"Jinx? Come on Jinx, wake up dammit." I held the smelling salts under her nose, anxiously looking around the still empty hangar. If somebody should walk in now, how the hell do I explain a dragon in my arms and a passed out mechanic at my feet? I gently tapped her on the cheek, willing her to come around. Eventually, Jinx stirred, sitting her head back and blinking a few times. It took her a couple moments to come around.
"Oh man, I had the weirdest dream," She said in a haze, looking around her. "You were in it and there was a dragon and man, I need to lay off the peyote for a bit."
"Yeah, not a dream." I replied sheepishly, nodding at the dragon in my arms.
"Holy Jesus!" She hollered, moving in one swift movement up her work bench, grabbing a nearby shifting spanner as a weapon. "What in the high holy fuck is that?" Her blonde pigtails bobbing in agitation as she squirmed backwards on the table.
"I know it's difficult to process Jinx but just stay calm okay?" I tried to sooth her but to no avail. She clearly wasn't having anything of me or the dragon.
"Calm? You want me to stay calm? You bring a frikken dragon into my workshop and you expect me not to freak the fuck out? Where did you get that...thing?" The little purple dragon looked genuinely hurt at that last comment, flaring his nostrils slightly. I could feel him warming up under the material.
"It's okay, she's a friend." I quickly soothed him, calming the little creature down again before looking up at Jinx again. "I was investigating a forest fire, looking for refugees when he climbed into the chopper." I paused for a moment, realizing how monumentally stupid what I was about to say was. "He saved my life back there."
"Come again Chief? You're going to have to rewind that one for me." She eased up a little bit while still keeping a watchful eye on the dragon.
"Ran into an Orc raiding party and the ammo box on the Huey was empty. I was about to get my ticket punched when...well, God there is no easy way to say this but he turned them to ashes, every single damn one of them."
"You're kidding right?" Jinx said suspiciously as the little dragon squirmed out of the material and flied over to the work bench. I shook my head, imitating a massive fire ball. The mechanic sat silently as the dragon inched forward, rubbing his scaly head on her one hand.
"Oh Bennie....Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, you have done some messed up things in your life; remembered the General's daughter in Mogadishu? The one you did a fly by on? Little Jinx had to pull your ass out of the fire on that one, smuggle your ass out in a banana crate but this...well, we are exploring new territory here Benjamin."
"I know but I think it was abandoned by its mother and I couldn't just leave it there could I?"
"I guess not but dude, if the Commander finds out about this..." The dragon had snagged her spanner and was happily chewing on it as she looked at me with concern in her eyes.
"She'll go nuclear for sure." I was already imagining Siriese going off on me with a court martial sure to follow quickly afterwards.
"And use your dick for a Slinky. Okay Kemosabe, what's your plan? I know I'm going to regret asking it but seeing as you've already involved me in this mess, I guess I have no choice in the matter."
"We need to keep him safe here for the time being till I can figure out what to do with him." I replied, slumping back into a leather chair. The truth was I had no idea how to proceed.
"And where do you propose we keep this delightful little fireball...oh no. No, don't you even dare think that for one single second. Hell no." She protested vehemently, arms waving, sending the dragon flying for cover.
"It's the best place to hide him and I can't exactly keep him in the barracks now can I? The hangar is far away from everything and nobody comes here anyway. Come on Jinx, I need you now." I used my patented blue puppy dog eyes that I knew she was powerless to resist. "Who loves you baby?" I said, smiling sweetly.
"Oh you son of a bitch...I must be off my tits to even think about this." She scrunched her grease covered forehead in an adorable fashion, milling my request over in her mind before finally relenting. "Okay asshole but you owe me big time. And if he gives me any trouble, I am hand delivering him on Siries' desk understand?"
"Got it and thank you seriously. I can't prove it yet but I think its linked with the dragon I saw other day, the fleeing Harpies and the Orc raiding party. Somehow they all fit together."
"Yeah, it's strange for Orcs to be raiding this late in the year and so close to winter. Usually they would have bunkered down by now. Something has them riled up for sure. And did you notice this?" She pulled it closer and showed me a crescent shape on his neck.
"What am I looking at here?" I asked, running my finger over the marking.
"Dragon's ain't my speciality but I do know of someone; a lore keeper; that will know more about it. Just one tiny teeny problem with that."
"And that is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction.
"Last I heard, the crazy kook was holed up in the middle of Los Angeles, bunkered down and having it out with all the nasties running around in the city. If you want answer, you will have to get your ass through that mess to go see him."
"And my life just gets more and more screwed up by the second." I sighed, running my hands through my mop of auburn hair.
"Not that you would ever think of going into that madhouse but that's what you get from bringing a dragon in here. Now what are we going to call him? We can't just keep on calling him "it" now can we?"
"I'm really not that good with names." I said, watching as the dragon flew up and settled down on my shoulder, seemingly totally fascinated with my ears.
Jinx thought for a moment, running her fingers over the dented spanner on her work bench. "Uther. I always liked the name and my father would often tell me tales of King Arthur and his knights when I was small, before the war broke out."
"Then it's settled." I picked him off my shoulder and looked at him intently. "You're going to stay here for a bit okay? Just till I can figure out what to do with you." Uther looked unhappy about this but nodded its scaly head and flew into Jinx's arms.
"Buddy boy, I just hope you know what you are doing, seriously man." Jinx said, fighting to keep Uther away from her pigtails.
"Don't I always?" I flashed her a brilliant smile.
"Yeah, just be glad I love your ass fucker." She looked down at the dragon, turning and heading back into the hangar. "Come along sweetie, I must teach you the ways of the Force and no burning down my workshop okay?" I could just shake my head, watching the two disappearing around the corner. I was blessed to have a good friend like Jinx to watch my back. Now I just had to figure out how to get myself out of this glorious mess.
"I had better check in with the Commander before she loses it even further." I thought to myself, heading back to the main building. I didn't have to look long for her, she was standing in the doorway, tapping her foot impatiently. Without a word spoken, she turned on her heels and marched into the office. Might as well take my medicine now but dear god, please do not let her find out about the dragon.
"Shut the door behind you Captain." She said coldly as I saluted. Turning around, I get see the fire blazing in her eyes. She was in one of those moods again.
"You are late. You should have reported back hours ago. What the hell is going on Captain?" Siriese barked angrily, fingers tapping on the cheap wooden desk.
"Made the delivery to the refugees like you asked but we got problems." I stated calmly.
"And what prey tell is that?"
"Grounders. Ran into a Commander Maddox out there. Looks like a nasty piece of work."
I could immediately see the recognition in her eyes as she bit her lip, grimacing. "Don't tell me that asshole is back, I thought they got rid of him last time around."
"A friend of yours I take it?" I was goading Siriese but I also wanted answers. I didn't like not knowing who I was facing out there.
"Hardly. James Maddox is one of the most brutal men you will ever encounter. He ran a Spec Opps death squad during the war but went way beyond the parameters of his mission. Started killing anything that moved, hostiles and innocents alike, butchered and tortured his victims. Eventually, him and his mob were court martialed and sent down to Pelican Bay but seems like he's escaped. You would do well to avoid him Captain, he has no problems eliminating any obstacles in his path."
"Figured as much. He also raided the refugee camp for supplies. Anything we can do to stop him?"
"Not much I'm afraid. I can send word around to the command posts around us to keep a look out but you know what a goddamn mess it is to find anything out in the forest. Once he's in there, he's basically lost to us." I could see the worry in her eyes, she really didn't need this on her plate as well.
I hated adding to her worries, hesitating for a second before speaking up. "Something else..."
"What is it Captain, spit it out for god's sake."
"Orcs. I found a raiding party about an hour away from here, about twenty strong. I was checking out what looked like a forest fire. Looks like they are on the move again."
"Fuck. This is not good, not good at all. They should not be raiding this late in the year, either hungry or desperate; neither of which I like. I'll send word to double the sentries at the fence, it's going to stretch our resources even further but it can't be helped." Siriese looked me up and down, suspicion heavy in her eyes. "You were lucky to escape Benjamin, usually it takes a lot to drive off a raiding party."
"Service pistol kept them at bay till I could start up the Huey again." I lied through my teeth, praying she would not see through it.
"Most fortunate indeed. Okay Captain, I have taken note of your report and will deal with it accordingly. You are still grounded from flight ops for the next week at least but go get some chow and rest up. Dismissed." She said nothing further, busying herself with the usual paperwork on her desk. I saluted again and promptly made my exit, sighing heavily as the door closed behind me. Dodged that bullet for sure.
Later that night, after a simple meal of baked beans and homemade bread, I lay quietly in my bunk, listening to the sounds outside. Bishop was playing a haunting Gospel melody on an old guitar he had found and Smurf was scribbling in his note book as usual. Said he had a girl friend in Kentucky, though he rarely spoke about her. My mind drifted across the forest and I though back on everything I had seen today, trying to make sense of it all. Between the Grounders and rampaging Orcs, I just somehow knew my life was about to get way more complicated very soon. Not to mention the fact that there was a dragon of all things hidden on base, one that was capable of anything. If anyone ever found Uther, Jinx and I were toast, that was for damn sure. And what the hell were those markings on his neck? A half moon shape that made no sense to me at all. My only certainty was that my answers lay with the Lore Keeper, far away in Los Angeles.
As the night music faded away and I lay staring at the ceiling, I knew what I had to do and I couldn't believe I was even thinking of it.
I would have to go into L.A.
Right into the very mouth of hell.