Dragon King: Wind & Spirit

The base camp was bustling as usual, even more so because of what today meant. The constant hum of machinery, the laughter of children, and the marching of soldiers gave the place an atmosphere that was completely polarized. It was like a refugee camp, a park, a war base and something out of a movie.

After all, there was giant space gate two hundred meters away from where I was standing. The space gate that changed everything about this world, well about earth really. After all this place, this planet was not earth. This planet's name is 12-1.

I felt a tug on my sleeves forcing me to look down. The smile that spilt my face was almost painful to maintain, but I'll keep this smile on my face any day all day.

"Dad is it going to hurt? That thing looks scary."

I got down on my knees, and placed my hands on his shoulder. At 4 and half years old my boy was such a lady killer. His skin color was a perfect blend of his mother's and mine, the dark chocolate of mine that's associated with every African, and the pale but soft milky color associated with Asians, specially Koreans. His eyes were a startling shade of green and blue, heterochromia and beautiful, just like his mother's was.

"Hey Maximillian Lee Enejo. What kind of person is your dad? He's the greatest battle pilot to have ever flown the morsol asteroid belt. I won't lie to you, so believe me when I tell you, it's not dangerous. I promise Dad's going to look after you." I said to him with a smile.

"You're not the greatest pilot dad, the tabloids just say you're the youngest pilot with the potential to own the title."

"You cheeky brat, is that how you see your dad as. I'm awesome I tell you. Don't believe everything the tabloids tell you. Only what your Baba says to you." I said to him with a smile.

"Yes Baba." He replied with a nod as he clutched the puppy in his hands a little tighter.

Watching him hold that dog close to his c.h.e.s.t almost made me choke with grief. That was the last gift his mother gave him before she died, I can't believe it's been only a month but still, it felt like it happened just yesterday and I was saying good bye to the love of my life.

Everyday has been torture for me, and the only thing that has kept me sane was the knowledge that I had to look after Max. She may have left a puppy for him, but he's what she left for me. There was only the two of us left in this world now.

[Attention all pioneers, the space gate will be activated in T-minus 20 minutes. All eligible pioneers and their belongings are to make their way to the transport platform within that period of time. Attention all...]

The sound of the announcement going off shocked me out of grief and stupor. I held his hand tighter and called for a vehicle that drove me and Max to the transport platform.

This world was called 12-1 because on the 31st of December 2299 and the 1st of January 2300 just as the old year was ending and a new one was beginning, a new planet suddenly appeared in the sky, orbiting earth just like it's moon.

It was a rather strange phenomenon, this planet was not affected by earth's gravity, neither was earth affected by it's own, so there was no end of world scenario.

The planet orbited earth, but it did not spin on it's axis, making one part of the planet day time and another night without any change in atmospheric pressure.

There was nothing like heat, or cold, no wildlife, no plant life, and no water. The only thing on this planet was a device that has been coined a space gate out of respect to old century sci fi movies.

It didn't take the government of earth long to discover it's uses, and after numerous test, the option and the only way to save the earth from overpopulation and lack of resources showed up.

Not much was known about what was on the other side of the gate, only that it was a planet called Gonin Gora, it had multiple floating islands, a very fertile terrain, and was inhabited by species that until now was only considered a fantasy.

To a dying world, this was a life line, hope and a chance to start over. Of course not many were stoked about the idea that they would now have to live in a new world. But for people like me and Max, we're running away, because that's the only way for us to start over.

By the time we got to the transport platform, along with the lucky 98 who will be the first pioneers going to this planet that's not a talking monkey or parrot genetically engineered for missions like this, Max had fallen asleep.

I felt sorry for him, because without a doubt it's not been easy for him. In one day he lost his mother and grand parents, and now a month later he has to say good bye to the world he has known his whole life. There was no coming back, because the journey through that space gate was a one way trip.

I picked him up, and made sure to put the still unnamed puppy into a my back pack, leaving a little opening for the canine to breath. Apart from the back pack I had on, we only had one luggage with us, it contained all of the mementos from our life, and a little bit of clothes. We're really leaving everything behind.

[Attention all eligible pioneers, please proceed through the gate in an orderly manner. You would be called according to your allocated number, which will be your que to go through the space gate with your belongings. Remember to keep your Regulators active at all times, regular solar charging is advised. Also keep interactions with any alien race to a minimum until a qualified personnel is sent through in one week's time. Good luck and God speed.]

[01 Mathias Logan, 02 Wang Lei Bai,...…. 07 Joshua Trinity Enejo]

As soon as my name was spoken I moved forward towards the gate. At first it looked like an ordinary arch way. It's composition seemed to be of some sort of silver and gold like metal that rippled like some sort of cloth.

And as I drew closer to the gate, it's surface rippled like water. The space beyond it was just transparent, and I could see another camp beyond with the people who have already went through. They seemed safe, and healthy.

One deep breath later, I walked through the gate, with my son held tighter. At first it was liked wading into a pool of water as I felt a sort of pressure. I seemed to be in some sort of tunnel, though it only looked about three meters long.

Everything about the space between the tunnels was dark, so out of curiosity I turned back to take one last look and say good bye to the world I was born in, only to see something shocking.

A missile heading straight for the space gate. I could see people scattering and ducking away as gun fire seemed to fall from the sky, and then the missile hit the gate and everything turned white.

The explosion rocked me and threw off my feet, the previously silent space gate suddenly became turbulent as a blast of wind threw me every which way. I lost my hold on our luggage, but no matter what I couldn't let go of Max.

The wind was so fast moving that it felt incredibly difficult to breath, I couldn't see anything as light's flashed through and past my eyes with such speed my retina burned in agony.

I opened my eyes only to see I was in a place filled with stars, then it was a place filled with massive moons made of lava and blood, and then I was in a place that looked so bright and peaceful and so green it was like watching a movie.

The earth was hardly green anymore, we had slowly killed the planet, so everything was gone, but this was a welcomed sight. Then I felt cold, it took me a while to realize that my son and I were in space, there was no air and we were freezing to death.

A beam of light headed straight for us, it looked like a shot from a laser cannon. I couldn't run away, and could only watch helplessly as the dark purple beam prepared to slam into my son and I, but that's when I heard it.

ROAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR

It was the scream of a beast so primordial and strong I couldn't shake the feeling I was in front of a dragon. My heart quaked in fear and the ice on both me and Max seemed to thaw as we fell from the sky. Space disappeared and all I could see was the sky, and all I could feel was the wind, as I fell down, down, and then

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

I felt something wet on my face. It was a rather ticklish feeling, and I couldn't help but shudder as a wave of cold washed through me. But soon after came a scorching heat that made me yelp in pain as I realized I was laying down on sun baked sand. I shakily got to my feet and looked around, what I saw left me shocked and really worried.

I was in a desert, and a really desolate one at that. Massive rolling hills of sand and dead trees littered the horizon, and above that the unforgiven glare of a sun that was sliced in half.

It looked like a half orange, but it only took me a while to realize that the sun above me was experiencing an eclipse. It was part of the report about Gonin Gora, the planet seemed to be experiencing a solar eclipse, and according to knowledge, the eclipse has been going on for the past six years.

I suddenly felt dizzy and raised my hand to touch my head, it came away with blood that still seemed to be pumping out. I looked down to see that it was Max's puppy that had woken me up. But along with that came the realization that my son was not in my arms anymore.

Before I could fall into a full blown panic mode I saw him on the sand, almost buried by it. I hurried to him and picked him up, but what I saw made my heart drop in ways that I've never experienced before.

One side of his face was burned, and there was a piece of metal sticking from his side. He was still breathing, but his unconscious face was loosing more and more of his color. Panicked I screamed.

"Somebody help me! Max! Please be okay Baba is here, Max! Somebody please! Anybody! Help me"

But no one was coming, I was stuck in a desert, in an unknown world, with no supplies, no communication and no weapons. My only companions a dog, and my dying son. What went wrong?