Dragon 1 Chapter 23 (Patreon)

The car doors clicked closed and Morgana’s tires were already burning rubber as she peeled out of the nursing home.

I was taking the vials out of my pockets and trying to find a way to secure them so they wouldn’t rattle and break during her driving. “So, Tee was pleasant.” It came out like sarcasm, no matter how hard I tried.

Morgana barked a laugh. “It’s okay. He’s an old ass. But he’s dependable, and we get along because we both hate the elves.”

“What’s his deal?”

Morgana got quiet for a moment, the only noise was the sound of the tires on the road and a few drivers honking at Morgana for cutting them off. “Elves get their mana from their root tree. Every family has and protects one. It is sacred to that family, and there are many rituals and communion rights that involve the family’s root tree. Tee dabbled in some magic related to his root tree, and doing so is strictly forbidden. I don’t know for sure what it was he did, but he’s been exiled from elven communities and is watched. They haven’t killed him, so I get the feeling there’s information in his head that they want. Something that must be powerful. But I’m not sure what it is.”

She swerved into another lane, and I worked to make sure the bottles remained secure. I went to grumble at her to be careful, but she just continued on. “Like I said, they tried for a bit to get information, eventually leaving him to his life in the nursing home. There’s very little that could break him, but his daughter is one of those exceptions. She’s been in the wind for decades.”

“And you know where she is, or at least can get in contact with her?”

Morgana sighed. “I’ll get the letter to her. But I’ll have to be careful. They will know that I visited him.”

She bumped over a curb and turned back forward, facing the road. “Where are we going?” Morgana asked.

Flipping open my phone, I quickly googled to see where the supposed gang wars were most prevalent at that moment. “Head to Nicetown. Shit.” I cursed reading the post.

People had been torn to shreds in the street. I quickly moved through the images, not wanting to see the outcome.

“Of course.” Morgana swerved onto an exit ramp. “They think some drug dealer is involved, so they’d go to the rough parts.”

***

By the time that we rolled up through Nicetown, it looked like a war zone. “Morgana, how are they going to cover this up?” My eyes grew wide at the two nearby bodies, if you could call them that, torn up at the corner of the street.

“Make up a story, and broadcast it widely. Then quickly move onto the next news cycle. People forget easily. You tell the other story enough, and they start to change their own memories. Hell, politicians have been doing it for years. They are the real monsters.”

I didn’t comment, still occupied by the sights on the street, but then movement caught my eye. “That way. I thought I saw something.”

Morgana took a left at a red light, but it didn’t matter. The streets had cleared out, the battle here already fought. She might have said they could cover this up, but I’d never seen an area of the city so deserted like this before.

I wasn’t sure you could just keep pumping the same story for this and make it all go away. But that was for the council to figure out. My job was simple. We needed to find the werewolves and hope that Tee’s potion worked.

“Stop. Stop the car.” My head came inches away from the dash as Morgana plowed to a stop. I gave her a quick glare, but she only smiled and shrugged in response.

Jumping out of the car, I saw a werewolf bent over in the alley. Spent rounds littered the ground, as did several more corpses further into the alley.

The werewolf turned to me and growled. Holes in its chest were still healing from what looked like an interrupted drug deal.

One hand slid into my pocket for the vial of liquid, but the werewolf surprised me.

“Zach?” The wolf shifted back, and I realized it was Kelly.

“What the fuck! Did you kill them?” I found myself suddenly outraged; she wasn’t under the drug’s influence.

“No! God, no. I was running with the pack, trying to stop them. But these idiots slowed me down. It was the pack that tore them to shreds. The gunfire brought them here.” Kelly explained rapidly, her hands held up in the universal sign of innocents, and completely failing to cover her naked body.

I cleared my throat as I felt heat dust my cheeks. “Here, have my coat.” Slinging it off my back I held it out to her, looking away.

“Oh, right. Sorry, this is sort of usual for us. What a gentleman.” I felt the weight leave my hands and turned back. She wore it like a baggy dress, but it would have to do.

“I like that jacket, so don’t shift in it.” I tried to lighten the mood, but all the gore around us made that difficult. “I need to find your father. The potion in one of the pockets of that coat might help him.”

Kelly froze, like if she moved another step she’d ruin it. Her hand dipped into the right pocket that was weighed down and pulled out the vial. “This?”

“Yep. He needs to drink it. The batty old elf who made it said to start with a mouthful, but I think we are going to have to be less delicate than that.”

Kelly snorted a small laugh, her lip curling at the edge. “Yeah, better just throw the whole thing in his mouth. He can live with indigestion for a few days.”

The idea of glass tearing up someone’s insides while they rapidly healed from it sent shivers down my spine. “Get in the car. Any idea where the pack is?”

Kelly’s ears twitched before I heard anything. Then off in the distance, the rapid staccato of gunfire went off. Some large automatic rifle was firing a few blocks over. “I’ll bet you everything I have that they are or will be there shortly.”

I hurried back into the car. Morgana didn’t need any guidance, already hitting the gas and turning around towards the gunfire. I reflected for just a moment about the fact that I’d become a person charging head first into where gunfire was coming from, but Morgana’s driving quickly shook me from my thoughts.

We peeled around the corner, and the less than respectable citizens of the area were lined up in the street making a blockade. The gangsters' faces were set with grim determination to defend their territory. I had to give them some credit. The werewolves were not an easy enemy to stand against.

The gangsters lined up against the pack of wolves, firing every gun they had and holding the line. None were fleeing and ditching their gangmates.

Unfortunately, for all the effort they were putting in, it wasn’t very effective. The pack was slowed, but not by much.

As we reached them, the pack fell on them. There wasn’t a hope of a chance for them, and they knew it based on the looks on their face. But they still stood their ground, firing as long as they could hold out, firing into the wolf pack as long as they could.

One of the gangsters was tossed into the air by the large werewolf up front, only for several wolves to leap up like a dog catching a frisbee and tear him into pieces, shaking each body part and spraying blood everywhere.

“We’re supposed to interrupt that?” I said, hesitation in my voice. This level of violence was a whole new stage, one I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

“We might be able to peel one off.” Kelly said, but she didn’t sound very confident.

Luckily, we weren’t the only ones out hunting the wolves. I had almost forgotten that the council had put out the kill order. If we had found them, so had others.

Two military jeeps roared into view behind the pack. Mounted on their backs were the biggest guns I’d ever seen in my life. They were also the loudest, as I learned when the firing began. The muzzle flash lit up the faces of the men as they swung them back and forth into the mass of werewolves.

I could see scales peppering their cheeks under their helmets. These were the sirens. No doubt Jadelyn and her father had the money for this equipment.

The gangsters and their handguns might not have worked well, but that jeep mounted gun tore through the wolves. I watched one werewolf jerk as it caught the brunt of the gun’s hit, blood spraying into the air repeatedly like a kid splashing in a pool.

That got the pack’s attention, and they turned on the jeeps, seeing the larger threat and abandoning the gangsters. Howls filled the air, and I could almost taste the bloodlust coming off the pack as they charged at their new target.

But the jeeps had the advantage, and they continued to use it. Soon half a dozen wolves lay on the ground, too injured to keep up with the pack. The gangsters closed in, but Morgana was already hitting the gas again and sliding to a stop between them and the downed wolves. “Be quick.”

I was out the door, grabbing the first wolf I could reach. He was healing from… I wasn’t sure how many bullet holes. But that didn’t stop him from thrashing, so I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. “Hold still idiot, I’m trying to help.” Popping the cork, I pushed the vial deep enough in his muzzle that he couldn’t spit it out.

My eye shifted, and I could see their magic. I waited.

“Is it working?” Kelly asked. She was administering her potion to another werewolf.

“Who da’ fuk do youse think youse is doing?” Came a rough voice from around the van. “Kill dem fucks.”

I heard several guns cock and realized that while this had been an opportunity; it had also been fraught with danger. The gangsters only saw themselves as friends; we were foe.

Not even turning to them, I yelled out. “I’m an EMT. These guys are very sick. I’m trying to help them.” I pulled the vial away; I’d given this wolf more than enough to work.

The man walked forward, his tattoos peeking out from under his shirt and crawling up his face. As he looked at me, his eyes went wide. I’d seen it before and normally it was followed with a ‘how can I help’. Most people reacted that way when I said I was an EMT.

But this time, his face shifted from that to a hard browed look that didn’t promise help. “I don’t know what youse are, but that eye is freaky. These guys killed my uncle. Ain’t no way they live.” He dangled his handgun sideways, pointing it at me.

“I’m something far worse than them. I wouldn’t recommend messing with me.” My voice came out nearly a growl.

“Biggy, cap their asses.” A hoot came up behind me, but I didn’t turn to look. My eyes locked on Biggy as we both struggled to be the dominant one in this situation.

But neither of us got the chance, as an arrow suddenly appeared in Biggy’s throat. His eyes went wide and his gun started popping off as he stumbled back. Sparks flew off the concrete next to me and another off of Morgana’s van before he fell over.

They were sudden and without warning. Arrows started blooming in the throats and faces of the gangsters.

Two elves descended into the group, their blades flashed, cutting the remaining gangsters to pieces before they even realized what was happening.

Morgana was out of the van, her hands hovering over her own blades. “That was unnecessary.”

“They saw the para world.” One of the elves sneered, spinning his weapon idly.

“Or you are just angry you missed your chance at the pack.”

The other elf smiled. “No, our chance is right here. We are cleanup.” He swung his sword lazily as he approached, but Morgana shifted in front of them.

“We have a cure for their madness we would like to try first.” Her words reminded me of what I’d been doing before we’d been interrupted.

Turning back to the wolf I’d given the potion to, I looked at his magic. The dark oily mixture in his magic was receding slowly. “It’s working.” I announced, giving more weight to Morgana’s words.

“Does not matter. Too little too late. They should be put down for the exposure they have brought upon us.”

I didn’t look up as metal on metal rang out and then continued like a snare drum as Morgana no doubt fought the two elves. Instead, I worked my way through the wolves along with Kelly, giving them each a dose of the potion. This time I was a bit more judicious with the dosing. By the time we got all six of them, my vial was a little less than half full, and so was Kelly’s.

The math didn’t look good. Even with all four vials, we were looking at saving maybe twenty-five wolves.

Kelly must have been having the same thoughts because she wilted.

“Don’t worry, we’ll save some for your father. Maybe curing him will help the rest through the pack magic.” I tried to say it like I meant it. There was no proof of that, but it made enough sense to cheer her up.

“Thanks.” Kelly said before she looked behind me.

I already knew what was happening; I trusted Morgana enough that I didn’t need to get involved.

“Ugh. Where am I?” The first wolf I had treated came to his senses enough to talk.

“Your pack was infected with foul magic.” Kelly supplied. “You all shifted and are going on a rampage through Nicetown.

He smirked. “Couldn’t have happened to a better place.”

Kelly’s glare shut him down, and he got that special kind of quiet when you knew your comment wasn’t welcome. “There is a kill order out on the whole pack. All of you are within the kill order. The whole para community in the city is getting in on it.”

He clutched his chest. “That explains the bullet holes.”

A few more groans sounded as the others started to similarly get their senses back. It was fascinating to watch, but we needed to get moving. “You guys can handle yourselves? Get some clothes and get off the streets.” I said, standing up and dusting off my knees.

Morgana and the two elves had entered a stalemate as the wolves started to get up. The elves paused for a moment, uncertain if they were about to be outnumbered.

“Morgana, we are going. Kelly, get in the car. You two, these wolves are cleared by me. If you so much as touch them while they leave the area, I’ll come kill you and burn your root tree.” I didn’t know exactly what I was saying, but I knew enough to threaten them. Not to mention, I felt like I might actually follow through on it. These were my patients, and they were on their way to recovery.

If they killed them, I wasn’t sure what exactly I’d do. But it wouldn’t be good for them.

The two elves looked at me, then each other in confusion before hurrying away.

“I’m surprised that worked.” Kelly commented, sliding into the car. Morgana was slower, keeping her eyes on the two elves as she moved.

“They could not have won.” Morgana explained. “And Zach has an aura of power around him. Not to mention they’ve seen enough to be wary of him from his battle with Simon.” Her foot hit the gas, and I lurched back against the seat.

“You never said that before.”

“You didn’t have it before. It was subtle after your duel with Simon, but it has been growing steadily since.”

I frowned. The only real change since the duel with Simon was my beast and I coming to more of an understanding. Would I keep changing as time went on?

I scanned the road, using my dragon eye to follow the magic. “That way Morgana; I can see the connection of the pack magic.”

Kelly turned in her seat to get a good look at my eye. “That is a wicked eye. I haven’t heard of anything that can literally see magic. Most of it is in more of a sixth sense.”

“Zach is a very unique para.” Morgana supplied a vague explanation.

Kelly smiled. “Whatever you are, thank you for your help.”

“We still have more to do. But thank you.” I clicked on my seat belt as Morgana tore around another corner. Even without my sight, it would have been obvious at that point to know the pack had been there. Several wounded werewolves were struggling to their feet in the street.

“Do we stop to help them, or do we try to focus on Brent?” I asked both girls in the car.

They shared a glance before Kelly spoke. “Selfishly, I’d like to try and use it on my father. Even if the rest of the pack isn’t cured, he should be able to exert some influence on them and hopefully stop this.”

I nodded; it made enough sense that I was on board. “Then that begs the question, how do we separate him from the pack?”

“Leave that to me.” Morgana said. “Can you get to the duffel in the back?”

I reached over the backseat and pulled a heavy duffel bag filled with lumps at the bottom over it to me. Curiosity got the better of me, and I unzipped it to look inside. “Morgana, you have to be kidding me.”

“Whats—” Kelly leaned over to look in the bag. “Shit. Yeah, that’ll get his attention.”

“Are you sure it won’t kill him?” I looked at the gun that looked like a revolver for a giant and the large shells in the bottom of the bag. “This seems like a little overkill.” It was a freaking grenade launcher.

“Say that after you fight him. I’m just going to try and take him down.” Morgana kept her eyes forward. “Be a dear and load that puppy up, then give it to me.”

I looked at the grenade launcher and shook my head, grabbing the shells out one by one and loading the thing’s six chambers.