The Dragon Lady (The Dracosinum Tales)

by Angelique S. Anderson

  “Quite possibly,” Quincy stated simply. “Then again, you are the Teselym, and what you described sounds like evil taking over just a bit too much. Isn’t it your job to balance the two?”

  She nodded. Not happy with his words, “How am I to fix this, if I cannot kill him? And another thing...”

  “Yes?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me he was the Siapheg? His depth of evil and cruelty show him for what he is. I thought the Siapheg didn’t have a Dracosinum?” she spat through fanged teeth.

  “I never said that,” Quincy replied. “I said that the Siapheg doesn’t have one of me. No moral compass, or conscience to speak of. It has only itself and its own desires.”

  “Yes, and you also said that the Siapheg that exists now is one of the most reasonable you’ve ever dealt with. Lord Jameston is the one who holds the Dracosinum! I saw him drop it. I held it in my hand. It's just like mine!”

  “The Dracosinum is only a measure of time, much like a pocket watch. Consider it a pocket watch for Dragaleths.” She could feel him grinning, for when he smiled, she felt it inside. Much like he was a tiny part of her.

  “So Lord Jameston is the reasonable Siapheg that you told me of, and he is in possession of nothing more than a Dracosinum?” she asked again, soaring quietly above the Earth thinking hard about her next move.

  “The Siapheg is in possession of the Dracosinum,” he stated dryly.

  “Very well. If Lord Jameston is in charge of the Dracosinum, then all I need to do to restore balance is kill him so that his daughter can become the next Siapheg.” I’ll figure out the details once everything plays out. It’s time to find Lord Jameston.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As she began her slow descent back to the Earth, Quincy asked, “Wylie, do you know what you’re doing?”

  “Yes, I do, thank you,” her voice was matter-of-fact.

  “And are you certain this is the answer?”

  “Indeed, I am,” she replied. “Thaddeus McCollum’s findings stated that the Siapheg and I do not have to kill each other, we are free to live in harmony if we maintain the balance. The balance is off, Quincy. I must kill the Siapheg, who I suspect is Lord Jameston, and since you won’t tell me otherwise, I am going to challenge him. I need to restore the balance.”

  “Wylie, be very sure this is what you want. Taking a life will hang over your head for the rest of your days. It is a heavy burden to bear whether the victim be friend or foe.”

  “I am well aware of the decision I make, Quincy. I am also aware that many lives will be ruined if I don’t deal with him in this way. I must right this wrong. I must,” she argued. Her tone silenced him, and she wondered for a moment if it was indeed the right thing to take on Lord Jameston in Siapheg form.

  Of course, it is. This is what embracing your Dragaleth side is all about. Embracing the decisions, you would never be capable of doing otherwise.

  Having resolved to proceed with her plan Wylie sniffed the air for his scent, but there was no trace of it. She tuned into her dragon-sense, willing her mind to show her where he was. It directed her to a man who lay bleeding in an alleyway. She grabbed her Dracosinum in her claws and transported to the man’s location.

  The man was bleeding more heavily than Wylie had originally seen in her vision, his breathing coming hard and raspy. She gently lifted him in her arms, his body already cooling from loss of blood. She shrank to human size and carried him to the nearest locally-run charity clinic. Her Teselym form caused numerous gasps and screams as she entered the place. She placed him on the ground, then she returned outside and took flight.

  Another vision came, two men with masks had pistols pointed at a family. She transported to where they were and grabbed the men up by their backsides, dropping them atop a police building, where there was no chance of them getting down, except by firemen’s ladders.

  “Where are you, Siapheg? Reveal yourself.” She yelled out into the night, half-expecting it to answer. She was met with silence.

  She wasn’t sure what part of the world she was in at the moment and decided that closer to home would offer the best possibility of finding him. He seemed to enjoy striking out at people close to Dobbinsturn. As she arrived over Lower Kinnemore, she heard a man screaming.

  She followed the sound until she discovered a fresh trail of blood, which led her to...

  The Siapheg!

  She landed quietly behind it, her talons not making a sound as she hit the street. She let out a tremendous roar, and the ominous black beast turned to face her, its yellow eyes exuding hatred, and its mouth dripping blood.

  For goodness' sake, it has graduated from killing people to eating them? Wylie roared again, and the Siapheg dropped the bit of flesh that was in its mouth and turned to confront her.

  “I challenge you to a battle, Siapheg! Your reign of terror stops now,” she screamed out, her voice full of rage.

  The Siapheg licked its lips, the flash of its eyes reminded her of Lord Jameston. The black monster bared its gleaming teeth before it reared back on its haunches and sprang into the sky.

  She immediately gave chase, as fast as she could fly, hoping that the cloud cover would not prevent her from following her foe. “Raaawwwwrrrr…” Something strong and painful bit down on her tail, and the pain shot right up her spine, making her giddy with dizziness. She flapped her wings faster and darted away, spinning in midair to face him head on. He was nowhere to be found, and then she heard something above her.

  The Siapheg had flown high above Wylie’s head to gain momentum, allowing it to drop like a dragon-shaped arrow, flying directly at its target. In desperation, she flexed her wings trying to propel her body out of its path, but the Siapheg’s horned head hit her smack in the middle of her scaled chest.

  The two scaly beasts locked together in free fall. With her vision off-kilter, and unable to get her balance back, Wylie felt almost certain she would plunge straight into the ground and be killed on impact.

  Using her front talons, she tore desperately at her counterpart’s head with all her might trying to dislodge it from her chest. The Siapheg let out a screech as her claws tore a gash on its face. It ripped away from her and disappeared in the cloud cover.

  No, no, no! she thought.

  “Show yourself, coward.” Pain nailed her square in the back, and she was sent flying, spinning like an empty wine barrel rolling downhill. She was getting dangerously close to the ground. She whipped her tail wildly in an effort to slow her rate of descent. At the last moment, before she hit the street, she was able to spread her wings wide. Using the cobblestones as a jumping off point she propelled herself skyward once more. The Siapheg was directly in her path, and as he turned to attack her, she dodged her head to one side and clamped her teeth down on his neck.

  The rusty taste of blood instantly filled her mouth, nearly gagging her. She shook her head like a bull terrier, tearing a huge chunk from its throat. The Siapheg stopped fluttering its wings, and its tar black body plummeted Earthward. Wylie spat the flesh from her mouth, detesting the taste of blood. She preferred not to watch the Siapheg splatter on the cobblestone, even if it was Lord Jameston. She waited until she heard the sound of the impact before she set her wings and soared quietly to the Earth.

  Search as she might Wylie found no sign of the Siapheg’s body. The dust cloud that had arisen from the impact slowly cleared, enabling her to make out the rough outline of where her counterpart had hit the ground with a terrible force. As the dust and debris settled, a tiny blue flame appeared. It paused momentarily as if waiting for her. Then suddenly it took off in a straight trajectory over the homes and alleyways of Dobbinsturn Parish.

  As the blue flame approached Lord Jameston’s estate, Teselym Wylie, smiled in satisfaction, I was right! Her thoughts were cut short as she watched the flame move toward a second story window on the right side of the Victorian manor. That window led to Judith’s bedroo
m. No… no… no… it isn’t possible!

  The flame went right through the closed window, so Wylie, shrinking herself in size, grabbed her Dracosinum and transported herself into the room of her friend. In silent dread Wylie pattered over to Judith’s form on the bed, gently pulling her over onto her back. Judith’s chestnut hair was in wild disarray, partially concealing her face. The blue flame now descended on Judith, causing her chest to rise and fall with one final breath.

  Wylie rested her scaly, taloned hand on Judith’s arm, and stood there until her body grew cold. The realization that she had been the one to harm her friend so violently made the human part of Wylie sick to her stomach.

  Judith? Judith was the Siapheg. Wylie saw that the Dracosinum still hung around Judith’s neck. She hooked the chain of it with her claw and gently tugged it off over her head. Quincy had been right about killing weighing heavily on her, she should never have taken on the Siapheg. Her blind human hatred for Lord Jameston had cost her dearly.

  Forgive me, Judith. I’ve made a terrible, terrible mistake.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Stumbling backward, not believing what she was seeing, Wylie hadn’t realized the sun had begun to rise. Quincy emerged from the Dracosinum and fluttered noisily next to her, his tiny watch gears whirring.

  “Miss Wylie, the sun rises, and you are mere moments away from the end of ‘The Time of Dragons.’ I suggest you get home, and now!”

  Wylie couldn’t move. She was paralyzed. Her best friend lay murdered in her bed, and Wylie was the one responsible. How can I live with myself? How can I continue to be the Teselym when I have committed such an evil act?

  “Wylie!” But it was too late. Wylie's Teselym body was fading with the rising of the sun. Soon there was just the flickering blue flame of her essence hovering near Judith's bed. “Don’t worry, Wylie, I’ll take you home.”

  Then Quincy grew larger in size and opened her Dracosinum. He spoke some unintelligible words, some magic incantation she assumed, as she found herself being propelled toward the device until she was safely inside.

  “Wait!” She tried to say but having no body or voice box she had to be content with thinking the words. Wait, I need Judith’s Dracosinum. Quincy picked up on her thoughts immediately as he always did and though she couldn’t see him, she felt herself being lifted and the sound of a chain being shifted. Good, he’s grabbing her Dracosinum. The next moment, they were in her room at Lord Adrian’s estate.

  Quincy opened the Dracosinum, allowing Wylie’s essence to escape and re-enter her human form. Once she was human again, she sat on the edge of the bed and cried. The fight with the Siapheg played itself over and over in her mind. She had murdered Judith.

  MURDERED.

  MURDERED.

  MURDERED.

  Wylie, supposedly the balance for good, had murdered her best friend. She felt she would die before she could be forced to bear the burden of that for all of eternity. She sobbed great wracking sobs that let out all the pain she had somehow managed to keep bottled up since her father's death, compounded by her near ravishment by the guard, and now the murder of her friend.

  When she ran out of tears, she had a pounding headache, and all she wanted to do was sleep and never wake up again.

  She grabbed up the Dracosinum and threw it on the floor. The dragon wing cover popped open, and Quincy, who had been sitting silently next to her while she cried, finally spoke.

  “Are you alright, Miss Wylie?” he spoke softly, barely audible to the human ear.

  “You lied to me! You lied to me!”

  “Never, my dear, I am not capable of such a thing.”

  “You told me that the Siapheg was in possession of the Dracosinum!” She screamed at him, throwing her pillows across the room.

  “And that was indeed true. I also asked you if killing the Siapheg was something you wanted to do, and you assured me it was. You said you couldn’t restore balance until the Siapheg was dead because you assumed it was Lord Jameston...”

  “Yes! Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you tell me that Judith was the Siapheg? I would do anything to have her back. Surely, I am now eviler than she. Aren’t you supposed to balance good and evil? How is letting me take her life going to accomplish that?”

  Quincy tsk tsk’d, as he paced back and forth on her bed.

  “Before you blame yourself or me, Let us examine the facts more carefully. First of all, you are not meant to be perfect. If you were perfect, the balance of good would far outweigh the bad. You are still human. Secondly… might I point out how many deaths have occurred because of her?”

  “Four?” Wylie responded.

  “That you know of, Wylie. Now that she is gone, I can tell you that she has killed no less than thirty-three human beings to feed her appetite. That person you saw her feasting on tonight was the thirty-third one.”

  “I thought you said this Siapheg was one of the more level-headed ones you have dealt with? How can that be!?”

  “You know that I cannot tell you the details, Wylie. I can assure you that I have reasoned with her a time or two. I can tell you that she seemed adamant about only taking the lives of those guilty of atrocious acts.”

  “You couldn’t tell me that?” Wylie yelled angrily.

  “I said she seemed adamant before about that, but I can tell you as of late, her stance has changed. It started with the killing of your father and the captain you heard about. Those occurred on the same night. It was all downhill after that.” He paused for a moment while Wylie thought over what he was saying.

  “So you’re telling me she was a bit of a vigilante? She was trying to balance good and evil on her own?”

  “In her own way, Wylie. But that was never her battle to fight, and it destroyed her. To place the weight of good and evil on one being and expect them to balance the two, without a moral compass to guide… is too much of a burden to bear. She paid for that with her life, so regardless of whether or not you can see that, it needed to be done. Imagine how many more lives she would have taken? The gods have already foreseen it, and it is not appealing.”

  Wylie was struck silent for the moment, so Quincy continued.

  “She cared a great deal for your father and knew that he wasn’t as capable as he used to do because he was sick. She tried though, in her own way, she tried.”

  “She knew my father, I mean… she knew it was him?”

  “Yes, Nicolas didn’t know that she knew, but Judith followed us home one night. No rules against that… she watched as we entered your home. I heard her thoughts, knew it was Judith and knew how close she was. She thought it was you at first until your father started lagging. The illness he had, made him weak in dragon form as well. Once she pieced two and two together, she tried to help.”

  “By killing people?” Wylie said incredulously.

  “You see the problem?” Quincy’s eyes had grown downcast.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “My job is to tell you what is right and wrong when you can't seem to balance the two. If I had told you that the Siapheg was your best friend, would you have killed her?”

  Wylie didn’t even have to think about; she knew that she would never have hurt Judith intentionally.

  “I wanted to kill Lord Jameston.” Wylie broke into tears again.

  “Get dressed, Miss.” Wylie didn’t have the energy to argue, so she grabbed her clothes. “If you had killed Lord Jameston, it would have been for all the wrong reasons, and that would have further upset the balance of evil more than he and his daughter had already done. By killing her, you not only set the balance back and stopped her vicious and unnecessary killings, you have also struck Lord Jameston right where it hurts. Now, if I were you, I would go take advantage of the situation, before that man destroys the only home you have ever known, permanently.”

  “But I don’t understand! Why was Judith t
he Siapheg? Her father is still alive. Why was he carrying the Dracosinum?” She turned her head to face Quincy.

  “First, have you not seen how controlling her father is? Do you sincerely think things would be any different with her being a Dragaleth?” Wylie shook her head ‘no.’ “Next, let me quote for you that handy little book you obtained from Dr. Mullings. By the way, I knew the man who wrote the journal that Thaddeus found, but that’s neither here nor there.”

  “A Dragaleth must remain a Dragaleth for a minimum of ten human years before passing the bond onto another sibling or child unless killed beforehand. The gods determine who carries on the bond if there is more than one eligible family member. When an old Dragaleth dies, regardless of the cause, the bond immediately passes on to the next of kin. The Dragaleths do not have to kill each other; the ideal is that they dwell in harmony, and they must only maintain the balance of good and evil. If at any point, the balance dips farther towards good, or further towards evil, the opposite Dragaleth may challenge his or her counterpart to a battle in Dragon form.”

  “There, you see?” Quincy asked.

  “So, you are saying that Lord Jameston was the Siapheg for ten years, and then he passed it on to his daughter?” Quincy nodded his head.

  “The moment she was done nursing the cad.”

  “You can’t be serious?”

  “Oh, but I am. I meant it when I said she was the most level-headed Siapheg I have ever dealt with. Reasonable, intelligent, from the moment she first flew. Granted, she needed a lot of help back then, the only time I was allowed to step in. But she is the exception to the rule. It's just sad that as a child she didn’t know what was happening to her. She used to wake up and tell her father about her nightmares. You know, he placed that the Dracosinum in her room every night at the same time, and took it back every morning at the same time? At least, until she was of age.”

  Quincy continued, “It’s a horrible thing, helping a child do evil. Something I won't soon forget, and you can best believe that the gods have quite the special punishment for Lord Jameston. Anyway, now you must return his Dracosinum to him. Since there are no other family members, the Dragaleth duties revert back to Lord Jameston. He won’t be happy about it, but you may use your new position of power to make sure that he never steps out of line again. It may bode very well for you.”