Asher: Dragon's Savior (3 page)

Asher couldn’t either but didn’t say anything more. There were workmen coming on site now that the building was empty. As soon as the movers came out with the last of the things that the few tenants had left, big engines were started up and they roared to life tearing down the building.

Asher made his way home shortly after the workers had most of the building down and were quitting for the day. Usually he would walk home, enjoying the day, but he got into the limo and sat in the back with his eyes closed. If he was honest with himself, and he rarely was, he wasn’t bored. Asher was exhausted.

He had been born over three thousand years ago. Jedidiah, or Jed as he liked to be called, was born exactly thirteen months, thirteen days, and thirteen minutes later. Each of them had been born in the same time; their births the same as the dragons that they each held. After Jed had been born, Elam…then Shane, Gideon, and Simeon. Their dragons, in order of their births, were Kiaran, his own dragon; Zak belonged to Jed; and Casdon, Keion, Onimia, and Akassa to the others. Their names, each of them knowing them before they were born, meant a special power that was given to them while their parents were alive.

As soon as he got to his home, he told Elbert that he was going to bed. Before going up to his room on the top floor, he let Kiaran go and then left the door open from the balcony to allow him to come in when he was finished flying. Asher stripped down to his bare skin and crawled into the big bed.

~~~

Elbert was worried for the young man. Asher had been restless of late, and when he got that way, usually he could go away for a few years and come back rejuvenated. Elbert didn’t think that would work this time. The man didn’t need to get away, but to become involved.

“He needs a good woman.” Elbert didn’t turn to look at the man standing behind him. Jacob visited him still after all these years, even though he should have gone on to be with his lovely wife in the afterlife.

“She would murder him the first time she saw the way he keeps his office. I’ve never known a man that took after his father so much as he has.” Jacob laughed, and Elbert turned to look at his old friend. “You have been away for a long time this time. Where did you go?”

“Looking.” They both sat at the table. Jacob could no longer touch or taste things, but he loved to smell them, and Elbert loved to find things, small items that had a wonderful odor to them, for Jacob. He pulled his little treasure box down from the top of the refrigerator now.

Elbert was holding out the bar of soap he’d found in a market place a few weeks ago when he decided to tell him what he knew about young Asher. The man was his father, but had been gone longer than he’d been in his life. Elbert had hated to see them both go, Sally and Jacob, but loved the fact that they had died together one night; simply fell asleep, never to wake.

“Asher is looking for trouble, I think. Danger that has gotten him injured badly a few times.” Jacob asked to smell the tea bag that Elbert had found at the corner café, but said nothing else. “Even Kiaran is worried for him. Last week they were both laid up for nearly a day, just resting from a fight they’d been in.”

“He fought a troll today. Kiaran killed him, but I think that Asher would have gone ahead of him had the dragon not stepped in.” Elbert nodded. He knew that Jacob sometimes walked with his sons, but he never spoke to them. Elbert wasn’t even sure that he could. “I, too, fear for him. And Kiaran. They are both much alike.”

When the things were looked over, Elbert put the empty box back and tossed out the things that had been in it. He would not use the things he’d found. They were only for the dead man that spoke to him now. Elbert neither ate nor slept, so had no use for a chocolate chip cookie or a bag of tea. When he sat back down, he looked at Jacob.

“I have found him a mate.” Elbert didn’t say anything. He knew that Jacob and Sally had had great powers, but had never figured them all out. If Jacob said he found a mate for his eldest son, then he more than likely had. “She is sort of human, as I was, but she is…I think her suited for my son. Her temper is high and she has a mouth on her that might get her into trouble a little, but she will be a match to Asher’s temper.”

“Asher has no temper that I know of.” Jacob smiled and Elbert got it. “You mean her temper will give him one. And you think this is a good thing? That our mild Asher have a woman that will test him?”

“I do. He is much too sedate, I think you call it. Bored, he has told his dragon. I’ve never been bored a day in my life or death. There are many things that…did you know that there is a train that will go faster than anything on earth? Well, perhaps not that fast, but it was so much fun to watch it zoom by me.” Jacob laughed. “And the smells from some of the vendor stalls in New York. Had we had such a place when I was alive, I would have tried a new dish each night. All this is out there, and all Asher and the others do is work and make more money. Do they not have enough yet?”

Elbert had often thought the same thing, but it was not his place to say so. Instead he asked Jacob about the troll. This took an hour of his time and gave Elbert time to think as well. He was worried about all his grandsons, but Asher the most.

“He does not see anyone—not after that woman—does he?” Elbert told him no. “I wanted to warn him what she was about, but I’m not sure he would have listened. She was a viper, that woman. Not suited to him at all.”

“She has been gone a long time. How long do you think him to mourn her?” Jacob told him he wasn’t mourning her, but he’d had his heart broken and was not going to let anyone close again. “Then how will you get him with his mate? You said that she has a temper. But we both know that Asher is the most stubborn of them all. When he has his mind set, whether it be good or bad for him, he will not stop until he has lost or won.”

“I have a plan.” Elbert wanted to roll his eyes. Jacob with a plan was a disaster. It always had been. He nearly pointed out the last plan he’d had but didn’t. The kite that he’d tried to use to bring electricity into the house was still a charred mess in the tree by their ancestral home. He was sure that he could do it. And the children, all six of them, had cheered him on. Right up until the barn had caught fire.

“I think you need a vacation.” Elbert raised a brow at Jacob. “Take Asher home with you. Go on out and see mine and Sally’s graves. Lay us a few flowers on them. Sally would love that from her boy. Then we’ll see how my plan works out.”

“She’s at the house now?” Jacob said nothing but only smiled. “Why do I have the feeling that you’re going to upset him more than he is now? He’s on the edge, Jacob. What if something happens to her and he never finds her again?”

“Then you should hurry.” Jacob started to fade out, and Elbert nearly called him back when he came back on his own. “Oh. I forgot to mention to you, she’s a mite on the stubborn side herself, and a tad mad at me.”

Elbert sat there for a long time after Jacob left. When he saw him next time, Elbert decided, he was going to not give him the box of treats. And he’d be on the lookout for something grand too. Just to tease him with.

Chapter 2

“I appreciate you coming out here with me. I have not been back in a while.” Asher nodded but said nothing. It was just as well he’d left home. It was that or he’d have to murder one of his brothers for not letting him be himself…which to say was his stubborn self. “The house should be completed by now.”

“I should hope so.” They’d hired a crew to come to the house nearly a year ago to upgrade the entire thing. Electric and plumbing had been put in years ago, but it needed to be made safe. Plus it needed to be painted and new carpets put in. They had even decided to have new windows put in just as an extra measure, with a new furnace and air conditioner as well. “Do you think that the mess is cleared away by now? Elam said the last time he was here, which was a couple of months ago, that the big dumpsters were full and they’d been putting the trash near it until one could be replaced. They said that would be another month.”

“The weather.” Asher nodded. The weather was always a factor in getting to the house. There were no real roads to get in and out of the place. And when it was nice to get in and out, a freak storm could keep them there for a week if the creek overflowed. “When you were just a wee one, your mother took a walk to the mushroom patch she’d been watching. While she was there, a storm came in and flooded everything, including her path to come home.”

“Kiaran brought her home. I had forgotten about that.” There were a great many things he’d forgotten, and the ride to their home was bringing a lot of them back. “Mom loved it out there. I’m really glad that she and Dad are buried there. I miss them.”

“As do I.”

Asher knew that his father came to see Elbert. He’d never seen him but knew he was there, and Asher had always thought it was because of the magic that they had shared. He missed his dad—his wit and his common sense—and wondered what he’d think about his behavior lately. His mom would have whipped the tar out of him, and Kiaran too for letting him get into so much trouble.

As soon as the house came into view, Asher felt the last several months of stress fall off his shoulders. Even Kiaran stretched out, and he put his hand out the window to allow the dragon his freedom. As he soared to the skies, his wings spreading out over the bright blue sky, Asher looked at the house.

From the outside it looked no different than it had when he was a boy. The weathered boards were dark with age, the windows were new, of course, but the shutters, the kind that actually fit over the windows, were there to use in the stormy months. The second and third stories had wraparound porches on them, like the lower level, and each of the rooms spilled out onto their own section of it for a bit of privacy. He nearly leapt from the car when it came to a stop.

Going in the house was both painful and wonderful for him. Memories, all of them good, seemed to cascade around him like a well-worn blanket. He could snuggle into them as if he could wear them and never leave again. He looked at Elbert when he came in burdened with their luggage. Taking his own and the other man’s, he took them up the stairs and put them in the rooms that had always been theirs. He stopped by his parents room to look in, and felt the weight of their death like it had only just happened.

Bags of food were sitting on the counter when he came back down. Putting away some of the foodstuff, he realized how much Elbert had brought with them.

“How long are we staying?” Elbert didn’t answer him, and Asher felt that he’d been tricked. “Elbert?”

“I thought you could use a vacation. I know that I could.” Asher only waited. He knew this man as well as he did himself and something was up. “I want to clear away some of the weeds in the garden while I’m here, and take a few herbs back with me. Then there are the graves. No one has cleaned them off in a good long time, and what would your mother say?”

“And?”

Elbert only shrugged and Asher wanted to ask again. But he turned to him then and Asher could see the sadness there.

“I should like to go to the castle ruins as well.” Asher nodded. He’d never been there himself—none of them had been allowed when they were younger, and as they grew older…well, no one had ever suggested it again. They had always feared that someone would know what they were and who they held to them. But he knew that Elbert had gone several times, as well as their father before his death.

As soon as he finished putting away the groceries with Elbert, Asher went out onto the porch. As soon as he sat down, Kiaran landed with a soft thud in the yard. Asher was still amazed every time he saw him, and how handsome he was as a man. Seldom was he able to be whichever he wanted, unless they were on this magical ground.

Kiaran, like his brothers, was not the largest of dragons ever born. In fact, they were only a little bigger than Asher was. Elam’s was a little taller, but the rest of them were about seven feet tall.

They were all a beautiful mixture of greens and brown. Kiaran told him once that it was so that he could blend in should he not have a chance to make himself invisible. Asher didn’t know if that was true or not since the dragon could pull shadows around himself faster than he could blink.

The wings on each of them were a little different. Kieran’s were a dark green, almost the color of moss that had seen very little sun. They were wider than they were long but still touched the earth when they were curled behind him as they were now. But it was his face that made Asher think of beauty, if a male dragon could be called beautiful.

His face was long, as one would expect on a dragon. His teeth on his upper jaw hung long over his lower lip and were sharp as razors. He had several horns on his head; mostly they were for fighting, except for the one that was in the center of his head. That one was to kill.

It could stretch from his head to be two feet long when needed. He’d never seen him use it on anyone, but Asher had seen him show it off to something they’d be fighting. And over the years, all the centuries they’d been together, he thought he and Kiaran had killed more beings than all of the rest.

It was their job, he supposed, killing off the rogues or bad things that haunted those that could not fend for themselves. It was a job they all took very seriously…that and making the family wealthy. Actually, they’d been very well to do long before they’d been born to his parents. The king had indeed provided for them very well. But they’d added to their fortune over the years, and now they would never have to work again, should they not want to.

“You look several hundred years younger.” Asher nodded, not moving his feet when the dragon came up on the porch with him and shifted from beast to man. It still, to this day, startled him to think that not every being in the world had a dragon with them at all times. “Shall I tell you what I have found? Or do you wish to go exploring on your own?”

“I want to relax for a little while first. If it’s nothing dangerous, then I could care less at the moment.” Kiaran told him all was safe. “Then no, I’ll rest for a little while. I guess we’re going to be here for more than a few days. Elbert wants to see the castle ruins and see to Mom and Dad’s graves.”

“I should as well. Will you go with us?” Asher said he didn’t know just yet. “You should go. It’s nearly all grown over now. Not much there but a wall and a lot of stones. I have often thought of going there to find something of my fathers. Do you suppose that would be possible? I mean we’d have to move a few of the larger pieces, but I would like to try.”

“I don’t know why not. The castle burned to the ground the night that he was killed, right?” Kiaran nodded. “The stone would have fallen in on it at some point, but with your strength you could lift a few out of the way to have a better look, as you said.”

“I think I may go to see where she hid us away as well.” Another place that Asher had never been allowed to go. He told him he would go with him there. “My mother would have protected us with her body. I don’t remember much about the place from when I left it to come to you that day, but I should like to go back there now.”

As the two of them started walking toward the mountain, Asher thought of his childhood here. There had never been a time when he’d had friends over. There simply weren’t any to be had. But he’d had his brothers and their dragons to play with, and it had been more than enough. His dad had made learning an adventure for them as well. Mom had taught their dad to read, as well as them, and Dad in turn had shown them how to survive in the world. Over the centuries it had served them well, and he made sure that he said as much to Elbert so that he could pass it on to their father.

“Did you know that Dad speaks to Elbert?” Kiaran said that he did. “I thought you might. Do you think the others know?”

“My brothers know, but yours do not.” They were almost to the mountain when Kiaran stopped him. “I should tell you that one of the things I have found out here is in there. The second opening to the left. I think she lives there when there are people in the area.”

“She?” Kiaran nodded. “You mean a person lives in the mountain? Why on earth would she do that? Doesn’t she know that this is private property?”

“I believe your dad told her she could stay here.” He asked him how he knew that. “She has seen him recently. His scent is near the cave but not on her. She is well, but not healthy. I do believe that she will die this year should the weather turn bad enough. The food that she eats is plentiful, of course, but she’s not good at picking things to keep her well.”

Asher wondered how old the woman was and whether or not she was human. There had been others around, humans that had come here thinking to find something. Something to make a quick buck off of. The legend of the dragon tears had been around as long as he had. Probably longer.

It was true to an extent. Dragon tears did turn to diamonds. Some of them did anyway. But that wasn’t all they turned to. Sometimes there were rubies and opals, even a few times he’d seen emeralds as well. Kiaran could also produce gold when he wanted, just by simply running his clawed hand over a riverbed or creek. The tears and the gold were what had kept them in pocket money their entire life.

“We’ll have to see that she gets medical help then. Maybe we can get her into a nursing home nearby. They’re better at keeping someone like her healthy than living in a cave could.” Kiaran said nothing as they started up the hill. “When we get back to the house, I’ll tell Elbert to have her removed. I don’t want her dying in there. Something might get at her.”

“If you wish.” It was a strange thing to say, even for a dragon. Before he could ask him what he meant, something was shoved in the back of his head. “I do believe that your elderly woman got the drop on you.”

“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing on my mountain?” Her voice was full of hatred, and Asher started to turn to talk to her. “Move and I’ll blow your head off.”

“Well?” He had hoped that Kiaran would help him, but he only smiled and shrugged. “I thought you were supposed to protect me.”

“If you think you need it from her, then I will. But I do believe that you can take her.” Asher started to turn again, but she hit him with whatever it was she had at his head. “She isn’t going to be reasonable, I think.”

“I’m not going to be the one with a bullet in my head if you don’t get the hell out of here.” Asher closed his eyes and tried to think what to do as the woman hit him again. Enough was enough and he turned and ducked at the same time. The gun went off very close to his ear, and he saw Kiaran shift and take off for the skies. It was the perfect distraction he needed to take care of the woman.

But the moment he saw her, he froze in place. And since he was the one that was now off balance, she hit him again and he went tumbling back. Grabbing out for something, he touched the girl’s arm and pulled her with him. Her cry of pain echoed his as he hit his head on a stone when he hit the earth. Then nothing.

~~~

Elbert stood over the two of them and watched them carefully. Had Kiaran not helped him bring them to the house, he wasn’t sure what he might have done to get them here. Neither of them had moved in the hour they’d been there, and he was beginning to worry.

“You worry overly much.” Elbert glared at Jacob. “But you just look at them together and tell me that they’re not matched perfectly.”

“They are unconscious, sir. I don’t think that this is the time to play matchmaker with them. Besides, the woman is very hostile if you ask me.” Elbert did think she was quite pretty. “What was she doing in the cave anyway? You said she was living here.”

“I was living here but heard you guys coming up the road.” The woman sat up and glared at the two of them. Then she looked at Asher. “What the hell was he doing trying to attack me? And that guy with him? Did I really see him fly off?”

“Yes you did.” Elbert handed her an ice pack that had fallen to the floor when she sat up. “I have made sure that you are all right, but I think you need to rest for a bit longer.”

“So? We’re just going to skip over the part where that guy was flying around?” Neither he nor Jacob answered her, and she stood up. “I’m going to go back to where I was staying, if you don’t mind. I have—”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Elbert knew that Jacob was gone the moment that Asher spoke. “What the hell were you thinking when you tried to shoot me?”

Asher held onto her arm when she started to get up, and Elbert backed up. He was an immortal, yes, but the young woman looked like she’d make him wish for a quick death. Asher stood up and pulled her with him. The two of them did seem to sort of fit. Like they were a matched pair of tempers too.