Jesse James and the Dragon's Egg

Son vs Father

The mood was no better back in the room. They sat in awkward silence for some time. Jesse and Al huddled up next to the fire. The rest were scattered about the room, sitting and standing, alone, dejected.

"Man, I'm starving." Brad had been silently staring out the window since they had returned to the room. He had tied, untied and retied his shoes and when he tired of that he had taken to picking flecks of paint off the windowsill. He rose, turned from the window, and walked toward the door. "I'm headed for the kitchen."

"Seriously?" Kate was curled up on one of the overstuffed chairs near Jesse. "After what we saw?"

"Maybe they've got peanut butter and jelly or something. Anybody coming?"

"I could eat." John said, falling in step behind his cousin.

"Yeah, me too." Lamar said, rolling off the bed. "What about you? You coming Jess?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to stay here with Jake for a little bit."

"Kate?"

"No, I think I'm going to sit here with Jess." She said, glancing over at the boy.

"Don't." The word dropped like a brick. Jesse was staring into the fire, gently stroking Al. "I just need some time to think." He turned to Kate. "Ok?"

A minute later, he was alone.

The fire was crackling away in the hearth. Jake was quietly snoring on one of the beds behind him. Al pushed himself up against Jesse. He opened his mouth wide to yawn and a sharp blue spark popped out. Caught by surprise, the little dragon yelped and lept into Jesse's lap. He spent the next few minutes trying to look into his own mouth.

There was a soft knock at the door. Jesse quickly instructed Al to hide under the bed, telling the little dragon, "Stay there and be quiet and don't come out until I say. OK?" Al gave an affirmative nod and slipped noiselessly under the bed.

"Jesse?" The soft knock came again, and the door pushed gently open. William Bradwell peeked around. "Jesse James?" The man's face lit up when he saw Jesse. "Oh, thank God! I hate this place!" The man spoke at a hundred miles an hour. "As many times as we have been here and I still can't find my way around. Ah well, never mind. I've brought someone to see you, Jesse." Bradwell peered back out through the doorway. "It's all clear, sir."

Jesse heard the shuffling of footsteps punctuated by a sharp, regular thump as the massive frame of Fisher King limped into the room. He leaned heavily on a cane and smiled. "Hello, Jesse."

Bradwell had excused himself into the hallway. He left Jesse and King alone, with Jake still snoring quietly in the background.

"You're holding up well." King had worked his bulk down to floor level to sit next to Jesse.

"I guess so."

The old man and the boy sat in silence then. Both were lost in the quiet crackle of the flames.

"Jesse, I would like to tell you about my sons." King said abruptly. He shifted a bit and turned to the boy. "I had two sons. Arthur was my eldest, but I also had another son, Percival."

The man's features softened as he spoke. "My wife and I were so proud. We had two strong young boys who would each grow to be strong, courageous men. They would do amazing things. We had such plans for them, such aspirations..." His voice trailed off as his attention followed something into the fire.

"When Arthur was just about your age, I told him the story of this place. I told him of dragons and magic and the secret of his ancestry. I told him who he was and who he could become, and he was enthralled, smitten with the idea of this magical land. He wanted to go so badly and it broke my heart to have to tell him no.

"You see, I have been living in exile for... other reasons. But he wanted so much to be a part of this place that I told him of a magical thing that happened only once every hundred years or so; a molting. You see, for more than a generation, these people believed the Siriti to be extinct. But I knew of one. My grandfather had made it his mission to find them, and he did. They all thought the beast long dead, I knew otherwise.

"Arthur, of course, was thrilled and wanted desperately to see this and I told him of the danger and why he could not go and he was again heart-broken, but I promised him that I would take him to see the egg."

King's face grew dark. "Against my will and without my knowledge, the boy snuck out of our home the evening of October 31st. He went to find the dragon. Unbeknownst to him, my dear little Percival followed him.

"Arthur saw the dragon land and went quickly to it. He got so close he could count individual scales. As the dragon began to burn Arthur feared he was too close and moved himself back to a safe distance. Percival did not until it was too late."

"Arthur heard his screams, but he was just a boy. He lay there, too terrified to move. By the time had mustered his courage... the burns were... it was horrible. Percy had run at the last second, but the flames had caught him. I awoke to the sound of my eldest son screaming for me. I ran from the house, but it was too late. Arthur had carried his brother the whole way. He was crying so hard... begging me to please help him. But there was nothing I could do. Percy was already gone.

"I was... terrible to him. I was overwhelmed with my own grief and held Arthur responsible in the worst way. In many ways... I destroyed him." He paused here. Jesse thought that King had aged a hundred years since he walked into the room. He looked so frail now, so tired.

"It took me years to realize that I had gone too far, that Arthur was never to blame. I tried to tell him. I tried to make it right. I tried to help him. But it was too late. The boy was gone and the man he had become was consumed with guilt and rage. He has made it his life's work to destroy these creatures and this realm and now that you have claimed the Siriti, I fear what he may be capable of."

He turned to Jesse. "Jesse, I tell you this because you will see my son again. And you need to be ready. You need to understand who this man is, and what he, in his pain, is capable of. You will find Khaled Voolch there, Jesse, with Arthur. Take it. The blade may be the only thing that will protect you from him."

"Jesse?" Jake's sleepy voice drifted over the boy. King had left just minutes ago. He had little else to say to Jesse. The two sat there for a time in silence, then he rose, with some effort and Bradwell's assistance, and left the room. His last words to Jesse were; "Good luck, my boy."

"What's up, little man?" Jesse asked as he got to his feet and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "How'd you sleep?"

"Okay." Jake said, stretching and then burying himself deep in the voluminous covers once again. He lay there with just his face visible, peeking out of his little cocoon of warm cotton, staring at his older brother. "Jesse, is mom okay?"

He wanted to lie. Jesse wanted to lie to his little brother. He wanted to lie and tell him that everything was fine and that this had all been some kind of amusement park thrill ride, or one of Brad's stupid jokes. He wanted to tell his little brother that everything was okay and that everything was going to be okay and that Mom had just called and that she had just stayed late at work again. Jesse stared at Jake and found a depth of emotion he had never experienced. He loved his little brother now more than he ever had before and he wanted so much for everything to be okay.

But he knew everything was not okay, and there was only one way that everything would be okay, and he knew he was the one who was going to have to make everything okay.

"No Jake, Mom's not okay. But she will be." He said, looking sadly over at the sleeping dragon. "I promise."