by Sy Walker
“No, it’s not that. There is another problem. We’re going to have to keep this very quiet if you are to deliver this child safely.”
“Safely? What do you mean?”
“I have enemies, Albert. Well, really, one in particular. See, there are quite a few people in my dragon clan, relatives and such. However, the ability to dragon shift is confined to a single bloodline within our ranks. I am the only one left. That is why this child is so important. The line dies with me otherwise.”
“And someone wants that to happen?”
“Yes. There is an immortal. He is one of a long line of Scottish Highlanders. My father was attacked by them centuries ago and he destroyed an entire village in the process of defending himself. Most of the women and children fled, but one, this man’s wife was lost in a fire started by my father. It was an unfortunate accident and brought on by their own actions, as my father would have never attacked them unprovoked. He was merely trying to save himself and my family.”
“Wait. Your father was alive centuries ago? How old are you, Devon?”
“Physically, not much older than yourself. We age differently after the accelerated birth. Chronologically, very old.”
“And in all this time, you’ve never found your mate?”
“Not until now.”
Albert looked at him softly, momentarily forgetting that he was telling him about a very dangerous situation they were in. Smiling thoughtfully, he nodded and touched his cheek. Devon was completely right. He felt something strong for him and it seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment.
“Okay. Go on,” he told him.
“The man never forgave my father. He eventually found him and my mother and slaughtered them in their sleep. I escaped into the mountains and hid there until I could find safe passage to another part of the world. I found this remote area of Hawaii and I’ve been here for a very long time. Recently, I’ve had reason to believe that the man has found me.”
“Why would he want to hurt you? He got his revenge on your father it sounds like.”
“That just wasn’t good enough for him. He wants all dragons gone and since I’m the last known one, he won’t stop hunting me until I’m gone.”
“If he is immortal, how will you ever find peace?”
“I won’t unless I can kill him. There is a way to do so, but it has to take place in a precise time and location. I have only one single opportunity each year to do so and I have not yet managed to meet him at that point in time.”
“When is the next opportunity?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Oh my God! So, you have a chance to kill this man tomorrow, but after that, you will have to manage to elude him for another entire year before you have another chance?”
“That’s correct.”
“I understand. Perhaps you should just continue to hide from him rather than trying to take him out. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”
“I feel the same way, Albert. Now, let’s order some groceries and get the doctor over here to examine you.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
Devon picked up the phone and began ordering groceries to be delivered to his mountain retreat. Albert chimed in periodically and added items to the list. By the time he was done, they had quite a stash of incoming food on order. A couple of hours later, they were putting away the things that had been delivered when the doorbell rang.
“That will be the doctor,” Devon said, walking toward the door and opening it. An elderly gentleman stood looking at him from just outside.
“Well, for hell’s sake, Devon. Are you going to let me in or leave me out here to sweat off my balls?”
“Good to see you again too, Doc,” Devon laughed, waving him inside. The physician walked toward Albert, looking him up and down.
“You must be the Misses,” he said sourly.
“I suppose that is an apt enough description.”
“You young kids today. No fucking morals. Completely lost the concept of courting and marriage. It’s just hook up and fuck all else. Now, look at you. Some guys get a rude awakening when they come to my office and find out they have the fucking clap or gonorrhea. Your lot gets knocked up with dragons. Are you just fucking special?”
Albert looked past the slightly built man toward Devon with a raised eyebrow. What sort of doctor had he brought to look at him? It was quite the bedside manner he had.
“Don’t mind all that, Albert. Doc here has a potty mouth and low opinion of today’s youth, but his medical expertise is unrivaled. He’s been perfecting it since the stone ages.”
“Fucking stone ages. I’m not that God damned old, you little twit,” the doctor countered.
“You are if you’re a day,” Devon teased.
“Fuck you, kid. Let me get a look at your bastard son and I’ll be on my way. I suggest the two of you at least make this all legal before he is born so he isn’t illegitimate.”
“Shifters have been having illegitimate dragon babies since the dawn of time. No one used to get married, why should we?”
“Fuck it all. Come on,” the doctor said, motioning toward Albert. He led him over to the sofa and had him lie down while he examined him, taking his time to check him carefully and even pulling out a portable scanner to do a quick viewing of the baby.
“Is it all alright?” Albert asked nervously.
“You mean other than the fact that you are a man having a baby? Yes. It’s perfect. I’ll be by daily to check on you, because this little alien you’ve got spawning is going to grow very fast and let me tell you, son. It’s going to hurt like a mother fucker. You ever see that movie Alien where the creature tears its way outward from the woman’s stomach? Let’s just hope I get here before he wants to be born.”
Albert looked horrified for a moment, until the doctor laughed and stood up from the edge of the sofa.
“Ah, I’m just yanking your chain, kid. You’ll be just fine. I’ll see you tomorrow. I brought you some vitamins to take. Make sure you take one each day because this baby will deplete your natural stock with its rapid growth. It’s important that you are getting what you need back in there in addition to eating healthily.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Albert replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
Devon saw the doctor to the door and walked back to the sofa where Albert lay naked. Putting his hands on his stomach, he caressed it thoughtfully, smiling down at him. Albert found that he, too, felt happy. This wasn’t something he could have ever imagined and it still seemed all but a bit surreal, but he couldn’t deny that he was beginning to feel completely at peace with it. There was a bit of nervousness about the change in his body and pending birth, but otherwise, he could see that life with Devon might be quite nice.
The following day, he woke up to find he was even larger than the day before. He frowned down at his stomach, looking easily as if it were the midsection of a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy. How would he ever get back into shape after having a child ripped from his womb?
“It will go back to normal very quickly, Albert. You’ll be amazed how quickly all of this heals as if it never happened. About as much as you’ll see will be a thin scar where the incision was made. Just consider it a battle wound.”
Devon smiled at him sheepishly as Albert studied his face, realizing once again that Devon could read his mind. It was a bit disconcerting in a way. What if he thought something bad or hurtful that he really didn’t mean? He wondered if there was a way to block his thoughts.
“No. I don’t read your mind. I feel it more so than read it. You’ll not be able to block it for as long as you are carrying my child. The good news is that it will stop once that connection is broken after he is born. However, I will always know how you are feeling, even if I can’t pick up on the exact thoughts. I will know when you are sad, hurt or frightened. It’s just a part of the powers that come along with the shifting.”
“What’s it like to b
e alive so long, Devon?”
“Tiring. Incredibly tiring in a lot of ways. You watch people come and go. You see the same mistakes made by societies all across the globe. It can get very bothersome at times.”
“And the shifting? What is it like? How does it happen?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. It is just a feeling that comes over me. If there is danger to me or someone I feel I must protect, it happens without any real thought on my part. I feel a heat come over my body and then there is just a numbness that takes hold, like my body is protecting itself from the pain of the massive changes that must take place for me to shift from human to dragon.”
“That must be incredible to see.”
“Let’s hope that you don’t.”
“Why? I would love to see it. It must be so fascinating.”
“If you see it, there is serious trouble on the way. The kind of trouble that you don’t want to encounter.”
“I suppose so.”
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the doorbell. Devon looked toward it and back at Albert.
“That will be the doctor. Prepare yourself for another round of his impression of a sailor,” Devon laughed.
“He does have quite the colorful vocabulary, doesn’t he?”
“Certainly does. You’d have to know the kinds of places he’s been and seen during his centuries as a physician to understand why he’s such a rough cobb of a man.”
“I think I’d like to learn a bit more about that too.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
“Good thing it had nine lives,” Albert laughed just as Devon opened the door.
Without warning, there was a loud noise as the man at the door fired a large gun, but Devon was too fast for him. He ducked out of the way in the nick of time and it only clipped him on his left arm. Blood ran down it as he seemed to refocus and realize what was happening. In an effort to draw the man away from Albert, he suddenly heaved himself at him and pushed him out the door. They tumbled down the slight incline that rose up to the front door and off into a small ravine that only dipped a few feet down. Albert rushed to the door, but had already lost sight of them.
A moment later, the man climbed from the ravine, pulling himself up over the edge and getting to his feet. His eyes fell on Albert’s stomach and a sick smile came across his face. He began moving toward him at what seemed like an unnaturally quick pace. Albert reached for the door to barricade it from the inside just as a large form appeared from behind the man. It was like something out of a medieval film as the wings of the enormous dragon spread open and flew above the man’s head, grabbing him by the shoulders with two immense claws.
There was a horrible shrieking sound as the pulled him up off the ground and shook him furiously back and forth in the air and then dropped him on the ground. The man rolled to one side just as Devon’s dragon form came down on top of him in an attempt to crush him. The man scampered for the gun that he had apparently dropped in their previous scuffle and fired at him, hitting a wing and leaving a huge gaping hole in it.
Devon’s loud squawk of pain filled the sky around them as he clattered to the ground momentarily then struggled to regain his footing. The man was on him in a heartbeat, a large metal object raised well above his head. Albert was horrified as he realized it was a large silver dagger aimed at getting to Devon’s neck. Just as he brought it down, Devon rolled, taking him off to one side. The man disappeared under his large body for a moment as his wing fluttered wildly down upon him.
Once again, Devon’s unnatural cry of pain filled the sky as the silver point of the dagger appeared from within his wing. His massive form rolled away from the man as he dragged himself away from him, trying to get up from the ground, the dagger still protruding haphazardly from his wing. The man was once again upon him quickly, yanking the dagger free and attempting to climb atop him. He was standing on his back and raising the sword for yet another attempt at driving it downward into his neck when a shot rang out.
The man stumbled forward and fell onto the ground. He lay there quietly for a moment before attempting to get up. A second shot rang out and he was still again. Albert turned to see the doctor walking up the sidewalk, the gun in one hand and his case in the other. The man began to move again and he fired a third shot. Albert could see that the gun was apparently not enough to kill the immortal, but it was enough to slow him down.
Shifting his attention toward Devon, he could see that he was still struggling to get up from the ground. Albert was relieved that he was still alive, moving, though he appeared deeply hurt. He was very distraught that he might not make it. Looking toward the man, he saw that he was once again rising from the ground. The doctor pointed the gun to shoot him again.
“Fuck. Piece of shit is jammed,” the doctor growled, looking at the man, who was now on his feet and walking toward him with an air of complete disinterest.
“I’m about to fuck you up, old man.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, would it, O’Hannon?”
“Aye, it wouldn’t. I aim to bet you that it will be the last though.”
“Good luck with that. I’m a betting man and I’d have to say odds are that you are more likely to end up feeling like a proper roast duck here in about thirty seconds.”
“What?” O’Hannon said. Then, a sudden realization hit him as the doctor dove behind a nearby block wall and onto the ground. Albert had been watching Devon steadily rise to his feet and stand quietly behind the man. Just as he turned around, a scorching blaze came shooting from Devon’s long snout and engulfed him in flame, completely incinerating him until there was nothing more than a pile of ash.
Devon collapsed back onto the ground as the wind picked up and began blowing the ashes of what was once an immortal named O’Hannon down the street and across the mountain side that flowed down from Devon’s house. The doctor walked over toward what was left and kicked it up, sending it along with the rest on his way to aid Devon.
“I never did like you, you rotten son of a bitch,” he muttered as he helped Devon, now panting on the ground in his human form to the house. “Get me some clean towels and a bottle of vodka,” he shouted at Albert.
Albert hurriedly retrieved what he had asked for as he lay Devon across the kitchen table and pulled open his bag, making quick work of stitching him up, dabbing at his wounds with one of the towels and then taking a swig of the vodka directly from the bottle. Albert looked at him in disbelief as he patched Devon up and drank the entire bottle of vodka. When he was done, the smiled down at him and closed his bag.
“Is he going to be okay?” Albert asked, looking at Devon’s unconscious form.
“Of course. All of the injuries were to his wing, which in human form is just his arm. He has a gunshot wound, but it was just a graze and two puncture wounds that go all the way through, but will heal just fine. Nothing vital was hit. He was damned lucky.”
“I can’t believe he was able to kill that man. He told me that he could only kill him today at a certain time.”
“He did. You don’t think it was a coincidence that I showed up with a gun in my hand and loaded do you? Do you think that Devon couldn’t have roasted him right off the bat? He was merely toying with him while he bought himself time to do what needed done. The gunshots were only to slow him down and divert his attention.”
“I don’t understand. The two of you planned this?”
“No, not planned. We just knew he would show. We didn’t plan for it, but we were prepared for it. We prepare for it every year. You see, just like us, there is only a certain day and time that he can kill Devon.”
Albert looked at him incredulously for a moment until he heard Devon stir behind him. He ran over to him as he sat up on the table, holding him to steady him. Devon smiled up at him and then looked up at the doctor.
“Thanks for your help, Doc.”
“You’re welcome. I thought he might get the best of us once my gun jammed. Good thi
ng the clock was ticking. You came up right on time and toasted that little fucker just like he deserved.”
“Thank goodness. It will be nice not to have that jackass following me for centuries to come.”
“Right. Now, let’s get on to this little bastard you’re plighting upon the world then.”
“If I didn’t know how excited you really are about the fact that we are bringing a new dragon baby into the world I’d be offended by your commentary,” Devon laughed.
“Don’t be so sure about that, you punk.”
“I love you too, Doc,” Devon teased.
The doctor scowled at him and began his exam of Albert, looking him over for any signs of distress. He listened to the baby’s heartbeat and handed the stethoscope to Albert, then Devon so that they could listen.
“Oh wow, that sounds like wild horses thundering down a field. That’s fantastic!” Devon exclaimed.
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe you’re having a fucking Clydesdale rather than a dragon,” the doctor replied sarcastically.
“You’re such an old cod,” Devon teased him as he packed up his things and headed for the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, waving behind him as he tottered toward the door.
“Bye, Doc,” Albert told him.
Devon shook his head and laughed as he left, then winced a little as the inadvertently brushed his injured arm against a nearby curtain. He turned toward Albert and smiled, leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead as he stroked his cheek with his thumb and looked into his eyes.
“You will always be safe with me.”
“I know I will. I could see that today, but I was so scared.”
“No need to be anymore. He can’t come back from being reduced to ash. I hit him in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.”
“I don’t get it. Why would he come here if he knew you could do that to him?”
“Vengeance is a powerful force. He was hell bent on it. He was perfectly willing to risk dying in order to have a chance at taking me out. He’s been looking for me for years. It took him a while to figure out that I had built my cabin at exactly the place I knew I could kill him. All this time he thought I was fleeing, I was waiting. I was waiting for the day that he would figure it out and come here.”