1918

"His name is Edward Richtofen. A field scientist."

"Return empty handed and there will be consequences."

A low growl rumbled through the chest of the beast in response to the memory that she must keep in mind.

"You may find unusual... sightings once you've reached over there."

"Unusual?" She responded.

"Yes, Sila. No further questions. Proceed on the mission."

Very well, a sigh escaped the maw of the dragon.

Her wings were wide open, struggling to keep in midair as a strong wind current and rain pelted down against her wings and scales. Fortunately, the rain hasn't weighed her down which steadied her body. Years passed on and here she was, body length, weight and height were grown to their full potential which only empowered the being more.

The sight was slightly unclear due to the rain that fell heavily into the earth, slightly foggy up ahead as well. But gunshots and the engines of warplanes sounded nearby. But what caught her of guard was a series of bullets being shot passed by her, meaning someone spotted her proceeded to attack her. The dragon, Sila, swerved her head to look behind her during her flight only to find a biplane advancing at her.

Already exited her facility, already getting attacked.

She scoffed at the idea before swooping down in an instant, wings folded tight before spreading them out once again as soon as the plane passed overhead. Quickly and stealthily, she ascended towards the plane and followings it's straight path. Strange how it seemed that the pilot had completely left her and continued on as if nothing happened.

"Stay hidden. If they spot you, you be very well considering yourself dead." Her trainer's voice echoed in her head, a conversation she had before she departed.

She had to strike the pilot down if her presence reached her target. A bright light illuminated within Sila's chest, showing between the cracks of her scales up to her neck. Opening her mouth, the chilling, cold rain entered her mouth but such weather didn't stop her. And out went a spike of ice, blowing when contacting the planes wind. With that explosion, the plane and the pilot spiralled downward. She watched after them.

Her first kill but not her first time. Her first kill alone. Her first kill in this treacherous and terrifying world. A memory suddenly flashed in, making the dragon clench her jaws in anger of not forgetting that memory.

"No!" The voice of Doctor Watford was boomed, echoeing in the facility. His voice alarming the scientists around him as soon as he stormed into the lab. Everyone turned to face the situation that erupted so suddenly just by the rise of voice of the rather silent doctor.

Just behind him was a three year old Sila, the little blue figure which looked rather tense with her wings slightly over her head, head ducked down slightly from nervousness. "Stay behind me," He whispered down to the mythical creature who he knew heard his words very well. But before she could respond, a pair of heavy boots made their way into the lab.

The first that came in sight was a pistol, a revolver to be exact. A gloved hand wrapped around the hilt and finger ready to pull the trigger. The face that came in was unfamiliar but it very well meant he was an intruder. No mask covered his face, where everyone made sure to keep his image in mind. But no one could help the gasp that involuntarily escaped their lips. Silence fell upon everyone except for the low growl that emitted off of the dragon in the centre of the room.

"Group 935 sent you! Stay back or-" Watford spoke but the new deep voice spoke up.

"Or what? As if that little lizard would do anything useful." His words were followed by a humourless laugh.

"Oh no, you're wrong. You know exactly of what she is capable of."

"Maybe you're right, but a simple... trade would do it, yes?"

That made Watford scoff before shaking his head. "A trade? What do you have to-" Watford spoke but was cut off again.

"A final warning, hand me your dragon before anything worse can happen." By the tone of his voice, it was obvious he was in a hurry.

Watford took a step forward, hand extended to confront but the opponent took the gesture as a whole different meaning before a gunshot rang in the room, echoing all around the lab.

Silence fell upon the room once again, before another noise shocked the scientists and doctors around; or what remained. Possibly six or seven of those that had the heart to fight for the right. A roar erupted before another shot was taken. That bullet managed to merely miss the dragon's head by centimeters that advanced at him. But that bullet did not fly through the air and hit a wall. Rather, there was a noise of the bullet hitting its mark. The shoulder. Her shoulder. Another roar of pain exploded through the room, enraging the Sila further. Before he could pull the trigger for the third time, the man was held against the ground. The back of his head hit the wooden planks below him, grunting. In pain, the intruder yelled from the claws that dug into his chest. His weapon was kicked out of his hand, losing his grip as he tried to fight off Sila that stood above him.

Out of sheer anger, Sila's head lifted slightly, jaw opening her mouth wide, revealing the sharp teeth. But what came next was far worse. A soft light emitted within her chest before advancing up to her throat. And before the man could process anything longer, the fear read clear in his eyes, the skin that made up the face of the intruder was covered in ice particles within the span of a breath. It was as if liquid nitrogen escaped the dragon's mouth, allowing her to freeze his face. The face that showed fear and not knowing the expectations of such creature.

A quick image of the unknown man's face smashed in with solid particles scattered around the body. Sila blinked rapidly for a few moments, shaking that image away from her head.

Heaving, Sila lifted her head up, her chest moving up and down in a rhythm. Steam rose up from her nostrils after the use of her ability.

Everything rushed back all in once, making her glance back and jump away in an instant. Her petite body was by Watford's, her claws tracing the blood to find where the bullet made its mark. And right there it was - square on his chest. She glanced up at his face to see lifeless eyes staring up ahead, mouth ajar as it was opened to breathe out his final breathe. "N-no..." Sila choked out finally. "No!" She shouted, repeating her words over and over. She turned to face the scientists who stood their ground, horror and shock written all over their faces. "Wha- do something! Don't leave him like this!"

For a moment, she had hope that he could be brought back. Hoping that all this was a dream. Hoping that she could wake up from this dream but this was inevitable. But she knew deep down inside, nothing can bring him back.

I promise you, she thought as she glanced down at his body. I promise you that I'll find the man who ordered for this and end him.

Sila shook her head, pushing all those thoughts and memories away. But vengeance was what ran in her mind, ready to take down anyone that tried to stop her.

As the fog began to clear out slightly, the silence was no filled with multiple gunshots being fired from above her and under. Cautiously, the dragon looked around her in worry of being fired at. Staying in High altitude will only make Sila all the more vulnerable. War planes will only be busy shooting at one another. She's less of a target in the battlefield.

But here she was, in the midst of an ongoing war. A world war. Where the whole world battled one another, allies supporting one another.

Sila lowered herself slightly, having a better view of the muddied ground below her. After flying for quite a short time, she found strange how no soldiers were found under any trenches nor out in the battlefield. Only war planes occupied the skies by defending their land and taking down their enemies. That could save her some time for searching on that scientist she was assigned on. Where is she to find him in this deserted battlefield?

But why do they need him? Her group had already created things that Group 935 hasn't even thought of. Extracting him is what she needed to do. And extracting is what she'll be doing. But flying isn't making it any easier to focus on where she was currently on and the idea of no soldiers around her gave her time to stop and analyse her surroundings. She folded her wings and dove down to the ground, her claws touching down onto the mire mud which made it hard to stand properly on. Rain poured ontop of the dragon as she swivelled her head around. Her claws clamped on the wooden planks placed beside each other and wooden walls on both of her sides. A trench was what she stood on. Mud, blood, and broken structures lay on the ground before her.

A sudden groaning noise was heard, making the dragon jump back in fear and surprise. The sound came from her right, making her glance toward that direction. At first, she could only see a silhouette of it, immediately knowing it was a soldier. But the way it staggered towards her was... strange. Sila took a step to her left, having another entry just around the corner. But by now, only a few feet away, the silhouette was in a much better view. Gasping in shock, what stood before looked no where close to human.

The pure, white complexion was now grey, as if the skin was decaying bit by bit. Skin was all torn as well, bones out of their sockets, clothes tattered and torn. Jaw was not set like normal. Instead it was a as if snapped to the side, giving it a distorted look all over. It's eyes, however, were... glowing. As if a light bulb was set just behind its eyes and illuminating a bright yellow light out of its eyes. What... what is this?

A memory clicked into her head, remembering that they warned her about this. Unusual sights.

Another groan came from her left, her only way out was now blocked by... whatever this creature was. This was one was no different than the other but it wore a helmet and limped. And a missing hand.

Both staggered onto her both sides, making her tense. Suddenly, one of them stumbled, tripping towards her direction but as well, hands out to attack her. Before it could touch her, she flared out her right wing, knocking the figure backwards before feeling the other one closing in on her. Her tail lashed out at it, her tail causing a sever injury at its side and stomach. It screamed in pain but didn't stop and continued to stagger towards Sila. The other one as well got up and, this time, moved faster.

Fear struck into the dragon, panicking at her current situation. In instinct, she wrapped her tail around its neck, feeling the sticky, cold blood on her scales before dragging it's head down to the ground, watching the blood splatter onto the ground from its head. Swiftly, her tail left the first one and travelled to knock the legs out of the other one. It's back hit ground, knocking the remaining oxygen out of its lungs before having shards of ice pierced into its head.

But that wasn't the end of it. More and more began to come in. Probably alarmed by the scream of the previous two she killed. Sila scrambled out of the way before jumping, swiping her claws at the distorted human that came up in her way before taking off. She flew about fifteen feet in the air before staring down at the battlefield once more. It was as if hundreds of them were proceeding to attack her, now all bumping into each other. Disoriented. Her breathing hitched, still trying to grasp the idea of what just happened.

Shaking her head, she had to concentrate on her current situation - get Doctor Richtofen and go back to the facility. But what if he's been turned into one of those? Would it be too late? Will they scold her for not doing of what she was supposed to do? Sila turned her head to look around, the fog was still hanging but she could make out a bit of it. But what surprised her was gunshots just before her. She tilted her head slightly and proceeded to watch.

The figure below her moved more like a human unlike the soldiers that attacked strangely. Whoever it was below her was shooting the things that attacked her with ease, revealing his knife and stabbing them with a bullet into each one that made a move on him. She watched where he walked, heading to a certain direction. To a collapsed building just up ahead.

The idea of confronting them was another risk. But this man seemed nothing like the ones that attacked her. That helped the dragon feel a little better. Sila sighed before turning around in midair and flying over to the deserted and bombed building. However, there was an opening ontop of the roof that would be able to fit two times the size of Sila herself. And without a thought, she folded her wings and dove into the hole.

For a moment, it felt like silence. But three clicks of weapons were heard, making Sila freeze on her spot. Slowly, she lifted her head up to see three men pointing weapons at each other. One of them had noticed Sila before moving his pistol at her. She couldn't tell where all they came from, but what worried her was why. The one that stood in the center seemed to aim the weapon above Sila herself, as if dismissing her presence. The other two did the same. Curiosity kicked in, making the dragon face the direction of where they all looked. Frowning, she didn't realize that she was stepping closer to get a better view until she found what she came for.

A bloodied, battered body lied on a wooden table just infront of them. It's head was dissected in a precise cut, and it's face was as if it was in agonising pain before being held down in place and cut open. Whoever it was, he was also strapped against the table.

What she finally realized was the man that stood behind it while holding a machete as he stared down at the body. He lowered the machete, silence falling upon the room. He then glanced up at the soldiers that approached, sending a wary look toward Sila whom narrowed her eyes at him.

A commotion was going to erupt, she knew it was because of the nearly unbearable tentsion, but the familkar screams and groans that previously attacked her were heard. In alert, she turned and growled, wings tensed and jaw clenched. Tens of hundreds advanced on them in all sides which didn't help the current situation they were in. The three on her left now turned their back, as if protecting the man that stood behind them.

But before anything can be comprehended further, a bright light that blinded the five, confusingly looking up. Above them was a large, humanoid robot. The gigantic head stood staring at them for moments before raising it's head. Relief was spreading across her chest but stopped her breathing midway when she saw the foot that raised up over them. "Move!" She roared out before diving out of the way, hearing the robot smashing it's foot at the roof, shaking the ground and walls. In shock, she remained there, heaving in fear and panic. Freezing. Unmoving.