Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel) (35 page)

Murmurs of fright came from the crowd.

"Legion is a daemon. What we have grown to call a 'Veil-Born.' An alien to this reality that must be sent back before he opens a rift wide enough to let loose a flood of pure, unadulterated evil that cannot be stopped."

Now the crowd was in a barely restrained panic.
 

"But I assure you, fellow residents of Earth, there exists a force that eclipses even that of Legion's. A force for good and kindness greater than the force for evil Legion represents. I am Tesser. I am the tender of your flock, and you are my charge in this life. You are all my children, and like the vengeful father I am, there shall be no rest for Legion, no hole deep enough to hide in, no mountain too high for me to climb in my quest to rid this world of him. Legion is not welcome here, and let this serve as his eviction notice."

The crowd was going insane with energy. The politicians and gathered people of importance in the grandstand were all standing now, emphatically clapping their hands, even though Abe could see they weren't quite sure what the hell Tesser's deal was.

Tesser walked away from the podium and onto a wide area of the stage set off to the side.
How did I not notice that the podium was off center like that before? It's like there's enough space for him to…

Tesser undid the top button of his shirt, and somehow spoke loud enough for the crowd and the nearby microphones to hear. Even through the television Abe could feel his voice resonating somehow.
It's like he's right here in the room with us.

"I will take the fight against all that threatens humanity and the creatures of this world we call home together," Tesser said as his shirt opened up. That image would be on posters and shirts the next day. "I cannot do it alone. I will need you to help me. Many of you must step into the breach to protect one another from the things that have forgotten that they need to fear me. That they need to fear all the dragons. But rest assured my people," Tesser shrugged his shirt off, and let it drop to the floor of the stage. "I am Tesser, and I am YOUR Dragon."

Tesser crouched low with a smile so joyous, and so pure that Abe couldn't help but let slip a squeal of delight. Alexis laughed. Then, as sudden as a mongoose's strike, he propelled his body into the air, and shifted form into what he truly was.

Nearly every television station in the world watched live.

Tesser's massive golden form elongated from his human form, bursting all of his remaining clothing as he transformed into his full dragon body in just seconds. Before he could fall into the crowd, his sail-like wings flapped powerfully once, and he took off up and over the assembly, taking flight down the length of the Reflecting Pool, heading straight towards the gray spire of the Washington Monument. Cameras spun on their mounts to track his tremendous first public flight, catching the awed faces of those present. The water below him formed overlapping ripples as the air cascaded down from his flight. His tail swung back and forth as he ascended up to the peak of the Washington spire, where he circled once, and then perched impossibly, all four massive clawed hands gripping the stone gingerly, keeping him suddenly still like a gargoyle.

Tesser launched another stream of white-hot flames from deep within his throat across the sky above, lighting up the already bright day. The flames evaporated in the air, and the dragon let loose a triumphant roar, announcing to all he was present and was the new guardian and leader of the world.

Tesser propelled his body into the air with his legs and a flap of his wings, and he took higher and higher to the sky.

Abe hadn’t lost his childlike glee from the showing. He looked over to Alexis, and she too had a smile that couldn't be explained. "I told you. He's a dragon. He's
our
dragon."

From outside the room, Abe and Alexis suddenly heard a stern voice, "Sir, Sergeant, you need to return to your room." Then the door burst in.

The cop, the same cop that had brought Abe to this very hospital the night of Tesser's first appearance came in. He was leaning hard on an IV stand, using it as one might use a tall walking stick, and was clearly straining against a good amount of pain.

He was shot at least once too. What he's doing here?

"You're Abe, right? Tesser's friend?"

Tesser's friend? Man. That has such a different meaning right now
.
Two minutes ago it meant something entirely different.
"Yeah. You're the cop that saved my life right? Spooner?"

The wounded cop shuffled over as two uniformed policemen followed him in, exchanging looks of dismay and irritation. Neither wanted to be the one to put hands on the "Dragon Cop."

Spoon made it to a second uncomfortable hospital chair and collapsed, exhausted. He caught his breath and then waved the two policemen away dismissively. They shrugged and left the room.

"Yeah, I'm Spoon. Nice to meet you. You know this gunshot wound didn't hurt until they dug the damn bullet out of me. Now I can barely fucking walk."

"Thank you for saving Abe's life, officer. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude," Alexis said, getting up and moving over to him. She kissed his cheek.

"It's not ‘officer.' I'm a detective. Detective Spooner. I'd normally say no biggie, but I busted ass to get rid of the officer title, so I feel entitled to it," Spoon said, forcing a grin through his pain.

Alexis made a sympathetic face. "Okay, Detective. You earned that for sure. Thank you."

"Yeah, man, thank you," Abe said.
 

"You're welcome. So, kid. We need to talk."

Abe shrugged. "About what?"

"Well, the world was a fucked up place before the two of us got shot to shit, and with all that happened that night, and with the stunt our mutual friend just pulled for all the world to see, I get the distinct feeling we're gonna need to work together to figure out what all needs to happen before he rips the world in half looking for that Legion thing."

Abe's mind raced. "Sergeant, he's probably not even all that pissed about the daemons.
 
He's got other problems."

"Say what?"

"Unlike my good rap friend Jay-Z, Tesser has 99 problems, and one of them
is
his girlfriend. She's pregnant, and those daemons snatched her up. And if you think we're in trouble with him angry, he was already pissed about one of the other six dragons being missing. If we don't get this figured out, there could be wrath and ruin on a scale that makes the worst stories in The Bible look like a coloring book."

I didn’t think he could get any paler.

Chapter Forty-Three

Alec Fitzgerald

Alec was sweating. He'd just finished watching the on-air reveal of the dragon that had escaped Mr. Host's snatch attempt, and now threatened to throw his entire world into chaos.
 

Everything is going to come apart. The world knows now that dragons are out there, and they're going to realize that they are intelligent and have souls, and then they're going to start looking for them. What happens if they find them? And what the fuck do I do about my staff? Everyone here at Amethyst knows now that the fucking dragon we've got knocked out downstairs is live and kicking and would want to wake up if it could. And let's not forget that there are just seven of these damned things in existence, so it's not like we can hide behind the idea, “well, it's just one dragon out of many”. One peep out of any of these people and we're exposed. Fitzgerald Industries is shitcanned. What the fuck am I going to do? We're doing so much good work here. Saving lives.
 

The troubled executive's phone rang. He picked it up. "Alec here."

"We need to discuss a plan. Are you free?"
 

It was Mr. Host. "Yes. Come up to my office." Alec hung up the phone before Mr. Host could say anything else. The minutes long wait for the otherworldly security man felt eternal to Alec. He couldn't decide which was worse, meeting with an angry Mr. Host or dealing with the fallout of the revelations handed out to the world just minutes before on television. It didn't help that Alec knew deep down inside that the Legion creature Tesser spoke of was most likely something Mr. Host had control over. Alec shuddered at the thought. Mr. Host entered the room and caught Alec's gaze with impassive, soulless eyes. He strode over and sat down in a chair.
 
They were silent for a few too many awkward seconds.

"What do we do? I thought we could keep everything quiet so long as everyone was scared of the other dragon, but now they know he's a good guy. What's our biggest problem right now? Is it Tesser finding us?" Alec blurted.

Mr. Host stared at Alec like a hawk looking down on field mouse. Alec shrank down, suddenly afraid. "In a way, yes. The purple dragon's presence here must be kept absolutely secret. We must ensure that no employees here speak about it. We must pay bonuses immediately. We must ensure that they are told that this dragon was found brain dead and that we are keeping it intact as we are for medical reasons. They must be made complicit, Alec. Willing. We must convince them that what we are doing is righteous and good. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. What do you think is a fair bonus to pay? Five grand each?"

"For the lower level employees with minimal knowledge, yes. Twice that for middle level or informed employees, and four times that for those with extensive knowledge."

"That's a lot of money, Mr. Host."

"It is nothing weighed against the potential loss of your entire business empire, Alec. An occasional and temporary financial setback is inevitable when you deal with the stakes that we play with. Celebrate that you have the fiscal power to purchase your way out of this situation peacefully, rather through violent means." Mr. Host smiled.

God, that's creepy as fuck.
"What do we do if people ask tough questions? What if they refuse to stay quiet?"

"You're a smart man, Alec Fitzgerald. You are your father's son. You will say the right things because you're intelligent and charismatic, and they will love you for the truth you give them. And should they refuse to cooperate with this plan, then I will speak to them and convince them with a more archaic means of diplomacy."

"You're going to threaten them, aren't you?"

"Everyone has something to lose, Mr. Fitzgerald. Exercising leverage over someone simply requires the knowledge of what they do not wish to lose. You'd be surprised how quickly the staunchest opponent of an idea can be swayed when they stand to lose something precious. I would point you towards the example of Matilde resting peacefully below us."

"I don’t know if I like that idea," Alec said, thinking of a series of terrible scenarios where his hard working employees were terrified by the strange and evil seeming man sitting in front of him. Assuming he could even be called a man.

"I don't think what you like matters right now, Alec. There is only what must be done for the greater good. You are doing amazing things to advance humanity here. Sometimes those with a lack of vision must be brought to heel to see the future. Let me handle the less pleasant aspects. You do what you do best."

"I guess that'll work. When do we do this?"

"Now. The Human Resources department informed me this morning that all but four employees came in today. We should assemble them in the cafeteria immediately. They would be expecting some kind of all-hands meeting at this point. You might as well give them what they are expecting."

"True. I'll have my secretary page the building. Make sure they all come?"

"I already have the doors to the building staffed with my men."

I don't like the way he said that.

*****

Fifteen minutes later Alec stood in his company's cafeteria, surrounded by a large group of his employees. Alec surveyed their faces, trying to get a feel for the assembly.

Most look worried. These meetings are rarely good for morale. Everyone things there are going to be cutbacks and their head is on the block. I've got to get that whole idea out of their head fast. Some look rightly afraid. They know we're involved in this dragon shit, and they expect the worst. I need to make sure those people know they're safe. Some of them look angry. They know something is wrong with what's happening here and they want answers. I'll need to give those people something to chew on. Some kind of moral ownership of it and some kind of moral reasoning to illustrate that what we do is good. All smiles. Here we go.

"Thank you all for coming to this impromptu gathering, folks. I know this is a disruption to your day, but in light of the events down in DC earlier this afternoon, Fitzgerald Industries—me, mainly—felt it was vital to have a conversation about what happened down there and how it relates to what we're doing here."

Okay, so far, so good.

"For those of you who were unable to see the worldwide broadcast, down in Washington, a second dragon, the same dragon that was seen down in Boston breathing fire into the sky, held what amounts to a news conference. He claimed that he was now 'our dragon' and that he was here to help protect humanity."