Let Sleeping Dragons Lie (The Modern Dragon Chronicles Book 1)

by Ty Burson

  Frank shielded his eyes as best as he could and watched his brother raise the gun and point it at Steve and then lower it again—over and over. The boy was oblivious, lost in his own trance, doing that mumbling thing, probably responsible for making these birds and bugs attack everyone. Frank tried to get up, his whole body one big bruise after the past couple days. What was it with these people? Old women and little girls who could fight like, well, no one could fight like them. Or this kid, commanding bugs, bats, birds, bears, elk…Frank felt like he was on the wrong side, for sure. As if sensing his thoughts, Mammon appeared out of the swarm, right in his face. Two glowing eyes and then, wham! Right into his brain—attack John, get the gun, and shoot the kid. The commands were simple, direct, and shouted so loud inside his head that it drowned out the knowledge that he had his own gun.

  Now, Frank wasn’t a nice guy. He was a bully and a cheat, even an occasional gambler. He hated his father almost as much as he loved him. But his brother was different. Frank loved John, his goofy kid brother, who made him laugh as often as he made him want to tear his hair out. Mammon screamed in frustration as Frank backed away from his brother, who was staring at the gun in his hand with disgust.

  Desperately, Mammon jetted from person to person, looking for anyone it could subvert, control. But each person it approached was bathed in golden light, painful to be near. Mammon began to wail as it frantically searched for an unprotected mid.

  Mammon knew it should have given up, retreated, lived to try again—maybe in another hundred years or so, there would be another opportunity. But no! Too long, the demon’s hate had festered too long, and so it did a very foolish thing—it attacked the dragon directly.

  Mammon wrapped itself around the dragon’s swaying head, and when its mesmerizing eyes and evil words had no effect, it pierced the air with its shrieks of rage. But then, too fast for human eyes to follow, the dragon retracted his wings. They snapped back like two massive hands catching a gnat. The demon discovered it was trapped by the wings that began to pulse with dragon magic. Like a crazed bee, the demon threw itself into the glowing wings, only to scream in pain and desperation as the golden light seared its body.

  For an instant, the giant cocoon opened long enough for the dragon to dip his head. Eyes still closed, the dragon opened its mouth and exhaled.

  The dragon held his fire within his wings. They glowed brighter and brighter with an intensity approaching the sun, much too bright for those awake to watch directly. Steve, no longer in a trance, stopped stutter-speaking to the animals, Joy, who had found the surfers, stopped hugging them, and John, who was attempting to help his brother stand, stumbled a little. They all covered their eyes. Suddenly, the dragon flung out his wings, and a great blast of heat, like a Santa Ana wind, hit them all. When the humans uncovered their eyes a few moments later, Mammon was gone.

  Chapter 38

  The dragon collapsed upon itself like a house of cards. His massive head flopped down onto his massive paws and his wings folded over him like a comfortable blanket.

  “Hello?” Steve tried in his head. He tried another way, speaking aloud this time, “H-h-hello?” Nothing. He could see, though, that the dragon was exhausted. Steve looked to his two kidnappers, uncertain what the present status was. John waved. Frank cursed and rubbed his leg. Steve decided that they weren’t really a threat anymore. Steve waved back, hesitantly.

  “Awesome!” Ramone yelled, breaking up the tension.

  “Too weak,” Larry replied.

  “Bitchin’?” Ramone tried.

  “Nope, not even close,” Larry answered.

  “Bodacious!”

  “Hmm, maybe. Nah, give it up man,” Larry stated.

  “No way, hey, you see her? Ninja girl, ninja girl,” Ramone kept repeating.

  Joy reddened, but smiled just a little bit. She saw Steve and ran over to him, crushing him in a gigantic hug. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s wake everybody up. Your mom and Granny are over there.”

  “How’d everyone find me?” Steve asked.

  Joy stopped, “Steve, the dragon talked to me. Well, kind of.”

  “He did?”

  “Yeah, it was so weird, almost as if I was dreaming, but still awake at the same time,” Joy said. Then her expression changed, much more serious, “That thing, Steve, it got in my head. I couldn’t think. It was all about Mom. And I felt horrible.”

  Steve nodded sadly, “Yeah, me too. But you guys saved me, you and Larry, and his friends. How’d you do it?”

  Joy turned around to look at the surfing trio, who were moving around the pit, jostling their neighbors awake. Sometimes they stopped to do a goofy dance, or to engage in another round of fist pumping and high-fiving. Joy pointed at them and could only shrug. “Maybe they’re too weird to be possessed by demons?”

  “Yeah, that must be it.” Steve saw his mom, who was helping Granny get up. “Come on, I see them,” he said.

  Before he could reach them, Dani bolted from among the crowd and almost knocked him over. “Steve, do you see, do you see? It’s a dragon, look, look over there. It’s a dragon, Steve!”

  Steve swooped her up, hugged her tight, and then passed her to Joy. “We have a dragon,” Dani sang, “we have a dragon!”

  Jeanie saw them and opened her arms wide. “Get over here, all of you! Oh, thank God, Steve, I was so worried.” She was crying, leaving tear tracks through the mud caked on her face.

  Granny slipped away from the reunion that was already beginning to form, and worked her way toward the dragon. Most of her friends and neighbors hadn’t yet woken up. All looked content, as peaceful as if they were tucked into their own comfortable beds. She felt a sense of pride in them all. They had come when they were needed, proving themselves, displaying the best that a community could be. She stepped around and over those still sleeping, but not with the same nimbleness she had taken for granted even a day ago. Her bones ached. Maybe her time as the caretaker’s guardian was over, she realized. Maybe it was time to grow old. The idea upset her more than she thought it would.

  Granny made a mental assessment as she negotiated her way around the pit. People everywhere, large sections of the dragon’s cave completely collapsed, some of the trees lay tilted with their roots exposed. More of them had their tops blasted by dragon fire—the opposite of a brush fire, which torches the bottom of trees and leaves their tops intact. Ahead lay the dragon. Now, given a break from the chaos, she felt she could understand her break with it. She was getting on in years and there was no denying that. She’d managed to accomplish incredible feats thanks to the dragon’s magic, and yet, there were limits, limits to what her tired old body could do. It made sense that the dragon had needed someone younger, someone like Joy. But why her specifically? Granny glanced back, saw that Joy had Dani riding on her shoulders, greeting everyone right along with Steve. That was something to keep her eye on, she decided.

  Granny returned her attention to what she had been doing, moving along the dragon’s great body, admiring its beauty. Its skin held the deepest, darkest hue of green, almost liquid looking, and not a single age spot marred its surface, despite its long life. As she walked toward the head, she caught a glimpse of the underbelly and throat. It was like looking at a stack of gold bullion. She marveled at this, mesmerized, fascinated by the color as so many of her race had been over the centuries. She stopped at the giant head, from which a steady stream of smoke vented out through the top of the dragon’s snout. Like a little kid, she reached out without thinking, testing the steam, but quickly snatched her hand back; it was scalding hot. Silly woman.

  She stiffened—had that been her thought, or the dragon’s? More carefully this time, she edged forward. “I’m tired,” she heard in her head.

  Definitely the dragon. “Me too,” she thought.

  “Sit.”

  Granny did as she was bid, then leaned back against the dragon, like resting against a big log.

  “I’m glad you survived.” That could
have been her, or the dragon, she realized with a grim smile.

  “Shhh,” the dragon insisted. So Granny closed her eyes and rested, while the dragon told her what to do.

  Chapter 39

  The buffet was beautiful, especially if beauty was defined by the number of yummy things to eat. Justin walked behind his sister, pushing her tray along in front of his own. As he loaded up his plate with sliced ham, roast beef, corn, and rolls, the dark-haired little girl in front of him would occasionally point at something, and Justin would place it on her plate. As they worked their way along the shiny, silver tray rails, their mother filled sodas, and their father hunted for a booster seat for the youngest. At the back of the restaurant, in an area reserved for the Wang family reunion, sat some 20 relatives who had waited patiently for the stragglers to join them. As one, the Wang family sat in stunned silence, staring at the curly-headed blond boy among their relatives.

  Justin and his sister joined the other immediate members of his family at the end of a very long group of joined tables. As soon as he sat down, the silence seemed to stretch, a tension settling over the other family members. Justin didn’t notice, but then neither did his parents or siblings. His father passed down the silverware. He smiled and Justin smiled and his mother smiled. At the far end of the table, all heads turned toward a distinguished-looking uncle, who rose and made his way over to their end of the table. When he reached his nephew, he extended his hand, “Robert, we are so glad you could come.”

  Robert stood up and warmly shook his uncle’s hand. “Thank you, Uncle. I apologize for keeping you waiting, for keeping everyone waiting,” and he waved to the rest of the extended family with a bashful smile. “You look good, Uncle.”

  “Um, thank you,” his uncle hesitated, “Robert, who is this young man you have brought with you?”

  Robert ruffled the hair of his youngest son, plopped firmly into the booster seat, “Ah, that’s right, Uncle, you’ve not seen David since he was a baby. Yes, he is growing up.”

  The uncle looked back at the rest of the relatives, who were all nodding their heads in support, before he continued, “No, Robert, who is this young man?” He pointed at Justin.

  Robert looked to where his uncle was pointing. Justin looked up, smiling through a mouth full of mashed potatoes. Robert smiled back before returning his attention to his uncle. His smile slowly drooped. He tilted his head in confusion, then turned to his wife for support, but she had the same perplexed expression on her face. “Ah, well, he’s…you know, I, ah…”

  “Yes?” his uncle prompted.

  Robert reached over and squeezed Justin’s shoulder, as if touch would jar his memory. “He, he’s, his name is…” He turned again to his wife for help, but she could only shake her head. He took a step back from the strange boy, who was now stuffing his mouth full of ham. The table, which up to then had been silent and listening, erupted all at once.

  In the middle of the pandemonium, Justin stopped chewing and looked around the room, not recognizing anyone or anything. A severe panic grabbed him and froze him to his seat. He realized he had no idea where he was or who these people were. The little girl, who had so easily allowed him to lead her through the buffet line just moments ago, was crying and holding out her arms, as if pleading for her mother’s embrace. Two men started arguing next to him, and soon everyone was either looking or pointing his way. Justin swallowed his food with difficulty; his throat was suddenly very dry.

  He stopped looking around and stared down at his plate. He did not do well with surprises or strange places, and here he was surrounded by a bunch of strangers in a strange place and it seemed like everyone in the restaurant was arguing about him! He did not realize that he was tapping his fork. As the yelling got louder, so did his tapping. When he started beating it against the table, all the yelling stopped. Soon, the only noise in the restaurant was the steady, rhythmic banging of Justin’s fork against the table. Justin realized everyone had gone silent around the same time that his hand started to hurt.

  From the middle of the table, an elderly woman, her spine almost bent in two, rose with the help of her cane, which she’d draped over her chair. The woman approached him. She reached down with a spotted old hand and took Justin’s own, working the fork from his fingers and cupping his hand in hers. Ordinarily, Justin would have yanked his hand away; he didn’t like to be touched, especially by strangers, especially by old, spotted strangers. Yet, something about her calmed him down, and he let her hold his hand.

  “Come with me,” she instructed.

  While the rest of the clan grappled with the mystery the boy represented, the old woman took Justin up front and found an empty booth. A waitress approached, but she waived her away. “What is your name?” the elderly woman asked, her tone warm and easy-going.

  “Justin.”

  “Do you know how you got here?”

  Justin shook his head no. The old woman reached into her bag and retrieved her phone. “Is there someone we should call?”

  “My mom and dad, I think. Where are we?”

  “Seattle, you are attending the Wang family reunion at the Super Buffet in Seattle,” she waited before continuing. “Do you know how you got here? The family you were with?”

  Justin shook his head, “No.”

  She considered, “Apparently, my great-nephew thought you were his son until about two minutes ago. It’s obvious that there is some very strange magic at work here,” she announced matter-of-factly.

  Justin looked at her dubiously, doubt written all over his face. And then he remembered. He remembered being at Steve’s grandmother’s, and playing flashlight tag, the rest was a blur. Well, except for the ice cream. It would take some serious juju to make him forget ice cream. “Magic? You think so?”

  “Of course,” she replied. “Here, call your parents. Let them know you are all right.”

  Justin dialed his mother’s phone.

  “Hello?” came a voice on the other end.

  “Mom, it’s me, Justin!”

  “I’m sorry, dear, I think you must have the wrong number.”

  CLICK.

  Justin’s mouth dropped and he numbly handed back the phone.

  “What’s wrong, dear?” the woman asked.

  “She…she didn’t know who I was.”

  “Oh, we can fix that.” She redialed the number and then cupped her hand around the phone. A second later she returned it to Justin, “Here, try again.”

  Justin took the cellphone back and very slowly brought it to his ear. A familiar voice said, “Hi hon, we didn’t expect to hear from you this weekend. Are you having a good time at Steve’s grandmother’s?”

  “Um, Mom, I’m not at Steve’s grandmother’s. I’m in Seattle. How come you didn’t know who I was?”

  “What are you talking about? You’re where?”

  Justin hesitated, “I’m in Seattle. I, I sort of, just kind of, wound up here. I’m okay, I’m with this really nice family, the Wangs, and—”

  “How in the world did you get to Seattle? Where is Mrs. Batista? Why are you there?”

  These questions and more kept coming, even though Justin couldn’t answer any of them. The old woman motioned for him to give her back the phone. She took it and snapped it closed. The old woman frowned, sighed, looked around for a second, and then snapped her fingers. Justin, visibly upset at this point, reached for the phone with a whimper. “It’s all right, just wait a few minutes, young man.” Her phone buzzed three minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, according to Justin’s count. “Yes, yes, there we go. Here this will be for you,” she handed the phone over to him.

  “Justin? Oh my God, Justin, I’m so glad you’re safe. Jeanie called to explain. It all sounds so insanely crazy, but given all the superstitions in this town, who knows? Anyway, where are you? Exactly, I mean.”

  “Seattle,” Justin replied, “Mom, I’m in Seattle with the Wang family, at a reunion.”

  The old woman, who had been listeni
ng quietly and attentively throughout this exchange, reached over and patted Justin’s hand. “Here, young man, let me speak with your mother.”

  Justin handed her the phone.

  “Hello, this is Mrs. Wang. I wanted to reassure you that Justin is safe with my family.”

  “Hello, this is Patricia Murray, Justin’s mom. Oh, you know that. Thank you, Mrs. Wang, but I’m afraid I still don’t understand. Justin was staying with his friend in Hiouchi, California, and now I understand that he is in Seattle.”

  “Well dear, call me Shou, we can’t explain it either,” she replied. “Justin showed up with my nephew and his family, who apparently picked him up on their way here from Sacramento. Until a few minutes ago, they were all under the impression that Justin was a member of their family.”

  There was silence on the other end and the Justin’s mom continued, “How can that be?”

  “Magic obviously. My nephew, Justin—they were all tricked in some way,” Shou said, without a hint of sarcasm.

  “Ah, Mrs. Wang, Shou, this doesn’t make any sense. No offense, but, umm, that sounds more than a little crazy,” she insisted.

  Shou was undeterred, “Absolutely, dear.” She smiled at Justin and continued with his mother, “So how would you explain it?”

  Again, silence. Then Justin’s mother tried again, “I can’t—”

  “There you are. Anyway, I want you to know that Justin is safe. We are at the Super Buffet in Seattle and then we were planning on sightseeing. Is there anywhere you would like us to take Justin? Or anyone you know in this area?”

  “No, unfortunately we don’t know anyone there, but I can leave right now and be there in eight or nine hours. Can he stay there at the buffet?” Patricia asked.

  “I’m sure he could, but I think he might get a little bored. I’m also not sure how late the buffet will remain open. Would you mind if he came sightseeing with us? We will end up at the Space Needle for dinner, and you could meet us there,” Mrs. Wang offered.