Chapter 12 – Searching…

"Wow, that name scare you? Did Min say anything?"

"Not Mom… we just know a little about the prophecy."

"The dragons let us know," Sam says.

"Wow, the dragons just don't go around saying stuff."

"True… yet, you and Mom seem to know about it a little too well. How?"

"As I said, we chased dragons, Max."

"Still…"

"Well, when you defeat someone, it is only fair to win a trophy. And our trophy was the information, and the stone. Fair deal."

"You threatened a dragon?"

"It was a hard one to fall, but your mom and I defeated it, and it gave us information about dragons and the stone, so we let it go."

"How many dragons have you fought and interacted with?"

"About a dozen encountered, and fought around eight of them."

"And killed?" Sam asks, making Tar freeze for a moment.

"Zero, we had one policy, 'we hunt to understand, not kill', so no," Tar casually answers. "You look worried; have a dragon friend or what?"

"My brother is a dragon, that is whom we are... searching for."

"If it is a friendly one, and doesn't try to kill any of you, I promise to not harm him."

Sam nods. "This stone… will stop Rahambose?"

"End him, actually. That's the right phrase," Tar says.

"So there is no way to just stop him from happening?"

"That's what they say… Rahambose is an anomaly which in the end will occur. And this Prophecy hero, will posses a lost-part of this stone, which will activate the stone, make it as strong as a dragon-gem, but it'll be more than that. Sounds more of a fairy tale."

We just stay silent, and Tar doesn't seem to like that.

"Dragons sometimes can be scary, some of them. Once me and Min were going through a forest, on a little quest, and we fought the fiercest of them. It was basically invisible in the dark, that black one."

"A black dragon?"

"Yes… each coloured dragon has a different power. But this one… we couldn't last in front of it for long. We ran. We escaped it with this very car. If it weren't for Min and this car, that night, we'd never have made it out alive."

"What kind of powers did it have?"

"It didn't use any," Tar says, breathing deeply. "That was the weirdest part. And usually, harming the wing, makes them run away. But this one… it could fly even after that, and chased us all the way out. That was the scariest encounter."

I gulp, with a little fear. Would Rahambose be worse than that?

"But then…" Tar sighs, rolling his eyes. "There are dumb ones. We found a red-one, in broad daylight. It didn't breath fire, just tried to scare us away, I suppose. It just was trying to be careful in the fight, and evaded so well. But your dad just comes there, to save the day with dumb tricks, and it works. Trust me when I say Max, that was the lamest-"

"-Dad too knew about the dragons?" I ask.

"Of course he did. Wouldn't have told you, sure. Bad influence chants again. He even said I was putting Min in harm's way with dragons, and separated us…" Tar groans. "I can agree with him, but he separated me from her. Saying I was bad influence."

"He said that?" I ask, and Tar looks through the mirror, not understanding why it was surprising to me. "But then, he is hunting them down himself. With the military."

"Him and go on a dragon hunt? His mind sure must have rotten-out. But… a hunt? Like, kill them?"

"He didn't harm them that day, but they seem to be developing weapons to have a fight with the dragons. At least if it comes to it," Sam says.

"Do you know about any… friend of Dad? He seemed to be talking something along the lines of dragons killing his friend."

"Did you eavesdrop? I'm proud but… I don't know of any such friend. But Mr. Military sure is a good lad. No wonder, that could have deeply hurt him, if that happened. He was always protective, at the least."

"Our parents didn't want us to know about anything. Well, our dads, I mean. So we were curious," Sam says.

"Ha, you both remind me of Min and me… we used to eavesdrop a lot too. God, I miss her," Tar says. "After losing my parents… Min was the only family left. But I'm so glad to meet you, Max. Even when you are not Elena… you are the only family left for me."

Tar just smiles, but I see a little hurt, in that smile.

Guessing that he was separated from Mom, from at least when I was born… that was more than two decades.

Living so closely, yet so far. The dragons had separated them… like it was supposed to happen in between me and Sam.

I don't find an answer to any of my haunting questions. I only get more questions, talking to Tar, the only person who knew the most here.

But before I know it, I fall asleep.

…

"Wake up dreamers, what else is the word? I do not know, but, wake up, nephew… and Sam. We are almost there," Tar shakes my chin, ever so slowly, bringing me back to life.

Sam wakes up too, and I find her having slept on my shoulder.

We instantly jump away, after realising, and feel a little awkward at it.

Tar laughs, looking at us, and then starts driving again, towards the setting sun.

"So… what's between you two…?" Tar asks.

"Friendship, what else…?" I hesitate, and Sam just side-eyes me, making me guilty.

"Come on... I did not just live for forty-six freaking years and not learn… signs."

"We both are kind of in a relationship," Sam says.

"Kind of…? A new and unclear relationship I say."

"It is not that way, we were friends before and then I proposed and then it was good for an year… then it got awkward," she continues.

"It is not your fault," I mumble.

"Another guess, you did not talk about it clearly to each other, did you?"

"It doesn't really work," we protest.

"Oh… then here is another story for the two of you. I didn't want to tell this but… your mom and I were in a relationship, in our teenage. We believed that we were just step-siblings, so it didn't count. It was bound to happen sometime."

"Wait… is that why you hate Dad?"

"Haha, maybe. But not exactly. We ended at good terms. There were times… we'd want to get intimate. That meant only a kiss. We'd sneak away, from the sight of our parents. But we… couldn't do it."

I look at Sam, but look away.

"That must be wrong of me to mention it, in front of her kid, with someone else. But… the point is, Max, and Sam… sometimes just going with the flow, makes us realise our destiny. I hate to be someone who says what is written for us will happen but… even if it does, it is on us to make something out of what has happened. If that makes sense."

"I think it does," Sam says.

"We just talked. We both felt it. We loved each other but… there are so many forms of love. Even if I love someone one way, it may not be the same way they love me, you know. But me and your Mom made something out of it, Max."

I look at Sam, bravely this time. And she looks back.

"For example, here you are, going to find your brother, Sam. What is that? It is love. Maybe for a reason or two. But doesn't change the fact that-"

The buzz… I could feel the buzz right before it happens again. Unable to hear clearly, I look ahead of the car, towards a blast. The car flies up, and then comes crashing down. It feels like the weight of the whole car is upon me, and I feel unable to move.

I look at Sam, but my blinded vision doesn't help. Yet I struggle, both to move and see. But before I'm able to properly do either, I get dragged out of the car. I feel sand hit my face, as I lie at the ground. As the vision clears a little, I see Sam's back, she too was lying on the ground.

The person who dragged us must be Tar. Has to be. Who else could it be?

I struggle again, to move, and to find Tar, but this was the extent possible for me right now: staying conscious.

I hear many vehicles come closer. And right as they do, I hear another explosion, and feel heat hit my face, and feel my conscious fading. But with what feels like a second-too-long of unconsciousness, I wake up, as a lot of water splashes on my face, making it cold now, after the heat.

"Alright now, kids or not, I don't care of that. But, it's time to wake up," a grumpy and distorted voice says. That wasn't Tarragon surely. "Cute sleepyheads you both are, but questions give me anxiety. And I HATE it."

I feel my hands behind a chair, clasped against each other. But not tied. I simply use my hands to wipe my face, and look ahead.

"You might expect being tied, after getting caught, trespassing on a military-owned zone. But that is just how bad of a situation you are in. So better choose every word. Every action. Very carefully."

A military officer, in his uniform, glaring right at me. He turns behind and goes ahead to sit on a chair. He un-pockets a gun, and cocks it.

"Now… who in the hell are you?" he points his gun at me.