The Final Storm (Part 3)

Drake Gets Electrocuted

Early the next morning Jaydon woke up. Outside, the sky was still pitch black, not even a hint of the newborn sun poked its fingers into the dead sky. Ralem was still fast asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night he had rolled over and was now at the very corner of the bed, facing the wall, his back towards Jaydon. Light snores echoed off the wall, his crazy hair sticking up in odd places like a bristled porcupine. He had one hand clutching one of Jaydon’s wings like it was a blanket, pulling it over his body.

            Jaydon chuckled inside, but reached for the leather Bible on the nightstand before easing it into Ralem’s hands, letting his wings slip out. Ever so softly, he got out of bed, creating a hard surface out of air so that his feet wouldn’t have to touch the floor. Padding over to the door, he carefully clamped his hand on the copper handle and painfully-slow, turned it. If he was human, sweat would have been beading on his forehead. Then he eased the door open. EEEEK!

            Jaydon twisted around, but Ralem was already straight up on the bed, amusement twisting his lips. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked calmly.

            Jaydon knew he had been caught. His cheeks flushed as he stuttered, trying to lie as humans did so often. “I was going- erm- outside.”

            Ralem got to his feet, his eyes glowing creepily in the dark. “You wouldn’t dare leave without me, would you?”

            “I..uh… well, I just,” Jaydon stuttered.

            Ralem poked him in the chest. “You’re not leaving without me. Period.”

            “I was just trying to keep you safe!” Jaydon growled. “I don’t want you to get hurt again. I could get  this done, easily by myself and I’d be back before the day is over.” His hands settled on Ralem’s shoulders. “You’ve gone through enough. It’s my turn to take the pain.”

            “No!” Ralem slunk under Jaydon’s hands. His eyes grew brighter in stubbornness. “Do you think I’m that weak? That I can’t take a fight? Are you just going to leave me here with my sister like a mother dropping her child off at a nursery?”

            “You know my heart of hearts, Saelfien. You know that is not my intent,” Jaydon said softly.

            “I know it isn’t,” Ralem said testily. “But honestly, you are not just a dragon- a one-man show. You’re my dragon. We work together. As a team. You wouldn’t fight half as good if I wasn’t there.”

            For once Jaydon didn’t argue. He smiled. “I was hoping you would say that. But first let’s raid the kitchen. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

            Ralem almost bowled him over before realizing he was about to wake up the whole house. Putting a finger to his lips, he tiptoed to the kitchen with Jaydon in tow. Opening the cabinet, he started grabbing all things that were edible without cooking to Jaydon, who took them eagerly. When he was still handing a loaf of bread to the dragon, a small tink of metal hitting a bowl drew their attention that they were not the only ones in the kitchen. Eyes wide, they turned around slowly to find a rabbit hanging from a cabinet, dead. It’s blood was steadily dripping into a bowl below it. Behind it, Drake looked bored as he dipped his spoon in the bowl and slurped it up noisily. “Mornin’, early birds.”

            “Drake!” Ralem swore. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

            “What? Is it my hair?” Drake asked, trying to sound cheerful but failing. He poked around in the bowl sullenly, letting his hair fall into his eyes..