Dahlia

Meaning: Eternal Love; Commitment

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Hearth Manor was a sight to see. It was still within city limits, yet going up the drive gave me the feeling of entering an entirely different world. We'd turned off a street buzzing with neon lights onto a cobblestone road, flanked on each side with dense forest. Then we'd driven another fifteen minutes before the manor came into view, rising out of the trees like the setting of some old horror flick.

"Ready?" John asked.

I nodded. "What should I expect?"

John bit his lip. "That's a good question. She certainly won't be in the best mood."

We got out of the car and made our way up the stone steps. Before ringing the bell, John turned to me with an apprehensive look. "Maybe let me do the talking."

"Okay..."

The doorbell was alarmingly loud, but then in a house that big, it would have to be. The thought came to me that it would be much more efficient if she simply used a smart doorbell that would alert her to visitors.

We waited about five minutes before John reached for the doorbell again. The violent click of a deadbolt stopped him short. The door flew open to reveal a young woman with fine blonde hair tied back in a loose bun. She looked like she could be in her early twenties, but I knew she was much, much older than that. John was the same, looking about mid-thirties.

"What do you want, John?" she asked, her voice sharp with irritation.

John, who was usually tall and confident, slouched a little with a cautious grin. "Hey, Catherine. How have you been?"

"I'm not in the mood, John. What do you want?"

He paused, then relented. "We need your help."

"With what?"

"A dragon."

She stilled, shifting from foot to foot.

"Fine. Give me ten minutes to get ready." She slammed the door and the deadbolt clicked again.

"Right. Let's wait in the car, then." John sighed. I slipped into the back seat.

"So, what happened between you two? According to the chief, you were an unbeatable team back in the day."

"Ah, right, we've gotten to the point where most adults don't know about us anymore. Well... Let's just say we had a disagreement about the future of the organization."

"What kind of disagreement?"

"The kind that shatters all the glass walls in a modern office."

"Ah."

Catherine came out the front door and made for the car. She almost looked like a different person now, her hair tidily braided and secured to her head, her clothes switched from sweatpants to work pants, a shoulder holster securing a handgun to her side. As soon as she slipped into the front seat, John turned the car around and headed back down the drive. The drive had been so dark that turning back onto the bright city street was a shock and I had to blink away a few tears.

The trip from the manor back to headquarters was uncomfortably silent. John turned the radio on. Catherine turned it off. He turned it on again. She turned it off and glared at him as she turned around to me.

"I'm sorry, I've been rude. I'm Catherine. And you are?"

"May. Pleasure to meet you."

She shook my hand. "Current partner, am I right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Is he still a stubborn mule?"

"Um..."

Thankfully, I was spared from answering as we pulled into a gated parking lot and the car came to a stop.

"This place is as cheery as always." Catherine said as we made for the elevator.

The elevator ride was just as awkward as the drive had been, but blissfully shorter. The doors opened and let us out onto the twentieth floor: Central Operations. Even through the din of frantic operations, a whisper rippled before us as we walked to the central table. The chief looked up.

"Ah, Catherine, thank you for coming!" He said, far more amicable than he'd ever been with me. "We could really use your help on this one."

"What's the situation?" Catherine asked, all business now.

A map, brought to life by some artistic enchantment, appeared on the table, each aspect to scale. The chief made a motion and the map zoomed in to a rocky area. He slipped into his debrief voice.

"They were mining outside the city and broke into a cavern. Turns out there was an unmapped dragon's lair there. Three miners died in the ensuing flames. Relocation has been deemed impossible, so we need to go in and eliminate it."

"Assets?" she asked.

"Just the three of you. No one else is qualified."

A little twinge of irritation ran through me that I'd been fighting this entire time. I firmly believed John and I could handle it alone. So why had the chief jumped at the opportunity to call in Catherine?

I shook the thought away. It didn't matter. Having another skilled hunter would make the task easier and lower the chances of having my skin charbroiled. The circumstances shouldn't matter.

"Do we know what kind of dragon it is?" Catherine continued, unaware of my internal battle.

"The miners who survived described it as big and scaly."

"Informative, right?" John said, tilting his head toward Catherine.

She ignored him.

"When do we leave?"

"Immediately. They're waiting for you downstairs."

And so we made our way back downstairs via a different elevator and stepped into the garage. The outfitting team had indeed been waiting for us, with barely contained excitement it seemed. I stepped off to the side to escape the fangirls and -boys that swarmed Catherine.

"Welcome back!"

"What equipment can we get ready for you?"

"What have you been doing since you left?"

"Would you sign this? Um, for my kid of course."

I glanced back and saw that he was holding a box; an original action figure of Catherine from back in the days when they sensationalized hunters. Shaking my head, I returned my attention to my gear. A man, James, walked up to me and helped me secure my vest.

"They've been buzzing all day." He said, checking the straps. It had to be snug or the enchantments wouldn't do much to protect you. "I'm underwhelmed."

I smirked. "Are you saying that because you actually feel that way or because you want to ask me on another date?"

He stepped back with mock offense. "I am wounded that you would think I would use such a tactic just to invite you to dinner."

"Oh?" I responded with equally mock apology. "I'm sorry to have wounded your pride."

Another grin as all pretense dropped. "Incidentally, I would love if you joined me at Didi's Diner after your mission. You know, to get to know you better."

"Mm, pancakes..." My mouth began watering thinking about the fluffy disks, smothered in butter and drowning in syrup. "You've got a deal."

"I look forward to it! Now, let's get the rest of your gear on."

More protective plates, two different types of guns, several knives of various lengths and materials, and my always trusty sword. It hummed with enchantments as I slung it across my shoulders, its presence a comfort.

"Alright! Let's move out!" Barked the chief. Looks like he was coming into the field this time. Unusual. Could it be he was actually worried about this one? James must have thought so too.

"Hey, you be careful out there, okay?"

I nodded. "I will. Hey, I have to come back safely. I've got pancakes to eat!"

He smiled, but his eyes reflected the uncertainty that had sprouted within me. If the chief was worried, this may be a harder slay than expected. We piled in the truck and set out.

Since the mine was outside the city, it was going to be a good thirty minutes of driving. John stretched out on one bench, headphones on and eyes closed like usual, so Catherine had to sit next to me on the opposite bench.

"Still does that, huh?" She shook her head with a small smile, the most genuine one I'd seen on her yet. "I suppose it's a good way to get in the right mindset."

"Yeah." I replied. I had tried a similar tactic before as well, but often the music wasn't the right speed or feeling and the disjointedness threw me off. Mostly I would run through my training and experience, picturing the fight in my head and running through all the possible issues that could arise.

"Since we have some time, I wanted to have a proper conversation with you. I may be separated from my husband, but I do still worry about his safety."

The revelation made me cock my head. "I was unaware that you two were married, let alone separated."

"I'm not surprised. Most people your age don't even know we exist."

I shifted. "If you don't mind my asking, how long have you two been separated?"

She tapped her chin as she thought. "Hmm, fifty years, maybe?"

"What? So long?" I mean, I suppose they are immortals, but still.

"We’ve gone longer before, believe me." Her manner shifted to something more friendly. "Anyway, tell me about yourself. How long have you been hunting?"

"Officially, it's been about five years now."

"And unofficially?"

"Since I was a kid. My dad had been a hunter in his prime, so I learned everything I could from him until he died. Hunting, of course. Finally met something he couldn't slay." I realized I was stroking the choker around my neck and set my hand back in my lap. A medallion hung from the choker, a dented piece of his vest. "He went doing what he loved. We always knew he wouldn't die of old age."

She made a small noise that made me turn to her. Suddenly she seemed so much older, even though she still looked young. Something in her posture was just a little too straight, a little too archaic. Like a mimic trying to act human.

The thought sent a shiver through me and I tried to spark up the conversation again, despite my unusual oversharing. Maybe she had some kind of spell on her or something.

"How many dragons have you dealt with?"

It almost worked. She turned to me, still a little stiff, but a bit more natural. "We used to deal with one every other week, or so it seemed. There aren't too many true dragons left. It's a shame that relocation isn't an option with this one. Have you dealt with many in your time with John and the organization?"

"Well, we're constantly dealing with the small ones in town. But they seem to be more of a nuisance than a real danger."

"So you've never even seen one?"

I shook my head, a memory I'd nearly forgotten floating to the surface. "I've seen one, a long time ago. I lived in a small town and a dragon took offense to our existence, I guess. I woke up one morning and everything was on fire. Dad wasn't there that day, so I had the insane thought to fight it off myself. My mother and siblings didn't even notice me run off in the chaos. Anyway, when I actually came face-to-face with the dragon, I blacked out. When I woke up, we were in a field hospital and they told me the dragon had been taken care of by some hunters."

"Huh." she said, a look of concern on her face.

"What?"

As if startled from her thoughts, she jumped and turned to me with a hasty smile. "Oh, nothing. It just reminded me of something."

The change in her demeanor set off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. It was the same way my mother had looked after I woke up.

She was hiding something from me.

"Do you know about it? Were you two the hunters who took care of it?"

"We were there later, as part of the cleanup." She lied. For someone so old, her tells were pretty obvious. "I imagine something like that would instill a fear of dragons into someone. How did you overcome it?"

"It was never very paralyzing. I hesitated a little the first time we cleaned out a nest in the northern clock tower. Got some nasty burns from it."

"I see."

Before I could ask a follow-up, the speakers in the van crackled to life.

"We're nearly to the staging area. Be ready. Tell John to take off his obnoxious headphones."

He wasn't wrong about the headphones. They were neon orange with random splotches of bright blue. He'd tried to convince me once it was a graffiti pattern, but I'd actually created graffiti in the past. That wasn't graffiti, it was nonsense.

The van shuddered to a stop and the rear doors were opened for us. The staging area was a good three hundred feet from the mine opening, a gaping black hole against the grey of the mountain in the darkness of the night. Everything was lit by old-fashioned oil lamps and I could see each member of our support team squinting at their papers and darkened screens.

"No artificial light tonight." The chief said as if answering my unasked question. "It riles up the dragon, according to the mine foreman. Now, let's go over the plan one more time before we send you in. I want you as prepared as possible."

We gathered around as close as we could to see the map he was gesturing to.

"Here's the mine entrance. The cavern is off a side path about 500 meters in. Then another 300 meters before the break through." He pointed to a spot on the barely visible diagram.

"According to our scans, the cavern is about two miles in every direction. We couldn't get a fix on the dragon, so I'm afraid I have nothing new for you in that department. Just be alert and be careful." With that, we were off, trekking to the mine entrance where a crate of torches had been left for us. We each took one and walked in as far as we could in the darkness before lighting one.

The smell of damp tickled my nose and I suppressed a sneeze.

Even that small sound seemed to echo around the hard stone.

"Bless you." John said, leading the way with the lit torch. Catherine stepped up next to him and they began talking to each other in a tone that somehow managed not to reach the walls.

"Have you thought about our last argument?" She asked.

"Every day." He replied without taking his eyes off the wall.

"Have you thought about what we were actually arguing about?" She asked.

"Of course. And before you ask, yes, I still stand by what I said then. They need our help."

"They seem to be getting along fine to me."

"And? What if something big comes along that they can't handle?"

"Then they can just call us in, like they did with me today."

"If we're on the front lines from the start, fewer people will die."

"Oh, don't give me that. I know for a fact there have been times when we just got in the way."

"We're never in the way. We lead the way."

"There you go with that arrogance again."

They slipped into quiet bickering, back and forth, and I stopped listening.

We found the turnoff and the air changed. Where the main tunnel had been damp and musty, this tunnel felt bone-dry. And it tasted of clay, even though everything surveyed in this mountain was hard stone like granite and marble.

I was glancing back into the darkness behind us when I ran into John and nearly bounced off. Something about immortal bodies was built differently and he, more often than not, was harder than steel.

"May, look."

I glanced around, rubbing my nose and blinking back tears, then froze.

"Are those... runes scratched into the stone?"

"You think the dragon did this?" John asked.

Catherine ran a hand along one of the massive scratches. The entire rune was nearly twice her height. "Well, the miners certainly didn't do it."

They looked at each other and I witnessed a wild and divided silent conversation. Back and forth they went, each making their case for or against something. The longer it went, the more animated they became. Finally John couldn't hold it in any longer.

"No, I'm not going to! That would be unfair to her!"

"And everything up to now hasn't been? This is crazy! Something like this requires our full attention. We can't split our focus to protect her."

They were talking about me. "Hey, if you're thinking of making me go back, I'm not doing it. I know what I'm doing, you don't have to worry about me as if I'm some kid."

"There's something we need to talk about." Catherine said.

"But we can do that after we take care of the dragon." John countered.

"No, we can't. If we bring her in there without her knowing, then everything could go sideways very quickly."

I rubbed my temple, a headache threatening to come on. "Just spit it out already!"

There was a pause at my command. John fidgeted for a second.

"We erased your memories when you were a kid."

The silence that followed was so heavy I could have wrapped it around me like a blanket.

"What are you talking about?"

John looked pale, shifting from foot to foot. "Well, I mean... When you first told me the story I couldn't believe you were the same person. But as we worked together it became clear and--"

"What?" I cut him off. "Coherent sentences, John."

Catherine clasped her hands in front of her, reminiscent of an old-time nanny about to lecture the children she watched.

"That day that your town was attacked, we were, indeed, the hunters dispatched to help."

"I figured that out earlier. You're a terrible liar."

John nodded with an agreeing look. Catherine glared at him before continuing.

"We were dispatched but we didn't stop the dragon." She bit her lip. "You did."

"Excuse me?" I began pacing. "I was ten. A ten-year-old can't possibly take down a dragon. And I'm pretty sure that's something that I would remember."

"Well, like John blurted out earlier, we erased those memories."

He jumped in. "Well, not erased, exactly. That's not truly possible without brain damage. Suppressed more like."

I stopped them both with a slice of my hand. They watched quietly as I continued to pace, thinking. There was more to the story. The most important part, and the part they seemed most hesitant to tell me.

How could I, as a ten-year-old girl, have killed a fully-grown dragon?

The air in the tunnel shifted again, bringing with it the smell of sulfur. I saw movement in the darkness behind them. All of us reacted just a little too late.

All I saw was a double ring of teeth coming at me before I managed to get my sword out and jam it up against the top of its mouth. Wedged in the dragon's mouth, I could tell that it was retreating back into the cavern. It whipped its head and the force of it shot me out of its mouth and straight into a wall. The enchantment on the armor cushioned the blow just enough that my skull didn't crack, but the wind was still knocked out of me, and I was gasping for breath when I fell to the ground with a roll.

I dodged to the side as the sound of the dragon thundered down and it clipped my side in the process. With one hand on the wall, I tried to avoid the dragon in the complete darkness, but I knew the dragon could see me just fine.

A stomp in front of me, then a stomp behind me. A glow above me drew my attention. Flames licked between the dragon's teeth and lit its nostrils. Its eyes glowed with the red of the fire. I dove forward, underneath the massive dragon, just as it let loose the flame. The heat of it chased me as I tried to use the temporary light to get to a hiding place. I ducked behind a boulder just as the light faded away.

The reprieve wouldn't last long. I stifled my breathing and listened. Unlike my companions, every sound the dragon made echoed off the walls, to the point the only way to get any idea where it was was to feel the shudder of the ground as it walked around.

Light filled the cavern and I thought for a second the dragon had let loose another burst of flame. Then I heard an angry shout from above. I barely got a glimpse of John in the air before he collided with the dragon's head. Catherine appeared next to me shortly after.

"You alright?" She asked.

Ignoring the throbbing in my chest, I nodded.

"Good enough. We need to find its weakness quickly. Could you--"

A growl cut her off and we found another dragon before us, a smaller one, like those that infested the city. Except this one looked much meaner.

"I could use some help up here, ladies!" John called from above us. He was still on the dragon's head, but it was shaking its head so hard, he wouldn't be up there much longer. Catherine turned back to me.

"Can you handle this thing while I help him?"

"Absolutely."

She nodded and was suddenly in the air again, not even needing the enchantment on her boots to launch into the air. I returned my attention to the smaller dragon before me, which had watched the whole thing with angry curiosity. When I met its eyes, it shuffled, wiggling like a cat getting ready to pounce.

I brought my sword before me and braced for its attack.

It leapt.

I dodged, bringing the blade up and slicing off one of its hind legs.

It screeched, coiling around for another attack.

It swiped at me and I blocked it.

A slight scrape on the ground had me diving to the side, wrenching myself around to see a second small dragon land next to the first. No matter what, I could not let them get me on the ground.

Plucking a smoke bomb off my belt, I chucked it at the ground underneath them. The smoke dispersed quickly, but the lingering smell did wonders to confuse the dragons. I saw them flail a bit, snapping at each other when they bumped into one another.

I took advantage of their confusion and darted to the side, bringing my blade down on the neck of one. It stilled immediately and slumped to the ground. The other caught wind of its blood and jumped at me. I ducked, but felt it twist in the air only to slam its claws into my back, catching the top edge of the vest. It yanked me to the ground and was on top of me quicker than I could jump up. I jammed my arm into its jaws, far enough in it wouldn't be able to bite down. It wasn't smart enough to back off and strike again, so instead it kept trying to bear down on me, raking with its claws. They caught me a few times, slicing through the weak points of the vest's enchantments and fabric.

Bracing my knees against its sides, I held it at enough of a distance to grab one of my knives. It was a ten-inch dagger made of obsidian and soaked in a salt bath. I plunged it into the dragon's side one, two, three times before it registered the pain, but by then it was too late, it had bled out too much. Its struggling lessened more and more until it stopped moving altogether. I shoved it off me and lay there for a moment, catching my breath.

Above me, John and Catherine were still fighting the massive dragon.

There was a certain poetry to the way they fought. One would grab the dragon's attention, then the other would attack. Then they would switch. Once or twice, they attacked him together, using an offensive spell that required the both of them. During one such attack, the dragon had gotten wise. Quick as a lightning strike, it changed its lunge mid-move from forward to sideways, catching John in its jaws.

I scrambled to my feet as it shook him like a ragdoll, biting down.

It threw its head to the side and I watched in horror as John slammed into the ground not far from me. I ran to his side to find him covered in blood and struggling to breathe. The dragon had punctured a lung, at least.

Something the others didn't seem to understand was that just because John couldn't die of old age, it didn't mean he couldn't be killed.

"John! Hold on!" I pulled out a med kit and dressed his wounds as well and as quickly as I could. He gripped my arm.

"Listen," he wheezed. "you're going to have to... stop it... like back... then."

"I don't remember back then! We're just going to have to get out and regroup. You need medical attention."

He shook his head. "No way... out." A coughing fit made his entire body convulse.

"Stop talking! Just focus on breathing."

A yell of pain drew my attention above just in time to see Catherine flying at the ground. This time I managed to stand and catch her, the two of us sliding back into the wall. She was trembling as I eased her to the ground. Blood covered half her face from a hit to the head.

"Catherine." John reached out to her and the two clasped hands as if it was the only thing they could focus on in their pain.

The ground shook beneath us as the dragon turned, looming overhead. It didn't attack right away, as if it was savoring our defeat. It looked down and we locked eyes.

I can taste your fear. Its voice bounced in my head. What? Could all fully-grown dragons do that? I thought back to the runes in the tunnel. No, this was no ordinary dragon.

Instinct kicked in and I stood, stepping before my immortal companions. They were frightened, believing they were going to die together in this dark hole.

I couldn't let that happen.

"I'm not afraid of you."

In a flash I realized it was true. The dragon wasn't what scared me in this moment. It was letting those two die.

An image flashed before me. Another dragon, towering before me, laughing at the suffering behind me. I wasn't scared of that one either.

Of course you are, little one. All humans fear dragons.

I held its gaze as another thought came back to me. Words that I wasn't entirely sure were my own came out of my mouth.

"I'm not human."

The room grew brighter and the air around me warped. It grew warmer, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed it.

The dragon snarled.

You! You should be dead!

It struck down, and time slowed. I could see its head coming down at me, teeth gleaming in the flickering of the light John had summoned.

I knew what to do.

I raised my hand, directing the power that flowed around me into a point that shot out at the dragon. It was thrown back as the bolt of energy cut through the top of its snout. It crashed into the wall and I used another wave of energy to slam it back again when it tried to get up. Rock tumbled down around us as it struggled. I had to get it outside.

Before I could slam it with another wall of power, it lashed out with a stream of fire, leaving a line of melted rock off to the side when I jerked its head away.

You are an abomination! You shouldn't even exist! Monster!

Behind me I could hear John's breathing grow shallower. He wouldn't last much longer without medical attention.

I had to end this and get us a way out of here. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Massing hot, violent energy around me, it began to spark. Lightning arced out around me. I combined it with the invisible wall, letting the dragon to the ground for a second while I swirled the two energies around each other. It tried once again to charge, but I slammed the power into it, not only throwing it back against the wall, but through it in an explosion of rock and lightning. I continued the lightning as I walked to the new opening. The dragon only lasted a few more seconds before it stopped moving.

Releasing the magic, my eyes drifted up to the horizon where the sun was beginning to come up. A clear morning.

"May! Hey!" The familiar voice drew my wavering gaze back down in front of me. It was the chief. "May! Can you hear me? What happened?"

With the magic that had been supporting my body dissipating, the world had begun to tilt and my body trembled. "John and Catherine need help-- need medical."

"What? Hey, hey!" He caught me as I toppled over and passed out.

***

"I heard they're cutting you loose today." James said. He was leaning in the doorway of my hospital room, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"You heard right." I responded trying and failing to match his energy.

The five days since the operation had been... uncomfortable, to say the least. Everyone had questions and I had very few answers to give them. They'd even shown me video of when the side of the mountain exploded and the dragon was thrown out then half-melted. And there I was, standing in the opening like some weather deity with energy crackling around me. The others had, understandably, been wary of me. James was actually the only actual visitor I'd had.

"What's bothering you?" He asked, walking up to me.

"I don't know. All of it, I guess. Apparently I don't even know who I am. It seems John and Catherine know more about me than I do."

"Well, have you talked to them yet? I heard Catherine only needed overnight observation and John is on the mend."

I shook my head. "No."

"Why not go now?"

I bit my lip. I was worried about how I would react. It felt like some kind of violation, having my memories suppressed like that. All these years that John had been working with me, he knew. And yet he'd never said anything.

James tilted his head. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"You aren't afraid of me?"

"Why should I be? You haven't changed. And from the sound of things, you've always had this power. Hey," he grinned. "I did say I wanted to get to know you better."

A laugh bubbled out of me. "Yes, I suppose you did." I looked up at him again. His eyes were genuine, his posture was relaxed. "Yes. I do believe I could do with the company."

"Well, then, my lady," he stepped to the side and half bowed with an indicating gesture of his arms. "shall we?"

We found John and Catherine a couple of rooms away, organization guards outside the door. They gave me a nod as we walked into the room.

Catherine was asleep on the edge of John's bed. He was awake, watching her with the softest expression I'd ever seen on his face. The sweet scene nearly made me lose my nerve, but James placed a supportive hand on my back, keeping me from backing out. John glanced up and saw us.

"Come on in. I'm sure you have questions."

"Is this a bad time?"

He grinned in that goofy way of his. "No time like the present, right?"

Catherine stirred at the commotion, rubbing her eyes like a little girl. When she saw me standing there, she straightened and seemed to brace herself.

"How are you two feeling?" I asked, trying to buy time.

"Eh, I could leave now if they'd let me." John said.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Don't be so arrogant. We may heal quickly, but you still need to give your body enough time."

He stuck his tongue out at her.

Their joking made me feel a bit more comfortable. Catherine turned to me with a gentler posture.

"Have a seat. There is much to discuss."

Once settled in chairs, Catherine began to recite her tale. My tale.

"About twelve years ago we were called out to an emergency in a small town. A dragon was attacking and half the town was already in flames. When we got there, we witnessed something incredibly rare. A little girl, standing her ground before a fully-grown and angry dragon. Much like this time, your magic surged, all but vaporizing the dragon in a matter of seconds."

As she was describing it, I could picture it. The dragon, the power, aftermath. I'd passed out then, too. Catherine was still talking.

"While you were unconscious, we used our magic to suppress the memory, which in turn suppressed your power."

"So what am I, then?" I interrupted.

"You are human, May." John said. "Your mother is your mother and your father is your father. I promise you that."

I stayed quiet, waiting for one of them to answer my actual question.

John sighed. "You're what's called a Dragon Vessel, a human born with the soul of a dragon. It's an incredibly rare phenomenon that can happen when certain stars are aligned and there's something to do with the seasons and..."

"In short," Catherine cut in. "you were born at just the right moment with just the right conditions to gain an inordinate amount of power. Any creature of any great level of power or intelligence would either want to serve you, eat you, or just kill you."

"So you suppressed my power to protect me."

"In essence, yes."

I sat quietly, my eyes closed, to process the information. A part of me had known all this time. Something had been there, sleeping within me.

Now I remembered what else had been bothering me.

"When I... used my power, it was almost as if someone else was speaking through me."

Catherine nodded. "I remember hearing it. Your voice got distorted too. It could have been the dragon soul, but I can't be certain."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Dragon Vessels are extremely rare. You are only the second one we've encountered in all these years. Very little is known about them for sure. Otherwise, it's just rumor and legends."

Again, we fell to silence. No one knew anything about this. I didn't like being uninformed. I snapped my head up again and everyone jumped.

"Then why don't we figure it out together? The organization has plenty of resources and I'm sure they want to know about me just as badly as I do."

"They'll likely want to control you."

I gave her a smile that probably came out more deranged than I meant it to. "Then it's a good thing I have some powerful friends."

She let out a surprised laugh. "Yes, I suppose it is. Very well. Let's find out together."

With that settled, I stood, getting ready to leave. Something occurred to me, and I turned to James. "We missed our date, didn't we?"

He grinned. "That was part of my reason for coming today. Since you were getting out, I figured I'd take you to get those pancakes you wanted."

Mm, pancakes.

"Would either of you two like us to smuggle something back in for you?"

Catherine stopped John from answering. "We're fine, thank you."

I glanced back at them as we headed out the door. They were holding hands, chatting with warm smiles on their faces. I couldn't help but feel that they were going to be all right.