He was wrong.
While dragon-shifters didn't have any sort of super mental abilities, the one arsenal they could use were invisible forces in the mind. It was how his dragon had corralled him into the corner in the first place. All Alistair had to do was turn the tables and contain his dragon for a wee while.
No more s
talling; it was time.
Thinking of Kiyana and his family and friends back on Lochguard, he pushed out against his mental wall with everything he had. His beast hadn't expected the force—more so because he was sleeping—and Alistair managed to flip their positions and force his dragon into a corner of his mind.
Now fully awake, his beast roared, clawed, and threw himself against the barrier. While his words were faint, Alistair easily heard them. No, no, we're so close. I need her, she needs us, the world will take her away. I must have her. Now, don't wait, don't let the others fuck her in our absence.
Arguing would accomplish nothing. While his beast was slightly less savage than a week ago, the mystery substance still made his dragon unstable and crave violence in a way he'd never done before.
Alistair stood in their dragon form, tested out his legs—they held but there was an instant twinge that shot up his spine—and he slightly limped out of the cave into the clearing. There was a village nearby, one that still had a red phone box. If he could reach it, he could place a reverse charge call to the Lochguard Protectors, who still had ordinary line phones.
He jumped into the sky, barely making it high enough to flap his wings, and headed toward the village. Since it was night and they were in the country, there weren't as many lights to bounce off his red scales.
Nearly to the village, Alistair landed and struggled to shift back. His beast's protests only intensified as he imagined his snout shrinking into a nose, his wings retreating into his back, and his limbs morphing back into human ones.
When finished, he did his best to ignore the jolts of pain as he ran as best as he could manage. He may hurt himself further, but that didn't matter. This was his one and only chance to help his dragon and escape being hunted down.
He reached the phone box, still grateful no one was about to see his naked body, and went through the tedious process of placing a reverse charge call. Each second that passed only made his dragon more erratic, and it wouldn't be long before his beast took control and ensured Alistair would never be able to escape again.
The phone rang and someone finally answered. It was hard to concentrate as his beast's roar became more frantic, but he said quickly, "This is Alistair Boyd. I'm at Tongue village." The Protector tried to speak, but he didn't let him. "I don't have much time. You need to see if there's ever been a human-to-dragon blood transfusion. It may be a way to save me. Check with Nikki and Rafe. Hurry, I'll be here unconscious for you."
His dragon's forearm burst through the prison, meaning Alistair had less than a minute left.
Dropping the phone, he searched until he found a streetlamp. He needed to complete the last part of his plan.
Even if it could end up killing him.
His dragon's other forelimb broke free. Alistair pushed aside his trepidation and ran toward the pole. He needed to smack his head hard enough to knock himself out but not do lasting damage.
However, he wasn't a doctor. It was quite possible he could die.
Just as his dragon broke through, he stopped at the pole, turned his head for what he thought was a good angle, took a few steps back, and then rammed his head against the streetlamp.
The world went blissfully silent. And his last waking thought was how he hoped it wasn't for the last time.
~~~
Kiyana sat with Dr. Layla MacFie as they listened to the Stonefire doctors report their latest findings.
Most of the medical science went over Kiyana's head, but she was desperate to hear anything.
Even with sending the chemical makeup and data of the substance which had affected Alistair to as many clan doctors as they'd been able to reach, no one had yet found a cure. There was something related in the recently acquired Dragon Knights information, but all of the formulas had been written in some sort of code.
One the Stonefire doctors and their associates hadn't been able to break yet.
Finn burst into the room, glanced between Layla and the Stonefire doctors, and blurted, "Blood transfusions. Have there ever been ones from humans to dragons?"
Dr. Sid, the female head doctor on Stonefire, replied instantly. "I've never heard of one. Which makes sense, given how human blood usually doesn't mix well inside our bodies despite how it's fine the other way around. It's become sort of taboo over the centuries, but it's also illegal in some countries."
Finn didn't miss a beat. "Ask Rafe and Nikki if the army ever attempted it in the field. Alistair called the Protectors and said a transfusion might help since the drugs don't affect humans. Probably something specific he didn't have time to say, and I couldn't guess what it'd be."
Layla jumped in. "While just hearsay, I thought doing that could affect a dragon-shifter's inner beast?"
Finn shook his head. "That's not a good enough reason to avoid looking into it. Especially since I have people going to the village where Alistair called from, to see if they can find him. I'll need you to come, Layla, and have some dragon silence drugs on hand in case they bring him in."