Gemonie

"I think it's coming around."

"Careful! Those shards are still virulent!"

"Yeah, yeah. That should dissipate soon."

Gemonie's eyes fluttered. The pain that had been his entire existence was lessened; numbed, even. He attempted to move one limb, but felt the ponderous weight of many chains.

"Watch out!" This was followed by a string of curses.

"You idiot." This voice was considerably calmer than the other. "It's not going anywhere. If the chains held it when it was raging at the peak of infection, why shouldn't they hold now that it's been weakened?" He felt a pr ick. "Hey, you, let's have a look at your eyes."

Gemonie twitched his lips with the very faintest of snarls, but he allowed his eyes to open. A Ridgeback Necromancer stood over him, looking very bored as she collected a sample of blood from his forelimb. "Lightning," she muttered, without a trace of surprise. "Figures."

Her companion, a Skydancer Necroservus, looked offended. "I'm Lightning."

"Uh huh." She turned back to him, holding the vial of blood to the light. "You also weren't shooting electric bolts out of your tail and horns when you finished the trials. Or, y'know, trying to kill everyone in sight, roaring about their inferiority."

Gemonie cautiously flexed his muscles. The Ridgeback Necromancer wasn't lying; those chains were sturdy. He relaxed, trying to remember what had happened. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the Skydancer set up several slides with his blood, and stare at them through the microscope. "Success, I think," he reported. "I'm estimating an 85% neutralization rate. We'll be able to tell more after I run it through the centrifuge."

The Ridgeback seemed pleased. "Good. We'll leave it for now, and have another go at those shards tomorrow." She trundled an IV bag over to where Gemonie lay. "In the meantime, enjoy your dinner." She cackled. Gemonie felt another pr ick as the needle entered his other foreleg and the saline drip commenced. It burned.

The Mancer and Servus left. He was left alone in the dark, chained to the operating stage, one shaft of moonlight illuminating the center of the room. The only sensations that he could feel were the burn of the saline entering his body and the weight of the chains on his wings and limbs. He did not particularly mind. It left his mind free to wander, to try to pick up the pieces that he could understand.

He could identify most of the things he had seen in the room: microscope, slide, IV bag, blood vial.. They were not a part of him, but he remembered them. He knew what they were and what they were for. He wondered why.

He knew what to call the dragons: Ridgeback and Skydancer. He knew their titles and roles clearly from their markings: Necromancer and Necroservus. He wasn't sure why.

Virulency. He knew that word. It was a part of him; it defined him, in a way.

Trials. That defined him, too. It belonged to his past. It was a test he had attempted and...failed? He wasn't sure.

Shard. He glanced back, craning his neck as best he could. He was unsurprised to see massive deep red spikes protruding from his withers and flanks; he could feel them deep within his muscle tissue when he moved. It should hurt, he thought. But there was no feeling. None at all. The lack of feeling felt wrong. Unnatural.

His brain had managed all it could for the night. He slipped into a dreamless sleep.

The other dragons returned the next day. He watched them through heavy lidded eyes as the Mancer continued to draw the disease (he recognized that word) from the shards. He felt a deep sense of loss and regret as the red faded and a tarnished brown appeared in its place. He watched the two dragons heal him, and something within him cried out in agony, even as all pain and all memory of pain vanished, leaving him with nothingness.

As the other dragons left for the night, he heard a soft buzzing. They heard it, too. "Hey, who let the bug in?" the Skydancer asked, peering around.

"Not sure," the Ridgeback said. She was already halfway out the door. "We'll call for the exterminator tomorrow--but who knows, we might capture a new disease from it!" They laughed together as they headed out and shut the door.

The buzzing continued as Gemonie lay in the dark. As numb as he was, he could not help but feel annoyed. Suddenly the insect flew across the shaft of moonlight, landing on his chains. He felt its spindly weight on his leg followed by a series of brief shocks. The weight lessened.

He lay very still as the insect continued its journey across his body. With each shock, he felt a little more alive and energetic. The rivets holding his shackles together melted and fell away; the IV was pulled loose with a sharp, painful tug. At last, he gave a little shake and rolled onto his stomach. The chains slid off in all directions. His skin tingled in a small return of sensation.

The insect perched on his nose. He looked at it, trying to remember where he had seen one before. He wasn't sure. He might have. It fizzled with electricity, making his nose tingle. He sneezed.

The insect whooshed across the room. It buzzed loudly in annoyance, but it flew to the door and zapped the screws holding the knob and the locks in place. They fell to the ground, and the door slipped ajar a few inches.

The insect looked at him meaningfully. He stood, a bit wobbly, but he managed to clamber off the platform and make his way to the door. He nudged it, and it opened. The insect fluttered out, and stopped, waiting for him to follow it.

He paused for a moment. Here, in the lab, he might find answers to what he had been. But somehow, he felt the insect that had set him free would show him the way forward, to what he would be. He followed.