by Alan Marble
“Afraid not,” Abe said, heaving his wings a little quicker all the same. “You sure they’re catching up?”
Jonah looked behind him as well, cringing to see that the bulls were not only catching up but they were doing so rather rapidly. It must have been the state of the fleeing dragons, worn down to the bone, overloaded, recovering from their injuries or worse. It was a wonder they were in much of a shape to fly, at all, and Jeffress was right. There was no way they’d outpace the bulls. “Can we fight?”
“Us? Against the three of them? Maybe,” Abe said, chuckling a little grimly into the air. “But we’re toast when those reinforcements get here.”
Whipping his head around to ask what Abe meant, he realized that he would not have to ask the question, at all. Coming at them from the opposite direction were at least a dozen more dragons, indistinct in the distance and the failing light, but there could be no question that they were indeed headed in their direction. “Oh, my god … what do we do now?”
“Pray,” Jeffress suggested.
Abe nodded. “That’s about as good as it’s gonna get.”
It seemed like a massive injustice; they had survived against the worst of odds, taken on the bulls, the mages, even rescued their comrades and now it would come to this, on the cusp of their escape.
“Was a good run, don’t you think, Jeffress?”
“Hell of a run, Abraham. Hell of a run.”
Jonah was bewildered that they seemed to be so resigned to this fate, particularly after having fought so hard. He almost spoke up about it when Abe turned slightly to address him. “Glad to have had you along too, Jonah. An honor and a pleasure.”
“Brother Abraham. It’s not like you to give up so easily.” Though the sentiment could have come from Jonah the voice did not. It was so weak and feeble that he had barely heard the elder speak up at all.
Abe laughed grimly. “You know me, Nate. A betting man knows when to hold them, but knows when to fold them, too. Sometimes the deck is stacked too heavily against you and you’re outta luck. I’m sorry, Nate, but my old bones have had all they can take, today.”
“Look again, Abraham. The deck might be stacked, but must it be stacked against you?”
Turning to look in front of him again, Jonah followed suit and tried to get a better look at the dragons coming in their direction. It didn’t dawn on him at first, but he heard the big dragon breathe a sound like a whistle. “Well, I’ll be damned …”
The dragons coming their way were not bull drakes, but dragons of various sizes and colors. A few he even recognized from the previous fight when they’d been ambushed by the Syndicate; Ryan’s name he remembered, and he remembered the way the drake looked. The others he did not recognize but could immediately guess who they were.
“Ryan, you son of a bitch!” Abe shouted out jubilantly, the others flying at his sides letting loose a short little roar. “How the hell did you pull this off?”
“Not now,” Ryan responded, shooting on past him almost too fast to be heard. The amassed dragons, more than a dozen strong, descended rapidly on the trio of bull drakes, descending on them in a swarm.
Jonah turned to watch the fight, but it ended almost as soon as it began. For all of their unwavering adherence to their duties, for their unerring persistence, even the bull drakes could recognize defeat when they saw it. Offering only a few obligatory swings of the tail, the three abruptly turned about and fled back the way they had come.
TWENTY FIVE
The rest of the evening passed by in a blur. Once they had been certain that the bull drakes would not be calling in any kind of reinforcements, they returned to the compound to fulfill the promise that Abe had made to Carolus. The old dragon's body lay where it had fallen, still in human form; reduced to little more than the broken and exhausted shell of an old man. Abe spoke a few words on his behalf, exonerating him in front of the rest of the clan, while some of the others constructed a makeshift pyre out of some discarded old timbers they had found.
A few breaths of dragons' fire was all it took to incinerate his body, giving him over to ash and leaving no sign that he had ever been there. A solemn prayer of sorts was offered by the aging elder Nathan, after which the dragons took to the wing and departed the scene, cloaked in the growing dark of the night and the silence of their own making.
The long flight back to the east had left the dragons exhausted. Rather than go the entire way on wing, they had set down when they had neared the first signs of civilization. A series of well-tipped cab rides brought them in to Bremerton, where they had waited for the next ferry to take them in to Seattle, eventually to head back to the hotel for some well-deserved rest and relaxation.
Once aboard the ferry, the dragons had gathered together around the elder and had begun conversing with one another in an animated, almost jubilant fashion. Jonah supposed that it, too, was well deserved; they had suffered more than their fair share of losses and hurts over the past few days, and any cause to celebrate was a welcome one. Still, he felt somehow out of place among them, unable to get into the spirit, and had detached himself from the group, eventually making his way out onto the deck of the ferry.
Night had since fallen and the moon had come out, waxing gibbous, throwing a fair bit of its silvery light upon the seascape around him. Cutting its way through a fairly narrow inlet, land rose up on both sides of the ferry, relatively steep, covered in pine trees that looked black in the night, beaches dotted with lights from houses and other buildings tucked against the water. It was serene and beautiful. As Jonah leaned up against the handrail, looking down at the wake stirring up white in the moonlight, he realized that it was the first time he had been allowed to appreciate some of the natural beauty he had seen these past several days.
It was, in fact, the first time he had been able to take a step back, breathe in deep, and relax. No longer did he feel a sense of dread about what morning was bringing. There was still a deep and lingering confusion clouding his mind, and he knew that he’d have to tackle that soon enough. For now, though, all he cared to do was breathe in the crisp night air and let it quietly fill his lungs.
“What’s wrong? Not one for crowds?” He turned to look over his shoulder and see Abe standing there, looking at him with a light smile. The man had stopped at a shop back in Bremerton and bought himself a new suit, crisp and clean, and had even gotten a hold of a cigar somewhere. Clenched between his teeth and unlit - the ferry workers had forbade him to light it - he still looked rather content, himself.
Shaking his head and looking back out to sea, Jonah shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I still feel kind of out of place. Besides, I got a lot on my mind. Thought it might be nice to come out here and clear my thoughts, a little.”
The big man stepped in closer and rested a big meaty hand on his shoulder. “I can only imagine, kid. I’m not gonna make you come in there and pretend to be a part of the crowd, but I want you to know that we consider you one of us. You’re family to us, Jonah. We’re all proud to call you one of our own. We’re all proud of what you’ve done for us.”
“Eh. It’s not like I did a whole lot, anyway.”
“Sure you did.” Abe paused to look out over the water as well, blinking into the silvery moonlight. “None of us would be here if it weren’t for you. You showed a lot of heart, kid.”
Jonah let a few moments pass before he spoke up again, the words rattling around in his head as he sighed. “You know, I still don’t even know what this all means. To be a dragon. Hell, I can’t even believe I’m saying it,” he muttered, pausing to look at his hands, holding them out over the railing. “It’s like some kind of weird dream.”
“I don’t envy you kid, and I have to say you’re handling it pretty well. None of us had to come to this realization at your age, and I can’t really imagine what must be going through your head. For what it’s worth, though, I’m happy to help you out however I can. If you have any questions … anything I can do for you at all …�
�
“I don’t know, Abe. What happens now?”
Pulling the unlit cigar out of his mouth, the bald man continued to gaze out at the shoreline sliding alongside them as the ferry chugged its way through the water. “I guess that depends on what you mean.”
“I mean … we’re done fighting the Syndicate. So what do we do now? Go back and hang out at some big dragon hideout? What do you guys do, anyway?” Jonah shrugged again, leaning up against the railing.
“For one thing, we’re not done fighting the Syndicate,” Abe began, stuffing the cigar back into his mouth. “They’re a big organization, Jonah. We bruised them pretty good tonight, gave them a black eye they’re not going to forget for some time, but we hardly took them out. Just happened to put an end to their one little plan involving us.”
Huffing a little, feeling that creeping sense of dread beginning to build up anew in the pit of his stomach, Jonah closed his eyes. “So they’re still going to be after us?”
Abe chuckled softly and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Eventually, but try not to sweat it. The Syndicate is big, but they’re also slow. They’re nothing if not thorough and deliberate. Remember, they’ve been after us for thousands of years. Having to wait a few more years while they hatch their next plot is something they do not mind in the least. Yes, we’ll have to be ready for it when it happens, but we can relax for a little while.”
“All right,” he replied, opening his eyes again and gazing once more out into the moonlight. “But what about … what about this council of yours? There aren't many of you left,” he said, before he bit his tongue, fearing that it might be too soon to broach the subject.
Abe, if he thought it a tactless question, did not indicate so. He merely breathed in deeply and let out a bit of a sigh. “We took a pretty nasty hit tonight. Without Carl, Jenna and Jason we're down to six. Less than half. I don't know that we've ever been down to six before. In time others will be found, but until then … well, we'll make do.”
The talk of finding others reminded Jonah that he had seen Abe pluck a small copper coin from Carolus' pocket before they had burned his remains. “I saw you take Carl's coin, his token. You left it on a counter back at the ferry terminal, didn't you?”
“You got a good eye, kid.”
“Why?” He turned to look at Abe again, curious. “I mean, if you're supposed to find his successor, supposed to find the new copper dragon, why would you do that? Just leave it behind?”
The big man laughed softly at that. “It's not my job to find the next one, that's the token's job. No better way than to let it go, it'll find its way. If I kept it in a lockbox somewhere safe, well, then I'd be thwarting the process. No telling how long it'll take. Maybe a year, maybe a decade, but eventually that token will wind up in the hands of the dragon who is destined to own it.”
“And the others?”
Once again Abe let out a quiet sigh. “Unfortunately I couldn't find their tokens. I'll send someone back in the morning, when it's light, when we're rested and see if we can get a hold of them, but we may not find them. They may be lost to us, and there's no telling how long it'll be before they'll find their way where they belong.”
The way Abe fell quiet afterward made Jonah a little uncomfortable, and he did not have the heart to ask what would become of their tokens if they had been outright destroyed in the mage's attack. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, he backtracked the discussion a bit. “Well, what about my other question? What do you guys do, when you aren't doing, uh, dragon stuff?”
“As far as what we all do, well, a little bit of everything. We all have our lives, things that we do. Some of us have businesses, some of us have families. We’re not some kind of Dragon Justice League, if that’s what you’re imagining,” he said with a broad, toothy grin. “Sure, we’ll fight when we have to. But we don’t have a Dragon Cave where we all go to live. We all do our own things.”
Jonah frowned a little bit. “I guess. But what about me? What am I supposed to do now?”
Abe mocked a little frown of his own, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head a bit. “Whatever you want to do, kid. You’ve got a life back in Florida, and no one here is going to stop you from going right back to where you left off.”
He could not help but to cringe when he suddenly remembered the life that he had left behind. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No way I can go back there. Cops are probably looking everywhere for me. Certain that I’m guilty of Sam’s murder by now … hell, my folks are probably worried to death …”
“Relax,” Abe said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. “It’s taken care of.”
Frowning incredulously at the man, Jonah blinked. “What do you mean, it’s taken care of?”
“Working for the Syndicate does have its advantages. Before our little incident, I made sure to tie up a few loose ends for you. You’ve been cleared of any guilt in the crime and it’s all been pinned on the true killer, a man they believe carjacked his way across the country before falling to his doom in the Colorado River.” Abe paused to chew on his cigar thoughtfully. “Your parents, your workplace, they’ve all been put under the impression you’re under police protection for the time being. Maybe you should consider giving the folks a call when we get to Seattle. Let them know you’re ok.”
“That’s all fine and good,” Jonah sputtered, shaking his head. “But wouldn’t the Syndicate be undoing all of that right now? I mean, what with you betraying them and all?”
The big man shook his head. “You’re just a minor fish to them, Jonah. Another problem with bureaucracies like that, is that it’s too easy to lose things. You, as far as they are concerned, are just some dumb kid who bought the wrong coin at the wrong time. None of them had enough interest in you as a person to put two and two together to realize you’re one of us.”
Jonah frowned a little at that. “They've got to know by now, though. I mean, after everything that's happened the last few days … hell, that bull drake, the one who attacked me before. He's seen me with you guys. He fought me when I was … well … back there,” he finished, still having trouble thinking of himself as a dragon after all that had happened.
“Don't forget, the bull drakes aren't thinkers. They just do what they're told to do. Granted, if one of his keepers specifically asked him he might say something about it,” Abe said, shaking his head. “But he's not bright enough to volunteer the information. And like I said, the Syndicate is too big a bureaucracy. No one there is going to put it together. Not now, anyway. They've got other things to worry about.”
“So they’re not going to be coming after me? After my parents?”
Abe laughed softly. “No, Jonah, they aren’t. You’re free to go back to Florida and go on with your life, if that’s what you want.”
He didn’t feel especially consoled by the explanation, but it seemed reasonable enough. Still, that lingering sense of dread was gnawing at the pit of his stomach; still there were many questions in his head. “I don’t know, Abe. All this business about dragons and mages. It’s a lot to sort out, and it’s going to take some time. I don’t know what I’m going to do … hell, I don’t really know what it means to me, to be a dragon. I never even figured out what my, er, dragon power is.”
“Dragon power?” The bald man chuckled softly and shook his head. “It’s really not that important, kid. Did you need any special power to do what you did? Nope. You put all your heart and soul into what you were doing and that’s all that matters. You fought for someone besides yourself, you pushed yourself to the end and back for them, and that’s all that matters. Hmm. Though now that I think about it, maybe your ‘dragon power’ is the power of love.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Jonah scowled a little angrily as he felt hot in the cheeks.
Abe threw his head back and laughed heartily, plucking his cigar out of his mouth as he did. “Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help it. Look, don’t sweat this business about special powers. We’ve all got one and you�
�ll discover yours one day. Just never forget what you accomplished without it.”
Still feeling a little embarrassed, Jonah turned to look back over the water. “Right. What about you, though, Abe? What are you going to do now? Surely you’re on the Syndicate’s most wanted list.”
“You better believe it,” the big man said with a broad smile. “Unfortunately there’s no going back for me. By now they’ve seized all of my assets, or at least all of them they know about. Sure, I’ve got a few things tucked away for safekeeping but most of it is long gone. I suppose that’s not such a bad thing though. I’ve been thinking that it was time to get out of the lawyering business, that it was time for Abraham Sawyer to retire.
“I hear the aerospace industry is supposed to be taking off. That might be interesting to get in to,” he continued with a little grin.
Jonah couldn’t help but to frown. “You can do that? Throw your life away and start over, just on a whim? No family, no roots, no connections?”
Abe shrugged a little nonchalantly. “Not really, no. Just a few friends and the like. And when you get to be my age, it’s no big deal to have to start all over. You get bored with the same thing, over and over again. Kind of like a name. Been thinking about a new one, or going back to an old one. I always did like being a Ben. Ben Waring. Has a certain ring to it, no?”
“I suppose,” he shrugged.
“Well. I’m going to get back inside, it’s getting a little chilly out here and I have some catching up to do with the others,” Abe said, clapping him lightly on the back. “Let me know if you need anything. Just try not to fret too much. It’s not good for you.” With that, the big man stepped back into the interior of the ferry, leaving Jonah alone with his thoughts once again.
The brief discussion had done little to settle Jonah’s mind, however, and had added more questions as well. He did feel some small sense of relief to know that not only were his parents safe but that they knew he was safe, as well. He decided that he would give them a call once they were back in the city, let them know all was well, and that he hoped to see them sometime soon.