Dragon Rescue (short fiction) Part 5.
Jamie reveals why he is unable to keep his promise. Is he a dangerous drake elf or is there another reason why this firebug is so obsessed with dragonfire?
Dragon Rescue (Part 5).
1.
“Why can’t you stop lighting fires, Jamie? All that you have to do is stop. That should be easy, right?”.
Jamie shook his head.
“You said that Jellicoe was your friend. Won’t you stop for her?”
Too ashamed to look at Katie, Jamie spoke to the floor.
“I’ve tried to stop before but without the fire everything is beyond horrible. Without it I am nothing and I cannot bear to live like that. Even when I want to, I can’t stop being a firebug. It’s impossible”.
“He’s telling the truth, Katie”.
“Daddy?”
Sky McPhee was standing at the other end of the hallway, watching.
“How do you know that it is impossible?”, Katie challenged him. “Nothing is impossible unless you refuse to try” She looked back at her father and was alarmed to see a wary look in his eyes.
“Just trust me on this one”, Sky told her. His voice was surprisingly cold.
“But Daddy”.
“There’s no time left to argue, Katie. I’ve cast a sleeping spell on Jamie’s mother but his father is going to be home any minute now. Chime and Flicker are keeping watch but we have to get the hatchling out of this house while we still can”.
Zeke obediently flew to Sky’s side. He waited for Katie to follow but she didn’t budge. As much as she adored and trusted her father, Katie could not ignore her heart. It was screaming at her to do whatever it takes to help Jamie and Jellicoe.
“Answer my questions now”, Katie demanded, glaring at her father. “Jellicoe trusts Jamie and so do I. Why don’t you?”
Sky sighed. As much as he didn’t want to scare his small daughter she had every right to the truth. Sky reluctantly gave her the honest answer that she deserved.
“Jamie is a drake elf, Katie. He’s also a pyrofay”.
2.
“A pyro-what?”
Sky informed her that pyrofays were drakes who were dangerously obsessed with fire.
“It starts off innocently enough. A young drake elf stares into dragonflame for the first time and they are unable to look away. They find happiness within the fire. When they are away from it they no longer feel complete. As the drake gets older the craving turns into the desire to possess it. That longing becomes so strong that their magic betrays them, causing them to absorb the fire into their own bloodstream. As soon as this happens they become lost. All that remains is their desire to become stronger than every drake elf and dragon. At their most powerful they are able to rob dragons of their essence and steal their fire”.
“Like what happened to Granny Scarlet and her dragonbond?”
Why Sky nodded, Katie felt sick. Many years before she was born, a group of firestealers had tried to dethrone their king. While the other drakes had successfully protected the dragons and their home, Katie’s grandmother, Sky’s mother Scarlet had been one of the brave riders who had fought against the pyrofay and lost. `
“No!”.
Katie couldn’t believe it. She had seen Jamie through Jellicoe’s memories. He had seemed so gentle and kind. There was no way that he would ever steal her fire
“I’m a pyrofay?”
Jamie was also in shock. The older drake looked pityingly into his eyes.
“Yes, son. From what your adoptive mother has told me about your history with fire, I believe so”.
Jamie slunk onto the carpet. He had always felt odd. Was that the reason why? Jamie didn’t feel evil but he had always been a mystery, even to himself. Maybe Sky was right about him after all.
Jamie’s not bad!
Suddenly Jellicoe had flown out of Jamie’s arms towards Katie.
You don’t know him but I do. You haven’t even asked him what he sees in the flames.
“Did you hear that, Daddy?”
Katie looked over at Sky, forgetting that he had no pathogie magic of his own, outside of his dragonbond.
“Is the hatchling defending him? Honey, that is very noble but I am afraid that she doesn’t know any better. I am sure that Jamie has tried her best to care for her but that doesn’t mean that she is safe. We need to get her out of here, now”.
Katie grabbed the hovering opal dragon. Jellicoe squirmed.
No! I won’t let you. You don’t understand. Jamie isn’t horrible. He is good and he is mine. Don’t take me away from him.
“Shh, Jellicoe”. Katie started to walk but not towards her father. Instead she knelt next to Jamie.
“This is your last chance”, she told him. Depending on what she heard next Katie was going to decide who she would release the dragon to; Jamie or Sky.
“Tell me what you see when you look into the flames”.
Jamie let out a sad chuckle.
“Telling you that isn’t going to prove anything. You’re going to think that I am crazy. Maybe I do have this fire madness and it has been making me see things. Maybe I have been a pyrofay this whole time”.
“Jamie”.
Katie grabbed his shaking shoulders.
“Let me be the judge of that. Please Jamie, tell me what you see”.
Jamie sighed and started to tell her the crazy truth.
“Most of the time I see a girl”.
3.
“You see a girl in the fire?”
Jamie nodded.
“A drake girl, not that I knew it back then. What you need to understand is that I didn’t know that I was a drake elf until I was adopted by one”.
Katie’s jaw dropped. That did sound crazy.
“How could you not know that you are a drake?”
Instead of answering, Jamie held out his wrist to Katie. Upon it was a plain gold bracelet.
“It’s my glamour charm. Try taking it off”.
Katie examined the charm. Seeing that the top was smooth she turned over his wrist. The band was continuous with no obvious catch. Katie examined it further, tugged upon it but the bracelet didn’t budge.
“Daddy, help him”, she called to Sky. Knowing that Jamie was restricted by the charm was oddly distressing. It meant that without a spell from Jamie nobody else would ever know who he truly was.
“You can’t”, Jamie told them both, for he was certain that the bracelet was magic. He had been wearing it for as long as he could remember.
At just five years old Jamie had sat upon the steps of Kinderhaven orphanage with no name or memory. The enchanted bracelet had been his only possession. Jamie could still remember tugging at it and how he had become so distressed that he couldn’t get it off. Matron Nicholls had helped the crying boy to his feet, given him a name, and accepted him as a Kinderhaven orphan. The other children had found him strange. They laughed at Jamie for not knowing who he was and teased him for being different. Back then he hadn’t even known how to do simple human things like eating with a knife and fork or how to play any of their games. Jamie was never given a chance and was constantly reminded that he didn’t fit in.
“That sounds like school”, Katie sighed. While she hadn’t lied to her father, she had conveniently forgotten to tell him about the horrible parts of school. The other kids had laughed at her for not knowing what a skipping rope was. Thankfully Melody had come to her rescue and shown her. When the class had sang happy birthday to Kristia Langley later than afternoon, Katie didn’t have the foggiest clue about what was going on. In that moment she had felt completely alien and hated it.
“It was every bit as bad as school except that I could never leave”, Jamie sighed. “I was miserable until the day that I found Jellybean on the stairs of the orphanage. We became best friends. It didn’t bother me that nobody else could see her; it just made our friendship even more special”.
Jellicoe interrupted with a squeal of affection. Jamie grinned and gave her a scratch under the neck.
“Everything changed when Jellybean learned how to breathe fire. She was showing off in the garden when she accidentally set a bush alight. Inside of the flames I saw the drake girl. She looked right at me and smiled with such kindness. For a kid with no memories and no family her smile meant the world to me.
“So who was she?” Katie asked, brimming with curiously.
Jamie shrugged.
“The flames are silent. I’ve tried asking her anyway but if she has told me I have never been able understand her”.
How strange.
“Does that mean that all that you do is stare at each other?”
Jamie shook his head.
“We trade memories. I’ve shown her Jellybean and she knows that I have a new home. The memories that she has shared with me were amazing. Because of her I knew all about the drake elves and dragons. These visions should have scared me but I found her world to be so exciting. I wanted to be a part of it so badly that whenever she showed me playing with her brothers and sisters I used to pretend that I was one of them and that their adventures were mine too. Jellybean was always happy to light fires for me whenever I wished to see her. I trying stopping after getting into trouble with Matron, but without seeing the drake girl I became miserable and lonely. Soon I found myself asking Jellybean to light fires for me even when I didn’t want to. I know how much trouble I have been as a firebug but it is a habit I have been unable to break”.
“You miss her too much to stop, don’t you?”
“Is that strange? Missing somebody that I have never really met?
Jamie laughed at his own madness. It was either that or cry.
“Yes, I miss her all of the time. I need to see her, Katie. She is the only one that I feel normal around. Also, I have started to wonder how much she knows about me. Maybe she choose to show herself to me because she knew me before Kinderhaven. I need to stay in contact with her if I ever hope to find the missing parts of myself. That’s why I cannot keep that promise, Katie. I am sorry if it is selfish but as long as I have access to dragonfire I am not going to stop, not even for Jellicoe”.
4.
Chime! Chime, Chime, Chime!
Katie was startled, but not by Chime’s alarm.
“You just called her Jellicoe”, she exclaimed.
Jamie nodded.
“You were never going to leave her with me. She isn’t mine anymore. Jellicoe is just a hatchling and I am dangerous. Even if you believe me you must admit there is a chance that I am a pyrofay and everything that I believe and see is fire madness. Run, Katie. As much as I need her she will be better off with you. Get Jellicoe out of here”.
“Jamie, no! I do believe you and we are not going anywhere”.
When Sky stepped towards him, Jamie assumed it was to lead his daughter away. Instead, Sky knelt by his side as well.
“I hope that you will forgive me for giving you such a scare. I was wrong about you, Jamie. After getting to know you I am positive that you are not a pyrofay. In fact, I believe that you are somebody rather special”.
“A pyroseer, perhaps?”
Sky turned and nodded at Harrison Miller.
“Exactly”.
Harrison sighed with relief. Sky could see an invisible weight being lifted off of his shoulders.
“You have no idea how wonderful it is to get a second opinion”.
“Third opinion, technically”, chimed in another voice.
“Mummy?” Katie cried, recognising Millicent’s voice.
“I’m in the kitchen with Gillian, darling. She’s just about awake”.
Jamie was still in a state of shock.
“What did you just call me?”
Harrison deactivated his glamour charm and also knelt next to Jamie.
“I’ve suspected it ever since I followed you and your hatchling at Kinderhaven. I have seen the way that you look at the fire and there is a spark in your eyes that looks nothing like the vacant stare of a pyrofay. A pyroseer is somebody who is able to communicate with other seers through dragonfire. Whoever you have been speaking to is real and has gone to great lengths to stay a part of your life”.
“A sister, perhaps?” Sky remarked, trying to piece the mystery together. “It’s common for pyroseers to be related. I’ll bet that she was furious that you were given up to an orphanage, especially since she was probably the only one who understood who you truly were. Rescuing her “pyrofay” brother was impossible, especially if she wanted to keep her own powers hidden. For a family to trap their child within his own glamour and wipe his memory clean clearly meant that he wouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms. At least she could get to know you within the dragonfire. It was the best that she could do for you at the time”.
“Do you really think that the drake girl is my sister. A real sister?”
Jamie grinned, then gasped as he came to an important realisation.
“Jellybean was left at the orphanage too. Do you think that she left her there for me to find?”
“I do. I believe that she had hoped that you could tap into your powers and find her within the hatchling’s flames”.
Jamie reached for Jellybean, now free of Katie’s grasp, and hugged her. Not only was the hatchling his best friend but she was also a piece of home.
End of part 5.
Thank you so much for reading. Read the conclusion of Dragon Rescue here:
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