White Dragon's Chosen
Page 17
CHAPTER 12
Elves
The next day school went smoothly. No bullies or other problems presented themselves to George or the Williams teens, all of whom were regarded to be all-powerful and off limits with regard to even minor pranks or teasing. Mary and George received a ton of homework in their advanced classes, but that evening they were both astonished to find that they had no problem quickly completing the assignments.
“I read all my text books last night,” Mary announced, when they met for school again in the morning. “Cover to cover.”
“Me too,” said George. “And I retain all of it and understand it. Harry said that school wouldn’t be a problem, but this is amazing.”
“Our dragons want us to learn,” reasoned Mary. “In turn I expect they’ll learn whatever we’ve learned. They must have raised our IQs at least twenty points to handle more information, and increased our motor skills and so forth. I hoped for a little elf-help, but I expected nothing like this from the dragons.”
“It makes sense though," said George. "I suspect that we’re quickly going to outgrow high school. We’ll also need to learn about Narma though.”
“Henry’s books?” Mary asked.
“To start," said George. "The statues also. And eventually we’ll probably also go to Narma.”
“What about me?” asked Johnny.
“You can remain our invaluable behind the scenes Earth-partner,” suggested George.
“For now we’ll need your help to maintain our cover,” said Mary, “especially with Mom and Dad.”
“OK, but what’s in it for me?” Johnny demanded.
George and Mary looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “Ah; we’re going to save the world from bad guys, Bro,” noted Mary.
“Or die trying,” added George. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Sure, that’s cool I guess, but what’s in it for ME?” Johnny again asked.
“Well, we’ll all be famous someday, even you, I suppose,” said George. “That could translate to some big dollars.”
“Someday when?" asked Johnny. "I’m broke now!”
“I’m not sure when. But we won’t be able to hide even a baby dragon forever,” George reasoned.
“So far none of us have even seen him,” said Mary. “He does a pretty good job of hiding without our help. Maybe he’ll stay completely hidden for years.”
“I don’t think so,” said Johnny. “I know where he was the night before last.”
“What?” said both Chosen, as they looked in astonishment at their mere-human companion.
Johnny smiled. “While you two genius show offs have had your noses buried in school books, of all places, I’ve paid attention to the local news.” He pulled a newspaper clipping out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Mary.
She gasped when she had unfolded and looked at it.
George had a similar reaction.
‘Giant Lizard Raids Library,’ the headline announced.
The town public library, which was located only a mile from the Simple House, had been vandalized. Early one morning hundreds of books were found scattered over the floor, many of them damaged. The senior librarian, a woman of sixty three years, was found physically undamaged but in shock and mumbling about a giant lizard that she had discovered reading books.
“That clipping is from this morning’s newspaper,” Johnny explained. "There's more on the internet, of course."
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Mary admonished him.
“I figured you’d freak out, and I was right,” said Johnny. “How would you explain that to Mom and Dad?”
“This isn’t good,” Mary told George. “Your darn dragon will blow his own cover! You have to get in touch with him!”
George shook his head. “I try every day, several times a day.”
“Well, try harder,” Mary demanded.
“I think he can hear me but he’s ignoring me,” George admitted.
“Well consider it from the lizard dude’s point of view,” said Johnny. “He’s been in that damn egg forever. Maybe he doesn’t want to stay home and lay low. Maybe he wants to get out and party.”
“You may have something there,” agreed George.
“Or maybe he’s just hungry,” said Johnny. “Note exhibit two.” He pulled a second newspaper clipping out and handed it George.
“Holy shits,” George exclaimed, before handing it to Mary.
Mary had a similar reaction. The story said that more area pets were missing than usual, that deer had been sighted fleeing the region to surrounding forests, and that several sheep were missing from a nearby sheep ranch. The reporter linked these events to the discovery of strange footprints that had been found at many of the involved locations.
‘A clawed quadruped of unknown type,’ a naturalist was quoted as saying, ‘but possibly a very large Komodo Dragon or crocodile.’
The story didn’t discuss a linkage to the library event, but many students at school had already made that connection. When they arrived at the school it was abuzz with talk of giant lizards, crocodiles, and monsters of various types running amok in and around the town.
“Obviously I’ve been failing in my job as a Chosen One,” George told Mary at lunch. “After school I’ll have to find my partner and try to get this under control.”
“WE AGREE ENTIRELY,” said a wee but strong telepathic voice in elfish. Mary and George both turned to see a tiny man and tinier woman standing atop the next table. Each stood about two feet tall. The man wore golden armor and weapons similar to what George had inherited from Harry, though of tiny size, along with medieval looking brown and green clothing. His general appearance and proportions appeared to be human and well-muscled under green clothing, except for his ears, which were twice normal size and pointed. That he was a full-grown adult was suggested by his small brown goatee.
The woman was a head shorter. Though attired similarly in armor and green trousers, womanly curves were evident. She carried a bow nearly as tall as herself and wore a quiver full of arrows that were each no more than ten inches in length.
Aside from their diminutive size, their hair and eyes were their most startling features. Each had bright silver hair and large, oval, completely silver eyes without pupils.
“HE CAN HEAR AND SEE US AND SO CAN SHE,” the woman said, smiling.
“QUITE SO, LASS, QUITE SO,” the man replied. “IT IS AS THE DRAGON JEWEL TOLD US. THIS IS QUITE GOOD. NO, I NEED QUALIFY MY STATEMENT FURTHER. THERE ARE THE VERY BAD PARTS TO BE SURE, BUT THERE ARE THE VERY GOOD