PART 1 When good twists into bad and bad grows into good And flesh and steel become one 1
CHAPTER 1 Humans Most seem nice But some are just evil There were still three who mattered to Robo And right now they stood next to the stainless steel examining table as the Great Dane lay nearly still paws twitching His eyes were heavy and his heart ached The pain of separation Again He and his family had just reunited and now here he was in a doctor’s sterile office being ripped away from them emo tionally and physically once more I was such a stupid pup he thought slowly closing his eyes as he recalled how he’d lost his family in the first place Years ago he had run away from his tidy suburban home frightened and disoriented by a spring thunderstorm By the time it stopped he was lost He'd never forgotten his first cold wet night alone But he had also survived against the odds And within a few short years he was thriving in the city rising through hard work and discipline to become a pack leader of a strong fierce group of stray dogs Then two weeks ago through chance his family had found him again after a lifetime of being separated He had been at the park overseeing his pack’s patrol when he suddenly saw Becca the youngling of the three He stared at her so long so overwhelmed by emotion and she noticed him no longer a puppy with floppy gray ears but a massive Great Dane She 3
4 BLUE’S PROPHECY peered at him with the same intensity and then slowly walked toward him Robo so sure of himself so suspicious of humans found he couldn’t move even when she slowly petted him and checked him for a collar and tags He didn’t even move when she slowly checked his back leg for a telltale heart in his fur and she gently said Oh Robo I’ve missed you so much His family immediately encouraged him to join them calling him to jump into their white minivan He did His love for his first pack his first kind humans was so powerful he didn’t even consider the magnitude of his decision to leave his dog pack He was just so happy Too happy He didn’t need to worry about survival any more On most days he and Becca explored the lake in their sub division with Becca pretending that he was a horse and she was the mighty warrior looking to save the injured birds that they would sometimes find He would watch her at night as she slept He wouldn’t fit in her small mahogany twin bed but instead he slept on a thick shag rug next to her blissfully content Honestly most days were spent chasing squirrels And that’s how it happened he had jumped on the deck at a squirrel only to tumble down the stairs Robo was hurt badly When Becca found him he could barely move wheezing in pain As they loaded him back into the van his breath became shallow and he could see fear in Becca’s eyes And now they were here He on the examining table Becca draped on his neck with tears streaming down her check Robo had never seen any human as distressed as she was
BLUE’S PROPHECY 5 He felt her warm tears soak through his fur and his throat tightened His eyes began to burn and he quickly closed them to cool them down It didn’t help He moved his large head to nuzzle her and she grasped it in a desperate hug You can’t just die she whispered into his huge pointed ear You just can’t He started to lick her tears She lifted her hand and scratched behind his ears Hardly able to move Robo howled in frustration his fur standing on end Becca’s mother looked at her and hugged her Robo had always been close to Becca’s mom but like most moms she hadn’t been able to spend the time with him that Becca had Even so Robo had always loved sitting under the table near the kitchen island where her mom with green eyes and dirty blonde hair would toss him pieces of cheese when no one was looking She also used to take Robo running less often now than when she was younger But like Robo she had strong legs often covered up by the jeans and cooking aprons she wore daily She was a good match with Becca’s dad an alpha whom Robo respected He had named Robo when he first landed in their home With black hair brown eyes and a broad smile her dad was a gifted mechanic who had originally named Robo Robot for his silky short gray fur that looked almost metallic in the right light But Becca couldn’t pronounce it shortening it to Robo and it stuck Robo looked up and realized this was the first time he had ever seen Becca’s dad cry Suddenly a door opened and a man in a white coat walked in with determined long strides his hands behind his back Tall
