“How long will it take to get to your home?”
“A couple more days. If the air currents are with us, maybe sooner. How did ye handle the cold up there, lad?”
“I’m glad you warned me. I would have frozen to death if you hadn’t.”
“Aye, I have to go higher than normal to go over the Ural mountain range. Ye lucky we didnae go over the Alps. The rest of our journey won’t be so bad. At least until we get to Scotland, tis always cold there, even on the ground. Time to rest, lad.” With that said, Lazarus got as comfortable as he could and tried to sleep.
Lukar thought about everything Lazarus had told him.
“Lazarus, I have one last question and I’ll leave you to rest. Is he a dragon?”
“Aye lad.”
“You said you were the only one.”
“I will be after I find him.” In his heart, he hoped to find his brothers and sister and wouldn’t be the only one.
*****
They spent three more days traveling before finally arriving in Scotland. The winds blew, and the rain came down in torrents. Flying over the North Sea worried Lukar. If Lazarus faltered, he would drown in the sea. They both might drown unless his dragon was a good swimmer. Lukar was extremely glad to get back on solid ground.
Lukar stayed with Lazarus in Scotland for several months. He enjoyed exploring Castle Thighearn. The foundation of the castle was started in 250 A.D. on top of the cliffs. It was built as a first defense to fight off invasions from the north. Secret tunnels were bored by dragon fire through the rock beneath the castle to store the dragon’s treasure. Lukar was given the rare privileged to visit the dragon’s hoard and swore a pledge never to reveal its existence or location.
Lazarus showed him where he could go on the moors and how to watch out for pit falls. Many people over the years have gone out on the moors and never returned. Lukar and Lazarus would go out on the moors so Lukar could let out his tiger. Lazarus would fly high above and watch for anyone who might see him. He would fly so high, he looked like a bird in the sky, but his eye sight was so sharp, he could see a mouse on the ground. He very seldom flew over the moors for fear of his enemy discovering him.
Lukar spent time with Michael MacGregor, the grounds keeper, whenever Lazarus left for places unknown. He learned about the livestock, cows and sheep. He knew about horses, but the horses Laird MacEachthighearna raised were massive. They were originally raised to carry a warrior dressed in chain mail and armor, carrying a halberd and broad sword. They were the best, bred horses in the United Kingdom. His father, Laird Eichthighearn, whose name meant horse lord, started the breed hundreds of years before.
Lukar learned how to shear sheep and milk cows. His father would faint if he knew what his son was doing. In all the years he lived at home, he never once visited any of the farmers around his father’s kingdom. He enjoyed it. It was down to earth. He liked getting his hands dirty and working hard. He never realized until then, how pampered he had been. If his younger brother was going to be the next King, he needed to get out and work with the people of the kingdom and learn what life was really like.
The day finally came, it was time to move on. Lazarus and Lukar were getting restless. They sat at breakfast discussing what they might do
“Ye said you wanted to visit America. Do you know where ye would like to start?”
“New York City, I guess. Are you going to join me? I’d love to have the company. We can be lost tourists together in the big city.”
“Aye, I think I might.” Lazarus chuckled. “Everything here will be fine without me for a while. I’ll book us a flight out of Glasgow. My dragon could fly it, but ye’d never make it. I’d have to fly north to the Arctic circle. It’s too cold even for me. Breathing air that cold puts out my inner fire.”
“Cold air can put out your fire? Wow, I wouldn’t think it was possible. How does that work?” Lukar asked.
“If my dragon gets too cold, I don’t have enough inner heat to spark my liquid fire.”
“Liquid, I thought it was a gas.”
“Nay, lad. There are sacks just behind my wings. As I shift, they start filling up with a flammable liquid. The liquid alone can be just as deadly as my fire. Don’t ever let a dragon spit on ye. If ah dinnae light the liquid, it can build up and be fatal for me.”
“But, I’ve never seen you breathe fire.” Lukar had spent a lot of time with Lazarus while he was a dragon.
“Have ah never showed you my invisible flame. Ah release my fire without lighting up everything around me. I don’t think about it, it’s something ah always done, ah must be inconspicuous, I’ll show you next time ah shift. The fire is just as hot as it is when you can see it, but I can control it better.”
“Lazarus, can you make fire when you’re not a dragon?”
“Aye, lad, but I don’t like to. It’s dangerous, it can backfire on me. I must keep some of the liquid fire inside me, but not for a long period of time. The liquid can poison me if it stays inside too long. If I ever tell you I need milk, that’s the reason. I never drink milk any other time, I hate the stuff.”
“Is there anything else that can harm you?”
“Silver. Shackles made of silver can keep me from shifting. Quicksilver will kill me.”
“Quicksilver, you mean liquid mercury?”
“Aye. In the old days, our enemies would dip their weapons in it. If it didn’t kill its intended target, it rendered them unable to ever shift again.”
“Wow, I’m glad it’s no longer readily available.”
“Somewhere in this world, there is an enemy who would do me in, lad, if he could. It is why no one can know my dragon exists, at least not until I am absolutely sure my kin no longer live.” Lazarus never gave up. “Five hundred years I have searched for my bairns. I know in my dragon heart they are still alive.”
“Well, my very tall friend, if there is anything I can do to help, I will.” Lukar made an oath. “Now, what shall we do about New York City?”
Chapter 5
Twenty-five years later.
Lazarus and Luke sat on Luke’s patio. They enjoyed a beer while they talked.
“Were you able to hook up with Bill Robertson to get the backpack made?” Bill Robertson and his friend John McCormick made specially designed backpacks for shifters.
“Aye. It was an interesting endeavor.”
“Where did you go? You couldn’t very well shift in his shop or his front yard.
“He borrowed a friend’s airplane hangar. It worked well. He thought I was exaggerating, he wasn’t expecting me to be so big. I gave him fair warning.” Lazarus stopped to drink some beer then laughed. “He had to get a bigger measuring tape.”
“I wish I had been there.” Luke laughed. “I would have loved to see the look on his face. Mack, too.”
“Aye, they were both at a loss for words. It didn’t take long for them to set to work. They even offered to make it free of charge, if I let their mates come to see me. How could I refuse.”
“You didn’t.” Luke laughed again.
“I did. I even took them up.”
“The girls, too?”
“Aye, the girls, too. I gave them a gentle ride. I let them go up together. Mack and Bill, now that’s a different story. I gave them a ride they’ll not soon forget. I think Bill might still be looking for his stomach in the Sierra Nevada mountains.” They both had a good laugh.
“Bill told me, he always wondered why I didn’t shift to get myself out of the crevice I was stuck in when we were there on that case last year. I told him I can’t be invisible until after I shift. I couldn’t take the risk of being seen. He understood. Of course, being on your team, he always thought I was some kind of cat.”
“Most people do.” Luke remarked.
They sat for some time, not talking.
“You’re restless my friend. Has there been anything new from home?” Luke asked.
“I huvnae heard a thing in a long while. Something is up, Luke.
I have a gut feeling I’m getting close and my enemy is laying low. I know he’s hiding somewhere north of Scotland, but how can he go so long without making a mistake.”
“Is it not the same with you as it is with him. You have been very careful not to reveal yourself. You have never said who you think it is you are trying to find and it’s not my business to ask. It seems the two of you are very much alike.”
When Luke and Lazarus first met twenty-five years earlier, Laz didn’t know Luke well enough to let him know all the details of his enemy.
They had gone their separate ways a couple of years after coming to America but kept in touch and stayed friends. Luke went in the military and joined Special Forces where he built an elite squad of shifters. After fifteen years, he retired and joined the FBI. His reputation followed him and was given free rein to build a special shifter squad within the agency.
Lazarus became a fireman in New York City and was one of the best. Fire was the one thing he never feared. His Irish fire chief claimed Lazarus carried a lucky charm in his pocket and had a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. He was so good at what he did, he was put in charge of his own arson investigation unit.
After Luke joined the agency, he contacted Laz and asked him to come work with him. He didn’t have to ask twice. Luke and Lazarus never let on to anyone how long they had known each other, not even Luke’s wife, Paula. Now, after working together for ten years, and the subject of his past had come up, he felt it was time to tell him.
*****
“Aye, we knew each other. The son of one of my father’s closest friends. We played together when we were young and trained under the same weapons master. When his father died, he became Laird of his home. He was foolish and lost his inheritance. He came to me wanting a loan to save his home. He didn’t have the guts to ask me father and I had yet to accumulate any wealth. He wanted me to take from my father what was not mine to take. I saw how he spent, he had a sickness for gambling, women and whiskey. He had no intention of saving the family home, he was too far in debt.” He stopped and sipped his beer.
“He betrayed you and joined your enemies because you wouldn’t help him. Do you think he helped them come ashore the night your parents were killed?” Luke already knew what the answer was going to be.
“Aye, I’m sure he brought them ashore. It had to be someone who knew the dangers of our northern coast. They’re not exactly friendly shores. He must have been looking for my father’s treasure while the rest of us were fighting and come across my siblings. My brothers knew him well and I’m sure they thought he could be trusted and went with him willingly.”
“Do you think he knows you are looking for him?”
“Aye, if he thought I was dead, he would have come out of hiding a long time ago. He knows it will be a fight to the death when the time comes.”
“How do you know it’s him?”
Lazarus reached inside his shirt and pulled out a medallion on a gold chain around his neck. “This belonged to him, he never removed it. I found it in the hallway were my siblings were hiding, the chain was broken. The only way it could have gotten there is because he was there. I have carried it with me since that day.”
“Laz, why won’t you let the agency help. We have resources and the manpower to help you search.”
“Aye, and what do you tell them when they encounter a dragon that can turn them into a pile of ash with one breath? Besides, you know you cannae use the agency for personal use, plus it’s out of the country.”
“Yeah, I know, but should something happen, we’ll be there for you, all of us, with or without the agency.” Luke wanted to help his friend and knew his hands were tied when it came to the FBI.
“I appreciate that. I think I’ll have to take a leave this time, if it’s alright.” In the past, Lazarus used vacation and sick time to go home a couple of times a year. “Something tells me I’m very close and I want to get this done. I can’t let it go on any longer. If I do not return, I have arranged for you to become temporary Laird of Castle Thighearn and all that is within. You are the only one I know who will protect it from my enemies. It would be a great insult to me if my enemy not only killed me but got my home and wealth as well.”
Lazarus had no heirs that he knew of. If he lost the battle against his enemy, he would not leave the estate to his siblings, if they still lived. He refused to allow any loop holes his enemy could use to wriggle into the family home. If they were both to die, and his siblings survived, they would inherit the family estate.
He had arranged to leave everything to Lucian, Lukar’s new born son in the event, no one was left. He knew Prince Lukar would be riled at his son inheriting the estate. Lukar had every right to refuse, but he couldn’t refuse for his son. Only the solicitors were aware of how the will was written.
“I don’t want your fucking hoard, I want my friend. If things get that bad, you had better let me know, damn it. You get yourself killed, I’ll come and find you and kick your rotting corpse from one end of Scotland to the other. I will never let your soul rest, and that’s a promise.”
Lazarus let out a booming laugh. “Aye, I believe you would.” Laz tossed him a packet. “That is everything you will need to settle my affairs if I dinnae return.”
Luke tossed it back. “I refuse to accept.”
“Fine, I’ll give it to your wife. She is a fine woman. I am sure she would appreciate a castle full of gold.” Paula came out to the patio. She had just put their baby to bed. She had given birth the end of February to a healthy baby boy. They named him Lucian Lazarus Adamokus.
“What was that about gold?” she asked.
“Nothing sweetheart.” He turned to Laz. “Give me the damn packet. The least I can do is keep it safe.” He whispered so Paula wouldn’t hear.
“You’ll do more than that if I dinnae come back.” He replied quietly, then in a normal voice he continued. “Paula, I thank you for your hospitality. I’ll be going away for a while. Some unfinished business has come up and I must attend to it. I will have to depend on you to keep Lukar out of trouble.”
“I will.” She went to Lazarus and gave him a hug. “And you do the same, stay out of trouble. I will miss you. Will you be gone for very long?”
“It is hard to say, but I’ll try to be done quickly and return.” He kissed her forehead. “Take care of the wee laddie. I must be going. I have a flight in the morning and need to put the rest of my affairs in order.”
Paula didn’t like the sound of that. “You sound like you don’t plan to return. Is everything alright?” She looked back and forth from Luke to Lazarus.
“Everything is fine. Things move slowly in Scotland, it takes a while to get things done. I’ll come back when my business is finished.” Laz smiled at her. “Now, I must go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Luke followed him out the front door, so he could say good-bye privately. “If you need us, we’ll get there as soon as we can. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help from here.”
“Take care of Paula and Lucian.” It was all he said, and he drove off. Luke stood there for some time contemplating how he could help his very close friend.
Lazarus had already given up his apartment. If he did return, he could find another. He headed for the airport. He lied to Luke when he told him his flight was in the morning. He’d be leaving at midnight and be gone when he knew Luke would show up in the morning to see him off.
He boarded his plane and headed for first class. He couldn’t fit in the seats in coach and because he traveled by his own means most of the time, he didn’t mind the expense. He made himself comfortable. He had resigned himself to the fact that this might be his final journey home.
Chapter 6
The long plane ride was uneventful. Lazarus arrived in Glasgow and arranged transportation to Inverness. He planned to meet with several contacts who were helping him search for his family. Michael MacGregor would pick him up in Inverness after his meeting and take him home.
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Lazarus went to the pub where he usually met with the men who were employed by him. They constantly searched for clues that would lead them to the whereabouts of the missing siblings and his enemy. It wasn’t the worst place to meet, but it wasn’t the best, either. His enemy’s spies could be there searching for him. He had to be extremely cautious.
Three men sitting in a corner were the only ones in the pub. They were the type of men you wouldn’t want to come across in a dark ally. Big and muscular, heavily tattooed and mean looking. They were his contacts. After sharing a round of drinks, his informants still had nothing of any importance to tell him. They followed a couple of leads, but they were dead ends.
“Damn it! When am I gonna to get a break?” Lazarus was tired of dead ends. “All right, keep me informed. I’ll be at Castle Thighearn if ye need to contact me. I’ll be staying this time. I’ve decided to put everything in to finding them. If I dinnae find them this time, I will accept they are dead.” He bought the men another round of drinks, paid them for their work and left.
He went to find MacGregor, he wanted to go home. He was tired and wanted to sleep in the bowels of Castle Thighearn, in his dragon form. He would feel better in a day or two. He hadn’t shifted in a couple of months, it was a long time to go without shifting. When he got to Castle Thighearn, Lazarus planned to go below the castle to his hoard. He would shift into the dragon and curl up in the cavern of gold and sleep for a week.
*****
Michael MacGregor had worked for Laird MacEachthighearna for thirty-two years. The number of times he had seen the Laird of the castle, in all those years, he could count on one hand. Somehow, over the years, he had gained the Laird’s trust and the dragon’s trust and knew how to reach him if he was needed.
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