The Fawx Bite

XXI.

Jin drove down a series of winding roads, both dirt and paved, until he turned onto a major road that had not only houses, but also shops and fast food. It was still dark out though I could see the slightest change in the sky. The stars were beginning to slowly lose their brilliance, a navy blue blanket falling over them. I was so curious as to why Viola had treated Echo the way she did, but I kept silent. It was too much of a confined space to approach the topic. I didn't want to risk them two going at it. In all honesty, I had no idea who would win.

Viola now had this incredible strength, and she had always been stubborn. When she had turned thirteen, she had decided that she wanted to learn martial arts. Despite her being blind, she had been adamant. I had gone with her for the first couple years. Not only because I wanted to learn as well, but I wanted to keep an eye on her. Over time, she slowly began to learn to listen and even to smell. She became incredibly adept at defending herself and graduated to purple belt within fourteen months. After two years, I dropped the classes. But she continued. She was still a brown belt, having needed just a bit more training to reach black belt.

But Echo had been trained in all sorts of fighting techniques. And she had been trained to remain silent. Her pure ferocity was unnerving in all honesty. Against Viola? It was too close to call and I didn't want to risk having to watch the scene unfold. I would rather not know, which was very unusual for me.

I felt my stomach grumble and there was pressure in my bladder. I knew though that we were too close to the house in order to stop. I couldn't help but lick my lips as we passed by a McDonalds. Jin took the ramp to get on to the I – 15, heading towards Yuma. I frowned slightly, "Why are we going back to Arizona?"

"Because there's a section between California and Arizona that is actually a base for something that isn't a government agency," Jin said. "Between exits 79 and 98 there is mountains upon mountains of rocks, I'm sure you recognize this?"

"Yeah," I frowned leaning forward so that my elbows rested on my knees. Marek was closer to the window, watching the streetlights pass by rapidly.

"While dragons are drastically different than reptiles, they still prefer and enjoy the heat. Thus, that is where the majority of the dragons on the west coast call home." Jin looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"What about the area where I found Marek?" I asked.

"That is a special place separated from the rest of the dragons. While there is something similar to a portal within that lets dragons or other beings travel between the two places, the one where you found Marek is mostly reserved for seniors and birthing mothers." Echo explained. Viola's lips curled slightly as she spoke.

I scrambled slightly to try and ease the tension. "Okay, and I am assuming we are going to the Dragon HQ to try and earn us some protection from all the crazy."

"If Anthony hasn't already beaten us to it there," Jin said darkly. He looked over his shoulder before he switched lanes but there was almost no one on the freeway with us.

"The D HQ," Viola muttered under her breath.

I looked over at her before cracking a slow smile. Viola's expression was blank until I started to giggle and soon we were both laughing with no one understanding why we were laughing so hard. We trickled off into giggles before ensuing silence, but it was more comfortable than it had been before. I felt tension ease from my shoulders and I let myself take a deep breath. Maybe, just maybe things were going to be all right now. We could figure everything out and get away.