Dragon's wrath

Chapter 7: Distraction

The next morning I went directly to my mom. Alarick woke up early and I heard my father’s voice at the door of our apartment, so I knew he had come to pick him up. Ever since we got back, Alarick was a nervous wreck, what had happened really bothered him deeply. I couldn’t blame him. From what I knew, there were many losses before as well, but they had never lost so many lives at once. They were always able to prepare and either fight back or evacuate the village before the attack. 

“What are you planning to do today?” my mom asked. I didn’t want to admit that I wanted to go to the shooting range to practice. For the past few weeks I had neglected my training as well as my magic practice. My mom was scanning my face as I stayed quiet for quite some time. In the end she pursed her lips, came closer to me, kissed my temple and hugged me. 

“You are troubled by what happened as well, aren’t you?” my mom said, still hugging me. I was sitting in a chair in her kitchen as she prepared our breakfast before she came to hug me. 

“It’s my fault. The reason we don’t have any spies in Ezekiel’s fortress is also my fault. Their lives are on me Mom.” My voice broke with the last sentence and tears started rolling down my cheeks. 

“Oh honey. It is not your fault,” my mom said sadly, pressing me tighter to her chest. I knew she wanted to soothe and calm me, but right now, nothing would work. It was me who had irritated Ezekiel to that point, making him more ruthless. I was sobbing, leaving wet trails on my mom’s clothes, but apparently she didn’t care at all.

I knew none of them would blame me. None of them would say a word to me about what I had done. They probably all thought as I did, that Ezekiel only got what he deserved, but what if… what if we could have contained him instead, not causing the damage I had. Would he be less bloodthirsty? Would he be less vengeful? Maybe. I didn’t have the answers to all the questions that were popping up in my mind, but the possibility of what could have happened would haunt me for a very long time.

My mom kept me close, soothingly stroking my hair while trying to calm me down.

“I guess this calls for something special.” She suddenly pulled me away, cupping my face in her small hands and kissing my forehead. “Drink your cocoa first. It’s getting cold already,” she said, handing me the cup which she had put on the table without me noticing. I was so distracted I couldn’t even smell the sweet scent that was surrounding me now. Once I took the cup into my hands and inhaled the sweet chocolate scent, my nerves calmed somewhat. Before I finished my cup, my mom had changed her clothes and was ready to go out. 

“Ready?” she asked, taking the cup out of my hands. I still had a little sip there, but she didn’t care. Since I was ready to go out anyway, I only nodded. My mom didn’t need anything else, she pulled me out of my chair and led me out of her apartment. Until now I hadn’t noticed that she had decorated it like our home in the city. 

To my surprise my mom took me to the exact same place I was thinking of visiting, the shooting range.

“Mom.” I stopped right in front of the building, reading the sign above the entrance. It was near the warehouses where all the weapons and equipment were stored and you could even hear the distant sound of shooting from outside.

“What?” She stopped, looking in the same direction I did. “This is the best way you can vent your frustration without actually hurting yourself or someone else. Trust me, these words are way better than reading or cooking or anything else,” she explained. I didn’t mind her bringing me here. I was only surprised that it was her who brought me here.

“You know how to use guns?” I asked her and she grinned. My mom actually grinned at me while I was asking her about guns. She was my mother for eighteen years, but now I could see that she would never stop surprising me. 

“Of course. During my early years when I tried to get your father, I had to vent a lot of anxiety, pressure and anger. I was angry with many people and Ezekiel was one of them. For two years I fought for  your father to be with me despite the knowing risks. Not to mention a year before that, when I was fighting myself. I tried to clean, study, cook, learn plenty of new stuff, but nothing helped to get those feelings out. Those activities bury those thoughts deep in your mind, but once you stop doing those activities they return.” That’s exactly what always happened to me. It didn’t matter what I was doing, whie I did it my mind felt free, but once I stopped, all those thoughts always came rushing back. Shooting actually helped to vent these emotions.

“Who taught you?” I asked. We had already entered the building and to my surprise Maximus was at the entrance. 

“Good morning ladies,” he welcomed us with a smile. 

“Good morning. What are you doing here?” I asked him. He looked at my mom and winked while my mom smiled at him. 

“I told him that we were coming. Usually civilians like me don’t have access to this place and besides Maximus and maybe Ameen, no one else would let me use the guns. I guess they would be too scared of Ellion getting angry,” my mom told me while laughing at the last part. I tried to imagine the expression on my father’s face if he found out about my mom’s hobby. 

“You are not afraid of my father?” I directed my question to Maximus and he shook his head.

“Your father is not bad. He might have a short temper, but he has his soft side. He found me when I was a little kid. They threw me into the woods because my family couldn’t feed me. Your father found me and brought me here. He is probably more of a father to me than to you. I’m sorry about that.” I noticed Maximus had stopped himself before he finished what he wanted to say. This time it was me who shook my head.

“No need to apologize. I have already known for a long time that many of you have a history with my father. Some of you simply admire him for what he is doing and the other half are grateful to him for saving their lives. I couldn’t be more proud of what he has done and achieved. He helped so many people and is still taking care of many more.” I answered his concern with soft, kind words, but it wasn’t just lip service, I really believed it. I did admire his work. At some point I was jealous of how much time every single one of them had spent with him and for a brief moment I wished to be in their shoes, even if that meant not being his biological daughter, but that thought left as quickly as it appeared. He would always be my father no matter what. He might have been missing for eighteen years of my life, but the reason he was gone was justified. I couldn’t ask for a bigger sacrifice than he had already made and that completely willingly. 

Maximus led us inside. It seemed that you needed a special entry card to get inside the facility which actually made sense when I thought about it. Most of the weapons and equipment were locked in storehouses, which were also completely secured, not that someone would actually steal anything, but safety first. 

Once we got behind the electronic security system thanks to Maximus, he gave us the equipment necessary to enter the shooting range. There were several floors and from the orientation of the building, they were always shooting into the mountain. I guess they were worried they might shoot through the wall and a bullet would hit someone down the street. Each floor was designed for shooting a different kind of weapon and from what I gathered, only light weapons were allowed inside. Maximus explained that what they considered a light weapon was any weapon which shot bullets without causing an explosion. It kind of made me curious as to how many explosion-causing weapons they actually had.

Maximus gave us small weapons. Alarick once told me these were used for personal safety and the guards in town were using them. I never knew that the weapons dwarfs were using were originally made by humans. Each of us got two sets of bullets and Maximus wanted to give us a short briefing on how to use the weapon, but my mom waved him off. She might not have needed it but I did. It had been a month since I had such a weapon in my hands and the short and hurried training Alarick had given was already forgotten. 

“Don’t worry. I will explain it to you,” my mom said teasingly. She probably read my face which was begging Maximus to come back and explain it to me. I was lucky Mom had brought me here. I thought anyone would be able to use the facility, but without her I might actually have ended up not being able to come in. I had come here with Alarick before, when he trained me on how to use a gun before the rescue mission, but at that time I didn’t pay attention to how we entered. 

My mom explained how to load and reload the weapon step by step, and also how to aim and unlock the safety. What surprised me was the portrait of Ezekiel instead of the classic target on the board. 

“Mom?” I asked and she smiled.

“I told you, this is the best way to vent your anger,” she said, turning me back to the target and motivating me to shoot. The last thing I had to put on was the headset to cover my ears before I could start. To my disappointment the first two bullets missed completely, lodging in the wall. My mom clicked her tongue with a really disappointed face. 

“It seems with guns you are more like your father than me,” she complained, taking her gun and putting the headset on. She shot three times before she called the target, she had hit the head once and the heart twice. She was really good at aiming.

“This is the second time I am doing this,” I tried to come up with an excuse.

“Excuses,” my mom commented, but I knew she was just teasing me. It didn’t take long before I was able to hit the target. Not as precisely as my mom, but at least Ezekiel’s picture got some holes in it.

“By the way did you really ask someone to make a big picture of him like this?” I asked her once I handed the pistol and headset back. 

“You would be surprised how easy you can get something like this in this place. There is literally everything you would ever think of and maybe even more,” my mom said with dreamy eyes. She really liked this place, I could see that much.