The Strangers of Precedent

Singe leaned down so his mother could check his hair.

“I do know how to handle myself.”

“Of course you do, but I so rarely get the opportunity.”

He shut up, letting her go down the line to take care of him.

“This will be the longest you’ve been there, won’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah, Uncle Burns is excited.”

His mother snorted.

“You’re not supposed to lie to your parents anymore at this age.”

“I didn’t say he was happy about it.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Your friends are going to want to see you off one more time.”

“I’m not sure they’ll have the time.”

Royalty was a busy job, especially if you actually cared about your people.

“I made time,” Drake said behind him. She gave a big grin as she dismounted her Omnis Dragon. Her red hair was in it’s usual long braid, and the circlet denoting her rank as queen was slightly lopsided. Singe corrected it as she came closer.

“How dare you touch the queen!” she said in her most ridiculous tone.

“Not too loud,” Singe requested, “I’d like to stay alive.”

Drake rolled her eyes.

“You’re kind of distinct, Singe. People know you’re a friend.”

“Most people are going to hear you before they see me.”

“You can handle them.”

It was Singe’s turn to roll his eyes. Drake was dangerously confident at times. He hugged her, making sure not to overdo it.

“I’ll miss you, Drake.”

He let go as she started to push off of him.

“You’re coming back. I need a good bodyguard, and you’re the best.”

“You don’t know any of that, but I’ll do my best for you.”

Drake crossed her arms like a pouting child.

“Well, time’s up. Drake 2 will try to call once you get to your uncle’s.”

“Tell him I look forward to it.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Drake ran at full speed, swinging up to her dragon’s back, and gave a two finger salute once she was settled.

“Love you!”

“Love you, too!”

Despite its size, the Omnis Dragon flew silently up and over their heads, with minimal windfall.

“Anyone else?” he asked fate itself.

“You won’t be our Singe anymore after this,” Drahcir said, “Don’t go.”

“Drahcir.”

“Don’t listen to them,” their sister Telbe said, mussing up their hair as they both got closer to Singe.

“How’s your mom?” Singe asked.

“Still pissed. Why do you want to work for royals?”

“Technically I’ve worked for them my whole life. The stable is theirs.”

The siblings groaned.

“The stable doesn’t count,” Telbe explained, “Those are for the dragon corps.”

“But trying to be a member of the Black Dragon Corps, whose stable I worked in, is working for royalty.”

“The way you’re going about it, yeah.”

Singe avoided her eyes, adjusting his backpack.

“You won’t belong here anymore if you go through with this,” Drahcir said, “Please.”

Their wide eyes were hard to look away from, but Singe needed to move forward, not just stay somewhere because his friends were there.

“I don’t know if I ever belonged here.”

Telbe rolled her eyes.

“You’re both so dramatic. You belong here as long as there are Draconics in the mountains. We’ll see you again.”

“Do I trust the moon dragon, or the ice dragon? I wonder.”

Telbe blew a sarcastic kiss that covered Singe’s face in frost, then walked away.

“I’ll miss you too, Telbe.”

Drahcir stayed.

“Ask it,” they ordered.

“Will I be happier after the change?” Singe asked.

“Not here, but I can’t tell you anything else.”

Singe nodded, accepting the verdict. You didn’t push with moon dragons. It just made you more paranoid. Drahcir nodded back, walking backwards mysteriously until they tripped. Telbe laughed.

Singe quickly turned back to his mother.

“Let’s go, before their mom screams at me.”

“First.”

She handed him a small leather pouch. He liked the weight of it.

“What is it?”

“Something I should have given you a long time ago.”

He took a glance at his mothers chest, where her locket was notably absent.

“No.”

“You’ll make better use of it, and it’s your family heirloom.”

“But it’s your engagement necklace.”

“And maybe you’ll find someone to give it to while you’re out there. Don’t argue.”

“No I’m—”

“—Definitely arguing?”

He was in the unmoving forest near Precedent. He was going to have that argument later.

He sighed, took the locket out of its pouch, and placed it around his neck. He clicked it open to show a mirror, with runes on the other side of it spelling out the name “Tyrain”.

“Tessa Tyrain,” he ordered. He saw a seal swim past whatever the mirror was connecting him to. She turned and waved, then swam off. The image disappeared, and he clicked the locket closed.

“This is temporary,” he informed it, before closing it and moving toward town.

For an unmoving forest, there was a lot of activity, but the trees mostly stayed in place. Singe moved slow, trying not to put too much weight on anything if possible. With his density, he knew himself to be a danger.

As he made it out, he spotted a couple arguing. He planned to move somewhere else, but then the girl looked straight at him. She was small with strawberry blond hair. Singe recognized the guy across from her, realizing this probably wasn’t a couple.

“What are you doing while the sun’s still up, V?” he asked.

V, pale and tragic, pulled his hood back up.

“V?” his companion asked, “What’s that short for?”

“Vampire,” V answered, “And the fact he has too many Drakes in his life.”

Singe shrugged.

“Are you going to introduce your giant friend?” the girl asked.

“Of course. Singe Tyrain, this is Bobbi Fayner. Bobbi, this is Singe. His Uncle’s old friends with the Eves.”

Singe gave a bow. Bobbi responded with an awkward curtsy.

“Singe is a mage,” V explained.

“Ooohh.” Bobbi nodded like she didn’t understand.

“Don’t worry,” Singe cautioned, “I’m not very impressive.”

“Another thing you have in common,” Drake said.

That didn’t seem like a thing to say about a friend.

“You both lie about your capability.”

“The tree thing still wasn’t me.” Bobbi monotoned.

“Tree thing?”

V and Bobbi spent a moment looking at each other.

“Long story.”

“I’ll hear about it later, then. I’ve got to go bother my uncle for a minute.”

“Wait!” V said.

“What?” Singe and Bobbi both asked.

“You’re always doing stupid noble things. Do you want to help Bobbi do something stupid?”

“Hey!”

“What do you mean?”

“Bobbi wants to check out a cave. She’s currently being hunted by the brotherhood. She can’t go there at night when I can protect her, and nobody else has time during the day. You’re strong and probably free. Want to protect a damsel in distress?”

“Brotherhood?” Singe asked.

“Vampires, different court than myself.”

“Okay. Why would they be a problem if she’s going during the daytime? You guys hate sunlight.”

“The cave wouldn’t have much sunlight,” Bobbi explained, somehow not demeaning.

“Right.”

He did come here for heroics.

“Sure, why not? See you…?”

“Mid-afternoon tomorrow just outside the park entrance. I’ll pack some lunches.”

“See you then.”

“Pack your own food,” V recommended, “She doesn’t consume any protein.”

“Hey!”

“Will do.”

He backed away in the familiar direction of his uncle’s home.

Singe checked the time again. Bobbi was late, not that she’d given a precise time.

He checked his chest again as if the locket would appear despite intentionally leaving it. His uncle had tried to scare him into wearing it, too.

“Sorry I’m late,” Bobbi said. “Syren had to tell me almost everything she knows about you.”

“What did she skimp on?”

“Oh, like the one useful thing, which is what type of mage you are. What type of mage are you, by the way?”

“The strong kind. Lead the way.”

Bobbi glared until she passed him and explained where she was going to the park rangers who offered directions.

Bobbi climbed the mountain with little difficulty, quickly outpacing Singe to the point he had to almost run.

“How do you move so fast when you’re so small?”

“How do you move so slow when you’re so big?”

“Let’s call it bulk.”

“Which I have none of.” she laughed at herself, turning to wait for him.

“Do you go hiking often?” he asked once he caught up. She didn’t give him time to rest.

“Not since moving here. That’s probably why I wanted to see the cave so bad.”

“Homesick?”

“I may be practically nocturnal, but my home is somewhere I can see the sky. Who would want to live in a cave?”

“I lived in one for awhile.”

“No shit!” she seemed excited.

“It’s normal for my kind. My mentor wanted me within range to help her with housework whenever she needed.”

“And your kind is?”

“The kind of Mage that likes to live in caves for some reason.”

“Is it that big of a secret?”

He shook his head.

“Not at all.”

Bobbi stopped and turned back just to give him a glare.

“It’s really not. Most other mages would clock me in a second.”

“How?”

“Violet eyes are uncommon.”

Bobbi looked him deep in the eyes. Her eyes were a cute hazel, complemented by light freckles on her cheeks.

“They are violet. Where did you get them?”

“When my magek manifested.”

“Wait, they weren’t always that color?”

“Used to be green. My hair used to be brown too.”

“It could still be brown.”

Bobbi was still scrutinizing him.

“So you’re like 6’8”, right?”

He really didn’t want to correct her on that one.

“6’7” last I checked.”

“I was close though. Probably shoes.”

“What about you, 5’ zilch?”

“4’11” My shoes must have tricked you.”

More like he just chose the shortest height he could think of, not expecting her to be shorter.

She outpaced him again, staying just in his range of sight before stopping.

“We’re here!”

“You’re there. I still have a few more yards.”

She sat down, which put her out of eye-line.

It was getting near sunset by the time he made it.

“V could have come with us.”

“I’m not sure he would have lasted the hike.”

Singe made noises of agreement. V ran on fumes.

“So what’s the deal with the cave, anyways? Are you a geology major?”

“English, actually. I’m getting a bachelors before a masters in library sciences.”

“Does Thoth know?”

“Yeah, I’m doing page work for some extra credit. Does he seriously just go by Thoth?”

“My uncle’s friend found his full name once, or so she claims.”

“Did she share it?”

“You’re new, aren’t you?”

Now that there was less of an incline, Bobbi was easier to keep track of.

“So why the cave, again?”

“I think this might be where the brotherhood is hiding.”

“Why?”

“Wildlife’s been acting weird. There’s something disturbing it.”

“In a place where human’s live?” Singe’s voice dripped in sarcasm.

Bobbi gave an offended look.

“I’ve seen the wildlife practices in the area,” Singe explained, “They’re always disturbed.”

“Centralized around a cave?” Bobbi asked.

“Could be a make-out point.”

“Make-out points are made by people who raze mountains. This mountain isn’t at that point yet.”

“You’ve never been to a make-out point, have you?”

Bobbi turned her flashlight on in Singe’s face.

“That’s very bright.”

“C’mon.”

“Should we be going into the possible den of Vampires?”

“If we want them out of town, yes.”

The cave was disappointingly empty, not even animals to be found. Still Bobbi pushed forward.

“I think this place is empty,” Singe said.

“Maybe for the moment, but it’s too suspicious to ignore.”

“Of course it is.”

“Wait.”

Bobbi stopped, then pointed the flashlight right above Singe.

“Do mages have some sort of anti-invisibility spell?” she asked.

“I’m not that kind of mage.”

“Darn.”

She turned the flashlight back to front.

“What’s going on?”

“I was just thinking that if I wanted to lure unsuspecting prey into a cave, I’d hide on the ceiling.”

“So you checked above my head?”

“I can’t really see above mine, can I?”

“I think you’re capable of looking up.”

“And I thought I heard something behind you.”

Singe looked back, squinting as if he could see through the darkness. He followed Bobbi more closely, prepping to cover her.

“I think we should go back,” he said.

“What, why?”

“Because if we go much further, and there are vampires, we’ll be easy prey who can’t get out fast enough.”

He felt the scales appearing on his arm, and the claws pushing on his nails. He put his arms behind his back when Bobbi turned around.

“Drake made quick work of two of them, and you’re ‘the strong kind’ of mage, so you can probably handle them.”

“I appreciate your confidence, but Drake doesn’t really have blood for them to drink. We do.”

Bobbi nodded.

“What’s up with your arms?”

Singe looked down. None of the scales seemed to be visible.

“What’s off about them?”

“You’re hiding them behind your back. It’s weird.”

“Welcome to Precedent, everything’s weird. Keep going, I don’t want to stay in one place.”

“Then show me your arms.”

“Promise not to freak out.”

“Nevermind.” Bobbi shook her head and turned around.

“Good call.”

Even mages freaked out when he was between forms, but full transformation would just take up unnecessary space.

They kept moving forward, and Singe felt scales start on his legs too. He quietly smacked his wrists together, switching his shoes out for draconian foot bands, which wouldn’t break if his feet turned to talons.

Singe felt something grab his shoulders, and in a second he had it in his right claw. Bobbi turned the flashlight onto a struggling a vampire.

“That’s all that was wrong with your arms?”

“Vampire.” Singe pointed at his prisoner. “We can take him back as proof, and get out of here.”

“I don’t think so,” a woman with a southern accent said. Singe turned to where Bobbi’s flashlight highlighted a throng of smiling, well-fed vampires. He threw his prisoner at them, grabbed Bobbi, and ran deeper into the cave.

“Should we be going deeper?” Bobbi asked.

“Well we can’t go that way.”

Bobbi directed her flashlight forward until they came to a fork, with Vampires following not too far behind. Bobbi flicked the flashlight to either side, then directed it to the left.

“That one.”

Singe ran in, turning around to see the Vampires.

“Hit the wall,” Bobbi said, pointing the light up.

“Why?”

“Hit it!”

Singe obliged, and rocks fell and blocked the corridor between them and the vampires. Then more crashed behind them.

“You can set me down now,” Bobbi said. Singe obliged.

“They’re strong enough to move those rocks, you know.”

“Yeah,” Bobbi breathed, “But I don’t think it’ll be fast, assuming they can’t walk through like I saw Drake do once.” Bobbi started breathing faster, “This was a bad plan.”

“Yeah, going into the vampire cave wouldn’t have been my first call.”

“Not that—yes that—but I meant swimming out through the river.”

She pointed out a pond in the middle of the room.

“My mom’s Minerian, I can swim. You move away from the vampire wall, and find somewhere to hide. I’ll check for an opening underwater.”

Bobbi handed him the flashlight, and looked around the cave.

Singe transformed fully, growing black scaled wings, and his face turning into a snout. This form was bigger, but it also needed less air. He took a deep breath, made sure the flashlight was on, and dived.

The pond had animals in it, most of them without eyes. They still moved out of the way as he swam to the bottom.

No openings there. He kept looking around, but ran out of air before he could find anything.

“Don’t go back down,” Bobbi said.

“Why not?”

“You know how there was a cave in on the other side, too?”

Singe directed the flashlight to what looked like the start of a river, dammed up by rocks.

“We’re fucked,” Bobbi said.

Singe checked for the locket again, but it was still absent, not that he knew anyone who could handle that many vampires without becoming food.

Except he did know one person the Vampires couldn’t eat. V told him once while bemoaning his lack of willing options.

“By Hecate, we’re fucked.” he hoped he remembered how she told him to pronounce it. It had been several years since she’d confided in him, telling him to only use it for emergencies. This certainly was one.

The cave-in kept glaring at them.

“So the dragon thing?” Bobbi asked, “Assuming it’s a dragon thing and not some other kind of mythical creature that made my zoology teacher want to tear his hair out.”

“We typically call ourselves either zmeus or draconics. We can make ourselves like this,” he gestured to his draconic form, “And usually back to human-looking.”

“But you haven’t always been like this, because your eyes changed color?”

“No, I haven’t. When I was eight my dragon died and gave me the last of her power to keep me safe.”

“Fine, don’t tell me.”

“No, really. My father was her partner before me, so I think she thought of me as her drake.”

“Drake?” Bobbi asked.

“Baby dragon, part of why I call our vampire friend V instead. How did you figure out that cave-in?”

Since they were on the subject of weird things.

“What do you mean?” Bobbi asked.

“You knew we weren’t going to get hit by the debris. How did you figure that out?”

Bobbi stood up, waded into the river, which came up past her knees, and started tapping on the rocks.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re right. I did know we weren’t going to get hit, and that was all instinct. Maybe I can direct that instinct to moving these out of the way without hurting ourselves worse. You can lift rocks, right?”

Singe gestured at the still draconic form.

“Stupid question, got it.”

Bobbi kept tapping.

“So like are zmeus common or…”

“That depends. In Draconis we’re about a fourth of the population, everywhere else pretty rare.”

“Draconis, is that the town you’re from?” she pulled out a few smaller rocks.

“It’s a bit bigger than a town,” Singe answered.

“So like a big city?”

“More like a whole kingdom.”

Bobbi paused everything for a moment.

“I thought Magek was just a whole-ass country”

“No, it’s a continent. Why would a continent be just one kingdom? That’s a dangerous power imbalance.”

“Australia seems to manage.”

“What’s Australia?”

Despite the dark, Singe could see Bobbi’s eyes widen.

“You’re shitting me.”

“Cave-in?” Singe indicated the wall.

“No, I need you to reiterate how you don’t know what Australia is.”

“I don’t live on Earth, and I bet you don’t even know all the countries on here, not to mention you didn’t realize Magek had more than one country.”

“Of course I didn’t know. I’ve never been to Magek, and you guys don’t tell us shit! Australia isn’t some kind of Earth secret.”

“Can we get back to you figuring out how to get out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah.” she finally returned to her tapping.

Eventually Bobbi directed Singe toward a boulder. He pulled it out with little trouble.

“I think I can guess which ones are and aren’t load-bearing now.” she pointed out the next one. When Singe pulled it out, a few stones fell toward them.

“I stand corrected. Give me a minute.” She made a shooing motion.

Singe walked away, hearing more noise from the other side. He didn’t dare get too close, but the Vampires seemed to be screaming.

“Considering our luck, that’s probably not a good sign.”

“What?” Bobbi asked.

“I’m hearing noises from the other side. Keep going.”

“I found another rock for you to remove!”

Singe obliged without paying too much attention. Bobbi pulled away a few more rocks.

“How are you with small spaces?”

“I can’t fit in most of them.”

“Are you willing to try?”

Singe listened back to the screams.

“Absolutely.”

Bobbi gestured to a large rock in the middle of the pile.

“That seems pretty load-bearing.”

“It is, but I think we’ll still have an opening.”

“For how long?”

“Long enough.”

Singe stared at the rock.

“Once I pull this. Run through as fast as you can. Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay, but for the record, I think that’s a bad idea.”

“The record acknowledges and doesn’t care.”

Singe pulled the rock, and he heard the rocks click into place, leaving a hole large enough for Bobbi.

“Go!”

Bobbi jumped through with grace.

“C’mon!”

“I’m not fitting through.” The space was about half the width of his shoulders.

“Then I’ll figure out more things to pull away.”

“No. You’re going to run somewhere safe. I don’t think they’ll be able to bite through the scales.”

“Fuck no! What is it with men and trying to sacrifice themselves?”

“It’s not sacrificing if you’re pretty sure you’ll survive.”

“That’s not as convincing as you want it to be.” Bobbi started tapping the rocks again. “Besides, what if there’s vamps that way too?”

“Fine, step back.”

“If you cave yourself back in—”

“I promise not to cave myself back in here. Now back up.”

Bobbi took a few scowling steps backward.

Singe took a few steps back himself and jumped through the hole, grateful for the scales protecting him from all the rocks he pushed against. Behind him, the rocks caved back in.

“Now we’re caved in on this side.”

“Why did you make me go through all that effort if you could have just done that this whole time?” Bobbi asked.

“Because then you would have been stuck alone.”

“So you would have just died with me?”

Singe didn’t see the problem here.

“Yes.”

“What the fuck!?”

“And if I’d abandoned you, you wouldn’t have been able to execute the plan to get us both out.”

“I don’t fucking care!”

“You should.”

Singe finally stood up.

“Do you still have the flashlight?”

“Yeah?”

“Then lets keep going and try to find another exit.”

“Okay,” Bobbi sighed.

“Ooww.” Singe groaned as his uncle kept bandaging him.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Uncle Burns asked.

“It was this or Vampires.”

“Of course it was, and this girl was seeking them out?”

“Yeah?”

“Does she have a death wish?”

Singe hadn’t thought about that.

“She did take issue when I prioritized her life over mine.”

“Yeah, your life ain’t worth shit, incarnate dragon.”

“Don’t get into that with me.”

“Fine, fine.”

The door to the house slammed open.

“It’s fine, I can replace it, I’m practically made of money,” Uncle Burns muttered sorrowfully.

“I need to talk with your nephew,” an angry voice said. Singe turned his head to see a woman with blood red hair, who was hard to look away from. His heart started beating faster despite being over his teenage crush.

“Get in line.” Uncle Burns said, uncaring, “He’s getting medical care.”

“He’ll live for a few minutes without.”

Burns put his arms up in surrender and left the room.

“If you kill him, please explain the situation to his mother for me.”

Hecate leveled a glare at Singe that made him cower. Still an ethereal beauty, she looked frazzled, and had her turtleneck pulled further up than usual.

“I’m—”

“Don’t.” she ordered. “You know better than to invoke my name for petty fun.”

“Fun?” Singe asked.

“I entered a den of vampires to save your life!” she pulled down the turtleneck to show bite marks, “And what did I find? An empty cave, with nobody in there.”

Singe took care in his next choice of words.

“You’re right. I could have left at any time, but not with Bobbi, so I invoked you to get us out of there, but Bobbi figured out a way to get past the second cave-in, and I prioritized getting her out of the Vampire den over waiting for you.”

Hecate’s glare softened.

“How?”

“How what?”

“How did she get past it? It was caved back in by the time I got there.”

“That’s because she made me come with her and the opening wasn’t big enough.” he gestured at his bandages. She gave a pitying smile.

She sat down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Oww,” but the pain quickly subsided at her touch, “Nevermind, thanks.”

“I’m sorry Bobbi took away your heroic deed,” Hecate said, placing her fingers under his chin, “But I am glad you are safe.”

“Who told you?”

“My kind don’t need to be told things, little dragon.”

“I forgot.”

“I know.”

Her expression turned serious for a moment.

“Next time wait until Bobbi doesn’t have a solution to invoke me.”

Singe nodded, watching as she left through the door.

“You’re worse than when you were a teenager,” Uncle Burns said from the stairs.

“Trust me, I’m not.”

Syren liked the library, especially when Solomon grabbed her some cookies.

“Read aloud, please!”

“You’re fifteen, Sy.”

“Yes, and I like hearing you read.”

Solomon rolled his eyes, but monitored his book.

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit—”

“That’s not what it says.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I have a brain Solomon. I know when you’re lying to me.”

“Of course you do, which is why you know that what it says is fish-face.”

She smacked him.

“Stop, get away!”

She backed away without any control over her body. Only once she was a few feet away was she able to do anything.

“Sorry, Sy, I didn’t mean.” he set the book down. “I’ll switch, okay?” he signed. No risk of using his abilities.

Syren looked at his face, and ran up to hug him.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

“What’s this then?” a voice asked from behind her. Turning around revealed it to be the Vampire that worked for Frank.

“Drake!” Solomon announced, “Glad you came. It’s a little early for you though, isn’t it?”

The sun was just starting to set.

“You asked me to come first thing, so I did.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Fondness, not compulsion,” Drake reassured, “I haven’t been around many people in a long time, and I like the look of you.”

Solomon gave a shy smile.

“Is the thing you intended to show me here?” Drake asked.

“What are you showing him?” Syren asked, “Take me with you.”

“Do you mind if my sister comes?” Solomon asked, expression annoyingly apologetic.

Drake gave her a scrutinizing look.