The Dragon Tree

by Kavich, AC

  Panting in Hiroki’s driveway she finally unfolded the scrap of cloth and looked inside. There were hundreds of coarse black fibers nestled in its depths and fluttering in the breeze. The smell was unmistakable and the texture too. She knew immediately what they were. She knew Hideo wanted her to have them so she could do her ‘duty’. She just wasn’t sure what to do with them.

  Bottoms up.

  She placed a single black fiber on her tongue, wrinkled her nose at its bitter taste and gulped it down. She immediately felt the familiar sensation of energy coursing through her veins.

  She folded the cloth and placed it under Hiroki’s doormat for safekeeping, then jogged around his house to find cover. There were dense woods behind Hiroki’s neighborhood that would have to do.

  At least it’s nighttime.

  She felt the change coming. Coming fast.

  ***

  Hiroki had been tracking the red dragon for miles before it finally descended from the clouds with Billy in pursuit. Not only could he sense the same ripple that Billy had keyed on, he could penetrate more deeply into the creature’s mind. He couldn’t extract a coherent thought from its mind or place a coherent thought of his own, but he could almost see the creature’s emotions swirling around its brain.

  Anger. So much anger.

  When the red dragon spread its wings and drifted down to the treetops, Hiroki slowed his own flight and hung back. He climbed through the forest canopy and down to the forest floor.

  Billy descended through the canopy as well, but his bulky body was clumsier than Hiroki’s. He muscled his way through boughs, snapping them clean and raising a ruckus. Even his breathing was heavy as he dropped to the ground beside Hiroki.

  If the red dragon hadn’t heard that, it was deaf.

  Hiroki’s night vision immediately resolved the surrounding darkness. He could see every bump of the uneven ground. He could see every gnarled vertical tree trunk. A few nocturnal creatures scurried from one hiding spot to another, aware that there was a predator among them.

  Hiroki gestured for Billy to move to the left while he moved to the right.

  Hiroki lifted his feet off the ground and flapped his wings steadily to propel himself forward as silently as possible. The sound of his wingtips nudging branches was no more disruptive than the wind. He sensed himself drawing closer to the red creature and flared his nostrils to sniff him out. There was a vaguely metallic scent in the air.

  Was the red dragon injured, or did it always smell like blood?

  He was close enough now to the red dragon that he should have been able to see it, and yet there was nothing but vacant forest on all sides. One cluster of trees looked strange enough that Hiroki lowered himself to the ground and crawled toward it.

  He was twenty feet away when the inanimate trees… moved…

  The red areas of the dragon’s body had darkened to a ruddy brown. The black stripes that ran vertically on its flesh served to divide the brown areas and create the appearance of trees standing side-by-side.

  The optical illusion was amazing.

  Hiroki saw two deep-set eyes staring at him through the darkness. He saw mighty jaws hanging open and a black tongue throbbing in the bottom of a cavernous throat. The red dragon was lying in wait, ready to strike.

  So it did sense my presence.

  A mighty roar to Hiroki’s left shattered the tenuous silence in the forest. It was Billy, mouth gaping, as he thundered through a gap in the trees. His blue flesh lit up in thin shafts of moonlight as he charged toward the hidden body of the red dragon.

  The red dragon rose up to its full height and held its ground. It turned its open mouth on Billy and vomited a wild geyser of liquid fire. The trees surrounding Billy ignited like they were soaked in gasoline. Thick black smoke clogged the air and masked the location of the red dragon once again.

  Billy raced toward the red dragon, hacking as he passed through the smoke. By the time he emerged on the other side of the acrid cloud the red dragon was already gone.

  Hiroki scrambled toward the flaming trees. Thinking fast, he dragged his thick claws through the ground to loose a huge amount of dirt then used his tail to fling it toward the fire. It took several such passes, but the flames were soon extinguished.

  Can you sense its mind, Hiro?! Can you tell which direction it’s going?!

  In answer, Hiroki leapt off the ground and punched back through the forest canopy. He could hear the red dragon crashing through foliage and heading south. He could smell the metallic odor trailing it. And he could feel the mind of the creature silently screaming.

  Billy and Hiroki followed the red dragon on a dangerous flight due south, just above the forest. They split up and took position on either of the red dragon’s flanks, rising and falling with their target, swinging left and right to match its every move. The red dragon flew more erratically, swinging its tail into treetops and knocking chunks of timber in the air.

  Billy took his eyes off their quarry and looked to the ground a mile ahead. He was amazed to see a bare patch of ground in the otherwise endless sea of green.

  Look Hiro! The timber site!

  The red dragon’s crazed flight had led them all the way to the tree clearing operation where Billy had spent a week in hard labor. The slope was entirely clear now – even the stumps ripped loose – and most of the heavy machinery had been cleared from the hilltop. All that remained was a pair of rusty bulldozers, a thresher and the metal storage container.

  That’s where we take him down!

  Billy pumped his wings furiously and hurled himself onto the red dragon’s back. It screeched angrily and tried to throw Billy off, but Billy latched on to the creature’s crimson wings to prevent it from flying. Their momentum sent them tumbling toward the barren lumber slope like a blue and red meteor.

  Billy, no!

  Hiroki watched the tangled dragons rocket toward the ground and pulled up to brace himself for the grisly impact. Billy let go of the red dragon at the last possible instant and spread his wings like parachutes. The red dragon had no chance to slow its fall. It struck the dirt at full speed and left a massive crater in the ground. Billy slid down the hill directly toward the red dragon, kicking up great geysers of dirt.

  The red dragon was writhing on its back, in obvious pain from its crash landing and struggling to roll over onto its feet. It thrashed its head back and forth, desperately watching as Billy drew closer.

  Hiroki circled overhead, unsure what Billy was planning and unsure if he should join the fray. He didn’t want to fight the red dragon.

  They didn’t even know that it meant them harm. Everything this new dragon had done so far could easily be seen as attempts at defending itself. They had followed the red dragon into the sky. They had chased the red dragon into the forest. They had stalked the red dragon through the shadows.

  And now Billy had tackled it out of the sky and thrown it down violently.

  Don’t harm him, Billy!

  ‘He’. How did Hiroki know the red dragon was a male? It was nearly as large as Billy, but there was something else. Something in the nature of the red dragon’s emotions. He wasn’t sure how he knew, and yet… he knew.

  Just as Billy reached the red dragon, it flipped over with surprising ease and lashed out, slashing Billy across the chest with four black talons.

  He was playing possum!

  The red dragon charged up the hill and continued raking at Billy’s chest. It was all Billy could do to dodge the blows as he stumbled backward. He flapped his wings to speed his ascent but going backwards was much more difficult than flying forward and the red dragon was aiming for his throat.

  Hiroki finally swooped into action. He dove straight for the striped side of the red dragon as if to tackle him bodily, but he pulled up at the last second and swiped the red dragon’s head with his tail. The sudden impact knocked the red dragon off balance and he lost his grip on the hill. He tumbled backwards, end-over-end, and slid to a halt at the bottom of the
slope.

  As Hiroki swung around for another pass, he saw Billy collect himself and begin his climb down to the red dragon. The way Billy held his wings high and his head low made it look to Hiroki that he planned to end the fight.

  Billy wanted to rip out the red dragon’s throat for what he had just done to him. The sensations in his chest were like nothing he had ever felt before. The pain from the lacerations themselves was nothing compared to the wretchedness that followed. It felt as though daggers made of ice were stuck between his ribs. An otherworldly cold began in his wounds and burrowed inward as if searching for his beating heart.

  Even while he planned the savagery he would momentarily inflict on the red dragon, he remembered that there was a human being under the hideous exterior. Whoever it was at the bottom of the slope – whoever it was who hissed at Billy and readied himself to do battle – he was someone’s son or brother. Someone’s friend.

  Maybe even someone’s father.

  Can you hear me? Billy projected the question toward the mind of the red dragon. He still detected only the ripple, but he had to try. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you keep fighting.

  The red dragon raised his head and leveled his deep-set eyes at Billy. There was something there. Recognition or defiance, Billy couldn’t be sure.

  Hiroki drifted down and landed beside Billy. They stood wing-to-wing thirty feet above the red dragon and dug their claws into the dirt. The only sound was their heavy breathing and a low growl from the red dragon.

  We can’t do this, Billy. We have to let him go.

  I know, Hiro.

  In tandem, Billy and Hiroki inched down the slope.

  The red dragon tilted his head to one side as if straining to hear their telepathic conversation. The long slit of his mouth turned up even more at the corners in a macabre smile. He spread his wings and rubbed them against the trees just behind him, then turned and opened his jaws.

  The flames that erupted from the red dragon’s throat were so hot they were white. He slowly turned his head to aim the flames across a twenty-foot wide stretch of trees. The red dragon was directing the flames so forcefully that they blew past the first row of trees and ignited a great many more.

  Billy and Hiroki froze where they stood, hypnotized by the horrible beauty of the licking white flames. Only when the red dragon flapped its battered wings and once again took to the air did Hiroki finally come to his senses.

  He’ll burn the whole forest down.

  The red dragon screeched and took to the sky.

  Billy raced after him.

  ***

  As soon as her transformation in the woods was complete, Eva felt a strong telepathic pull from the mountains. It was frighteningly chaotic, like the static between radio stations. But a few scattered syllables rose out of the static and entered her mind. She couldn’t make out words, but she was sure of the voices.

  Billy and Hiro. I’m coming.

  She climbed up a thick tree trunk and pushed her head through the tree’s uppermost boughs. Despite the cover of the forest, she was still in a residential neighborhood and saw houses and cars.

  Why do I have to be yellow?!

  There was no choice. She had to go.

  She slowly unfurled her wings above the trees and pulled her hindquarters and tail out of the tree’s boughs. She knew she would have to climb up to the clouds quickly, so that anyone who caught a glimpse of her would get only a glimpse. If she was lucky, they would doubt their own eyes.

  Remember, you have camouflage… Just go!

  She leapt skyward.

  Her impression of Billy and Hiroki’s minds grew stronger as she flew north. As it turned out, she could have found them by sight alone.

  Smoke billowed up from the trees in great plumes. As she closed in on the source of the smoke she saw a bare patch of ground. It was difficult to make out clearly but the angle of the slope brought memories of her last dawn transformation rushing back.

  The lumber site.

  She swung wide of the site to avoid inhaling the smoke and scanned the ground for any sign of her friends. And then…

  Get out of here, Eva!

  It was Hiroki’s voice in her mind but it sounded different than before. His dragon growl had found its way into his telepathic projection and she recoiled at his intensity. But she knew that if something had rattled Hiroki enough for him to sound that way the danger must be great. She dipped her head and coasted down to the hilltop.

  Hiroki was at the bottom of the slope facing a wall of fire. He was ripping the ground apart with his claws and flapping his wings furiously. The cyclone he created sent the dirt flying into the flames.

  He’s trying to put out the fire. It will never work.

  Eva scanned the site for something she could use to help Hiroki. Her black eyes landed on the metal storage container she once cowered behind to hide her nakedness. With a rush of adrenaline she scrabbled toward the container and barreled into it. It flipped onto its side, badly dented. She jumped onto the dented side and tore into the metal with her claws. In a matter of seconds she had ripped off the entire side sheet and had turned the container into a usable tool.

  I said go, Eva!

  Hiroki was still working furiously at the bottom of the hill but had turned to look up at her. There was anger in his eyes, but fear as well.

  I’m not leaving without you, Hiro!

  Eva latched onto the storage container and rolled it on its corner to dump out its contents. Then she flapped her wings and rose twenty feet above the air with the container dangling from her talons. It was heavy – a greater burden for her than the Buick had been for Billy – but her wings were strong and she was determined. She flew down the slope, dragging the open side of the container. It tore into the ground and rapidly filled with dirt.

  She pulled up and flew past Hiroki, rising to a height of fifty feet to avoid the flames still consuming the trees. Then she used all her strength to flip the container in midair and dump its contents onto the fire.

  Hiroki looked up at her and screeched happily.

  We can do this together, Hiro!

  Eva hauled the empty container back to the slope to fill it again.

  ***

  Billy hung back fifty yards as the red dragon once again flew erratically. It was due to pain this time, not strategy. When Billy tackled the red dragon out of the sky before, the violence of the impact had obviously done real damage. One of the dragon’s legs dangled haphazardly as he flew and he seemed to hold one wing close to his ribs.

  You know you can’t lose me. Where are you taking me?

  They were east of Alpine where there were no residential areas. But this patch of land was spotted with industrial complexes. There were processing plants for lumber, canneries for seafood and warehouses that could have held almost anything. At this time of night the complexes should be deserted, but Billy still drifted higher reflexively. If he caught any sight of a human on the ground, he could be in the clouds in seconds.

  The red dragon began a slow, steady descent. He was headed directly toward a junkyard littered with rusty vehicles. There were passenger vehicles, industrial vehicles and even a few boats. A two-story warehouse loomed large at the back of the yard, its sheet metal doors rolled up to give access to its dark interior.

  Billy watched the red dragon adjust his course and head straight for the warehouse. He hung back, his heart racing, as the red dragon landed awkwardly and scurried inside the building.

  This is stupid, man. You can’t go down there.

  He dipped his left wing and started to circle back the way he came, but continued the spin until he was once again flying toward the junkyard.

  Then again, this might be the best chance you ever get. While he’s hurt.

  He scanned the dark ground once again and saw no signs of human activity. He flared his nostrils hoping to pick up the odor of people, but again found nothing. The only sign he was not alone was the persistent ripple of telepathi
c energy emanating from the red dragon.

  He tucked his wings and swooped down. He cautiously landed to the side of the warehouse and looked around again. Still nothing. His talons tapped on the asphalt as he crept toward the black opening of the warehouse and stepped inside.

  ***

  The smoke was still so heavy that people could surely see it all the way in Alpine. Forest fires weren’t common in such a wet region, but the sight of so much smoke would inspire fear in town. Dozens must have called 911.

  By the time the Parks Department helicopter cut a path toward the lumber site – a half-dozen fire trucks following via winding mountain roads – the flames were already extinguished and Eva and Hiroki were miles away. They were up in the clouds above Alpine, safely out of view.

  Where did Billy go, Hiro?

  Hiroki turned his heavy head toward her. I can’t sense him.

  He had quickly told Eva all about the red dragon and she was desperately worried about Billy. He shouldn’t have chased the creature and he shouldn’t try to fight it again without Hiroki and Eva at his side. Billy’s recklessness was infuriating, but she was too scared to be truly angry with him.

  What does he think he’s going to do, Hiro? Kill the red dragon?

  Hiroki screeched. If he does he’ll be killing a person, too.

  Hiroki veered off to the north, back toward the forest road he had raced along with Billy earlier that night. He couldn’t see his Buick through the dense foliage, but he picked up the faint odor of dragon that had permanently soaked into his vehicle.

  It wasn’t yet midnight, but Hiroki felt his body readying for a transformation. He had changed because of his anger – not because of the setting sun – and it seemed the change could only last as long as his fury.

  I’m changing back… Have to get somewhere safe.