Chosen to Protect

Chapter 9

Quartz whistled as he walked to the edge of the sea from where he lived up on a cliff.

He was the tender of the lighthouse but currently it didn't need tending. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the wind steady and he was sure that no one would need him to tend the lighthouse until that night.

He dove into the sea and felt his dragon start writhing. With a grin he transformed and he started swimming toward the bottom of the sea.

He was an electric blue sea dragon. He couldn't breathe fire or do anything like that but he could send out radar signals, looking for ships or subs in distress, he could see through things and he could control water.

Then he stopped and sent out a signal. He picked up a faint distress, "Mayday, mayday! Ship....hole....sink! Does anybody copy? May-"

The signal cut out and he zipped away in the direction it had come from.

A freighter had burst a hole, he saw and he started sucking the water out of the ship. Through the walls he saw the crew's bewildered yet happy expressions.

He snorted and blew the ship to the nearest landmass. The crew cheered when they saw the land and a few jumped out of the ship and swam to the land.

Quartz dipped his head, even though they didn't know he was there, and swam back to his lighthouse.

He looked up at the lighthouse and decided not to go back just yet. There was someone in the lighthouse. It seemed they were waiting for him, but to do him good or evil he did not yet know.

He swam among the reefs for a bit then climbed out of the water and changed back into a human. He strode up to the lighthouse and waited outside the door.

The person opened it. It was an average height young man with black curly hair and serious brown eyes.

"What do you want?" Quartz asked, moving past him and into the kitchen. He made himself a cream cheese and spicy chips sandwich and took a bite out of it, glancing back at the stranger.

"My name is Alex." the young man said cordially.

"Nice name. I'm Quartz." Quartz said casually. He set the sandwich down and flexed his hand, electricity sparking at his fingertips.

Alex noticed, "Nice trick." he commented.

Quartz looked Alex directly in the eye and shot a ball of electricity at a dart-board without looking. The dart-board fried and Quartz took another bite of sandwich, "Thanks." he said with his mouth full.

"I wanted to ask you something." Alex said cautiously.

"What? To join you?" Quartz asked, moving some water into a cup and bringing the cup over to him. He took a sip and glanced at Alex, waiting for his answer.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Alex asked, surprised.

"I pay attention to what's happening more than people think." Quartz said with a grin. He refilled his glass with water from the air around him.

Alex watched with interest, "Would you like to?" he asked.

Quartz shook his head, "Give me one good reason why I should." he told Alex.

Alex frowned and traced a vase on the table, "Jasper and James will come soon-"

"Already have." Quartz interrupted.

Alex turned to him in surprise, "So are you working for them?" he asked.

Quartz shook his head, "No. They threatened me though."

"With what?" Alex asked curiously.

"My family." Quartz said carelessly.

"They tried blackmailing you?" Alex questioned.

Quartz shrugged and flopped onto the couch, putting his sandwich on the table. "Yup. Guess so."

"What did you do?" Alex asked, coming up behind him.

Quartz yawned, "Electrocuted the young one and blasted the old one like twenty miles from here. My family died when a cruise we were on sank. That's when I discovered my dragon and from the fact that you are here right now I'm suspecting that you have discovered your dragon too."

Alex nodded, "That's one way to put it. So are you joining us or not?"

Quartz shook his head, "I'm staying out of this. What would I get?"

"Safety?" Alex offered.

Quartz looked up at him incredulously, "Seriously? You think I can't take care of myself? Nope. Not good enough. Come back later with a good bargain. The game's about to start." he leaned forward on the couch and flipped the TV on.

Alex sighed and nodded, "Fine." With that he left.

Quartz watched him fly away through the wall. "Alright." he said, jumping up and turning the TV off. "Time to get to work."

He ran to his bedroom and opened a panel in the wall. It slid open to reveal a circular desk covered in computers and wires and gadgets.

He ran over to it and pressed a few buttons, "Come on, work." he pleaded, "I know I haven't gotten you out in a few years but please..." the computers powered on and he grinned in satisfaction. "Yes!"