The Chamber of the Dragon, Baltimore, So late Monday, it's actually Tuesday

[arboreal_priestess]

The dragon's eyes were a luminous pumpkin orange, like giant jack-o-lanterns burning in the face of the largest lizard the world had ever seen. He was still mostly prone, but his head was raised like the head of a snake getting ready to strike. The few remaining cultists cheered, apparently thinking he'd finally woken up at their command, and would now be happy to do their bidding. Verity wasn't completely sure they were wrong.

"You!" One of the cultists ran forward, pointing imperiously toward Verity and Candy as she addressed the dragon. "Destroy these infidels!"

The dragon looked down at the cultist before turning those jack-o-lantern eyes back on the two of them. Sarah, Liam, and Dominic were still near the door, and Ryan was kneeling next to Istas, trying to get her to wake up. As a fellow therianthrope, he probably had a better idea of what she needed than anybody else in the room. No one moved to attack anyone else; everyone was waiting to see what the dragon would do.

The dragon lifted one enormous hand and slammed it down on the cultist, smashing her the way someone might squash a bug. There was a long pause as everyone considered this. Then the remaining cultists went back to screaming and running away. Candy stepped around Verity and broke into a run of her own--but unlike the cultists, she was running toward the dragon. The servitors stayed frozen where they were. Verity ran after Candy, but more slowly. She was, after all, covered in blood and dressed like a cultist; she wanted the dragon nicely distracted by the female of his species before she started bothering him.

Liam	Liam started moving at about the same time, grabbing hold of Verity's arm and pulling her in to a tight hug, something he'd been wanting to do since he first freed her from the gurney. But there'd been the whole imminent danger thing to worry about then, so he'd held back. Now that- for the moment, at least- nobody was actively trying to stab anyone else, he was just going to cling to her for a moment or two. "You scared the hell out of me," he murmured. "Out of all of us, actually."
Verity	"I'm sorry I got captured by a snake cult," Verity said. She sounded flippant, but her return hug was hard and more than a little bit clingy. She had been afraid--of failure, of death, of what would happen afterwards--and then he'd come in like a hero in a storybook and saved her. "Won't happen again."
Sarah	"This is sweet and all, but dragon? Remember, dragon?" Sarah tugged on the sleeve of Verity's borrowed robe. "It's really big, and it's really confused right now, so this would be the time to tell it that you come in peace."
Dominic	"Truly?" Dominic said, blinking. He was keeping a wary eye on the servitors, more knives flashing silver in his hands. "How do you know?"
Sarah	"Telepath, remember? Now come on." She grabbed Verity's arm, pulling me out of Liam's embrace and starting toward the dragon. Verity didn't put up any resistance. This was, after all, a real live dragon. That wasn't the sort of thing a cryptozoologist got the opportunity to meet every day.
Candy	Candy beat them to the dragon by a considerable margin. She wasn't actually saying anything when they got there; just standing with her hands pressed against her mouth, looking up at the dragon and crying silently.
Verity	Verity shook her arm free of Sarah's grasp and put a hand on Candy's shoulder, looking up at the dragon. "This wasn't in the manual," she murmured to Sarah, before saying, more loudly, "Um, hello, Mr. Dragon. I'm Verity Price. This is Candice. She's a dragon, too." Dominic and Sarah both gave Verity startled looks, with murmurs of surprise coming from elsewhere in the chamber. Candy just kept crying. The dragon wasn't saying anything, and so she added, "It's nice to meet you."
The Dragon	"Who are these others?" asked the dragon, lowering his head to what passed for eye level. He had an accent, faintly British, that made Verity think of period dramas about the American Revolution on PBS. "Who has sent you? What is going on here?"
Verity	"Um, no one sent us, and what's going on is sort of a long story. This is my cousin, Sarah Zellaby." Sarah couldn't do much more than wave, looking a little shell-shocked by whatever connection she had to the dragon's brain. "And, uhh, this is my boyfriend, Liam Kincaid." Verity gestured for Liam to come forward and present himself. To be polite, yeah, and not just because she wanted to cling to his hand, afterwards.
Liam	Liam stepped forward. "It's an honor," he said politely, because there really wasn't any other sensible way to address a giant lizard. And then reached for Verity's hand and curled their fingers together.
Verity	Best boyfriend. They should really have a talk soon. You know, when there weren't giant dragons making human contact for the first time in...centuries? "And this is our friend, Dominic De Luca." Friend was maybe overstating the case a little bit, but he'd come to rescue her and gotten Piyusha's body, so Verity was willing to stretch the truth.
Dominic	Looking unsure as to whether or not he was doing the right thing, Dominic bowed to the dragon. "Sir," he said.
Candy	Candy took her hands away from her mouth and pointed at Dominic. "He's from the Covenant," she announced. Catching Verity's exasperated expression, she added, "But he came to help save you from the snake cult."
The Dragon	"Is that what these noisy little people were on about?" The dragon lifted his left hand, studying it. "My fingers are quite sore."
Verity	"The, um, 'noisy little people' have been trying to wake you up, and while you were still sleeping, they were taking blood and using it to turn people into servitors," Verity explained. "I'm sorry I don’t have any bandages."
Liam	"I can heal those injuries, if you'll let me," Liam said, raising one hand and taking a step towards the dragon That particular aspect of the shaqarava had been seeing a lot more use ever since he'd started dating Verity, strangely enough.
The Dragon	Verity lived an exciting life. The dragon regarded Liam for a long moment, then inclined his head. "I am sure I will recover, but I appreciate the offer." He then transferred his orange gaze to Dominic. "The Covenant of St. George is here? I have never seen one of your kind so poorly armored, or so alone. What do you think you can do against me, small one?"
Dominic	"Nothing, sir," said Dominic. Even his most fearsome teachers in the Covenant had never heard him sound so respectful. "I came here to assist my friends, not to bring challenge. This is not my city to defend." He nodded toward Verity. "It's hers. I, and by extension, the Covenant, will stand by her decisions in this matter." He could feel Verity staring at him in shock, but he kept his gaze firmly on the giant predator.
The Dragon	The dragon seemed to take this much more in stride. Maybe he was used to humans being insane. Turning back to Verity, he asked gravely, "And what are your decisions in this matter, Miss Price?"
Verity	"I promised the dragon princesses I'd find you for them, and I promised the cryptids of the city that I'd make the snake cult stop sacrificing virgins to you. I think both of those are pretty much done. Candy? What do you think?"
The Dragon	Candy nodded, still crying. The dragon tilted his head to study her before looking to the servitors clustered at the back of the cave. A deep sadness seemed to fall over him like a burial shroud, and his voice was very soft as he said, "None of the others survived. After all that we did to flee, none of the others survived. Oh, you poor dearest one." He placed one fingertip on Candy's shoulder. She grabbed hold and cried even harder. "So long without us to protect you." He looked toward me. "How long?"
Verity	"It's been about three hundred years since you went to sleep," Verity said. "There haven't been any reports of dragons in that time. Everyone thinks you're extinct."
The Dragon	"Everyone except you." He studied the assembled group thoughtfully. "What stops me from destroying you all, and keeping myself secret?"
Liam	"We have friends who'd come looking for us, if we went missing," Liam pointed out. "And Dominic has the Covenant. Besides that, we came here to help, and you'll need allies if you're going to restart your species," and if anyone in this room could understand the importance of such an undertaking, it was Liam. "Candice isn't the last of the female dragons, as it happens," he added, finally.
The Dragon	The scaly ridges over the dragon's eyes--what would have been his eyebrows, if he’d had any hair--rose. "Truly?" He turned a quizzical eye on Candy. "We always knew the females could survive without us for a little time, but everyone assumed there was a limit to the number of generations."
Verity	"If there is, it hasn't been reached," Verity said. She thought back to her chat with Candy, after Betty had left; the melancholy in her voice when she'd said, I've never actually met a boy before. No wonder she was emotional right now. Hell, Verity was having trouble blaming Betty for getting caught up in all of this. "There are more than a few women waiting eagerly to meet you right now."
Candy	Candy sniffled, still holding onto the dragon's fingertip. "We prayed and prayed that somewhere, somehow, one of the males had survived. I never thought I'd still be alive when we found you."
The Dragon	"Poor dearest ones, waiting so long. I would have woken long ago, if I had realized." The dragon tugged his fingertip gently, leading Candy closer to him. Turning his eyes back to the rest of the group, he said, "I was hunted. I was hurt, and I was weak. I asked my sisters to guard me while I slept and healed. I thought I would wake...sooner than I did."
Verity	"The local settlers found your sisters, and took them," Verity said. "No one thought you might still be alive down here. I'm so sorry."
The Dragon	"Perhaps it was better this way. The Covenant seems to have changed--at least enough that one dragon may be left in peace with his family." His jack-o-lantern eyes blazed. "Is that not so?"
Dominic	"Unless you directly threaten the human population of this city, I will not tell the Covenant you are here," said Dominic. "You have my word that I will not take away your peace...as long as you do not take away ours."
The Dragon	"The Covenant has changed." The dragon sounded somewhere between amused and amazed. Looking past us to the servitors, he added, "But humanity has not. You say this 'snake cult' made them of its own?"
Verity	"I think they probably made them of the city's homeless and a few mysterious tourist disappearances, but yes, it was humans that did this. One of your females--" Verity glanced at Candy. "One of your females sort of lost sight of what it means to keep other people's best interests at heart, and she told them how to do it. She was trying to help them wake you up."
Liam	"I think I killed her," Liam added. "When I got here, there was a woman, dressed in cultist robes and holding a gun to Verity's head." From what he'd overheard, the woman had used the word 'us' when speaking of cryptids, which didn't jive with what he knew about the snake cult's membership requirements. "Verity would be dead now if I hadn't shot first." So no, he didn't regret it at all.
Candy	"She was working with them," Candy admitted. "She was here when they brought the three of us from the club, and let them tie me up while they prepared Verity and Istas to be sacrificed." Candy hung her head as she said that, like not getting sacrificed with the others was a personal failing. "...And she lied to us. She didn't tell us you were here. She knew, and she wasn't going to tell us."
The Dragon	"Then you have done nothing wrong," the dragon said to Liam. "If you hadn't, I would have." The dragon bent his head, blowing gently on Candy's cheek. Sparks danced along her cheek like firefly kisses, leaving more soot marks in their wake. "Shhh, my little dearest one. You are more beautiful in my eyes than you could ever know."
Verity	Verity elbowed Liam gently in the ribs. "You're never that sweet to me," she teased, mostly because it felt weird to watch the two dragons in front of them. No, not just weird. Intrusive.
Liam	"I've seen a lot of terrifying things in my life," Liam admitted softly, reaching to settle one arm on Verity's waist and pull her closer. "But nothing that compared to seeing that woman hold a gun to your head." So maybe it wasn't poetic in the same way that the dragon's words had been, but it was an admission of how deeply he felt all the same.
Verity	If anybody accused Verity of melting, she would steal one of the knives off the ground and gut them. That being said, there was a particular softness about her as she turned to Liam, mouth open to tell him--
Ryan	Ryan stepped up next to them, back in his human form, with a semiconscious Istas lying sprawled in his arms like a starlet on a bad B-movie poster. Tanuki Terror, coming soon to a theater near you. At least he'd managed to coax her back into her own human shape, which was probably easier to carry. "Hey, Very. So, uhh, that's a dragon."
Verity	Verity swallowed back her aggravation. She hadn't been about to make any kind of important, emotional declaration or anything, Ryan, this was the perfect time to interrupt, thank you! "Yyyyup," she drawled. "Two dragons, actually. Candy, and..." She paused. "Excuse me, Mr. Dragon? What's your name?"
The Dr- Er, William	"William," replied the dragon, with immense gravity, not looking away from Candy's eyes.
Verity	"...Okay, then," Verity said, blinking. If the dragon wanted to be named 'William,' she wasn't going to argue. "William, this is Ryan--he works with Candy--and the naked, unconscious one is Istas, another coworker."
Ryan	William looked away from Candy long enough to offer polite greetings to Ryan, who returned them easily enough. Though then he followed it up with, "I'm talking to a dragon. Cool, cool, cool," suggesting he wasn't as blase about the activity as he appeared. "Istas is in a pretty bad way. Better what with Liam's purple lightshow and all, but he got interrupted before he could do much more than take her out of immediate danger. I'm thinking but she could use some stitches and some britches." He smiled, showing teeth that were still longer than the human norm. "Get it? 'Stitches and britches'?"
Verity	He had interrupted her moment to make a rhyming pun. Verity was more than a little tempted to see if William wanted one last sacrifice. "You're a riot," she said, giving him a smile that made some of her knives look dull. "Can you get her to someplace safe?"
Ryan	He nodded. "I can, yeah. I mean, I'm leaving you alone with a dragon, a murderer," he wrinkled his nose at Dominic, "and some chick who called saying she was your cousin, but you've got clothes and backup this time, so I figure you've got it covered."
Verity	Even a little annoyed, Verity had to smile a little. "I'll be fine. You go on--and if Istas wakes up, tell her she's not allowed to kill Dave until I get there. He isn't getting off that easy."
Liam	"I've got a thing or two to say to him, that's for sure," Liam growled.
Verity	"Wait, how do you know to be pissed at him?" Verity asked, confused.
Liam	"When Ryan and I were leaving Carol's, I had- a vision. Of Dave attacking you with some sort of... sparkly dust?" he frowned. "And then you waking up here." Realization dawned on him as he recalled what had happened when they'd gone to the club in hopes of tracking down just where Verity had been taken. "I doubt we're going to get that chance to 'talk' to him after all. His office was... pretty empty. Like it'd been cleaned out." The work of someone looking to make a more or less permanent exit, in other words.
Sarah	"Which is about when I showed up," Sarah added. "Freaking out because you just went silent on me. I had to talk the Lyft driver into bringing me here instead of home to feed me like three times." When cuckoos were in distress, they sent out mental signals that said so, evoking feelings of protection and concern from others. Given a long enough ride over and the Lyft driver would have sworn up and down that Sarah was their daughter or sister or niece and committed several crimes to keep her safe. "I got there, Liam mentioned his vision, and between telepathy and Ryan's ability to track, we managed to follow the trail here." She shot Verity a look. "You always bring me to the nicest places."
Verity	"And then I introduce you to dragons, so it all works out," Verity said. "So Dave's gone...damn. Istas is gonna be pissed. Not only did she miss all the rampaging, she was really looking forward to giving him a hat made out of his intestines. Liver. Some internal organ." Verity sighed, running a hand through hair once more sticky with blood. "Okay, so the cult is pretty much gone." Movement in the corner of the room caught her eye; the servitors were creeping towards William, devotion in their eyes. "What are you going to do about them?"
William	"Done is done, I'm afraid; what they are now is what they'll be the rest of their lives." William sounded honestly regretful. "We'll care for them. There are ways to bring them closer to intelligence, if properly looked after."
Dominic	"And you'll make no more," said Dominic. It could have been a question. It wasn't.
William	"The properties of our blood are not a weapon," said William, in the sort of tone an adult might use when speaking to a small child. "They are a defense. I will not promise not to protect myself and my family if someone comes to trouble us, but I will not be seeking out humans to claim. It was only ever a necessity when the females became rare, usually due to humans 'rescuing' them from their mates."
Dominic	"Good," said Dominic. "I appreciate your candor."
Candy	William made a noise that Verity suspected was the draconic version of stifling a laugh. At the same time, Candy stepped away from him, looking up into his burning orange eyes. "I don't want to go," she said regretfully, "but I have sisters, and they'll want to know that we've found you. Can we...can we come back? Can we come to you?"
William	William blew on her face again, this time igniting the tips of her hair. They burned for only a moment. When they went out, her hair looked even better than it had before. Not that Verity was jealous or anything, in a shapeless cultist robe, her hair sticking up in bloody spikes. "I will wait more eagerly than you can imagine for your return," he assured her.
Verity	"So, Ryan wants to get Istas some medical attention, Candy needs to talk to her Nest, and I may have needed a shower more in my life than I do right now, but nothing is coming to mind," Verity announced. "I'm making the executive decision that says it's time to go." None of the fallen cultists had shoes even remotely near Verity's size, and while they'd kept her weapons in the antechamber--thank God--her clothes were nowhere to be found. Liam solved the problem by picking her up and toting her toward the exit. She considered protesting, but decided that having fully functional feet was more important than her pride. Besides, it felt really good to be held.
Sarah	Candy walked at the front of their little group, looking as lovesick as a teen who'd just met her Disney Channel idol for the first time. Sarah and Dominic brought up the rear, Dominic obviously playing rearguard--though what he was going to do against a dragon was beyond Verity--and Sarah smirking every time Verity looked at her over Liam's shoulder. Aren't those a lot of soft, squishy feelings. What are you going to do with him?
Verity	"Shut up," Verity hissed. Family was stupid.
Liam	A frown of confusion briefly creased Liam's face, and then understanding as he realized who Verity was directing that comment to, glancing back and spotting Sarah's smirk. "For a moment there," he said to Verity, "I thought maybe you had developed mind reading powers."
Verity	Verity looked at him, confused and proving that quite clearly hadn't. "Why?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"
Liam	"Well," he said slowly, "I'm already mentally composing my arguments for the 'discussion' we're going to have as soon as we get back to the island."
Verity	"What 'discussion' is that?" Verity asked, raising an eyebrow. Okay, wow, 'we need to Talk' never sounded good, no matter how you said it. Good to know.
Liam	"The 'please never run off and get kidnapped by another snake cult ever again' discussion," Liam said. And yes, technically Verity had already promised that. But Liam felt it bore repeating. "Like I said before, it scared the hell out of me. I think I aged six years tonight." That was a figure of speech, in case you were wondering, Verity.
Verity	"Hey now," Verity said, unable not to smile a little at that. "They used Tooth Fairy dust. That's just playing dirty." A good girlfriend would have left it there. Too bad he was dating Verity. "Six years, huh? So you're like twelve now?"
Liam	"Yup. Girls are gross," Liam deadpanned.
Candy	"Wasn't he beautiful?" asked Candy.
Verity	There was a pause while everyone else tried to make sense of this apparent non sequitur. "Yeah, Candy, he was gorgeous," Verity said carefully.
Liam	"He's not really my type, but he was very impressive," Liam added diplomatically.
Candy	Candy sighed dreamily. "Yeah," she agreed.
Sarah	Okay, that was weird, thought Sarah, looping Verity and Liam both into the conversation.
Verity	Lay off, Verity replied. She just met her first boy. She's allowed to be a little weird.
Sarah	You mean that was the male of her species? Sarah's expression mirrored her mental 'voice,' all shock and awe. Wow. Talk about size really mattering...
Verity	Verity's laughter lasted for the rest of their trip back up into the light.

[AND WE'RE DONE! Thanks to everyone who read along and even more thanks to rockstar babe firstofitskind, not just for all her preplaying and coding, but the encouragement and cheerleading all through this, as well as her AMAZING PATIENCE. Adapted from Chapters 25 of Seanan McGuire's Discount Armageddon. First post | Previous post. NFI, NFB, OOC is love]