Chapter 8

The villain of the story finally makes himself known. Jim is tormented by the previous night's events.

Julian Elliot sat at the head of a long, empty table. He had his wings splayed out on either side of him; dark black feathers that contrasted nicely with his stark white hair. He’d never been upset that he’d gotten the more avian of the dracopire genes than his adopted brother. In fact, he’d often rub it in Graham’s face; he could fly, while Graham was grounded. It gave Julian a good feeling.

The table was devoid of food--but why wouldn’t it be? He didn’t have to eat human food, nor did he have a real need for anything fancy like...what were they doing nowadays, blood cake? No, Julian was more of a traditional sanguivore in that respect.

Of course, the tradition got a little boring once in a while. So, when he’d get bored, he’d do strange things--like shooting at the fine china with his antique flintlock pistol, or sending his ghouls out after some upstart humans.

He wasn’t quite expecting those upstart humans to have backup, though. It was quite irritating when Devon called from the city jail to ask him to bail them out. Oh, sure, Julian could bail his three incompetent servants out, but not just yet. No, he’d let them stew for a while. Wasn’t that what jail was for, anyway?

He was far more interested in who had incarcerated his little pawns. A human. Certainly, she’d had a demon friend with her, but according to Devon, the girl had taken on two of the ghouls at once. He knew his ghouls. They weren’t often so easily taken down. Particularly not by a mortal. This Aurelius girl bore some close inspection.

Pulling his wings in and folding them against his back, he tugged his pistol out of its holster and set to carefully cleaning his fingerprints off the wood grain. He often overcleaned his pistol when he was deep in thought. He’d never thought it a habit he needed to break; there was nothing wrong with a sparkling-clean firearm.

There was also the matter of Graham. According to the doctor, his adopted brother hadn’t quite figured out who it was that had gotten him such a nice room at Aeon Underground. But he’d also proven himself useful. He’d made a thrall of Carol Grant, one of the hunter girl’s team members, which proved all the more detrimental to whatever plan Julian decided to hatch.

Because speaking of upstart humans, the family of Aurelius was proving to show the same signs their previous generations had. Before long, they were going to cause trouble. Not only the girl, but that escaped brat, too. Julian would need to put them in their place long before they could do that. Graham’s enthrallment of both Grant and the boy could help that along, if only Julian could discern how best to do that.

There was a knock at the door, and Julian looked up. “Go ahead,” he called out, eyes focused on the door as it opened. A small, dark face peeped in, framed by frizzy black hair.

His expression quickly turned from vague irritation to elation. “Ammy,” he said kindly, opening his arms. “I was wondering when you’d come in this morning. Are you hungry?”

The little girl came in, but shook her head. “Just wondering if Graham’s back yet, sir,” she said.

Julian frowned a little. Not this again. She’d been asking for Graham practically every day. Rather endearing at first, but now it just felt sort of...annoying.

“Milady, I did promise you that you’d be the first to know if I heard anything,” he said kindly. The “milady” part always seemed to fluster her a little. “Now, don’t fuss. He’ll be back to see you again before you know it.”

“But that’s what you said two weeks ago,” she said. “I’ve hed time to know it. You cen tell me he left for good, I’m used to it.”

He sighed and got up, making his way over to her. He crouched in front of her and put a curled finger under her chin, nudging her head up to look at him.

The girl had been a little street urchin when his brother had found her on the side of the road. Scrawny and underfed, she’d reminded him of a sugar glider when he’d handed her a piece of fruit to eat--or so Graham had said at the time. He’d always been doting on the girl, but Julian mainly saw her as a waste of resources. She was too young to keep as a thrall and not far gone enough to make the transition to ghoul. She was practically useless, except in a more aesthetic sense; Julian could see what was so “cute” about her--the Australian accent, the barely-tamed mane she called hair, the way her face lit up when she talked about something that made her happy--but all in all, she was a waste of space.

Graham had always insisted that it was a worthy waste, whenever Julian brought it up. “We’re better off than most,” he’d say. “We’re not losing anything by keeping her around. The thralls can take care of her where we can’t, anyway. I don’t see what you’re fussing over.”

Julian didn’t know why he didn’t dump her on the street the first chance he got. Just tell Graham she’d been killed by another dracopire fueled by jealousy or something. He could quite easily do that, actually.

In fact, why didn’t he? It wasn’t too late.

“I know what will cheer you up,” he said with an amiable smile. “Why don’t we two go out and have a picnic tonight? Just me and you, some...what do you call them, ‘sangers’? I’ll even let you make them. How does that sound?”

She seemed uncertain, but she nodded. “I guess it beats bein’ a bludger,” she said.

He smiled and ruffled her hair. Good enough. Even if he was pretty sure “bludger” sounded more like something magicians used in sport. “Then it’s a date. You won’t mind me catching a few winks before we go, do you?”

She shook her head, offering him a smile. “It’s a long time ‘til sunset, you have time for a nap,” she said, heading for the door.

He smiled until the door closed behind her, then the expression dropped. He hoped she’d slept well last night; it’d be the last time she’d be able to enjoy her bed.

“I told you, I’m okay,” Hiko said kindly, but Jim could hear the strain in his voice.

Once they had disappeared under the mountain, the boy had made him sit so he could take a look at the cursed injury. Luckily, the then-vixen knew what to do; she’d used the last of her energy to grow an herb, which she had Jim grind to a pulp using a couple of the rocks around them, then place it on the wound and bind it there. Once night had fallen, the dragon had taken them home, then shifted the body of its friend onto its back and flew back. Jim felt bad still, and confused as to what the dead dragon had meant by “eggs”, but he was still so worried about Hiko, guilty over killing that pocher, and he wasn’t sure what to do with the multiple bad emotions running through his head. Before now, the only thing he’d ever felt was a dulled fear.

“I just want to look at it,” Jim said, but Hiko nudged him away.

“It’s okay, Jimmy,” he insisted. “You need some time to calm down. Air out your brain a little.”

“...Like...put a hole in my head?”

Hiko chuckled. “Not a literal one, silly. Go for a walk. Think about the things that make you happy. I need a little sleep, anyway. Okay?”

Jim frowned. He didn’t like it, but if Hiko said it was for the best, then maybe…

“Just stay within sight of Yoruko’s church,” Hiko went on. “It’s nighttime; he’ll be able to help you if you run into trouble.”

Jim nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Maybe I’ll look for that plant in case you need more.”

Hiko chuckled again, patting his hand. “Silly, I just need to grow it if I need it,” he said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.”

Jim sighed and nodded again, heading for the hole in the wall. It closed behind him; all he’d need to do was knock to the tune of  “pigs in a blanket” and he’d be let back in. But for now, he didn’t knock. Hiko was right; he needed to air out his brain.

He trailed through the snake grass and travelled downriver, toward the baby dragon’s hole, but he didn’t turn in that direction. He didn’t think the dragon would be home. Besides, it might be better not to see it yet; he’d just have to break the news about its parent, and that wouldn’t be very good for what Hiko had sent him out here to do.

He reached a pile of junk. He wasn’t sure what it all was, but it looked too heavy to carry. But it was just the perfect size to sit on. He sat on a big metal bar...thing, leaning his back against the big cement tunnel the pile was leaning against. It was curved backward, allowing a better view of the field before him, the church on the other end and a big, beautiful expanse of the night sky above.

He closed his eyes and sighed out through his nose, intending to relax, but soon he felt something nudging at his leg and cracked his eyes open.

“Oh. Hi, there,” he said, managing a smile at the baby dragon.

But it wasn’t having his greeting, apparently. It clicked its beak and started to run off across the field, pausing halfway over and squeaking at him. He blinked; did the dragon want him to follow?

“Um...okay,” he said, getting up. He winced slightly; apparently sitting against a cement tunnel on a pile of scrap metal wasn’t good for one’s back. He jumped down and followed quickly.

After that, the dragon didn’t pause. It ran on all fours, past the church, past the little tiny house with the stone fireplace out back, past a couple of dining pavilions. He was just glad he wasn’t getting winded, with how fast the dragon was making him go.

Then he stopped. The dragon skidded to a halt in front of him, looking at him and gesturing urgently, but he held up a finger.

Not far away, he heard the sound of someone sniffling and crying softly.

He followed the impatient dragon more slowly and soon saw who was making the sound. A small, dark figure sat on a stump, curled up with their knees to their chest and their face hidden. As Jim approached, the figure looked up, a hopeful look in her dark eyes.

When she saw him, the hope vanished and she buried her face in her knees again.

“My dragon friend brought me here,” he said quietly, not sure what else to say. “Are you in trouble?”

“No,” she said miserably. “Just got l-left again.”

So much for airing out his brain. His heart twinged and he moved to sit next to her. She was wearing a bright green dress, but in this light it just looked like a light gray. He knew it was green, though. He could always tell if something was green.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I got left, too. I found someone who isn’t leaving, though, I bet he wouldn’t mind letting you stay. What’s your name?”

“Ammolite,” she said. “But just call me Ammy.”

He smiled. “I’m James. But Hiko calls me Jim or Jimmy, sometimes Jimothy. Which is silly, because Jimothy isn’t short or anything. But Hiko’s pretty silly.”

“Is he a mean old vampire?”

“Uh...no, he’s a fox person that changes into a bunch of things. Besides, not all vampires are mean. I knew one that was really nice. He only bit me because I told him he could.”

Ammy sniffled and raised her head again, wiping her eyes. “What was his name?” she asked.

“It was--”

He was cut off by the sound of someone approaching, and turned around when he saw the look of anger on Ammy’s face. There, across the clearing and sneering at them--no, at him in particular--was a boy that looked a lot like Graham. The boy was gray-skinned with white hair and green eyes that glowed a subtle red. The only difference was, instead of dragon legs and a similarly reptilian tail, this boy had black, feathery wings and a bird’s tailfeathers to match.

“There you are,” he said, and even his accent sounded like Graham’s. “Boy, oh, boy, am I glad I didn’t leave this mountain just yet.”

He stepped forward, and something compelled Jim to stand in front of Ammy. He felt something nudge at his leg and looked down for half a second to see the dragon standing firmly beside him.

He looked up, and Graham’s lookalike was in his face.

“If you so much as hint this night to my brother,” he hissed dangerously, “you will regret getting so close to that pretty fox I smell on your clothes, boy.” The red glow of his eyes intensified, and Jim felt his breath catch in his throat.

Then he felt nothing at all.

When he came to, he was on his back, looking up at the sky and at two faces that hung over his. One was Yoruko’s, and the other belonged to a small girl that looked like she’d been crying.

“Where am I?” he asked groggily, trying to sit up. But Yoruko nudged him back down.

“You’re awake,” the shadowy boy said gruffly. “That’s where you are. Now shut up and sit up slowly or you’ll make yourself dizzy.”

Jim nodded and slowly pushed himself up. He remembered a red glow, and before that...had he fallen asleep on that scrap pile and sleepwalked here? And who was this girl?

Yoruko was nodding. “Good. Now next time, don’t send your silly little lizard to get me. I almost ate it.”

“What?” Jim looked around so frantically for the dragon, he got dizzy half a second before spotting it resting on his legs. “Oh. Don’t scare me, Yoruko.”

“Hmph.” Yoruko got up. “Get your weird friends back to that silly fox’s house. I’m not the worst thing out here, you know.”

Jim nodded slowly and stood up even more slowly. The dragon quickly got off his legs and the girl helped him stay on his feet as they headed off toward Hiko’s house.

“What’s your name?” he sheepishly asked the girl.