Chapter 1

New Home

Gentle waves rocked him for hours as he drifted aimlessly on his little boat. A dull throb in the back of his head woke him, bringing pain, and the knowledge that he had been betrayed, "I should have geussed it, I suppose. After all, even my parents thought I was crazy. Why would these men? I wonder where I am?" Gareth forced open his eyes; found himself staring up at the sky. He sat up and looked around. Behind him was a mist nearly thick enough to be called fog, while in front of him, though still far off, was the shore to an island. His throat felt parched, as if he hadn't had anything to drink for two days, "What this? A canteen? Why would anyone give me water to drink if they wanted me dead? Hmm...maybe I had a friend on that ship after all..." Graeth gratefully took a sip of the water. He realized as it slid down his throat just what it might be. The taste confirmed it.

"Poison! I just drank poison!" Disgusted, he threw it into the water, "How long do I have left to live now? A day? A week? An hour?" The island came into his line of sight once more, "Maybe it's inhabited. There could be a city on that island somewhere. I need to get there!" Gareth started paddling from the boat. After an hour or so of this, he gave up, "It's no use. I'd have to swim if I wanted to get any closer to that island than I am now."

As he prepared to jump into the water, something that resembled a killer whale with wings shot up in front of him. It twirled in the air for a moment before arching down and sending a wave that pushed his boat forward. The movement caused Gareth to fall down, back into the boat. His head hit the wood hard enough to knock him out.

Bill walked along the beach with his daughter, helping her collect seashells. He sighed, saddened by the fact that in a few more hours he would have to take her back to her home and leave her, "At least I get to see her. I wonder what I might have been like if the two of us could never talk to each other, or even do things like this again!" To take his mind off of that hard subject he turned around.

Behind him were two more dragons who, as always, were walking side-by-side, holding hands, and whispering how much they loved each other. It brought a tear to his eye. These two could never have a family together, yet one would not leave the other even if there lives depended on it.

"Sarrah! Snap out of it! I thought I told you I needed you to collect some ocean samples while we were here!"

"Sorry sir!" Sarrah called back. One last look at each other, then Sarrah ran off to fill up the test tubes she had brought.

"And you, Babe. What are you suppose to be doing?"

"Alright, Bill, alright. I'll start scanning." Babe took off his coat, then flew into the sky. Bill watched his robotic friend as his daughter came running back with more seashells in her bucket. He chuckled for a moment. There had been a time when all of this seemed impossible. He never would have thought that he would become one of the Protector's closest friends. Babe stalled in the air for a moment as he began scanning, then dove. Bill shouted at him to stop; they had no idea how waterproof Babe's armor was! Babe didn't hear.

Scanning...Life forms detected. Babe watched below him for the life his scanners spoke of, "What the--a boat!" Without another moments hesitation, Babe dove toward the boat, "Shane?! What is that human doing here?! Wait...that's not Shane...Shane has lighter hair than that. And those clothes look like they've been worn for days! Bill's gonna want to see this!" He picked the boat up out of the water and flew back to the shore.

"Bill! Look what I found!"

Sarrah was there first, "Where'd the boat come from?"

"No idea, but wait 'till you see what's inside!" With that, Babe set the boat on the ground, "Another human found the island, Sarrah. What should we do?"

Bill came up then, "What's this?"

"Babe found a human, Bill."

"Shane's out here? Why? He said he was going to be with the Deep Rockers all day today."

"I don't think this is Shane, Bill." Babe pointed to the human's head, "At least, not unless he's decided to dye his hair."

Bill was on the human in an instant. Without looking up from the human he spoke to Sarrah, "Sarrah, can you take my daughter home? I think I'm going to be busy for the rest of the week."

"Okay. Tell me all about the human when I get back. I assume you'll be heading to the lab?"

"Precisely. C'mon, Babe, let's get this human to my lab."

"Sand...wind on my face...where am I?" Gareth hazily opened his eyes. His memory was a blur after he had fallen backwards in the boat. "A bed...I smell medicine. I was found?" Around him were medical insturments he vaguely recognized, "A hospital then. They found me and are trying to help." The thought comforted him enough to make him fall back asleep.

"Well, he's not dead."

"You missed it, Bill. He was awake for a second."

"WHAT?!! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You were too busy checking his pulse. I think you may want to check his eyes, Bill. They looked red. I'm not sure, but I don't think that's a good sign for humans."

"His eyes were red? How bad?"

"Couldn't tell. They were only slits." Babe sighed and left the room to wait for Sarrah.

Bill carefully opened one of the humans eyes. The white of his eye was completely bloodshot. The pupil was so small he almost couldn't see it, and the iris seemed hazy, "He's been poisoned. How long? Hope he doesn't mind a blood sample." Bill brought out a syringe and some capsules for blood. The first test showed a huge amount of poison already in the humans blood stream, "I don't think I can save him...I wonder what poisons are in there..." It was almost impossible to tell. The poison, or poisons as he was no beginning to think, were so mixed that he got a different compound nearly every single time!

"Ohh..." Bill dashed back to the bed when the human moaned, "Where--where am I?"

"Rest, human. Don't move much. I don't know what's wrong with you yet."

"I was...poisoned." the human mumbled, "Where am I? What island is...this?"

"Rest. I won't let you die."

"Wait...what's wrong with your face?..are those...are those wings?" The human feebly pointed, "All your missing is a tail and scales or I might think to call you..." The human fell back to sleep before he could finish his sentence. He murmured a few more words as he slept, "...dragon...wings and tail...scales..." There was a huge smile a on the humans face.

Gareth woke up a few more times after that. One time he thought he saw two faces staring down at him, "What did that poison do to me? It feels like I'm actually looking at dragons..." These thoughts followed him into his dreams, bringing images of the dragon he'd seen as a child, sometimes mixing it with the strange faces he saw whenever he opened his eyes. He finally woke up enough to sit up in the bed. As awareness slowly came back to him, he heard voices speaking on the other side of a door.

"Are you serious?! How could another human have found this island?! The people took one easily enough before, this could be enough to send them over the edge! Remember what happened to Shane?"

"I know sir. I want to study this one. It's the first time I've ever gotten to study one without it trying to run away from me all the time."

"Alright. I'll announce it to the public, and it will room with Shane. I've already spoken with the council on this and all agree: The human cannot be allowed to leave our island!"

"What's going on out there? What kind of crazy place have I stumbled upon?!" Gareth tried to get out of the bed, but he felt so weak...with a final grunt he fell back onto the bed, exhausted, "Well, one can hope it won't be worse off than what I left. Now I'll never find that dragon!"

Just then, the door opened.

"I thought I heard some noise in here. Welcome back to the waking world, human."

Gareth rubbed his eyes, "What? That creature looks like..." A smile broke out on his face. He was looking at his dream! Three tears fell off of his cheeks before he realized he was crying. He wiped his face dry, then tried to speak, "I--I found--I can't believe I actually...wow...dragons...and here I thought I would never...damn."

"Are you alright?" A light-brown dragon asked. It had a head shaped like a horse, and wore glasses! Behind it stood about six other dragons in black suits.

"Bodyguards? Why would they need bodyguards?" Gareth looked around, "Where am I?"

The light- brown dragon answered, "Dragon Isle. My name's Bill. My--er--friends found you in your boat and brought you here."

"Dragons...I found the dragons! I knew I wasn't crazy! Ha ha! Take that, you stupid sailors!! I made it, and you won't even get paid!"

"Ah, sir?"

"Oh! Sorry. Just thinking about a few doubters."

"Sir, you do know why you're here, right?"

"The poison I drank. I know."

"You willingly drank poison?! Do you--"

"I did not know it was poison when I drank it. What's the diagnosis?"

The dragons at the door turned and left. One turned around and said, "You know where to take him?"

"I know where Shane lives."

After the other dragons had left, Gareth asked the light-brown dragon, "Who?"

"Shane. He's the only other human on this island."

"You mean I'm not the first? Damn. I was hoping...I'm guessing I'll be staying with him?"

"You got it."

"One more question. Can you do anything?"

"Nothing but wait and see, I'm afraid. There were so many different poisons in there that I almost can't tell one from the other! I hope you like it here, human. You'll be staying for quite a while."

"Like it?!" Gareth laughed, "I'll love it! I've been searching for dragons for twenty years!"

"Why?" The light-brown dragon looked at him suspisciously.

"To prove to every--well, not everyone anymore, but at least to prove to myself I wasn't crazy! I saw a dragon as a kid, and I've been looking for them ever since."

"Well, human. You've found them, and now you're stuck with them."

"And happier for it, dra--say, what's your name?"

"I told you. I'm Bill. Billy Brown. Who are you?"

"Name's Gareth Brik."

"Well, Gareth, are you ready?"

"For?"

"For Yann City. Dragons and griffins are the only things besides you two humans that live on this island. They are going to stare."

Gareth smiled, "When do we leave?"

Chapter Two

Strange Friends

"We leave after we've found if you're going to be contagious or not. Come with me." Bill took Gareth to another room, "Let's find out if you've gotten your strength back yet."

"I don't think...oaf!" Gareth grunted as he tried to sit up again. He gave up and said, "I'm not ready yet."

Bill turned back to him and sighed, "No, no you wouldn't be after that boat, would you? I was hoping so much to begin tests..."

"Whoa! Tests?! What kind of tests?"

A dragon entered the room right then, "Bill, I washed his clothes." A woman, by the sound of her voice.

Gareth looked at himself right then. He let out an emberassed sqeak and quickly wrapped the bed blankets around his naked form. His cheeks burned, "I'm naked, and I didn't even notice?!"

The female dragon laughed as she tossed him his clothes, "You don't need to worry, human. I didn't see a thing. Besides, Babe would never let me see another man even if I wanted to."

Gareth pulled his pants back on before he let himself speak, "Who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Brown's assistant in basically everything we do here, but you can call me Sarrah."

"Nice to meet you, Sarrah. I'm Gareth." They shook hands. Another brown dragon, this time with scars on his face and black hair longer than Gareth's walked in. He was covered from the neck down in clothes. The dragon didn't seem to be warm at all. Gareth smiled in the new dragon's direction, "Hi, I'm Gareth."

"Babe Cleave."

"Nice to meet you..." Gareth tried to talk to Babe, but Babe left the room almost as fast as he had come in.

Sarrah jumped in to bring back conversation, "You'll have to excuse him, Gareth. He doesn't always like to be around others."

"Really? May I ask why?"

"Ah, for the moment, no. Maybe later." Sarrah rushed off after Babe.

After that, Gareth began to feel tired. He laid his head back on the pillow, relaxed, and fell asleep.

"I don't know about this, Sarrah. Was it right to bring him here?" Babe asked when they were alone, "Should I have just left him out there?"

"Babe, you did what you did. Gareth seems nice. Why not give him a chance? What can he do to you? He wasn't all that strong, probably won't be when he gets his strength back, and he seemed to be happy with his new home."

"That's what worries me. He was happy. Even Shane wasn't like this when he first met us."

"Well, not everyone's the same, remember? We could always ask him, you know. He's been more than willing to share." Sarrah smiled up at her boyfriend, "Just give him a chance."

Babe sighed, "Alright. For you, I'll try to trust him." Babe waited a moment as he checked something, "I think he fell asleep, Sarrah. Why don't you warn everyone that he's coming?"

"Didn't you hear the mayor? He's already told the entire city by now."

"You know what I mean."

"I know. I'll call Kia."

"What about Shane?"

"What about him?"

"Don't you think he should know? He's the one Gareth has live with!"

"He can find out with the news like everyone else."

"C'mon, Sarrah..."

"Oh, c'mon yourself. Don't you think it would be worth it to see Shane's face?"

Babe laughed, "Yeah, you're right. Okay, when Billy says he can go, the three of us'll take him to his apartment."

The next time Gareth woke, he felt ten times better. He was able to jump out of bed, and had nearly made it to the door before Bill saw him.

"Hey! Where are you going?! We haven't finished the tests yet!"

"Sorry, Bill. I can't wait any more. I want to see the city!" Gareth opened the door and walked out. He stopped right at the exit, "Wait! What am I doing?! I have no idea where anything is yet! Why am I running away?!" Gareth forced himself to turn around, and walk back into Bill's room. He sat down on the bed, "When will we be done? I really want to see what the city is like!"

Bill laughed, "You'll get your chance. I just--"

"Just nothing, Bill!" Sarrah walked in, "He can't stay here forever."

"I know! I only have a few more tests though..."

"Yes, and after that you'll only have a couple, then just a little more. I know how you think, Bill. Come on, Gareth. You're well enough to travel. C'mon!"

Gareth followed her and Babe outside. Bill's lab was in a small forest, and the walk just seemed to give Gareth even more energy. There were hundreds of small creatures flying around outside. Birds, squirrels, and occasional butterflies. It wasn't until one landed on his shoulder that he realized what they really were, "Look at the size of this thing! I didn't think dragons could be so small!"

"Hmm?" Sarrah looked at the little dragon on his shoulder, "Oh, that's a fairy dragon. You think that's small; wait until you see Johnny!"

"Who?"

"He's a little anthro. Only a few inches tall, really."

"And he's full grown?"

"Yup."

Gareth didn't take his eyes off the fairy dragon as it flew away into the trees, "Wow...I knew I was going to find something extraordinary when I started looking, but I never imagined this..."

Babe tapped him on the shoulder, "Stop staring, Gareth. Save that for when we reach the city."

Hours passed as they walked through the forest. More wild dragons, as well as griffins, flew about or walked while they traveled. Gareth was fascinated, "How long have these dragons stayed hidden from humans? Why did they hide?" The wind in the trees was the only answer he got for his question. As they topped a hill, Gareth thought he saw something metallic shine in the distance, "They have skyscrapers here! Dragons are almost exactly like humans!"

"Alright guys. Enough practice for today. Let's all head home."

Kia unpulgged her keyboard when Ace called it quits. As she was putting it away, her cell phone rang. She answered, "Hello?"

"Kia, it's Sarrah. Guess what I've got!"

"Hmm? What?"

"Guess!"

"Okay...another new invention for Babe?"

"Nope."

"You went and bought a new wardrobe?"

"Not even close. Turn on the news!"

"I can't right now, Sarrah. We just finished rehersal."

"Well, hurry and find one. We've got another human on the island!"

"WHAT??!!" Kia shouted. She became so absorbed in the conversation that she didn't notice everyone was staring at her, "You're serious?! What's its name?"

"His name is Gareth, and--wait wait. I'll put him on."

There was a moment's silence as Sarrah handed to phone over to someone else, "Hello?" The voice had a bit of a strain on it, like the human was nervous or something.

"Hi! I'm Kia. Who are you?"

"Ah--uh--I'm Gareth. Sarrah tells me you part of a--rock band?"

"The most popular one on this island."

"Wow...This place is almost exactly--hey! I wasn't finished!"

"Kia, We're heading over to Shane's place. Get the guys and hurry!--I let you talk, Gareth. It's my phone!" Sarrah's voice vanished as she hung up.

Kia turned her phone off and looked up at her friends. They were all staring at her, confused. Pik, her boyfriend and lover, was the first one to speak, "What was that all about?"

Kia smiled, "We've got a new neighbor. C'mon! I'm not gonna miss this!"

They appraoched a small apartment complex a little later that day. Gareth walked up the steps behind Babe and Sarrah, and waited while someone inside the apartment opened the door.

"Sarrah! What brings you here?"

"You've seen the news?"

"About the new human? Sure! I've waiting for him all day."

"Well, here he is." Babe and Sarrah stepped aside to let Gareth through.

Gareth smiled and shook hands, "Gareth."

"Shane. Welcome to the neighborhood." Shane smiled warmly at Gareth.

"A little too warmly. What's he hiding?" Gareth's thoughts were soon answered as he walked in. Waiting at a couch in the corner were several figures: six dragons and one griffin. Gareth stopped for a moment, shocked at the sight of the six smiling faces. Gareth turned around to say goodbye to Babe and Sarrah, but they were already gone. Shrugging, Gareth walked inside. Shane closed the door behind him. Gareth tried not to stare, "Well--ah, this is interesting. The way I heard it I was going to be living in an apartment with another human. I didn't think there would be eight roommates..."

Everybody laughed.

"It's alright." Shane said as he slapped Gareth on the back, "These are my friends. Gareth, meet the Deep Rockers." Shane introduced everyone, "The griffin is Ace Jackson, leader of the band."

"Hi." Ace smiled. Gareth did his best to smile back. One by one Gareth was introduced to the dragons. Things went fine until Shane introduced him to the largest one in the group.

"This is--no, Player no! Down! Down!!!" Player had jumped on him and was licking his face like a dog happy to see its owner. Gareth watched as Kia, Ace, and Pik all tried to haul Player off of Shane's body. Player got up and jumped onto the couch, panting happily. Shane wiped his hands on his shirt and stood up, "That's Player. He--I think you can tell."

"What's wrong with him?!"

"Long story. Let's just say that Player isn't the same as the rest of these guys."

"Um...Shane?" A white dragoness gently called.

"Oh! Gareth, meet Emily."

"How do you do?" Gareth bowed slightly, "She's beautiful...and probably spoken for too. Ah well, plenty of time for me to get my own girlfriend."

Ace stood up, "Sorry about the sudden leave. Gotta rest up for tomorrow's gig."

"Bye guys. I'm looking forward to your concert."

Pik laughed, "Yeah, you and the rest of the island!"

Gareth watched them all leave. When they were gone he half-fell down onto the couch, tired from all the new things he would have to get used to. He glanced up and noticed Emily still there.

Shane laughed as he closed the door, "Those guys are crazy!" He sighed and sat down on a chair by Emily, "So, Gareth, what's your story?"

"Hmm? Oh, you mean how did I get here? Well..."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad."

"You sure about that? I was financing a voyage to look for dragons when it happened."

"Looking for dragons?"

"Yeah. I saw one as a kid and had been trying to find it ever since."

"How long ago?"

"About twenty years. Everybody thought I was crazy." Gareth laughed, "If only they could see me now! I mean, look at this! An entire city! How lucky can a guy get?!"

"You mean you wanted to find this place?"

"Well, maybe not exactly. I wanted to find proof that dragons existed so that people would stop calling me crazy. The voyage I had paid for was going to be my last attempt. I would have given up completely afterwards."

"What happened? Did a storm get you too?"

"Storm? No. Someone on that boat knocked me out and threw me in a lifeboat. When I woke up, I was on the other side of a blanket of mist. I felt so thirsty then...I can't believe how stupid I was."

"What do you mean?"

"I was an idiot. I should have suspected it. I should have known. They had left a canteen with me. I had been foolish enough to think that someone had been kind to me. I drank poison out of that canteen."

"POISON!!"

"Yeah, I know. Like I said, I was an idiot. If I had even made myself smell the stuff first I might have avoided drinking it, but I was thirsty enough to take a drink without a second thought."

"How long?"

"I don't know. Bill can't tell; he says he wants to wait and see what happens."

"You met Bill?"

"Yeah. Guy doesn't leave you alone, does he?"

"Not if he finds something interesting about you." Shane put a hand around Emily, "Of course, he kind of lost interest in me when you came along."

"So...Emily and Shane, eh? Lucky." Aloud Gareth asked, "What do you mean?"

"He hasn't tried to come over for a visit in the past three days. Before that he came over for at least an hour every day to try to learn more about me. He does not understand the meaning of 'personal space'!"

Outside, the sun was beginning to set. Gareth stood up and stretched, "So, which room is mine?"

Shane laughed, "Take your pick. You can have the couch, or either one of the two bedrooms closest to the front door."

Gareth thanked him and took a room, then let himself drift to sleep.

"Well, Emily?"

"Well what?"

"What do you think?"

"About Gareth? He seems nice enough."

"No, I meant about his story."

"That? I feel sorry for him. Why would others think he was crazy?"

"Well, people in my world aren't as accepting there as they are here. Gareth's going to find plenty of friends, I hope."

"What, like you found me?"

"Hey. You were the one who hit me with the rock."

"Yeah, to save my friend."

"True. Oh, let's forget about all that and go to bed."

"Not tonight, Shane. I'm expected back at my apartment."

"Want me to walk you home?"

"You shouldn't. You need sleep to be ready for job-hunting tomorrow."

"But what if you're--"

"Alright! Alright, fine. I'll call my roommate and tell her that I can't make it home, but we are sleeping in seperate beds. I'm not ready for that yet."

"Okay...good night."

"Good night, Shane."

Chapter 3

Sickness

Over the next few days, Gareth explored the city. Everything felt so similar, "All this place is missing are humans! I wonder if they have a movie theater..." Gareth wandered around the city, stopping at a nearby restaurant whenever he got hungry. He was busy looking at a menu right then, "I wonder why they don't have any eggs on these things...Whatever. I'll just grab some pizza." As he ate his pizza, he watched the TV in the corner. At that moment he saw himself on the news, "What the--They're filming me right now!" Gareth glanced out of the window right as the camera crew turned back to the news-caster. Gareth smiled, "Hmm...I must be big news if they want to follow me everywhere I go. Better not go outside just yet. Hey! Isn't that Ace out there?" Gareth got up from his seat and ran to the door, "Hey, guys! Hey!"

Player turned to look at who was shouting. He waved, then poked Kia on the shoulder. She scowled at him, at least until he pointed toward Gareth. Gareth waved once more then went back to his table inside. He was soon joined by the Deep Rockers.

"Where you guys headed?" he asked when they were all seated.

Alan spoke up, "We were heading toward a coffee shop to visit Emily. Wanna come?"

"Sure! You guys hungry?"

"That's okay. We were gonna get something at the coffee shop." Kia smiled at him, "What have you been doing?"

"Just wandering. This city is huge! I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever stop finding something new."

"Say--Gareth." Player spoke up, "Have you gotten any new clothes yet?"

"Shane's letting me borrow some of his. I've been thinking about finding a job so that I can buy my own clothes."

"You sure? I'm getting tired of walking around all day. I was hoping I could find a distraction..."

"Well, I'll call you when I need some help picking, alright?"

"Okay."

Gareth smiled, "So, where is this coffee shop?"

"Only a few blocks. Shane should already be there by now." Kia said as she stood up to leave, "C'mon, it's almost her break."

"Are you sure? I--well..."

Player smiled, "He doesn't really wanna go. Come with me then, Gareth. I was heading to Tammy's house to take her to the park."

"Who's Tammy?"

Player's face darkened as he whispered, "Someone like me..." He cleared his throat for a second then said, in a much more cheerful tone, "Tammy is a friend of Kia and me. We kinda helped her get away from an uncaring family."

"Poor thing...sure I'll come." Player and Gareth left the restaurant. With a final wave, the two of them set off down a new road. Gareth glanced around a bit, "This neighborhood doesn't look very good." Off to one side were some half-collapsed houses, while on another, dragons were huddling together for warmth. Gareth sighed, "Has anyone tried anything?"

"Yes. This neighborhood is home to those who are too lazy to try getting a job. They beg for money so they can buy drugs, and booze, and who knows what else. These are the slums."

"Tammy lives here?"

"Yes. I used to as well. That's why I care about her so much. She has a father and mother who hate her, just like my mother hated me..."

Gareth shivered, the air seemed colder here for some reason, "Say, Player, when I first met you in that apartment, why did you...you know--act like that?"

"Act like what?"

"You jumped on Shane and licked him like you were some kind of huge dog!"

Player blushed slightly, "I did? No wonder Kia kept smiling at me after that! Look--I'll tell you later, okay? Right now I want to get Tammy."

"Okay..." Gareth went back to looking around, "Brrrr. I'm glad I don't live here."

"Well, you can geuss how I feel about this place."

"You must hate it!"

"Tammy's the only reason I keep coming back."

"Wow..." Gareth looked at his friend, "This is really important for him...I wonder what his life was like. I'll ask him when he's in a better mood." As they walked, Gareth thought he felt a slight headache, but it left before five minutes had passed.

Bill happily studied Gareth's blood samples. There was so much to learn! He sighed with pleasure as he watched the test tubes spin around, "I don't get to do this often. Let's see what this one has to offer." Bill slowly went through another test, "Positive?! I barely started! Well, he has a lot of oxygen in his blood stream still. Maybe a little too much...I wonder what's causing the increase..." Suddenly, as if the tube had a mind of its own, it jumped out of its holder, spilling the blood all over the table. Bill went to get some paper towels to clean it up, but when he returned, he discovered something, "WHAT?! How could blood eat through a metal table?!!" He rushed to where the spill was collecting on the floor and dabbed a paper towel into it. It sizzled on contact with the blood; it litteraly fell apart in his hand. Bill backed away from the blood, "It's become an acid! Strong too! Then, what does that mean for Gareth?.." Bill shook as he walked to the next room, "Sarrah?" His voice shook nearly as much as he did, "Sarrah? Babe?"

"What's wrong, Bill?" Babe came up, "You look like you just discovered your death."

"That might be close...Babe, I need someone to Bring Gareth back. Find him, quickly."

"What's wrong?"

"If we don't figure out what's wrong with him now, he will die."

"Player, are you sure about--"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I promised her we would go to the park today, and I'm gonna keep my promise. You don't have to come, you know."

"That isn't what I meant, Player. I was going to ask if you were sure it's alright to come here alone."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm safe enough here. I'm bigger than most dragons on this island. I--" Player looked up right then, "Well, that's new."

"Hmm? What?"

"Look up there. I think that's Bill!"

"What's so strange about that?"

"The guy almost never flies anywhere! It's only big emergencies that can get him off the ground!"

"Gareth! I need you to come back to the lab!" Bill was breathing hard, as if he had just flown over the entire city, or run a ten- mile course without stopping, or both.

"What is it?" Gareth asked when Bill landed.

"I've been testing your blood samples, Gareth. The last sample turned to acid!"

"WHAT? You can't be serious!"

"That's just it. I can't be serious unless I know for sure. Come on. I'll fly you back."

Gareth tried not to laugh, "You don't exactly look that strong, Bill. Are you sure you can carry me?"

"Rrrrgggghhh. Stop fooling around, Gareth." Bill started glowing then. Gareth watched, unbelieving, as Bill grew to nearly twice his old size. When the transformation was complete, Bill stood on four legs, was no longer wearing glasses, and looked like something out of a dream.

"Damn..." Gareth whispered, "I'm learning something new every day. Bill, you look great! Damn but I wish I could do that!"

"Just get on! I don't know how much time is left!"

Gareth looked back at Player. Player smiled and motioned for him to get going, "Hey, don't worry. I'll tell her all about you." Gareth thanked him and started climbing onto Bill's back. The headache came back right then, slowly at first, then so fast that Gareth could barely concentrate. He fell from his perch on top of Bill.

"What's happening to me? Am I...am I going to die?" Gareth felt himself being lifted off the ground. He was vaguely aware that wind was rushing past him as they took off, then suddenly, hundreds upon hundreds of voices shouted at him. The voices were crowding him, shouting, screaming, never ceasing. Gareth blacked out.

Back at the lab, Bill set to work right away. Sarrah had already set up an X-ray machine, and was busy preparing sutures and syringes, along with nearly everything else Bill would have gotten himself, "Sarrah, how did you know?"

"Babe detected you before you came within half a mile, Bill. What happened to him?"

"The poisons are finally taking effect. We have to hurry."

"What...where...how did...Bill?"

"Settle down, Gareth. You're back at the lab. It's the poisons."

"Can you stop them? They won't be quiet...so many voices...They won't stop talking...Help me...please."

"I'm here, Gareth. Calm down. Don't worry." Bill watched as Gareth lapsed back into unconsciousness. He looked back at Sarrah, "Hurry up, Sarrah. He's getting a fever. We're losing him!"

Babe watched them from a corner, "I can help too, you know."

"I know, Babe. I'd let you, but I have no idea what's going to happen to him. I don't want you to hurt him further."

"At least let me take care of the fever."

Right then, Gareth's eyes shot open, though he was still asleep. He looked like he was living a nightmare, "Alright. At this point I'll risk it. Sarrah, bring the X-ray machine."

"What? Where am I? Bill? Player? Guys, where are you?" Gareth called out. He heard an echo of his voice, but beyond that, nothing, "Hello..." Wherever he was, it was pitch black. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

"Greetings..."

Gareth jumped when he heard the voice, "Who's there?" The voice didn't belong to anyone he knew, "Where am I?"

"You are where you wish to be..."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look at yourself..."

Gareth looked at his hand. Brown scales covered it completely, "What's happening to me?!"

"Be calm. Your questions will be answered in time."

"BE CALM??!!! How am I supposed to do that?! That isn't skin!"

"The poisons in your body did this...you have changed beyond anything this world has ever seen...You are what you wish to be, and you are where you want to be..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Who are you?!"

"A friend...Wake!"

Gareth's eyes shot open, "I dreamed. That was wierd." Gareth slowly started to rise from a bed. He remembered talking to Bill, but couldn't remember what he had said, "Bill? Bill, where are you?"

"Gareth?!! Gareth, you're awake!"

"Bill, what happened?"

"The poisons in your body did something today. I can't say what, my friend, just that I don't think it's over yet."

Gareth thought back to the dream, "What else?"

"I'm not sure, Gareth. Are you feeling well? Any more voices?"

"Voices? Dammit, Bill, what are you talking about?"

"You said you were hearing voices. Nothing?"

"Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do you have any energy?"

"I think so..."

"Good. Come with me. I need to test your vital signs. Heart rate just isn't enough. I have a stationary bike in the next room, along with a treadmill, and a few other things you'll need to try out."

"Then what?"

"Well, I'm going to check if you'll be contagious again, and if you aren't, Babe is going to go with you when you leave."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, you have acid flowing in your veins now, Gareth. I wish I could tell you what that means, but I'm a bit clueless myself."