As soon as she had enough straps, Raiya quickly knelt down next to the little girl and wrapped the first one around her head. Blood immediately stained right through the white cloth as she worked.
Raiya wrapped the second cloth around Miranda’s head, covering her eye. Just like before, the girl’s blood stained through. Raiya frowned as she looked the poor girl in her one good eye. Her lips mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry.’
Miranda came to life and looked up at Raiya. Her blank stare caused Raiya to freeze in place for a moment. Jagger watched from a distance to see what would happen.
A smile suddenly appeared on Miranda’s face. She reached up to Raiya and touched her fingers to Raiya’s cheek. Her index finger ran across one of Raiya’s facial scales. The skin of her hand was cold as ice.
Raiya pressed her hand against the child’s and sandwiched it between her cheek and palm. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked sympathetically at the child.
“Everything okay?” Jagger asked as he appeared behind Raiya.
Raiya lowered her eyes and spoke in a whisper, “We… need to get her to Andrea.”
“You okay?”
“Don’t worry about me, she needs help.”
Jagger nodded, “All right then let’s start heading back.”
He turned to pick Miranda up and place her in the back seat. A fearful look appeared on the girl’s face, stopping him in his tracks. She took a step back and shook her head. Jagger knelt down close to her, “Miranda, it’s me, Lieutenant Bishop. Do you remember me?”
Miranda didn’t respond. Her one eye looked past Jagger to something out of his field of vision. Jagger followed her gaze and noticed that she was looking at Raiya, “You want her to pick you up?”
Miranda nodded. Jagger stood back up and looked at her, “Looks like you’ve made another friend.”
Raiya already looked like she was going to have a breakdown. Her eyes were fighting back tears and she was biting down on her lip to prevent it from quivering, “What?”
“She wants you to pick her up.”
Raiya looked at her for a moment and then back at Jagger. A confused expression appeared on her face, “Why?”
“Don’t ask me, she just wants you.”
“I… all right…”
Raiya knelt down and extended her arms to the girl. Miranda quickly stepped forward and through her arms around Raiya’s scaly neck. Raiya gently extended her arms around Miranda’s back and legs. She gently applied pressure as she lifted the girl off the ground, “Okay… let’s put you in the back…”
Miranda reached out and grabbed the roll bar of the jeep to support herself. Raiya rested her gently on the seat and let her get comfortable, “There, is that better?”
Miranda adjusted herself in the seat until she could lean back and relax. When she was finally settled, she looked up at Raiya.
“Are you… comfortable?” Raiya asked.
Miranda looked at her and nodded. Raiya forced a smile as she went around to the other side and got into the jeep. Jagger was already in the driver’s seat waiting for her. Raiya sat down, huffed, and turned her head so that she was facing away from Jagger.
“You okay?” Jagger asked.
No response.
“All right… This is going to be a quiet trip.”
………………….
Raiya wasn’t about to answer. It was a stupid question. Of course, she wasn’t okay, what in the world made him think otherwise. She was still toiling with her own fears that all of this was her fault.
Raiya just stared out at the ruins as the jeep picked up speed. Her eyes fluttered as she watched the damage and debris pass by. She quickly wiped the tears away and let out a pained breath. She didn’t want to look behind her. Doing so would mean having to face the stare of a child she was likely responsible for hurting.
“Do you want to put the seatbelt on?” Jagger asked.
No response.
“Great… two people who don’t talk. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we need to get Eric back here now. He’ll pick up the slack.”
Chapter 14
The jeep arrived back at the center of town within a few minutes. The breaks screeched as it came to a stop. Jagger jumped out as soon as he put the truck in park, “Doc… Andy!”
Andy poked his head up from a pile of rubbed a few hundred feet from the center, “What is it?”
“We found someone over by the residences. She needs help, now!”
Andy jumped up and ran to the back of the jeep. Miranda looked at him without any sign of emotion. Andy’s eyes narrowed as he reached for her. She immediately backed up on the seat and shook her head.
Andy smiled warmly, “I just want to look at your wounds. I’m here to help you.”
She turned and looked at Raiya as though asking her if Andy was safe.
Raiya looked back at her and nodded, “It’s okay, he’s a friend. You can trust him.”
Miranda hesitantly moved forward to the edge of the seat and leaned out to him. Andy gently reached out and began to work on her bandages, “Thank you… you’re a very brave little girl.”
As the bandages fell away, Andy went pale. He did the best he could to hide his concern from the little girl, but he doubted that his friends didn’t see it. This was bad, very bad.
Andy reached into his case and grabbed a spray bottle, some gauze, and bandages. He quickly shook the spray bottle and showed it to Miranda, “This is disinfectant. It’s going to prevent your cuts from getting worse, okay? It may sting a little.”
Raiya quickly took her hand as Andy went to work, “It’s okay…”
Miranda flinched but didn’t cry as Andy sprayed her with the chemical. He was certain that it stung, but she barely seemed to respond. Once he was finished, he quickly dabbed her eye and forehead with the gauze and then rewrapped the wound in fresh bandages.
“Hey guys!” Eric said as he appeared from the nearby brush behind them.
Jagger turned to face him, “No luck?”
“Sorry…” Eric replied. “All corpses… no one could have survived this kind of onslaught.”
“One person did…” Raiya said in a glum voice.
Andy finished the bandage and looked over at the group, “Eric, can you come here and keep an eye on… –What’s your name, little girl?”
No response.
“Can you hear me?”
Miranda just stared blankly at him.
“Hmm… blink twice if you can understand me.”
Her eye immediately blinked twice as Andy had asked.
“Okay good, thank you for helping me. We’re going to get you fixed up, okay?”
Again, Miranda just stared at him.
Eric leaned on the side of the jeep, “Hey there, are you hungry?”
He reached back into the trunk and pulled out some of the dried meat that had been given to them by the nomads, “Here, try it. It’s really good.”
Miranda grabbed it and ripped it apart vigorously with her teeth. Eric frowned, “You must have been down there since the attack. You were starving, weren’t you?”
Andy stepped away as Eric continued talking. A look of concern was on his face as he turned to Raiya and Jagger. Jagger frowned and spoke in a low voice, “Bad news, Doc?”
Andy looked back at Miranda to make sure that Eric was keeping her attention before speaking. Miranda looked like she was perfectly distracted by the food, so he turned back, “It’s not good. That cut needs to be stitched up, but that’s not the worst part…”
“What is it, Andy?” Raiya asked.
“Her eye… whatever happened, it looks like it was gouged. There’s no way to repair it. Even if I had an ophthalmology team… I doubt we could save that eye.”
Raiya turned away with an angry look on her face, “Is she going to make it?”
Andy shrugged, “If I had access to my lab… she’d have a better chance if I had somewhere to perform the surgery to remove her eye. I don’t have the
right tools or the proper environment.”
“So, we’ll have to find one then.” Raiya replied. “Maybe Eric knows something.”
“That’s not the only concern here though…”
“What else?”
“The girl seems to be suffering a rather advanced case of PTSD… she’s showing symptoms of psychological trauma, including almost no reaction to pain or outward stimulus, and elective mutism. Even if she does survive, it’ll be a hard road for her.”
“PTSD?” Raiya asked.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s just what it sounds like.” Andy replied. “She’s experienced a traumatic event that has affected her psychological well-being. We saw it all the time with soldiers who were coming back from heavy fighting.”
“What happens?”
“There are several symptoms… flashbacks, nightmares, depression, emotional detachment… only time will tell which ones she’s going to live through.”
“What’s the cure?” Raiya asked.
“Cure?” Andy asked in surprise. “No, there is no cure. This isn’t like simply administering medication and it immediately goes away. There are medications that can treat her… and therapy, but… it’s just something she’ll have to live with. This is considering she survives at all.”
“She’ll survive… she has to…”
“I hope so.”
………………….
Eric smiled at Miranda as he tried to get her to speak, “Come on little girl, just one word? I’ve got a nice piece of candy for you if you’ll just say your name.”
Miranda just stared at him blankly. She showed no sign of any interest in the offer of candy.
“I’m Eric, what’s your name?”
Miranda just turned away, clearly uninterested. Eric frowned, “Now that’s just cold…”
The rest of the group returned to the jeep. Jagger climbed behind the wheel. He didn’t even get a chance to start the truck before a shrill scream came from the back seat. The cry sent chills down his spine and caused him to flip around in his seat. Miranda had gone completely pale and was shaking violently.
“What the hell?” Eric asked.
Andy grabbed her arm and squeezed right at the wrist, “Her pulse is through the roof… what in the…”
The mighty sound of a hollow roar cut Andy off. A massive object appeared out of nowhere and blocked out the sun. It was so large that the resulting shadow covered the entire town.
Raiya’s eyes adjusted to the difference in lighting as the object took shape, “Dragon!”
Andy picked Miranda up out of the jeep and hid her behind some debris while Jagger and Eric scrambled to get their weapons. Jagger grabbed his bolt gun and tossed the U.S. assault rifle to Eric, “You ready for this?”
A nervous grin appeared on his face, “Are you?”
Raiya quickly rummaged through the back of the jeep, trying to find something to use as a weapon. She pushed a few shirts out of the way to reveal her nomadic knife resting underneath them,
“Yes!”
Jagger peered through the scope on his gun, “God… look at that size of that thing…”
Raiya stepped out in front of them, “Jagger, what kind of scales does it have?”
“What?”
“The scales, damn it! Tell me what the fucking scales look like!”
Jagger peered into the small tube as the dragon slowly came closer, “It’s black… darker than any dragon I’ve ever seen before. It’s almost like a shadow…”
“Does it have red tips on the scales?”
Jagger moved the gun to the right to get a better view. There was a brief moment of silence before he lowered the gun. His face was almost as pale as snow. There was a quiver in his voice as he spoke, “Yes… and it has yellow eyes.”
Eric stepped up next to Jagger with his rifle aimed at its chest, “No… It’s the dragon lord that sacked Richmond!”
Raiya turned back and glared at it, “My father…”
Andy peaked out from behind the rubble, “Raiya, if that’s true then you need to be careful! That dragon has killed more people than any of the other ones combined!”
She clenched her teeth and stepped forward. The look of determination in her eyes was unmistakable, “Not anymore… not if I have anything to say about it.”
The dragon slowly lowered itself to the ground. One thrust of its wings created a massive burst of wind that sent ash and debris flying. Raiya blocked her eyes with her right arm as Jagger pressed his back against the jeep, “Let him have it!”
Both Jagger and Eric unloaded their weapons on the dragon. The bullets from Eric’s gun just seemed to bounce off its scales, while the bolts were merely absorbed into its armored body. It barely even seemed to notice the attack.
The impact of the dragon lord’s feet caused the ground to shake underneath him. Raiya bent her knees to keep from losing balance as she took another step towards the massive beast.
Jagger stepped forward, “Raiya, get away from there!”
Raiya raised her hand, signaling him to stay back, “Not this time. This is my fight. Jagger, do not interfere!”
“But Raiya!”
“Promise me! I don’t want you getting hurt!”
“But…”
“Jagger!”
………………….
Jagger lowered his eyes, “I refuse to make that promise. As long as you’re doing okay, I’ll let you have your fun… but…”
“I can survive dragon’s fire, you can’t. Stay back!”
“Raiya… ugh, fine!”
Its eyes were as bright a yellow as Raiya’s. Its smile was hideous, “I thought Raki’Agr was making up stories… now I see that he was telling me the truth. What manner of abomination are you?”
The thunder of the dragon lord’s voice was deafening. Jagger had to cover his ears when it spoke, but it didn’t seem to bother Raiya. She took a step forward with her eyes fixed on the dragon. She still had a small limp, but was clearly trying to hide it. “You destroyed Richmond.”
“Heh… that city to the south put up the best fight I’ve ever seen. It was almost a shame to crush them.”
Raiya pulled her dagger off the back of her shirt, “You killed my mother…”
“I have killed many humans.” The dragon lord replied. “I don’t remember specific ones. Do you remember every single insect you’ve ever stepped on?”
“You won’t be stepping on anyone else.”
The dragon lord laughed, “Have I lived through so many uncountable eons…? Have I traveled and survived the challenges of the Cosmos? Have I bested the warriors of this world, only to fall under the blade of an insignificant whelp? I knew killing these people would draw you back out… now I can finish you myself!”
Raiya didn’t move. Her eyes met those of the dragon lord. It returned her gaze and regarded her for a few moments, “Raki’Agr was right about you… your eyes are quite striking. Too bad they have to be destroyed.”
The dragon lord arched its neck and then thrusted its head forward. A massive spray of fire emanated from the dragon’s mouth. It immediately consumed Raiya and continued to spray past her until it impacted on a piece of debris that was large enough to stop it.
The screeching sound from the dragon’s mouth was beyond tolerable. Jagger dropped to his knees with his hands pressed against his ears as the fire continued to spread. It didn’t help much, but it was better than nothing.
Eric was in no better shape, “You’ve got to be kidding me… is this really what we’ve been hunting for?”
Jagger couldn’t see Andy or Miranda, but he was certain that they were probably no better off. All he could do now was watch Raiya get pummeled by the flame. There was no way to stop the vicious attack. He quickly grabbed a water bottle out of the back of his jeep and hoped he’d get a chance to use it.
The dragon lord’s mouth slowly closed as the flame died down. The beast arched its neck and smiled as it watched the massive wall
of flame it had created die down. Clearly it thought that Raiya had been disintegrated.
As the flames weakened, the dragon lord’s yellow eyes became wide, “It can’t be…”
Raiya was still standing where she had been previously. She was surrounded by the flame wall, but this time, not even her clothes were harmed. She was completely stiff as steam poured off her body. The expression on her face was stoic, as though she were fighting back pain.
Jagger breathed a sigh of relief as Raiya continued to stare down the dragon lord. Eric was in complete disbelief, “How…? I heard about Raiya, but how did her clothes survive?”
“They were made at Fort Charleston… maybe they have some flame-resistant material?” Jagger theorized. “What I want to know is how did her dagger survive? The last one didn’t!”
Eric smiled, “Dragon bone…”
“Oh, all right.”
“What are you…?” The dragon lord asked.
Raiya panted as she looked up into his eyes, “Don’t you recognize your own daughter…?”
The dragon lord recoiled its neck again and looked down at her, “What madness are you speaking?”
“Your blood infected my mother… she gave birth to me… nine months later… We’ve confirmed it.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s not… how else do you explain me? How else do you explain my eyes? They’re the same as yours… father!”
The dragon lord looked closely at Raiya and inspected her eyes carefully, “Could it be…?”
The flame around Raiya was extinguished by the breath of the dragon lord as it moved in close. Its nostrils sounded like the roar of a jet engine as they sucked in breath, “There is a familial odor about you… could it really be possible?”
“It is… father… somehow… it happened.”
A look of disgust appeared on the dragon lord’s face, “Kin or not… you are a disgusting abomination. Dragon blood must never be watered down like this…”
………………….
The dragon lord recoiled its neck again, ready to unleash more flame. At that moment, Raiya noticed a terrible scar right near its head. Likely that was where the blood had spilled from that resulted in her birth as there were no other visible scars.
Drakin: The Story of Raiya Page 18