The Consequences of an Adventure
By Shelli-Jo Pelletier
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Author's Note: Due to so much positive feedback (which I thank you all for from the bottom of my heart!) I have decided to continue the story and now present the revised "A Brief Glimpse" along with the rest of the first full chapter of this ongoing fic. As always, characters mine belong to me and not mine belong to people with much more money than I shall ever have. Enjoy!
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"Accept death with honor, miserable beast," came the sneering voice out of the darkness. She lifted her head and growled, but the sound caused pain to rip through her throat.
Her enemy stepped from the shadows of the night, the moon shining dully on his long, dark coat and hair. He was less than half the size of her, but there was fear in her eyes, in her posture. The blackened wounds along her body, especially the deep cut in her neck that stopped her fire breath, attested to the more deadly of the two. She shrank back as he approached. "No where left to run, m'lady," he mocked.
He was wrong. There was one place left to run, and her precious package was too important to her. She would continue to run until she could no longer. So as he gathered his strength to strike, she spread her aching wings and leapt to the diamond-sparkled sky with her cargo in her arms.
He lowered his arms as his prey took off, a slight frown on his face. He had thought he had damaged her wings beyond the ability of flight, but apparently he had been wrong. The frown smoothed away. No matter. "So the hunt continues," he murmured.
* * *
If anyone knew I was out here I'd be so grounded, Jade told herself as she slipped through the dark city streets of nighttime San Francisco. That immediately sparked the next thought. Why am I out here again?
She wasn't really sure. All she knew was that she woke up right in the middle of cool dream about kicking major ninja butt, and had to go somewhere. She didn't know where, she didn't know why, but she knew it was very important. And Jade understood all about ancient mystical intuition and stuff like that (sort of anyway, since Uncle was a Chi Wizard and all). So here she was.
Dressed in a black shirt and pants, without a Talisman or anything else to help her, the young girl was hard to spot but defenseless as she prowled along. She kept her head down and trotted down the sidewalks as quickly as she could, avoiding the eyes of any other pedestrians and the bright pools of light in front of store windows.
Following her instincts, Jade made her way into less and less respectable parts of town. The shops turned into rundown apartments. The other passersby disappeared, until she was hurrying along alone.
A screech cut across the darkness like tires squealing, and Jade yelped. Heart thudding in her chest, her light brown eyes darted around the street and searched for the source. It was the alleyway ahead and on her right, she realized. There was something there, and it didn't sound human. She swallowed dryly. Time to investigate, or time to get Uncle Jackie? But already she was inching forward, step by step. Whatever it was, this must be what she was looking for. Like she was going to turn back now!
Jade was a stubborn child, but not stupid. She reached the alley and pressed herself against the brick wall of one side, peeking around the corner just enough to make out the scene. As she peered into the shadows of the alley her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Jade gasped.
Afraid she'd been heard, the girl whipped her head back around the corner, breathing heavy. She couldn't believe her eyes! Suddenly she was back four months ago, when she had first met Nicole Winters and her dragon partner, Starchaser. Not like Shendu, who was a demon in the shape of a dragon—the same way Xiao Fung took the shape of a toad, or Hsi Wu a bat—but a real live dragon. Unlike the Easterners that were under Shendu's control, the Western species of Europe were a free people long ago. A spell was once placed on the race, making them invisible to humans without a very open mind. Fighting evil to recapture magical Talismans and stopping demons from conquering the world was a real eye opener, though, and Jade had had no trouble seeing Starchaser when they had met. Starchaser and Nicole were diplomats between humans and dragons, who traveled the world and tried to smooth over sightings, keep people from hunting down the Loch Ness monster and stuff. They had come to San Francisco after hearing about Shendu's sudden appearance, but by the time they arrived the demon had been sealed inside Valmont.
However, Shendu had taken an interest when he heard a dragon was in town, and had sought to capture her and bring her under his wing. Starchaser and Nicole had no intentions of helping a demon, no matter what he looked like, and in the resulting adventure Jade had risked her own life to save Starchaser's. Astounded by the young girl's selflessness—Jade didn't see what the big deal was, but apparently humans didn't often offer to help dragons—she and Nicole had christened Jade with the title of Ally to Dragons. The title came with a cool sword too, but Jade had been warned it was magical and could not be drawn from its sheath unless a dragon or Ally was in danger, and Nicole and Starchaser would know when it was and would come investigate. Not only that, but Uncle and Jackie had put the sword somewhere and she couldn't figure out where, so she couldn't even look at it or bring it to school to show Drew! Talk about a gyp.
After the two diplomats had left Jade mostly forgot all about dragons, despite the warnings from both of them that to be an Ally to Dragons was a responsibility that could surface at any time. Nicole herself was one of the only two other people to ever have the position. The first was some old king from the Middle Ages or something. But when nothing cool happened, and with the demon portals in need of closing, Jade had put the strange adventure out of her mind.
Until tonight. Because one look at the scene taking place right behind her had brought it all crashing back like a tidal wave. There was a dragon in that alley, and it was hurt, and a tall man with "evil guy" written all over him was laughing.
Great! Now all I gotta do is kick this guy's butt and save the dragon! . . . .Uh, and think up a way to do that.
She took a deep breath, regaining her calm, and tried to remember what Nicole and Starchaser had told her.
"It's name is Ally," the sixteen-year-old girl said, handing the sword to Jade solemnly. She was young but took her job very seriously. "And it
is that, to you and to dragons. In times of need call out to it and it will protect you.""Call out to it? What's that mean?" Jade demanded, about to draw the sword until a glance from Starchaser reminded her she wasn't supposed to. She rubbed her fingers over the smooth gold hilt, which was wrapped in brown bindings.
"It means that you must summon it with your heart," the Saint Bernard-sized dragon told her. "Ask for its help and it will answer you."
Jade sighed and glared at the two that had become her friends. "Couldn't you guys cut out all the ancient riddle stuff and just tell me how it works?"
Nicole grinned. "You'll know when the time comes. Follow your heart, may the Force be with you, and any other cheesy movie line you can think of that fits here. Trust me, you'll know." Her smile faded. "Seriously, Jade. Be careful. There are a lot of people out there who want to hurt dragons. Normal people who fear the unknown. Demons, like Shendu. Dark Wizards. It's not a game. You accepted this position, and it's a serious responsibility."
"No sweat, Nicole," Jade assured her, sliding the sheathed sword into one of her belt loops. It was long, and dragged on the ground behind her. "I can handle it."
"I feel safer already," Starchaser remarked dryly.
"Call out to it," the young child whispered. Summon it with your heart. Right. Okay. Yo, sword! Jade thought as hard as she could. Get over here right now! I need you to help this dragon here!
She waited, but nothing happened. Great. What was she supposed to do now? If Jackie were here, he wouldn't even hesitate to stop that guy. She tried once more. Hey, sword-thing! I need you! Get over here! Um . . . Ally, help!
A great flash of white light suddenly lit up the sidewalk, causing Jade to cry out and hold her hands out in front of her for protection. As the light faded and an angry voice came from the alley, she felt something cool and smooth slide into her hand. Jade blinked dots from her sight. There was Ally, unsheathed, waiting in her hand!
"Go me!" Jade said happily, confident now that there was nothing that could stop her. She whirled and jumped out in front of the alleyway, Ally held in front of her, ready for anything . . . and looked up. The man stood, towering over her and grinning down in a not very nice way. He was thin, with dark hair and eyes and a cruel face. "Up a little past your bedtime, aren't we?" he sneered in a somewhat deep voice. His smirk faded as his eyes fell on the weapon. "Oh, it's you again," he growled, apparently talking to the sword.
"Yeah, and we're gonna make you sorry for messing with dragons!" growled Jade.
"We'll see about that." The man reached toward the much smaller figure, but yelled and yanked his hand back as the sword shot out and grazed his fingers. With a hiss of pain the man stepped back.
"Whoa." Jade was impressed. She hadn't done anything; Ally had moved her arm on its own! "Yeah! Try that again and you might lose something."
"Meddlesome brat!" The tall man's injured hand began moving, making strange symbols. A ball of green fire appeared in his palm, which he hurled her way.
Jade shrieked and tried to run, but he legs weren't listening. Ally had it all under control. The fireball hit the blade's tip and vanished with a flash.
Ha! This was great! With this sword, there wasn't anything she couldn't handle! Spurred by confidence, Jade leaped forward with a shout. "Hiiiiya!"
The dark sorcerer leaped straight up, evading the thrust of the blade and sailing over Jade's head. She whirled around, but only the shadows of the night met her searching eyes. She waited for several silent moments, searching for the next attack. But the guy had vanished.
"Huh. Good riddance," muttered Jade finally. She slid the sword without its scabbard into her belt loop and ran down the alley to look at the dragon. As she neared her footsteps slowed, then stopped. "Oh jeez," she gulped.
In the shadows the horse-sized dragon's body seemed to glow, scales reflecting the light from the half moon overhead. Shendu's dragons were green, but Starchaser was a deep red color and this dragon was white. And it looked pretty badly hurt. It was stretched out on the dirty ground, ugly black scratches down its sides, and unmoving. But as it heard her footsteps one green eye slit open, fastened on the sword at her waist, and a small smile appeared.
"Are-are you okay?" Jade asked, edging closer. "Don't worry about the bad guy. He split. Gonzo. Sayonara. You can, er, go on home now or something."
The green eye rolled up to her face. Now she could see the dragon's side rise and fall as it breathed. It didn't really look like it was doing that fast enough. Then again, who knew how fast dragons were supposed to breathe? After a long, anxious moment, the dragon spoke. It was a female voice, very faint and slow. "Thank . . . you."
"No problem." Jade shifted from one foot to the other nervously. Her subconscious was telling her something very bad, but she was trying not to listen. She had beaten the bad guy! That meant the good guys won and everything was supposed to turn out okay! Uncomfortable, she continued to babble. "Look, you really gotta get up and go now, because when it gets light there's going to be more people here, 'cause this is San Francisco and there isn't really any low profile place for you to hide out in, 'cept maybe Section 13 and I don't think they let dragons in. But anyway Nicole and Starchaser—the diplomats, you know?—should be here real soon and they can take care of stuff like this—"
A little squeaking noise made her pause, and the dark-haired girl looked around the alley, thinking maybe a rat was poking through the garbage. But movement behind the dragon's outstretched leg caused her to turn back. Around the curved claws came a tiny little dragon, no bigger than a cat. It nudged the larger dragon's nose, squeaking sadly.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," Jade whimpered under her breath. She had a feeling something real bad was happening, and the sounds of the baby dragon made her eyes want to water. "Get up!" she said urgently, grabbing one white wing and shaking it.
The green eye went from the baby to Jade's pale face. "You'll need . . . his name. . . ." the dragon whispered. ". . . .Is . . . Rain. . . ."
"No, no, no!" Jade cried, horrified. "Don't talk like that! Please! Hey, no!" The green eye was slowly closing. Little Rain's squeaks became wails, high and drawn out. Jade crouched and scooped him up. His cries were muffled against her black shirt as she petted his sky blue scales.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded small and scared as she tried to rouse the white dragon. "Hey, wake up. Please." She reached out to touch the curved neck, but as she did everything darkened and a boom of thunder ripped the air. Rain squeaked in fear, and she hugged him closer. Up above dark clouds had rolled across the moon. The only light now came from the streetlights at the end of the alleyway.
Jade sat there in the dark, clutching Rain in her arms, until the tiny drops of water fell from the sky. She was glad. Now no one would know she was crying.
* * *
"Aiya! Who is up in the middle of the night?! Uncle needs his rest!" Grumbling, the gray-haired man shuffled towards the door, grabbing the broom that leaned against the wall just in case.
"We are not open. You must come back—AIYA!" His jaw dropped open as he recognized the one standing hunched on the doorstep, clutching something small and squirming in her arms as the rain pattered down. Jade picked up her head and looked at him with miserable eyes.
"She's d-dead," sniffed the girl.