Ouroboros

"I hate when that happens" Ouroboros mumbled to himself. He'd tried to play it cooly and pass it off all nonchalant like, but the truth was, yesterday was not only extremely stressful but a very big deal. He was really looking forward to having a good night's sleep. But what happened? He set the alarm on his com-link, lay down, and blinked. Now it was morning and he'd awoken to some of his favorite music from his past. He silenced the blaring song, Back in Black by AC/DC, and stretched.

He normally enjoyed his dreams a great deal, and to be robbed of the pleasure between one moment and the next, kind of ticked him off a little. 'Oh well' he thought. He began the morning routine he had become accustomed to the last several weeks. He started the coffee, jumped into the shower, and got dressed. Thank goodness he never had to worry about shaving. He'd heard men talking about it before, the idea of peeling his face like a potato had never sounded pleasant to him. He had an hour to get back to the bureau of preternatural affairs after he had finished getting ready for the morning and he still had to stop off for bagels and coffee.

Boros left the high end hotel through the lobby, he still hadn't gotten used to how much the world had changed in the last century and a half. There was almost no traffic at ground level with hover cars and transports flitting around above him and the buildings stretched high into the sky, the shadows they cast made it necessary for the avenue he walked down to be illuminated. 'At least people walk more now.' he thought to himself. The higher skyways connecting some of the buildings together shone in the morning light and the air was clean and fresh. The ban almost a hundred years ago against the use of fossil fuels had definitely had some very positive impacts.

The Bakery he had passed several times, just two blocks away from the government offices, was the inspiration for his offer to bring bagels for breakfast. It was on the way, and besides he liked bagels and cream cheese. He chuckled to himself as he walked, thinking of director Nancy Bowens threat if he forgot cream cheese. As he was walking he could feel a pair of eyes on him. It was odd, but he knew they weren't hostile. Only curious. Almost as soon as he realized he was being watched the feeling stopped. And so did he, and looked around. Seeing nothing unusual he continued on.

The bakery's storefront was a small affair with only a small sampling of the different goods that were available. Through the door leading to the back he could see a large industrial kitchen that went on a good ways through the bowels of the building that it was housed in. Boros guessed that they had very little walk-in business, orders and deliveries were probably where they made the bulk of their custom.

He was instructing the aproned attendant what he wanted when he had an inspirational thought and ordered several other varieties of bagels, pastries, and a few muffins along with an assortment of condiments. After swiping his credit chit he left the bakery carrying packages in both hands and quickly walked the two blocks to the government building that housed the bureau of preternatural affairs.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator he could tell things were different. The lobby, which was normally quiet, was eerily silent. The security guards were at their stations and not chatting with the receptionists like they had been previously, nor was there anyone else in the spartanly furnished and decorated lobby.

Walking up to the receptionist's desk Boros announced, "Ouroboros to see director Bowen please."

"Yes sir, we were informed to send you right in when you arrived. Danny," she indicated the dark haired security guard standing in front of the hallway, "Will show you to the conference room."

"Not her office?" Boros asked. "That's where her, Sam, and I were supposed to meet for breakfast."

"Yes sir. That was the information we received yesterday. But, the

other

member of your party arrived half an hour ago. That's when chief Wolfe informed me of the change."

"Sir? If you'd follow me?" Danny the security guard asked him.

'Why not?' Boros thought. "Thank you. Lead on, Danny."

They didn't have far to go, they didn't even have to travel up in the bureau's internal elevators. A couple of lefts and a right through the grey carpeted hallway and Danny the security guard stopped next to a pair of double doors. "You can go right on in sir." Danny said and then began to hurriedly retraced his steps back to the lobby.

Confused by the young man's behavior he knocked twice lightly on the door.

"Come in Ouroboros." a voice that didn't belong to either Nancy or Sam invited.

He transferred the parcel from his right so that they were both carried in his left hand, each carrying breakfast foods and drinks, opened the door and went in, shutting it gently behind him. Three people waited for him in the conference room. Nancy and Sam were there seated close to one another at the head of the table. Gabrielle, he recognized her from their hollo call the day before, sat halfway down the table on the right, the side closest to the door.

"Nancy. Sam. It's nice to see you again." he nodded to them. "And Gabrielle, so nice to see you in person." he set down one package at the head of the table then walked around her and began to lay out the food and drinks he brought from the other package. He placed Nancy and Sam's orders before them followed by creamer containers and sugar packets for their coffee before saying to Gabrielle. "I wasn't sure what you cared for. Coffee or tea?" he asked politely.

"Tea please." she responded. "How did you know I would already be here?" Gabrielle asked.

Shrugging as he placed a container of hot water in front of her as well as a variety of individually wrapped teas next to it. "I didn't. But I figured it would be a nice gesture when you did arrive. After all, I am asking for your help." Boros creamed and sugared his coffee, slathered his bagel with cream cheese and walked around the table towards the windows until he was sitting directly across from Gabrielle with Nancy and Sam on his left. He motioned to the pastry box. "Help yourself." he invited Gabrielle. To Sam he said, "The other box of coffee and pastry box are for the security team from yesterday."

Sam looked at him. "That was very thoughtful of you Boros. They'll appreciate it." he pulled out a com-link and asked someone to meet him at the conference room before depositing it back in his pocket. "I called someone to take it to their ready-room"

"How was your trip up here?" Boros asked Gabrielle. "You arrived much sooner than we thought you would."

She made a face. "I spent most of the time catching up on paperwork in the shuttle." she replied. "There never seems to be enough time to handle all of the paperwork."

Nancy smiled at her. "You know, I made that same discovery a couple years after my promotion. No matter what I did, my inbox kept sprouting another page every few days or so."

Gabrielle sighed. "I'm having the same problem.."

"Would you be interested in some advice? Our two offices handle very similar types of cases." Nancy asked the other woman?

"I would be eternally grateful." Gabrielle responded in a dry tone with a half smile on her lips.

"I hired a couple of secretaries to handle the paperwork. After I trained them they were able to bull through the tedium. I used my free time to create templates for the most common cases. It's easier to check a couple of boxes and fill in anything extra than to describe an individual or a situation. It isn't infallible, that was pointed out to me in stark reality yesterday by this gentleman, so, sometimes you have to do it the old fashioned way. But still, it makes my life a hell of alot easier, especially when I am trying to find something. You can make all of those multiple choice fields and checkboxes searchable."

Gabrielle was looking at Nancy, her face a mask of deep thought when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Sam called. It was Danny, the security guard. "Good. Grab that box," he pointed at the package Boros had left at the head of the table, "and bring them to the security team's ready room. Let them know it's from our visitor yesterday. Boros. You have anything you want to add?"

"Just tell them I am grateful that none of us had to make any hard decisions. Tell them I said 'Thank you' and that I am a friend, if they'll have me."

"Yes Sir." Danny gathered up the boxes and departed, hooking the door with his foot so that it closed behind him.

"You do know that he's a sensitive, don't you?" Gabrielle inquired after Danny had left.

"Excuse me?" Nancy asked.

"That boy. He's psychically sensitive." Gabrielly pointed to the now closed door. "I wouldn't be able to tell you how strongly, but his gift isn't weak. Have you given any thought to my proposal Nancy? It really is the best way to go, you know."

"I agree with you, I even passed it up the foodchain. Unfortunately the higher ups don't like the idea at all. I'm sorry."

"All hope isn't lost, yet. Let's revisit this after Ouroboros and I have talked a little. There are some things we need to get out in the open. How does that sound to you, young dragon?"

Boros stared at her in shocked surprise. She had just casually given voice to one of his most closely guarded secrets.

"Oh relax." Gabrielly snapped at him. "Once they understand, they'll keep your secret. Or did you not know what you were?" she asked slyly.

"I suspected. I didn't know for sure, but I suspected. There were too many things that pointed to it, but I could never find out much. There's almost nothing that isn't laughably fictional about dragons."

"There is if you know what to look for. If you trace back almost any race of humans to their beginnings you'll find the same thing. A dragon figured largely in their origin. But this isn't what I am here to discuss with you."

"Have you ever met one? Are there any left?" Boros quickly interrupted before she could change the subject.

She steepled her fingers in front of her with her elbows resting on the conference table as she considered him. "Yes, I have. A very long time ago. But as far as I know, they all left this planet." Gabrielly sighed again, she studied the three people in the room with her. She wasn't worried about anyone overhearing what they said, she had taken precautions as soon as she arrived. She was however worried about some of what she had to explain to Ouroboros and Sam. And because Sam always tells Nancy anything she want's to know, she had to make Nancy understand as well.

"I want to apologise for my outburst yesterday when I realized what you were, Ouroboros."

"Please, just Boros. My full name is such a mouthful." he smiled at Gabrielle.

"Thank you, Boros. Anyway. I wasn't being spiteful when I said you couldn't come to my territory. You really can't, at least not as you are now. You're aura is strong enough that it would either be taken as a challenge or feared, and your

presence

isn't much different. You talked yesterday about non-humans searching you out and challenging you, is that correct?" Gabrielle asked.

"Yes. It became less frequent when I moved away, but those would found me after that were much stronger than the everyday fights I had to endure in my youth."

"That is because those who sought you out after you departed were, for the most part, older, stronger, and more powerful. Some of them probably recognized what you are and they either didn't want what your emergence means or they might have been attempting to harvest you."

"Harvest me?" Boros asked, confused.

"Yes. Pretty much everything you grow, excrete, discharge, expel, or shed have magical properties the like of which haven't been seen on this planet for more than a thousand years. In ancient times it was a common practice to kill the dragon and then harvest everything. Your kind is much too dangerous to keep prisoner regardless the type."

"I'm sorry I keep interrupting you, but this is more information than I've ever been able to get before and you obviously know more than anyone I've ever met. I hope you don't mind my asking questions."

"No, that's okay. If I have an answer I'll share it. If I don't I won't pretend. And if something is just my opinion, I'll let you know. I'll answer your questions Boros, but please listen to my advice."

"Thank you." Boros replied with heartfelt gratitude. "And I will, listen to your advice. What did you mean by types? Different types of dragons? What were they?"

"Oh yes, there were several different types. Each one with the command of their own element or aspect." As Gabrielle described the different types of dragons Nancy and Sam sat where they were, listening with openmouthed fascination.

"The most common were the greens, blues, and browns. The lower caste of draconians. Back when they roamed the earth you could usually find the greens in forests. They were who the primitives made offerings and prayed to for bountiful harvests and fertility. They once spread the magic of their aspect, life throughout the world. They were the smallest in their full form and could fly for short distances using their wings. The most delicate and least martial of all draconian types they were among the first to become hunted. Often times it was to the detriment of the hunters as green dragons not only spit several types of poisons at their choosing but they were largely responsible for the grown of crops and also fertility. Eventually the land and the people evolved, but there was a time of suffering after each of those dragons were killed." She took a sip of her tea and continued.

"The blues were water elementals and most often lived in caves they carved out under the surface. They had no wings but several sets of fins that helped them moved swiftly through the water. Their size usually depended directly on the size of the body of water they inhabited. They were strictly territorial and often never strayed far from their home. Their breath could either warm or cool. If you had lived two thousand years ago and came across a hunter frozen in a block of ice on the shore of a lake or an ocean or one covered in blisters caused by boiling water, you could bet good money that he had been hunting a blue dragon."

"Browns were also very common back then. They could live anywhere where they could burrow into earth and rock. They had no wings or fins, but their front and hind claws were strong and sharp enough to tunnel through any material, and they were fast! Able to cover hundreds of leagues in a single day. They were also patient and wise but their downfall were their hoards. Not only were brown dragons able to smell different earth types, stones, and metals, but they gathered them as well. They were strictly compulsive and had separate chambers for each mineral they collected, never allowing their different treasures to touch. There was a reason for that, or so I heard. What they valued and took from the bosom of the earth themselves took on a life of their own and started to grow as long as the dragon kept them. They could direct their breath do dissolve stone into sand or anything into stone. The brown's were what a lot of the tales of dragons laying on a pile of gold were inspired by. The quirk was, because of their affinity with earth and their admiration of precious stones and metals, often times those things would grow out of the ground around them over time. But, they were also very feared. As earth aspects they could send their will down through the crusts of the world and cause earthquakes by controlling the shifting of plates or create tubes through the rock and earth to direct magma at their bidding."

It was Nancy who interrupted this time. "You're telling me that these creatures actually existed? And they were the most common? What do you mean by common?"

"There were thousands of greens, blues, and browns scattered all over the world at one time. It's not as bad as you think, Nancy. They weren't violent and didn't have goals of world domination. The dragons were at one point the teachers and guardians of this world. They only left because everyone else turned on them. It began as fear of something so powerful, then there was covetousness of their precious possessions and domains, and then as magic developed, they were hunted as the precious things themselves." Gabrielle continued.

"The middle caste of draconians were different than their earthbound cousins."

"Wait, what do you mean by earthbound?" The question came from Sam.

"The lower caste of draconians were bound to this world, they depended on their aspects for survival. If they were removed from them for a length of time they couldn't be able to draw upon the source of their magic and would begin to deteriorate. The lower caste of dragons are creatures of magic but some of them are unable to endure when deprived of their reason for being . They would slowly die in agony. The others are different entirely." Gabrielle answered.

"The middle caste of draconians embody their elements and aspects. It is much stronger than their cousins control and less restricting. There are only two. The reds and the whites. Red dragons can control fire in all of it's forms. They can breathe fire and and can also use their fire to reform what things it can influence. So much is not known about them, but what I do know is frightening. There is less known about white dragons. They don't just control the air but the weather and can discharge lightning from their maw. What I do know about these two middle caste dragons is that either one of them is capable of causing an extinction level event on a whim. But that doesn't mean that they would. Afterall, they lived among us for millennia and it hadn't happened for all of the time they were here."

Boros had intently listened to everything Gabrielle had said, taking in the information she gave. Although he saw similarities in all of what she described, nothing yet had struck home for him but he still maintained hope that she knew something. But it was nancy that asked.

"Gabrielle, you described a caste system for draconians, the lower and the middle, but what about the upper caste? What do you know of them?" Nancy inquired.

"I'm sorry, Nancy, but I don't know much. I've only heard of a higher caste of draconians. It isn't fact, but I'll tell you what I've heard." "There is said to be only one caste above the reds and the whites, the rarest of them all. The golden dragons, they are the root of all draconian power, anything another dragon can do, they can do better and more easily. They are said to travel the universe and plant their children on planets that they mold to be habitable. Among the ancients they were, and to some still are considered gods. Greek mythology touched on some of it before the ancient Grecians got creative. Uranus, father of Cronus, father of Zeus was supposedly the dragon that visited this planet with his father, Aether. Aether was said to use the development of this world as a training ground for his son's first foray into the family business"

***

"What are you?" Sam asked. His voice came out of the silence like a discordant note. When Gabrielle had finished her last statement she sat, staring into the distance like she was looking into the past. Boros knew what sam meant by his last question, he wasn't asking what kind of preternatural Boros was, Gabrielle had already answered that. Sam was asking what kind of dragon he was. And now, Boros knew.

The fact that he knew what he was didn't mean he wanted to tell anyone. Especially after the history lesson Gabrielle just gave. How would they react if they knew? Unfortunately, Gabrielle took the decision out of his hands.