Timeless

Devon

By the third day of Devon's self-imposed imprisonment, Kate decided to do something about it.
   
“Devon, you need to stop pouting and come out of there.”
   
“I'm not pouting,” was the muffled response.
   
“The children are wondering what happened to you.” When there was no response, Kate told the door, “Corvinus left a few days ago. He said he would be back eventually.”
   
Sitting on the bed, Devon just thought He left? Whatever.
   
Continuing to sit and mull over what Kate had said, Devon finally decided she was right about him needing to come out of the room.
   
When he opened the door she had gone.

Instead of heading towards the places he knew people would be, he headed outside to the courtyard.
   
As he walked he realized he was a bit homesick. He actually missed his tiny apartment in Portland. He missed any kind of city life in general. He even missed school. He had been close to graduating from OHSU and moving to a larger city in a bigger state.
   
Now, he was stuck in a world that he apparently couldn't leave. With a start, he realized his crazy cousin would fit in here better than he ever would. All the mythical creatures that were around here definitely did not help his confidence.
   
Devon's self-pity ended as he came to a smaller door to the courtyard. Going through, Devon was met with a warm breeze that had him thinking in spite of himself that this world was actually kind of nice, weather wise.
   
That's when he spotted the dragon. The same black dragon was curled in the center of the courtyard as if it were waiting for something.
   
Still weighing the pros and cons of of suicide-by-dragon, Devon was spotted. Since all it did was raise it's head and stare at him, Devon decided suicide it would be. He walked over and plopped down next to the dragon's foreleg and leaned back against the scaley side.
   
With a huff, the dragon laid it's large head beside Devon. “Must mean we're friends now?”
   
After a moment just to look at the details on the dragon's snout, Devon began telling it about all the things he missed and how he had gotten here.
   
Devon wasn't really aware of time passing, but he soon realized that not only was he hungry, but the sun was getting close to the horizon.
   
“Guess it's time to call it a day.” The dragon just watched as Devon went inside before it took off towards home.
   
Once inside, Devon had to follow his nose to the kitchens because the halls were dark and he wasn't good with directions. Reaching the feast hall, Devon grabbed himself a plate and piled it with food before finding a place to sit. When Kate noticed him, she just smiled and continued her own meal.

***
Everyday after that first visit, Devon went to the courtyard. The black dragon didn't appear everyday, but he was there regularly. After about the fifth visit, things changed a bit.
   
Kate suddenly decided the children should spend some time in the courtyard. The first children out were typically the eldest, so when they saw the dragon, they froze, effectively blocking the doorway.
   
Squeezing past, Kate looked to see why they had stopped. When she saw the dragon, she nearly ordered everyone inside until she saw Devon. He was perched on the dragon's shoulder.
   
After a moment's hesitation, Kate finally asked, “Do you think your friend is okay with these guys playing?” Wide eyed, the children just stared.
   
“What do you think? Can they play?” Devon asked the dragon.
   
When the dragon nodded, the children slowly edged towards the play area the dragons and Devon had put together.
   
After a little while of no incidents with the dragon, the children began ignoring it. Although all of the eldest children remained wary, the others became used to seeing large scaley creature. At the end of the day, many of the children even bid the black dragon farewell.
   
Over some time, the black dragon became a favorite visitor to the children. Occasionally, the it would bring the smaller dragons. After a few months of these visits, they suddenly stopped.
   
For more than a week, the black dragon didn't appear. Although Devon was beginning to worry, he was aware there was likely some kind of dragon things to deal with.
   
The next day, Devon was outside with Kate and most of the children because the others wanted to play inside.
   
Devon had managed to get the dragons to help to build a large stone slide. Many of the children, mainly humans, were playing on the slide. They hadn't been outside long when Devon heard wings. He was excited to see the absent dragons again, but was becoming aware of the uneasy feeling he'd felt the first time he saw the dragons.
   
Trying to ignore the feeling, Devon noticed several large somethings flying far behind the black dragon and his two companions. Those flying behind the black dragon, made him appear tiny.
   
Landing, the black dragon and his small companions began pulling and dragging everyone in the courtyard towards the castle doors.
   
“What's going on?” Kate asked Devon.
   
“I don't know. They look scared.”
   
Still nearly a mile away, one of the larger dragons let loose flames that nearly touched the castle walls.
   
Watching a large boulder beyond the gate openings melt, Devon whispered, “I think I know why.”
   
Grabbing Devon's suddenly unresisting arm, Kate began dragging him inside, “Come on, Devon. Those flames are not anything to play your suicide games with.”
   
As if the words spurred him to action, Devon jerked free and ran towards the dragons. “What are you doing!” Kate yelled.
   
Running up the stone slide, Devon had only one thought: They need to stop. Aloud he yelled, “Over here you oversized gas breathers!”

******

The black dragon was just shoving the last of the children through the doors when he heard Devon's shout.

No. the dragon thought, realizing the other dragons were too close for him to save the little human. Then he saw that the girl, Kate was frozen in horror. I have to try.

*********

Standing at the top of the slide, Devon was so calm he knew there would be problems later.

He waited until the three dragons were no more than a hundred yards from him when they began breathing in for flame. Devon then raised his hand and said forcefully, “Laguz.”

As the dragons let loose their fire, a wall of water collected around them and engulfed not only the fire, but the dragons themselves. Pushing his hand outward, Devon sent the ball that had formed towards the mountains.

Once the water was no longer visible, Devon lowered his arm. He had enough time to think What was that? before his vision blurred and the last thing he saw was the ground rushing at him from 15 feet away.

#######

As the dragon grabbed Devon, he suddenly lost his dragon form.

When the dragon-turned-human hit the ground hit the ground, Kate came out of her frozen state and looked around. As she saw some of the children wandering out of the castle and the smaller dragons staring at where the larger dragons went, she commanded, “Everybody get inside.”

“That includes the dragons,” she added as she watched the large man stand, cradling an unconscious Devon.

I've never seen a dragon's human form. Shaking herself, Kate focused on getting everyone where they would be safest and making sure no one was injured. “You. Bring Devon inside.”

She led the man to the rooms that had been converted for medical purposes. After the possibly 7 foot tall man placed Devon in one of the beds, Kate asked him, “What was that? Why were those dragons attacking? And do you have any idea what Devon just did?”

In a deep baritone he replied, “My name is Jax. The only question I know the answer to is the dragons. Dragon Law states that our kind are not to associate with other species. They found out about the visits.”

“Why are you human? I thought shifting while holding someone is dangerous.”

“It is. For some reason, when I caught him, is was like I was forced to change.” After a moment's thought, he added, “I'm not sure I can change again right now.”

While she was checking Devon over, Kate was thinking. She didn't find any cuts or bruises, but there was a tingle in her fingers.

“Magic,” she breathed. “Devon can use magic?”

“He's human. That should be impossible. Humans can't use magic,” Jax protested.

This must be what Corvinus sensed, Kate thought. “Let's leave him to rest. That amount of magic will keep him asleep for some time.”

Thinking to herself, That amount of magic should have killed him.

Leaving the room, Kate and Jax both knew some things: This boy wasn't what he seemed, he was too powerful. And whoever he was, they needed to keep him safe.