Was this really real? I stood, heart pounding, with the dying soldier at my feet, and it felt truly surreal. Thoughts zapped through my mind. What did I just say? Who the hell is Razorfang? What even just happened? Just, what? Maybe it was a dream. Maybe all of this was one illusion created by the mind, maybe I would wake up any minute now in bed. But, it felt way too real to be true. The heat coursing through my body was burning me, to such an extent that the human mind simple isn't capable of replicating.

I looked down properly for the first time. Lots and lots of red scales covered my body, which appeared a lot more muscular than before. On my chest however, there weren't scales, just large, black armour plates. So armoured that I didn't feel anything after touching them, or hitting them. But it didn't stop there. My hands were clawed, razor-sharp sabres of each of my finger tips, lethal instruments of death. My legs were triple-jointed, and three claws, like my hands, extruded from my feet. My head was reptilian-like, with a snout and four short, sharp horns on the back, two longer than the other. My clothes hung off me in rags, as I had increased in size. This wasn't me. I couldn't stay like this. This was to be a secret.

I thought for a moment. If becoming angry made me into this, maybe being calm turns me back. I tried that, calming myself down, removing all thoughts of anger and stress from my mind. Before I knew it, I was back as I was. Then, I fell back into the ditch, and waited for support to arrive.

That support came less than twenty minutes later, when I heard footsteps nearing my position. Just to be sure, I held my rifle at firing stance as a couple of figures rounded the corner into my ditch. I quickly recognized they were Resistance, and lowered my gun down. One of them came closer and frowned, looking up and down my body.

"...Willis?"

I nodded slowly, still shaky from my recent experience. The figure backed off and grinned.

"You do get into some crazy shit don't you? Looks like you got busy too! Eh, buddy?" He laughed as he eyed my torn clothes in rags and the Government assassin dead on the floor.

He lifted his visor, and I recognised who it was. It was Corporal Jim Carper, or just Carpy as we used to call him. He was my best buddy ever since day one of enlistment. I smiled and laughed back. He held out a hand, I grunted and he lifted me up. I wiped some dirt of my uniform. I gave him a pat on the back and said,

"So, what happened? Did those Government bastards bug off someplace else?"

He joked, "I think you should ask yourself that question, dude..." He and I laughed. We had a well shared sense of humour.

"Nah, but in all seriousness though, they did. Cowardly jerks, as usual."

I nodded, just before the other person frowned and spoke up. He pointed at me in disbelief.

"Wait a minute, I recognise you!"

He lifted his visor.

"You're that guy who had all those injuries and still walked, right?"

I nodded, also recognizing him.

He shook his head and pointed again.

"You're mad bro... You are really lucky you be alive, you know that?"

I nodded once more.

"I know..."

Carpy cut back in.

"Don't want to break up your little conversation here, but we all had better get going now. We don't know how long it'll be before the Govie goons will be back for more. Come on."

We walked across the barren ground to a helicopter, which was waiting for us, blowing dust everywhere. We all covered our eyes as we clambered aboard. Sergeant Jones, our squad leader, looked at me with surprise.

"Christ, Willis! What happened to you?"

I sat down in a jumpseat next to Carper and the medic. I replied to Jones.

"Shit happened..."

The helicopter then lifted off the ground, lurched, and flew up and forward through the fog.

On the trip back to base, I was shivering. The amount of nukes that were dropped on Earth long ago in the great war of 2017, better known as World War Three, one hundred years ago, plunged the planet into a nuclear winter, dropping temperatures dramatically. Even though this is, or what used to be tropical island Hawaii, the climate is now a frosty -15 degrees centigrade, so we need to pack a lot of clothes to survive. Sometimes I wondered if it was better if I was born before the war, then die in the initial nuclear blasts - rather than fighting for survival in the frozen shell that is Earth. I also wondered what life was like before it all went to hell, the lush forests, sandy deserts and coral reefs I heard about in history books. Either way, each and everyone of us was doomed eventually. If the Government didn't get you, the inescapable and slow, lingering radiation that everything had a dose of would. And some of those people became the Anima. The radiation would do something to your DNA, and then you would become these... things. But we helped them out. Sure, they may not be totally human or anything, but they still have intelligence and emotion like any of us. And considering their immense strength, they were a valuable asset against the tyrannous Government. But I believed there was hope. Hope to rebuild civilisation again from the ashes of the previous one. The nuclear winter is said to pass in the next twenty years. Until then, we can build underground, and then, once the temperature increases to it's pre-war state, we can expand outside and rebuild once more.

I was abruptly awoken from me trance by Carpy, who said,

"Come on Willis, we're here..."

I got up as my eyes adjusted to the light.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"A few hours," he answered. "...you were sleeping like a baby. We didn't want to wake you."

We both laughed again and stepped outside. We were back at the noise of base. Jeeps rattled along, helicopters hovered around the perimeter, and soldiers marched around. Civilisation may have been all but gone, but the Resistance was very much alive. Someone put a hand on my shoulder from behind and I turned around to greet them. It was Sergeant Jones.

"Sir?"

"You went through some serious shit today, soldier. Go and get yourself changed and showered, and remember to attend the return drill in half an hour."

"Yes sir."

I saluted and then left to change. Once I was back at my bunk, I had a few minutes to rest and contemplate the events of today. I thought of my encounter with the Govie and what happened after that. Then it struck me. Maybe I was one of the Anima? That would explain the dragon creature I turned into. I needed to talk to the sarge about that, confidentially. Anyway, after getting showered and slipping into some fresh uniform, I attended the return drill. Everyone else was standing to attention in a line. I joined in.

"Is everyone here?" Jones asked.

In unison, everyone shouted.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good, now I want Corporal Willis to come with my to my office over events today, so could he do that now, please."

I gulped in surprise. What was he asking me out for? Anyway, orders were orders and I left position and followed Jones out to his office. Carpy gave me a wink as I went out. Did he know something I didn't? I didn't have time to reply as the sergeant opened the door to his office and gestured for me to go in. I did so, and stood in the back of the room. He walked in, shut the door and gestured to the chair.

"Please, take a seat."

I sat down, he did too, and he rested his elbows on the desk.

"Now, listen. I think we both know there is something going on about you, which you're not telling me about. Is this correct?"

Nervously, I stayed perfectly still, not speaking a word. Maybe he had found out about my secret?

"Come on now. I'm not gonna bite. This place is perfectly confidential. Feel free to voice your concerns.

I gulped hard, half hitting myself for revealing my secret and half happy that someone doesn't mind, and slowly nodded.

"I thought so. Now, if you'd mind showing me, go ahead." He crossed his arms.

"B-but, sir, I don't know how to..."

I was expecting him to get angry at me then, but he remained calm.

"Just do what you did last time. Oh and if you wouldn't mind, you might need to strip down to your underwear."

Slightly embarrassed, I did so, until I was in my boxers. Then I started focusing on becoming angry again. I channelled all the different angers and hate I had deep in my mind, and slowly but surely, I began changing again. However, this time I managed to contain it into simply becoming the dragon form, rather than expressing my anger through emotion. Within less than twenty seconds, I was back as I was on the battlefield. That red and black armour-plated dragon. I looked down at my claws again. It had worked. My boxers had stretched nicely, still covering my privates, apart from my tail, which poked a big hole through the back. I had to say, it felt good. This body, it felt so powerful and strong. I felt like I could do anything. Jones looked at me with interest.

"So you are one of them..."

"Yes, sir." I said in a lower voice.

"Well, I got news for you kid. You're not alone."

He stripped also and to my surprise quickly shifted into an anthro wolf.

"You see. There are many among us."

This was very reassuring. But I didn't expect what would come next... Jones shouted back to a door behind him.

"Carper, you can come in now."

To my utter shock, Carpy came in. Except it didn't look like Carpy. Stood there, also in underwear, was an anthro dragon, like myself, except orange and yellow and without the armour plating. Eyes open wide, I managed to say,

"C-Carpy?!"

He nodded his long, spiked head. The sergeant continued.

"As I said before, many of us are Anima. You may not even know it. It can be a recessive trait that only comes out at particular moments, such as your little encounter with that assassin today."

"You saw that, sir?"

"Indeed I did soldier. Now listen up. Being Anima isn't a problem in itself, but, you cannot continue operations in the Resistance."

This definitely came as a shock.

"But, sir, surely I can cover it up and stay?"

"But no, corporal. You need to channel and improve your ability before you can continue fighting."

"And how exactly would I do that?"

"I'm sending you both to the Beast Academy. There you will learn to use your form wisely and learn attacks and powers. Then, you may reconsider."

I sighed, knowing that I was going to leave a lot of my friends behind for a long time. At least I had Carpy.

"And also, both of you, take this."

He handed me and Carpy some specially tailored clothes - a t-shirt and jeans. We both put them on. Sarge watched on.

"These will stretch and shrink when you change forms, so you won't need to undress or anything."

"Thanks, sir."

He smiled.

"It's not a problem, soldier."

With that, Carpy and I walked to the waiting truck outside, got inside, and it rolled away.

New life. Here I come.