DragonSpell

by Natalie Lougher

  “Not yet, why? Should I be expecting something?” Ian looked at me in confusion and I sighed and reached back absently to tighten my ponytail.

  “It might not be a bad idea to stay away from the mirrors today. Apparently a bunch of people are having problems with them cracking.” At that, both Ian’s and Stephanie’s eyebrows rose and Ian glanced at the main house worriedly.

  “Ciara and Edan are fine. Nothing out of the ordinary in their house except for a bunch of freaked out residents. I’m sure Will and Alice will get everyone fed and calmed down shortly.” I assured him.

  “Where are you off to?” Stephanie asked, and I saw Ian’s shoulders tighten slightly. Clearly, a question he was thinking too but didn’t want to voice.

  “The barn. The animals are restless to say the least and I want to check and make sure there’s nothing there, stirring them up.”

  “I’ll come with you. Where is Jamie?” she asked, concern for the other young man evident and Ian glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps she had feelings for him after all.

  “Jamie’s in the kitchen with some of the others. I told Ciara if she gets a chance to speak to him, to let him know where I am.”

  “Kailani…” Ian’s voice trailed off on my name and when I looked at him, his eyes were now focused above Edan’s house at the circling ravens.

  “Yeah, I know. Needless to say, it’s been a fun morning so far. If they don’t disperse soon, they’re going to have some unwanted company.” My tone turned a little harder and Ian’s gaze swung to my face again, Stephanie’s arm still clutched in his hands but her wound temporarily forgotten, and there was no mistaking the look of panic on his handsome face.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, in the broad daylight? Those birds are pretty high up which means you’d have to get up higher than the wall and you’d be visible to anyone passing by.” At that, Stephanie’s eyes widened too but I shook my head before either of them could get too worked up.

  “I’m hoping it won’t get to that. I’m a lot bigger than they are and if they sense that I might be coming for them, they’ll hopefully take off and go somewhere else. My last raven friend certainly did. Finish taking care of Steph and then go check on Ciara please. I’m worried that she might be more stressed than she’s letting on. Steph, meet me in the barn when you’re done.” I waved goodbye and turned on my heel, making the jog to the barn. Letting myself inside, I scanned the immediate area by the door but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The cream-colored horse that Jamie had brought to the fence for me to see the one day was in the closest stall to the door and she let out a knicker when she saw me.

  “Shhh, it’s okay.” I went to the stall and put a hand on the pretty horse’s nose, stroking in soothingly and she flicked her ears at me . “What can you tell me? What’s got all of you worked up this morning, hmmm?” I continued to look around but I couldn’t see or hear anything, and the longer I stood there, the calmer the animals became.

  “They like you.” Jamie spoke from the door and I spun around in surprise.

  “I’m sorry?” I laughed and he grinned at me.

  “The horses have taken a fancy to ya, they don’t calm down that fast for me, ever.” He came into the open space between the stalls as Stephanie came inside too and I smiled slightly, patting the nose that was currently nuzzling my shoulder.

  “I’ve never really been around horses before and I wasn’t all that sure how these ones would take to me, given my apparent biology.” I smirked and Stephanie laughed.

  “They’re pretty trusting animals and if they know you’re not going to harm them, they won’t bother you either.” She looked around herself curiously and then frowned slightly at Jamie. “Any idea what happened? I could hear all of the racket inside my place but they seem to be settling down now.”

  “I really dunno what to tell ya, lass. Absolutely nothing has changed since I first came in here.” Ian went to move a bale of straw and it knocked a shovel over, making a large, hollow bang on the cement floor. At the loud, unexpected sound a raven burst from the rafters, cawing and squawking and that got the horses riled up again and the one beside me started to rear up in fear.

  “Oh, I have about had enough of you crows.” I muttered darkly, running to the big barn door and throwing it wide open. The bird took off into the early morning sunrise and I watched it go, not at all surprised to see it join the others circling in the air.

  “I wonder how many people are standing out on the road watching them circle like that and wondering what we’re doing here. Anyone want to take a guess how long it’ll take for the polis to come knocking?” Stephanie couldn’t help but snicker and Jamie scoffed behind her.

  “All they’ll find are a bunch of broken mirrors and black feathers on the ground. Not nearly as exciting as it might look from the outside.” He agreed and I kept my eyes on the birds, their words about the police showing up, forcing my hand on how I was going to deal with the menacing flock. Reaching up, I pulled the elastic out of my hair and shook my ponytail out and Stephanie looked over at me as she picked up the overturned shovel.

  “Miss Lani? You okay?”

  “Those birds have to go. Now. I’ll see you guys later.” I gave my two friends a quick smile over my shoulder before I went back in the direction of the house. The wall wasn’t going to be nearly tall enough for me to hide behind once I changed forms and got up into the air, so I’d have to stay far back from it and out of sight of the gate across the driveway. The only way I could do that would be to use the house as cover and stay on the ground. But those birds were a long way up and I didn’t know how to reach them otherwise.

  “One step at a time, Lani-girl. Let’s see what happens when you change.” I told myself, opening the kitchen door and stepping inside again. The earlier chaos had dissipated now and the two Cameron men were sitting at the island discussing something in low tones while Alice and Will tidied up their counters. Alice looked up first and saw me and her face brightened.

  “Ah, Miss Lani! Perhaps you’d like some breakfast?” she asked, indicating the big pot of porridge and biscuits sitting on the stove, staying warm.

  “I’ll take you up on that shortly, thank you. For now, Edan, can I ask a favor of you?” I looked at the Laird and he broke off his conversation to look at me.

  “What can I do for you, lass?” he asked curiously and Hugh looked up too, sipping his tea while he waited.

  “I’m going to see what I can do about that flock of birds over your house before the police show up, wondering what’s going on. Can I please ask that you try to keep Ciara on the other side of the house for a little while?”

  “I believe she has gone into her studio, I shall go in and sit with her for a bit, keep her there until I hear you come back in. Sound good?”

  “That would be perfect. I’m going to have to stay on this side of the house so no one sees me from the road, which means it wouldn’t be good if Ciara happened to come in here or your master bedroom and look out the window.” I pulled a face, in my head wondering how long it was going to take before Ciara told him that she not only knew my secret, she had seen it up close.

  “Aye, that would be a very good idea. Give me five minutes, okay?”

  “You got it.” I went back outside and slipped out of my shoes. I didn’t have to worry about taking any of my clothes off, there was no chance I was going to get wet this time, but because I had a few minutes to kill, I took my time slipping out of my t-shirt and adjusting the sport bra that I had on underneath. I kept my eye on the circling birds and listened to all of the horrible noise they were making. Eventually, I saw Will in the kitchen window, giving me a ‘thumbs-up’ sign and I took a deep breath and shook my hands out, backing away from the house to make sure I had enough room to change. A last look around to make sure no one was in my immediate proximity, then I closed my eyes, focused on what I wanted and actually took some pleasure in the tingling across my arms, legs and spine. Whe
n I opened my eyes next, my gaze was level with the eaves-trough and I hunched down a bit more to make sure I stayed behind the house. How the hell was I going to get up high enough to scare off those birds? I didn’t even know if anyone was really standing on the other side of the wall looking up, perhaps the birds weren’t that much of a spectacle to the outside world. Could I take that chance?

  I kept my tail as close to me as I could, and hugged my wings as close to my body as possible as I backed up slowly, my gaze never leaving those birds. A few had caught sight of me and were slowing their circling, unsure of what I was planning, which was kind of funny because I didn’t know either. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement on the ground and I turned my head to see Jamie coming towards me slowly, his hands extended to show he wasn’t going to hurt me.

  “Easy, lass. I was just going to offer to go take a look through the gate, see who or what is out there that might see you. Can you give me a few minutes?” He asked, trying to still the shaking in his voice. He had known what was I was, everyone around here now did, but that didn’t mean he had witnessed me as a dragon. Knowing about me and seeing all twenty-feet of me, are two completely different things!

  I bobbed my head up and down once to indicate I understood him and would wait and he turned and loped off towards the front of the property. I didn’t try to talk to him while I was in this form, I didn’t want to spook him any more than I already had. Finding out a dragon could speak to him in his head would have thrown him just about as much as if he’d learned his horses could sing and dance.

  I watched him until he disappeared out of sight around the house and then I saw Stephanie standing outside the barn doors, in perfect view of both Jamie and me. She gave me a quick wave to indicate she was working with us and when Jamie gave her the all-clear, she gave me two thumbs-ups and a big grin and I took a deep breath, let my wings out and started to flap them, gradually lifting off the ground. Below me, bushes and trees bowed under the strong draught I caused and I could see from the corner of my eye, Stephanie’s hair swirling around her shoulders. She didn’t care though, the grin and excitement on her face made her look like a kid at Christmas as she watched me. Once I could see over the house, I saw Jamie down by the wall and his mouth had dropped open in complete shock and his knees buckled under him, making him collapse on the ground as he craned his neck to watch.

  Turning my attention to the birds, they all had seen me coming at this point and many had scattered, taking off over the water or disappearing further inland, but a few stubborn ones didn’t seem in any hurry to go. My keen eyes caught sight of one with some singed feathers and I gritted my teeth. This one just didn’t want to take the hint!

  I glanced down at the ground to make sure that Jamie had been correct and no one was around and seeing the coast clear, I flapped my wings a few times and went straight for the remaining crows. They let out startled squawks and scattered and my friend from the other night took the opportunity to try to attack me. I felt it claw at my belly and I roared in protest, rolling in the air, trying to dislodge it. It wouldn’t let go, instead I felt its talons sink deeper into my skin and I futilely tried to claw at it with my front and back claws but couldn’t reach. Clearly, the bird knew a thing or two about where to attack another winged animal without it being able to reach. But I had something it didn’t - a five-foot long tail and I dropped down closer to the trees so I wouldn’t be advertising the fact that a dragon lived here, and when I was over the sea, in the fishbowl-shaped bay I swung my tail up between my hind legs and swatted my stomach with it, hitting the bird and flattening it against me for a second. It squawked in pain and protest and let go of me, dropping itself closer to the water to get out from under me and try to get away but I was done playing games. A few flaps of my wings and I was right behind it and before it could disappear on me again, I unleashed a breath of fire straight at it and every feather on the bird caught fire. It made a horrible noise as it flapped futilely and then the fire got the better of it and the little black body fell onto the wet sand below. I landed not far from it and lowered my head so I could look at it more closely and felt a small twinge of regret. I felt terrible that I’d killed it but what had it expected really? You don’t come at a dragon multiple times and think it’s going to let you fly away after you’ve attacked it.

  I turned my head to look up at the cliffs and the sky above it and was relieved to see that all of the birds were gone now and Jamie, Stephanie and Hugh were appearing on the edge of the cliff, waving at me with thumbs-up signs to let me know the coast was clear. With a sigh of relief, I lifted off the sand once more and settled myself back on the grass, not far from where my friends stood, and changed back to my usual form.

  Stephanie and Jamie were positively giddy with laughter as they lowered their hands from shielding their eyes against the light and Steph ran up to me and gave me a huge hug.

  “That was amazing! I still can’t believe how beautiful ye are. Wow!” She gushed and I laughed and hugged her back.

  “Thank you both for helping. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Aye, you’re very welcome lass. T’was the least we could do considering I just saw every childhood fantasy of mine come to life! I just can’t believe how big ye are and your wings - !” Jamie’s voice trailed off and Hugh laughed as he stepped forward.

  “We owe you lass for helping us today. I don’t know what’s going on with all of the mirrors but those blasted birds weren’t here for the fun of it. Thank ye.” He shook my hand and I smiled faintly.

  “Hugh, it was the least I could do. You all have welcomed me into this big family you have, no one has ever questioned me, doubted me, or feared me and considering how new this all is to me, I’m extremely grateful.” I kissed his cheek, making the old man blush as we started walking back towards the house and when we got closer we heard someone call out for him by the gate.

  “Hugh!” They shouted again, waving their arms in the air to get his attention and when he looked that way we all saw the flashing lights of the police cruiser on the other side of the gates

  “Uh oh.” Stephanie looked around at all of us and Hugh chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment.

  “I’ll go get Edan and we’ll see what’s going on. Jamie, you and Steph carry about your business, and Kailani,” he glanced at me with a concerned look on his face. “Ye go back to your cottage and clean up a bit. If I see the doctor, I’ll send him your way. Looks like ye might need a stitch or two.” His gaze dropped down to my stomach and I looked down at the bare skin, seeing a few deep gouges seeping blood.

  “Oooh, yeah. I didn’t even notice those until now. Excuse me.” I scooped up my clothes off the ground before turning and heading for my cottage at a brisk walk, my hand pressed to my wounded stomach and I wondered how Hugh and Edan were planning on explaining what had just happened to the police.

  Hugh and Edan walked down the long driveway towards the gate where a constable stood in front of his car, a notepad and a pen in his hand.

  “This could prove interesting.” Hugh muttered under his breath and Edan nodded slightly in agreement.

  “Best not to put too much thought into it until we know what he has to say.” He said wisely, and as they got closer Edan grinned. “Peter! What a surprise! What brings you out our way this morning?” He called out, recognizing the constable that waited for them.

  “Mornin’ Edan! Hugh! I’m here to investigate a report of someone seeing a dragon flying over your house.” The middle-aged man admitted a bit sheepishly and Edan roared with laughter as he unlocked the gate and let the other man in.

  “A dragon? I know my wife can have a bit of a temper, but no one has ever accused her of being a dragon.” He said smoothly, shaking the officer’s hand and the other man pulled a face with a nod.

  “Aye, I hear ye, believe me. But someone up at the castle claims they saw a big flock of birds flying over your house and then a dragon appeared and chased them all awa
y.” The three men started walking up towards the house and Edan snuck a look at his father. They had forgotten about the castle not too far up the coastline, equipped with binoculars so visitors could look out at the sea with them.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen and talk. Alice has a few biscuits still on the stove keeping warm.” Hugh suggested in a friendly manner, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the doctor heading towards my cottage, his medical bag in his hand.

  “Aye, Alice’s biscuits are almost legendary. Don’t mind that suggestion at all.” Peter agreed easily and when they reached the house, Hugh held the door open for the constable and his son and then followed them inside. Alice and Will had seen them coming and had a pot of tea and plate of biscuits on the island waiting for them and the three men went and sat down on stools.

  “Now, tell me again Peter about this claim of a dragon flying over my house. Because I’m pretty sure we’d have noticed. Unless it was just a wee little thing and then I’d be wondering what the people up at the castle actually saw. Perhaps it was a crow and the sun just caught it wrong?” Edan offered as a suggestion and he was grateful that his two cooks didn’t even bat an eye, they just carried on as though the three men weren’t there.

  “I know what ye be thinking Edan, but they even claim to have a picture. See?” Peter pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and brought up the picture that the tourist had forwarded to him, and with lead in his stomach, Edan took the proffered phone and looked down.

  Thanks to the distance between their estate and the castle, the person taking the photo had been forced to zoom in at a crazy level, making the photo very grainy and certain things in it unrecognizable. But what caught Edan’s eye was the number of black bodies with wings in the air, and then off to the side, almost out of the shot was a much larger black blur with wings. Hugh was looking over his son’s shoulder and saw the big black blur too and he wondered where my tail was. Then he realized it must have been taken as I was drawing the attacking bird closer to the water and had curled my tail under me, swatting at the bird. So the five-foot long, much harder to explain tail was not visible, leaving anyone looking at the picture unsure of what they were seeing.