Dragon Detective

by Mell Eight

  "Dane's not a dragon." Ryan paused, looking thoughtful. "No idea what he is, to be perfectly honest. He's got at least one dragon kit helping out at the firm, but as far as I know they haven't claimed any territory. Look, Dane's a nice guy. You really should think about staying to speak with him."

  "I'm moving on," Platinum said firmly. He had made his decision, and he was sticking to it. "Warn Dane that his dragons might be in trouble thanks to the bastards following me." His conscience made him add that part in. Platinum nodded politely to Ryan and then hurried away to the snack aisle where he could get some cheap non-perishables that would fit in his bag.

  It didn't take him long to make his choices. There wasn't any sign of Ryan when Platinum moved to the nearest checkout line. He paid and packed up his backpack then strode from the store. He took one last look at the little town he had inadvertently grown to love, sighed heavily, and turned his back on it. He walked down Main Street away from the mountain. Platinum would stick to the sidewalk until he was out of town, and then turn into the woods and allow himself to get lost amid the large trees.

  "You're not going to get very far with the tracker they put in your shoulder, you know," a young boy's voice said from Platinum's left. Platinum jumped and a whip of wind surrounded him.

  The boy didn't even blink as he was buffeted in the face by Platinum's power. His eyes were red, and his now-windblown hair was equally as vibrant. There was no doubting that he was a dragon kit. He was probably one of the kits that worked at the consulting firm. Then his words penetrated through Platinum's surprise.

  "What tracker?" Platinum asked sharply, wondering what the boy was talking about.

  The boy shrugged and reached through Platinum's swirling wind to grab Platinum's arm. "They've been following you all month," the boy stated like it was common knowledge. "Nickel says it's because you're the philosopher's stone dragon. That's not true. Zinc says if you're still alive after all these years, then they'd want to keep an eye on you at all times if they let you out for some plot."

  "They didn't let me out, I escaped," Platinum insisted. Inwardly, he was reeling at the boy's audacity. Zinc was dead, and no matter what this boy said or how the boy was able to slip past Platinum's defenses, there wasn't anything he could do that would convince Platinum otherwise.

  The boy just smiled knowingly, his red eyes slightly piercing as if he were seeing more than just colors and shapes in the world around them.

  Platinum looked away. He started walking again, pulling the boy along when he refused to let go. Tires squealed behind them and a car door slapped open.

  "Lumie!" a frantic voice yelled.

  Platinum turned slightly to see what was going on. A young man approximately Platinum's age with short blue hair was running at them. His hands were outstretched and water was coalescing between them. On the road, moving faster than the blue-haired boy could run, was a large white van. The side door was open, and a person wearing a black mask was leaning out over the sidewalk.

  Platinum spun and sent his magic at the car. It hit a shield of some sort and rebounded, sending Platinum sprawling. Lumie landed on top of him, and a force of some kind yanked them both up into the air and then sideways into the car.

  "Lumie! Platinum!"

  The door slammed shut on the blue-haired boy's yelling, and with a screech, the car took off. Platinum growled and flung his magic outward, trying to hit anything or anyone that would get the car to stop. His magic had zero effect. It was like he was back behind the cell door with the guard laughing on the other side while he screamed and threw his magic ineffectually at the door over and over again.

  A hand came into view and patted him gently on the head.

  "You did well, dragon," the man Platinum only knew as one of the bad scientists said pleasantly. He had taken his mask off, and his sneer was both familiar and frightening. Platinum could still move, and he sat up and batted the hand away.

  "What are you talking about?" he whined, trying not to scream or burst into tears. He had escaped! He had gotten out of the lab and survived the forest. He had learned about humans and figured out what he needed to do to live among them. Never had he imagined that it had all been part of some plan by the scientists.

  The scientist shifted past Platinum in the limited space of the van and crouched next to Lumie, who had been sitting quietly off to one side simply listening. "You were our bait in a trap, and you netted us an amazing prize. The philosopher's stone dragon is going to revolutionize our research. Right, little red?" He turned his attention solely towards Lumie, who grinned up at him.

  "The dragon soldier is going to drown you," Lumie said happily.

  The scientist laughed. "The dragon soldier is about to fall directly into the second part of our trap. He's not someone I'm worried about."

  Lumie just shrugged. "So, where are we going?" he asked. "We can't drive too far. I have to be home before lunch, or Cinnamon will start clawing the couches and Daddy will get mad."

  Both the scientist and Platinum stared incredulously at Lumie. Didn't he understand that a crazy person who was going to lock Lumie away and conduct cruel experiments on him for the rest of his life had just kidnapped him? There clearly was something very wrong with this kit. The scientist's lips twitched upwards slightly. Platinum had no doubt he was probably happy for the fact that Lumie was apparently clueless. It would be much easier to take advantage of Lumie if he eagerly went along with anything done to him.

  There wasn't anything Platinum could do to escape. He didn't understand the wall his magic was stuck behind or how it was switched from his cell door to a moving car with ease. All he knew was that he had tasted freedom and a life not behind bars. It was probably the cruelest thing they could have done to him, letting him go and then reeling him back in once they had gotten what they wanted. With the return of his personal hell, he wanted to lash out and start screaming and crying. At the same time, he didn't want to give the scientist the satisfaction of seeing him break down. Platinum sat quietly and sullenly as the van drove off into the mountains.

  They drove for about two hours. Lumie was smiling and humming to himself the entire time. There was almost a sense of smugness about him; there was definitely something wrong with the poor kit. The scientist sat between them. He also looked smug, but at least he had a reason to. The car never got on the highway, but the roads were so winding and hilly that it would be difficult for someone to follow them.

  A roll of thunder sounded overhead, and a flash of lighting lit up the car. Through the front window, Platinum could see the sky darkening with heavy clouds as another thunderstorm built overhead. Branches swayed alarmingly as the wind picked up, but the car pulled up a long driveway and into an enclosed garage before any rain could start falling.

  "Out," the scientist said forcefully as the driver got out and opened the side door. Platinum didn't want to obey, but he didn't have any other options. Lumie cheerfully hopped out of the car, and Platinum followed. They were led into a barren house. There wasn't any furniture anywhere Platinum could see, and the kitchen looked unused as they were herded to a basement door off to the side of the empty pantry.

  The basement was dim. There was only one bare light bulb hanging from some wires overhead. The floor was cold concrete. On one side of the room, a line had been chiseled into the concrete. Platinum and Lumie were led to the other side of that line, and then the scientist backed away.

  "That's the boundary," he said sharply to the dragons. "The bathroom's through there." Platinum could see a small room within the boundary line with a toilet, sink, and standing shower off to one side. The door had been removed to eliminate them being able to hide behind it. "Be good," the scientist finished with a cold laugh as he left them behind in their improvised cage. Luckily, he left the light on, but Platinum didn't trust that mistake wouldn't be rectified soon.

  Platinum sank down onto the cold concrete. He half-expected himself to burst into tears now that the scientist was gone, but he
felt too raw. He knew that if one tear escaped, he wouldn't be able to stop for a long time. It was still hard for him to believe that the scientists had engineered his escape attempt with the goal of using him to catch other dragons. It was infuriating and maybe that anger was enough to keep the tears at bay. Platinum had never thought back on the day he escaped with anything other than relief. He had never thought it had been too easy, and the horrible cuts and blisters his bare feet had accrued while running from pursuit had only cemented the idea of his success in his mind.

  He hated the scientists. Absolutely hated them! Another crack of thunder shook the house.

  Lumie walked over to Platinum with a wide grin. He held out his hand for Platinum to take, and since Platinum didn't have anything better to do than wallow in misery, he allowed Lumie to pull him back to his feet.

  "The driver guy just left to go pick up supplies," Lumie explained as he led the way towards the line carved in the cement. Platinum put his hand out, already knowing what he would find. An invisible, impenetrable wall pressed against his fingers. He had never been confined out in the open like this before, but they had used that damned wall plenty of times.

  Lumie stepped over the line and through the wall without pause, and then he turned to frown at Platinum and tug impatiently on the hand he was still holding.

  "The other scientist guy just logged onto his laptop upstairs. We have ten minutes before he comes down to taunt us some more."

  Platinum watched incredulously as his hand clasped in Lumie's passed through the impenetrable barrier. He stepped forward, following the tug on his arm, and the rest of his body slipped through the barrier as if it weren't even there.

  "How…" he paused, looking down at Lumie as they walked to the staircase. This was one of two dragons Platinum's faked escape was supposed to capture. The philosopher's stone dragon, he thought the scientist had called him. Platinum didn't know what a philosopher's stone was, but giving what appeared to be an ordinary dragon a special name must mean something. Platinum had only ever been called "that dragon" for his entire life.

  Still… "How do you know all of that?"

  Lumie shrugged as he pushed the basement door open into the kitchen. "I have dreams," he said vaguely. The kitchen was empty and the back door within easy reach. They were outside before Platinum had the chance to register what Lumie had said.

  It was pouring. Platinum was soaked in seconds and shivering. The forest was lit eerily for a brief moment as lightning flashed and a roll of thunder echoed, bouncing around the mountain peaks before slowly fading. Lumie took a tighter grip on Platinum's hand and continued leading the way further away from the house.

  Trees surrounded them within moments. The rain slowed thanks to the covering of leaves above them. Platinum glanced behind them briefly, but he couldn't see the house or anything but more trees. They were only a few minutes of slow walking away from the house, but Platinum didn't hear any yelling or the start of a search. In fact, if he didn't know better, he would have said they were nowhere near human habitation.

  Rain continued to pour down, but it was easing off with every step. The amount of trees around them was lessening as well. Lumie pulled him between two large, looming pine trees, and they stepped out into a wide, grassy clearing. The sky was blue and almost totally cloudless overhead. A large house sat in the center of the field, and Lumie picked up his pace as he headed towards the front door.

  Platinum let himself continue to be dragged along. He had no idea where they were or how Lumie had known somewhere safe was only a quick walk away. He was honestly still reeling over the fact that he wasn't still stuck in that horrible basement with pain and suffering combined with the terrible knowledge that he had led Lumie and at least one other dragon to the same doom.

  Lumie opened the front door of the house as if he lived here and had every right to simply walk inside. Maybe he did. He let go of Platinum's hand for the first time since their escape and yelled, "I'm home!" into the spacious foyer.

  There was a crash from somewhere just ahead, and the sound of a door banging into a wall, then a set of footsteps pounded closer. Platinum flinched back. He was almost ducking behind Lumie, a boy quite a few years younger than him, but Lumie seemed to have this perfectly in hand while Platinum was still horribly lost and confused.

  A woman with brilliant green skin dashed into view. She skidded to a halt in front of them and gasped into the phone she was holding to her ear.

  "Lumie's here. He just walked in the front door with another dragon kit in tow. You're Platinum, I assume?" she asked Platinum gently. Platinum nodded wordlessly. She ended the call, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at Lumie. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"

  "I have a feeling he doesn't," another voice said from directly behind them. Platinum hadn't heard the door open and close, but when he jumped in surprise and spun around, a bronze dragon was standing behind them with his arms also crossed. "Lumie, you scared us very badly today. I don't care that you knew how to get to safety. Dane, Nickel, and I have been very frightened.

  "I told you I would be home in time for lunch!" Lumie insisted pointedly.

  The bronze dragon growled. "But you neglected to mention that you would be kitnapped and would be able to safely find your way home afterwards! Lumie, you need to share those details with us so we don't worry ourselves to death trying to find you!" He was near tears as he scolded Lumie, and a second later, he bent down to pull Lumie into his arms.

  "I'm sorry, Daddy," Lumie replied, his voice low and sad. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

  "I know you didn't, Lumie, but you have to think about these things before you act."

  "I will, Daddy," he said earnestly.

  His father smiled slightly, just a small upturn of his lips, and he looked down at Lumie wryly. "You had better," he said. "You're still not getting any Cinnamon Bombs for the rest of the week. To help you remember why you're supposed to tell us these things," his father explained sternly when Lumie whined.

  "Platinum?" a girl asked very softly, shock in her voice.

  Platinum looked around. He was utterly tired of this day. Tired of surprises and being yanked around every which way by people he didn't know. He wanted desperately to go back to the little cabin in the woods he had commandeered, climb under the covers, and let the world fade away around him.

  He matched face to voice when he saw a young woman descending the stairs. She had the exact same face as him right down to the arch of his eyebrows and the length of his nose. He had seen his face in the mirror plenty of times since his first escape, but it had been years since he had seen his face mirrored on his egg-twin.

  "Zinc?" he breathed. They had told him she was dead! He had always assumed it was an experiment gone wrong, and it had never crossed his mind that they had lied to him.

  She flung herself across the room and into Platinum's arms, sobbing loudly. "They've been trying to find you for ten years!" she babbled into his shoulder. "Ten years!"

  Platinum was crying too. He never thought he would see her again, but to know she had been safe and alive all this time was… Well, it was amazing. He was so damn happy.

  Another half dozen kits flooded the foyer asking questions about what was going on at the top of their lungs. It was a madhouse that the green-skinned woman, Lumie's father, and another man who appeared to glow slightly were all working to calm. Platinum didn't care. He had his egg-sister back. She was alive and safe and doing well in this crazy family of dragons. It was almost worth all those years he had been held captive to know that she had been saved.

  He couldn't jeopardize her now.

  Platinum slowly pulled away. He studied Zinc's tearstained face at arm's length for a long moment, taking in the changes ten years had made. She was older, of course, and her features had grown with the rest of her body. The only real difference Platinum could see between them aside from the fact that they were a different gender was that she kept her long white hair in
one thick braid down her back. He kept his in many smaller braids pinned to the top of his head. That, and the fact that he was gaunt while she looked muscular and healthy. Zinc was beautiful and he was so glad to see her again. Platinum had to remind himself to let go and take a step back.

  "They put some sort of tracker in me," he said to the room as a whole. "I need to keep moving before they find you too."

  The man who glowed slightly laughed. "They've known about my house for as long as I've had kits trying to bring the building down around their own ears. They've tried and failed, and I won't give them an opportunity to try again. You're safe here, Platinum."

  Platinum looked around at all the dragons gathered in the foyer. He had absolutely no doubt the scientists would love to get their hands on any one of these dragons, especially if they were all as magically strange as Lumie.

  "I'm sure I can get that tracker out of your body if you like, but for right now let me make introductions," the shining man finished with a very disarming smile. Platinum didn't like the idea of someone he didn't know poking around in his body, but at the same time, getting that tracker out would be amazing. "You know Lumie and Zinc, obviously," he continued. Platinum didn't miss the way his eyes paused for a second on Zinc's identical face as a touch of surprise kicked in again. "I'm Dane. I'm the Supernatural Consultant whose office you've been walking by for weeks."

  Platinum forced himself not to stare at Dane incredulously. Was he trying to say that all those weeks ago when Platinum had stumbled into that town, all he'd needed to do was stop by that firm and Dane would have been ready to help him? Then again, if Platinum had heard a rumor of that sort, he would have been just as likely to think it was a trap set by the scientists and would have run as far as possible in the other direction.

  "This is Mercury. We're mates," Dane said with a gesture to the adult bronze dragon. He introduced Copper, a red dragon the same age as Platinum, 'Ron and Chrome, two brown dragons a few years younger than Platinum, and then he introduced Alloy.