Jagger stepped up next to her, silently telling him that she was not going in alone. The leader frowned, “He only asked for her, not you.”
“He comes, or I don’t cooperate.” Raiya replied.
“You know I could have you both executed right now, right? It’s not a smart move to piss us off.”
“Don’t care.”
This was an odd demand for Raiya. Up until that point, she’d done nothing but hurl insults and threats at Jagger. Why now was she refusing to be parted from him? Was it possible that she was finally looking at him as a partner and not some random idiot?
Unlikely. Jagger thought to himself. It’s probably just strength in numbers.
The leader looked at Raiya for a moment before turning and giving Jagger the same studious look, “All right... fine, just know that you’re being watched. Make any move against our elder and it will be your last.”
He then turned to the side, beckoning them forward, “Please.”
The inside was not as Jagger had expected. He thought the place would be a crumbling mess like the mall. Much to his surprise, the inside had been renovated enough to actually pass as suitable living quarters. The collapse in the ceiling had cut all the way to the bottom floor. Most of the damaged areas had been removed and jagged edges had been sawed down. Catwalks and makeshift staircases had been added to allow passage between each section.
Could these people actually be the savages Raiya was talking about? They seemed way to organized and well-equipped. This didn’t seem like a savage group at all. They were definitely paranoid, and who could blame them? However, Jagger was more comfortable now that he wasn’t dealing with canbans.
They stepped through the first room which looked like it had been some sort of a reception area at one point. There was a bright orange hue coming from the next doorway. It seemed to flicker off the walls and was accompanied by a loud crackling sound.
A fire pit? Jagger thought to himself as he was pushed into the next room.
The main chamber took up most of the interior. From the ground floor, Jagger could see all the way up to the ceiling. Oddly, there were no chairs in this room. Only small pads surrounded a massive fire pit. The flame was easily seven feet in the air.
Under normal conditions, most people would consider a flame that large to be dangerous and likely out of control. However, these nomads appeared to have dug the pit deep and wide enough that they were able to control it.
An old man sat on one of the pads on the far side of the flame. He remained motionless, like a statue. His eyes glowed as though they were on fire themselves. If he weren’t sitting in front of a flame, Jagger would have thought his eyes were just like Raiya’s.
Now that they actually had some light, Jagger could see his captors more clearly. The skin on the leader’s right cheekbone was horribly scarred. His brown hair was down to his neck and hung loosely around his face. He had a calm face and his voice was tempered as he spoke, “A little further, keep moving.”
“Are you a canban?” Jagger asked.
The man chuckled as he pushed Jagger forward, “If I was, you probably wouldn’t be alive right now.”
“Good to know.”
Jagger and Raiya were led over to where the old man was seated. His clothes were almost completely made of animal skin. His face looked worn and tired with deep wrinkles. Unlike the other man, he had no burns, but a terrible scar stretched over his left eye.
He sat next to an old-style radio with a cassette player on it. Most radios had been converted for use with the universal frequencies of the coalitions, but not this one. Oddly enough, this one was playing music.
Jagger had heard similar music off an old jukebox at Jerry’s. The style was known as Rock and Roll. It was incredibly up-tempo and the man singing almost sounded like he was shouting.
As Raiya approached, the man suddenly came to life and a warm smile appeared on his face. His hands slowly parted as he beckoned them to sit down with him.
Raiya took a few steps closer and slowly dropped down to her knees. Jagger stood behind her, refusing to take a seat. The old man smiled, “Peace, child. You are in no danger here.”
Jagger looked back at the leader he’d been speaking to, “Is that why we were threatened with knives and brought here against our will?”
The man frowned, “I apologize for that treatment. However, you did violate our territory. I’m curious as to what exactly you were looking for?”
“Clothing.” Raiya replied. “My robes were burned away when…”
“When we were attacked by a dragon.” Jagger said, finishing her sentence.
“You survived a dragon attack?” The man asked inquisitively. “I take it you’re from New Framingham?”
“Yes.”
The man sighed and turned to the leader, “Eric, take her to our seamstress. See if she can find this unusual young lady something suitable.”
Eric stepped forward, “It will be done.”
The leader moved to closer, but Jagger stood in his way. Jagger said nothing, but he made it very clear that he wasn’t about to let Raiya be taken out of his sight. He stood like a statue, refusing to yield.
The elder sighed, “We’re not going to accomplish anything as long as we don’t trust one another. Young man, I give you my word that she will not be harmed and will return to us as soon as she’s been given the dignity of some proper attire.”
Raiya stood up and placed her hand on Jagger’s shoulder, “It’s okay… I’ll go.”
“You sure?”
“I can take care of myself, don’t worry.”
“All right.”
Jagger nodded as he stood aside, giving her a clear path to Eric. She stepped past Jagger and nodded, “Shall we?”
Jagger kept his eyes on Raiya as she left the room. Despite the friendly demeanor of the elder, he didn’t trust them. There was no way to be certain that she was safe.
“She will be fine. There is no need to worry.” The old man said.
Jagger turned back to the old man sitting by the fire. The man extended his arm in a gesture of welcome, “Please, join me. Permit an old man the luxury of a few questions while you wait.”
Jagger hesitantly sat down and leaned against a piece of the broken wall behind him. The elder was reminiscent of a tribal shaman. He smiled and nodded as Jagger relaxed, “Thank you.”
The man looked away with a content smile and swayed to the music, “I love rock music, don’t you?”
“I never really thought about it.” Jagger replied.
“No?” A surprised look appeared on the old man’s face. “Didn’t they have any music in New Framingham?”
“Well they did, but…”
“I can’t imagine life without it.” The elder interrupted. “I was just a little kid when this song came out… John Parr… Restless Heart… a true classic.”
“Never heard of it.”
“No? I suppose you’ve never heard of The Running Man either?”
“Nope.”
The elder sighed, “Kids these days… it was one of the best action movies to come out of the 80s. You don’t know what you’ve been missing.”
This was going nowhere fast. They’d been captured, separated, and were now at this crazy old man’s mercy. More than anything, he wanted a way out of this, but all the guy wanted to talk about was ancient movies and music. Granted it was better than an execution, but Jagger had more important things on his mind, “Who are you?”
“I go by many names.” The elder replied whimsically as though he were mocking Jagger. “My friends call me Mason. Everyone else just refers to me as elder, gramps, fossil, old geezer who blabbers too much, things like that. How about you?”
Jagger feigned amusement as the flames danced on his face, “Just one name I’m afraid, Jagger.”
“No family name?”
“Bishop.”
“Ah, after the clergy of old… Well Jagger Bishop,” Mason replied, “what about your friend th
ere? She’s certainly an unusual creature.”
“Her name’s Raiya.”
Mason nodded, “Equally unusual…”
“Yeah I have to admit I was surprised at how… casual you’ve all been about her appearance.”
Mason smiled, “My boy, we’ve seen many oddities in the past few years. Between dragons, people deformed by years of conflict, and horrible abominations resulting from radiation poisoning, a girl with scales is not about to shock us. She’s more of a curiosity than anything else.”
“Makes sense, I guess…” Jagger replied.
“Anyway, what brings you out here?”
“We were kicked out of our home up the street in New Framingham.”
“Why?”
Jagger looked over to where Raiya had disappeared, “Because of the dragon attack. The people there turned into a paranoid mob. They thought that she brought the dragons down on us. I was blamed for bringing her into town earlier that day.”
“Why did you?”
Jagger shrugged, “I was out on patrol earlier in the day when I was attacked by a pair of wyverns. She appeared out of nowhere and saved me from being eaten.”
“So, you two had just met.”
“Yeah.”
“Yet you brought her back to your people?”
What was he getting at? Was this guy trying to blame him for what had happened? “I owed her one.”
“Is that the only reason.”
Jagger let out a deep sigh, “She’s a young woman… heck she looks like she’s only about eighteen. She said she was hungry… and… well look at her, she’s wicked thin.”
“You took pity on her.”
“Yeah… I mean no... Look, she’s just a kid.”
“How old are you?”
“… Twenty-three.”
Mason laughed, “My boy, you are way too young to be calling an eighteen year old a kid. She’s an adult, just as you are. Young adults maybe, but adults all the same. Still, I can appreciate your attitude and your actions.”
The air around them seemed less tense now. Jagger was pretty certain he wasn’t going to be killed, still he wasn’t sure what lay ahead of him.
Mason sat back and closed his eyes as he continued, “So now that you’re on your own, what is your plan? Are you looking for a new place to live?”
“Are you offering?” Jagger asked.
“Would you accept if we did?”
Jagger smiled appreciatively as he shook his head, “Thanks, but no. Raiya’s hunting a dragon. It seems like she has been for most of her life. I doubt anyone could convince her to give it up. So, I promised that I’d help her.”
“Just like that?”
“Well yeah.” Jagger replied. “I can’t go home, what else am I going to do?”
Now it was Mason’s turn to shrug, “So you’re going to just go around killing dragons?”
“No. We’re looking for one in particular… a dragon lord.”
“Why?”
“It killed her parents.”
“I see…” Mason said as his welcoming smile turned to a sorrowful frown. “No one has ever killed a dragon lord, much less survived the encounter. What makes you think that you two stand a chance?”
“It’s the reason she doesn’t have any clothes.” Jagger replied. “The dragon that attacked New Framingham was a dragon lord. I don’t know what it was doing there, but she fearlessly confronted it and…”
Jagger hesitated. Even he could not explain what he saw when the dragon attacked. She was alive and unharmed when she shouldn’t have been. How could he explain it? Would this man even believe him?
“What is it, what happened?” Mason asked.
“I don’t really know… The dragon attacked her with its fire breath. She should have been disintegrated or turned into a lump of coal but… she wasn’t. Her clothes and gear were burned away, but she was fine. Even the dragon was surprised. So much so that it flew off.”
“And they kicked you out for that?”
“Yeah.”
A stern look appeared on Mason’s face, “They had a viable defense against a dragon lord and they decided to banish it. Fools.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, what do you make of her?”
Jagger again looked in her direction, “I don’t know. I mean she doesn’t even know… I have a theory… but it’s absolutely insane!”
“Tell me.”
Jagger couldn’t believe the words were leaving his lips, even as he spoke them, “If I had to guess… she’s infected with Dragon’s Bane and this is the result?”
“Yet she seems perfectly healthy.”
“Well… maybe a rare mutation?”
“Maybe…”
A faint sound behind them made Jagger turn. Raiya quietly stepped out from behind the curtain. She was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a brown top that looked like it had been fashioned by animal skin with a small hood. Hand-carved wooden earrings that clipped to her lobes were draped on her ears and a fancy dagger hung from the nylon belt around her waist.
Jagger stood up as she approached. A feint smile appeared on her face, “Well…?”
“Well what” Jagger asked.
“Do I look… okay?”
Jagger smiled, “You look very okay.”
“Wonderful…”
“How do you feel?”
“They’re comfortable, but I feel a little… exposed…”
“Exposed?”
“I’m used to my old robes that conceal… more.”
“I think you’ll be fine.” Jagger replied.
“All right.”
She stepped closer to the flame and looked at Mason, “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Mason replied. “Now that we know your size, I’ll have a few sets of what we can spare put in the back of your jeep. As well as food and supplies.”
A surprised look appeared on Jagger’s face, “Thanks, that’s… really generous.”
“You’re hunting a dragon lord. No one has ever managed to kill one. Most people just avoid them as much as possible. However, I have a good feeling about you two. If you can kill one… it might be enough to turn the tides of this fight.”
“What are you talking about?” Raiya asked.
Mason’s eyes returned to the flame. “The dragon lords are aptly named. They are the leaders of the dragon horde and the only ones who have been impervious to human attack. Most people don’t think that they can be killed anymore. Should one of them fall, it will show humanity that there is still hope, and it should be enough to shake dragon moral. Who knows, it may even unite the factions.”
Jagger frowned, “That’s a pretty high hope. No one’s really tried to work with the coalitions in years.”
“Let an old man dream.”
Raiya frowned, “I’m sorry… I’m not doing this to start a revolution and I’m not doing it to save humanity. This dragon butchered my family. I want its head.”
“Yes, I suspected as much.” Mason replied dryly. “However, we still stand to benefit from such a victory. So, we have a common interest here.”
Mason stood up and stepped back from the flames, “I don’t think anything more need be said tonight. You two look tired. Why don’t you rest here? You can start out again tomorrow morning.”
“Might not be a bad idea.” Jagger replied, looking at Raiya.
Raiya shrugged, “Fine with me.”
Mason clapped his hands together. The sound echoed through the room and summoned Eric to the scene, “What is it?”
“Show them to one of our empty rooms.”
Eric looked surprised, “What?”
“They’ll be leaving in the morning.” Mason replied. “For now though, they’re spending the night.”
“Is that wise?”
“It’ll be okay.”
“As you wish.”
Eric led them to a nearby room, off the main area. It was fairly dilapidated and the only pieces of furniture were a pair of t
win-size beds.
“You can spend the night here.” Eric said.
Jagger looked around and nodded, “Thanks, this will be fine.”
“Better be… just don’t cause any trouble, all right?”
“Right.” Jagger replied as Eric slid the ragged curtain hanging over the door closed.
Jagger turned and looked at Raiya, “Friendly guy…”
Raiya watched the door for a moment, “Suspicious guy… he’s smart.”
Jagger yawned and stretched his arms, “All right… well we’ve still got a few hours before sunrise. Let’s get some sleep.”
“I’m not tired. You go ahead. One of us should stand watch anyway.” Raiya replied.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Jagger pulled his legs up on the second bed and laid back. He breathed in relief as the mattress cushioned his spine. His eyes fluttered and slowly closed as he slowly passed out of consciousness. Didn’t think it would be this comfortable.
Raiya kicked off the new shoes she’d been given and sat back on the bed. “Jagger?”
“Yeah?” Jagger replied, not opening his eyes.
“Are you serious about coming with me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Helping you helps humanity… and honestly, despite your cold exterior… you’re nicer than anyone I’ve met recently.”
Raiya scoffed and concealed a partial grin on the left side of her face, “I barely smile or say anything.”
“True, but you put your own life on the line to save those people.”
“Maybe… I guess I just saw something in those kids… I didn’t want them to grow up like I did.”
“So that’s why I’m sticking around. Is that a good enough reason?”
“I guess… I still think you’re a fool though.”
Jagger nodded, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.”
“All right well, let’s just try to get some rest. Something tells me we’ve got a long road ahead and we’ll probably want to start out early.”
“I agree.”
Chapter 7
Raiya’s eyes opened the next morning to the sound of trickling water. She stood up and suspiciously looked over to a small alcove in the wall. It’s not raining out… what is that noise? “Jagger?”
Drakin: The Story of Raiya Page 8