by Mell Eight
The front door was open slightly when Platinum reached it. He pushed it open even more with one hand and stepped inside. He only made it a few feet into the front room before his toes hit an invisible wall while trying to take another step forward. The room had been utterly trashed, he saw with dismay. The top of Becky's desk had been cleared, all of her papers and folders scattered around the desk on the floor. Her desktop computer had been dumped in a heap next to her overturned wastebasket. The glass screen had giant spider-web cracks running across it. Nickel's small desk had been entirely overturned, and all of his papers and his laptop were also on the floor. The desk drawers had been yanked out and tossed across the room.
Platinum recognized the two men who ran out of Dane's office as he walked inside. One was the driver of the white van. He had one of Dane's file folders open in his hand. The other was the familiar scientist.
"You think you'll find any information about the rest of the dragons here? The Supernatural Consultant wouldn't be so stupid," Platinum taunted them. He lifted one hand and pressed it against the shield.
"Maybe not," the scientist sneered, "but it brought you back. I hope you enjoyed your moment of freedom, dragon, because you'll never have the opportunity again."
Platinum let his anger over their words bolster his own anger over what they had done to the office, to Nickel, and to him for his entire life. That anger translated to power and he let his magic unfurl. It built around him slowly, a gentle breeze that increased in size and speed until a cyclone encircled his body. He didn't allow a single breeze to touch that shield, holding his magic tight to himself.
"You're not taking me anywhere," Platinum insisted.
The scientist laughed cruelly. "You can't really be that stupid."
Platinum's fingers flexed as the shield faded away beneath them. Platinum didn't need Mercury's yell of "Now!" to know it was safe to attack. He sent his cyclone directly at the scientist and the driver, releasing all of his pent-up magic into the attack.
With a crack of thunder, the cyclone roared towards the enemy. It was pouring in the office, rain coming down in sheets as lightning flashed and the walls shook with thunder. Platinum had sent everything he had against the scientist, apparently including a terrible thunderstorm. It was a buoyant feeling to experience his magic being used at full force for the first time in his life. He held nothing back; he couldn't have even if he wanted to.
It was impossible to see. The whipping wind and driving rain felt pleasant against his skin, but Platinum had to close his eyes. He jumped in surprise when a pair of hands landed on his shoulders. He turned to direct the wind to attack whichever enemy had caught him and felt the wind shut off like someone had hit the light switch that controlled it.
Platinum blinked water out of his eyes and looked up to find Dane standing behind him, Dane's hands on Platinum's shoulders.
"That's enough," Dane said kindly. He was grinning, almost laughing, as he looked down at Platinum. There was standing water halfway up Platinum's calves, and even though his magic had been cut off, there was still water raining down from the ceiling. Mercury waded past them to the front door, which he shoved open and then stood back as a wave of water rushed through the opening and out onto the street.
With a guilty start, Platinum saw Nickel's laptop caught in the current. It didn't take long for the water to empty out, and once it did, Mercury waved to the police officers. One of the cars and an ambulance pulled up in front of Dane's office. The EMTs from the ambulance rushed inside, heading straight to two bodies that had been revealed by the shrinking water level.
The scientist's face was blue, and the EMT checking his pulse shook his head. The woman kneeling next to the driver nodded and started breathing into the driver's mouth and pressing on his chest. Water bubbled out of the driver's mouth with every press.
Platinum leaned back against Dane, suddenly realizing that Dane's hands were the only thing holding him upright. The room was shimmering slightly, as if it were still covered in water and the sun was hitting it just right.
"I don't feel so good," Platinum gasped. His knees buckled and Dane caught him.
"Of course you don't," Dane said firmly. "Your body was already weak from starvation and overexposure, and you just overextended your magic. I'm shocked you're still conscious. Let me get you home and into a warm bed."
Platinum leaned against Dane's side and felt Dane's magic swirl around him.
"Did I drown him?" he asked, hoping Dane understood that he meant the dead scientist.
"There's no way to know without an autopsy," Dane hedged as the wrecked office vanished from around them.
"But Lumie said the dragon soldier would drown the scientist. Nickel's the soldier, not me," Platinum insisted.
They reappeared inside Nickel's darkened bedroom. Someone had added a second bed against the far wall while they had been gone. It was neatly made, but Dane yanked the covers down unceremoniously with the hand he wasn't using to support Platinum. He stripped off Platinum's wet clothes, gently batting aside Platinum's weak and fumbling attempts to help with the buttons. Dane helped Platinum sit carefully on the edge of the bed before disappearing into the hall for a quick moment. He returned with a soft towel and a pair of blue pajama pants. Once he had Platinum dry and dressed, he helped Platinum get under the covers.
"You should sleep," Dane insisted.
Platinum's thoughts were swirling, but his brain kept landing on the one about Lumie. "But Lumie said…"
Dane frowned at him, but sighed and nodded when he saw that Platinum wouldn't let himself succumb to sleep until he had his answer. "Lumie was probably right. The dragon soldier did drown the scientist."
"But Nickel…"
"What is a soldier?" Dane asked. He didn't wait for an answer, which was good because Platinum didn't think he could formulate one at the moment. "A soldier is someone who is strong and brave, who jumps into dangerous situations to save others. But to become a soldier, one individual must join with other individuals in an army. One soldier, surrounded by dozens of other soldiers. You and Nickel are both dragon soldiers, part of the dragon army whose mission it is to save the dragon race."
He smoothed Platinum's damp hair off his forehead from where it had come free from one of his braids. "Don't put too much stock into what those scientists call you guys. You are Platinum, and whatever that means to you is what is important. Now, go to sleep."
Platinum obeyed. His eyes slid closed, and he drifted to sleep with Dane's last thought the only thing in his head.
EPILOGUE
The primer was elementary level, which was Platinum's reading, writing, and math level. He was working his way through it, learning each letter properly this time. He traced the letters on the oversized lines with a pencil, getting the correct shape for each curve and point. He was learning to write numbers too by tracing the dotted lines, which were set up as math problems. It told him that two plus two equaled four—he didn't need to figure it out on his own—but that was more math than he had known before.
Dane and Mercury had created a wonderful schoolroom with fancy tables, a whiteboard, and more in the largest bedroom of this wing of the house. The rest of the kits used it every day when the tutor came and even did their homework there after the tutor had left. Platinum got private lessons in the afternoon from the tutor, but otherwise he didn't use the schoolroom much.
Someone had pulled a chair up to Nickel's bedside, and more often than not Platinum found himself occupying that chair with his schoolbooks. He was still sharing the room with Nickel, so it wasn't too strange. Copper and Alloy shared a room, 'Ron and Zinc shared, and Chrome and Lumie shared when Lumie could find his bed underneath Chrome's mess. Lumie usually ended up bunking with Alloy instead. That left only Nickel without a roommate, and Dane and Mercury had moved Platinum in without worrying what Nickel would think about having his space invaded. Platinum did hope Nickel would be okay with it when he was awake and able to protest.
&nbs
p; Platinum had a bed of his own with a bedside table he could work from, and he had tried for an hour or so to do that, but he had eventually gravitated over to Nickel's bedside. He didn't spend all of his time there. Platinum had his lessons with the tutor in the schoolroom. He was also trying to get reacquainted with Zinc. Ten years apart was a lot of time for each of them to grow up differently. They might still look the same on the outside, but their insides, their likes and dislikes, had changed drastically. Platinum was also trying to figure out Zinc's convoluted relationship with Copper. Sometimes he thought they were courting, and other times he was certain they were going to kill each other before the end of the day. It was very confusing.
Most of Platinum's morning was spent with Dane at Dane's office. Dane was showing Platinum how the consulting firm had worked before Platinum had destroyed the office. He was helping Becky and Dane pick through all the soaked paperwork and destroyed computers to see if anything was salvageable, and then he was going to help Dane move his entire office over to the new location he had purchased. Dane had been the one to buy the empty store just down the street. He was expanding his office space to give Nickel his own private office as a partner in the firm deserved.
Once they had made some progress with cleaning, Dane put Platinum through his paces magically. He was teaching Platinum how to use his wind effectively and how to manipulate the weather so that the next time he drowned the enemy, he did it on purpose.
Platinum's days were very busy, but they were busy because that was how he wanted it. He could have the entire morning off like the rest of the kits, playing and lazing around under Daisy's supervision until the tutor came, but he wanted to help out Dane and to learn how his magic worked. He had chosen his daily activities, and that was a novel and wonderful opportunity to have. The scientists had kept him locked up unless they wanted to experiment on him, and running had necessitated he keep himself safely hidden. Now he could openly and eagerly decide what he was going to do each day and he loved it.
Yet at the end of every day when he sat down to do his homework, he still ended up at Nickel's bedside as if under a compulsion to do so. It was soothing somehow. When he was learning a new letter or number, he could hear Nickel's slow breathing. When Platinum looked up to rest his eyes, he could study Nickel's calm, sleeping face.
Nickel's blue hair had lost some of its luster thanks to not being washed for a few days. There were circles under his eyes from the induced sleep. He looked like he was losing weight too even though it had only been a few days. Dr. Krantz said it was because Nickel's body was using up all of its stored resources to heal. If it got really bad, Dr. Krantz said he would increase Nickel's IV fluids, which would help. Until then, all Platinum could do was sit and watch.
The bedroom door opened softly. Platinum looked away from Nickel's face and found Mercury walking into the room.
"Come down to dinner," Mercury said softly. "You can finish your homework afterwards."
Platinum nodded and stood up. He went over to his own bedside table to put his schoolbooks away and then followed Mercury to the door. Platinum couldn't help pausing in the doorway to take one last look at Nickel's sleeping face before he headed downstairs.
There was something on his stool, Platinum noticed as he stepped into the kitchen. The rest of the kits, Zinc included, were ignoring it. Platinum walked closer to see what it was and found his backpack. It had gone missing when he and Lumie had been kitnapped, and Platinum hadn't thought he would ever see it again. He gaped at it then hurried forward to double check what was inside.
"The police took it in as evidence, but when I explained to them it belonged to one of the kitnapping victims, they let me have it," Mercury said. "It smelled like you."
Platinum's spare change of clothes were inside, as was half a box of pasta, the rest of his traveling food, and his roll of money. He began to carefully repack the bag then paused. Platinum was wearing a new shirt, pants, and shoes. He had enough changes of underwear to last two weeks if he was lazy and didn't do his laundry. Plus, he now owned three pairs of shoes. Dane and Mercury were also providing food and a warm bed.
Being Zinc's egg-twin might have something to do with why Dane and Mercury had decided to make room for him inside their own home. Platinum had heard some stories over the last few days about other dragons they had saved that were living safely somewhere else, but from day one he had been made to feel like part of this family.
The backpack was full of all the things he had needed while he was running. That terrible part of his life was over now. Platinum knew he would never have to run from something or someone without Dane, Mercury, and the rest of the kits running at his side and supporting him. The backpack was superfluous.
Platinum could put the extra clothes in his dresser drawers, the food in the kitchen pantry, and the money… After his next magic training session with Dane, Platinum thought it might be nice to pop over into the grocery store and buy Nickel some sort of get-well gift. Platinum didn't need to save the money for life essentials any longer.
"I'm going to put this away really quick," Platinum told Mercury.
Mercury smiled and nodded. "I'll make sure there's still food left," he said while gently batting Chrome's hand away from one of the bowls Dane had put on the island.
Platinum jogged out of the kitchen and back upstairs. Nickel's bedroom was unchanged, not that Platinum had expected it to be any different. He was keeping his presence as low key as possible until Nickel woke up and gave him permission to share the room. There were empty rooms in the other wing of the house where Mercury and Dane shared the master bedroom, but none of the other kits had rooms over there, and Platinum honestly didn't want to be singled out like that.
It only took a moment to stow his backpack in the closet. Platinum would go through it later. Despite Mercury's claims, Platinum knew that if he didn't hurry, there wouldn't be much food left for him. Still, he couldn't help detouring past Nickel's bed to take one last look at Nickel's face.
Platinum didn't know why he was drawn to a person he had never spoken to. The only interaction with Nickel he'd had was when he had seen Nickel running after the van about to kitnap him and Lumie. Nickel had probably been worried about Lumie—his brother—getting hurt, not Platinum.
Yet, the most comforting sound Platinum had ever heard was Nickel's soft and even breaths. It was the sound Platinum went to sleep to every night and woke up to every morning, and he loved it. Platinum needed Nickel to wake up so they could actually talk, so Platinum could figure out what all of his swirling feelings actually meant, but Dr. Krantz wasn't coming back until tomorrow to see if Nickel was healed enough to be woken from his induced coma.
So maybe tomorrow Platinum would finally get the chance to speak with Nickel. He hoped it would be tomorrow. With that thought in mind, Platinum pulled himself away from Nickel's bedside and left the room. Dinner was waiting.
This story will continue in Dragon Soldier
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When Mell Eight was in high school she wrote a short story for an English class. The assignment was for no more than five pages, yet she had turned in ten and the story wasn’t completed. Her teacher was impressed, but writing stories for fun was her main source of procrastination from homework; handing in an assignment that actually asked her to write fiction was too good to pass up. Since then Mell has continued writing, posting in many online communities for fanfiction and original fiction and eventually branching into slash fiction. She mostly writes paranormal or fantasy stories, but has been seen exploring the real world once or twice.
For more information on Mell’s stories and future writing plans, visit her website:
http://melleightfiction.weebly.com/
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