Page 3 of The Timeless Vigilante

So, you seemed to have had an easy time of breaking up that showdown, which would have been a blood bath in the streets, the dragon whose name Gen didn’t know yet stated. She apparently would know his name upon meeting him, but only if she was in fact his one true rider. It was the final test to their bonding and sealed their connection.

“It would have been a bit easier if I had some help,” Gen said, glaring down at the massive egg covered in shiny purple-like scales, giving the dragon a pointed look that he could sense, even if he couldn’t see. However, Gen also knew that he saw through her eyes, through something called scrying, so he got extra glimpses of her world, meaning he would have seen the whole fight with the gang members in the streets of Los Angeles.

“I mean you,” Gen continued. “You could have been there to help.”

I was busy, the dragon said blankly.

“Doing what?” Gen challenged, sticking her hands on her hips.

Being.

“Being what?” Gen asked.

Being remarkable.

Gen sighed. “When are you going to hatch? And don’t say, when you’re ready. You’ve been in that shell for over six hundred years. I think you’ve incubated long enough.”

When I feel like it, he replied.

“I think you’re afraid.”

Afraid of what? the dragon questioned.

“You’re the very first dragon egg ever spawned and now you’re the last to ever hatch, since all two thousand have hatched already—all but you, Mr. Two thousand and one.”

I prefer to go by Number One, not Two Thousand and One, the dragon stated matter-of-factly.

“So, the way I see it is you’re worried that when you finally hatch, you’ll be a runt and everyone will be like, the first dragon isn’t that impressive.”

I don’t have stunted growth, the dragon argued. I will hatch when the time is right. When the environment is.

“Can you give me a clue of when that will be?” Gen asked. “I don’t want to be asleep or fighting bad guys alone and miss your big hatching. I mean, I’d take you to these fights. However, bringing an egg along isn’t really that helpful. You’re about as effective as rolling a stone at villains.”

Bowling ball, the dragon stated.

“Say what?”

In modern times, where you find yourself, there’s a game where people roll a heavy ball at pins to knock them down. That’s the better reference. I’d be like bringing a bowling ball to a fight.

“How come you’ve been in that shell for all your life, and you know more about the world than me?” she questioned.

I listen, he answered. I pick up on things. I’m in touch with the social consciousness. Oh, and I’m psychic.

“Like you knew when those bad guys were about to have a showdown in the streets of Los Angeles,” she stated. “Imagine how effective we could be if you broke out of your shell and helped me out.”

I’m busy…

Gen sighed, looking around at the place full of white shiny surfaces and things she didn’t understand. “Okay, well, fine. Just don’t leave me waiting much longer.”

Like you left me buried for six hundred years?

“That passed for me within seconds, but sorry, I’m sure that was lonely,” Gen offered, sympathetically.

It made me a good listener, the dragon stated in her head. Now go and get something to eat. I hear your stomach growling.

Gen nodded, turning for the kitchen. “I’ll try, but I don’t really know how anything works here.”

Just don’t put your finger in an electric socket and you’ll be fine, the dragon offered.

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