The Witch of the Western Gate: Dragon's Gift

by P. K. Brent

  "We have claimed you for the McChesney Clan," said the hag. You now have the power to summon us as needed. Just squeeze the mark on your left hand and invoke us. Be sure you have good reason for I will not be pleased if you try to use us foolishly."

  As suddenly as they had arrived, the hag and warrior were gone in a puff of grey smoke. Blue let out a sigh of relief. On top of her left hand now was burned a celtic cross, a crucifix with a circle around it. It no longer burned.

  "Are they gone," LeRoy entered the room, jumping nervously from one foot to the other.

  "Yes, they are gone, you big chicken."

  "Better a live chicken than a roasted one," replied LeRoy. "Since you are alive, they must have initiated you."

  "Yes, I am now initiated into the Temple of the Oak, though I don't understand anything it, and I'm seriously ticked off at Cormac for keeping so many secrets."

  Blue took up the amulet, an old locket from her jewelry box.

  "Please show me the tracking spell," LeRoy. The old crow fluttered up to the shelves and pulled down a book, then with a muttered incantation it opened to the correct page. Blue quickly performed the tracking spell using the cloth marked with dragon blood, the one she'd stuffed into her jeans earlier, as an object linked to the dragon. Suspending the amulet over a map of Lockport and Niagara, she swung it back and forth gently. Each time, no matter where she held it above the map, the locket pointed toward the old Birdsill Holly factory near the Lockport Cave and old Erie Canal. Her suspicions were confirmed. An infestation of water dragons was living at the old Birdsill Holly plant. The dragons were back again.

  There was no time to ponder this. Blue hurriedly got ready for the concert. She barely had time to shower and dress.

  Chapter 7

  The concert opened with the Niagara All-County Choir weaving a tapestry of notes and images singing "The Winter Snow" a beautiful mix of music by Audrey Snyder and words by Emily Dickinson. The audience sat enthralled and contemplative during the song sung by the high school girls. The All-County Choir was made up of the best high school singers from all across the county. Blue would have enjoyed the moment had her eye not caught movement on the ceiling. Perched on an acoustic tile, peering over the edge, was another little dragon, this second one an azure blue. Blue felt in her pocket. "Dam! I brought the tracking amulet with me and they must have been able to track me in reverse!," Blue thought to herself. Dragons were known for being highly psychic and they also had some magickal powers. The dragon with a hurt wing, Took, could have psychically communicated to his family that Blue had captured him, or the other little dragons might have followed him to her house. They could even have felt the tracking amulet locating them earlier during her spell. The little blue dragon above fluttered swiftly to another ceiling tile and now Blue could see a jade green dragon just behind it. The Boy's Choir walked out from behind the closed curtain and growled out a bluesy rendition of "Your a Mean One Mr. Grinch." Rafe caught Blue's eye as the boy's were walking past and briefly glanced toward the dragons on the acoustic ceiling tiles. "Figures he wouldn't miss it," Blue smiled. She had already filled Rafe in on her encounter with the little dragons that morning. She noticed then that a vent cover was askew at the top of the wall. "So that's how they got in!" After the boys sang their two selections the girl's choir rejoined them for the one song they had selected via vote -- the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Bicycle". Everyone was excited to sing this one since it was the most modern and energetic song they were allowed to have in their collection of mainly classical numbers. During this song a girl dressed in a white athletic outfit left her cello in the orchestra pit and danced with a white bicycle. It was Stella, of course. Then she was joined by a burly trumpeteer who hopped and spun wildly. Next they were joined by Rafe juggling. He tossed multi-colored pins into the air, in tune with the music. The high point was when the girl did a handstand on the bicycle handlebars, feet straight in the air, and the boy spun on his back then his head, also ending in a handstand, and the juggler tossed the pins under his leg then caught them all and bowed. They were then showered with pink and red balloons, inscribed with hearts, that dropped from above, since it was Valentine's Day.

  "Stella you were so amazing!" Later in the band room Blue rushed over to her best friend Stella and gave her a hug.

  "Great job Stella," Rafe said. "Heh, Talon came to watch. He barely ever leaves the farm."

  "Hi Talon," Stella smiled. "I'm glad you decided to come". Talon had moved in with Rafe's family a few months ago, but was very reclusive and had not gone out much."

  "Bonjour Stella," Talon gazed into Stella's dark eyes deeply, not smiling. "Your dance performance I enjoyed greatly. Tres bon!" May I present you with this?" Talon handed to Stella a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He had purchased it out in the lobby and had added a few of the heart-shaped balloons.

  "Wow!" Stella gasped. "How nice, Talon. Thank you!" Her dark eyes sparkled and her light moca skin showed a tinge of pink. Talon bowed and looked very pleased. Rafe was feeling awkward. He'd bought a bouquet for Blue too, when he saw Talon buying one for Stella. He would have felt awkward not having a bouquet for Blue, but he also felt awkward giving it to her. It was weird somehow to spring that on her now when they were just pals. He didn't know what to say.

  "Here ya go, Blue," said Rafe, tossing her the bouquet. "One for you too."

  "Oh, nice. Thank you Rafe. I wasn't expecting this," murmurred Blue, awkwardly looking anywhere but into Rafe's eyes.

  "I think we all pulled off a great show as usual," said Stella, breaking the awkward silence. "Jake did a fantastic break dance. I had no idea you were so talented Jake." Jake looked over, grinning ear to ear, his blond hair spiked and his pale skin red from exertion. He made a muscle man pose in Stella's direction then headed toward the after party snack table. "You too Rafe, great juggling." Rafe nodded.

  “Thank you. Even our special guests seemed to enjoy the concert," joked Rafe, as he moved to a corner with Stella, Blue and Talon.

  "What special guest?" asked Stella.

  Rafe, Stella, and Blue huddled in the corner. Rafe began, "I'm sure Blue has told you by now of the injured little dragon she found in Grandma Lily's cistern room. A few of his litter mates were hopping around on the acoustic ceiling tiles during the concert."

  "Of course," replied Stella. "I heard all about it. Blue called me right away as soon as she got home with the injured dragon. I saw him at our meeting yesterday too. He's very cute. But I didn't see them on the ceiling tiles earlier. I must have missed that.”

  “Did you have time to look them up on the internet for me?” asked Blue.

  “Yes, I looked them up on the internet. They sound like knuckers, because they are small and with their webbed feet are obviously water dragons."

  "A what? A knucker? Never heard of such a thing," replied Rafe.

  "That's what the McChesney beastiary called them too," said Blue.

  "It's a British word for small water dragons," said Stella. Historically, dragons were at one time a big problem in that part of the world. The new world, North America anyway, does not have any indigenous dragon species, aside from the Canadian Ice Dragon, which lives on glaciers. It is said that the British knucker came over secretly in the hold of ships, and bred with the Canadian Ice Dragon, thus creating a new breed of water dragon that can handle the cold climate here.”

  “That makes sense,” said Rafe.

  Stella continued. “There are some dragons in South America but only fire dragons. That type cannot take the cold we get here.”

  “I find it odd that I’ve never seen dragons around here before,” replied Rafe.

  “They prefer more remote areas,” chimed in Blue.

  “Plus they are nocturnal. They like to sleep in caves during the day.”

  Rafe joined in, "If they stay in caves, the underground temperature is much warmer, and would certainly be above freezing."

  "The British knuckers are said to be brown, reddish brown o
r green,” continued Stella. Plus they swim rather than fly. The Canadian ice dragon can fly and swim, and is usually blue, green or gold. So it sounds to me like Blue’s dragon is small like the British knucker but has the coloring and abilities of the larger Canadian Ice Dragon.”

  "I think you are right Stella,” agreed Blue.

  "Is Took’s burn getting better?," asked Stella.

  "Took?" laughed Rafe. "You named it already?"

  "Yes," Blue laughed. The injured knucker now is namedTook, from Lord of the Rings. The most adventurous hobbits were of the Took line and i think this little dragon, or knucker, is very adventurous to have ended up in my Grandma's basement."

  Belladonna Took was the mother of Bilbo Baggins, so it's totally fitting," added Stella.

  "Wow, I didn't know there was a hobbit named Belladonna!" replied Blue, whose given name was Belladonna Louisa.

  "How is little Took feeling now?," inquired Stella.

  "Aunt Violet worked on him and detected no broken bones in the injured wing, just a bad sprain and bruises, also a burn which is odd. We think Zerelda attacked him. Since no bones are broken he'll be OK in a few days. Aunt Violet just wrapped the wing in place folded up against his body."

  "How did you get him to hold still?" inquired Rafe, suspiciously.

  "Well, I did my little trick," Blue replied, embarrassed a little.

  "I thought so!" interjected Stella, giggling nervously. "No other way could you keep an injured dragon calm."

  Blue had a talent for psychically communing with animals. It was a rare talent so frowned upon by leaders in the Paranormal Council. Stella became nervous at any mention of the Paranormal Council since she had a talent even more rare and even more frowned upon. The Paranormal Council thought that Stella was a witch, and one with minor powers, since with a lot of work Blue had taught Stella to light a candle. Basically the Council considered Stella to be an idiot, magically speaking, but a harmless idiot. If they knew Stella was a necromancer, they would be alarmed. Anyone with powers came to the attention of the Paranormal Council, and they were suspicious of strong or rare powers. Necromancers were both rare and powerful. A Necromancer in full power could raise up an entire cemetery full of ghouls and ghosts and command them at will. Stella and Blue often debated which of the two of them would be most frowned upon by the Paranormal Council if they knew everything. Stella scored very high. Blue's talent to commune with animals, while rare and objectionable, was not a major talent. But Blue had other strikes against her from the point-of-view of the Council. First of all, she was a McChesney and that came with a great deal of baggage. There had always been whispers about McChesney's using dark magic. In addition, Blue's father, Cormac McChesney didn't attend council meetings and was rumoured to be a rogue sorcerer. He ignored the Paranormal Council and did as he pleased. Since the Council could not control Cormac McChesney, they assumed the posture of ignoring him. As if being a McChesney were not bad enough, Blue was also an Escarpment Witch, from her mother's lineage, another thing the Magic Authority Council held against her. Plus Blue was 1/4 werewolf thanks to Grandpa Louis, and could turn her left hand into a werewolf paw. Five strikes. Blue and Stella had decided that if their full talents were known, they would be even in the Paranormal Council's disapproval ratings.

  "LeRoy must love having a dragon in the house!" laughed Stella.

  Blue did not want to discuss what had gone on with LeRoy and the McChesney guardians, not yet. She hid her hand with the celtic cross brand, under an old fashioned pair of lacy gloves. The brand would be sure to generate a lot of questions if anyone saw and she was still processing what happened, so was not ready to talk about it.

  "LeRoy made extensive use of his X-rated vocabularly, which I'm sure he learned from pirates," smiled Blue.

  "I think it's good for LeRoy to have some company, laughed Rafe. “Maybe then he won't sleep half the day away.”

  “You’re right,” agreed Blue. “Even though he is injured, Took is lively, and spends his time basking in front of the fire or frolicking in the fountain. He likes to follow LeRoy around the house too.”

  “How is Took’s appetite?,” asked Stella.

  “So far he's eaten a good portion of raw carrots and potatoes, along with a few large helpings of tuna fish. Fortunately he seems to know what to do with a litter box."

  "Very fortunate," replied Stella.

  "Smokey Hollow has a lot of wetlands the other side of the cemetery, pointed out Rafe. I bet the dragons were foraging for food. Many tasty roots there. Hopefully their appetites will not cause attention."

  "That probably is the reason the dragons were in Smokey Hollow," agreed Blue "They do like to eat a lot. It would not be good if they were noticed but they seem harmless enough. I think they are cute actually."

  "An infestation could prove inconvenient though," said Talon.

  "Yes, agreed Rafe. My family doesn't want any attention and I'm sure yours feels the same. The sooner these dragons go back to where they came from the better. Every oddity seems drawn to Smokey Hollow, which I suppose is a good thing. So we can find out before anyone else when something odd is going on."

  Stella continued, "According to the internet information I found, knuckers travel with their young in family groups led by a matriarch, until the babies are big enough to fend for themselves, at about two years old. I was unable to find out how many whelps are in each litter. So there probably are several to a couple dozen more little dragons around, and maybe one not so little momma dragon.."

  "I already did a tracking spell to find out where the rest of the knuckers are hiding out," replied Blue. "I think they were able to use my spell in reverse to find me. Dragons are very psychic. They probably know already that

  I have Took and they want him back."

  "Where are they?," replied Rafe. "Because we want to help these dragons move elsewhere before anyone else notices them."

  "They're hiding out at the old Birdsill Holly factory," Blue whispered.

  "We better talk about this later and get into costume now," Stella said. "The play will be starting soon."

  This year the theatre group had teamed up with the All County Chorus & Band to do the play "Into the Woods." The play intertwined several Grimm's fairy tales in an interesting arrangement. Rafe had landed the main character, Jack. Stella and Blue were both in the play's chorus and had one dance number at the end, with the main cast. The play commenced and was going along perfectly until the end when Jack was about to kill the Giantess. Then suddenly two knuckers flew down from the ceiling and straight toward Blue then began buffeting her with their wings. Blue covered her head and stifled a shriek.

  She tried to remain in the back row of dancers, but could no longer harmonize or keep in step, so ran offstage with two knuckers flapping around her head.

  In the room backstage Brando was waiting for her and pulled her outside into the parking lot, then pulled her against him for protection until her head was buried against his strong chest.

  "Get off her!, he hollered, whacking at the knuckers with his fist. It didn't take much. After a few good whacks from Brando they flew off into the night.

  "I saw you being attacked so ran in here. I was hoping you would run offstage Blue."

  Blue was out of breath and could hardly speak. "Brando!," she gasped. "I thought you were working tonight. I didn't think you'd even make it."

  "I just got off work. I missed the concert but made it to the play just before it started and was watching from the wings."

  "I did a tracking spell earlier and I think the dragons have tracked me in reverse."

  "That figures, since dragons have magical powers.

  "Do you think the mundanes noticed?" asked Blue. She could not believe that the parking lot was not full of gawking people.

  "Actually, I don't think anyone thought twice about it," replied Brando. "It just looked like a really cool special effect. Now if you were doing The Sound of Music it might be a problem, but dragons fit in
very well with Into the Woods.

  "That's a relief," replied Blue.

  Brando caught Blue's wrist.

  "What's this?"

  "Nothing," Blue replied, pulling down her glove. Brando ignored her and pulled the glove off.

  "It certainly is not 'nothing'. I'm not a complete idiot, Blue, I know what the McChesney mark is and I know it's not usually given until age 18."

  "Unusual circumstances," Blue mumbled, pulling her hand away. I bet I can sneak back on-stage now. I'm in the back corner of the chorus so no one will notice." Blue turned to run back on stage. Then she turned back to Brando.

  "Thanks Brando." Blue gave him a quick hug. "You always turn up at the right time."

  "My pleasure," said Brando with a nod. They walked back inside and Blue skittered out onto the stage again.

  On the way home in Uncle Basil's car with Aunt Elizabeth and Ivy there was nothing but praise for the concert and the play. Uncle Basil pulled into the long driveway of the McChesney mansion and drove halfway around the circular driveway to the front door. Blue jumped out of the car.

  "Are you sure you're OK going inside alone dear?," asked Aunt Elizabeth.

  "I'm fine", replied Blue.

  "Not even an alarm system here Basil," said Aunt Elizabeth. "And a young girl here all alone. It's not normal. When will Cormac be back and how long has he been gone?"

  "I'm fine," replied Blue again. "Father will be home soon. I'm alone at night all the time, sometime for a week at a time." The minute she said it Blue realized it was the wrong thing to say to assure Aunt Elizabeth. Uncle Basil smiled wryly at her.

  "I wish I could stay home alone for days at a time," said Ivy.

  Chapter 8

  "You were up early this morning," Rafe said to Talon. "Or out late."

  "Oui. I was awake and out before, how you say, du soleil?"

  "The sun," replied Rafe, who understood Quebecois fairly well.

  "Oui, I was awake and out before the sun," repeated Talon.