The Bones of a God
The sun was melting into the rim of the sky, sending long shadows creeping across the floor of the canyon as the wind whispered by like a sigh from a forgotten era. Alex River knelt in the center of the dig site, his breathing shallow, fingers quivering as they worked their way through the compacted layers of time-hardened earth. Each grain he pushed away made him feel as though he were peeling away history itself. And below his fingers, something impossible lay in wait.
At the age of twenty-one, Alex had already been making headlines in the scientific journals. A budding star in the field of ancient biology, his work on draconic theory and mythological cross-genetics had brought him as much mockery as praise. But none of that—no prize, no lecture, no late-night argument—could have readied him for this.
Beside him knelt the stunning woman who had first opened his eyes to the magic hidden below the soil: Dr. Anna River. His mother. Mentor. Hero. world-famous archaeologist, a stunning firebrand with a reputation for pursuing the unattainable. Her hands were sure even as the wind caught at her scarlet scarf, the vivid silk streaming like fire against the fading light. Every move she made was controlled, purposeful—obsession-born precision.
"Alex…" she murmured, barely audible over the wind. Her voice cracked, as if shaped by awe. "I think we've found it."
He looked up from his notebook, the scratched pages shaking in his hands. When his gaze fell on the exposed structure nestled in the stone, his world seemed to tilt.
Huge. It was the only adjective that came to mind initially. The skeleton of the fossil lay extended across the floor of the canyon like the quieted carcass of a fallen deity. Obsidian shards and quartz veins held the bones that reflected with an otherworldly metallic glint—black as iron, softly shining in the fading light.
Alex looked up from the note page he'd been writing on. His eyes widened at the revealed skeleton before them. "The skeleton? It's. huge. That frame--those wings--there's no way this is dinosaur," he breathed.
Anna didn't respond initially. Her gloved hand hovered above a rib that jutted out as if to touch it would break the moment. Awed. Nearly fearful.
"This isn't myth anymore," she said, catching breath. "It's real.
The breath snagged in Alex's throat as he fell to his knees beside her, pounding heart. The dying light colored the canyon walls with gold, but he saw only the fossil spread out before them—safely buried in a twisted combination of obsidian and quartz. The bones glinted with an unnatural metallic color, unstained by time, dark as forged steel. Six meters of wingspan. A skull crested with arcane beauty. Claws curved like scythes. It was as if some ancient god had hidden it beneath the earth. Or as if it had ruled the skies with not just strength, but intelligence.
"This changes everything…" he said under his breath. "If it predates written mythology… this fossil doesn't just prove dragons existed—it means we've misunderstood the very foundation of human history."
Anna was already reaching for her satellite phone, her mind racing ahead. "I'll alert the university. We'll need full excavation support, tight security. Isolation protocols." She turned away from the site for just a moment. "We could announce at the Global Prehistoric Symposium. Vienna, maybe."
Alex exhaled a stunned laugh, still staring at the bones as the first stars winked into the sky above them. "We'll be legends by morning."
But that dawn would never come.
A low, unnatural growl oozed up through the canyon floor.
Engines.
Not far off. Not innocuous.
He froze, held his breath tight. Anna's head snapped sharply in the direction of the noise, her face hardening.
"That's not our team," she said, her voice low.
Two black SUVs tore across the ridge like wolves smelling blood. Tires screeched across gravel with violent force before the vehicles fishtailed to a stop at the rim of the canyon. Their doors opened with sickly simultaneity, and six figures emerged, each wearing matte-black tactical uniforms. No insignia. Visors blue-tinted, echoing the fading light. Rifles worn across their chests. Weapons worn and at the ready.
Military. But not government.
Alex leapt to his feet, instinct compelling him between Anna and the intruders. He still held his notebook like a shield, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
They didn't belong. He didn't know why he knew—but something very deep inside wailed it. These weren't coworkers. They weren't officials. They weren't even people Anna had cautions him about on her most perilous expeditions.
They were something worse.
"Who are you?" Alex demanded, his tone stiff, contained.
The group's leader took a slow step forward. His helmet hid everything—no face, no human. His voice through a digital filter, frigid and uncaring.
"You don't have to know who we are," he stated. "Just understand that we've been monitoring this site for a very long time. That fossil doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the Protector."
Anna moved forward, incredulity snapping in her voice. "Protector? What sort of—what authority are you even invoking?"
The man disregarded the query. He leaned forward, then brushed his hand through the air.
"You will surrender the specimen. Now. Or face repercussions."
Alex's fists bunched at his sides. "We're not burglars. We're researchers. This is an interdisciplinary academic research project—
One of the soldiers moved forward and picked up a slender scanning instrument. It buzzed softly, emitting pale blue light over the fossil. The screen flickered on.
The soldier nodded curtly. "Confirmed. The target is a match. This is it. Orders are strict. The Protector demands it be secured."
He faced Alex and Anna. "Now turn it over… or die."
He faced them. "You have ten seconds."
Anna positioned herself in front of Alex, her body shaking with anger. "I've devoted my entire life to this. I risked everything to cross seas for these bones. I lost friends to landslides and parasites and political plots. And you just think you can take it from me with threats?" Her voice broke. "Do whatever you want with me—but I'm not letting go."
The leader didn't flinch.
He drew his sidearm.
"Fine."
The shot was silent.
Too silent.
A cracking, dry snap.
Anna's body sprang back, the momentum turning her half-a-step. Her eyes went wide with shock as a red flower bloomed across her chest. Her knees gave way.
"Mom!" Alex yelled, leaping forward.
She collapsed next to the fossil. Her scarf danced once in the wind and then settled still.
Blood collected at her feet, and a few drops splattered upward—striking the jagged bones with lovely, unintentional elegance. One landed directly on the dragon's skull.
A pale shimmer flared on fossil.
But none of them saw flared on fossil.
Alex screamed across the air, his hands grasping for her shoulders, struggling to hold her together like he could force the life back in.
"Mom, stay with me—stay with me—please!"
Her shaking hand climbed up, caressing his arm.
Her voice was a whisper. "Alex… don't… let them…"
And then her hand escaped. Her body became immobile.
He stopped. His heart was ripped open.
Everything in him shattered. The canyon crumbled around him silently.
And then—another shot.
It shattered the night.
Alex glanced up. Too late.
The bullet was already on its way.
Time stood still.
It hit him in the forehead—accurate, vicious.
The blow sent him stumbling back like a ragdoll, his body crashing against the fossil's ribcage. Blood splattered against the charred bones. Pain burst in his forehead, burning. The blow sent him flying back. His body crashed against the fossil's ribcage, his blood spewing across the old bones. His mind did not go blank—not yet.
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
His mind drifted away.
We were going to give our presentation in Vienna… We were joking this morning… I didn't bid farewell…
And still the blood ran—from his temple, from his mother's breast—trickling down the fossil, seeping into the ancient frame.
The bones reacted.
Light flared once more—brighter now.
Still invisible.
The black-ops squad infiltrated, boots crunching on gravel.
And then—
The ground trembled.
A noise commenced. Low. Wild. Alive.
RRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!
The canyon rocked with sound.
It wasn't a sound—it was a thing. It ripped through the air, shattering the wind. The rocks shook. Dust exploded upward. The sky itself recoiled. The world seemed to shake as the roar ripped through the air like a living thing. Wind burst wildly through the shattered rocks, and the ground shook under the shockwave.
The troops sprawled out on the dig area folded up at once. Their bodies fell as if yanked by unseen hands—knees slapping against the ground, palms slapped over their ears. Blood poured from their nostrils. Eyes rolled backward. They folded into the earth one at a time, twitching, shattered.
Alex barely had time to think. Alex sensed it too—but it wasn't in his ears or wasn't present around him.
It was within him.
It shook within his bones, resonating within his skull, impinging on the very bottom of him.
He was paralyzed. Unable to scream. He could only lie there, spread across ancient death, as his heart pounded in pain.
And then—he saw her.
Anna's body was disintegrating.
Not rotting. Not decaying.
Transcending.
Golden dust lifted from her skin, floating upwards like stars leaving gravity behind. Her face was calm. Serene. Her eyes, closed.
She was disappearing. Fading.
No…" His lips formed the words. Almost. "Please… don't leave…"
His hand clenched toward hers, willing to cling.
His lips formed the words, but no sound emerged. His throat was parched. His will, broken.
He attempted to stretch out, to grasp her hand one final time, but his fingers refused to obey.
As darkness pressed against the borders of his sight, something else became visible.
Above the dragon skull, the air shattered like glass bending under stress.
Above the fossil of the dragon, the air split—a pulled-open wound by an unseen hand. A rift. Thudding. Breathing.
From within the ancient skull, a light ball burst forth. It floated as if a heart ripped out of time itself, beating slow and powerful, every beat resonating down the canyon.
A ball of melted energy, radiating colors no mortal eye could give words to. It beat like a heart ripped out of time.
It floated above the bones.
And then—
It burst forward.
Straight into Alex's chest.
His back cramped. His limbs locked.
No breath. No words.
Only fire.
It coursed through him. Not burning. Not killing.
Changing.
A voice boomed in his head—not spoken, not heard. Carved into thought itself:
[SYSTEM BINDING: INITIATING…]
A crack rang through the canyon—like chains shattering across centuries.
The light disappeared.
Then silence.
No wind. No air.
No pain.
Only the endless feeling of falling.