4. In the shadows
Red’s smile gets erased from her face in the mid-sentence. We both are just staring at the front door in silence. The doorbell rings again.
“Is it a mage?” With a slight shiver, I glance back at Red.
“I don’t feel any magic right now. Looks like it’s just a weird coincidence.” Red shrugs her shoulders. “Let’s check who it is?”
I don’t expect any guests now, but it would be rude to not open the door if it’s just my neighbor. And honestly, I don’t want my neighbors to know I’ve started living with a girl. They can be highly bothersome…
“Don’t worry, I can handle it myself.” If Red doesn’t feel any magic, it is safe, right?
“I will be here if needed.” She slowly hides behind the sofa.
Through the peephole, I see someone unfamiliar standing behind the door. A girl with bright ginger hair in formal office attire. Is she some kind of lawyer or what? I open the door and welcome the stranger.
“Good evening. Are you Ray Taylor? We want to ask you some questions.” She flashes some kind of id for a moment and immediately hides it. That was too fast!
While I’m in confusion, the strange girl pushes forward, forcing me to step back. She steps into my house and locks my front door after her.
“Let’s go straight to the questions. Have you encountered anything abnormal last week? Where is a girl that was spotted with you today?” Her voice becomes way less friendly.
Crap, so they are after Red!
“Sorry, I don’t understand you at all. Can you leave now?” I doubt it will work, but there’s no way I would let them know about Red.
“Tsk, choosing the hard way…” she murmurs and suddenly grabs my shoulder. At the same time, her other hand gets covered in strange glowing symbols. “Sorry, I have no time to play with you.”
Ugh. I try to get out of her grab, but she’s surprisingly strong. Her glowing hand is almost near my temple. But, simultaneously, I see something flash in front of me. The girl tries to block but gets instantly swept away. Red!
The intruder tries to pull off another spell, but Red easily breaks it with her wing. She kicks the intruder, sending her flying to the nearby wall.
Instantly, Red jumps after her and pins the intruder down. Besides, the dragon holds her tail spike at the girl’s neck. That was fast…
Phew, is it already over? I thought I’d be dead.
“Don’t get too close! She’s still conscious and can be dangerous.” Red doesn’t even look at me, focusing on the intruder’s hands and face. “Answer me, hunter! Where are the others? How many of you are in the city?”
The strange girl seems scared and angry for a second, but while hearing Red’s questions, she becomes more and more confused. The intruder gazes at me. “Will you let me clarify the situation? I’m almost sure our goals are close enough.”
“We don’t need any explanation from a damn hunter…” Red bares her teeth and growls.
“Red, please, let her explain herself first.” I try to interrupt the dragon. “We wanted to speak with some mage, do you remember it?”
Red stops roaring and slowly releases the intruder. “Do anything suspicious, and you’ll die on the spot.”
The strange girl slowly gets up and adjusts her clothes. “I’m Lina,” she introduces herself, “Priscilla’s secretary and, yes, the mage.” She touches her necklace, and suddenly, a swarm of sparkles surrounds her and fades out as quickly as it started. Even Red doesn’t manage to react, standing with a confused face. But Lina’s appearance has changed drastically - the top of her head now has two adorable long animal ears, and a big fluffy ginger tail is swinging behind her. Wow…
“I’m glad you’ve liked my little trick.” Lina smiles slightly at me, making Red emit a muffled roar. I try to erase the expression of admiration from my face.
“So, why do you want to find the dragon?” I’m trying to change the theme…
“It’s very straightforward - I just need help.” Lina shrugs. “My master got kidnapped, and I can’t do anything about it alone. I thought that I could persuade the dragon to attack the hunters. If you missed the news - there’s been an explosion in my master’s office today. That probably were the same hunters that our dragon is aware of.”
“Wait, why are you so sure about it? And how have you found us so quickly?” It sounds unreal. If she hadn’t planned to find us before today’s accident, how did she manage to do it so fast, even before the hunters?
Lina nods. “Yes, I have some data from the organization that controls …or at least pretends to control the portals.” She grins as if she suddenly remembers something terrible. Then, she releases a slow breath and continues: “And they confirmed that a group of mages appeared a few days ago, right after the arrival of the red dragon. Sadly, they didn’t manage to get to the portal and time and missed the dragon. But they encountered those hunters. And that &^%$%s gave away our location to the hunters instead of just staying silent.” She breaks down to a cry but almost instantly recovers and continues more calmly: “And I don’t care if they were threatened or not. The result is clear as day - my master is kidnapped. We want just a peaceful life like normal humans, far away from any war of mages.”
That sounds heartbreaking. But… “So, you’ve been living here for a long time?” Wait, the CEO of the biggest company in our city is a person from another world? Well, that explains some city legends…
“Yes, for around 20 years. And everything was fine until now.” She keeps scowling, but it looks like she is trying to hide her sorrow, covering her face with her hand. “And about you. It was just an incident when we encountered you with that dragon in the middle of the city. My master instantly realized we had met a dragon and ordered me to find any information about you. Luckily, you simply came to our office and demonstrated your ID to our security. It was the most effortless task in my life. Even without it, I would probably find your address in lists of students, which are not hard to obtain with all our company influence.” Lina releases another sad breath. “But when I acquired all the data and wanted to return to Priscilla, she got attacked.”
“Aaand, what exactly do you want from Red?”
“I’ve said it already. Just to go with me and to fight the hunters, and I will help her in the battle however I can. I assure you they don’t have a chance against a prepared dragon attack. Those bastards are good only when they have their initiative…”
I look at Red. She scowls, thinking. Well, honestly, Lina sounds very believable, but…
“We still can’t believe you. You sound reasonable, but how can we be sure you’re telling the truth? How would we know that you won’t kill us instead?”
Lina smiles and gets a bit closer. In the blink of an eye, I feel the cold of metal at my neck. A gun?! What?! What to do? Even if Red jumps, she won’t be able to help… I keep standing still, sweating. I hear a muted dragon roar, but Red doesn’t act as if she understands my thoughts.
“O-oh, a wise dragon? Or have you encountered this weapon before?” Lina looks surprised. With a smirk, she hides the pistol and steps away, smiling innocently and showing her open hands. “You see, if I’d wanted to kill you, I’d have killed you already. Very simple, right?”
“You!” Red roars loudly and steps forward, aggressively waving her tail.
“Red, wait, please! I’ve asked - she’s answered. There’s nothing to be worried about.” I try to get between them to prevent the conflict, but the fox girl approaches Red, slipping past me effortlessly.
Lina looks stone-faced at the angry dragon. “Answer me, why haven’t you tried to attack me before but, instead, are trying to do now? Your actions are inconsistent and lack logic. I still have my gun, so what?”
Red swallows her roar and takes a step back under the sudden pressure of the fox girl, shaking her head. “I… I don’t know. It felt like the situation was too dangerous for Ray, and I won’t be able to help. Now, he is safe, and…”
“The mighty red dragon tries to save a mortal human, missing the chance to attack…” Lina takes a long breath, covering her face with her palm. “Well, it doesn’t matter how stupidly naive you are. Honestly, it’s even better.”
“Hey!” Red blushes and mumbles something, like she fails to find the right words.
Lina releases a long breath and turns to me as if entirely losing interest in the dragon. “Could I take a cup of water, please? And I’m sorry for this performance - obviously, it went too far. I shouldn’t put a gun on you. I guess I’m just too drained by the stress already. And thank you for not letting the dragon ..erm, Red.. kill me. You clearly have some kind of telepathic link with her, am I right? Actions of you both were too coordinated to be entirely independent…”
Totally perplexed, I nod, unsure what to answer, and invite Lina and Red to my kitchen. On entering the kitchen, Lina immediately giggles, looking at my broken table, and pats my shoulder: “You will get used to this, believe me.” Damn, I’ve forgotten about it already…
After a short break, we return to the discussion.
“Ray, you’ve mentioned that you need to speak with some mage. We could make a deal - your dragon …I mean, Red will help me, and I will provide help with whatever you want from the hypothetical mage. My master is one of the most powerful mages; if she couldn’t help, I assume no one could.”
That’s rude. Red is not “my dragon,” and she should make her own decisions. But, knowing how she hates mages, she probably won’t quickly agree on that… I peek at Red while she is still incredulously gazing at Lina. But, honestly, it’s an excellent chance for you. Feeling my glance, she looks at me and sighs.
“Ok, I’ll help.” Red replies after scratching her head for some time. “I could think about it as revenge for my injures…”
“That’s the spirit!” Lina happily grins. “Ray, you should go with us too. Firstly, keep an eye on Red - I don’t want to be alone with a dragon who hates me. And secondly, the more people, the safer.”
What?! How? And, honestly, she wouldn’t hate you now if you had stopped provoking her every time.
“Eh? But I’m just an average person. I don’t know how to fight, especially in a magic battle.” I can’t say that I don’t want to see it, but I fully understand that I cannot survive.
“Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to participate. Just stay with Red and watch her back. I think your mental link will be perfect for this.” Lina shrugs and takes a step towards Red. “Hmm, how to put this… I’m sorry I’ve joked a lot about you. I hope our mission will be successful and we will save my master. Thereafter, I’ll do my best to provide you with any help. I promise.”
Red looks away but, after a second, releases a breath and nods. Lina happily waves her tail. And we proceed to the rescue mission.
I look at the sunset while we are driving her car away from the city with Lina at the steering wheel. She said that it was quite close - somewhere in the nearby forest. From her words, we need to check three or four places where these hunters could hide. I haven’t known that we had several abandoned buildings in the middle of the forest.
“Erm, Lina? Could I ask how you have turned out to be in our world?” She glances at me and sighs. “Eh, it’s not something that I remember well. Long story short: I’m an orphan who had been growing up in the shrine. Then that shrine had been burned, and I had no place to live. My master found me a few days after the fire in the forest near the site. I was.. 5 years old at that time. She said she, like me, didn’t have a place to live. So, my master took me to someplace with a strange construction. I remember the travel between worlds very badly - I got pretty nauseous. At this side of the portal, we encountered a group of people. If I remember right, they called themself “treasure hunters.” My master traded with them, and they helped us to get our id cards and other stuff.”
“Oh, I’m sorry…” A poor girl was hauled by a powerful mage to another world. Why hadn’t they tried to stay in their home world? From her perspective, it sounds very cool, but what was the original intention? Is their world so dangerous to live in? Though, having in mind that it has dragons, it probably is.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s just an old story. It’s better to focus on our current goal.” Lina smiles weakly and focuses on the road.
A road changes to a rural one, and after a few minutes, Lina stops her car. It’s pitch dark now.
“Erm, I still think having me here is not a great idea. I barely see anything…” When Lina turns off her car’s lights, I feel like I’m deep underwater. Suddenly, I see a light spark and feel someone touch my temple. The darkness fades, and now I can see everything around me. But in grayscale.
“Is this a magic spell? Wow…” Honestly, I’m stunned.
Lina smirks at me. “Darkvision. Now you can see like a cat. Now, both of you, follow me. And be quiet.”
It looks like Red has already turned into her half-dragon form. Well, I have no other option, I assume. So, I move.
Pretty soon, we reach an old wooden house, which probably had been some kind of summer camp in its better days. But despite the overall shabby look, I can see a slight light in its empty windows. When we get close enough, the light dies, and I hear a shout, “Intruders!”
Lina disappointedly murmurs and waves her hand toward the house, declaring the beginning of the assault. Immediately, Red rushes to the closest window frame, breaking into it. Oh, Lina is near the house, too. How has she managed to reach it so fast? Incredible…
Slight noise from the house turns into screams and explosions. The big pillar of the flame erupts through the opposite window. It’s dangerous, but I want to see Red in action. When I get closer, I see a mage with a weird-shaped knife approach Red from behind. Fearing for Red, I try to think fast, but her tail slams the attacker into the wall. Right after, I feel her glance and a bit of warmth and gratitude. Oh, right, our minds are connected.
The sound from gunshot sends shivers through my body, and one of the mages falls. But others focus on Lina, forcing her to hide behind the wall. Another blue flash at Red’s side - crap, she is in trouble too. Her legs get stuck in a block of ice. Now, she is covering herself with her wings, trying to block attacks and melt the ice at the same time.
Suddenly, I feel pain in my chest. Scared, I touch the painful spot, but there’s nothing here. I realize that the feeling is not mine and look around. Oh, there’s one more dragon at the corner of the room. A human-like creature with dragon features tied to a chair with chains. Her human skin is white and pale, and her face is gaunt and lifeless. She looks at me and then nods at her chest. Ugh…
A loud noise distracts me from planning my next action, and I see Red breaking into the next room with one of the mages. Oh my gosh… One of them screams: “Get the dragon!” While they focus on her, I have a chance to sneak inside. I get closer to the captured dragon and look at her back. I have seen this weird knife before - one of the enemies tried to attack Red with it! I take a deep breath and slowly pull it. The pain in my chest is getting intense, but when I pull it out, it disappears as there was none. The dragon coughs, shakes her head and starts mumbling something. Just that, several fireballs emerge out of thin air around the room and strike at the enemies. They scream in a panic. Some of them manage to cast shields but are pushed to the walls anyway.
“Crap, they’ve freed the dragon. Retreat, now!” One of them screams and jumps to the window. Another one, who was still standing, follows. Lina shoots at them, but swears, apparently missing the target.
Suddenly, the room drowns in silence. Red is pressing her hand to her ribs, apparently covering a wound, and Lina is reload her pistol.
With a sudden realization, Lina runs to the dragon and shouts, “Master!” The dragon smiles weakly, nods and passes out.
“Master, please, wait a little more…” Lina hides her weapon and takes out lockpicks.
By the way, how is Red? She keeps some distance from the rescued dragon, still pressing to her ribs. I notice a lot of scratches and burns all over her skin. She notices my glance and hides her wings. Were they damaged badly? After all, she used them as a cover…
“Don’t worry, okay?” She smiles and steps closer. “It’s nothing compared to what they did to me when I had to hide in your house.”
“If you say so…” I sigh…
“Hey, we have won. I just need some food and it all will heal in few days, you’ll see.” She smiles cheerfully and pats my shoulder. “What about that dragon? I’ve never seen one with so little mana. I’m surprised she was able to do anything.”
So, the golden dragon. I finally have some time to inspect what is going on here. So, a metal chair, some chains, and a dragon being very pale as if she’s lost a lot of blood. Before I hasn’t realize that she is a dragon, because she has no horns. Oh, actually… There are two stumps on her head that now is partially covered by messy hair. Have they cut them off? Awful…
Now I also see that her tail is missing a spike at its end and her claws are cut too. Why?
“Damn harvesters…” Red angrily mumbles to herself, inspecting the dragon too.
After a few minutes, chains fall apart, and the dragon leans forward, falling from the chair. Lina carefully catches her.
“Ray, please, help me. I need to open the doors and start the vehicle. Please carry the master.” Erm, okay…
I turn my back to her and crouch slightly to help Lina lift the dragon from the chair and place it on my back. Ugh, she is heavy… Why me? Does she still not believe Red?
After a long and exhausting walk to the car, we finally get to my house. Is she..?
“Okay, now let her rest for a bit, I hope you have a spare bedroom, and tomorrow I will come to check. Now I need to deal with something else, sorry.” Lina stops the car and asks me very softly. “Could you help me once more, please?”
“Don’t you have a home or anything?” I’m genially confused.
She sighs. “We live in the same building where the company is located. And now there’s lot of police and reporters around it. I can’t just go there with my master in a dragon form. I also hope that Red will protect her in case the rest of that hunters attacks you suddenly.”
“Hey, that’s not what I’ve sign up for!” Red immediately starts complaining.
“I know, but your …erm… friend is in danger too, as long as those mages are able to find him. So, please be a good dragon and protect this place, ignoring another dragon. Please.”
“Hmpf!” Red closes her eyes and turns her head, but I feel that she’s understood.
“Okay. Please let me know if you need anything. Here is my number.” Lina gives me a small piece of paper with some numbers on it. I nod.
…And she drives away, leaving me with two dragons…