Page 4 of The Sapphire Dragon's Missing Mate

They watched me leave, getting smaller and smaller as I circled higher until they were mere specks below me before I started away. I’d devised a strap to carry my minimal belongings, grateful I’d be able to purchase things if I needed them. I had no idea what direction even to try, but my dragon seemed to know, and as heartbroken as I was to leave my home, I let him take the wheel.

After a few close calls with people pointing me out overhead, I switched to flying after dark. Many people did know about shifters, but with dragons being just short of fantastical, I was concerned about what might happen. Rumors of hunters who wanted unusual trophies had been among the stories told around the campfire when I was growing up.

My dragon liked hunting, although that took some getting used to on my part, but when I wanted to eat, I had to land somewhere a bit hidden, shift, dress, and walk to a restaurant. Usually a roadside diner. It also made it possible to charge my phone.

Days in, I was really wondering if my dragon really knew what he was doing. At first, I’d been so absorbed with the novelty of seeing so much of the country, but now, I began to weary.

Do you really know where we’re going?

To find brothers.

That was pretty much all he’d say about that. I tried many times. Finally, at the end of one long day of flying, a sharp wind pushed blackhearted clouds ahead of it into my path. When lightning spears shot toward earth followed by loud rumbles of thunder, I hunted for a place to land. Visibility was limited, with starlight shut out by the clouds, so I hunted for the lights of a diner or maybe a farmhouse where I could beg shelter until the storm passed. But when the rain began, it was an instant downpour, and I couldn’t wait any longer.

I had to go to ground even if it meant no shelter, but then I saw it. Lights in the distance, a group of small buildings, maybe houses, and I made for them with everything I had left. Landing, I found myself in some sort of small resort area with what looked like nice rental cabins. I’d seen a place like this once when my dads took me on vacation to a lake a couple of hours from home. It was very late, but a porch light on each glowed in the stormy night, and one had an illuminated sign marked Manager.

I landed, dropped my satchel, and shifted then moved onto the porch where I dressed before knocking. My brothers weren’t here, my dragon assured me, but maybe I could find a dry place to stay for the night.

Chapter Four

Arvin

The crack of lightning in the sky was getting closer and closer when I heard the boom. It was still miles away, but heading in fast. The storm was definitely coming in, and was it a doozy! I watched the radar a few times. There were bands of weather, too. So, we weren’t going to have a one and done. Nope. That would be too easy. Instead, we were going to get hit over and over again. Good times. At least I had a few moments to sit in my chair by the bedroom window and watch the show until the next crisis hit.

Two cabins that were meant to leave today ended up choosing to stay in order to avoid traveling in the storm. The wolf family hadn’t quite made it here yet but let me know they were on their way, making us full for the night. And even though it meant more work for me in the short run, I was glad the families chose to skip checkout. I’d rather people stay longer and be safe than travel through what was coming or what was already here, for that matter.

The rain pelted the roof. Had I not looked out the window to verify, I’d have thought it was hailing, it hit so hard. It had been a long time since we had torrential downpours like this. Like maybe never.

My phone buzzed. I looked down to see it was cabin eight asking for a bucket. Normally, a bucket could mean many things, from their kid wanted to play with mud to they wanted to tie-dye something. With this kind of downpour, there was a leak, and it was raining in their cabin.

I grabbed some tarps and a couple of buckets and waded my way through to their cabin. Their youngest child sat on the porch, staring out toward the sky. She couldn’t have been much more than six and watched the sky with wonder.

“I heard that that means the goddess is bowling.” She beamed up at me.

“If she is, she’s doing a really good job. I think that last one was a strike.” It was still a distance away, but the ground shook with the force of its impact. “Are your parents inside?”

“Mom is. She’s trying to catch the water.”

That was so not what I’d wanted to hear.

Inside, sure enough, there was a leak. It wasn’t a huge one, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t get worse. I put the bucket underneath and pushed the furniture a tad more out of the way. With the wind coming in, this wouldn’t be enough, but it would be a start.

“I hate to ask this of you,” I said to the mama raccoon, “but any chance you could help me get this tarp over the roof?”

It was pre-cut to fit the task at hand. Sadly this wasn’t my first time at this rodeo. Had the weather been perfect, I could probably have finagled it up there on my own, but it wasn’t, and I didn’t trust a ladder to stay where it needed to be. This was a two-person job.

“Absolutely. Fur or skin?”

“Fur.”

I explained the plan, and we went outside where she shifted and carried the tarp up to the roof. Once she was there, she pushed it so half hung down the other side of the slant, low enough for me to get it situated. I tacked it where it needed to be while she held her side firm. Then, when I was done, she climbed back down with the edge of her side, and I tacked it down. It worked really well, and had I waited even five more minutes to get there, I wouldn’t have been able to get it done. The lightning was only about a mile away now if one Mississippi worked.

“Thank you so much. I’ll mark down that you get a free day. Or something.” I always had to put the disclaimer or something because sometimes my boss approved things; others, he didn’t. Worst-case scenario, I’d buy them something for their kids.

“You don’t have to do that. Things happen, and you’ve been so nice to us.” She and her wife had come with all three of their little ones to spend the week. They were some of our regulars and, in my opinion, made the best cobbler this side of the river.

“Did you want me to make you something warm to drink? You’re drenched,” she offered.

“You’re not particularly dry.” She’d been on the roof too. Sure, there was some super-power-auto-drying-shifter thing when she shifted back to her human form, but that didn’t negate that she’d been on the roof only minutes earlier.

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