Dragon Isle
(All
characters and locations in this story are entitled and copyrighted to Poseidon
Simons)
Prologue
Shane was born in
On Shane*s eighteenth
birthday, disaster struck, his father was attacked and killed by a great white,
while trying to film seals. The incident hit Shane hard, and having no other family,
struggled to put himself through college. Friends of the family helped him out,
sending money for college and offering jobs. He finally got a steady job in
On one winter day, Shane
got a post card from his friend in Europe, he was now living on a island of the
coast of
The flight was long and
boring, they showed an American movie based off some old TV show, he didn*t
mind though, after all it was the country of his birth. Around him there
were a lot of business men on their way to Hong Kong, or one of the other stops
along the way. He felt awkward being the only one there with a dark tan and
long shaggy hair. Being off of work for a week he decided that a come would
just waist time. Shane was 21 now and wondered how his old friend was
doing after those 7 long years.
Shane woke with a gasp, the
dream had been so real, the storm, the wave. A stewardess had come over and
placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Are you ok sir?"
She asked calmly, "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"No, thank you."
He replied, Shane looked to his left and noticed that an old couple were
watching him. When they spotted his gaze they quickly looked away. Shane laid
back, he kept thinking of the dream, he had never been in a storm like that, or
even that far in the ocean alone.
"The Captain would
like to ask you to please fasten your seat belts, for we are making our final
decent onto London National Air Port." The stewardess*s voice said over
the loud speaker.
He spent the night at a
hotel. The city of London was magnificent, he had seen pictures in Sidney but
none had captured to true splendor of the city. Massive sky scrapers met historic
buildings, entwining together almost like 2 centuries colliding. He had a grand
view of Big Ben from his hotel, the clocker tower*s glow shined like the moon.
Shane stared at it before falling asleep, his mother wanted to see it so bad
when he was little, she had even planed a trip that would fit his father
budget, but that was before she got ill. A tear fell down the side of his face
and he laid in his bed, he was alone now, with no one to turn to except old
family friends that at best could only offer a job filing papers or sweeping
floors.
"Today*s the day"
Shane said to himself as he approached the boat rental, his friend had said to
go to this one, he had rented a large boat just for Shane to drive to the
island. Shane got the keys and headed down to the ramp, it had been years since
he had operated a boat but, it was like riding a bike for him, something he
would never forget.
"May want to re-plan
your trip boy!" An old fisherman warned, stepping out from the shadows.
"The sun be red this
morning, a big storm be hitting these waters today."
"Yes, I know there are
two of them actually, one is heading east the other is heading west, im going
south so there should be no problem." Shane said smiling at the man. He
knew better than to trust some old fisherman, he had met one before with his
father, everyday was suppose to be a big storm, and every day was clear skies.
"You*ve been warned
boy, I know these waters better than any weather-boy!" the man said and
walked off.
Shane loaded his boat and
checked his bag, he had everything, the wedding gift, his tux, a spare change
of clothes, and, he pulled out a box that contained the hand gun, a clip of
bullets lay beside it. It was his other gift to his friend, since they were
kids they use to always watch cop stories, this gun was a remake of an old 9 mm
special that was on one of the shows. He knew his friend would love it.
The seas began to get
rough, Shane didn*t worry, he had handled waves like these before, they were
nothing compared to the ones by Sidney*s coasts. But then he noticed the sky
darkening, he could see both storm fronts coming to meet each other. Like an
epic battle between two gods these storms met, unleashing a monestrous tropical
depression. Shane struggled with the wheel trying to fight the winds and
current, for at least 2 hours he fought the storm, he didn*t know how far out
he was now, he just hoped he could survive to see his friend get married.
Suddenly the waves seemed
to quit, the storm calmed, but it was not over, checking his barring Shane
noticed that he was well beyond the coasts of England, in fact he couldn*t find
where he was, the compass was broken by a piece of debris. Shane was about to
get the G.P.S. navigator when he heard the sound, like a rumble in the water.
Turning he could see the massive wave rising out of the ocean, like a titan
emerging from its crypt it rose higher and higher. Shane could do nothing but
stare helplessly as this giant marvel of nature swallowed his boat, and, so he
thought his life.
Chapter 1
(The Unforgiving Sea)
Roll on, thou deep and dark
blue Ocean -- roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep
over thee in vain; --
Lord Byron "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" 1818
Man marks the earth with
ruin -- his control
Stops with the shore.
The hot sun beat down on
Shane*s head, and the crashing of the waves on his feet woke him. He looked
around, squinting in the bright sun light, his first thoughts were that he had
died. Shane noticed the large thick fog out in the distance that seemed to
blanket the island, and there crashed on the rocks was his boat, it looked ok,
but as he looked closer he could tell it was not sea worthy, a large gash lay
on one side where it struck the rock. With a barrage of four letter words Shane
stood up, his right leg had a long cut down near the calf and his arms ached,
"I must have hit a few
rocks coming to shore" He thought. Shane found some large tree leaves and
rapped them around the wound to stop the bleeding.
" I wonder how long I
was out?" He said quietly to himself. Shane sat down on the beach and
watched the sun rise higher in the sky when he decided to swim out and salvage
the boat. The swim was actually very refreshing, except for the stinging pain
of his right leg in the salt water. When Shane reached the boat, he grabbed the
inflatable life raft and tossed it into the water to inflate. When it was
completely inflated he began placing everything he would need on top of it,
After realizing there was no more room in the small raft for himself, Shane
jumped into the water and began the swim back.
He didn*t see the large
dorsal fins behind him as he slowly swam back to shore, until they were right
on top of him. Hearing the splash Shane turned around to be face to face with
what appeared to be a dolphin, yet it was one he had never seen before, its
green colored hide had a long orange stripe from the face down to the tail, and
to his amazement two colorful wings sprouted from its back. Then from out of
nowhere another one jumped out of the water flying over the raft and back into
the crystal water. The other dolphin didn*t move, until its friend moved behind
him, then with a quick thwack with it*s flipper to Shane*s head they began to
jump around the boat. Shane stared at them for the longest time, they jumped
around and played, calling for him to join them. Shane was praying that these
animals were not dangerous or carnivorous, he had heard his father say that
dolphins were friendly but could be dangerous if provoked. Suddenly the
dolphins stopped their playing and swam closer, they swam around him, studying
him, and with one quick flick of its tail the one in front of Shane was gone.
He turned around to see the other one but it too had gone. Shane watched for
them to resurface and then decided he was better off on land, in case there
were sharks in the water. About half way to land something grabbed his ankle
and dragged him under. Shane had just the time to see the large black figure of
his attacker, and from the looks if it, it was big. He came to the surface only
to be staring into the massive eye of a whale, an orca by the looks of it.
"Sheesh must every
Cetacean mock me today." He yelled and splashed the big whale.
It seemed to have got the
message and departed. Shane finally reached the shore and pulled up the raft.
Looking out over the sun set he could see the dolphins jumping from the water,
until the winged one took to the air and flew magnificently into the sky and
vanishing into the last remnants of sun light.
"Wow!"were
the only words that slipped from his mouth.
Chapter 2
(An Island of Myth)
"You can only find truth
with logic if you have already found truth without it."
- Gilbert Keith
Chesterton (1874-1936)
Shane
set up a small camp site, the box containing his fathers cellular phone and
G.P.S. guidance system was apparently not as water proof as he thought, and
they both had shorted out. He slept that night in the tent, listening to the
sounds of the night and the ocean, Shane could hear whales in the distance
singing, something he really wished his father was here to listen along. The
next morning Shane decided that it would be better to explore the island, he
loaded his, still wet, backpack up with some rations, flares, flashlight,
binoculars, rope, and finally the 9mm hand gun that he had planned to give his
friend. Looking at it before setting it into the hold, he thought of what his
friend would do to find him, or if he would even look at all, no one else
would. Shane checked it carefully to make sure it would work, afraid to waste
any bullets he strapped the holder onto his waste and set it in. He looked
though the box to get the other magazine, strapping it in, Shane set off
following the beach.
Stopping
for a break Shane took out a ration pack and ate a small piece of a power bar.
The sun had risen to the top of the sky and he checked his watch,
"noon
already" Shane thought, and scanned the area. Then he noticed that the
path of the beach seemed to stop at the base of a large plateau, extending into
the ocean. As he approached to his amazement, he saw a path, and a sign in
English.
"People!"
He thought and ran up the trail. Shane breathed a huge sigh of relief as he saw
the city emerge from behind the rocks. Out of breath and tired he sat down on a
rock and took out his canteen and drank, and then, reaching inside the bag he
pulled out a pair of binoculars. With them Shane scanned the city, and froze,
there were no cars, no trucks, almost no vehicles at all, "Wait that*s a
bus there" He said out loud. Shane watched as the bus pulled up to a stop
and open its doors. What he saw next changed his life forever. Stepping off the
bus was not what he had expected, and it definitely was not human. Shane could
almost see the out line of the green scales covering the creature two long dark
horns sprouted from its head and one small one on its nose. Two wings folded to
its side, twitched as a gust of wind flew through the city. Sitting in awe as
another one of these creatures exited the vehicle, this one solid white with
long blond hair and....
"Crack"
Shane
heard the movement behind, grabbing the gun he spun around only to be face to
face with a large brown,
"Dragon!" He
breathed out, almost falling over in shock. Even though it wasn*t human he
could tell it was a female, her long brown hair almost matched the color of her
dark-brown scales. She was wearing a solid red T-shirt and had an expression of
fear on her, long, reptilian, face. She froze, eyes wide, staring straight at
him. Shane turned around to run when he saw the second one coming up the trail,
as white as a ghost and holding something high in the air with her solid black
hands. Hearing the other one make a sound Shane quickly spun around again, and
then that something hard and heavy hit him on the head and he collapsed to the
floor, unconscious.
Chapter 3
(A New World)
"No passion so
effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as
fear."Edmund Burke
Clair stood there, still
scared, looking down at the collapsed body of her attacker. She looked up to
see her friend Emily holding the rock that had been used to knock the creature
out.
"What is it
Clair?" Emily asked, eyes still wide in shock.
"Oh sure like I know,
wait that*s a gun, maybe it*s an escaped lab experiment." Clair said as
she picked up the strange weapon. She looked down again, and noticed the blood
forming on the creatures face. "How hard did you hit him?"
"Not that hard. Should
we take him to the hospital?"
Clair nodded, what else
were they going to do, she didn*t want to leave it to die out here with the
scavengers. Emily began to glow and she transformed into her animal form,
unaware that the human had woke from unconsciousness and watched her transform,
unable to comprehend what happened, or what he just saw it drifts back and lies
still. Picking the creature up with her massive tail she lowered it onto her
back and allowed Clair to climb on. Spreading her wings, she took to the air,
towards the hospital.
When she arrived, Clair
went and got a doctor. She explained what they had found, and he was most
interested. They rushed the human to an exam room where they bound his wrist
and ankles. The nurses, stayed back while the doctor did a check of the
unconscious body, afraid to venture too close.
"He*s got a mild
concussion, and a pretty bad cut on the leg but all and all I think it will survive,
what did you hit it with?" the doctor asked Emily when he came out.
"It was a
rock."she said, a little embraced.
"A rock! This creature
could be one of the biggest discoveries in our history and you hit it with a
rock!" The doctor yelled.
"It had a gun and was
aiming it at my friend, what else was I supposed to do?" she said giving
the doctor a cold glare.
The doctor, looked back
into the room. "Lets just hope it has no brain damage so I can examine and
question it."
. . .
Shane awoke with a splitting
head ache. He tried to sit up but couldn*t, he struggled and opened his eyes.
The first thoughts that went through Shane*s head were that he was in a
hospital. With a sigh of relief Shane relaxed and called for the nurse, he
looked down and noticed that his wrists and ankles were bound. Shane gave a cry
of fright when he saw the nurse enter the room. She had short brown fur
covering her entire body, and her face was long and resembled a horse, but she
had long lightly spotted wings. She looked at him, eyes with a little fear in
them, Shane could tell she was stressed. In her hands she held a tray of food.
"Where am I? "
Shane asked in the calmest voice he could muster.
"Your in Yann City
General Hospital, um, some ladies brought you in about 6 hours ago, you had,
um, a light concussion and a deep gash on your leg." She said setting the
food down and quickly backing away. Shane studied her, she was apparently some
form of humanoid... Pegasus. She wore cloths like any other human, except for
the holes in the back for its tail and wings. On her forehead was a long white
stripe, that covered part of her eye and ran down the back of her neck. Instead
of a mane like a horse would have, she had long light brown hair that matched
the spots on her wings.
"Im not going to hurt
you." Shane said in a gentle voice, but before she could say anything a
doctor came in. He was, no doubt, a dragon of some sort, dark-brown scales
covered his body and short black hair.
"Hi, im Dr. Nick Felk,
may I ask you a few questions?" As he spoke two more dragons entered, one
like him the other pure white with blond hair, they both wore what appeared to
be police uniforms and had guns.
"Sure." Shane
said with a little hesitation.
"Ok then, who,"
he paused "What are you?"
Shane sighed feeling like
he had just been abducted by aliens, " Im a human.." He began but
before Shane could finish, the door opened and a large dragon entered the room
wearing a brown suit. "That will be enough questioning for today, when can
he be released?" he said.
"Prime Minister
Sarentu" the doctor stared in disbelief, "Um right now if you wish he
only received a minor blow to the head and a..."
"Fine, fine, you two
help him up and let him get dressed. I want him and the rest of the Senate in
city hall in two hours." Then the Prime Minister turned to leave.
"And for heaven sakes unstrap him, he*s not a prisoner!"
The two guards looked at
each other and untied the restraints, then helped Shane out of the bed. He
walked into the bathroom and changed back into some of the cloths from his
pack. Shane was then escorted to the street where they got on a bus and headed
for the city hall. The bus was sort of like the ones he had to use in Sidney,
except he could not see any kind of gas cap
"They must have some
other form of engine." Shane said to himself looking around the bus as
they entered. The few dragons and griffons on the bus moved to the front, a
child kept bothering his mother asking what Shane was and if he could get
closer.
Everywhere Shane looked
there were creatures that until now he believed to be myth. Gryphons, griffins,
many varieties of dragons, pegasus, unicorns, and all of them walking, wearing
cloths just like a normal human society. The ones that saw him stopped their
work and stared as the bus drove slowly by.
"So can anybody tell
me what*s going on, where I am, and why haven*t my species and yours ever seen
each other in the last hundred or so years?" Shane said in a stern voice
eyeing both of the police officers.
They hesitated but one of
them spoke up. "We are taking you to the city hall where the Senate is, so
they can figure out what to do with you. You*re on Dragon Island, a place where
our species have fled to escape the humans from hunting us hundreds of years
ago."
Shane stared at him
blankly, with a little disbelief, for a long time, the officer started to get
uneasy, sweat began running down his face.
"You are scared of me
aren*t you?" Shane asked.
He nodded slowly.
Shane sat back, a smile
crept along his face, he had never before been feared, now here he was in a
city with a bunch of giant lizards and they were scared of him.
"What a strange
place" Shane said to himself.
"Say what happened to
all my equipment that I was carrying, did they bring it to the hospital with
me?" Shane asked suddenly realizing that he didn*t have them.
"They were taken to
city hall to be analysed." The other dragon said "You see you*re the
first human to arrive on this island, ever."
Shane stared at him in
disbelief.
"How could this island
be here for hundreds of years and never be found by my people?"
"The fog around the
island protects us from being seen by boats, and the reef around the island is
too shallow for them to cross."
"Oh."
Shane sat quietly for the rest of the trip, awaiting what they would do with
him, hoping it would be to let him go home.
Chapter 4
(The Senate)
"The
government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem."
They finally arrived at the
city hall, it was funny to for Shane to see all these buildings, vehicles and
clothes, so close to what they were in the human world. Yet used by a
completely different, completely independent species. Then he saw it, the
building was as big as a stadium, large statues of different dragons and
griffins, even what looked to be pegasusess or unicorns. The top of the
building was made from black marble that glimmered in the sun, large white
marble pillars with ancient writing. The building was a marvel of architecture
with its spiral towers on either side and curved stone arches coming from each
end, it looked centuries old.
Getting out of the bus
Shane almost broke down laughing, every single person he walked past went straight
to the window, one of them, apparently a griffon, hit his wings against the
seat and let out a little cry of pain.
"City hall is the
larger building straight ahead" one of the officers said pointing as they
walked toward it.
"So I noticed."
Shane replied still amazed at the architecture of the building
When they got close Shane
could see more police officers and a lot of news reporters, cramming in to get
a shot of him and to ask him questions, the guards could hardly keep them back.
"I must be big news"
Shane thought "Well there*s a first time for everything I guess."
Getting through the mob of
news crews was hectic and when they finally arrived inside, both officers and
Shane were shaken by the angry crowd of journalists.
"Dang, even in this
world journalist need to be beaten back with a stick!" Shane said resting
his arm against a chair. Both officers laughed and showed him through the
building to the main hall. The main room was huge, the roof was at least 60
feet up and had pictures of the many different species. All around the room
were seated dragons, griffons, and many other creatures Shane have never seen
before. As he studied the room it hit him, there was one representative for
every individual species, Shane counted at least 15 types of dragon, this was a
senate, like the United Nations, back in the human world. All of them some male
some female were staring blankly at him.
"Im getting tired of
these kinds of welcomes." Shane thought and sat down where the Prime
Minister directed him to.
"Ok lets get this
started" the Prime Minister said sitting down at the head of the senate.
"This human is the first of his kind to ever reach these shores alive, and
he is also the first human a lot of us have seen in more than six hundred
years. We are all here to vote on what we are to do with him."
A griffon stood up "I
would not risk ever letting him leave these shores, our people suffered
terrible losses when the humans started their dragon slaying days."
A dragon stood up " I
agree with Kami, if it were to leave it would defiantly tell others of his
visit and then that would be the end of us. You all heard the stories..."
"Oh come on Diego, you
know as well as I do that we have left this island and visited the human world,
they have changed a lot since then, I feel that we can trust them again."
An argument broke out
between the many races living on the island, it reminded Shane of the time his
father made him watch the Kyoto Conference on TV several years ago.
"Stop this useless
fighting right now!" the Prime Minister said, standing up. "Lets vote
on it, this is not a hall for arguing, this is a republic!"
"Wait a minute, I’m
the one they are talking about don*t I get any say in this?" Shane yelled.
" I would at least like to know what*s going on, where I am and how I got
here?"
Everybody stopped and
looked first at Shane then at the Prime Minister. He paused for a moment, then
cleared his throat and called for a historian. They sat for about 5 minutes
when she came through the door. She was a Griffon, long brown air, and a very
thick book in her arms. She set the book down in front of a desk, sat down and
began.
"Ever since our many
species and humanity first met and befriended each other on this world, none of
us could have ever seen the troubles that lay ahead. Around 800 years ago, in
the 12th century mankind thought it best if they were the master
species of this planet. Leaders ordered us to leave their shores, and when we
refused having all the right to the land as they did, we were hunted down. By
around the 14th century our races had almost become extinct, it was
a small group of us that made it to the shores of this island. Finding it safe
we brought the rest of our kind here. And for the last 600 years we have lived
peacefully out of the way of mankind."
She paused and took a drink
of water.
"Thus, we have not
seen or come in contact with any human within this time line. Our people have
lived so long without this threat that they have all but forgotten what a human
is." She stopped and the Prime Minister took over.
"So you see why we are
making a big deal about this don*t you. Your present could cause a lot of
problems with the people. Yet if we were to let you go there*s always the
possibility that our secrete could slip out." He said in a firm voice.
"So we will leave it to the people to decide. All in favor of allowing
this human to live on our shores until we find it necessary to let him go
"Ay"
Around 34 hands went up.
"All in favor of
letting him leave to his homeland?"
The remaining hands went
up.
"Then its settled, the
human will remain on this island for the rest of his natural life or until we
feel it is right to let him leave."
Those words scared Shane*s
life, he would never get the job he wanted, never get married, and never, ever
see his friends again. The Prime Minister came over to him, in his eyes Shane
could tell he was sorry. "I hope you will enjoy your stay here... my
goodness, I never got your name?"
"Its Shane, Shane
Harrison." He replied with a sigh of sadness.
"Im
sorry, that you have to stay, but you must understand its for the best of the
people, my people. Come we have a news conference to go to, so that I can
introduce you to the people of this island." The Prime Minister said,
heading off to one of the exits. "We really are a kind people, besides the
occasional criminal, everyone gets along quite well. Im sure they will take a
liking to you quickly."
Chapter 5
( Introduction)
"A people that values its privileges above
its principles soon loses both."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969),
Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953
Out
side was a madhouse, there were at least 10 different new crews, and couple
hundred citizens. Cameras flashed, microphones were pushed and shoved to get
the best reception. As the Prime Minister approached the podium the crowd died
down and a hush fell over them.
"Good
day." He stared. "Two days ago, July 23th, 2003, a human crashed here
on our lovely island. Yet most of you don*t even know what a human is, or where
they come from." He paused looking over the crowd.
"Over
800 years ago our species and the humans lived in harmony out there beyond the
mist, past the water, to greater land masses. Yet after just a few hundred
years our species and theirs began a power struggle to be the dominant life
form on this small world. We, lost this fight, and were forced almost to
extinction. It was a small group of our ancestors that found this island, and
for 600 years we have lived and thrived here in peace. To shelter you the
people from these creatures known as man, we had the records ripped from the
books, and in only 200 years, thoughts of man, and their ways had left our
people." The Prime Minister paused again and looked back at Shane.
"And
now, something that we the government have dreaded for those long years has
happened. A human has found his way to this island, and here on this island he
will remain. I have called this press conference not to tell you to watch your
children or to run in fear, but to explain that not all of this species is
power hungry and evil. This young human here.." He ushered Shane to stand
and join him and continued. "Has demonstrated that he does not carry the
traits of his ancestors and means you all no harm. He will remain here for the
rest of his life, and I trust that you the people of this island will show him
the respect and kindness that you would show your fellow dragon, or
griffin."
News
crews rushed forward at the end of the Prime Ministers speech, trying to get a
picture of him and the human together. The Prime Minister made his way to a car
and told the guards to make sure that Shane got through alright. When they were
finally seated, the vehicle moved off, the crowd out side still struggling to
get a photo.
"So...
what now?" Shane asked.
"We
are taking you to an apartment complex in a quiet section of the city. There is
where you will be staying until you get your self started. It*s a nice place,
my sister used to live there before she joined a research crew in Orca
City." The Prime Minister said as he filled out some forms.
Shane sat back and
watched the city go by, it was a nice place, there air was clean, the people
seemed friendly once you get past them giving you the wide eyed stare for about
three minutes. He laughed to himself and wondered how life was going to be on
this island, and how his friend was doing, "He probably thinks I’m
dead." Shane thought.
Far
off shore from the island a married couple were enjoying a dance, on their
wedding night. At the end of the dance Jack walked to the boat docks, only to
be joined by his new wife.
"What*s
the matter dear?" She asked grabbing his arm.
"A
good friend of mine was going to be here, he sent word that he was coming and I
have confirmation that he took a boat out. Im just worried that he got caught
up in that storm." He said looking into his wife*s eyes.
She
gave him a hug and kissed his cheek,
"Im
sure he*s fine, you said his dad was a marine biologist, he probably saw the
storm and took refuge somewhere off shore."
"
Hope so. I really hope so." Jack said staring out across the dark,
moon-lit water.
Chapter 6
(A New Neighbor)
"The true measure of a man
is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
"This
is the apartment we have for you, it*s a 3-bed room, two bath, condo, the
kitchen is to the right and the den is straight ahead." The Apartment
Manager said showing the Prime Minister and Shane the house.
"Is
this ok for you?" the Prime Minister asked.
"This
is fine, its big enough for a whole family." Shane replied. "How am I
going to pay for all this without a job?"
"The
city will pay for the house for two years, you have until then to find a job. I
hope you will be happy here in Yann city, its quite nice this time of
year." The Prime Minister went on about the many events but Shane wasn*t
listening.
"We
will have an officer come by in a couple of hours to give you your license and
papers. We have some furniture down stares being loaded off a truck. Do you
need any help moving them in?" The Prime Minister asked
"No,
no I*ll manage." Shane replied, all that was on his mind at the time was
finding a place to rest alone to go over everything that was happening to him.
"Well
then I guess I*ll see you in my office in 3 days with the papers. Enjoy your
stay." The Prime Minister said as he left. Shane walked down stairs and
sat down on the couch outside looking up at the stairs to his new apartment.
"Maybe I should of
taken him upon the moving offer." He thought to himself and began dragging
a chair upstairs. When Shane finally got some of the furniture inside he was
exhausted and sat down, yawning he stretched his arms and lay back.
The
doorbell ringing woke Shane up. He walked over and opened the door expecting to
see a police officer. Yet instead there was a wingless griffin, she had green feathers
and long blond hair. In her hands she held a pie.
"Hi,
Im Mrs. Jackson, Im your next door neighbor, uh, I heard on the news that you
had to stay here so I baked you a pie, to sort of welcome you to the
neighborhood." She said with a smile.
Shane
looked down at the pie, steam rising off its freshly cooked crust.
"Well
thank you very much." He said with a smile. "You*re the first smiling
face I have seen in three days." Shane laughed. She smiled again and
handed him the pie. As she looked in she noticed the lack of furniture, and the
many boxes in the moving van downstairs.
"Are
you having difficulties moving the furniture?" She asked.
"Just
a little, those are some heavy couches." Shane replied with another laugh.
"Well
don*t threat, I can have my son and his friends come over and help you if you
like, he*s about your age." She said reaching into her purse.
"No
I don*t want to bother them, I just need to.." Shane started.
"No,
no Ace and his friends will be happy to help you, he*s at practice right now,
but he said that he would stop by afterwards. Ill send him on over when he gets
back." She said grabbing Shane*s hand. "If you need anything im right
next door. Oh, I never got your name?"
"
Thank you very much, my name is Shane Harrison" He told her. She smiled
and returned to her house and Shane walked over and put the pie in the
refrigerator, then looked at its back for the power cable and a socket.
"I
hope this place has more people like her or im going to be in a lot of trouble
when it comes time to go job hunting" Shane said to himself and sat down
in-front of the television. When the Prime Minister said they were a friendly
people he really meant it. Shane turned the television on and laid back
watching the news. He caught the end of their coverage on himself at city hall
and then they went to a new story on a famous rock stars, and new movie hits.
"In
other news rock and roll sensation Ace Jackson was seen today one again helping
his mother in her flower shop, the shop got a lot of new business....."
Shane turned the TV off and thought for a moment.
"She said her son*s
name was Ace, what did they say that rock stairs last name was?" Shane
wondered for a moment, after giving it a lot of thought he shrugged it off,
there were probably many people with the last name of Jackson in this city
alone. Shane laid back and fell asleep in his chair.
Meanwhile
In a large recording studio a famous band tested out their new song.
"Alright
that sounded great guys!" Alan said coming out of the recording both. He was
short with wings attached to the end of his arms, tan scales covered his body
up to his head where a large red crest lay.
"Naw,
I think I need to work on it just a bit more, Player*s guitar solo sounds a
little weak." Pik said reaching for Player*s music.
"I
thought it was great too." Poseidon said walking over to Ace.
"Hey,
hey, hey that sounded great, no song is weak when I play it!" Player said
grabbing the music back. Player was much bigger that Pik, green scales covering
his body, except for his chest and wings where large yellow scales lay.
"Oh
come on Player, lets not start this again, just let Pik fix some things so it
sound better." Kia said hugging his arm. She smiled when he gave in, she
could always get the better of him in these situations.
"Hey
guys you want to come to my mom*s house for dinner?" Ace asked, he was a
wingless griffin like his mother, grey feathers and a bushy black tipped tail.
Ace was the leader of the band and their main vocalist. "She made an apple
pie, Player!"
Player
stood up and rushed to get ready, nothing would come between him and one of
Mrs. Jackson*s apple pies.
"You
guys go im going to stay and work on this song for a bit, I*ll catch you all
tomorrow." Pik said.
"You
sure Pik?" Kia asked.
"Yah, I have a
fridge full of take out that needs finishing anyway." He said. Kia came
over and kissed him. He new that he would see her again later that night.
Chapter 7
( New Friends)
"Some cause happiness
wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Shane
awoke again with a knock on the door. This time it was the officer, he handed
him a large brown folder, tipped his hat and went on his way. In the folder,
were all the papers Shane needed to fill out for citizenship. He sat them down
on the floor and began to fill them out, they were very similar to the papers
one would fill out when going to another country, except for the race question,
which only had the many dragons, griffins, gryphons, and other. "Hmmm
which race to pick." Shane said to himself. There was a small piece of
paper that was for my drivers license, and another for a credit card.
About
half way through the papers the door bell ring once more. Getting up from the
mess of papers, Shane walked toward the door. Opening it he was once again greeted
by the smiling face of Mrs. Jackson, but this time she had 4 figures standing
behind her. One was another wingless griffin, he had grey feathers and blond
hair, the other griffin had wings, brown feathers, and long red hair, in his
arms there was a small, beaked cat thing that Shane couldn*t recognize. Another
was a large heavy built green dragon, he had a medallion around his neck, Shane
knew he would not be one to mess with. The final one was another dragon, she
had brown skin and long black hair.
"Hello
again Shane, this is my son Ace." She said pulling him forward. Shane
extended a hand and he shook it. "And these are his friends, James, Don,
and Kia." Shane shock all of their hands and welcomed them inside.
"Ok ill just leave you four to get to work, Shane, you are welcome to join
us for dinner if you*d like." Mrs. Jackson said.
"Thank
you again Mrs. Jackson, Ill be more then happy to join you when the moving is
done." Shane said with a smile as she went back to her house.
He
turned around to see once again wide eyes and agape mouths of the 5 standing
behind him. Shane signed and thought to himself "Its going to be a long
day.", " Dang even his dog is giving me a weird look!"
"Ok,
um James was it? Why don*t you grab that side of the couch and I*ll grab this
side." Shane explained to them where he wanted everything and they set to
work. It only took them about half an hour to move everything inside and where
Shane liked it.
"So
Ace, your mother said you were in a band. What do you play?" Shane asked.
James and Kia laughed a bit, and looked at him like he had been living under a
rock for 23 years.
"He
plays guitar." Don said. "He*s the best in the business Im sure you
have seen him on the news or something by now."
"Actually
I did, I thought that it may have been another griffin." Shane replies
with a little laugh.
They
went on talking about music and what they played. James played the guitar like
Ace, and Kia played the keyboard, Don was Ace*s best friend and hung out with
all of them. They also had a drummer named Pik, he had a song to fix and was
unable to make it. When they finally got done Shane sat down on the couch and
was joined by Kia and Don, they were very interested in hearing about the human
world. Don had apparently been there to visit a human friend he had, this
surprised Shane since he was staring at him like he was from another planet.
Shane was explaining how alike our two worlds were when they all heard James
give a cry for join in the kitchen, Vitara came running out squeaking and jumped
into Don*s lap.
"Is
this one of Mrs. Jackson*s apple pies?" James asked mouth watering. Ace
got up and tried to explain that his mother made the pie for the human but
Shane interrupted.
"James,
er Player, you did a lot of work if you want a piece you all are more then
welcome to have one."
They
ate half of the pie and Shane took a small section of the half that was left,
the pie was probably one of the best he have ever eaten.
"Woh,
we had better get back to my Mom*s house, its already past 7:00" Ace said
jumping up and hurrying to the door.
Shane
followed James to Mrs. Jackson*s house. "He*s a little jumpy, she lives
right next door." He said to him.
"He
doesn*t like to make his mom wait or anything, not after his farther
died." James said, as he opened the door.
Mrs.
Jackson welcomed Shane to her home and they all sat down to eat. "So,
Shane, what do you like to eat, I made a lot since I didn*t really know."
Mrs. Jackson said bringing out another dish.
"Well,
I*ll eat just about anything, but red onions and boiled eggs." He stated.
"EGGS!!!!"
The 2 dragons Kia and James said in unison, they seemed horrified at the
thought.
"You
eat eggs, why, how, they*re babies." Kia stuttered.
"We
eat chicken eggs, and they are not fertilized so they don*t hatch. Don*t worry
I*ll make sure not to make you guys breakfast." Shane said trying to hold
back his laughter.
James
sighed, remembering the time Christina had offered him an omelet, he shivered
and looked up.
The
rest of the night went great, Mrs. Jackson really new how to cook, everybody
was sitting back chatting about their next practice and Pik*s new song.
Shane
thought about how things have happened in the last 3 days, getting shipwrecked,
landing on this island, finding Yann City. He thought back on his old life and
his old home, then shook away the memory, staring across the table he realized
that these people will someday be his new family, this city will be his new
home. If he let them, if he gave them the chance. They had all been so kind to
him, something humans fail to do when they meet a stranger, especially one that
wasn*t even their species.
Shane
raised his glass, and proposed a toast, this must not have been something they
did here because he had to explain what it meant.
"To
knew friendships, and a new beginning" Shane said.
"To
knew friendships, and a new beginning" They replied raising their glasses.
And thus began his new
life, and his adventure on Dragon Island.
End
( A Dark Secrete)
"I have not failed. I've
just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
The
Prime Minister returned to his office to be greeted by his three advisors.
"What
will we do with the human, the last one that came ashore your father ordered
killed and the body destroyed." One of them said. "We can make it
look like suicide very easily."
"Yes,
but that was my father, I will not make the same mistake, this human can teach
us a lot about the human world. They don*t remember us, thus giving us the
perfect, chance to keep this island hidden from us." The Prime Minister
replied sitting down at his desk.
"You
understand sir that if this human does become a problem it could cost you your
job, and your reputation." The other replied.
"Im
well a where of the consequences, the apartment he is in was bugged before we
got there, he is under surveillance. I will not let him become a problem.
The Prime Minister
looked out the window at the city, he had worked so hard to be the third Prime
Minister in his family, he just hoped that he did make the right decision. His
advisors, kept talking, bringing forth new ideas, but he wasn*t listening, he
just stared at the city, dreaming of the day he could visit the human world
like he did his own, without fear.
As
the advisors left one of them walked into an unused office and made a call.
"No
ma*am he doesn*t want it kill, we will have to observe its behaviors from a
distance to avoid detection." He said.
A
female voice came from the other line.
"I
want that human, the last one was destroyed before I could study it, Im not
going to loose this one as well. We must find a way to destroy them, for the
better of the T.D.O.."
The phone clicked and
the advisor went on his way.