Chapter 4 – Familiar Faces and Feelings Forgotten
Jehoash and Ejaz found themselves in front of an old warehouse. The windows were dark, and no movement could be seen inside.
Ejaz gathered himself. "Are you sure they're in there?"
Jehoash nodded. "Positive. I can sense the dragon, and I can sense my son..."
"And he knows you're coming? Why couldn't you sense him earlier?" Ejaz was confused.
"Correct and..." Jehoash began. "...this one is different. I am familiar with him. He can't sense you, though. You will go around the back and surprise him from behind."
"Good plan...then I'll just get him while he's off-guard." agreed Ejaz.
"Choose caution..." warned Jehoash. “He will not fall so easily..."
"So you know this dragon or something?" asked Ejaz.
Jehoash remained silent for a few seconds. "Yes...he was a friend back in the day..."
Ejaz nodded. "Well, alright... I'll go get into position."
Jehoash made no attempt to conceal his entry. He was sure that the other dragon already knew he was here. He entered through the main door of the warehouse and passed through a series of dark corridors before reaching the main storage area. The lights were off and the large room dark, but Jehoash could see the faint glow of fire down one of the many aisles of shelves lining the warehouse floor. Upon reaching the end of the aisle, he could see a ring of fire surrounding both Jessabelle and Jackson, the former holding the latter in her arms.
Jessabelle could see Jehoash approach. "Jehoash! Please, help us! He’ll kill Brenson!"
Jehoash was about to rush over to save Jessabelle and Jackson, but an all too familiar cackle of laughter stopped him in his tracks.
"So my king..." spoke a sinister voice from the shadows. “...you came for your wench and your half breed child, as I expected. Always predictable." A man, dressed in a dark green cloak with sparkling jade eyes and a pointed nose stepped out from behind a shelf, dragging the limp body of Brenson alongside him.
Jehoash glared at the kidnapper. "Heolstor...still alive after all this time I see..."
Heolstor scoffed. "Not as thorough as you believed, king! When you betrayed your own brother and me, I knew I had to survive and seek vengeance!"
"I did not betray you!" snapped Jehoash. "You two were going to ravage that village. I could not allow so many innocents to die!"
"You're such an old fool..." replied Heolstor. “We are dragons, king! We are the superior race! We are the dominant species! We should rule this planet, not these petty humans, but no! The most powerful member of our race falls for a lowly human whore and forces us all to live in caves!"
Jehoash growled under his breath. "You will show her respect, Heolstor..."
"Ha! Pathetic!" laughed Heolstor. "And then, to make it even better, not only do you fall for an inferior breed, but then you lose her and your child to another human! She left the king of the dragons for a human! And you just let her leave! You're weak!"
"Let me show you just how weak I am... Release them or die." ordered Jehoash.
Heolstor laughed again. "I don't take orders from you, my king. All I have to do is snap my fingers and your child and whore are nothing more than a pile of ash..."
At that moment, Ejaz rushed up behind Heolstor and slashed the evil dragon's left arm, which he had used to hold Brenson, clean off. Heolstor recoiled in agony as Jehoash rushed forward and dove into the ring of fire to save Jessabelle and Jackson. Carrying the two in his arms, Jehoash leapt down the aisle to the exit corridor.
Jehoash placed his family safely on the ground behind some crates. "Go, run!" he said.
Jessabelle shook her head. "What about Brenson? Please, Jehoash, you must save him too!"
Jehoash looked into Jessabelle's eyes. He saw the worry and fear on her face. He nodded, agreeing to save the very man who kept his family away from him.
Ejaz continued fighting Heolstor, but the evil dragon managed to gain the upper hand and grabbed Ejaz around the neck with his still-attached hand, causing the hunter to drop the sword. Heolstor threw Ejaz down the aisle to where Jehoash now stood.
Jehoash ran over and helped the hunter to his feet. "Get my family to safety!" commanded Jehoash.
"But I thought you wanted me to fight the other dragons so you wouldn't have to!?" protested Ejaz.
Jehoash pointed towards his family. "They are more important, hunter! Get them out of here! I will deal with Heolstor!"
Ejaz hesitated, but ultimately ran off towards Jessabelle and guided her and the baby out of the warehouse.
Jehoash approached the injured Heolstor. The evil dragon was nursing the glowing stump where his arm should be.
Hoelstor's eyes burned in rage. "It was sin enough to father that abomination, but you've gone against everything you are! You're no dragon king! You're nothing!"
Jehoash glared at Heolstor. "Perhaps I am. I have made mistakes, Heolstor. I have lost much of everything I had. What wasn't taken outright was sacrificed for my family... I have nothing, so maybe I am nothing."
Heolstor spat fire on the ground. "We are your family! Your brother was your family! Your race is your family! Not those humans outside! You'd sacrifice your entire species for them!?"
"I'd sacrifice a lot more if it meant protecting them..." responded Jehoash.
The two dragons were interrupted by the sound of Brenson, who coughed and spat as he regained consciousness. The injured man attempted to make his way to his feet but he struggled as he was badly injured.
Heolstor spat in Brenson's general direction. "This pathetic one tried to protect the whore. He was of little consequence to me..."
Jehoash shot a fireball from his hand into Heolstor's left leg.
"Arrrgh!!!" cried Heolstor as he fell to his knees. "Wait, please!" He held his hands up in surrender. "Do not kill me! Look, look!" Heolstor pointed at Brenson as the injured human still tried, and failed, to stand up. "I-I can help you, king! Just kill him, and blame it on me! This is the one that is keeping you from the woman, right? Just say I incinerated him and let me go! Then you and the woman and your child can live in peace and-and I won't trouble you ever again! I-I swear!"
Meanwhile, outside Ejaz had gotten both Jessabelle and Jackson to safety. The baby was crying and his eyes lit up with energy.
Jessabelle rocked her baby gently, trying to calm him. “I can’t believe this happened…” she said.
Ejaz glanced over at the woman. “What did you expect?” he said. “You’re son’s a half breed. To be honest, all things considered, you should be pretty thankful.”
“Thankful?” Jessabelle replied. “For what, exactly? We almost died in there! Brenson might be dead!”
Ejaz was frustrated. “But you are still alive, and it’s not thanks to me but thanks to the father of your child! Listen lady, I’ve hunted a lot of bad things. I’ve stared evil in the face and seen the worst this world has to offer. But you want to know what the one thing I hadn’t seen before until just this morning? I monster, a dragon king of all things, that knows love. Jessabelle, Jehoash loves you more than I’ve seen actual men love women. He’s a dragon and yet all he does is fight back his very nature to make you happy. To protect you and your son.”
Jessabelle hesitated. “I don’t know what to say…”
Ejaz shrugged. “You don’t have to say anything. I just think you need to consider what you have, and what that kind of unconditional commitment means.”
Back inside, Jehoash looked over at Brenson. For a moment, the king of the dragons felt his inner nature stir. The benefits were obvious: if he killed Brenson, he and Jessabelle could finally be together again. But, then he remembered how Jessabelle looked when she asked him to save Brenson. The worry, the pain in her eyes. Whether Jehoash liked it or not, Jessabelle did care about Brenson, and killing him would only serve to hurt her. Jehoash could not do that.
Jehoash choked back any temptations to do exactly what a dragon
would do. He walked over to Brenson and helped his rival to his feet.
"Can you walk?" Jehoash asked.
Brenson had trouble speaking. "I-I think I can make it out myself... What are you? What is he?"
"We are dragons. I am sure Jessabelle can fill you in.” Jehoash pointed down the aisle. "You should run now... Get out of here!"
Brenson did not wait to see what Jehoash was going to do to Heolstor. He hobbled as quickly as his legs could carry him to the warehouse's exit, leaving the king to deal with Heolstor.
Heolstor shook his head in horror. "My king, please! D-don't do this to me! I only wanted-"
"You only wanted..." interrupted Jehoash. “...to take away the only thing that matters to me... I will not allow them to come to harm, and I will not allow you to live having attempted to do so..." As he said this, Jehoash's eyes glowed bright and his body became engulfed in flames. He slowly began changing into his enormous true form. He stood almost as tall as the warehouse ceiling, with black scales covering his body and fierce horns jutting out from his pronounced head. His leathery wings cast a shadow over the crippled Heolstor.
Heolstor pleaded for mercy. "Please, king! Do not kill me! I-I'll leave them alone, I swear!"
Outside, Brenson had managed to hobble his way out of the door. Ejaz ran over to assist getting him away from the warehouse, as the roar of the king of the dragons could be heard from inside. As Ejaz half-dragged Brenson to a safe distance, the warehouse erupted in explosive flames. The windows burst out and the ground shook from the shockwave. Jessabelle shielded her baby from the heat, but Jackson seemed remarkably calm when he felt the heat, almost as if he knew it was his father's flame.
Then there was silence. The flames vanished almost as quickly as they had appeared. The door to the warehouse, sufficiently charred from the blast, swung limp as a figure could be seen slowly emerge from the smoke.
Jehoash, holding his chest in pain, made his way over to where the others were.
Ejaz put Brenson safely down and ran over to Jehoash. "Are you alright?" asked the hunter.
Jehoash ignored him and went straight for Jessabelle. He looked down upon the woman he loved who held the child that belonged to both of them. He could not help but force a weak smile. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
Jessabelle nodded as she looked up into Jehoash's eyes. She did not know what to make of his actions. She had expected him to harm Brenson, but he did not. He did everything to protect her. Everything to keep her safe.
"Are...are you alright, my lord?" Jessabelle asked the king.
Jehoash almost fell over in shock. Jessabelle had not referred to him as "lord" since they were together. Between them it had been less a name of respect and more of a pet-name between lovers. "I...am now..." he responded as he fell down in agony.
Ejaz tried to hold Jehoash up in vain. "What's wrong?" asked a panicked Ejaz. "Are you hurt?"
Jehoash rested himself next to Jessabelle, breathing heavy. "It...It is not normal for a dragon to kill another dragon. We're connected on a different level. It is physically traumatic for the killer dragon. It’s why I usually try and avoid it..."
Ejaz understood. "Now it makes sense... That's why you hired me to handle the dragons."
Jehoash breathed deeply, still clutching his chest. "Indeed. But I knew if things came down to it, well, I'd do it again to protect them." He looked over at Jessabelle and then at their baby boy, Jackson, who was now soundly asleep.
Brenson groaned. "A...little help here..."
Ejaz ran over to him. "Sorry, my man. Let's get you to a hospital!"
Jessabelle glanced over to make sure Brenson was alright, but then put her free hand on Jehoash's chest.
Jessabelle smiled. "You'll be alright. I promise..."
Jehoash returned her smile, happy to feel her touch again even for a moment.