Voices of Dragons

When she reached the clearing where her mother had parked, Kay stopped at the edge of the trees and stared. Her mother was outside the car, leaning on the hood, a strained look in her eyes.

Two more cars—dark sedans with monochrome government plates—had pulled into the space behind her, and a group of men in uniform were milling around. General Branigan was there, leaning on one of the sedans, an echo of her mother. A couple of guys in olive green fatigues carried machine guns and seemed to be patrolling, moving around the fringes of the clearing and looking into the trees.

Artegal was right. They’d followed her. They were keeping track of her.

This was going to be hard. What she should have done was make herself look disappointed. She should have buried all her anticipation, excitement—and fear. She should have trudged back slowly and used the time to think of a story, either that she hadn’t seen Artegal at all or that she had, but she couldn’t convince him to tell her anything. But she hadn’t thought of it, because her mind was racing with a plan. She considered lying to them, telling them that Artegal hadn’t been there, she hadn’t talked to him, and she would have to try again another time. But she didn’t know how far they’d followed her or how much they’d seen and heard. She assumed they’d been too far away to hear, but she couldn’t be sure. If they’d heard the conversation, they’d know they couldn’t trust her.

Kay’s mother straightened, and her face suddenly shone with relief. “Kay?”

Kay met her and let herself be embraced. But she looked over Mom’s shoulder at the military people, who studied her warily.

“Are you okay? Is everything okay?” Mom said.

“It’s fine.”

A moment later, Branigan was standing next to them. “Well?”

Her mother stiffened, frowning with a spark of anger. Kay knew she’d protect her if she could. Kay didn’t need anyone looking out for her; just the same, it made her feel stronger.

“‘Well’ what?” Kay said.

“What happened?” Branigan said, enunciating, clearly frustrated. Good, Kay thought.

After a moment, Kay said, “Nothing.”

“Was it there? Did you talk to it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well?” Branigan demanded again. Kay thought that he probably didn’t have kids.

She shrugged. “It’s going to take time. I can’t come out and ask how many dragons there are and where they live. I have to be sneaky about it, right? That’s what spying’s all about, isn’t it?”

He glared. “I thought you said it was your friend.”

“He, not it,” she said softly. “I just need more time.”

“You don’t have more time!” He was done being the nice, benevolent father-figure, which was okay, because Kay had been done with him a while ago. “I’m not going to sit by and let a kid like you play games when the fate of humanity is at stake.”

Was that at stake? The whole fate of humanity? Branigan was wrong, it didn’t all depend on her, but the general had lost control of the big picture. All he could do now was harass her. Like her mother’s anger, that knowledge made her feel stronger.

“There wouldn’t be a problem if you had just left things the way they were,” Kay said.

“As long as those animals exist, humanity’s in danger,” he said.

So, he was a bigot. That made dealing with him easier.

“Sir,” she said, because it would appease him, “I’ll try again tomorrow. I’m coming back to talk to him then. I’ll try again.”

“You’re not telling it anything, are you?”

“I don’t know anything to tell him.”

Branigan seemed satisfied at that. She thought, What a small-minded man. He thought he knew what she was thinking.

“I look forward to seeing some progress,” the general said. Kay nodded.

Branigan and his soldiers waited until Kay and Mom had climbed in the car and began driving away before following them. They were probably being watched all the time now, which meant she’d have to be very careful when she brought the gear out next time.

After a few minutes, Mom said, “You are hiding something. What aren’t you telling him?”

The general may have been clueless, but not her mother. Kay started to talk, then swallowed and tried again. “Mom, do you think there should be a war? Even after what happened…do you think we should fight them?”

Mom didn’t speak right away. The tires hummed in the silence, trees rolled past the window, and Kay thought her mother wasn’t going to answer. “I don’t know, Kay. They were wrong to go after the town like that. It never should have happened. But then our side was wrong, too. I just don’t know. But a war is going to do a lot of damage and hurt a lot more people. I think that would have upset your father.”

It wasn’t the best answer Kay could have had. It wasn’t a yes or no. This whole situation was muddy gray, and she felt as if she were being selfish, wanting to fly again and trying to justify it.

“I think we can stop it,” Kay said softly. “We want to try.”

“I don’t like it,” Mom said, shaking her head. “I don’t like the idea of you going off by yourself. I don’t like thinking of you with dragons.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I couldn’t.”

Her mother’s eyes were red, like she’d been crying, the way they’d been for the last week, ever since the fire. “I’ll tell you, though. I like Branigan even less.”

“They’re watching us, aren’t they? They’re going to be watching the house. They’ll know every time we leave and wherever we go.”

“That’s what happens when you become interesting to them.” After a few more miles of driving, Mom continued, “They don’t want to hurt you, Kay. I know they’re jerks, and I know you don’t like them, but they’re following you to protect you. Think about it: If we know who your dragon is, then the dragons know who you are. What’s to stop them from coming and taking you? From using you? I don’t want you to go to jail, but at least I’d know where you were. The dragons, they could hold you hostage, they could—” The words stopped, and she covered her mouth.

Kay just couldn’t think of Artegal hurting her.

“What’s to stop Branigan and them from doing the same thing to Artegal? I’d be leading them right to him.”

“But, Kay, the dragons are so big and you’re not.”

Was that what it all came down to? That people were small next to the dragons, and it made them afraid, made them want to destroy the creatures? Or was the problem that dragons were also smart, like people?

Kay couldn’t tell her mother the plan. Her mother would try to stop her, for her own good, and Kay couldn’t let that happen.

After they got home, she called Jon. “Let’s go out,” she told him.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “What about the curfew?” After the night of the fire, an eight P.M. curfew had been set. It was supposed to keep people safe.

“We’ll just go to the Alpine or something. We’ll be home before then.”

He knew her well enough to catch the urgency in her voice.

“Kay, what’s going on? I’ve been by your house, and there’s cop cars and people watching—”

“I’ll tell you later. Can I meet you at the Alpine at five?”

A pause. Then he said, “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

In the meantime, she had a ton of gear to get together.