Dragon Adventurer collection

by K V Deal

  Well, that's not good.

  I looked back at Charlie. Suddenly, it dawned on me that she wasn't wearing anything from the waist up. “Oh, shit! Sorry?” I said. Instinctively I covered my eyes. I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up.

  “Jake, you idiot! Duck!” Carah shouted from behind me.

  I went low just as Charlie's arm snapped forward like a whip, flinging the knife right at where my face had been. I heard it ping off the wall behind me. Hard.

  Okay. Guess we’re playing that way.

  I charged forward, my tail lashing. Seeing me coming, Charlie made some kind of weird angry clicking sound as she spread her arms wide to meet my charge. I reached the side of the bed and gripped her shoulders. The instant I touched her, Charlie wrapped her arms around me. One wound around my arm like a snake. The other twisted around my torso. Her arms moved across me in a way that the bones of a normal human had no right to do.

  They weren’t snake-like. That was the wrong way to describe it. They were more like octopus tentacles. Really like an octopus! I felt sudden areas of pressure where her arms touched me as suckers latched on.

  Damn! Those things gave her some awesome grip strength!

  I tried to push her back onto the table only to find myself being pulled right along, unable to break her grip. As we struggled, her arms began to contract, trying to break me.

  Not that she was having any luck with that.

  I could feel the pressure, but she was going to have to squeeze a lot harder than that to break my bones. I'm the same guy who took a mace blow to the head without getting even a scratch.

  What it did do though, was put us in a bit of a stalemate. I couldn’t yank her off enough to push her back down, and she couldn’t snap my chest in half. This close, I could see the black pearl in the brooch was glowing, giving off a murky light. That was probably the source of all of this!

  Axle was suddenly by her side. “Charlie! Hey, Charlie! Calm down!” He grabbed her arm. “Beautiful, listen to me!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Carah was helping the woman with the sliced arm as Rachel got the male doctor out of there.

  Charlie made that angry clicking sound again, turned to look at Axle. That brought my full attention back to her.

  Oh, shit!

  That damn brooch was healing the wound! Even as I watched, the flap of skin that it was attached to was slowly rolling up as if it had zippers on each end that were reconnecting it to her chest. Charlie suddenly slid forward and as quick as lightning, bit down into Axle’s hand. I heard him scream as her teeth bit through flesh down to bone.

  “Charlie! Agh! It’s…It’s okay!” Axle’s face was contorted in pain as he ground out the words. Reaching out his free hand, he wrapped his arm around her head, hugging her close to his chest as best he could. That seemed like a really bad idea, considering the crazy I could see in her eyes and the way that pearl was still glowing. I had to try and end this.

  Since no other idea came to me, I let go with my free arm and grabbed the brooch, scrap of flesh and all. Charlie’s eyes went wide as she let out a screaming croak that freed Axle’s hand. Axle’s eyes went wide with the new burst of pain. He bit deep into his own lip.

  “Sorry!” I shouted, and then yanked with all my might.

  Charlie’s scream rose in pitch as I tore at the brooch and the skin that connected it to her chest. The brooch resisted, trying to hold on, but I was stronger, and it ripped free.

  The sound Charlie was making immediately shifted to sound more human. Her head snapped back, and she stared at the ceiling.

  I could feel the brooch beginning to squirm in my claws. I had to get rid of this thing. Quickly!

  “Store this!” The copper finger-armor ring on my index finger, with its unique video-game-like storage ability, began to glow. Then it flashed brightly, forced my fingers open and flicked my hand backward at the wrist. The brooch flew from my fingers, hit the floor and went skidding off into a corner.

  Crap!

  “Axle! Hold her!” I shouted as I let go.

  Startled, Axle caught Charlie as she fell towards the metal table. He let out a scream as she hit his wounded hand. He flinched and she slipped from his grip. Rachel, who had returned, threw herself forward. Her chest banged against the table and sent it rocking but she managed to catch Charlie’s head just before it slammed down.

  I was already turning away and running after the brooch. As I got close, I could see that it was convulsing on the ground. The scrap of Charlie’s flesh that was still attached to it seeming to vibrate.

  Yay. Just when I thought that thing couldn't freak me out any more…

  No way I was touching that. Or letting anyone else touch it. I drew my knife from my belt. I felt the waves of heat flowing from the magically superheated blade. Retrieving a large clay jar from my storage ring, I leaned it on its side next to the brooch. The nasty little bit of metal seemed to flinch back from the heat of my dagger, but it couldn't get away as I used the blade to flick it into the jar before standing it upright.

  No way in hell that was enough, though. I got the creepy feeling that if I just left it like that, it was sure to find a way to crawl out. I pulled a heavy wooden bowl out of my ring and dropped it over the top of the jar. Hopefully, that should keep the brooch in there. I felt a shiver go up the back of my neck at the thought of the thing crawling around the hospital.

  I left the jar there on the floor and turned back to the others. The goat man had returned with bits of cloth hanging from his nostrils and was now working feverishly to sew up Charlie’s chest. His colleague was working, one-handed, on Axle's bite wound.

  I hurried back over to the table. I really was hoping that I hadn't hurt her too much.

  “Stay out of my light,” the doc snapped!

  I shot him a glare, but before I could say anything, Carah was at my side tugging me by the arm. “Come on, Jake! The emergency’s over. Leave the man to his work.” She tugged me toward the door and caught Rachel with her other arm. As soon as we pushed our way past the curtain, I turned to stare back at it, my tail lashing.

  “They’re gonna be okay, big guy.” Carah said, reaching up to pat my shoulder. “Those are two really good doctors in there.”

  Rachel walked past us back to her bench. She settled herself back down to stare at the curtain again. She began chewing on a fingernail.

  I understood how she felt. Even as much as Carah was probably right, they weren't dealing with some mundane injury or illness. No. This was something magical in nature.

  That damn brooch.

  But it wasn't like I knew any better way of going about this. All I could do was sit, wait and hope there weren’t any more issues.

  Thirty minutes later, the curtain moved to the side and the male doctor walked out to wave us over. He looked tired. There was still blood on his face. Although it looked like he had reset his nose at some point, he still had a nasal sound when he spoke. “Come on back.” He waved us in. I let the ladies go first and gestured for the doc to go ahead of me.

  Back in her room, Charlie was curled up on her side, clutching her chest as she held Axle’s good hand. Just seeing that made me wince. I had been the one to tear the thing the rest of the way off, so if she was hurting, it was kinda my fault.

  The short, glitter-bug doctor--no idea what she really was--had a long bandage that wrapped the entire length of her arm. But even with that, she still seemed to be struggling to hold herself together as she turned to face us.

  “Right. So, putting aside the fact that the wounds we had to close up had quadrupled in size, because somebody tore a chunk out of our patient, that went better than expected.”

  If that was better, then what the hell had she been expecting?

  “While in pain, she should be able to go home today. I’ve already explained the necessary steps for follow-on care to her boyfriend.” The doctor let the pain show on her face for just a moment.

  “We’ll send
our bill to the mayor’s office.” The other doctor put a hand on her good shoulder and said, “Now if there isn't anything else, I need to take a better look at my NEW patient.” The glitter-bug looked up at him, her eyes narrowing.

  As far as I was concerned, they could argue all they wanted later. First, I had some questions. “What’s the plan for dealing with that?” I said, jabbing a finger at the bowl-covered jar sitting in the corner.

  “It was requested by the mayor’s office,” the male doc said. “Though honestly, I would recommend destroying the damn thing.”

  As if hearing his comment, the jar shook. We all looked over at it nervously for a minute.

  “He can send someone to get it,” the glitter-bug said, glaring at the jug. “I'm not getting anywhere near that thing again.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Carah agreed.

  “Now if you will excuse us.” The male doc gave a meaningful look at the door as he helped his partner to sit on the table.

  Well, that was abrupt! Whatever!

  We helped Charlie and Axle out of the room and settled them on one of the benches in the waiting room. “Guess that’s their way of saying ‘get out.’” I shot another look at the curtain.

  “You up to moving, Axle?” Carah asked, looking him over with concern.

  “I’ll make it work.” I could still hear the pain in his voice. That hand must really not be feeling all that great.

  Charlie, for her part, seemed to have passed out. I stepped forward and gently lifted her up in my arms. “Let’s get you two home.” As we headed out of the small room, I hoped that this had worked and that would be the last time we saw that damned brooch.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Chapter 3

  The room that we’d gathered in was kind of rustic in my opinion, not that I would say so out loud. The walls were stucco. The wood framed window had about twenty little squares of glass in it, each held in place with what looked like some kind of melted metal.

  I was sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was more comfortable than having to stand up hunched over. Sure, the ceiling was tall enough that I could stand, being just about three or four inches taller than my own seven feet, but it had these wooden beams running across it, each one about half a foot thick. They were set just far enough apart so that every time I took a step, I whacked my horns on one.

  Not fun.

  Thankfully the fur rug helped a bit with the comfort level. It was warg fur if I wasn't mistaken—the pelt of a giant wolf that tended to show up a lot in the first dungeon that we had found.

  I may need to see if I can get some for my new bedroom.

  The room’ s wooden door swung open, once again revealing the two books that were detailed on its surface. Rachel walked in with a handful of bright red and blue flowers, each about the size of my palm. The instant they were in the room, I could smell a sweet rose-like fragrance starting to fill the room. Rachel walked over to the one-person bed set by the window.

  She slid them into a carved wooden vase before turning to face the bed's occupant. Charlie lay there, her eyes still closed, but breathing normally. Rachel ran a hand over her cousin's head before reaching down to smooth a wrinkle from the black-and-white checkered quilt we had pulled over Charlie.

  “Has she woke up at all?” Rachel asked quietly.

  Axle, who was sitting in the room's only chair, shook his head tiredly. “Not so much as a peep,” he sighed, rubbing his face with his unbandaged hand. “Carah's not back yet?”

  “No.” Rachel shook her head, her long blond hair bouncing.

  “It’s a bit of a walk between here and there,” I said. The other two looked at me. “If she was lucky and managed to get in to see Cyrus right off the bat, she still wouldn't even be leaving for another few minutes.”

  “I know that!” Axle shot me a glare before looking back at Rachel.

  Huh. That’s the most annoyed I've ever heard him sound.

  I sighed and leaned back against the wall fingering the handle of my dagger absently as I stared out the window at the sky. It was still cloudy out but hadn't decided to rain just yet. The cool feeling in the moist air said that it was just a matter of time.

  Axle suddenly clenched his free hand. “Really wish I could just take a hammer to that stupid thing,” he said.

  “I call next,” I said. That jewelry had caused enough troubles.

  I looked over at our sleeping friend. Other than one quick wakeup on the way here, Charlie had been out cold since the operation. Now, whether that was because of the brooch or whatever the doctors had used to put Charlie under was open to debate, but I was happy to blame that stupid piece of jewelry.

  Rachel turned to look at me with a nervous expression.

  “Don't worry about it,” Axle said, shaking his head in frustration. He waved a hand at me. “He does that when he gets worked up.”

  What?

  Oh, damn it. My tail was rattling again. I shifted to give it a punishing look.

  As if it cares.

  Glancing back up at Rachel, I muttered a sorry. “I'll head outside for a sec.”

  I stood up and turned toward the door. With a light bang, my horns hit one of the ceiling beams and yanked my head back. “Son of a…!” I bit my lip, trying to cut off my curse.

  There was a giggle behind me. I looked back to see both Rachel and Axle looking at me with mirth in their eyes. As much as it stung my pride, it was good to see the two of them smile, even a little.

  “Ya really need to watch where you’re going dragon,” a voice rasped.

  I spun fully around to look at the bed. Charlie's eyes were open! I could feel myself grinning as I watched the other two crowd in around her.

  “What's a gal need to do to get a bite around here?” She smiled weakly and waved a hand at us.

  Five minutes later, I was downstairs in her kitchen whipping up some food.

  This wasn't a kitchen I liked. It was small enough that I could touch both lime green walls if I stretched out my arms. There was a thin wooden shelf that ran around three sides of the room that acted as a counter--no storage underneath. The only source of light? A single window above one of the tables plus what little light came through the doorway that led to the dining room. Then there was the clincher. No spices. Zero. Well, except for salt. This was definitely the kitchen of someone who never cooked.

  Food was also in short supply as were cooking utensils. Fish seemed to be the only protein that she had much to my annoyance. I hate working with fish. All the fiddly little bones, the smell… And honestly? I didn't like the taste. But after all that Charlie had gone through, she was gonna need protein, so fish it was. Still, I needed to get quite a few things out of my ring.

  After all that, I was greeted with grumbling when I finally started carrying plates out of the kitchen. Even with their attitude, I was glad I had taken time to drag one of Charlie’s comfier chairs out before we got her settled at the large redwood dining table. The chair was a big blue thing, almost more cushion than anything else. It had, you guessed it, padded armrests too. Charlie, for all her verbal sass, almost melted into the chair because of how exhausted she was.

  Axle sat next to her in one of the table’s usual redwood chairs, a hand on her arm--his good hand it was, not the one she bit. That injured one was resting on the table. Carah sat next to Axel, fork and spoon in hand, as she watched me walk into the room. Rachel sat on the other side of Charlie, watching her cousin and Axle with a slight smile on her face. Not really a surprise. The two were kind of cute together.

  Wait.

  I paused and counted the people at the table again. Charlie, Axle, Rachel and…

  “You’re back already?”

  “Yup!” Carah chirped, making Axle jump.

  He spun in his chair to face her. “When did you get back!?”

  “Just now.” She grinned at him. “Did you really think I was going to miss Jake’s cooking?

  “You’re looking better.” That last bit
was aimed at Charlie.

  Well, this made things awkward… I’d only made up four portions thinking Carah wouldn't be back for a while. I slid the first two plates down in front of Axle and Charlie and headed back for the other two.

  “Well… What did they say? How is Gloria doing?” Axle began, quizzing her.

  “Nope! Not talking till after we eat.” I came back out to see Carah shaking her head, making her black hair bob back and forth.

  I slid the two plates in front of her and Rachel.

  “Thanks, big guy.” she grinned up at me.

  I couldn't help myself. I grinned back, showing my teeth before I could catch myself. I saw Axle wince and quickly closed my mouth then hurried back into the kitchen.

  As I went past, I noticed Charlie was already almost done. Guess I should make up another one for her too.

  By the time that I actually managed to sit down to eat, everyone else had managed to eat at least two portions. Charlie had astonished everyone by putting away five portions! I had no idea where that skinny blond was putting it all. I settled gingerly into a chair across from Carah.

  “Somebody else gets dishes,” I muttered before starting to dig in.

  “We can deal with that later,” Axle said, brushing aside my comment with a wave of his injured hand. “First I want to hear what news Carah has.”

  Carah pushed her dirty plate back, planted both elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands. “Nothing good. Plenty of annoying.”

  “Ya really know how to start off on the right foot,” Charlie muttered.

  Carah just grinned at her. “Anyways, Gloria is still out.”

  I blinked. My mouth full of fish.

  “Still? I thought she would be up and about by now…” Axle sat back in his chair. “She was using Jake’s ring, right? It has that thing with the color change on the band. How much time is left?”

  “Dunno,” Carah shrugged. “Cyrus didn't say.”

  I frowned but didn't say anything. That ring had only been used two times so far. We still didn't know a whole bunch about it. But both Jasper and I, the only other people who used the thing, we're pretty well recovered in this amount of time.