Supernatural Consultant 05.2 - Dragon Home

by Mell Eight

  "What are you guys?" Aqua asked. They weren't human—he could tell that much—but his experience with strange creatures was limited to the few that wandered through Uncle Willy's domain, mostly ones that dealt with snow and cold. He had no idea what other types of creatures existed in the world.

  The man closest to him sniffed with a lip rolled in disgust. He no doubt thought Aqua was an idiot, and maybe he was, but at least this time it was only ignorance.

  "Let him stew for a few hours," he said sharply. "Maybe then he'll have softened up enough to talk." All three of them sneered at him before stalking out the front door.

  Well, that was fun. He had no idea where he was, who had captured him, or why. Best thing to do was get himself free and get away. He looked down at his wrists and saw they were bound to the chair arms with simple rope and knots. He wiggled his right wrist and only felt the rope dig in. He tried the same on the left, and again there was no room to get free. He didn't want to shift and accidentally break their house with his bigger size, since that would be mean, so he saved that idea as a last resort.

  "The best way to get those ropes off is with fire," a new voice said softly from behind him. "They're expecting you to give yourself away by burning your way free, and then they think they'll have a leg up on the fire dragons they're fighting the desert for. But you're different from those dragons. You taste like water."

  Aqua craned his neck around to try to see who was speaking, but it was darker in the back of the room. It wasn't until the speaker took a few steps forward that Aqua could see him.

  He shared the same basic features as the others—high cheekbones and very tall—but he didn't have the same coloring. His hair was pale gold, almost white, and his skin was even paler than Aqua's. It was his eyes that caught Aqua the most. They were red, much like the others' hair had been, and piercing.

  Never before had Aqua felt so bare, as if those eyes had torn his body open and dissected everything Aqua was in one quick glance. It was a strange feeling, but it wasn't an unwelcome one. Aqua felt like it should have been, but there was something else in those eyes, a sort of emptiness that spoke of what being so different had meant in his life so far. He looked lonely.

  "You're different too," Aqua whispered, unable to make his voice any louder under that red-eyed scrutiny. "You're like them, but not quite. Sort of like how I'm similar to a fire dragon, except I'm a water dragon."

  "I wish it was like that," he replied, and his eyes finally closed. Aqua didn't know whether to feel sad or relieved that those eyes were no longer focused on him. "I'm broken, not different."

  "You don't look broken to me," Aqua replied truthfully. He had a different coloring to the others, but that was it.

  "I'm a fire salamander that lives in the desert and I can't go outside into direct sunlight!" he snapped with a pained snarl. "I can't call on any fire like my siblings, and when it gets too hot, I faint. I'm weak and broken."

  "Why don't you leave? Move somewhere that isn't as hot or sunny?" Aqua asked.

  The salamander let out a hard laugh. "Where would I go? There's no one to take me in even if I could get out of this desert without burning to death. Besides, those damned fire dragons have us boxed in. We couldn't get out even if we wanted to."

  "That's kind of mean," Aqua said grumpily. "Has anyone ever tried talking to them about it?"

  The salamander let out another laugh, but this one just sounded tired. "It's a long story," he said.

  Aqua shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere. Oh, what's your name? I'm Aqua."

  "Ash, because I'm what happens when the fire goes out," Ash explained stoically. All of a sudden, Aqua wanted to strangle whoever had given Ash that name. "The story starts about three months ago. Safara—that's my older sister—was dating one of the fire dragons. I don't know all of it, but Phyre—that's our oldest brother—went to meet the dragon Safara was dating and then he dragged Safara home saying they had broken up and she wasn't to see the dragon any longer. She was sad, but Phyre talked some sense into her and then the feud started. I think the dragons are demanding we hand Safara over to them, but Phyre isn't about to let her suffer."

  Suffer? No, something wasn't quite right with Ash's story.

  "Ash, does your family know anything about dragons?" Aqua asked gently. He didn't wait for an answer, pushing on quickly. "Dragons don't date."

  "So they really were cheating Safara," Ash cut in.

  "No. Dragons mate. They find the one person in the world that is right for them and that's it. A dragon always knows. Safara leaving probably broke her dragon's heart and the fire dragons want her back because that will help. I wonder what happened that made Phyre drag Safara back?"

  "That can't be what this fight is about," Ash disagreed. "Phyre was so mad."

  "There's only one way to find out," Aqua decided. "If Phyre and Safara won't tell you what went wrong, then we should go ask the dragons."

  "We can't do that!" Ash gasped. "I can't go outside, and you're a prisoner until Phyre says otherwise."

  Aqua grinned. "So we'll go at night when you can go outside."

  "They all sleep here at night," Ash disagreed. "You're not going to be able to get away, even if you could get out of the ropes holding you captive."

  "You're going to let me out of the ropes," Aqua insisted with a grin. "I'll take care of the rest of them."

  "I'm not going to do that!" Ash gasped.

  The door was flung open before Aqua could tell Ash more of his plan, but that was okay. All three of the other salamanders strode back into the room. The one in front was holding two dead jackrabbits by the ears. He thrust them at Safara.

  "Dinner. Make it good this time," he told her. He must be Phyre.

  Safara took the rabbits obediently, but she didn't look particularly happy to be forced to clean and cook them. Was she stuck in that role because she was a woman? That was really silly as far as Aqua was concerned.

  "Well, dragon," Phyre asked sharply, "anything you want to tell us now?"

  "Nothing's changed," Aqua replied, even though so much already had. He was very careful not to glance over at where Ash had found a spot to sit along one wall. "I'm still from Canada and have no idea why you've tied me up like this. How about you let me go?"

  Phyre laughed. "Not a chance, Spy." He turned away, going to sit on the other side of the room from Aqua.

  Aqua watched the rest of the room, since he didn't have anything better to do. The sun was setting outside, casting long shadows through the open windows. The heat from the day was beginning to cool, which was a nice change as well. Safara was busy with the rabbits, carefully cleaning and skinning them, while the salamander whose name Aqua didn't know started a fire in the fireplace. It took a while before the fire had burned down enough that they could cook on it. Full dark had fallen and Ash had been sent to close the windows to keep the chill of the night out of the room.

  The smell of the rabbits cooking made Aqua's stomach rumble. It was meaty and fatty and he wanted some, but he knew better than to ask. He would only get one chance to ask for something tonight, he guessed, and he needed to be very careful with it.

  Safara took her time with the cooking, and when the rabbits were done, Phyre split the rabbits in half with a large knife so all four of them had an even portion. Aqua got to watch them eat, which, despite his rumbling tummy, was actually very interesting.

  Ash got a full portion of food to eat, but no one spoke to him the entire time. He sat slightly apart from his siblings, and Aqua didn't miss the guilty look he shot Aqua one or two times, as if he didn't think he should be eating when Aqua was going without. Safara picked at her food as if she knew she had to eat to keep up appearances, but didn't have the stomach for it. Her plate was full of pulled apart scraps by the end of the meal, which made it look like she had eaten without her actually putting much in her mouth.

  The other two ate gustily, ripping chunks of meat off the bone with their teeth. Even though Aqua had seen Phyre cut thr
ough both rabbits exactly in the center, for some reason, his portion looked larger than the others'. They both licked their plates clean and then passed them over to Safara when they were done.

  "I'll go wash up," she said softly, taking all four plates outside. Since Aqua didn't see a sink in the room, he guessed they must have some sort of water system outside. It was outside the range of his magic, so he couldn't say where for certain.

  Phyre looked content. He was leaning back in his chair with his hands on his stomach, as if he was ready to take a nap. This was probably the most amenable he would be, so Aqua decided to take his chance.

  "Um, I'm thirsty," he said quickly, just loud enough to be heard over the crackle of the fire. Phyre glowered at him for daring to interrupt his good mood. "You don't have to go out for it or anything. I have a bottle in my backpack," Aqua added before Phyre could immediately say no.

  "I'll get it," Ash said. Aqua didn't know if that was because Ash was still feeling guilty about eating dinner accompanied to the sounds of Aqua's stomach growling, if Ash wanted to stop Phyre from getting into a fight, or if he just wanted to help Aqua because Ash liked him. Aqua couldn't help hoping it was the latter.

  Ash scrambled behind Aqua, going into the more shadowed portion of the room. Aqua heard his bag unzip and then a rustling as Ash dug through Aqua's things until he found a water bottle. The sealed plastic cap popped when Ash turned it and for the first time in hours, Aqua could feel water. He called it to him, feeling it erupt from the bottle and head in his direction.

  Phyre let out a shout just before a ball of water coalesced around his head. Aqua sent a second ball to choke the other brother, then waited with his fingers crossed. He watched them both turn red, then blue, and hoped they wouldn't be stupid and breathe in the water. Aqua just wanted them to keep holding their breaths.

  "What are you doing!" Ash gasped, reaching forward to grip Aqua's arm as if that could stop him.

  "Knocking them out."

  Aqua saw Phyre's eyes roll back first and his body sagged bonelessly in his chair. Aqua immediately recalled the water so Phyre could breathe again. Hopefully he would stay unconscious long enough for Aqua to escape. The other brother dropped a few seconds later. Aqua directed the water back into the bottle Ash was still holding.

  "Untie me, quick," Aqua told Ash. "It's time to make a run for it."

  "You hurt my family!" Ash gasped out furiously. "I should leave you where you are for when they wake up!"

  "Safara isn't happy anymore, is she?" Aqua said softly, trying to convince Ash to cut the ropes holding him captive. "Not since Phyre dragged her away from the dragons and started the feud. We need to know what happened so we can fix it, and the only way we can do that is by talking to the dragons. You have to let me go, Ash."

  "Phyre's going to be so mad," Ash whispered, but his eyes were on the door where Safara had vanished a while ago, more than long enough to have washed four plates. She was avoiding having to come back to the room and Phyre's overbearing presence.

  "He's going to be mad no matter what, I think," Aqua replied. "Let me out, Ash."

  Ash stepped up to the fire, where he carefully picked up the large butcher's knife Phyre had left there after splitting the rabbits. He hurried over to Aqua and carefully slipped the knife under the ropes. Once Aqua's arms were free, he stood up and stretched, glad to be off his numb butt. He walked towards the back of the room to find his bag and saw it pressed against the wall next to a small pallet of blankets. There was only one bed in the entire room.

  "Where does everyone sleep?" Aqua asked curiously. He popped open his bag to grab one of Uncle Willy's sandwiches, stuffing a bite into his mouth even as he zipped the bag back up and hurried towards the door.

  "In the fire. They're fire salamanders, remember? I'm the one that's different. The fire burns me." Ash spoke like that was a guilty admission, his voice heavy with shame.

  "The fire burns me too," Aqua said.

  He pulled the door open and stepped outside. It was dark out, with every star visible in the sky overhead, and it was cold. Not as cold as at Uncle Willy's home, but chilly enough that Aqua wanted to hurry and shift forms. He finished stuffing the sandwich in his mouth as he moved far enough away from the house to change without breaking anything. He stretched his wings wide once he was a dragon again before turning to look at Ash where he was hovering in the doorway.

  "You should come with me," he told Ash. Aqua didn't want to leave Ash behind. It wasn't just that he was afraid of what Phyre might do to him when Phyre woke up. Aqua genuinely didn't want to be parted from Ash. He wanted to know what Ash looked like when he smiled, and he wanted to be the one to put that smile on Ash's face. He wanted Ash to be the friend he was on this journey to find. "Please come with me to see the other dragons, Ash," Aqua pleaded.

  "Go with him," a woman's voice added. Safara stepped into the light cast through the open door and looked hard at Aqua before gentling her gaze to look at Ash. "You don't belong here, but you might find somewhere happier with that idiot. Don't let Phyre ruin your chance like he did mine."

  "Safara…" Ash began, but he trailed off as if he didn't know what to say.

  "You can come with us too," Aqua said recklessly.

  Safara let out a harsh laugh. "There won't be a warm welcome for me there, I assure you. Go, and tell them I am sorry, even though I know an apology from me won't mean much." She gently pushed Ash out of the doorway, stepped around him, and shut the door behind her.

  Aqua didn't have time to go after her. Instead, he turned to look at Ash imploringly.

  "I will beg some more," Aqua insisted.

  Ash let out a little snort of laughter. "You are an idiot. Can you carry someone while you're flying?"

  "I've never tried, actually," Aqua admitted sheepishly.

  Ash let out another little snort and Aqua was suddenly upset that it was so dark because he couldn't see Ash's facial expression. A second later a small lizard scampered up his front claw to perch on the back of Aqua's paw. Aqua leaned in close to look and saw a pale white salamander with yellow markings on its back and red eyes. He carefully turned his paw until Ash was securely cupped in his palm before spreading his wings and jumping for the sky.

  The wonderful thermals were long gone, which meant Aqua had to work for every inch of height as he beat his wings as hard as he could. The little house was in the middle of nowhere and was the only building Aqua could see for miles. He went a little higher and then spread his wings to soar so he could tilt his head downwards to look at Ash.

  "Where are we going?" he asked. The salamander quivered as if it were laughing, then peeked out from between Aqua's claws to look around them. He pointed towards a tiny speck of light off in the distance before safely withdrawing to the center of Aqua's paw. Aqua turned in the proper direction, angled his flight towards the light, and flew off into the night.

  Chapter Five

  The light Ash had pointed out turned out to be a large bonfire. It was burning in the middle of the desert with no houses or other signs of civilization around. Six or seven dragons in dragon form were lazing around it. Aqua didn't get close enough to get a proper count, instead choosing to land well away from the fire and approach in human form. It was less threatening that way.

  Ash scampered down to the ground and shifted forms, the small salamander exploding upwards until he was back to being six feet tall. Aqua followed suit, calling on the magic that triggered his change.

  "I shouldn't have come with you," Ash said worriedly. "What if they attack first instead of listening to what we have to say?"

  "I wouldn't worry about that," Aqua replied, glancing around the dark desert. He thought he sensed familiar magic surrounding them. He knew fire magic from spending time with his friends Lumie and Alloy, two of Dane's fire kits, and he thought they were already surrounded.

  "I don't think we'll listen, but we won't attack right away," another new voice called out from the darkness. "You're that dragon tha
t flew right over our head a few hours ago. We sent someone to warn you off, but you were so out of it in your own happy place you didn't even notice him. Why are you back?"

  Aqua couldn't see the speaker, but he could tell there was more than just one dragon nearby. He didn't have access to enough water to even try fighting off that many dragons, not that he wanted to fight. The only thing he could do was answer truthfully.

  "I got hungry and stopped for lunch," he explained sheepishly. "The salamanders didn't like that very much."

  "No need to ask which family you ran into," the man said with a sigh. "Only one has an albino lizard."

  "Not a lizard," Ash said grumpily, but quietly.

  "They send you here?" the man continued sharply. "You're not welcome if that's the case."

  "I spent the rest of the day tied to a chair." Aqua grumped. "They thought I was spying on them for you, but Ash helped me get away." Aqua reached awkwardly behind himself and bumped his fingers against Ash's arm. He followed the soft curve of Ash's skin until their fingers tangled. Ash didn't pull away, but his fingers didn't tighten either. They stood there with their hands loosely clasped.

  "We got ourselves another one, Boron," a woman grunted. "Let the poor things sit by the fire before they freeze."

  "Come on then," the man—Boron—said.

  Aqua obeyed, gently gripping Ash's hand to pull him forward toward the fire. There were nine dragons sitting around the fire when Aqua got close enough to see. The dragon standing directly in front of Aqua and Ash shifted forms, turning into a lanky red haired man. He waved them forward until Aqua could make out individual facial features in the flickering light.

  There was something in the fire too, he noticed. Little salamanders were sprawled on or curled up beneath the logs. Some were scampering around, reveling in the heat.

  "There's so many!" Ash gasped. He had stopped walking with Aqua when they had gotten close to the fire and his free hand was gripping Aqua's upper arm as he stared at all the salamanders.

  "We've never understood why your family has always insisted on remaining separate from us," Boron said. He was the dragon that had shifted forms. "We work together to survive the desert."