Dragon's Last Hope

Chapter 18

Maya's massive head inclined slightly, golden eyes gleaming with approval. "Help us save your people. All of them."

The Nullifier nodded, then activated his communication system, not the compromised Order frequencies, but the backup channel reserved for field operatives to report command corruption.

"All units, this is Nullifier Designation Echo-Seven," he broadcast, his voice steady despite the chaos erupting around them. "Protocol Seven Omega has been corrupted. The Order command structure has been compromised. I repeat, our own leadership is targeting us."

Throughout Pioneer Square, Order operatives paused in their advance, the unmistakable authentication codes in the Nullifier's transmission forcing them to acknowledge his warning.

"The dragons are not the enemy," he continued, his enhanced perception allowing him to sense the truth of his own words. "Our command has implemented a purge protocol that will eliminate everyone in this district—including all Order personnel and civilians. They're cutting their losses."

Maya watched as confusion spread through the Order's ranks, training and discipline warring with self-preservation. Through the global network, she sensed similar scenarios playing out worldwide as her revelations reached Order operatives on every continent.

"We can prove it," she projected, connecting directly to the Nullifier's broadcast frequency. "Your commanders have activated self-destruct sequences in your tactical gear. The chemical compounds being released aren't designed to incapacitate dragons; they are to kill all of their field agents that they can no longer control after seeing the truth, but they plan to take your friends and families with you. Something you might have realised by now, some of those you love are dragons. As you are humans, we are shifters, we are still humans, just have another part of us that allows us to turn into creatures many of you thought were just myths.”

This revelation sent shockwaves through the Order operatives, many reaching instinctively for the tactical vests they'd been trained never to remove during operations. The Nullifier ripped his own gear off, tossing it away just as a thin wisp of green vapour began seeping from its seams.

"She's right," he called out, his enhanced perception allowing him to see what others couldn't yet—the microscopic delivery systems activating throughout their equipment. "They're purging us all!"

Throughout Pioneer Square, Order agents began discarding their gear; the training that had made them elite hunters now worked against their masters as they quickly identified and neutralised the threats around them. The automated systems continued activating, but without human operators to direct them, their effectiveness diminished rapidly.

Maya stretched her consciousness through the ley line network, tracking the Order's response worldwide. Command centres were going dark, senior officials evacuating to hardened bunkers, and emergency protocols were being implemented that hadn't been used since the last great dragon purge.

"They're burning their own infrastructure," she projected to her mates through their bonds. "Destroying evidence, eliminating witnesses, erasing their history."

"Classic scorched earth," Leon replied, his shadow-enhanced perception tracing the pattern of destruction spreading across the Order's global network. "They'd rather destroy everything than admit the truth."

Through the global network, Maya coordinated the dragons who had answered her call, directing them to protect human populations near Order facilities. What had begun as a defensive action was transforming into something unprecedented, dragons openly using their abilities to shield humans from their own leadership's betrayal.

"Your Order was founded to maintain balance," she projected, her mental voice reaching every operative within range. "To enforce the covenant between our kinds. Somewhere along the way, that purpose was corrupted."

The Nullifier, now coordinating the evacuation of civilians from the affected areas, looked up at her massive golden form with newfound understanding. "The oldest texts in our archives... they don't call us hunters. They call us wardens."

"Yes," Maya confirmed, ancestral memories flowing through her expanded consciousness. "Guardians of the boundary between worlds. Keepers of the covenant. Partners to dragonkind, not exterminators."

Throughout Seattle, humans were witnessing something that defied everything they'd been taught about the natural world. Dragons, creatures of myth and legend, were actively protecting them, using elemental powers to contain the Order's self-destruct protocols, creating safe corridors for evacuation, neutralising toxic compounds before they could spread.

Media helicopters circled at a cautious distance, broadcasting images that would forever change humanity's understanding of their world. Social media platforms were flooded with videos and photos, the truth spreading faster than any organisation could contain it.

Through the ley line network, Maya sensed a shift in the global consciousness—fear giving way to awe as humans worldwide witnessed dragons acting not as monsters, but as protectors.

"The covenant can be restored," she projected, her golden eyes fixed on the humans gathering at a safe distance. “Just as you do, all we want is to live, love and protect those closest to us. Does that make us monsters?”

The Nullifier met her gaze, something resolute forming in his expression. "No. It makes you... people. Just different kinds of people."

Through the bonds, Maya felt her mates' collective surprise at the human's simple yet profound statement. For centuries, dragons had been classified as beasts, monsters, magical creatures, but rarely as people with their own right to exist.

"Different, yes," Maya agreed, her mental voice gentler now. "But far more alike than either side has been willing to admit."

Above them, the Order's automated defence systems continued their futile attempts to contain the situation, but with each passing minute, more operatives abandoned their posts, choosing self-preservation over blind obedience. Through the global network, Maya sensed similar scenarios unfolding worldwide, the Order's carefully maintained hierarchy crumbling as its own people realised they'd been manipulated for generations.

"I can feel them," she projected to her mates. "The dormant ones. Their blood is stirring."

Across Pioneer Square, several Order operatives were experiencing the first symptoms of awakening, heightened senses, phantom sensations of wings or scales, and dreams suddenly manifesting while awake. Maya's High Dragon resonance had triggered something in their suppressed genetics; the proximity to so many fully manifested dragons served as a catalyst for what had always been dormant within them.

"It's happening too fast," Kieran observed, frost crystallising along his massive form as he monitored the rapidly changing situation. "Their human identities aren't prepared for this kind of transition."