’s other side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I heal fast. It’s a bonus of having super speed. Let’s find Jun.” Hoshi grabbed my hand and we were suddenly in a random corridor. “If we’re at war, we need to make sure our restrictions are not going to be an issue. I need to run to the cafeteria and stock up on protein bars. You stay by this water fountain and fight. I’ll be right back.” He was off before I could ask him what he meant by fight.

Not too long after he was gone, I understood what he meant. From both ends of the corridor, two gorilla sized golems slowly walked toward my direction. By the looks of it, they had been attacked not too long ago. Odds are, whoever damaged them, didn’t make it out.

The golem’s features were more defined this time around. Back at the hell-hole, the golems looked like stacked rocks formed by babies. Now they look like an army of sculptors called an army of architects and made this. Instead of rock, they looked to be made up of some sort of metal. Luckily for me, I spit fire.

Before they could close in on me, I spit out a layer of lava onto the golem behind me. The lava didn’t melt it but it did prevent its movement, which was fine by me. I’d prefer it if I only fight one at a time. The lava lit up the corridor, allowing me to see how badly the school had been damaged. Cracks ran up and down the walls, the ground looked like a shattered plate, even the ceiling looked broken. Before I did anything else, I took a drink of water and planted my feet facing the incoming golem.

“Don’t think you are all bad just because my lava doesn’t burn you. I can do more than JUST spit fire.” I cracked my knuckles and blew onto my fist. My fist lit up like an iron brander. The sensation felt cool, which was a good thing because I don’t need to melt my hand off. As soon as my fist was completely heated up, I ran up to the golem and punched it directly in its stomach, leaving a wide hole in its place.

The golem didn’t move. I removed my fist and stepped back. By the looks of it, it seemed to have killed it. Boy was I wrong. As soon as my guard was down, it grabbed me with its giant hands and started walking down the corridor.

Why am I not dead?  Shouldn’t this massive thing be crushing me by now? Where is Hoshi? He had better be alright.

“Let me go you stupid metal whatever!” I punched its hand while it slowly walked down the long corridor. “Fine, but I warned you.”

I closed my eyes and focused on the heat stored within my body. A long time ago, when I was born, my mother would tell me stories about who I was destined to be. She said I was to become a monster, a creature that would end the lives of many. She said that I was destined to become a dragon. I hate it when people call me a dragon, which is why when I introduce myself; I just say that I spit fire. I lie about that; I can do so much more.

The golem stopped moving as my wings slowly cut through its metal hands. Its hand fell onto the floor, freeing me from its grip. With its other hand, it picked up the fallen heap of metal and reconnected it. The only way I was going to destroy this thing was by melting it. I am going to need A LOT more heat. I flew back to the water fountain and restored some energy.

“Come and get me, ugly.” I inhaled a big breath of air and waited. Inside of me, the fire in my stomach was producing a deadly amount of smoke. As soon as I couldn’t hold onto it any more, I released the black smoke into the already dark corridor. I blinked and my eyes adjusted to see through smoke. Thank you, Professor Suarez.

The golem looked around for a bit, giving me enough time to plan out my strategy. Talons grew where my fingernails should be. My wings grew an extra layer of sharp bones. A tail sprouted out from behind me, also growing a row of sharp bones. Destroying a lovely pair of shoes, talons grew from my toenails and through the front of my shoes.

I know what you’re thinking. WOW SO COOL HE’S A DRAGON! Stop thinking that. I’m not a complete dragon. My mother was only half dragon; making me like half-dragon? Is there a term for that? Anyways, don’t expect me to go full on dragon. If you want to know how I look, imagine a dragon… now imagine me… now cut off the fat body of the dragon, remove its skull, add horns, add red scales and that’s me.

My talons lit up and I flew at high speeds toward the golem, slashing it open impact. As I turned back to it, half of its body was on the floor while the other half was dissolving from exposure to high heat. To finish it up, I sprayed the remaining pieces with fire until the golem was heated and melting into the ground.

Before I could defend myself, the golem that was slowed by my lava punched me from behind, slamming me into the wall. The damage to the wall was more severe than it was to me. My rough skin took most of the damage. The golem’s hand broke on impact of punching my body, which was a good thing. With its other hand, the golem slammed me further into the wall, pushing me to the other side.

The room looked awfully familiar; I think it was the outside of the cafeteria. It was the biggest place in the entire school, right after the auditorium. Students that were able to fight were fighting all sorts of weird things. In one corner, this guy was fighting what looked to be a diamond. To my right, a girl was healing a badly damaged student. Does that mean the medical unit is also on the battlefield?

“Behind you!” A voice warned.

I spun around to be greeted by two more golems. I took a step back as they crawled through the broken wall. Surrounding students stopped fighting their monsters to stare at mine. The monsters that were fighting the students stopped and ran the other direction. Was I fighting something strong? Before some of the monsters escaped, a few of the students blocked their path, stopping them from attacking injured students in other rooms.

“Anybody have the power to will water? I could use a refill.” I continued backing up while the golems slowly walked forward. A kid ran up to me and pulled water out of thin air, allowing me to rejuvenate my energy. “How is the war going?” I asked him.

“Not good, the medical unit, as well as the intelligence unit, was attacked and now everybody is just fighting to stay alive.” He slapped a stone rhinoceros with a water whip, breaking it into tiny pieces.

“Why are there so many monsters?” I spit fire at the golem’s feet, melting them into place.

“The controller is just recreating them as we break them.” He said as the rhinoceros fixed itself.

“I’ve got an idea, but I am going to need your help.” I whispered into the guy’s ear and his eyes widened by my plan.

“Wont that kill you?”

“I don’t know, we’ll see.” My mouth extended, releasing gun powder into the air, spreading throughout the massive room. “Refill please,” I asked as the boy poured water into my mouth. By this time, my throat was burning but I had to finish the job. “Get everybody out of here.”

I waited for everybody to leave the vicinity, leaving a horde of monsters for me to fend off. The golem’s feet cooled off and they broke free from there prison. I took a big breath of air and waited for the monsters to get really close. Good bye, Wonwoo. Thank you for being my roommate.

Just before the golems could smack me, I released an eruption of flames into the air. The flames lit up the entire room, mixing with the gun powder that sat on the floor. The light intensified, evaporating nearby monsters. As the light faded, my consciousness faded. Before I could pass out, a fresh arm of golems crawled through the hole in the wall.

. . .

“Hello, there, Vernon.” A voice woke me up. My body was sore and I couldn’t move. “You caused a lot of trouble and I don’t appreciate that. However, I need your power so I forgive you.” A man walked in front of me. Is this Wonwoo’s father?

I looked passed him at the four chairs on a stage. The chairs looked like something you’d see at a dentist’s office. On the table next to each chair, three syringes laid on a napkin. Each syringe contained a light green liquid.

“Set him on the first chair, please.” He spoke and my body began making its way forward. I glanced down to see myself encaged by the golem’s grip.

As soon as we got to the chair, I was released and strapped down to the chair. Wonwoo’s father stood over me and picked up a syringe. My body looked half burned, half broken. I tried to move but I didn’t have the strength or the energy. Wonwoo’s father jabbed himself with a syringe and smiled at me.

“Huh?” I managed to say before he poked me with the second syringe. My vision turned a light green color and went back to normal. I didn’t feel any different, besides a small poke on my arm.

“Thank you for sharing your power with me, Vernon. Wonwoo would be most proud of you.” He walked behind my chair and did something with the third syringe. In front of me, a girl stood guard. At first, I thought I was saved, but then I realized it was Melissa. Her obsidian body told me she was still being controlled by the evil villain. “Time for you to go to sleep now.”

A sudden flash of green light took over my vision and exhaustion circulated throughout my body.

“H-H-Hel..”

QUESTIONS:

Did you enjoy Vernon’s point of view?

How many of you knew he was half dragon?

Will Vernon survive this war?