So this is my first attempt at writing a story for the Whateley Universe. I originally started this several years ago but after a few chapters I found myself with serious writers block. Recent stories on here and on the Whateley site have encouraged me to reattempt the story. This is only the prologue. There is hopefully much more to come. Of course any help would be appreciated and if you spot any mistakes or issues don't hesitate to let me know. I will apologise in advance if I have made any mistakes with the lore. I have tried to keep it as correct as possible and where I am not sure I have tried to keep it as close as possible to the universe. Anyway that's enough from me. Please enjoy!

PROLOGUE

Somewhere beneath the Rocky Mountains – 1996

The beast awoke to the sound of something different. It had been a long time since anything but the sound of scratching or water disturbed it's sleep. Darkness surrounded her but she began to sense something new. Her long enforced sleep retreated quickly as the noises began again. Turning towards the source of the noise the creature watched as a small crack appeared in the wall of her prison. Light spilled through it and she could make out the outline of something strange poking through the hole. Swiping at this new intruder with her claws produced a cloud of blue sparks. The strange object was quickly withdrawn and the clattering noise of the new enemy quickly stopped. It was quickly replaced with something else new as voices began to speak from the other side of the wall.

“What the hell. Did we hit something?” someone asked.

“Not sure” a second man said. “Looks like we reached a cave” he stated.

“We'll check the damage later” a third man interjected “Leave it alone”.

“Almost looks like claws” one of the previous voices joked before all three voices faded away still discussing what they had found.

After a while there was movement and heavy breathing again from the other side of the wall. A bright light suddenly pierced the darkness as the humans moved their machine away from the hole they had made. Backing away from the light it began to move deeper into the cave but all the while the beasts icy blue gaze remained fixed on this intrusion into it's prison.

“Told you. Looks like a cave” one of the humans said. He sounded smug. “Bring up some more light so we can look around”.

The voices faded away for a second time and then returned. They were accompanied by a strange scraping noise. The creature's chest expanded as it prepared to roar at the intruders. However before it could let loose its challenge there was a clattering noise as rocks began to fall leaving an even larger hole in the wall.

The home of a member of the Mystic Six – 1996

A screaming artefact is not something you expect to hear at 2am in the morning even in the home of a powerful shaman but that's what woke Totem from his sleep. Tracing the source of the disturbance he stood up quickly and headed for his bookcase. Behind several old books he discovered the problem; An old stone statue, covered in dust lay on his shelf, staring back at him with it's lifeless eyes. Picking it up quickly he stood for a moment staring at the object in his hand. It took almost a minute before the memory surfaced. His eyes widening in sudden shock Charlie Lodgeman reached for the phone. If the wards had been broken then time was not on his side.

Somewhere beneath the Rocky Mountains – 1996

The beast heard the last of the rocks fall away from the hole the humans had made. She smelled four of them, all stinking of sweat, stone and metal. The humans began to enter through the hole they had made. Two of them lifted and dragged strange machines with them as they moved through the hole. The one who entered first swept a beam of light over the cave walls. The others followed and quickly spread out to explore the cave.

“Hey Jay come and check this out” one of the intruders said.

Two of the remaining humans turned back towards their friend but the other kept facing in the towards the corner where the beast crouched. It looked like the creature was about to be discovered but after a moment he also turned around and faced the others.

“What is it now?” he asked as the small group were all looking at something on the ground.

When they didn't answer he just sighed and turned back to scanning the walls with his light. Almost immediately there was a bright flash of silver as the light reflected back into the cave. All the men stopped what they were doing and faced in the direction it had come from. An unspoken conversation seemed to happen between the four of them as they all focused their torches on the corner

Again the light hit the beasts scales and silver spots danced off the walls and towards the intruders. However they kept their torches focused on the corner and started to advance towards it. As they watched a large head was lowered blinking in the light. Ice blue eyes stared at the four men who froze as they saw the origin of the reflection. Before they could speak the beast released the roar it had been holding in. Echoing off the walls it almost deafened everyone present. There was no hesitation. All four turned and ran back the way they came.

A rumbling sounded and a small burst of silver-blue fire came from the beasts mouth and shot towards the hole. However the humans dived through it before the it could reach them. Footsteps echoed up the tunnel heading towards the surface. The thing they had discovered didn't follow. The hole wasn't big enough for the creature to escape through but it could afford to be patient. It lay down and began to watch the hole through which freedom could be found.

A mining operation in the Rocky Mountains – 1996

Terry Campbell let out a yawn. He knew his shift was almost over and he longed for his nice warm bed. The night was quiet apart from the constant clanking of the machinery and the occasional howl of an animal. His eyelids were starting to droop but just as he was about to fall asleep, there was a loud banging on his door. Jumping to his feet he strode towards it. Pulling the door open he noticed four men standing in front of him. It took him almost thirty minutes to get the full story out of the group and even then he didn't believe them. They just kept babbling on about what they had seen down there. In a last ditch attempt to convince them Terry decided to head into the cave himself. After another twenty minutes he returned. He stood there in shocked silence as he tried to process what he had just seen. He reached out to grab the phone but suddenly he stopped, unable to decide what to do. Who the hell was he supposed to call about a dragon?

Part 1
A Storm is Coming

Early January 2007 – Outside the gates to Whateley Academy

Sighing I stared out of the tinted windows at the landscape around me. A wall of white flakes surrounded the car. Above us the iron grey clouds that had been threatening to dump their contents for the last few hours made good on its threat. The snow continued to swirl around the vehicle as it drove along the quiet back roads of New Hampshire. From the window a 15 year old girl with long dark hair and expressive green eyes stared back at me. I'd seen the same face everyday since I'd woken up in that room a year ago. It was still strange to me however. Even now I didn't ever think I'd get used to it.

“Are you alright Alex?” my driver John asked as he negotiated a tough bend. I just smiled. John was a former SEAL and all around tough guy. He liked to play the cold unfeeling bodyguard but I knew it was just a front. He'd been my shadow for almost a year and in that time we'd become friends.

“I know your freaked out about having to leave ARC”. John spoke as though he was reading my mind. “But it was time. You don't want to live in that cell the rest of your life do you?”

“But what if it happens again?” I whispered.

John looked at me calmly.

“Alex, You will be fine.”

“But” I began.

“No Alex.” John responded firmly. “Your control is a hell of a lot better than it was before and you and your spirit aren't fighting each other anymore. It won't happen again.”

I just nodded. My spirit and I were much closer these days but it was still a fragile relationship. As John was speaking I could feel her anger rising at the mention of ARC but before I could respond to John's words I was pulled into another place.

Somewhere Else

I was standing in the courtyard of a large house. A fountain bubbled in the middle of a large green space. Hedges rose up around me and patches of brightly coloured flowers were spread throughout the space. Sighing I started to walk towards the main door. I was pretty well versed in the routine by this point and I didn't waste any time. Entering the house I turned left into a large living area and there she was, like always. A tall striking woman with short dark hair and piercing green eyes stared at me. Like me her face was covered in patches of silver scales. A sense of power and danger radiated from her. She stood and stared at me for a moment, anger flickering in her eyes before she spoke.

“Child. Why must you persist in such foolishness? We are so close to our freedom after so long. Why do you fight against it?”

I remained quiet not wanting to make her more angry at me. She only called me child when she was really annoyed or disappointed in me. After a moment the woman sighed and the anger drained from her face, For a moment concern flashed across her face before it was replaced by a cold hard expression. Taking a deep breath I walked further into the room before stopping in front of the being who shared my body.

“I'm sorry Tia” I whispered, trying not looking into her eyes “But I'm not sure I can do this. I just don't want to hurt anyone else.”

She sighed and again fixed me with that cold stare I had become very familiar with since we first met.

“Alex” she began. “ It was not your fault the first time. You are not responsible for the deaths I caused. As the warrior said. We are ready. This is a chance for us to live our lives again.”

I just nodded. I knew she was right but it didn't matter. We had been locked up for a long time and this was only the fifth time we had left the ARC facility in the past year. We had hurt a lot of people before we'd been locked up and I wasn't sure it wouldn't happen again. I knew it was possible. Whether it was Tia's training or the abilities I'd been given, I knew I could very very easily kill again.

We sat for a while in silence thinking about the past. After a while I felt a slight tugging sensation. Nodding at the older woman I stood and returned to the garden. Closing my eyes I focused on the feeling in my stomach.

Back in the real world

Opening my eyes I found myself back in the real world. The car had begun to slow down as we began to approach a gate set into a solid stone wall. As we did so a man bundled up against the cold left a guards hut and approached the vehicle.

“Can I help you sir?” the guard asked. His voice was muffled from behind a thick scarf and a woolen cap covered his head

I couldn't see his face but from the tone of his voice, he didn't sound happy to be out in the snow. From the back of my mind Tia voiced her agreement with the guard's feelings. I just smiled. I'd always enjoyed the snow. It reminded me of all the fun times I'd had with Christine. But that was before...

I clamped down hard on that memory. This was not the time to lose it. Especially not in front of a man I didn't even know. Glancing over I was just in time to see the John roll up the window and turn to me, “Time to go kid.”

John smiled and reached for his door, stepping out into the snow. I grabbed for my new hat, scarf and gloves on the seat beside me. The doctors at ARC had told me that thanks to my mutation my body temperature actually ran several degrees hotter than normal so I wouldn't feel cold temperatures as much as other people but it was nice to have some kind of protection anyway.

Exiting the SUV I hurried to help John with the bags containing my few possessions. After a few moments a small cart driven by what I assumed was another guard appeared from the other side of the gate. Bracing ourselves against the weather, we walked to it with my bags in hand. John and the driver quickly loaded up my few bags into the back of the small vehicle.

Once we had finished I turned back to John. We stood there for a few seconds before he pulled me into an awkward hug.

“Take care Alex” he said once he had released me from his hold. “Remember if you need anything to call Chris or Doctor Otto OK?”.

I just smiled and nodded but inside my stomach was churning with nerves. This would be only the fifth time I had been out of ARC in the last year and all of those had been carefully observed and controlled.

Tia seemed to sense my nerves and sent a pulse of calm my way which seemed to help. Reaching out I hugged John again.

“Thanks for everything John” I mumbled into his shirt.

Letting me go he just laughed and said “It's alright Alex. Stay in touch OK. The girls would never forgive me if you didn't”.

He gave me a sly smile but instead of saying his goodbye like I thought, he reached into the car. I saw the guards tense up for a moment before he withdrew a large tin of what I knew to be cookies which he handed to me.

“Here. This is from Jess and Ali. I may have eaten a few.” he admitted sheepishly.

Laughing I placed the tin in the top of my new backpack before zipping it again. Jesse and Alison were his 13 year old twin daughters. We had become good friends despite and our age difference and they had helped a lot with my changes and during my first trips into the outside world.

The driver of the cart was looking towards us. It was clear he even less happy about coming out in the cold and snow than the other guard was. John gave me one more of his sly smiles before he started to head back to the warmth of his SUV. Sitting in the passenger seat of the golf cart I watched as the dark SUV pulled away from the gate leaving me to my new life.