by D K Drake
“I’m no threat. Not to you or Javan. Not anymore.” Micah leaned his hands on the desk. “That’s a promise.”
Kenton crossed his arms and met Micah’s eyes. “I believe you.”
“Thank you. But you also need to believe me about that Jane or whatever her real name is.” Micah had tried all kinds of names at breakfast. None seemed to resonate with the Destroyer. “She’s a kind of threat neither one of us has ever faced before.”
“Noted.” Kenton swiveled the screen so Micah could see. “Check this out. It’s the Cubs website. You need something to think about besides that woman in the basement, and learning about the greatest team in baseball is the perfect distraction.”
◊◊◊
“Where did he go?” From the stoop in front of the church, Taliya surveyed the town looking for any sign of the little blue dragon. The streets on her right and left were lined with shops and restaurants, many of which had outdoor seating on the overcast morning. The square in front of her had lush green grass, beautiful patches of flowers, a fountain in the middle, and walkways weaving in and around the grassy area.
“Not sure,” Javan said. “I do know he’s scared and confused. He’s also extremely curious.”
A series of shrieks drew their attention to the right. Azurrior jumped from table to table at a nearby restaurant, drank out of a mug, wailed when the hot liquid burned his tongue, and swept the mug off the table with his tail.
“I guess he’s not a coffee lover,” Javan said.
They took two steps toward him when he jumped down and dashed across the street to the fountain. He splashed around and doused his tongue with water, then climbed one of the trees in the square. He perched himself on a limb, hissing and spitting at anyone who came near him.
“It’s a good thing his spit isn’t poisonous yet,” Taliya said, slowly approaching the dragon. She could see his sides heaving in and out. She wasn’t sure if he was out of breath from running or having trouble breathing due to the atmosphere. “You said he’s curious, right?”
“Yes.” Javan matched her step by step as a loud blaring noise sounded in the distance. “Why?”
“I have an idea, but you’re going to need your swords.”
“I can’t take my swords out in this public place. Hear that noise? Those are sirens. Cops are on the way. I’ll get arrested for having these weapons.”
“Not if you’re invisible.”
“Look around. People are watching us. Some might even be videoing this with their phones. I can’t disappear. Such a thing is not a regular occurrence on Earth.”
“Neither is a dragon. Talk to the little guy. Tell him what you can do. Show him. Invite him to jump on you. When he does, teleport out of here.”
“What about you? I can’t leave you behind.”
“Do you have a better plan?” Taliya didn’t want to be left behind, but her priority was ensuring the safety of Azurrior.
“No.”
“Then start talking.”
◊◊◊
As Javan strapped on his sword belt, he tried to tune into Azurrior’s thoughts. But the dragon’s thoughts were too jumbled for Javan to make any sense out of them. He whistled to calm him down. “Azurrior. Here, boy. Check this out.”
“Nothing to see here, folks,” Taliya said, addressing the crowd. “That’s my pet lizard. He’s harmless. We’ll get him out of this tree and get him home. You’re making him nervous. Can we have some space, please?”
Taliya shooed the onlookers away. While she distracted them, he spoke to Azurrior. “Busy morning, huh? I know you’re a bit overstimulated from all the things you’ve seen and experienced today. How about you come on down and let me take you home? I’ll make you a nice, soft bed, and you can relax.”
The dragon cocked his head. Home. Bed. Relax.
“Yes. Home. Bed. Relax.” He reached his arms up. The dragon stepped one claw toward Javan’s fingers when a drop of rain pelted the dragon in the eye.
He panicked and walked closer to the trunk. He hid under some leaves to escape the raindrops.
“It’s just rain. No big deal. I can keep you dry.”
Too wet. Can’t jump.
“I can do something that will help you forget about the rain.” He really didn’t want to use his swords, but a police car pulled up and an officer got out. People were pointing him in Javan’s direction. “Check this out.” He touched his invisibility sword. Disappeared. Let go. Reappeared.
You gone. Came back.
“I can make you disappear, too.”
“Javan, what’s taking so long? That soldier is almost here.”
“Come on, Azurrior. Let’s disappear.”
“Perdon, senor and senorita,” the officer said. “¿Qué tipo de mascota estás dejando aterrorizar a nuestra ciudad”
“What did he say?” Taliya asked. “Is that some kind of weird Earth English?”
“It’s Spanish,” Javan said, “and I don’t understand it. I do understand that we need to go. Azurrior, jump. Now!” The dragon leapt into the air but didn’t clear the tree. He knocked his head on a branch, and Javan caught his limp body. His free hand hovered over his teleporting sword. If he saved the dragon, he would lose Taliya. But if he didn’t save the dragon, she would hate him forever.
“Go, Javan,” she urged. “Please.”
“I have a better idea.” With his decision made, he handed the unconscious dragon to Taliya, wrapped his fingers around her elbow, drew his invisibility sword, and led them all right past the confused officer.
Chapter 44
The Bite of Life
“Y
ou’re telling me that people’s jobs are to play this game?” Micah pulled back from the computer screen after scrolling through the names and statistics of the players on the Cubs baseball team. He had trouble believing that people played games, much less that they were assigned to play them as work.
“Not just this game,” Kenton said. “Basketball. Football. Hockey. Soccer. The list goes on and on. There’s an entire industry known as professional sports. Before your father took the throne, we had sports in Zandador.”
“No. That can’t be true. I’ve never learned about that in the history books.”
“Your father rewrote history to take out what he didn’t like and added what he wanted people to believe. Why else do you think he has made an effort to eliminate everyone in his generation and those older than him?”
“He’s made no such effort. People just don’t live as long anymore.”
“You are naïve.”
Kenton’s phone rang. “It’s Javan. I’ll put him on speaker.” He placed the phone on his desk and hit a button. “Hey, my boy. How are the dragons? The pink egg hatch?”
“Oh, he hatched. Can’t really chat right now. In a bit of a bind. I need Luisa’s number ASAP.”
“I can send that to you. What’s going on?”
“I’m sure someone has uploaded a video to YouTube by now. Do a search for ‘strange animal in La Fortuna’ or ‘disappearing boy’ and you’ll get caught up pretty quick. That number please?”
“I’ll text it to you. Call me back as soon as you can talk.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
The phone made a buzzing sound. Kenton hit a red button, moved his thumbs around on the screen, and tossed his phone back on the desk.
“What’s YouTube?” asked Micah.
“This.” He pounded on the keyboard and brought up a video like on the big television screen. Only this video showed a tiny blue dragon creating havoc on tables and climbing a tree. Once in the tree, Javan and Taliya appeared. They talked to each other and to the dragon. Their voices were too muffled to be heard clearly.
“This is bad,” Kenton said. “Why did they allow that dragon to run rampant in a public place and get it all caught on camera?”
Then Javan vanished and reappeared. Kenton leaned forward. “Weird glitch.”
A moment later, the dragon jumped out of the tree
. Javan caught it, gave it to Taliya, and they all vanished. Kenton hit the side of the computer. “There’s that glitch again. But the video is still rolling. Did they all just disappear?”
“Hmm,” Micah said. “I wonder if Javan made them all invisible or if he teleported them away.”
Kenton laughed. “That’s crazy.”
“No. It’s not. Those swords Javan has? They give him those abilities.”
“Fascinating.” Kenton played the video for them again and again, laughing with delight every time Javan disappeared.
◊◊◊
Taliya cradled Azurrior in her arms while Javan talked to Luisa. They made it several blocks away from the main square before finding a dry spot to hide on the patio of a hotel room. Javan had yet to let go of her elbow, so they were still invisible. She just hoped no one walked by because their invisibility did not make their voices inaudible.
Javan knew that, so she knew he wouldn’t be able to yell or put up much of an argument when she told him her plan. She stroked the back of the dragon and hummed until Javan hung up.
“Luisa’s on her way. She’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll wait, but you have to go.”
“No. I’m not leaving without you.”
“You should have left without me back in the square. Now all three of us are in danger. What’s worse is that Azurrior is hurt. His breathing is slowing. I’m not sure if that’s because he was knocked unconscious or if he’s having a reaction to the atmosphere. If that’s the case, he needs medicine, and he can have it within the next five minutes if you just teleport back to Luisa.”
“Let me try teleporting you, too.”
“It didn’t work in Keckrick. Why would it work here?”
“Because I’ve had more practice since then.” Javan finally released her elbow, drew his teleporting sword, and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders. “Just think about Luisa’s garden.”
“Fine.” She closed her eyes and imagined herself standing in the garden. She saw the spot where the bullet ants bit her. She shuddered at the memory of the pain.
“You okay?”
Opening her eyes, she saw they were still on the hotel patio. “We didn’t go anywhere.”
“I realize that. Let me try again.”
She ducked away from his arm and placed the delicate dragon in his free hand. “Try again with just you and him.” She stared at him until he relented.
“Uh. Okay. Luisa will be here in her car. Just lay low and wait for her until she gets here.”
“I’ll wait, but don’t let her leave until she gives Azurrior some of her special dragon medicine. Now go.” She stepped back, and Javan teleported with the unconscious baby dragon.
Suddenly she was alone. On an empty street. In an unfamiliar dimension.
She should be nervous and terrified and upset that she couldn’t be there to protect Azurrior, but what she really felt was…excitement. This was her chance to explore a little piece of Earth, and she loved exploring new places.
◊◊◊
Javan heard a car rumbling away as soon as he appeared in the midst of Luisa’s garden. “Great. Missed her.” Javan fumbled for his phone, called Luisa, and asked her to return. In the meantime, he walked through the garden looking for Varjiek and Skylark.
When he couldn’t find them, he assumed Luisa must have sent them off to a safe place to hunt for their meal. Starshade, however, rose from her bed of hay and wandered over to him. Maybe this would be the day he could communicate with her. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”
She yawned. Her tail curled and uncurled. Her eyes threw him a bored look.
“I get it,” he said. He couldn’t read her thoughts, but he could read her body language. “You’re tired of being cooped up in this fenced garden. Well, now that this guy has hatched, we can go home to Zandador. Starshade, meet Azurrior.”
He knelt and presented the dragon to Starshade. The lifeless dragon. Azurrior had stopped breathing!
“He’s dead. No, no, no. He can’t be dead. Breathe, little man, breathe!” Javan attempted to give the dragon mouth to mouth. He tried chest compressions next. “It’s not working. He’s dead, and it’s all my fault. Taliya. She’s never going to forgive me for this.”
In the midst of Javan’s breakdown, Starshade nudged Azurrior. Her gentleness touched Javan’s heart. “Maybe you can help me break the news to Taliya.” Starshade looked at him. Shook her head no. And bit Azurrior’s tail.
“Whoa!” Javan jumped to his feet and pulled Azurrior to his chest. “Where did that come from? Why did you do that?”
Hello again. Azurrior’s wet nose brushed Javan’s chin. My head hurts. My tail stings. I’m tired.
Starshade stuck her own wet nose in the air, swished her tail around, and walked back toward the house with a “that’s how it’s done” prance.
Javan gave her an approving nod and was glad he couldn’t read her thoughts. She was probably berating him for being an overly emotional human.
Chapter 45
Damage Control
Micah leaned on the desk and lowered his chin to his chest. Kenton had been mumbling to himself for the last twenty minutes as he watched the video over and over again. Micah had every sound in the video memorized, including pieces of Javan and Taliya’s conversation. “How many more times are you going to watch that thing?”
“Until I can unsee what I’m seeing. How could Javan let a dragon be captured on video? I’ve been here for fifteen years with two full-grown dragons and have never had any public encounters. Well, I was almost exposed once, but I made the story go away. The point is that he’s been here for three days, and a video of his baby dragon is on the brink of going viral.”
“Forget the dragon problem,” Micah said. “No one is going to mistake that blue creature for a dragon. I’m not even sure it’s a dragon. Taliya even calls it a lizard at one point.”
“Huh. Good observation. But how do you solve the problem of Javan’s disappearing act? If you listen to the murmurs of the people we can’t see, they’re more awed by the fact he vanishes. If he or Taliya ever reappear, they’ll be recognized, questioned, and possibly detained.”
“That wouldn’t be good for the dragons.” He tried not to be happy about being stuck on Earth knowing the baby dragons wouldn’t survive much longer in this atmosphere, but he was in no hurry to return to Zandador.
“What if they’ve already gotten to him? That could be why I haven’t heard from him yet.”
“Doesn’t that phone work both ways? Can’t you call him?”
“Another good observation. You are on fire today.”
A series of thumps interrupted Kenton’s praise parade. Micah frowned. “You hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“I’m not sure.” Micah walked down the hall and into the kitchen. A door creaked open and closed beneath him. “It can’t be.” But it was. Looking through the kitchen window, Micah observed the Destroyer walking away from the house.
“Is that our girl?” Kenton approached the window. “How did she get out of that locked room?”
“You can’t blame my knot-tying ability this time.” Micah narrowed his eyes as she traipsed down the hill. “Where is she going?”
“It looks like she’s heading to the big barn. That’s where I keep my fancy cars and my fancier weapons.” Kenton gripped the windowsill. “And Silverspike.”
“You’re telling me that a Dragon Destroyer is headed toward your dragon where you keep weapons that could destroy that dragon?”
The men paused and stared at each other. They bolted for the back door at the same time.
◊◊◊
Taliya decided she needed to get one of the small plastic things she noticed people use when they wanted to trade for food, clothes, or a variety items on display in shops around town. She was also fascinated by the other language she heard people speaking.
Thanks to her book training, she knew other languages existed.
Hearing one spoken fascinated her. She wanted to learn how to speak this Spanish language as well. Perhaps Luisa knew it and could teach her.
She wandered in and out of shops in an effort to stay dry and not bring attention to herself. Which was hard. She wanted to talk to everyone around her. She wanted to find out about their world, about them. Alas, she had to do the hardest thing in the world to her: remain quiet.
With a sigh, she put her head down and started back toward the hotel. If Luisa wasn’t there yet, she would be soon.
She was about to make the turn onto the hotel’s street when a uniformed woman stopped her. She spoke a string of words in Spanish. When Taliya didn’t respond, she said, “English?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the girl who disappeared from the square.” The woman’s English had the same sort of accent as Luisa’s, but this woman spoke with more polish. “How did you pull off that vanishing act?”
She held up her hands. “The vanishing thing wasn’t me.”
“It was the boy, then. Where is he? And where is that strange blue animal?”
“That I’m not going to be able to answer.” Taliya waved. “Gotta go.”
She turned and ran away from the street where she needed to be and into an alley that she didn’t recognize.
◊◊◊
Micah peered in through the tiny window on the door of the barn. Shelves decorated the wall on the right. They held an assortment of guns from big to small and lots of sizes in between. The Destroyer was walking up and down the wall, studying the guns.
“How many guns do you have in there?” Micah whispered, ducking down.
“Thirty-two.” Kenton shrugged. “I like to hunt and shoot.”
“Can any of those guns kill a dragon?”
