by Lucy Lyons
“Bye, Dad, Steph.” Though he was furious, Ryan allowed the officer to take him out of the house and into the police car. The thought briefly crossed his mind that he could shift and escape but that would just out him as a dragon. As far as he knew his cover as a human was still firmly in place and Ryan would like to keep it that way.
Each officer had their own car and the other officer drove behind them on the dark country road. The headlights cut through the darkness but only illuminated small sections of the pavement. From the back seat, he could barely see their path but what he did see was a flash of bright light. The police officer cursed.
“Dispatch,” said the officer, “Are there reports of a fire on my inbound route?”
“Negative,” crackled the response from dispatch.
The car slowed to a crawl.
“There is something out here blocking the road, dispatch. It looks like a fire. Call county fire and get them to clear this road.”
“Ten-four. Will do.”
The car stopped and sitting up in his seat he observed the fire blazing in the middle the road. A thick tree trunk burning completely from end to end blocked their passage. Ryan thought it was strange that the log would burn like that. How would anyone get such a large piece of wood to burn like that, not unless they were—”
“Oh shit,” exclaimed Ryan. “Turn around, turn around. Get out of here was fast as you can.”
“Be qui—”
But the man stopped in mid-sentence as a large red dragon rose up from behind the fire. It trumpeted a high trilling sound and a green dragon appeared behind him.
“What the hell?” said the officer in confusion.
“Go, go, go,” said Ryan shocked that these two could find him. “These guys don’t play. Turn around.”
The officer turned on his flashing lights that gave a surreal feel to the dark county lane frantically turning his wheel. But it proved difficult to turn the full-sized police car on a narrow country lane with another vehicle behind him. The car fell forward into a depression at the side of the road and the tires spun without traction in the soft earth.
The red dragon hopped over the fire like he was playing a child’s game of hopscotch. With one talon, he tore the driver’s side door of the police car like it was a piece of thin aluminum foil. The dragon dug his claws into the police office and dragged him out in the night. The man screamed as the dragon shook him like a rag doll and then tossed him to the side of the road. Ryan turned to find the green dragon at the second car and doing the same thing to the unfortunate officer in it.
“Stop,” Ryan yelled but all that came out was a dragon’s roar. His arms thickened and with a sick feeling Ryan knew he was transforming. The handcuffs broke apart but not before they drew blood so as he struggled to get free of the seatbelt his blood smeared the straps. His growing body rapidly filled the back seat of the cruiser. Ryan’s clothes tore and he thought wryly that maybe he needed to move to a nudist colony. He twisted and pushed his feet as they turned into his rear claws into the door and it popped open. He jammed his fore claws into the fabric of the roof over head and propelled himself out of the car. Ryan winced out as his wings curled around his shoulder caught the edge of the door’s outer frame, but they didn’t rip. His growing tail pulled uncomfortably beneath him as he yanked his body free of the car.
The green dragon stood before him taller and heftier than Ryan. But Ryan’s anger surged through him like fire and his only thought was of ripping this dragon limb from limb.
Instead he breathed the fire rumbling in his belly but was surprised that it came out as a trickle. Laughter filled his head from the red dragon.
You spent all your baby fire on the queen, the bigger dragon laughed. Of course, it didn’t hurt her. Most dragonets spill their harmless baby fire when they are hatchlings. This only reveals your ignorance of our ways. Come back with us, and we will teach you what it means to be a dragon.
If, replied Ryan, being a dragon means harming defenseless humans, then I want nothing to do with you, whoever you are, or your vile queen.
I have my orders. If I have to drag you back by your worthless tail, I will do that.
Try, spit back Ryan.
As you wish, weyrling. It will be the first of many lessons.
The red dragon drew his body to his full height and spit a stream of yellow fire at Ryan. He ducked and avoided the flames as they sucked the air from his lungs causing him to gag.
Reece, Ryan heard in his head. You are not to harm him.
His arrogant ass needs a good lesson. A few charred scales won’t do great damage.
Do you want to fly the hard way home if you do burn him?
Shut up. He’s listening.
With his sharp hearing the moans of the injured men met his ears. One was breathing raggedly which couldn’t be good.
Come, weyrling. Do not make this difficult.
Who? For you or me? I tell you what. Take your attitude, stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and take it back to Rhea and do not bother me and mine again.
Can’t do that, weyrling. So let’s get this over with.
The red dragon launched himself at Ryan. He and Ryan tangled in a mass of scales, wings and claws. The red dragon snapped at him with his powerful jaw, trying to find a place to sink his fangs into Ryan’s flesh. But Ryan writhed and twisted, and slashed the red dragon with his claws. He hit one lucky blow where the red dragon brought his ugly face too close to Ryan and he slashed him down his eye. His opponent howled and fell away and Ryan thought he had his chance to escape now. He flew over the fire raging in the road, but just he thought he cleared it, he felt a yank at his trailing tail and he fell belly first into the flame.
Ryan yelled his pain as the fire ate his flesh and he thrashed as the other dragons dragged him into a field and rolled him under the flames went out. Ryan lay gasping, his dragon skin screaming with burnt nerve endings and charred scales.
Reece. You better get your ass out of here, the green dragon said. Rhea will fucking kill you for sure.
The screeching of fire trucks horn filled the night but Ryan didn’t know if it was good they did. Certainly, the cops needed help but Ryan didn’t know what they could do for him as a dragon.
I’ll leave, replied Reece sourly. But the pup deserved this.
Reece!
With a heavy flap of wings in the night sky his tormentor was gone but the other stayed.
Ryan, you need to shift.
Can’t. Hurts. Ryan wasn’t one to whine, but he never imagined that this much pain could exist. It felt like little knives stabbed every nerve ending.
It will hurt to do so, but then it will hurt far less in human form. I’ll help. Focus on my thoughts.
Ryan didn’t know what the red dragon could do, but then he heard the dragon’s words in his mind and he got pictures too of him shifting back to human form. He screamed as wings receded, his mid-section narrowed and reformed, his burned fore and back legs straightened and his claws became hands. Finally, the pain eased though it did not stop.
Stand, ordered the red dragon.
Ryan felt lightheaded when he got to his feet.
I will go now. But the queen will want you back, Ryan Kaur. She will send others.
Let her. I will not be unprepared next time.
The green dragon shook its triangular head and leaped then flapped great wings to rise into the night.
Ryan saw the flashes of fire engines’ lights and stumbled back to the road. He was naked again, of course. He was beginning to hate it that he couldn’t seem to keep a set of clothes for more than five minutes. But someone had to show the EMT’s where the cops were especially the one who was the most hurt.
“Help,” cried Ryan when he saw the emergency workers. “Hurry. Two cops are injured.” He pointed in the directions of the fallen policemen.
One firefighter ran to Ryan with a blanket in his hand, then stared at large patches of red on his skin.
“Did you
get burned?”
“Yeah. I had to take my clothes off.”
“I can see that.”
Another firefighter with Lieutenant’s bars on his collar walked to Ryan.
“What happened here?”
Ryan stared at him and realized he could never tell the full story of what happened, not without revealing his dragon heritage.
“On the advice of counsel, I decline to answer the question.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Steph
Steph and Ryan’s father spent an uneasy hour hashing out their plans for the next day. She tried to convince him to hire a lawyer specializing in criminal defense but the older Kaur refused.
“You know him best,” Kaur had said.
“But I’m not a specialist in criminal law and in matters like these it pays to have a lawyer who is familiar with the prosecutor and the local judges. At the very least hire someone local as a second chair.”
Ivan Kaur took a sip of his whiskey and tapped his fingers on the glass.
“It’s a good suggestion. But I don’t want it to get out what Ryan’s birth heritage is. I don’t suppose we could hire this person and not tell him.”
“I don’t advise that. He can’t assist in Ryan’s defense without knowing all the facts. It would be unethical of me to withhold them.”
“I know why Ryan likes you,” said Mr. Kaur. “He’s always appreciated discipline, just found it difficult to act in a disciplined manner.”
“Well, the stories about him attest to his wild ways. But he couldn’t have been like that all his life. What was he like as a child?”
Ivan Kaur’s eyes lit up when he told stories of Ryan as a boy. Steph formed the impression that it was Ryan’s father who was the overindulgent parent, while Ryan’s mother was the strict disciplinarian. When they learned through Ryan’s tumultuous toddlerhood of his dragon nature Katherine Kaur, Ryan’s mother, worried to death that Ryan would never be accepted in human society.
“We both loved him and wanted the best for him. The hypnosis was a difficult decision but after that the sudden shifts stopped though Ryan became more of a daredevil. If we ever needed to find Ryan all we had to do was look for the most dangerous place on the estate and he’d be there. Poor Katherine nearly had a heart attack several times from his antics. I thought that channeling Ryan’s energy into sports would calm him down and it worked for a while, but the problem was, no one, no human was real competition for him. As he grew older, well—”
After that conversation the elder Kaur suggested Steph get some rest and because of the aches in her muscles she agreed. Now soaking in the wide tub in her ensuite bathroom, Steph thought of all the things she learned about Ryan. Being the top dog all the time, commanding his parent’s attention and later the attention of his teachers it couldn’t have been easy for Ryan. No one likes to stand in the spotlight that much or to have everyone expect so much of you. Steph, the only girl in a family of four beefy boys and a Marine father had to fight for attention. She had to prove she wasn’t a delicate flower that couldn’t take the heat.
In that way then, she and Ryan were opposites. She had to prove herself and Ryan wanted to disprove himself. But maybe that was because Ryan knew in his core that he was different and not the person they molded him to be.
Steph sighed and sunk deeper in the warm water. Every part of her was bone tired and she needed sleep.
She jerked when banging on the bathroom door woke her from when she dozed off.
“Steph,” called Ivan Kaur. “Ryan’s in trouble.”
Swiftly she rose out of the water and slipped on a robe.
“When is he not?” said Steph.
“There was a terrible accident while the police transported him to the station. I couldn’t get all the details, but the two police cars were destroyed. Ryan got burned-”
Steph gasped.
“Don’t worry, Ryan is okay. But Steph, there was some witness who claimed that it was Ryan who transformed into a dragon and destroyed the police cars and injured the officers.”
This was very bad. Dragons were tolerated to a limited extent. A lawless dragon would get no mercy from the courts.
“I’ll pack,” she said.
“I have maids on that already. Three bags will be ready in fifteen minutes.”
“Three, you’re not—”
“No, someone has to put out fires here. I have a good friend with a vacation home in the Maldives.”
“Maldives?”
“No extradition.”
“Mr. Kaur, what you propose is illegal.”
“I’m not going to have my son hauled off to jail for something he didn’t do.”
“You sure he didn’t?”
“Ryan’s been arrested more than once. It doesn’t bother him. You saw how calmly he walked out of here. No. You two lay low while I hire some people to investigate this—all of it. I’m beginning to wonder with the force of everything coming at us if there isn’t someone behind this.”
“The queen of the dragons,” hissed Steph.
“Who?”
“Let me dress. I’ll tell you in the car.”
Driving to the hospital Steph told Mr. Kaur what little she knew at Ryan’s encounter with the queen of the dragons. Ivan Kaur’s face drew up in concern.
“How many?” he asked.
“Sir?”
“How many dragon babies were placed for adoption?”
“I don’t know.”
“Though some things I’ve wondered about over the years have fallen in place,” he said as if talking to himself. “Still, we need to get Ryan out of the country first.”
“I think Ryan can handle that part,” said Steph. “Though he did say he needed a picture of the place he was going to.”
Mr. Kaur took out his phone and his fingers moved over the face of it. “What’s your email address?”
Steph told him her personal address that she rarely used since she was fairly sure her work email was deactivate. Soon a picture of a tropical manse popped up.
“Show him that. Hopefully that will work.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” muttered Steph.
“You are only doing what your employer instructs you to do. Here,” he said handing her a backpack. “This should give you enough cash to pay for what you need when there.” He pointed to two small duffels on the floor. “Things you’ll need before you can get to store or market. There are some clothes.”
“Mr. Kaur, as your lawyer, I have to advise you that what you are doing is illegal and can get you arrested.”
“That’s okay. I’ve made arrangements for my companies to operate should that happen. Now, let me airdrop some contact information into your phone. One of those numbers is Ryan’s mother. Should you fail to reach me, you can her.”
“I thought you two were separated.”
“You’ll find, my dear, that absence does make the heart grow fonder. We’ll always care about each other and Ryan. Sometimes a little vacation makes things fresh again.”
They pulled up to the regional hospital and quickly found Ryan’s room after a brief verbal scuffle with the nursing staff.
“This is his father and I’m his lawyer. You can’t deny either one of us entrance,” proclaimed Steph loudly. The nurse trying to block them muttered by, led them to Ryan’s room. They found Ryan handcuffed to the bed with two policemen standing outside the door. The officers didn’t want to let them in but Steph repeated the line about being his lawyer and she showed them her New York attorney ID card and after turning it over with suspicion let her and Mr. Kaur in.
“Dad? Steph?”
“Are you okay, son?” asked Ivan Kaur.
“I’m fine. Got some minor burns, but otherwise good.”
Steph gripped the bars of his bed. “Are you sure?”
“Sure, babe. I’m just a little tied up right now.” He rattled his handcuffs with a grin.
Steph leaned over the rail and gave him a kiss o
n the cheek. “Can you shift?” she whispered.
Ryan’s face drew up in consternation. “I’m not sure I can. It was my dragon form that was burned badly. It was awful changing back to human.” He shuddered.
“Mr. Kaur?”
“Let me see what I can find out,” he said turning away from both of them and concentrating on his phone.
“What happened?” asked Steph gently.
“The two dragons that chased us in Scotland showed up. I don’t know how they found me, but they ripped open the police cars like tin cans and tossed the officers out like they were dolls. One of them tossed me into the fire they started in the middle of the road and my dragon burned.”
“Ryan,” she said. “Do you hurt now?”
“No. It’s healing quickly. Courtesy of my dragon blood I suppose. What hurts is not being with you.”
“I am here now,” she said softly.
Mr. Kaur turned back to them. “My contacts say that both dragon and human bodies heal at the same time. Shifting from one form to the other facilitates healing as the body is forced into the other shape. So, another shift should finish off what healing you’ve done.”
“Okay,” said Steph. “We’re getting you out of here, Ryan.”
“What? No. Dad? Is this your crazy idea?” he said to Ivan Kaur.
“I won’t have you locked up.”
“Well, maybe I should be locked up. Did you ever think that? These dragons are insane and I’m just as crazy as the rest of them.”
“Now, Ryan,” said Mr. Kaur. “I don’t believe that for a minute. I may not be your biological father, but I raised you. I have to think that you’ve taken some of what I taught you to heart. In fact, I know you did. From what Roberts told me you could have left but stayed to help the officers. That’s not a crazy person, son.”
“Roberts?” asked Steph.
“The head of the security firm my father hires,” said Ryan. “So if that is true, dad, I’m not leaving. I’ll face my accusers.”
“That’s a noble thought,” said Ivan Kaur, “but not practical. There is supposed to be a witness.”
“And ten-to-one if you find that witness you find one of the dragons that did this. Dad. You have to find that witness.”