Dragon Blood

Chapter 5

Why did they have to play this game every time? The Mongolians figured it out years ago that there was nothing they could do against her, and just gave her free reign within their borders. The Chinese always seemed stubbornly determined to repeat the scenario. She always filed a flight plan, which they always denied, and she always flew anyway. They followed up with the useless fighter planes that couldn't hurt her if they were carrying nuclear devices, carefully staying out of range of her aura.

Mistakes were made occasionally. Electronics went haywire when dragons and their kin actively used their magic. The more complicated the technology, the more likely it was to fail. There was a similar phenomenon with other Ancient magic, but dragons were too old, too strong, and simply too alien for humans to adapt to. The jets were equipped with a set of manual controls to allow the pilots more control over their landing if they crossed that invisible line into her magic. It had happened a few times over the two years she had been searching the desert. As far as she was aware, no one had died. She also wouldn't have cared if they did.

She had to be close, damnit. She had to find him.

Power pulsed from her like a radar ping, perhaps a little stronger than she intended. One of the jets that was slightly too close went black and dropped away. She was tempted to send a blast of supercooled magic at the others, see how the pilots would adapt if their hydraulic lines froze. She probably could have gotten one of them before they would break formation and fly hard and fast out of her range. For all her power and strength, she couldn't keep up with an object that could break the sound barrier.

Her melodramatic thoughts her interrupted by the feeling of her dragonkin reaching out through their psychological link. "My Luna," Mei Ling Fen almost sounded bored through the connection. This was not the first time the government had gone to the serpent to establish a more reliable connection of communication. "Someone from the Chinese military is demanding to speak with you."

Luna let out a rattling laugh. The pilots must have felt it as they all instantly moved another fifty meters away from her. "The balls on the man must be enormous." She chuckled.

"I am afraid I cannot determine the size of his genitalia."

Luna rolled her eyes. Mei Ling was beyond literal. It was like she had been passed over for the sarcasm gene. "He's wasting his time." She snapped. "He does not demand anything from me."

There was silence for a few minutes as Mei Ling passed on the message. Luna was drawing close to the Mongolian border. She considered suddenly changing direction to screw with the pilots. She would eventually out fly the jets. Eventually they would have to pull away to refuel.

Mei Ling's alarm shot through Luna so suddenly she knew the serpent hadn't meant to transmit it. "Oh, my gods." The voice was soft and full of careful optimism. "My Luna, you might want to consider listening to what he has to say."

"Why?"

"He says he knows who you're looking for."

Near the rocky shore of a frozen lake in the middle of the Tian Shan Mountains, Mei Ling leaned casually against the railing of the patio of her small wooden house. Before her were three middle-aged human males, all wearing military uniforms decorated with medals. Around her were several domains similar to hers where the other dragonkin had gathered on their own patios to watch the men suspiciously. Vertically slit pupils set in an array of vibrantly coloured irises watched the humans, unimpressed by their ranks and honours.

Luna landed hard enough to make the entire mountain tremble, and the men staggered. The blinding white of her feathers stood out against the frost-bitten mountains while icy blues and violets pulsed with her magic. She looked down at the three humans with large, silver eyes, opened her jaws big enough to swallow them whole, and screamed. 

The sound was so powerful and terrible, the three humans lost their composure, clapped their hands over their ears and fell to their knees, one of them letting out a scream of his own as his eardrums exploded. Spears of ice erupted from the lake behind her and the already freezing temperatures dropped even further. Some of the younger kin were forced into their dragon skins, unable to stand the commanding power of their queen.

As the sound died away, she watched the human males struggle to their feet. The one still clutching his ears had blood seeping between his fingers. The one ahead of the other two, she assumed their commander, took a hesitant step forward. He started stuttering out what was probably once a well-rehearsed speech. Mei Ling translated automatically, for which Luna was grateful. Her Mandarin was rough, at best, and she was in no mood for misinterpretations.

"Great and honoured dragon Luna," the man stammered. "We are greatly honoured to be-"

Luna's lips rose in a snarl, another terrifying noise few ever lived to tell about. "I would not waste time with flattery, general." Mei Ling said, not moving from her patio. "Your honour will not stop her from eating you if you do not tell her what she wants to know."

That was only partly true. Luna hadn't eaten anything that could talk in a long time. But she would not hesitate to kill all three of them slowly and painfully until they told her anyway. It was amazing how many body parts a human could live without.

The general stuttered again before clearing his throat forcefully. "Dragon Luna," he started again. "We know you are searching for the dragon Nekros."

Luna shed her skin, a slight woman just under five-foot-two taking the place of the enormous dragon. They were slightly taken aback, having never seen the female in her human form, until she stormed up to the commander, grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him so close she could have ripped his throat out with teeth as sharp as a vampire's fangs. "Where is he!" she screamed.

She knew all the power and rage her voice would carry her message better than her attempt at their language.

"America!" the man wailed, and the stench of urine filled the air. "He's in America! California, I think! Please, god, don't kill me."

Luna searched the man's eyes for a lie. That didn't make sense. Why would he be in America? His dragonkin had flocked to the villages around the Gobi Desert over the decades, this was the only place he could be. 

Unless he was trying to waste her time. California was a large state with a lot of rugged mountains. Lots of places to hide a dragon. She leaned in closer, her nose actually touching his. "How do you know?"

She was deliberately vague. The humans weren't supposed to know about Nekros, Phoenix, or Rhiannon, but she also wanted to know how he had the information he was giving her. "A report came to me by mistake." He babbled. "It was supposed to go to one of my juniors. H-here!"

He pawed desperately at one of his men who pulled out a folder. Luna dropped the male and snatched the folder, ripping it open to reveal a single, laminated page with a single line of seemingly random numbers. "What the fuck is this?" she hissed, looking between the men.

"It's a code." The general whimpered. "It mentions Nekros. It gives the coordinates to California."

"Where is this junior of yours. I want to speak with him."

"He- he- he killed himself."

Luna's hand shot out again and grabbed his face, her fingers digging into his flesh. She dragged him close again, staring deep into his dark eyes. She forced a connection into his mind, and he screamed in unimaginable pain. She searched his mind, looking for any sign of deception. She found nothing. Either this man truly believed what he was telling her, or he was the best damn liar she had ever met. This was all too convenient. California was a world away. It would take her a few days to get there, weeks to search the mountains, and days again if she were wrong and needed to come back. How much time would they need to move him if he were here?

She loosened her grip and retreated from his mind. He opened his eyes to meet her icy silver ones. "If I find out you lied to me," she hissed, her voice colder than the air around them. His skin was beginning to turn blue from frostbite where she touched him. "I will bring you more pain than you could ever imagine. You will beg for death. And if I am feeling benevolent, I will let you."

She dropped him and turned her back on the humans. She looked to the sky. California, huh? Well, it has been a lifetime since she'd seen Nolan. She wondered what he was up to these days.

~