Waking up is always an upsetting experience, but more so when I’m tied to a basement pipe of a wilting house.

My head felt like there were nails being hammered into it, and the rest of my body was echoing that pain. There was nothing I wanted more than to slump back over and pass out again. At least that would numb the pain.

“Hey. Wake up. Over here.” A voice whispered impatiently. It was a girl’s voice. I opened my eyes and looked around.

It appeared to be some kind of underground cellar. If not for the giant steal door, I’d call it a basement. That door wasn’t opening even if I wished on a shooting star. A girl was sitting in the corner, with his hands cuffed behind her. Her face was smeared with dirt and the white dress she wore had lost its appeal a while ago.

“Is this what you call a rescue party?” She berated as soon as our eyes met. Her expression was livid.

“You’re welcome.” I said sarcastically. She reminded me of someone… definitely Colin. A Colin was exactly what I needed right now. Not.

I struggled against the handcuffs that tightened against my wrists. If I transformed, I’d break both of my arms. If I tried to melt the chains off, I’d melt the skin off my bones too. They really thought this through. The girl rolled her eyes and huffed.

“It’s no use. They know how to contain a dragon.” The girl said. Her hair was a dark blue that complimented her teal blue skin. The tattoo that ran down her left shoulder resembled mine. It seemed to all come together.

“You’re Carmen!”

“Oh, good. He’s all caught up. No one told me the Dragon Zodiac was this stupid.” She groused back. Carmen’s attitude was starting to grate on me. I knew we were trapped in an underground cellar by some unknown villain but couldn’t she give me a break? I only started this nonsense three weeks ago.

“So… who is out there?” I asked. Her eyes darted in the other direction. How could she not trust me? I was chained up just the same as her.

The door creaked and swung open.

“Ah, young Zodiac. Getting acquainted with the troll?” The black dragon hissed. I can’t believe he’s still a dragon. Makes sense though. I can’t know who he is if he never shows me his face.

The dragon slithered around me and shucked off my coat. It ripped when he tore it from the handcuffs that it caught on. That was my favorite jacket. With my shoulder bare, it would be so long before the mark started glowing. It always burned when it glowed. I hated that.

“You’re going to make a wonderful dragon soon. Perhaps even Algor will let you help lead the dragons to their next great era.” This guy definitely pulled one too many marbles out of the bag. Algor? Who was that? A fairy tale nightmare creature that gets defeated by the good fairy in the end? That was definitely the plot to some famous story book. Carmen sucked in a breath like she could hear my thoughts.

“Oh, you poor troll. This really has nothing to do with you. You’ll go free when this is over, as will your people.” The dragon continued. Was I crazy, or did Carmen almost smile? Maybe setting the troll’s free was a really good thing, but this certainly wasn’t the way to do it. This way included a lot of lives being lost. Innocent lives like Mia.

“All we need to do now is wait for those blubbering idiots to tear each other apart.” The dragon laughed through his long, sharp teeth. His black scales shimmered in the low light as he headed for the door.

“If you behave, food will come in an hour or so.” He looked over his shoulder before the cellar door shut behind him. It was dead quiet. I didn’t dare move a muscle.

I started to struggle against the chains as best I could. I pushed my feet out and my back against the pole to help me stand. Great. Excellent. Now I was a standing prisoner rather than a sitting one. What a great plan.

“Way to go. I can already taste freedom.” Carmen echoed my own thoughts. Something about being locked in a cellar turns all of us into a miniature version of Colin’s annoying attitude. That didn’t mean I missed him.

“My- People know I’m here. They’ll come, I know it.” I couldn’t manage to call Colin anything. My rider? Not really. My friend? Definitely not. My… mate? Can’t be that either. How did things get so complicated?

“I’ve only been missing for a month. When did you become the Zodiac?” Carmen squinted her eyes at me like I was untrustworthy. I continued to struggle helplessly against the handcuffs. This was all my fault. Just like Mia’s death.

Just the thought seized up my chest and all airflow stopped. I’ve got to stop thinking about this.

“Right around then. It was my twenty first birthday.” I told her. She nodded. Anything to distract from those thoughts. Anything to make me forget Mia.

How could I depend on my friends now after I left to keep them safe? How is that fair? I had to get out. I had to save Carmen and myself and I couldn’t depend on Colin and the others to help. The whole point was to keep them safe… to keep him safe.

I had an idea. What if I only changed my hands? Just used my claws to saw through the chains. It would take some time since my claws weren’t exactly razor sharp, but it could work. I lowered myself back down onto the ground.

“Giving up already?” Carmen grumbled hopelessly. I really hope she isn’t always like this. It would be really nice to think she is only like this because she’s been in the same cellar for a whole month. It’s unlikely.

“Shush.” I paused to concentrate. My right hand changed without any problems. My left hand… stayed human. Now is really not a great time for performance issues. The more I concentrated, the more panicked I got. My left hand just wouldn’t budge.

“If you’re trying to change, you can’t. The cellar was used to block magic back in the day. It still does.” Carmen told me. But that didn’t make any sense because my right hand had claws. No doubt about it.

My claws worked through the handcuffs like sandpaper on wood. Think of the nails on chalkboard feeling, and the chills that come with it. That’s what it felt like to try and break handcuff metal with unsharpened claws.

“What is that noise?” A voice came from the outside. It was deep, but it wasn’t the black dragon’s slithering voice. I’m not sure I will ever get over that dragon’s creepy slithering voice. I made sure to slowly fade out the noise to make it seem like it wasn’t coming from in the cellar. Carmen’s eyes widening seemed to show that she knew exactly what was going on now.

“Beat’s me.” Carmen answered back almost too quickly. I knew she wanted to ask, but someone had to be listening in. I let the cellar sounds go stale before I started scraping against the tough metal around my wrists again.

“I mean it, you two. Knock it off!” The guard screamed at us. I’ll have to wait for him to go away before I try again. It was going to be a long night.

***

Before long, the house quieted down. All that could be heard was the creaks of the land settling around the houses foundation. I assumed it was nighttime now.

I started scratching at the handcuffs again. It seemed much louder now that there was no noise anywhere in the house. I didn’t know if they slept here or not. And I didn’t know if this was going to get me caught or not.

“Did you manage to actually change you hand?” Carmen whispered. She leaned forward to try and get a better look behind my back.

“Of course I did. I’m a Zodiac, aren’t I?” No stupid cellar should be able to stop me from using my abilities. My magic.

“Strange. Zodiac’s use the same magic as everyone else. It doesn’t matter who you are, the cellar blocks it. It’s strange…” Carmen seemed to be talking to herself more than to me. She could try and explain it all she wanted but the fact was that I did it anyway.

“Pretty sure I can change most of the way if I could just break these stupid handcuffs.” With every word I pressed down harder and harder onto the notch my nails had created in the handcuffs. A feel more agonizing seconds and-

“Not so fast, little Zodiac.” The slithering voice whispered in my ear. My heart leaped out of my chest as he grabbed my arm. “I’m surprised. I underestimated those abilities of yours.” The black dragon said. He snapped the chains in half with one tug and dragged me away from the pole.

“We can’t go having you implode again, now can we?” He said. I kept still as he held my arm against my opposite shoulder blade. There was no escaping that. Everything this man said was confusing. Implode? What on Earth could that mean?

He dragged me to the opposite corner of the cellar and handcuffed me again. These handcuffs were thicker than the ones before. It would take a century for me to chip away at the metal. And the sound alone would drive me insane.

I struggled and banged the chains against the pipe. He only looked at me and laughed.

“We’ve got company upstairs, so keep the theatrics to a minimum, yes?” The dragon slithered out the thick metal door. He closed and locked it soundly behind him.

I’d been so close. Five seconds longer and I would have at least been free from these handcuffs. I don’t think it really mattered though. Even if I had gotten free, it wasn’t like I’d make it through those doors.

“What next, genius?” Carmen asked as sarcastically as usual. She’s probably tried all of these stupid ideas before. I could imagine being this bitter over someone who was supposed to free me, but then got caught anyway. I shouldn’t have left Colin behind. He would know what to do.

The only idea I had left was undesirable at best. Changing from human to dragon would break the chains, but it would also break my arms in the process. And that’s if I even managed to change at all. I could attempt to shift and just look constipated the entire time. It’s a valid possibility.

“I’ve got one. If I can change, my strength as a dragon would break the handcuffs…” I suggested lightly.

“...And break your arms in the process.” Carmen finished for me. She didn’t look angry that I suggested it. But she did look down at the ground to hide whatever it was that she felt. The dim light of the cellar made it hard to see anything.

I took a few deep breaths, and leaned my head back against the pole. Closing my eyes, I pictured myself changing from human to dragon. I could feel the scales trying to push through my skin and falling just short.

I can do this. I can change, I know it. I pushed harder and the scales appeared above my human skin. The muscles in my body were still fighting against me but I had to keep going. I felt my teeth get sharper, but they wouldn’t elongate like they usually did. The chains were getting tight against my wrists now.

“Wait. Stop… you’re hurting yourself doing this,” Carmen was frantically fighting against her own chains now. I paused to take a few labored breaths. My skin was slick was sweat, and covered in scales mixed into my skin. This just looked wrong.

“That is kind of the point,” I growled back. My back arched as the change started to take effect. At this point I might not even survive to make the change.

A loud crashing noise echoed through the silent house. It was followed by muffled yelling and voices from the floors above.

“You’re friends?” Carmen sounded hopeful for the first time since I got here. I really, really hope they were here. I panted and stopped trying to change. I wasn’t about to try and go back to a human form, but I couldn’t get any further either.

“I… don’t know…” I spoke between gasps of air filling my lungs.

The crashing continued. Loud yelling and nearly indecipherable words were all Carmen and I could hear. Please Colin. Please be okay. Don’t get caught by that monster. I was praying to whatever god or Zodiac would listen. Please keep Colin safe.

Colin burst through the metal cellar door.

His eyes met mine as soon as he walked through the door. He marched over without hesitation. He didn’t even look at Carmen twice. Whatever he was thinking was hidden by the intense look he gave me. He kneeled down in front of me and cupped my cheeks in his hands.

“Thank the Zodiacs,” He choked on his words as he hugged me tight.

That’s when he did something crazy. Something I would rather not ever think about. He pulled back, and stared into my eyes. And before I knew it, he was pressing his lips to mine.