by Lee Magnus
Marcus emerged shortly after the music ended. “Kid! What are you doing at band practice? Shouldn’t you be at soccer?”
“It’s not until later. Something big happened. By the way, you play wonderfully. I’m sorry I haven’t seemed interested in your music until now. I never knew you were so good.”
“What? You mean in there?” Marcus replied by pointing into the music room. “That’s nothing,” he said looking down shyly. It’s the first time Trey ever noticed bashfulness in his friend.
Who is this guy, Trey thought? It’s like I don’t even know my own best friend.
Trey appreciated Marcus’ humble attitude. “Dude, you’re really good. I want to hear more. But not right now. I have something else you’ll be interested in. Let’s go before we miss her.”
“Where’re we going?” Donald asked.
“Fifth street.”
“Why fifth street?” Marcus questioned.
“Would you guys just come on,” Trey commanded. “You’ll see when we get there.”
The trio shot out of the school, crossed the yard and hit the sidewalk. From there, they walked nearly three miles to an abandoned construction site with a large half built concrete structure that stood nearly thirty feet high and open at the top. The boys entered through a doorless opening.
Donald asked nervously, “What are we doing here, Trey?”
“Just wait for it,” Trey replied. He was almost giddy.
“What’s up with you, Kid? Why are you smiling?” added Marcus.
Trey’s grin shined as he regarded his friends but didn’t attempt to answer their questions. He looked to the sky fervently.
“Trey. Seriously,” Marcus continued. “What – “ he began then continued in a shrill scream, “is that!”
Suddenly a large fiery object descended upon them rapidly. Bursts of plasma torched the interior walls and glassed the sandy ground. A booming screech rocked their very souls. Tornados of twirling sand and dirt pummeled their bodies, sending them staggering about. Marcus squatted with his hands over his head and Donald fell down in the torrent. The partially constructed building became a furnace in the flaming attack.
Another thunderous screech echoed across the empty structure – then silence as the dust settled – then hyena laughing prevailed. Marcus looked toward Trey who was on the ground holding his belly amid uncontrollable laughing. He then looked past Trey at the monstrous green dragon towering above the boys. Marcus screamed and stumbled backwards over a pile of broken concrete pieces. Donald remained cowered with his hands over his head screaming “Please don’t kill us! Please don’t kill us!”
“Oh My God, Tanny!” Trey said within a burst of ecstatic laughter. “I was scared out of my mind. I actually questioned whether you forgot we were friends – or were mad that I called you here. Oh my god! I need a moment,” he continued. “That was amazing but please don’t ever do it again.”
“You said to make a dramatic entrance,” Tanny replied with a reptilic smile. Her voice carried a metallic but elegant British accent as a dragon.
“I know, but I imagined you gracefully flying in and maybe hitting us with a burst of wind from your wings. I didn’t expect Tanarkin the Killer Green Dragon from hell!”
“He he! Maybe next time you will be clearer in your request, Fire Tamer.”
“No doubt. Lesson learned!” Trey replied.
“Trey!” Marcus exclaimed excitedly. “This is your dragon friend?”
“Yes. Come meet Tanny.”
Donald peeked from his cower to assess the situation. He then rose angrily. “That was not funny. You should have told us,” he said staring at Trey.
“Dude! I didn’t know she was gonna do that. I’m sorry. I just thought it would be more interesting if she made a dramatic entrance than just appearing and me saying (in a low goofy voice), hey guys, this is my wonderfully nice friend Tanny the Green.”
“It was freaking awesome, Kid! Can you do it again?” he said excitedly to Tanny as he crept toward a massive wing to steal a touch.
She regarded Marcus for a moment then said. “I think that’s enough dragon for now.” She then spun into a graceful older woman wearing a flowing green dress with long autumn colored hair and bare feet.
“Whoa,” Marcus said as he stared at the woman who was once a dragon. “That was amazing. How did you do that?”
“She’s a wizard, Marcus,” said Trey.
“So, you can cast spells and make people turn into toads?” Marcus replied.
“I’m not that sort of wizard, but I suppose if I were to become inclined, I could do the toad. Why? Are you looking to transform your life into something more amphibious?”
“No Ma’am. Not today!” Marcus said with raised hands as if he were trying to push away an evil spell.
She smiled and returned her attention to Trey. “You said something about the skylien from the ballpark?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if it was the same as the one in the ballpark. This one was disguised as a man I met in Donald’s neighborhood. It said my dad is in Utah.”
Tanny got real serious with Trey and said, “Did you agree to its terms?”
“Terms? What – “
“Tell me, Trey. Did you enter into a contract with the skylien?” she said angrily.
“No! No, I didn’t. It didn’t offer any. It just told me my dad’s in Utah then flew away.”
“Is that all it said?”
“Yeah. Well, no. It said it would return to me in two days.”
“That must be when it will present its terms and the contract.”
“Contract? You mean the agreement to get it to do something for me? To get it to get my dad?”
“Yes. It will present you with the contract in two days and you will only have the one opportunity to accept or decline. Afterwards, it will do what you ask or go away for good.”
“Oh. Ok. I thought I’d have some time to think about what it wanted from me.”
“Under no circumstances should you agree to its terms. There’s never a positive outcome with those wretched creatures, even when you get what you agreed to. Understand?”
“Yeah. Don’t deal with the skylien,” Trey said sadly. “But what about my dad? How else do I find him?”
“What’s the big deal?” Marcus asked. “If this guy Lamar knows where your dad is, why can’t we just let him tell us?”
Tanny replied, “First, you can’t look at Lamar as a man because he’s not. Second, skyliens will only accept something of great personal value for the conscription – and the sacrifice is never worth the prize.”
Marcus nodded as if he understood the warning.
“As of now, we must believe he’s safe and is choosing to stay away, like dad said,” Donald butted in. If my dad was right, he’s ok and doesn’t need our help.”
“But – “ Trey began.
“No buts,” Tanny remarked. “Your friend is right. Do not agree to the contract.”
“Ok,” Trey said in a low voice.
Donald approached his friend and said with a hand on his shoulder, “We’ll find your dad. Now we know where to start.”
“Thanks, Donald.” Trey replied with a worrisome smile then turned to Tanny. “Did you take care of that thing we discussed last week? Is it safe?” he asked in regard to the Clutched Rose they won from a lion-headed demon with a turtle’s body in a ball field amid a flurry of fire.
“You need not worry about it any longer, Fire Tamer. It is in good hands.”
“Good. Thank you. I may need to get it back soon, but for now let’s leave it where it is.”
“Why is that?” She said with a concerned glance away. “The Azuliposians will not be pleased with this news.”
“I didn’t know what it was then, but I think it’s one of the relics. They’ll just have to get over it.”
“I see. It is safe until then.”
“Great! Thank you for coming today,” Trey said appreciatively.
“Yeah! Thanks for making this t
he most awesome day of my life!” Marcus said to Tanny.
“You’re very welcome, young handsome friend of Fire Tamer.”
Trey couldn’t believe it, Marcus actually blushed at her complement.
“I’ll be in touch,” she said to Trey just before she leapt from the weed covered dirt and spun into a magnificent green dragon with leaf-like scales and roots for claws. A torrent of wind whooshed over the boys sending dirt and dust everywhere. She disappeared just outside the roofless building as if she hadn’t even been there.
“I know you will,” Trey said softly as he continued to look toward wispy clouds in the blue afternoon sky.
“Trey!” Marcus yelled so enthusiastically his oval wire-framed glasses nearly fell off. That was so awesome! Holy crap! I can’t believe dragons actually exist!”
Trey looked at his friend.
Marcus continued, “I mean, I know you already told me, but until just now they were stories.”
“You thought I was making it up, didn’t you?”
“No! Dude! You showed me the disk and – “
“It’s ok. I wouldn’t have believed me either. I would have thought I was insane…and did for a little while.”
“No. It’s not that. It’s just different – “
Donald finished, “When you see it in person.” He then looked distantly, most likely reminiscing on the beautiful day those stories became a reality for him in the park.
“Yeah! That’s it,” Marcus said. He looked off into the sky and said tenderly, “She’s the most beautiful dragon I could have ever imagined.”
“Hey guys,” Trey said, “you can’t tell anyone about what you saw or what we’ve been talking about.”
Marcus rejoined the conversation and replied, “No duh, Sherlock. We’d look like crazy people.”
“You also have to know that all of this is no joke. It’s not just a fun game of dragons and magic that you read about. This stuff is real and the possibility someone gets seriously hurt or worse is always possible. Donald will back me on this. I brought you here today, Marcus, because you need to know what’s going on…just in case.”
“In case of what? In case they get to me?”
Trey looked up at his friend from sorrowful eyes.
“And I trust you over just about anyone. I know when I need you, you’ll be there.”
“Back at ya, Kid,” he said then donned a big closed lip smile.
“What do we do now?” Donald questioned.
“You guys can do whatever you do. I have to get to soccer practice before I get booted off the team. I bet Coach Rafiq is furious that I missed the last two practices with the high schoolers.”
“I’m heading that way. I’ll walk with you,” Donald said.
“I’m this way. I’ll see you guys later,” said Marcus.
“Hey, buddy. Thanks for being here with me,” Trey said sincerely to Donald.
“You know, Trey. I’ve been really scared since that day at the park and today didn’t really change that much.” He smiled a big smile and continued, “However, it does make me feel much better that the dragon is on our side.”
“No doubt!” Marcus added and gave him a high five.
“See ya later, Marcus,” Trey said after they finished a round of rhythmic hand slaps.
“Later, D!” Marcus yelled as Trey and Donald walked away.
As the two boys walked the sidewalk toward the soccer complex Donald began, “That dragon – “
“Tanny,” Trey added.
“Yeah. Tanny. She was sick. That fire she blasted all over the walls was pretty frightening. I couldn’t imagine what you went through to save my dad. I have no idea how anyone could have survived that.”
“Your dad didn’t tell you how I did it?”
“No. He’s not much for details.”
Trey watched his steps as he said, “I took a potion that kept me from burning up.” He then looked up to judge Donald’s reaction.
“A potion? Really? Like in witch’s brew and stuff?
“Yeah. Evidently there’re people that make potions that do all sorts of stuff.
“People make those?”
“Well, I suppose they might not be actual humans.”
“Donald gave Trey a ‘Don’t tell me anymore look.’”
“When I battled Tanny, I used two fireproof potions and a levitation. I was still nearly burned alive. It didn’t work half as well as I’d hoped. I could feel the fire melting my skin – I could even smell it.”
“Eww. That must have been horrible.”
“It was. Believe me. You don’t ever want to get near that stuff.”
“Today is as close to it as I hope to ever get.” He thought distantly for a second then said, “If you were burned so badly, how come you don’t have any scars?”
“That’s a little more difficult to explain.” He looked at Donald, trying to decide what to say. “I have rapid healing capabilities that I received from a bunch of fairies in a forest.”
“Fairies? Dude,” Donald replied in a disbelieving frown.
“It was fairies, I swear. Why would I make it up after what you’ve seen?”
“Exactly. I’d be easy to fool based on the fire breathing dragon experience.”
“It was fairies, I promise I’m not messing with you.”
“Ok. I’ll believe you for now.” They walked a few more steps and he added, “I think I could handle seeing fairies. They seem safe.”
“They’re pretty awesome. They brought Tessie back to life.”
Donald got excited and said, “I love Tessie! She’s so cool. It was funny. The other day I was shuffling though the apartment in a thick pair of wool socks when her tiny little blue self-sparked onto the shelf next to me. I could feel the static electricity building up so I pointed my finger at her to see what would happen. I popped her really good with the shock. She made a high-pitched peep that made me feel super bad that I might have hurt her. But then she popped me back and it hurt so bad that I laughed. The cool thing is that I think she kept charging me, so we popped each other until I fell on the ground laughing.
“Dad says you understand her.”
“That’s right. Another gift from the fairies. Turns out that I understand many languages now.”
“How’s that?” Donald questioned with a curious face.
“It’s a long story that involved an ancient wizard and lots of fire. I’ll tell you about it another day after soccer practice.”
“That’ll be cool.”
“I’ll see you later, Donald,” Trey said as he turned to enter the through the gate at field 1 – the middle school field.”
Donald followed him in.
“Hey buddy, what you doing? I have to get to practice,” Trey said to Donald.
“Yeah!” he said with a huge smile. “Me too. I’m your new keeper.”
“No joke?” Trey said excitedly. “That’s awesome! When did this happen?”
“Last week when you were with the high schoolers. When I went to your game the weekend before, I thought about how good I would be at keeper. I mean, I’m pretty fast for a big guy and that’s what counts. Coach said Craig is off the team due to poor grades so it just sort of worked out.”
“That sucks for Craig but good job to you! We’re gonna crush it!”
“Trey!” Coach Rafiq hollered from the sideline.
Trey felt his stomach cringe. “I’ll see you on the pitch, Donald.”
“Good luck, Trey,” Donald said hoping Trey understood his concern about what Rafiq would say about his missed practices last week.
“Good to have you back, Trey.”
“Good to be back, Coach.”
“How’s your grandmother?”
“Who? Oh yeah. She’s fine. You know, she just does normal grandmother stuff. Nothing too exciting.”
“Coach Wood was disappointed that you missed the last two days.” He gave Trey a pained look.
“I didn’t make the varsity team, did I?
”
“No. He said you did great Wednesday but got pushed around the other two days. He said you have a lot of potential but since he only had the one day, he didn’t feel comfortable with what he saw.”
“I understand.” He found he was tremendously disappointed. He hated playing with the high schoolers but after his successful showing last Wednesday and the battle with Commerand at the Phoenix’s warehouse, he felt he had the confidence to perform at a high level, regardless of how big or skilled the high school teams were – but mostly, he felt he missed a great opportunity.
“If it’s any consolation, I’m happy to have you back on my team,” Rafiq smiled.
Trey looked over the soccer field at Donald successfully defending the goal from Davis’ strikes and became grateful for his current opportunity.
“I’m really happy to be on your team, Coach.”
Rafiq ruffled Trey’s hair then said, “Let’s get out there and prepare our new keeper for the match this weekend!”
Trey’s face lit up and he said, “You got it, Coach!” They both trotted out to join Davis and the rest of the team at Donald’s goal.
After practice Trey became excited to see a familiar auburn-haired girl wearing a ponytail sitting on the first row of the stands. He ran to her with a big smile.
“Hey, Leslie!” he said as he attempted a sweaty hug.
She pushed him away playfully and said, “Gosh you stink!”
“Oh, come on. You know you like it!” he said as he briefly chased her around the sideline.
They naturally stopped then Trey said, “What’s up?”
“I just stopped to say hey.”
Donald walked up and greeted them both.
“I didn’t know you played soccer,” Leslie said to Donald.
“Today’s my first day!” he said enthusiastically.
“Oh my gosh! Fun! What do you play?”
“Keeper.”
“Oooo, that position’s tough.”
“No. I’m really good at it. Once I figured out the trick, I only let one ball through the whole practice.”
“Really? That’s amazing,” she replied. “What’s the trick?”
“I started watching their eyes and, in my peripherals, I paid attention to the ball. If the ball moved in relation to their eyes then I would lean toward their eye movements, if they weren’t moving together then I knew they were trying to fool me, and I went in the opposite direction. Nearly every time, I got a jump on them…many times I got lucky.”