Tennessee Dragon Chapter 8

Tennessee Dragon

Chapter 8: Side-Effects


When he looked outside, Lee saw the destruction. Apart from his house, the neighborhood was leveled. Lee stepped out the door (despite his mother yelling for him to come back) and surveyed it all. There was nothing left. Even the foundations of the houses were gone! He then walked farther out to view the damages to his own home. There wasn’t much, a few broken roof tiles but nothing Lee or his dad couldn’t fix. “Lee, get in this house!” his dad demanded.
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing out here.”
“You mean that the storm is gone?”
“No, literally. There’s no storm, no houses, no nothing.”

They all clamored to get outside. Once they could see, they stared, wide-eyed, at the destruction and chaos that surrounded them. Meanwhile, Lee had busied himself with cleaning off the roof. It was tedious work since every little crack was a potential problem. Once she could speak, Lee’s mom called to him, “I i if all these houses got destroyed, why did ours survive?”
“You know, I don’t know.” Lee’s enhanced dragonic eyesight picked up something and he pointed at it saying, “What in the world is that?”
“What is what?” his dad asked. “I don’t see anything.”
“Phh, you never see anything. There really is something there though.”

The object was descending and Lee could think of very few things that it could be. It seemed to be gaining speed. Within moments, Lee could see that it was a dragon. A familiar dragon at that. “Mr. Holland?!” Lee blurted.
“What, where?” his mom said as she looked for the gold BMW of the CICSO teacher.
“You forgot didn’t you?”
“Forgot what?”
“Never mind, here he comes.”

The large, red dragon slowed and landed in front of Lee’s stunned family. He shifted to human form and introduced himself to the family. “I’m Michel Holland, Lee’s teacher. Where is Lee?” His voice sounded grim.
Lee immediately flew off the roof and greeted his teacher. “What are you doing here Mr. H?”
“Lee, I need to speak with you in private.”

Lee ushered his family into the house. They resisted but gave in when they saw how serious Mr. Holland looked. Once he had shut the door, Lee asked, “Alright, before you begin, I have a question. Why did all these houses get destroyed but not mine?”
“I saw the storm coming and cast a protection spell on it.”
“Why didn’t you protect the other houses then?”
“I am not powerful enough. A spell like that would take at least 5 dragons.”
“Well, ok. I don’t blame you.”
“May I continue with what I was going to say?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“This Coke thing has taken a turn for the worse. The dragon nobles have been monitoring it closely and until now, I supported it. I just thought it was a harmless experiment that would give some humans their dreams come true. That is no longer the case.”
“Why? What has happened?”
“Some of the drinks went bad. Their consumers have become the nobles’ enemies, dragons of the dark.”
“Don’t tell me, you need me to help with this matter?”
“I need you to do most of it actually. I have been assigned this area by the nobles so I cannot leave.”
“You’re saying that I might have to leave the state?!”
“Europe actually. The Coca-Cola office that has been distributing the sodas is here,” he said, handing Lee a slip of paper.
“Ok, should I go alone?”
“What do you mean?’

Lee explained what happened the night before and about Skyler. Mr. Holland was about to slay Lee when told of how Skyler obtained his powers. He glared at Lee and said, “Are you crazy? Is he behaving normally?”
“He wouldn’t know how to be evil if he was,” Lee retorted.
“Keep a very close eye on him and if he begins acting strangely, do what is necessary to restrain him.”
“I will do just that.”

Later that night, Lee noted Juan and Skyler to come to his workroom, a private chat for the 3 of them. He told them that tomorrow, they would leave home on a trip. He did not say it was a serious mission since he figured that they would refuse. Lee did however, say that they would be gone for a week or more and to pack some food and plenty of money. Not expecting his friends to pack enough food, Lee made sure to get extra.

Skyler and Juan left the chat to pack. Once they finished, all 3 dragons rejoined the room to do some normal talking. Juan and Skyler repeatedly asked Lee where they were going, but all he said was that it was advisable to bring at least 1 change of clothes and a wind-breaker jacket since it would be humid, rainy, and windy. The last thing to be discussed was a meeting place to leave from. It was agreed that Lee’s house was best since the 3 of them knew its location. Skyler then left the room and Lee told Juan to wait a moment. He told Juan to make sure to bring his laptop.

Lee awoke the next morning and brewed a huge pot of coffee. The others arrived around 10AM with bags that looked sadly light. Lee called both family and friends to his living room where there was adequate seating. Lee’s parents sat on one couch and Logan, Juan, and Skyler taking the other. Lee cleared his throat and began his announcement.
“I would assume everyone wants an explanation of what is about to happen. Juan, Skyler, and I are going on a quest today at Mr. Holland’s request. I cannot divulge the location but I can say that we will not return for several days. Now, mom and dad, here is your part of this: you will need to contact Juan and Skyler’s parents and make up an excuse for our absence from school. Any questions?”
“Yes,” Lee’s mom said. “Will it be dangerous?”
“I don’t expect anything but I am not sure. Anything else?”
“Lee’s dad stood and said, “As long as I am your father, you will not miss school because of something a teacher told you.”
“Dad, the fate of the world could be relying on this.”

That shut them up and the dragons prepared to leave. Lee wrote down his, Skyler’s, and Juan’s cell phone numbers as well as Juan’s and Skyler’s home numbers. He hugged his family and made sure they understood their roles. They took off heading east. Soon into the flight, Juan and Skyler became curious as to where Lee was taking them. “I get that we’re going pretty far but where exactly are we headed?” Skyler asked.
“No dude, we’re going really far. That’s why I packed all this.”
“What do you mean by really far?” Juan asked.
“Wea’ goaing to go pond hopping, lads.” Lee answered using a heavy English tone.
Skyler understood it but Juan didn’t catch the joke and asked, “What the heck does that mean?”
“We’re going to London, England.”