Chapter 6
2118 Words
6
“What’s the matter, Jane?” he asked me again.
I shook my head as I gazed with wide eyes at the vanished figures. They’d disappeared in a blink of an eye. “I-I don’t know. I saw Grand-Bee and Gargan and the others. They were just right there.” I pointed at where they vanished. “But now they’re gone.”
My grandfather furrowed his brow as his eyes flickered between my face and the comb clutched tightly in my hand. “You’re sure they were just here?”
I nodded. “I’m sure!” I frowned as my tried to reconcile how I had witnessed the scene and my grandfather had not. “At least, I think saw them. They were dragging her that way.” I pointed northward.
Sage took the comb from my hand and studied the object. “There doesn’t seem to be a spell attached to it. . .” I heard him mutter.
“What kind of spell would there be?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Perhaps a seer spell. Here.” He held the comb out to me. “Take it again and see what can be seen.”
I took the comb, but we remained alone. I shook my head. “There’s nothing there.”
“Hmm.” Sage stood and cupped his chin in one hand as he studied me. “How very strange.”
“What’s very strange?” I questioned him. “What’s going on?”
“I wish I had an explanation, but come-” he held out his hand to me while the other kept a hold of his pants, “-we have a group of porcine to catch, and northward is as good a direction as any other.”
“But what did I see?” I persisted as I took his hand and he helped me to my feet.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out when we reach Bee,” he assured me as we started our slow walk up the road. “Now let’s be off, at least to find myself a decent set of trousers and both of us a new set of clothes.”
I looked down at myself. There was dirt, but otherwise I was clean. “I think I’ll be okay.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you won’t, unless you want to catch the attention of every creature in this world, bears included. They’ll be quite interested in your unique, otherworldly smell.”
“There are bears in this world, too? How?” I wondered.
“A joined world tends to share its creatures as well as its sentient beings,” he told me.
I glanced nervously over my shoulder. The plains around us were empty but for the occasional birds. “What other things are around here?”
“Well, there are birds, and man-eating squirrels.” My jaw hit the dirt road and he chuckled. “I jest.” I was halfway to metaphorically wiping my brow when he made an addendum to his list. “It’s the rabbits that are man-eaters, and that’s no lie. Stay away from anything cute and cuddly. It’s learned that such a skin attracts the rather unwary of the sentient creatures.”
A cloud floated over us followed by a chill breeze. I tucked the box under one arm and wrapped my arms around myself. “What about the weather?
“Generally mild,” my grandfather reminisced as his eyes took on a faraway look. “Though the peaks of the Bracken Mountains are a tough spot if you don’t have the proper attire, and a blizzard might sneak up on you in a matter of seconds.”
Another cloud passed over along with its persistent child, the cold wind. I shivered. “What’s with the-hey!”
My cry came as I felt a pair of sharp claws clutch my shoulders. I was lifted off the ground and the box clattered to the road where I had just vacated. I whipped my head up and my eyes grew as large as saucers.
Above me and the length of a bus was the scaled body of a dragon. The unmistakable long snout, sharp teeth, and leathery wings denoted this creature’s species, along with a tail that acted like a rudder at the back. The front claws held me while the back claws were tucked close against its pale belly. The rest of the monster was a pale shade of gray, though the scales glistened in the sun as though they’d been sprinkled with glitter. It was like watching a river in motion, only I wanted no part in this swim.
“Grandpa!” I screamed as feet stretched into yards beneath me.
My grandfather stumbled after me with one hand on the belt of his pants and the other with the box clutched under his armpit. “Hang on, Jane!”
“Tell this thing that!” I snapped back.
“It’s a dragon,” he corrected me as he slowly fell back against the speed of the strong wings. “They generally are very docile except when provoked, or hungry-” With each word his voice grew a little more faint, “-and they’re known to eat-”
The rest of his sentence faded into the widening gap between us as the dragon took an updraft and rose into the air. Fortunately, I didn’t need to hear the last part. My mind was perfectly capable of guessing what he was going to say, and my heart followed suit by playing the tango on double the usual speed.
The dragon flew me and my musically inclined heart over the plains to a small, craggy hill that stretched above the flatlands. The hill had a few overhangs, and it was on one of the larger ones that the dragon landed. It set me down on my feet, but my legs were so shaky that I stumbled away from the beast and dropped backward onto my butt. I gaped up at the monstrous beast with its sharp fangs, flaring nostrils, and swath of black hair.
Wait, hair?
The dragon not only had quick-acting Rogain, but also a problem with its build. Namely, that it was losing its body mass, and quickly. The dragon shrank to human form and even added a nice set of duds that consisted of a loose fitting white blouse shirt, a black vest over that, and rough, brown leather pants. A worn trench coat covered most of his new form, and a ‘he’ it turned out to be as his stubby chin replaced the prominent dragon chin. The gray dragon eyes changed to gray human eyes, and in a few seconds I was gaping at a handsome human man.
He took a step toward me in fine black leather boots. “Are you a sorceress?”
I scuttled back and shook my head. “N-no.”
He looked me up and down, and his eyes showed his doubt. “Then why are you dressed so strangely?”
I shrugged. “I-I don’t know. I always dress like this.”
He tilted his head to one side. It was the cutest expression. “Then who are you?”
I snorted. “Who am I? You’re the one who just kidnapped me! Who the hell are you? What the hell are you?”
A sly smile slipped onto his lips as he walked toward me. I scampered back on my hands and rear until one of my hands slipped into nothing. I glanced over my shoulder and watched a few bits of rubble slide loose and drop down the sharp hillside. Footsteps made me whip my head back to the not-dragon.
The man walked up to me and held out his hand. “My name is Caius, and since you seem to have emerged from a lonely cave, I am a dragon shifter. And you are?”
I swallowed the boulder in my throat and nodded. “Jane. Just. . .just a plain human.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Jane, now would you like me to help you up or are you comfortable on the rock?” he teased.
I reluctantly took his hand and he helped me to my feet. Maybe a little too exuberantly helped because I stumbled forward into his chest. He caught my upper arms in his strong hands and chuckled. “We seem to be becoming acquainted quite quickly.”
I blushed and pushed away from him. “W-well, kidnapping a girl generally does that.”
“I only meant to ask you if you were a sorceress,” he defended himself.
I snorted. “Is that how you ask all your questions?”
“Only if they’re to a lovely woman,” he countered.
“Jane! Jane!” The voice was that of my grandfather. I peeked over the edge and saw him standing at the bottom of the hill. He was bent over and even from that distance I could see him trying to get air into his lungs. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” I called back.
Caius offered me his arm. “Care for a ride down?”
I cringed. “I think I’ll avoid flying the Claw Skies for today.” He gave me a puzzled look. I sighed. “I’ll just climb down.”
“It’s too steep,” he argued. “Now just let me help you.”
“No. I’m really-hey!”
Caius swept me into his arms and nestled me against his firm chest. I glared up at him until I saw his wings spread out behind him. He walked us toward the edge.
“Wait! Hold up! Lemme off!” I yelped as he stepped off the precipice.
We tipped over the edge and dropped toward the unforgiving ground. Caius opened his wings and took in all the air from around us and all the air from my lungs as I let loose a loud scream. I clung to his chest as we glided over the rough rocks of the hillside and sailed down to where my grandfather waited. Caius landed on his legs and soon put me on mine.
I immediately took the opportunity to sink to my knees. My grandfather hurried over and knelt by my side. A teasing smile lay on his lips.
“Have a pleasant trip?” he teased.
I raised my head and glared up at him. “Yeah, Sage, it was just hunky-dory.”
“‘Hunky-dory?’” our new companion spoke up.
Sage stood and smiled at him. “A saying of happiness where we come from.” I snorted. He nudged me with his foot and kept his attention on our new ‘friend.’ “And you are?”
“Caius,” the man re-introduced himself. “A fellow traveler like yourselves.”
“I don’t think we’re into the habit of kidnapping other people,” Sage mused.
“He thought I was a sorceress,” I spoke up.
“Your clothes are rather odd,” Caius protested as he looked my grandfather over. “And ill-fitting.”
“I found a rather successful diet,” Sage admitted as he hitched up his pants higher. His eyes flitted over Caius’ form and he arched an eyebrow. “How very odd.”
“What is?” Caius asked him.
Sage rubbed his chin as he inspected the dragon man. “You seem to have quite a strange aura, young man. Is there perhaps a hiding spell around you?”
Caius tensed but kept the smile on his lips. “I’m sure it’s just your imagination.”
Sage gave him a knowing smile, but nodded. “Perhaps it is, but for what were you wanting a sorceress?”
“I’m looking for someone. An old friend,” Caius admitted. He nodded in at the north. “I heard he’d gone that way, but I haven’t been able to pick up his tracks.”
“That person wouldn’t happen to be a porcine, would it?” Sage asked him.
Caius narrowed his eyes. “It would, but what do you know of it?”
“We are also after Gargan, if that’s whom you seek,” my grandfather revealed.
The dragon man eyed us with a careful gaze. “You don’t appear to be his followers.”
Sage chuckled. “Quite the contrary, and I believe from your tone and posture that you are of the same band as we.”
Caius gave a stiff nod. “I am. He stole something valuable from me.”
“Then we have something in common. He has stolen my wife, though for what purpose I cannot guess.” Sage eyed him. “You wouldn’t happen to know the reason, would you?”
Caius pursed his lips. “I don’t, but if Gargan is involved it won’t be good.”
I wrapped my arms around one of my grandfather’s and gave a tug. “Could I have a talk with you, Sage?”
“If you’ll excuse us,” Sage requested before I half dragged him away.
I stopped out of earshot of our new companion and spun around to face my grandfather. “What are you doing?”
“Making the acquaintance of a fellow traveler,” he told me.
“A fellow traveler who just happens to be following Gargan so soon after us?” I pointed out.
A soft smile slipped onto his lips as he looked at me with admiration. “Smart thinking, pumpkin. The same thought struck me. However-” he glanced over his shoulder at our waiting companion and studied him for a moment, “-even if this fellow turns out to be an agent of Gargan, he’s still likely to lead us to where they have taken Bee.”
I pursed my lips. “And if he decides he gets hungry on the way and won’t wait for his boss to catch us in a trap?”
“We’ll keep him well-fed,” Sage assured me as he broke off and strode back to Caius. “Would you like to travel with us?”
Caius’ eyes flickered to me and that evil sly smile twitched at the corners of his lips. “It would be my pleasure.”
- Writer
