Dragon Dilemma

by Mell Eight

  Mercury dried his hands when the dishes were clean and dripping in the drying rack and then headed out of the kitchen and upstairs. There was a nice seating area in between the two wings of the house that overlooked the large front window. He could see the front lawn and a fair ways down the driveway from that vantage. 'Ron, Chrome, and Alloy followed, settling into the couch on either side of him. Kendra was already there, sitting in a cozy armchair with a book propped open on her knee. She seemed utterly unconcerned with what was going on. Mercury was straining his eyes to try and see further, but the edge of the wards was out of sight of the house. He wouldn't be able to see Dane or the kits unless they took to the air. That didn't stop him from looking, though.

  It was another very long ten minutes before Mercury saw anything. He recognized Dane, Nickel, Copper, and Zinc immediately. He didn't recognize the three people walking with them. Everyone was picking their way through the snow-covered driveway. When they reached the partially cleared area near the spell circle, Mercury could begin to make out expressions. Dane and Nickel were tense, but not upset, which meant the newcomers were definitely a threat, albeit not an immediate one. They weren't being coerced or forced into allowing the visitors into Dane's territory—not that Dane could be forced—but Mercury didn't see any signs of distress.

  He abandoned the couch and hurried downstairs to the front door. Mercury pulled it open and stepped onto the front stoop. Magic tingled along his fingertips as he studied the visitors. The man in front, walking next to Dane, was very dark skinned, especially against the white glare of the snow, and well over six feet tall. He didn't seem to even notice Nickel stalking behind him. That was a mistake as far as Mercury was concerned, but it could also mean he was powerful enough that he didn't feel he had to worry about Nickel.

  The other two visitors were walking with Zinc and Copper. The woman was chatting happily with Zinc. Her hair was almost as blonde as Dane's, but it looked like a good dye job to Mercury rather than her natural color. She was short, maybe only five feet, but it was hard to guess after gauging the first man's significant height. The third person was a man. He was round and genial looking at first glance. A second glance revealed his hard eyes and firm chin beneath a layer of fat. Copper was sticking close to him.

  It didn't take long for them to reach Mercury. Dane stepped to the side so he could see everybody and make introductions.

  "Mercury, this is Henri," Dane said with a wave to the tall black man. "He controls the territory to the south of me and lives in New Orleans."

  "Don't bite him," Lumie added sternly as he stepped out from behind Henri. All the visitors jumped in surprise, even the ones who should have been able to see Lumie hiding behind Henri's back. Lumie could literally be holding Mercury's hand and Mercury wouldn't know he was there unless Lumie wanted him to. The visitors were getting a crash course on Lumie's quirks right from the start. Mercury caught Nickel rolling his eyes at Lumie, but he wasn't surprised in the least. "He's got something weird in his skin that will make you sick."

  Henri was the first to control his surprised expression. His face slid into a wide grin as he looked down at Lumie. Mercury could see that his canines came to unnaturally sharp points. It was still daylight so Henri wasn't a vampire, but he had to be something similar.

  "That's probably very true, Lumie," Dane agreed quickly before Henri could say something. "This is Jessica. She controls the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. And this is William. He controls Canada."

  Mercury wanted to ask if Dane meant all of Canada as that was an awful lot of territory for one man to control, but the cold look in William's eyes told Mercury that William didn't share well. Lumie slipped between Mercury and Dane and went inside.

  "Hi, Grandma!" Mercury could hear Lumie yell.

  "Keep your voice down inside." The door opened wider and Kendra stepped out.

  Henri had been about to step up onto the front stoop and follow Lumie into the house. He froze in place with his leg in the air and stared with his mouth open at Kendra. He had apparently run into her before.

  "Get inside before we all freeze to death," Kendra snapped. Henri obeyed with alacrity and everyone else followed just as quickly. Mercury was the last one inside, and he closed the door behind him.

  Mercury had seen how cautious Dane was being around Kendra and now he had evidence that she scared the other territory leaders as well. Just how powerful was she? Mercury would have to ask Dane if they had a moment of free time that night.

  He followed everyone into the entranceway where Nickel, Copper, and Zinc were helping everyone with their coats, and couldn't help worrying. Kendra, plus three other unknown territory leaders who had come to visit for some mysterious reason, were all under the same roof as his kits. Something bad was bound to happen; it was inevitable. Mercury would just have to somehow ensure that Dane and all their kits came out unscathed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Dane didn't know what to expect as he hurried towards the edge of his wards. The booming sound that had come from the area near where the wards intersected with the driveway had almost sounded like polite knocking, but it could just as easily have been from someone trying their own strength against his. Dane wasn't willing to take a chance that it was the enemy instead of a friend and neither were the kits at his back.

  Zinc had shifted into dragon shape. She was the furthest back. While her power over the wind was certainly strong, it also made her really fast. Zinc always took on the role of lookout and if it seemed that Dane needed extra firepower she was the one to run to get Mercury. The wind bolstered her wings until it was impossible to keep up with her. She stayed as far away from the fighting as possible to keep her escape route to Mercury's side clear.

  Next in line was Copper. He had fought before and done well for himself, plus he trained fairly often against Nickel. Their fire and water powers canceled each other out strongly enough that they didn't do too much damage to Dane's lawn and they both learned a lot about fighting by squaring off against their magical opposites. Copper knew his role was back up. If he was needed, he would jump in to help, but otherwise he was just there to bolster the numbers fighting at Dane's side. Luckily Copper and Zinc had practiced this maneuver before and they knew their roles well enough that they wouldn't interfere with each other and restart their ongoing feud.

  Closest to Dane was Nickel, the one dragon kit Dane trusted at his side in a fight. The rest were certainly trustworthy enough, but Nickel could handle himself. Dane didn't need to worry about Nickel like he would about Copper if Copper felt the need to jump in.

  Dane had moved the edge of the wards as far into the forest as he dared after the enemy scientists had attacked the last time. His mistake at that time had been allowing the wards to be close enough to his house that anyone could stand outside the wards—and therefore outside of his magical awareness—and see his house and its occupants clearly. Now the wards were more than far enough away that no one could get a clear glimpse of his house from the edge, although the winter-bare trees did make it a bit easier to see than Dane would have liked.

  He sucked magic into his body as they walked, filling his reserves slowly. Those reserves were nearly bottomless, so it took a lot of effort to fill them. He shouldn't have any problem defeating whoever was on the other side of those wards with what he had stored. However, it didn't hurt to be extra prepared.

  They passed the spell circle that allowed Daisy and anyone else keyed to his wards entrance and moved from the snowball fight mussed drive to the completely unplowed portion. It was harder to walk through the piled snow, but Dane didn't let their pace slow. The driveway vanished into the cover of the trees as they followed it. Dane kept a careful watch on his surroundings. He hadn't felt anyone breach his wards, but it was always better to be careful in case of an ambush.

  After another few minutes of wading through the snow, the wards came into view. Dane could see three people standing patiently on the other side. He didn't fee
l any magic in the air around them, nor did they appear to be waiting to attack. As Dane and the kits finally walked close enough that Dane could make out facial features, Dane understood why.

  Henri, Jessica, and William each controlled one of the territories directly adjacent to Dane's. He had never seen Jessica in person before, but he recognized her from pictures. She had only taken control of her territory seven years ago and had therefore missed the meeting of territory leaders that occurred every ten years. None of the three of them would have come to Dane's house inside Dane's own territory for a simple social visit, so something must be up. Dane whispered that fact to Nickel, Copper, and Zinc, who nodded to acknowledge they understood, and then Dane plastered on a welcoming smile.

  "It's been almost ten years!" he called across the wards when he had gotten close enough. "There's another few years until the next conclave of territory leaders. I hadn't expected to see any of you until then."

  It wasn't a question, but he also wasn't being rhetorical. Henri was the one who smiled, echoing Dane's own plastered-on welcoming grin, and answered.

  "Something has come up that we felt we needed to speak with you about at once," Henri explained, sounding as genial as Dane had. "We thought it best to come to you instead of forcing you to travel away from home and your family."

  "I see," Dane said slowly. He couldn't help thinking that the chance to see Dane's family might have been the real reason they had decided to come to Dane instead of setting up a meeting in a more neutral location. Dane forced away that thought to prevent his smile from turning into a frown; he didn't want his visitors to know he might be onto their scheme. "Well, I certainly don't want you to stay out in the cold. Please follow me to my house." He waved his hand at the wards. He didn't need the gesture for his magic to work, but it was always good not to give a potential enemy too much insight into how his powers functioned.

  He opened a hole in the wards that was just large enough for all three people to step through, and once they were on the other side, Dane made certain the wards were closed and secure again.

  "This way," Dane added as he turned to lead the way to his house. Everyone fell into step behind Dane, following him through the snow. Nickel chose to stick close to Henri, which meant something had indicated to Nickel that Henri was the most dangerous one of the three. Zinc and Jessica started chatting almost immediately. Dane had no idea how girls were able to do that, although Valerie, Mercury's work partner, wasn't nearly as talkative. Copper stuck sullenly close to an equally stoic William.

  It was interesting that Nickel had chosen Henri to keep a close eye on. Dane would have pegged William as the most dangerous of the three. He controlled all of Canada, not just one or two provinces, and a man didn't run that much territory without the power to back it up. Not everyone had an almost unlimited store of power like Dane did. Dane's territory was his because there wasn't anyone willing to or capable of challenging him over it. For other territory leaders, keeping control was often about being more brutal than their opponents as much as it was being stronger. William was definitely more brutal than Henri, but Dane trusted Nickel's judgment.

  It didn't take long to retrace his steps back towards the house. They crossed the line where the driveway had been cleared before the snowball fight had destroyed it. The front door opened as they approached and Mercury stepped into view. Dane was still smiling, but it gained a touch of sincerity at the sight of his mate. Introductions were made and everyone trooped into the house.

  There were kits everywhere. 'Ron was sticking close to Mother's side, talking a mile a minute even as Mother was tucking the book she had been holding into the bag she had left by the door.

  "Nice place," Jessica said after a long glance around the entrance hall. After Mercury shattered the windows five years ago when enemies had attacked them, Dane replaced them with stained-glass dragons flying through the sky. The kits hadn't managed to break them yet, so it was a glorious sight. Dane loved the new windows and was glad to see Jessica did too. She controlled one of the smallest territories in North America and everything he had heard about her made her seem like a fairly easygoing territory leader. She was still a leader, though, so he couldn't discount her just because she seemed to be a bit friendlier than the other two.

  "Chrome," Mercury called. Chrome froze mid step—he and Alloy had started a game of chase once it became clear there wasn't going to be any fighting—and turned to look at Mercury with a slightly guilty look in his eyes. "Have you finished cleaning your room?" Mercury finished with a lifted eyebrow.

  Chrome whined, but he didn't argue. He tromped up the stairs and vanished around the corner.

  "Zinc, Copper, 'Ron, Lumie, Alloy, please come help me make up three more rooms for our guests." The kits sighed heavily, but stopped whatever they were doing to follow Mercury upstairs. Alloy followed with his own whine when Nickel gave him a gentle shove towards the stairs. That left Dane, Nickel, and Mother with their three guests.

  "Can I get anyone something warm to drink?" Dane asked. He led the way through the house, everyone following along behind him, and held open the door to the dining room. It had been cleaned up from lunch while he was gone.

  "Tea for me," Mother said immediately.

  "That sounds fine," William agreed. He was shrugging out of his heavy, fur-lined coat. He hung it from the back of an empty chair and then sat in the chair next to it.

  "And for me, thanks." Jessica also hung up her grey pea coat. Henri hadn't bothered to dress for the weather and also didn't bother answering.

  "I'll get it and be right in," Mercury said as he stepped into the doorway behind them, no doubt having hurried back downstairs once the kits were safely settled. He vanished again, so Dane took his seat at the head of the table. Nickel took his usual seat to Dane's left; he wasn't going to give it up to Mother during a meeting. Mother didn't even bat an eyebrow, instead simply walking further around the table and taking the chair at the foot.

  Mercury returned with a teapot and enough cups for everyone. He had only grabbed teabags, which made Mother huff, but William and Jessica seemed happy enough. Henri didn't take anything, but Dane didn't mind holding the warm cup as his fingers were still slightly chilled from the long walk to the edge of his wards and back.

  Dane waited until everyone who was having tea was set and Mercury had settled into his chair across from Nickel, then turned to look at Henri and William.

  "Why are you here?" Dane asked. He was trying to sound cautiously curious. He didn't want to give away the fact that he was concerned, although having three territory leaders appear at his house unannounced would cause concern for anyone.

  "You should know," Jessica insisted when no one else spoke for a few long moments. "This thing you're doing with the dragons is encroaching on our territory. You can do whatever you want inside your own territory, but the second you started messing around with ours, we took notice. When I realized you were encroaching on more than just my territory I contacted Henri, who had some concerns of his own already. We spoke with William and made the decision that all three of us should speak to you. We made certain we could leave our territory for a few days and headed here."

  "How have I encroached on any of your territories?" Dane asked, honestly confused. He had an open policy that any dragons in need could come to him for help, but he had never crossed territory lines. The enemy scientists that were kitnapping dragons in the wild and conducting cruel experiments on them didn't discriminate on location. Mercury had taken down three labs—the water, earth, and fire labs—outside of Dane's territory before coming east to Dane to find the air dragon lab. Together they had succeeded in shutting down the air lab and had brought the matter to the attention of people in high places who could really help shut down those scientists. Mercury now worked for one of those agencies: the Federal Bureau of Supernatural Investigations, also known as the SupFeds. On occasion, he and the SupFeds did travel outside Dane's territories. Dane didn't even consult with the
SupFeds whenever that happened because he didn't want to be seen as overstepping.

  Jessica let out a little snort of laughter. "The first one I noticed was when Mercury Chicago disdained the leader of his own territory to instead travel here to you."

  Jessica's territory included Chicago, where Mercury was originally from and how he had gotten his last name, so she was talking about herself. Apparently she had been offended by Mercury's choice of coming to Dane instead of her. At the same time, Jessica didn't have the reputation for helping people that Dane did. Those who had only heard of what his powers could do called him the Genie of the East. He was known as the Supernatural Consultant by anyone who knew about his consulting firm. Mercury had come to him because he had heard of him and had hoped that Dane would be able to help. Jessica might be the leader of her territory, but she didn't have anything close to Dane's reputation. He was proud of what he had accomplished since he had earned his reputation thanks to a lot of hard work. Jessica's only reputation was her role as leader of her territory and Dane thought she sounded a bit jealous of him.

  "That's only one aspect of our issue," Henri continued. "Certainly I've had a number of my own people turn to you instead of me, which is quite infuriating, but worse is the moment you physically overstepped the boundaries of your territory."

  "When have I ever done that?" Dane asked incredulously. He certainly couldn't think of a time he had left his territory without first being welcomed by the person whose territory he was visiting.

  "The warehouse you destroyed was on my side of the Chesapeake Bay," Henri snarled.

  Dane couldn't help being surprised at the level of vehemence in Henri's voice. He sounded incensed that Dane had dared to take out the lab where air dragons had been cruelly confined and experimented on. Dane constructed a mental map of his territory lines and placed that warehouse on the map. The border was a straight east-west line, but the Chesapeake Bay curved in a north-south direction, which meant large portions were in Dane's territory and other portions were part of Henri's territory.