Dragon Detective

by Mell Eight

  I have the philosopher's stone dragon and the bait.

  ThatGuy's status changed to active milliseconds before he replied. Well done.

  Almost simultaneously a private chat room opened between ThatGuy and Nickel. The mission was a success. Are your experiments prepared?

  Nickel took a slow, deep breath to steady himself before typing his reply. As long as you have my dragons ready and waiting for me, I'm ready to go. Nickel hoped he sounded like a scientist whose lab rats had finally been delivered after what seemed like an endless wait.

  Dane strode into the main office, his cellphone pressed to his ear. "Wait, Daisy. Repeat that?" He listened for a long moment then grinned. "I'll be right there." He snapped the phone shut and bounced excitedly in place for a brief moment. "Lumie just walked in the front door at home with what sounds like Platinum in tow," he announced to the room. "I'm going to call Mercury to let him know and head home to make sure they're both all right. Do you want to come, Nickel?" Dane asked.

  ThatGuy was typing something. He and Petridish 1000 couldn't know their prey had escaped yet. Nickel wanted to milk them for whatever information he could get before they had to run off to attempt to retrieve the dragons. Lumie and Platinum were beyond the enemy's reach at home. They were safe, Nickel reminded himself in relief, but that didn't mean the battle was over. Someone had to confront the enemy and make them pay for their crimes.

  Nickel shook his head no to Dane who was already dialing Mercury. Dane didn't think twice about it, more interested in telling his mate about their safe kits while popping home.

  We have the dragons ready for you. They are waiting at the address below. Can you be there in two hours?

  ThatGuy sent the first message and then almost immediately sent the second with the address in it. He had queued the messages, typing them both before sending them, which was why it had taken him so long to respond.

  Dane left with a soft pop of displaced air while Nickel stared at his screen. Two hours was a long time during which any number of things could happen. He couldn't miss this chance to confront the enemy inside their lair. Dane had other things to worry about, as did Mercury. Besides, ThatGuy was expecting a scientist. A dragon falling from the sky to capture him would be unexpected. It just might work.

  Nickel put his fingers on the keyboard keys and typed yes. He did a quick online search with some aerial maps to find out where he needed to go as his plan solidified in his mind.

  "I'm going to get some air," Nickel told Becky as he closed his laptop and casually strode to the door.

  "Don't stray too far, dear," Becky said kindly.

  Nickel didn't want to lie to her again, so he didn't answer. He let himself out of the building and walked quickly towards the edge of town. It was ironically the same direction Platinum had been planning to go before he was kitnapped. Once Nickel felt he was far enough from the office that Becky wouldn't notice, Nickel jumped. He shifted to dragon form in mid-air and let his wings pump him up above the tree line quickly.

  It didn't take him even an hour to reach his destination. Dragons always knew which direction they were flying, so it was just a matter of him covering the distance and finding the right spot from the air. The satellite image Nickel had found online showed a decaying house high in the nearby mountains. The road leading up to it was long and curving as it slowly traveled to a higher elevation around the many trees and rocks. There was a carport out front and a small blue sedan was parked inside. Nickel didn't see any sign of the white van, but they were probably going to dump it now that it had been used in a kidnapping in broad daylight. The address number matched the numbers nailed into the wall next to the front door so he knew he had found the right place.

  Nickel moved a little further away from the house and found a small clearing where he could land and shift forms. He approached the house on human feet from the back.

  ThatGuy couldn't be expecting any visitors yet. There was still at least forty-five minutes before Marcus Quillian was supposed to arrive and the long driveway meant ThatGuy would be able to see any cars long before they reached the house. He was probably sitting in a front room with a window that overlooked the drive, waiting for someone to come.

  Or he was probably frantically rushing around, trying to figure out how Lumie and Platinum had escaped. ThatGuy would have to be desperate to find the dragons before Marcus Quillian arrived. He wouldn't expect Nickel to sneak in his back door and take him down.

  Nickel hesitated at the edge of the tree line to take one last look at the house. He didn't see any movement inside. There weren't any lights on that Nickel could see either. Maybe no one was home? Had the white van taken them somewhere—probably to search nearby for Platinum and Lumie—presumably with the intent to return before Marcus Quillian was supposed to arrive? If that were the case, Nickel had no problem breaking into the house and lying in wait for their return.

  He took one last look at the house. Nothing jumped out at him as being out of place, so he stepped out of the cover of the trees and strode across the lawn. He was halfway across when the back door opened and a man stepped outside.

  Nickel froze in place. Magic sparked between his fingers, but he held it in until he knew who the man was. The stranger was pale, almost sickly looking. His head was balding and shiny, and he had a good amount of paunch hanging over his belt. His legs were thin as sticks, but his shoulders were thickly muscled.

  "I suppose two hours was far too generous," the man sighed. "I hadn't calculated the distance it would take for you to fly here. Silly of me."

  Nickel didn't bother trying to pretend in order to trick his way out of what he was quickly realizing was a trap. He had the blue hair of a water dragon; the man knew exactly what Nickel was. The chat room must have been a set up. He had been skillfully drawn here because he thought he was the one with the successful subterfuge. It was the exact opposite, Nickel was realizing as the man slowly walked closer.

  The worst part of it was that Nickel had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. He had trusted Stockton's information and his own strength. Nickel didn't think Stockton was the traitor; it was probably someone who had helped set up Marcus Quillian's false identity. Nickel had been so certain he was the one springing a trap that he hadn't bothered arranging backup or even telling Dane what he was doing. He was caught with no escape route, and it was his own damned fault.

  What he wouldn't do was allow the enemy to think Nickel had fallen into their trap. He would remain confident even as his stomach was roiling with defeat. Besides, Nickel knew he was strong. He would fight his way free or die trying. The bastard wouldn't get a speck of Nickel's magic.

  Nickel reached out one hand and was unsurprised when he found an invisible wall a foot in front of his nose. The shield felt firm and impenetrable under his fingers even though he couldn't actually see it with his eyes. Nickel had no doubt he was enclosed inside it.

  "I suppose you've heard by now that the philosopher's stone dragon and the air dragon you used to bait your trap have both escaped." The man's face tightened briefly in upset at Nickels words, but it cleared a moment later. "I bet you have no idea how they managed it, but I know how and it's the reason that this," Nickel tapped on the shield with his knuckles, "this won't hold me either."

  The man laughed. "This shield was perfected just for you! You defeated three of my best when you were just a child and then a few years later defeated the men and women I had specifically trained to fight dragons with the advanced precious magic. I knew that I had to find some way to contain you in order to capture you and this shield is the result."

  He was talking about two of the times Nickel had fought at Dane's side to free dragons captured by the enemy scientists. The first had been when he was only eight years old. Dane and Mercury had descended into an underground warehouse to free any captured air dragons. That was when they had rescued Zinc and discovered that Platinum was still held captive. It had been a trap set by the enemy, but before they could s
pring the earthquake spell that was supposed to have buried Dane, Mercury, and Zinc into early graves, they had sent three men and women to try and capture Nickel.

  Their magic had felt amateurish to Nickel, and he'd fought them off with ease. It had still been early in the scientists' studies at the time. Nickel had more difficulty with the second attack, defeating the men in the warehouse where a corrupt police officer was hiding two precious dragons. The enemy had used precious magic, which had more versatility than water magic, but Nickel had proven himself to be stronger when he took out those scientists too.

  Nickel was a fighter. He went into battle at Dane's side and held his own against what might appear to be uneven odds. He was a soldier, Nickel realized with an internal jolt of surprise. He was the dragon soldier ThatGuy had been convinced he was about to catch along with the philosopher's stone dragon.

  "The shield has a fatal flaw," Nickel disagreed immediately. "And that flaw is you." The shield fed on magic. If Nickel attacked it with his water magic, his powers would be absorbed by the shield and then used to sustain it. As long as Nickel didn't use any magic, the shield was fed from ThatGuy's spool of power, which was finite. The man would run out of power soon enough, and Nickel would be able to get away.

  It would be simple enough to hasten the process too. Nickel grinned and shifted forms, his teeth elongating into sharp points in his snout. His larger body hit the shield as he took on his dragon form, pushing the shield back and forcing ThatGuy to grit his teeth and commit more of his personal magic into keeping the shield active. Nickel backed up a step and then rammed his body against the shield. It creaked, but held, so he did it again.

  "You think you'll escape that way?" the man laughed. "I have been preparing for this day for years!"

  The shield flexed around Nickel's body as he rammed it again, but not as if he were putting a dent into the side. It continued to ripple and then suddenly it started shrinking. Nickel locked his legs in place as the shield tried to force him to the ground. A roar escaped him as the shield continued to shrink, compressing around his body. He fought back, trying to stay on his feet even as his spine was bending under the pressure.

  Nickel staggered and fell to one knee then twisted into a ball. His lungs and head were screaming as the shield compacted around him, and even curling up protectively didn't stop the shield from continuing its onslaught.

  With a shudder, his body involuntarily shifted to its smaller human form, desperately trying to find relief from the shield, but the shield only accelerated its shrinking to fit his new shape.

  Nickel was going to pass out. He couldn't breathe, and there were spots running across his vision. That wasn't an acceptable outcome, however. Passing out meant the enemy had won. He would be their guinea pig forever now that they had a proven way to subdue him. Nickel just had to hold out. ThatGuy's magic had to be nearing the end of its spool. Nickel needed to be conscious enough to escape when that happened.

  It was the only way to survive this. He desperately held onto that thought, but even his ability to think was diminishing with every second.

  He was going to lose and suffer for it. Nickel cursed himself for his stupidity as blackness flickered at the edges of his vision and his body used up the last of his strength to keep fighting. In another moment, it would be over. This was the end for him.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Platinum grabbed for Dane's arm when he started to shimmer in place. Dane could transport from place to place without a spell, and Platinum wanted to be with him when he went after Nickel. His reasoning was purely selfish, of course. Platinum had spent all of his life under the thumb of the scientists, and doing something, anything, to make those scientists pay for what they had done excited him. Zinc would also be devastated if anything happened to Nickel. From everything Platinum had seen about this family so far, he could tell that Zinc and Nickel had grown up the past ten years as brother and sister, and he didn't want to do anything to that relationship. Besides, he remembered Nickel running frantically after the van, after Platinum and Lumie. His short blue hair and wide blue eyes were something Platinum knew he wanted to see again.

  The office vanished from around them. They reappeared in the middle of a forest. A small house was nestled in between the trees. It might have been quaint if they were there for a friendly visit, but they weren't. Platinum immediately started sniffing the air for signs of occupancy. The house was dark and appeared to be empty—however, Platinum would recognize the stench of the lead scientist anywhere, and the entire place was saturated in it. Platinum also smelled water and dragon on the wind.

  "This way," Platinum said softly, creeping to the corner of the house and peeking around the edge towards the back yard where the scent of water dragon was coming from. Nickel was curled on the ground in a ball. His blue hair was visible underneath the arms he had wrapped around his head. He was growling, but otherwise he looked beaten. Platinum called on the wind, ready to send it streaming around the house and against the lead scientist. He had to do something to save Nickel before it was too late.

  "Don't," Dane hissed. He clamped his hand on Platinum's shoulder, and Platinum's magic dissipated without him telling it to. "Look at Nickel. It rained all morning here. The trees are still dripping and the grass is damp, but Nickel didn't even try to harness any of that water."

  Which meant he hadn't used any magic against the enemy. "Maybe his magic was blocked somehow?" Platinum asked. Now that he was looking, he could see deep gouges in the dirt and grass from claws trying to find purchase there. Nickel had fought with only his strength. Nickel was the dragon soldier so Platinum didn't doubt that he was very strong, but Nickel was used to fighting with magic. He probably didn't have a chance against the enemy with strength alone.

  "Or he was smart enough not to use it," Dane replied. His face was pinched as he stared at Nickel's body. He seemed to glow slightly, and to Platinum's surprise, his ears grew to points and his hair seemed to get even blonder. "We need to help him, now. Don't use any magic. That shield around Nickel will only absorb it and grow stronger."

  He dashed around the side of the house, his steps silent on the wet grass. Dane ran straight for Nickel. Platinum followed, but slowed when he got into the backyard to look around.

  The lead scientist was standing in the shade cast by the house. He looked surprised and slightly afraid as Dane and Platinum came into view, but his chin firmed a brief moment later. He gestured, and Nickel writhed on the ground.

  At first, Platinum thought Nickel was growling, but after a moment of listening Platinum realized that Nickel was screaming as loudly and as painfully as he could. He didn't have the air or the strength to scream louder.

  Platinum rushed the scientist. This was the man Platinum remembered every time that awful gas mask was placed over Platinum's face. He wore a weird crooked grin whenever Platinum was getting experimented on that featured in many of Platinum's nightmares. Now the scientist was trying to capture Nickel and do the same terrible things to another dragon. Platinum wanted to hit the scientist with a fist encased in a terrible whirlwind, but Platinum remembered Dane's warning and suppressed his magic. He didn't have to suppress his fist, and it caught the scientist satisfyingly hard in the chin. Something cracked, and a stab of pain radiated in Platinum's knuckles. The scientist went sprawling, and Platinum let out an involuntary shout of glee at the sight.

  Nickel gasped loudly in relief the second the scientist fell to the ground, and then Nickel slumped over, unconscious. The scientist scrabbled along the grass, trying to get as far away from Platinum as he could. His mouth was bleeding, and his legs didn't seem to be moving normally. They were twitching on the ground as if he was trying to get them underneath his fat body and get to his feet, but they weren't obeying his commands. Before Platinum could advance on him again, he vanished in a swirl of stolen dragon magic.

  "Damn!" Dane snarled. He was kneeling at Nickel's side, one hand gently pressed to Nickel's back. "Damn! If I could have u
sed magic, that bastard wouldn't have been able to go anywhere." Platinum didn't doubt that; Dane was definitely very strong for all that he wasn't a dragon. Dane pulled a cellphone out of his pocket with the hand that wasn't holding Nickel and hit a few numbers. He held it to his ear for a moment while it rang. "Dr. Krantz, Nickel was attacked. He's unconscious, and I'd like you to take a look at him." He paused to listen for a moment then nodded. "I won't move him physically. I'll transport him as-is to my house." He listened for a few more seconds then hit a button on the phone to hang up. Dane put the phone back in his pocket. "Come over here, Platinum. I'm going to very slowly transport us back home before that bastard returns with reinforcements."

  Platinum nodded and hurried over. He reached out with his right hand to grab Dane's shoulder, then he had to stifle a gasp of pain when straightening out his fingers sent a bolt of agony through his knuckles. Platinum quickly grabbed Dane with his left hand. Getting Nickel to safety was more important than stopping to figure out what he had done to his hand.

  Dane's magic swelled around them. Platinum expected the forest and the house to immediately vanish to be replaced by Dane's home. That didn't happen this time. Dane was being extra careful of Nickel. The trees blurred and slowly faded away. An odd sort of blank space, a nothingness that must exist between places, replaced them. After a few, very long seconds where Platinum was beginning to worry that Dane had gotten them stuck, he realized that the blank space was taking on a form. The walls of a room slowly appeared, and Nickel's unconscious body settled down into a soft bed. It took a few more seconds for the magic to fade away.

  They had appeared inside what Platinum guessed was Nickel's bedroom since the bedspread Nickel was lying on was a brilliant shade of blue. The transportation magic had only faded away for a half second before the bedroom door was flung open. Mercury hurried inside, followed by a human man Platinum didn't recognize.