Dragon 3 Chapter 3 (Patreon)

As soon as we’d all been seated, a light knock sounded on the door to our little room.

Kelly looked over at Scarlett, who nodded. Getting up, Kelly opened the door, an eager elf standing on the other side. Kelly stared him down. “Can I help you?”

“Is that Jadelyn Scalewright?” The elf pulled out a notepad. “I have a few questions for the Shade Times.”

“Get lost.” Scarlett growled. “We are just passing through.”

“But if I could—” The rest of the elf’s question was cut off as Kelly slammed the door with a smile on her face.

Jadelyn sighed. “I’m sorry. They bother me everywhere I go.”

“Don’t be.” I pulled my lovely siren closer. “If it gets too bad, I’ll just eat them all.”

She gave me a wry chuckle and then shook her head, making her platinum blond hair spill over her face. “Don’t do that. Then everyone will know you are a gold dragon, and we’ll end up even more swarmed by the press.” She nuzzled into me.

“That bad?” I asked.

Kelly jumped in. “Oh, definitely. You’d become extremely famous. Just think about how much everyone talks about the Bronze King in Dubai. If there was a known gold running around Philly, you’d… well… you’d probably have reporters and an army of women chasing after you.” Kelly agreed with Jadelyn.

“Army of women?” I snorted.

Scarlett glared at me. “Don’t forget all the perks. I mean, we don’t do much about it, but they could waddle away with a hundred thousand dollar pay day if they scooped your seed out and sold it.”

I shook my head, still a bit unsure how I felt about my seed’s value to paranormal alchemists. I was just glad I’d found women who didn’t use me for that money.

“Okay, I’ll try not to eat anyone.” I took their caution to heart. Unless they were truly in danger, I’d keep it under wraps. I couldn’t make any promises if I felt it was needed to keep them safe. They were mine.

The beast growled in my chest in agreement.

Movement caught my eye, and I realized the elf reporter was lurking just down the hall, scribbling in his notepad as he watched us.

I stood and pulled the blinds down on our little room. It would make it feel a little cramped, but at least we wouldn’t be watched like some sort of zoo animal.

“Thank you.” Jadelyn said.

“Let’s focus on other things.” I watched out the window as the landscape passed us by. “How long of a train ride is this?”

“A few hours. Sentarshaden is hidden among the alps.” Scarlett pulled out her phone and started tapping away. “There are some paranormal apps you can get now that we are close, though.”

“Like what?”

She held out her phone for me and ‘Shade Times’ ran across the top in scrollwork letters. “They have a few newspapers there, dating apps, maps, and really anything you can think of. It’s a bustling city with just as much opportunity as any other city.”

Jadelyn butted in. “Only everything has to be kept secret. You can only pick up the apps when you are in range of the city, lest some normal person suddenly find a dating app full of werewolves.”

I looked out the window as we left the city and started passing through snow-covered hills. Watching the scenery pass, I raised a question on my mind. “This can’t be the only city like this, can it?”

“There are others. El Dorado in Mexico is run by dwarves. They do love their gold.” Scarlett laughed. “Another in China, the Yangze Valley. You have to be invited there, and Jade’s family is not well loved by her Chinese rivals. We’ve never gone.”

“Security issues.” Jadelyn air quoted, rolling her eyes.

“It really is!” Scarlett took offense. “Do you realize how dangerous it would be for you to go there?”

“But you are a kitsune.” Jade pointed out, as if that was supposed to make a difference.

I thought that Scarlett’s head was about to explode. “I’m fucking Irish, not one of those crazy fucking asain foxes that trick you to eat your own heart with a smile on your face. You know this.” She squinted dangerously at Jadelyn.

“I still really want to go one day.”

“Maybe they’ll invite golden boy one day when he’s out. They’d probably make a deal given that you are married to him.” Scarlett pointed out.

Jadelyn turned to me with dreamy eyes full of hope.

“Nope. Not unless Scar gives the trip the all clear. If anything happened to you, I’d…” Images of the world burning down to ash came to mind, but I decided to keep those thoughts to myself. “… let’s just say things would get bad.”

Jadelyn was studying me, a bit of concern on her face as she ran her hand along me in a soft motion. “Nothing will happen to me. I don’t want you to worry.” She let out a small little note into my ear that helped wash away the momentary anxiety that had reared its head at the thought of her death.

I looked around and saw Kelly bracing. But she relaxed as I relaxed, letting out a small whistle. “Damn. I thought this train was going to explode for a moment. I’ll bet you just scared off that reporter, though.”

I frowned, noticing Scarlett was also staring at me. “What?”

“You just put out a terrifying aura.” Scarlett informed me. “If I wasn’t so comfortable with you, I might have been scrambling to get out of this booth.”

“Oh. Uh… that’s new.” I said, confused. “I’ll try not to do it again. Just the thought of something happening to my mate…” The same thought triggered in my mind, and I could feel it wash out of me again.

“Okay.” Jadelyn put her hand on my shoulder again. “Let’s just drop the thought. But it seems you are still growing.”

“Growing quickly, too.” Scarlett said. “I thought your gold dragon form looked a little bigger when you pounced on Kelly earlier.”

I didn’t know. It was hard to get a good measure of my dragon form besides estimates. But I knew that as far as dragons were concerned, my dragon form was considered quite young. It didn’t even have wings yet.

If Morgana was right, my dragon was playing catch up from being sealed for so long.

“Let’s focus on happier topics. What are you going to do to the blue bitch when you see her again?” Kelly laughed.

“Pin her to the wall and get answers.” I growled. “I can’t believe she ran out on me.”

My comment causes a lull in the cabin, and I let it sit. There were answers that Morgana owed me, and I was determined to get them out of her when I saw her next.

***

The landscape continued to blur by us until the train reoriented itself straight for a mountain.

“Uh. Jadelyn. The train looks like it is about to crash.” Even though I knew that one of these mountains wasn’t real, it was still hard to watch the train continue on a collision course.

“Breathe.” Jadelyn held my hand. “The first time is the worst.”

“Just close your eyes.” Scarlett said, her own eyes closed.

I did so, still bracing for impact. That never came.

“Open them!” Jadelyn excitingly stated.

Cracking my eyes open, it was suddenly brighter, but not the blindingly white glare off of snow. It was a warm light.

“Welcome to the City in the Shade, Sentarshaden.” Jadelyn gave me a winning smile that distracted me from the window for just a moment.

The train turned, curving its approach towards the city, and my breath caught.

A tree larger than any I’d ever seen or even imagined could exist stretched upwards where the mountain would have been.

“That’s where it gets its name. Sentarshaden is the elven word for it, but that tree is the root tree of the royal high elf family.”

I’d heard about root trees several times in conversations between T and Morgana, but I’d never imagined they would look like this tree. “Are they all that big?”

“Not at all.” Scarlett informed me. “That one is utterly massive, and it’s why high elves are known for their magic. It helps provide enough power for the illusions over the city, and rumor has it that the tree itself is enchanted out the wazoo.”

I noticed little sparks up in the tree’s leaves. I stared at them, trying to puzzle through what they were, when I realized they were some sort of burning magical beasts living in the limbs.

The tree’s scale was hard to comprehend. It managed to shade the entire city.

Sky scrapers poked up around the roots. I knew those buildings had to be almost a hundred stories tall, but they looked tiny under the mountain sized tree.

I put down the window a crack, realizing we’d left the snowy tundra. The tree seemed to be giving off a warmth, making it feel like a brisk fall day.

The train wound its way to the city, bringing the city into and out of view as it curved. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the city, wanting to see every detail as we got closer.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Jadelyn snuggled up close to me. “There’s about two million people in the city, all of them paranormal.”

“Seems like the church's inquisition didn’t thin out paranormals at all.” I commented.

“There have always been a lot of them, and during the wars, a nice hidden sanctuary like this has only blossomed.” She watched the city with me.

It was truly awe-inspiring to see the massive tree. If it were known to the world, it would fit right up there with the pyramids of Egypt, as one of the world wonders.

And if the tree wasn’t impressive enough, the city was massive. I stared at all the buildings, knowing I had little chance of finding Morgana without help, especially if T’s daughter was going to be hard to find. I needed to find T’s daughter.

I stuck my hand inside the spatial artifact and pulled out a leaflet.

T had given me instructions on how to communicate with his daughter. The flier in my hands was for ‘once in a lifetime alchemy lessons’, along with tomorrow's date at noon at Gnombold park. There were even a few random splotches in the corner that T said really meant for them to meet at a bar. But the time would remain the same.

I thought the whole thing felt like overkill, but my goal for the rest of the day was to post these fliers everywhere I could.

T said the train station would work well, and to also put them outside a few coffee shops. But I planned to plaster them everywhere. I wasn’t exactly willing to sit around, losing days in finding Morgana.

While the misdirections seemed like a lot, I respected that T wanted to keep his daughter safe. He’d sent her into hiding. T had somehow angered the elves and made them want to find his family’s root tree. For whatever reason, they didn’t go for him directly, but his daughter was in danger if they found her. Looking at the massive tree, I was starting to understand the resources the high elves might have at their disposal.

“Sentarshaden station.” A voice proclaimed over the loudspeaker as the train came to a gliding, smooth stop. Far less concerning on the train than watching at the station.

I was impressed with how smooth it felt, knowing that we just went from eighty to zero in under four seconds.

“Time to face the music.” Kelly pulled the blinds up. Behind them, several elves were waiting with cameras. It appeared the first one had a big mouth.

Flashes began outside the window as they started taking pictures. There was a small army of paparazzi amid the dazzling flashes that bombarded our train.

Pausing for just a moment, I drew back on my feelings of worry for Jadelyn’s safety. But then I got just a bit angry at them for messing up her trip. As the anger rose, I felt an aura ripple out from inside of me.

The cameramen nearly dropped their livelihoods as they ran, making me smile. But the people in the train cars also panicked, pushing and shoving each other as they scrambled to get out of the way.

I turned to Scarlett, the smile leaving my face as I took in her disapproval.

“Maybe don’t do that again…” Scarlett watched all the people fleeing. “I understand you don’t like them, but we can deal with them in less disruptive ways.”

“Damn. Warn a girl before you do that.” Kelly was straightening back up. She slung her bag over her shoulder and led the group out in a much more orderly manner than the rest of the train.

“My bad. What does it feel like?” I asked, curious.

Jadelyn paused, playing with her lips. “Like someone just opened up my head and poured a cup of fear into it. It isn’t necessarily about anything, but the mind seems to try and latch onto things. Knowing it’s coming from you is the only thing that lets me block it out.”

I smiled, glad they trusted me enough to be able to ignore the feeling.

But Scarlett was right. I needed to learn to keep it under control.

“Let’s get going.” I pushed past Kelly, charging across the platform before tacking fliers on several cork boards we passed.

“This way; we have a ride.” Scarlett pushed me in a different direction.

Looking around, I realized the paparazzi were regaining their courage and coming back toward Jadelyn. Although a few of them had pivoted their attention to interviewing the people on the platform.

I grimaced as I realized the story of my aura would likely be plastered across city news that evening.

We kept moving, breaking through the crowd at the edge of the train station. Two black SUVs were waiting. And there were four burly looking sirens who were not hiding their nature.

“Miss.” One of them spotted us and parted the last few travelers to make a path for Jadelyn. “We’ll take you to your home.” Then he looked at Scarlett. “Boss. Hope you had a safe trip.”

“Thank you.” Jadelyn hopped in, followed by the rest of us. Scarlett paused outside, getting a report from the men before joining us in the car.

“We’ll take a long way home, stopping so you can post up your fliers.” Scarlett informed me, and I appreciated her all the more. She knew how important it was to me to find Morgana.

The driver and extra guard took the front seats, so the four of us had piled into the back two rows of the SUV.

“So what are the fliers for?” Kelly asked.

“Secret communication with one of Morgana’s friends.” I answered, realizing she hadn’t been part of the conversation with T.

“The blue bitch has friends?” Kelly said, gasping for effect.

“Wait until you see her to tease her; she’s not even here to defend herself.” I grumped.

Jadelyn gave me a questioning look, and I crossed my arms, turning to look out the window. I felt so close, yet so far from finding Morgana and getting some answers.

“Anyway.” Scarlett said slowly to break the tension. “Morgana has one childhood friend here in the city that is the most likely person to know where she is.”

“Got it. The fliers get us to her, she gets us to Morgana, then we get to see golden boy rail the blue bitch until she begs to come back. Did I get that right?” Kelly said it in such a cheerful tone that it was off-putting, and her wolf ears didn’t lie as they sat perky on top of her head.

“Not quite.” I said. “She was a mess when she left. I’m worried that she is in more trouble than she knows what to do with.”

“So we dig her out.” Scarlett said with confidence.

I nodded. Morgana, while not exactly great at showing she cared, had helped and supported me through my transition into the paranormal community.

If she needed my help, I’d be there in a heartbeat to return the favor.

“Boss, we have some stopped traffic coming up. There’s a celebration today. I swear this street was open on the way over.” The driver informed Scarlett, sounding a little like he was beating himself up.

“Celebration?” I asked.

The driver bobbed his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “It’s a week-long celebration of the elves’ root trees. Which means around Sentarshaden, it’s near constant parades and parties this week. At the end of the week, they give offerings to their tree. Generally some mix of magic and simpler things like fertilizer. Whatever they can do to care for the tree.

I looked up at the massive tree as we passed under one of the roots. Just how much damn fertilizer did a tree like this take?

“So, what’s the traffic?” I asked.

The driver peered over his steering wheel. “Looks like it might actually be the Highaen family.”

Scarlett let out a small whistle. “Maybe steer clear of the parade. No doubt the whole area is on lockdown.”

“Would it be easier to walk through?” Jadelyn asked. “It’s just a few miles to my family’s house.”

Scarlett bit down on her thumbnail in thought. “George, radio Mike. You two are going to split up and go post some fliers for us.”

“You sure, boss? That’s a packed crowd.” The driver looked back at her to confirm.

“Yeah, but it also has Highaen security crawling all over it. Look up there.” Scarlett pointed to a rooftop that nearly brushed the massive tree root that came down a few miles from us.

I didn’t see it at first, but then a glint caught my eye on top of the ten story building. There was a sniper posted for security. They weren’t messing around.

“They have the entire area on lockdown. We’ll be fine.”

“Alright, Boss. Hop on out.” The driver put the car in park and flipped the locks. “Give me those pamphlets.”

I handed him a stack, knowing he’d split them up with the other driver.

We piled back out of the car and started moving through the stopped traffic towards what looked like some sort of street fair.

Several parade floats could be seen on a parallel street through the buildings.

“Looks like the celebration has just overflowed.” Scarlett said as we made our way through the stopped traffic. Soon, the traffic transitioned to foot traffic. People were out in the streets dancing and celebrating in a way I’d never seen before.

They didn’t give two shits about the traffic they were holding up. Elves everywhere were in full-blown celebration.

“It normally isn’t like this.” Jadelyn said, staring around. “Normally it’s more like you’d expect of any city.”

“The elves love to celebrate their root trees.” Kelly said by way of explanation. “I’m sure back home the elves are cloistered away, celebrating their own.”

My dragon eyes looked toward where the root closest to us seemed to dig into the ground. It was the focal point of the celebration, and the amount of magic that covered that root was amazing.

I remembered seeing the elven community when we were hunting trolls. Their neighborhood had looked like a magical fortress, and now I was seeing several times that level of protection covering the entire root. I could only imagine what was on the tree itself.

“Might as well let you see the Highaen family for yourself.” Scarlett said. “After all, they are the rulers of the city.”

“That sounds lovely.” Jadelyn pulled my arm between her breasts. “Tyrande is always so nice when she visits.”

I looked back, but couldn’t spot the guards anymore. But Scarlett had given them orders. They’d plaster up the fliers, which meant I did have some time to kill.

Turning back, I gave Scarlett and Jadelyn smiles as I grabbed their arms and pulled them through the crowd. We might as well have a little fun and sightsee while we waited.