Dragon Song

by Denna Holm

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, though it was probably a good thing he’d passed out. Faith set the two sticks along both sides of his calf to the heel and tied them in place. It took several tries before she got it tight enough, not an easy task by herself.

  She debated whether to wake him before trying to set his wrist, but figured it was probably better this way. No sense in adding to his misery. He made a pained sound when she set the bone but didn’t wake.

  Sweat dotted her own forehead by the time she finished tying the splints in place. Faith sat back on her heels a moment, petting Axel, who’d finally overcome his fear and moved up to sniff along Aeson’s limp body. “Well, what do you think, boy? Wish I knew what you’re smelling. You think he’s a real dragon?” Part of her still wondered if Aeson hadn’t done all this to himself, the horn buds, fangs and wings. She picked up his good hand and studied the black claws. Somebody had sure done a good job if they were fake. As much as she struggled to accept his story, deep down, Faith believed him.

  She watched Aeson sleep for a few minutes, pulling all the extra water and Power Bars from her pack and setting them within his reach. She unwrapped another space blanket, setting it over the top of him, then left a couple of packaged chemical hand warmers. All he had to do was open the seal on the package to activate them. Would he know how?

  “Aeson?” she said softly, squeezing his good hand. “I really need to go.” She waited for his eyes to flutter open before she continued, relieved to see his pupils were round again. She showed him the hand warmers, explaining how to make them work. “I’ll leave my bear spray too.” He had a lot of small scrapes and cuts, and the blood could attract predators. Faith had tried to clean up the worst of them, but the scent would hang in the air. She worried more about the packs of coyote than a bear or cougar.

  For a brief second, he looked scared, vulnerable, but then he quickly covered it. “I don’t need the can of spray. Male serpents have a built-in defense.” He took a deep breath, smoke curling out of his nostrils when he released it.

  Faith’s eyes widened, shocked. “You can breathe fire? That’s so cool.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know about breathing, but yes, we have special glands in our throat that will produce flames.”

  “You can do that even when you aren’t a dragon?”

  He nodded. “It’s not as impressive in my human form, but it will suffice to keep predators away.” He hesitated, his throat creaking when he swallowed. “Will you come back tomorrow?”

  “Of course. I wish I could bring someone, but I’ll do what I can to help you get home.”

  “Promise me you’ll come alone.”

  “I promise. Is there anything special you need tomorrow? I wish the phone worked up here, but we don’t get a signal. I could try to call your parents from home if you want.”

  “No. They would see you as a threat. I’ll be fine, Faith. Food would be good, and more water. It will help me heal faster.”

  “You want anything special? I can make sandwiches.”

  “Meat. Protein would be best.”

  “Um, do you eat it raw?” She rolled her bottom lip under, praying he wouldn’t want to eat raw meat in front of her.

  He smiled. “No, cooked is fine. We only eat it raw in our serpent form.”

  She released a long breath, relieved. “Okay, I’ll try to get back early tomorrow morning. I’ll need to wait for my dad to go to work first or he’ll ask questions.”

  “I understand. I appreciate whatever you can do.”

  Faith slipped her arms in the straps of her pack, strangely reluctant to leave Aeson alone. “Okay then, see you later.” And she turned to leave before he could reply.

  CHAPTER 5

  Faith made it home to a frantic mother just before dark.

  “What on earth were you thinking, young lady? I was worried sick. I just about called the police to form a rescue party.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I got lost, and it took me a while to find my way back out.”

  “What do you mean you got lost? Didn’t you take your GPS?”

  “Yeah, but the batteries were dead. It wouldn’t work, and I forgot to put spare ones in my pack. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful tomorrow.”

  “What do you mean, tomorrow? You aren’t going anywhere, young lady. Your ass is grounded until I say otherwise. You just about scared ten years off my life.”

  “That’s not fair. I can’t help it if the batteries were dead. I found my own way back, right? You should be proud.” She pushed past her mom into the house, fighting not to let the screen door slam behind her.

  Faith found her dad and brother already sitting at the dinner table, her dad not looking any happier with her than her mom. Her brother sat across from him, snickering as he glanced up at Faith. Usually it was Mark who got in trouble, not Faith. He was probably eating this all up.

  Faith tossed her pack by the back door, planning to restock it after her parents went to bed. Taking a seat, she waited until her mom set the roast, potatoes and carrots on the table to try to defend herself. “I’m not late on purpose, you know. I said I was sorry. I’ll be more careful next time and make sure I have spare batteries in my pack.”

  Her dad sighed, reaching for the roast. “Why don’t we try to relax and enjoy our dinner,” he said, raising his eyebrows at her mom. “We’ll discuss this more later. Okay?”

  Her mom pressed her lips together but nodded.

  Dinner was mostly silent. Mark said he saw trout in the creek and wanted to try to fish for some tomorrow.

  Faith wanted so badly to ask her parents if they’d ever heard of real dragons before, or any shapeshifter, but she’d promised Aeson not to say anything. Even a question in general could make them suspicious. She rolled her eyes. As if they would ever believe in real dragons. She’d witnessed Aeson’s eyes change, and saw the wings on his back, and she still questioned it could be real.

  “So, where did you hike to today?” her dad asked, pushing his empty plate away. Her dad looked tired, bags showing beneath his brown eyes, his hair beginning to thin on top. He’d always been a handsome man, almost six foot and in good shape, but his shoulders were starting to slump, like he was carrying a heavy weight around all the time. Her mom said he was just stressed from work.

  “I took the trail out in back of the house. I was trying to find that creek and waterfall Mom told me about, but I musta took the wrong fork. I ended up clear on top of the mountain. It was really beautiful up there.”

  “See anything interesting while you were out?”

  “Interesting?” she said, fidgeting with her fork before she set it on her plate. Well, yeah, if you call a hurt dragon shifter interesting.

  “Any wildlife catch your eye?”

  “Oh, just some chipmunks and pine squirrels. Axel had fun chasing them up the trees.”

  “You need to be careful. You shouldn’t go so far by yourself. I know there are a few bear and cougar around here.”

  Faith touched the can of bear spray still attached to her belt, glad Aeson refused to keep it. “I took my spray. And I had Axel with me.”

  “Well, I’d prefer you didn’t stay gone all day. You had your mother worried.”

  “Does that mean I’m not grounded? I’ll change the batteries in my GPS, and I’ll even put extra in my pack. It won’t happen again.”

  Her dad looked over at her mom, raising his eyebrows. “I guess that’s up to your mom. I think it’s good you’re finally trying to settle in around here.”

  “Mom?”

  Her mom sighed. “I guess I might have over-reacted a bit. Just don’t be gone so long again, okay?”

  “I won’t,” Faith said, grinning. “Come on, Mark, you can help me with the dishes.”

  “No way. You’re the one who got in trouble. You do the dishes.”

  “Mark, help your sister,” her father said sternly. When he took that tone, they both knew not to argue.

  “Fine, but if you go fo
r another hike tomorrow, I wanna go with you.”

  “No way. You never shut up. You’ll scare everything off. God, you’re worse than the squirrels when they get mad at Axel.”

  “Why don’t you take your brother tomorrow, Faith,” her mom said. “He doesn’t have any friends here yet either. It won’t kill you to take him.”

  Faith blew out a frustrated breath, planning to leave as soon as her dad left for work. Why was she arguing? Mark wouldn’t get his lazy butt out of bed until after nine. She’d be long gone by then. “I’m not gonna wait for him.” She glared at Mark. “If you don’t get up early enough, I’ll leave without you.”

  Mark stuck his tongue out. “I’ll get up. Don’t worry.”

  Her dad gave Faith a hard look but didn’t say anything.

  Once the dishes were finished, Faith took a shower, not wanting to act too much out of the ordinary. She always took her showers at night rather than in the morning. Back in her room, she opened her laptop and typed dragons into the browser.

  A lot of stuff popped up, but nothing about real people being able to change into a fire-breathing dragon. Next, she typed in shapeshifter, but again, just got a lot of crap about fictional books and movies. There was a little about Native Americans and something called Skinwalkers and wendigos, but they didn’t sound like anything Aeson had described.

  Tired after the long day, Faith finally closed her computer and went to bed. It took ages before her thoughts slowed enough to drift off to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking about Aeson being up in the mountains with only a couple thin space blankets and her jacket to keep him warm. He must be miserable with at least two broken bones and all those cuts and bruises. From the way he’d moved, she suspected he might have a couple of bruised or cracked ribs too. She wondered just how far he’d fallen and reminded herself to ask him tomorrow.

  *

  Faith had set her alarm for six thirty, knowing her dad would leave for work a little after seven. Opening her bedroom door, she could hear her parents talking softly in the kitchen. Faith froze when she caught the word serpent, wondering if she’d imagined it. Maybe she just had serpents on the mind, though she really thought of Aeson as a dragon, not a serpent. They could have been talking about snakes. They had rattlesnakes over west of the Cascades. She wasn’t sure about this side.

  Frowning, Faith crept forward, praying the hardwood floors wouldn’t creak and give her position away.

  “I don’t care for this, Tom. What if she runs into one of those serpents here? They’re nothing but filthy wild animals, dangerous animals. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill a human, especially a defenseless young girl. We should have stayed in Portland where the kids were safe.”

  “You know why I had to move, Annie. They can’t keep a captured serpent near the city. Besides, we’re hoping this one will lead us to the rest. We’re almost positive they’re somewhere here in Eastern Oregon. We just got this facility set up to hold more.”

  “Exactly, it’s not safe. And our daughter is up there traipsing around the mountain by herself. I thought she’d stay down here by the creek, like Mark, or I wouldn’t have ever let her go.”

  “You need to give her some space, honey. Faith is still mad about the move. She’s trying to blow off some steam and show a little independence while she’s at it. If we stomp down too hard, we’ll only make her rebel. Besides, this serpent we caught was almost thirty miles away, and we know for a fact that they never come out during the day. She’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “I still don’t like it. And now Mark wants to go with her.”

  Her dad chuckled. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Mark. Faith will sneak out without him. You watch.”

  “Okay, I’ll try not to worry. Have you learned anything more about that captured serpent? Does it talk?”

  “Yes, he talks, but not much. He doesn’t say anything important. But then again, he’s not very happy about being locked up. They caught him last fall, but he’s only now starting to cooperate.”

  “You know you can’t trust it. I don’t care how much it seems to be cooperating. Have you even seen it in person yet? Promise me you’ll be careful, Tom.”

  “I promise. You’ve got nothing to worry about. And yes, I’ve seen him, but I haven’t been able to interact with him yet. I don’t think those military guys in charge fully trust me. It’s part of why I think they made us move out here. They want to keep an eye on us. But Annie, the blood and tissue samples are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Their ability to heal is like nothing known to us. Just think about it. Imagine if we could figure out a way to transfer this healing ability to humans,”

  Her mom huffed, clearly not as excited as her father. “Why would the military not trust you?”

  “It’s just protocol. You know the military. Suspicious bastards. Everything is top secret. But I understand. This can’t get out, not until we can learn more about them. The animal activists would be all over our butts. I shouldn’t have even told you.”

  “Can it really turn into a dragon? How do you control something like that?”

  “I’ve never seen him shift forms, though I’ve got no reason to disbelieve the reports of those who have. Supposedly there is a film of him being brought down in his serpent form. They don’t allow him to change forms now. Too much risk he might escape.”

  “How can they stop it?”

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. He’s trapped. They keep silver cuffs around both his wrists and neck. The silver somehow disrupts the electrical currents in his body, messing with his ability to change. It’s just another detail I need to study. We want to see if silver will stop, or slow down, his ability to heal. It might give us an edge if his people ever decided to attack humans.”

  “How did you learn about the silver?”

  He chuckled. “I can’t tell you that or I will get in trouble. It’s top secret.”

  “What about it breathing fire? You won’t ever place yourself in danger, will you?”

  “No, we keep him enclosed in a clear cage, not bars. It can’t be broken, and fire can’t burn through. I’ll be safe, I promise.”

  “What about when you need to draw blood?”

  “Then we’ll put him out with gas first. Nobody is taking any chances, trust me.”

  “Oh, God, Tom, how can there even be creatures like this? Where did they come from?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. I know others of their kind have been caught over the years, but this is the first one I’m getting a chance to see up close and personal.”

  “What are they going to do once they’re finished studying it?”

  “I don’t know, to be honest. I’ve heard the military is interested in possibly trying to train them, but I don’t think it’ll work with this one. Maybe if they caught a younger one. This one is an adult. It’s like a dog, you know. A young puppy is much easier to train than an adult dog.”

  “Maybe they should just kill it. It’s not natural turning from a human into a dragon. Does he really have wings in his human form?”

  “Yes,” he replied, sounding excited. “It’s fascinating, really. You hardly notice when they are tucked against his back. In fact, if he wore a shirt, you probably wouldn’t even know it. They are magnificent when he spreads them, though I’ve only ever seen that in video. I’m guessing they are more than twenty feet across, wider than the cell they keep him in. They keep a silver strap around his chest and wings most of the time to keep them trapped. The joints have spike-like protrusions that could cause someone serious damage.”

  “See, you shouldn’t be anywhere near that animal.”

  Her dad laughed, and Faith heard him kiss her mom. She could imagine her dad pressing his lips against her mom’s forehead, like she’d seen a thousand times before.

  “I need to go, Annie. I’ll be back around five. Maybe we can all go out for a hike on Saturday. We’ll check the area out and you can see for yourself that there’s nothing here to worry about. The
re might be a few bears or cougars, but the kids know how to handle themselves. They’ll be fine.”

  Faith eased back into her bedroom. She closed the door and sat on the end of her bed, feeling a little sick over what she’d just learned. That serpent her dad was talking about was probably Aeson’s uncle. Who were the real monsters in this situation? Not the serpents. Should she mention this to Aeson? Even if she did, what could he do? She needed to give this some serious thought before she talked to Aeson.

  CHAPTER 6

  Faith waited until her dad left for work, and her mom returned to her bedroom, before she came out to the kitchen to make sandwiches. She made five, using the leftover roast for three, and processed ham and cheese for the other two. She suspected Aeson wouldn’t care much for the processed stuff, but she could eat it.

  She packaged each of them and stuffed them in her backpack along with a full bag of potato chips and a couple chocolate bars. She thought about throwing in a few Pepsis, but figured Aeson would probably prefer water. She seriously doubted he’d ever had a pop before. Doubtful winged people could travel to the local market to buy food.

  Opening the junk drawer, she pulled out a roll of duct tape and threw it in her bag. If the ropes didn’t hold on his splints, she could use the tape.

  “Shoot,” Faith whispered, sneaking back into her room to grab sweatpants for Aeson. Thankfully, she had something in black. She doubted he’d appreciate pink or purple. He was a little taller than her, but not that much bigger around. The material stretched, so it should work. She threw in another sweatshirt too, though he hadn’t tried to wear the one she had yesterday. Maybe they would hurt his wings.

  Sneaking back into the kitchen, Faith stuffed the clothes into her pack. Hopefully she’d got everything because there wasn’t much room left.

  “That you, sweetheart?” her mom called out. “Better take Axel with you again, and I want you home well before dark. If you’re late again, I’ll ground you for sure.”