3. Adversaries
Through the years, the McLean had grown to be a stronger family of dragon slayers that they had ever been in the past. David, Samuel and Alexander, surviving heirs of Robert McLean, had brought more fame to their profession than anyone ever had. To them, being a dragon slayer meant that killing was their way of making a living. That slaughter was perhaps, the only thing in their life that meant something. After all, their father had been a slayer himself, and his father before him and anyone who tried it could trace their backgrounds many generations back. Need no one to succeed. Be witty, cunning and never fail—Alexander had failed, though. And it hurt him because his body was swollen and burnt.
He could smell the odour of his scorched skin at the same time when his body complained and a groan came out of his lips as he moved. It made him sick since that stench brought the worst memories to him. He felt like vomiting, forcing him to clutch his hands on his stomach. It also hurt to open his eyes, the bright light coming through the window making him decide not to try it again. He lay in the bed for a few more minutes, telling himself the sickness would go away soon; that he could sleep a little longer, rest, and maybe, just maybe, by the time he woke up again, he would feel much better. He needed to believe nothing had happened; he was willing to believe that he had actually died and that that place was purgatory—or hell; it did not make a real difference for him.
However, the light was gone, and the rustle of clothing was what he could hear. There were people around him; his numb senses telling him that they were two other beings in whatever place he was in. The dragon slayer meant to say something, but he could not articulate one word. Alexander simply maintained his eyes closed, while he moved carelessly, trying to make himself more comfortable in the bed.
“Stay still.” A voice said and the sound of it made his head ache, for it was too loud for him not to groan in disgust this time. Soon however, the only sound he could hear was that of steps walking away, echoing and fading as they left his side. The warning received did not matter; he tried to stand and as he did, the dragon slayer fainted again, a big thud loudly announcing his fall.
“Don’t you dare laugh.” The voice said again while its owner pointed towards the window and to the being that was standing outside, looking inside the house. The dragon snorted and turned his back to the house, annoyed by the lack of cooperation from the man. Of course he was upset, and he also knew Joshua could not deny him his right to be so. The dragon hit the side of the place, making it shake. “Adair!” The man yelled from inside while the animal walked away.
Joshua walked steadily to the window and saw him leave. He was not very fond of annoying Adair; he knew he was going to help the other man nonetheless. He kicked himself mentally as he remembered the other man and hurried to help him.
“Here, lean on me.” Joshua whispered when he reached for the other and pulled him up. Alexander snorted this time, just like Adair had done a few minutes ago, and then hissed in pain as he gritted his teeth. He was feeling dizzy, and the smell of the place was not making the situation any more pleasant for him. It maddened him to know he was ill, or whatever he was, for he was not really sure of his state, yet his body reminded him of that plausible fact every time pain started to become unbearable.
Joshua took him to the bed and helped him lay down. He was quiet and if it were for him, he wouldn’t be helping the dragon slayer. Alexander grunted and his head fell deeper in the pillows and moved there, looking for a while to feel comfortable. Soon, he was back sleeping soundly. He pulled the blankets up to the man’s chest and made him stay there; it was better if the other did not move that much or his wound would open. He was distracted by another thud against the side of the house. Adair was still mad at him.
Joshua walked to the table in the centre of the place, sternly looking at the slayer. He had to observe him and make up his mind. He could kill the dragon slayer as he lay in his bed, but still, he knew he could not and wouldn’t do it. Showing mercy for others was something he had been taught to do, though, he kept saying to himself, a dragon slayer did not deserve life as he took it freely and without any reasons.
After checking the convalescent man was resting, Joshua walked outside, where he found Adair waiting for him, resting, as he had curled up next to the nearest tree to the house. Thinking carefully about what to say as he took every step, Joshua smiled faintly. Adair had been endangered by the same man who was now sleeping inside the house.
“Adair...” he began to say, but as he started the dragon stood up and spread his wings, menacing. “I know you’re mad, but...” the animal turned quickly, not leaving the man a second to think and avoid Adair’s tail hitting him on the legs and making him lose his balance. “Funny.” Joshua said, getting up and cleaning his hands against his pants. Adair was walking away from him, towards the hill and he did not stop him. It was the price he had to pay for the decisions he had made.
Joshua’s cabin was not very big. A sort of sitting room, a table and some chairs where to eat near the kitchen. A fireplace that was always lit throughout the night, keeping the place warm. Sometimes Joshua had to admit, it was all Adair’s fault. Even if he did not try it, his dragon was always keeping the fire up, never letting it die. An advantage, Joshua’s father had said to him the day he had helped him settle in that place.
One of the things Joshua liked the most about the place was its windows. They allowed the sun to run free along the house, and then at night, it was the moon which illuminated the place. On full moon nights, he did not even need to light any candles whatsoever. It always made it smile, though. He used to spend many of those nights deep inside the old oak grove, or Chris would simply show up at his cabin and be there with him.
Joshua also loved it when Chris arrived at his place, at the beginning of a new moon with the excuse of eating some of the honey his mother always gave him. As he thought of it, Joshua looked at all the jars he had accumulated through the years, and smiled gently, as he let himself drift in his thoughts while he saw the sunlight shinning through the glass of the jars, giving a golden look to everything in the place.
A magic place, Chris used to call it, but Joshua had always shrugged at the thought, since to him, the only magic place that existed lay under the rocky mountains some meters away from his home. ‘JC, it’s a magic place,’ Chris had told him, ‘We’re not half as lucky as you are, the mainstream of the river runs near your land, and you’re blessed with its humming all the time, don’t you like it?’
Joshua looked down out the window of the cabin and smiled, remembering the dwarf’s words. It had been a long while since the last time he had seen him, and it was clear for him that he wanted to talk to him and ask for his advice. Despite his size, Joshua had always trusted Chris, though he doubted his methods at the same time.
Many days and nights had passed since the dragon slayer had appeared near the oak grove and his house. He had been following Adair, and it made Joshua shiver. What would he do if he lost his dragon? The man shook his head, for a turmoil of emotions were colliding in his chest. When he had been a child, rumours had it that the men at the household of the newly arrived dragon slayers had been depleted. Those had been the words of Mr Bass when he came to his house and told his parents the news. It had happened the night after he had found Adair and had seen the two dragons.
‘Mama...why do we burn the ones who die?’ he had asked his mother that very night, when he remembered that dead dragons became mountains, but Adair’s parents had been burnt in a sacred pyre. His mother had never responded, and as he remembered the conversation, he twisted his nose annoyed. They all should have disappeared, and here he was, protecting one from Adair.
“If you keep thinking so hard, your brain is going to explode, JC.” At the sound of Chris’s voice, Joshua immediately turned and went to his friend to greet him.
“I was thinking of you, little Chris.”
“Damn, JC, if you keep calling me like that... You’re gonna ruin my reputation!” Chris shrugged and let the other hug him, “It’s nice to see you too, kid.”
Joshua closed the door behind him, after checking if Adair had returned and confirming that he had not.
“He’s with Howie. Didn’t want to come back just yet, you know?” Chris responded, a few meters away from him, lost in what he was observing, or rather who. “When he told us I...I just can’t believe you’re helping him, JC.”
Joshua remained silent as the other walked around the place, moving things here and there, then stopping in front of the glass of honey. “Tea?” Joshua offered, but Chris shook his head. “Honey wine then?” Chris nodded slowly, not like he usually does; his eyes could not leave the bed.
“It is true.” He muttered before turning to look Joshua in the eye.
“Chris...”
“No explanations, lad. Though now I understand why Adair is so upset.” Joshua motioned to open a small door that lead to the basement where he stored his bottles of liquor. He was silent, for he really did not have an explanation to give. The young man lit a candle and the room got filled with light. It was nice in there, nothing to worry about, lots of liquor to make him lose his conscience, solitude.
“JC...”
“He needed help, Chris. I don’t know how to abandon someone who does. It was you who made me face my gifts when I was just a little child and I didn’t have an option back then.” Joshua sighed. “I didn’t have one this time either.”
Chris just nodded and waited as the sound of bottles of glass hitting each other ended and Joshua was back with him, climbing up the stairs.
“He...has he awaken yet?” Chris asked, worried, and Joshua nodded telling him about what had happened a couple of days ago, and how he had not woken up since that day. Joshua also told him about how worried he was about Adair and his leaving him. “He didn’t leave you, he just missed Howie badly.” Chris responded lying and shrugging, not hiding for a second that he was checking on the bed every now and then.
“How did he...”
“He found Adair near the mainstream of the river and tried to hurt him.”
“Kill him, you mean...” Joshua simply nodded. “Good Lord, JC...if he’d done it...”
“He didn’t, Chris.”
“How can you defend him?!”
Before Joshua could answer, he saw Alexander standing by the frame that separated the rooms. He looked tired and old, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“That was your dragon, then.” Alexander said nonchalantly, pulling strings to see how far he could go, “too bad I couldn’t kill him.”
“Call yourself a lucky bastard!” Chris retorted, “If Adair had killed you...this world would’ve been ridden of your keen!”
“It’s your keen that should be vanished from this land, dwarf!” Alexander rebuked. As soon as Chris intended to respond back, Joshua stood in the middle of them, though they were still separated by a couple of meters.
“Enough!” Joshua yelled taking turns to look at the two of them. Chris had never seen JC’s eyes shine with such anger, yet Alexander was delighted by the same view. Anger was a part of himself he had always acknowledged and embraced.
“Hate me now, Healer?” Alexander said with a bitter tone of voice, hissing the last word as he pronounced it, enjoying the fact that Joshua was not a fighter as he was himself. However Joshua did not respond and contrary to what the other wanted, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. During those seconds of silence, he could hear strong paws stepping near the house, and against his will, he smiled.
“Hate you always, Dragon Slayer; but I’m afraid you’re not in the position to say or do anything against me, are you?” Joshua responded firmly as Alexander looked to the door which had remained open after he and Chris had walked inside the house. There he saw Adair, waiting for him to make the slightest move towards the other two. Unarmed as he was, Alexander withdrew any action he might have thought about doing and moved back defeated. Adair, he had heard the name of the dragon before, though he had forgotten where and why. The dragon, not longer white with reddish small wings, but fully red and wings as enormous as the house itself perhaps, was staring back at him, threatening. Alexander knew that if he moved one inch closer to the other man, he would be dead right there.
“So, why did you save me?” Alexander finally muttered in disgust at his own cowardice. He walked towards them, feeling dirty by allowing himself to be so close to them. He noticed Adair crouching right at the door, his head entering as much as the threshold allowed him to, and resting his head on the small rug there. Alexander could not help it and let his thoughts wander as the others moved around him. It was a mystery for him how the man could be so tranquil with him in the place when they were so opposites and even enemies.
Joshua however, remained silent. At the moment, all his thoughts were mayhem, being remained of his conundrum. Adair, he knew, must have been feeling betrayed by his actions, but he was neither ready nor willing to start giving explanations. Yet, he was happy to see Adair there again, and as he saw the dragon put his head inside the house he jumped to him and hugged him. Adair snorted, blowing off the dust of the place, making it fly around the kitchen, and it shone with the light of the place.
“He saved you because he’s an idiot.” Chris responded to the question without giving Joshua the opportunity to do it, which gained the dwarf a reproachful look.
“I saved you because that’s who I am. Don’t make me regret it, Dragon Slayer.” Joshua said looking at him directly in the eye. Joshua touched Adair’s face one last time before motioning to take some cups and dishes and put them on the table. “Now sit at my table and eat dinner with me and my friend Christopher and be nice for once.”
Alexander and Christopher snorted at the same time.
“It’s Alexander and I’m not sitting here with you. I’d rather starve.” The man walked again, this time back to the bedroom. The other three kept watching him as he did so, climbed the bed and moved faster and hid under the blankets. Joshua sighed annoyed, and Chris noted as he twitched his nose.
“What?! He asked Chris after seeing the way he was looking at him. “I was hoping to sleep on my bed again!”
Adair grunted and Chris laughed loudly at the comment.
Adair had decided to stay, and when Chris said he would stay as well, the dragon growled with happiness, making Joshua smile broadly and forget about everything else. Chris went to the dragon that was now fully outside the place and under the tent Joshua had prepared for him since the moment Adair could not fit inside the house anymore. The dwarf sat on the ground, his back against Adair’s belly and the dragon growled once again. Joshua was looking at them from the window, while he took an extra bottle of honey wine for Chris. Thank God the sky was clear that night and they could sort of camp out there and forget about everything else.
Alexander had been in bed for the past hour and he had just let him be. This was a time for him to reunite with his friends and why not, his family. Joshua could not stop smiling. Alexander could not help it and continued staring. From where he was, he could have a wide view of the kitchen. It had been the same way with the dwarf, but he had just pretended to be sleeping. It had worked, since they did not see him coming when he did. He could not understand how the other felt towards a dragon when he had seen what dragons had done to his family, the memory of his father’s death still present in his head. He shook his head and closed his eyes, to then open them and realised the man had already left.
Outside, there was laughter and joy. It was something he had forgotten what it was like given that it had died the same day Robert had died. His mother had kept her usual self, though he had seen her crying every now and then during the first years of her grieving. He had never understood his brothers. They had left the field on that fatidic day and had even forgotten about him, God knows what would have happened to him back then if the dwarves had not arrived and stopped the dragon from attacking him. He thought of Chris, and found him familiar. Perhaps it had been him the one who had threatened him back them, but he was not sure and did not want to ask. Contrary to what people believed of him, and the bitterness of his heart, his mother had been the one who had raised him, and Denise had taught him to be grateful for the blessings he received.
The fight with Adair had scared him to death. He had seen in Adair’s eyes something he recognised from the dragon his father had fought against when he died, it was the determination of not letting anyone cause any more harm.
He would not say anything anyways. That stare from the dragon had made him freeze when they had met and he reacted only when he heard someone screaming, calling the dragon’s name. It would have probably been the man, JC. Chris was now saying his name loudly, and it had driven him to move and go to the kitchen to look at them. JC had been the one who had saved him, and despite his being thankful, it also maddened him. Healers and Dragon Slayers worked together when they were on the same side. He and JC were on opposite sides and were enemies.
Alexander came near the place as his stomach growled in hunger. He put his hand on it, scared of the loud sound it had just made and grinned. He had not been in the position of being caught doing anything wrong for a long time. The man opened a pot and took a spoon, starting to eat whatever it was that was there. “Stew” He muttered, and hurried to eat it eagerly.
“You dwarves can’t tolerate liquor, Chris, admit it!” JC was yelling, and it startled Alexander, forcing him to hurry back to the bed. He did not want them to find him eating after he had said he would much rather starve. He had meant it, he said to himself, but he was not sure of how many days had they been since he had got wounded and was unconscious.
The next thing he heard was the dwarf cursing and then singing loudly, which amused him a little. For years, he had learnt that dwarves were nasty creatures who dwelt in the mountains. Tricky bastards who were meant to die along with the dragons, though he had never killed one and was too young when he had the chance to see one.
“In the kingdom of the north
A brave dwarf lives
His beard’s got horns!
His hair’s got spikes!
His name is Chris!
And...and...JC!!!!”
“He’s a dragon’s keeper?”
“Bah JC! You have no idea of what good music is!” Chris yelled yet again. And then it was all silent.
“In the nights of moonlight,
My dragon sleeps,
I keep his dreams, I keep him safe,
I am his keeper, and he is mine...” It was JC who was singing this time, his voice and words reaching Alexander.
“I found him, me a child, he an egg,
And have grown together,
I am his keeper, and he is mine...”
“JC! Shut up!” Chris shouted again, and then there was more laughter and a snort which Alexander believed had been the dragon, perhaps approving the song. It was a silly tune, he could tell, but he also knew it was the tale of the two of them.
There was silence for a moment and then Alexander saw the door opening and JC entering the house. He saw him looking for some things on the cupboards of the kitchen and then grabbing some things from there; things Alexander could not really see.
“You awake?” Joshua asked from the kitchen without looking at him, he was now taking a knife and walking to him.
Alexander grunted in response and noticed the man as he carried a chair and put it next to the bed, leaving a washbasin with some warm water in it and put it on the night table next to the bed. “I’ll take that as a yes, now...” He began and stretched his hands to remove the man’s bandages.
“Don’t touch me!” Alexander shouted and withdrew, upset at the other’s actions.
“I need to take the old bandages away and replace them with new ones, but if you don’t want me to, then I guess you can do it yourself.” He responded and stood up.
“Fine. Do it.” Alexander said and rested his head on the bed headboard.
Joshua nodded and silently sat again. He removed each bandage from the man’s arms and chest, not for a second he stopped to notice the tattoos ink-craved on the skin. He had always feared needles and could not comprehend why the other would torture himself so many times, but then he decided it was not his problem and focused on what he was doing.
A few minutes later, when he had cleaned the burns and wounds, he started to say some prayers and Alexander looked at him in disbelief. It was true that the man was a healer.
It was the tenth time in five days that Joshua had tried to heal Alexander. It felt repulsive for him to be so near the dragon slayer, but he needed to do it if he truly meant to help him out. Christopher’s visit that day had left him with more than one doubt in his mind, and as time passed by, he grew more impatient and gloomy. Maybe, what Christopher and Adair felt about the other man was true, and he had been wrong all the time, yet at the same time, there was this feeling inside him that told him Alexander needed to be saved.
“And here I was thinking that you could actually be good at what you do.” Alexander said with sarcasm, while the other washed his hands in the washbasin. Joshua decided it was better for him not to say anything. He was tired; there were too many rumours in the town that talked about the dragon slayers. He chose to talk, but of different things that would not lead to an argument.
“So, you’re Alex, right?”
“Alexander.”
“Say Alex, you belong to which clan of dragon slayers again?”
Alexander snorted annoyed. The man was either making a fool of him or was trying to make him angry; and was succeeding at doing both. No one outside the family called him Alex, and it was a nuisance that someone even dared.
“Does it matter to you, Healer?” The words carried poison in them, and it was not a surprise for Joshua to see Alex turning to the side, looking out the window.
“Your arm.” Joshua said. There were bandages on his lap and some sort of a mixture of herbs by the colour of them.
“What’s that?” He asked showing how disgusting it seemed to him.
“Now that I can’t actually heal you, then I have to use what might work the miracle.”
Alexander let Joshua work in silence. He was staring at him, and obeyed when Joshua told him to remove his shirt, for he needed to put the sort of ointment on the wounds on his back and chest. Though he tried to fight against it, Alex ended up complying, which surprised Joshua; still, they kept their words for themselves. Joshua put the mixture on the man’s body, and then covered it with the bandages Christopher had provided him with. When Alexander turned over his body and Joshua began to work on his back, he saw it. The tattoo of a red dragon.
The man closed his eyes and breathed deeply, understanding. Rumours around town also had it that the dragon slayers tattooed on their bodies the dragon with which they would have their ultimate fight against. The sensations from before started to present to him clearly. If he continued helping Alexander, then he was going to return and kill Adair.
Joshua was not going to let that happen.
“Thank you.” Alexander said reluctantly. Joshua had finally finished and he had to admit, his cuts and burns felt like they were actually improving. “Your name?” he asked, for though he already knew it, he would not use it without a proper introduction, and noticed how uncomfortable the other was.
“Joshua.” The man answered dryly, “And now that you are awake, please consider returning to your own house. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
Alexander understood without the other having said a word. Joshua had seen his tattoo, and knew what it implied. He simply nodded.
On to 4. Retribution