Chapter 3
Better known as,
Scooby Doo, Where Are You When I Need You?
“Oh, I’m sure we’ve got bleeding people somewhere. This is Dragoon Bootay after all. Somebody’s always blowin’ something up, cuttin’ something off, or has goo comin’ outta one orifice or another.”
“Eww, Maeve, what the...?”
“Hush up! I don’t have time for your weirdness today. We’ve got bigger fish to fry!” Maeve, the middle sister of the three Dellencourt Dragon Queens and one hell of a good General Practitioner, if there ever was one, snapped.
No, I didn’t tell her how good she was often enough.
That girl could get a big head like nobody’s business.
She knew she was good—really good. The kind of good where she could’ve been running a huge hospital in a big metropolitan city.
’ My dear sister had no problem telling anyone within our Bibbidi Bobbidi Bubble just that very fact.
Truth was, if it didn’t take so much Magic to hide our true natures and keep us safe from whoever or whatever was out to get us, I’m pretty sure Maeve would’ve never come back to Dragoon Bootay after she became a doctor.
She received so many accolades, awards, recognitions, and job offers that it was difficult for her to leave the outside world.
However, that crazy combat-boot-wearing bombshell, Fate, was always there to remind us all that using Magic had a price, even when you’re an Omnipotent Being, and it was, and would always be, Family first for all Dellencourt Dragons– as Momma June used to say, ‘Heavy is the head that sports the tiara’.
Maeve shouted, "Snap out of it! Do not make me get out of this car. If you do—"
“What did you just…?
“I just told you NOT to make me get out of the car and for you to pay attention, hush the hell up, and put your perfectly curvy ass in this vehicle right this very minute. I love you, Sis, but dayum, you are slow! We’re on a mission of the utmost importance.
One that will keep me from performin’ more autopsies!
You know, when I cut open dead bodies and find out why they are dead? !”
“But I...”
“But you are slower than a herd of turtles going uphill in the middle of August!”
“Well, I...”
“Yes, you did, and yes, you will! Now at the risk of repeatin’ myself, get your perfectly spandexed ass in this car before I’m forced to lose my mind and spit Dragon Fire in your direction.”
Doing as I was told at a high rate of speed because: (A) Maeve had never ever never threatened me before.
Period. She was the calm, cool, collected, level-headed Dellencourt Sister.
I’d never seen her furrow her brow or snap at anyone—and she grew up with me as a big sister and Maisie as a little one.
Talk about challenging situations. It could be said that Maisie and I were a ball of energy powered by chaos and coffee, never controlled.
So, for Maeve to play the ‘I’ll set you ablaze with Dragon Fire’ card—something had to be really wrong.
And don’t get me started on the fact that she told me to hush up and get my butt in her car twice.
Yes—twice! She was the rule follower of all rule followers.
She knew threatening others, especially kin, with your Gift was a no-no.
Not just in the Dellencourt Clan, but in the Paranormal World as a whole.
If I’d heard it once, I’d heard it a thousand times—and probably repeated it twice as much in my lifetime: you just never threatened another with your Gift.
If you threatened, you had to be ready to follow through, and that was a big NO-NO—capital letters.
It was taboo in all the wrong ways. Just like Witches had rules about frivolously using Magic, Dragons knew the use of their Gift had to be justified.
We had to be saving a life or avoiding all-out war and untold death—or that shit came back at you tenfold.
Talk about a reason to follow the rules.
I had seen firsthand that some rules were NOT meant to be broken.
In my formative years, while on the Isle of Skye training with my Aunts Brenda and Jayne—the only Dragonesses to have fought alongside the previous Dragon Queen, my Great Great Grandma Mary Belle—I witnessed what happened when a Gift was used without provocation, in anger, and against a family member.
I was out in one of the far paddocks, trying to get the hang of partially Shifting, when the Mackrelfresh boys appeared out of nowhere.
As usual, they were up to no good, daring each other to one dangerous thing after another.
It was a daily occurrence and one I’d learned to ignore.
After all, they were stupid boys. UGH! Bringing up the rear was the youngest, Barney, the worst of the bunch.
Of course, he zeroed in on me, in the far corner, and came up with the bright idea of trying to scare me.
I could hear everything the Mackrelfresh brothers, who were Wyvern Shifters, were discussing.
I decided to bide my time and pray that the older brothers could stop their sibling from enacting his foolhardy plan.
I heard Geoff, the oldest, say, “No way, Barney. Not only is she a Fire Dragon, but Mom said she’s the first Dragon Queen in three centuries and the eldest of three.
The Power of Three is not to be messed with.
No one knows the extent of Martha’s Gifts or her Magic. I ain’t messing with her.”
“Yeah,” Wilbur, the middle brother, breathed, obviously more than a little freaked out at the thought of tangling with me.
After the fact, it was all kinda funny. When I had time to think and wasn’t scared that I’d fry all three Mackrelfresh boys to a crisp, it was hilarious that they were scared of me because of a Legend, not because of what they’d seen me do.
Because if I were honest, I couldn’t do much, and the Mackrelfresh boys hadn’t seen me do anything impressive in any definition of the word.
The Aunts and even my uncles refused to teach me more than basic defense until I learned absolute control over my Shift.
They said ‘flaming’ someone was always the last resort, after all other attempts to resolve the situation had failed.
They also loved telling me I had to master a wide range of blades before learning the art of Dragon Fire.
Yep—you guessed it. They wanted me, Martha, the Dragon Queen from Dragoon Bootay who’d rather bedazzle her sheath than hold a sword, to learn how to attack, lunge, feint, disengage, riposte, flèche, parry, and retreat.
Was the Universe, the Goddess, and Fate sure they had the right girl?
None of that mattered because it wasn’t long before the Mackrelfresh brothers’ discussion took a dark turn.
With my right hand partly Shifted into Aideen’s paw and the tip of her left wing poking out of my back, I heard the sound of a fist hitting a jaw.
It was dull and muffled, followed by what could only be a soaking wet towel hitting a brick wall.
That meant blood was most definitely flowing from somewhere.
Then Barney roared, “You knocked my frikkin’ tooth out, you idiot! I’m gonna fuckin’ kill…”
Spinning to the left and losing my concentration along with my partial Shift, I was just in time to see the unthinkable.
Geoff, the oldest, had to launch himself into the air, do a barrel roll to end all barrel rolls, and land with a thudding slide on the opposite side of the paddock to keep from becoming a crispy critter.
He just barely escaped the fiery, ferocious blast of flames billowing across the field.
The whoosh of fire was so hot I felt my long dark curls sizzle.
The crackle and acrid stench of scorched earth filled the air.
It was Wyvern Fire. It was angry. And it was used in anger against a Family member.
“It can’t be…” Aideen and I gasped in unison.
My eyes shot to the right. It could be, and it was. There, not fifty feet away, was a fully Shifted, completely Wyvern Barney Mackrelfresh, and the dumbass was taking aim in my direction.
I was frozen in place. I had no clue what to do. Sure, Aunt Jayne taught me plenty of defensive maneuvers, but my mind went blank. I could barely remember my name, let alone how to keep my perfectly curvy ass from getting fricasseed.
I’d seen some Dragon Guardsmen practicing battle maneuvers.
Those dudes were big and brawny. Their muscles had muscles.
And they had swords—honest to the Goddess swords, with blades so sharp they could separate a man from his head in one swipe.
They were the Universe’s Chosen Warriors. Built for battle.
I was Martha—just Martha. I knew I was bound for greatness. My parents made sure I knew how special I was. But faced with a fire-breathing Wyvern who decided I was the enemy, I froze.
Thank the Great Goddess, the Universe, and God with a capital G that Aideen knew what to do. From one second to the next, the Dragon Queen with whom I shared my soul took control.
She forced the full Shift, crossed the paddock in five determined strides, and plucked the shocked Wyvern up by the nape of his neck.
Chuckling, a sound that more resembled rocks rolling around in a dryer than laughter, she taunted her prey as his Shift disappeared into thin air, and in human form, he wet his pants. It was so sad.
After handing Barney over to the Guardsmen who had come running into the paddock, Aideen retreated to the back of my psyche, and I was back in control. But I had to ask, “What will happen to Barney?”
“He will be taken to the Council’s Prison, placed in one of the lead and silver-lined cells, and spend many years being shown the error of his ways.”
All I could say was, “Wow.”
So, now that I’ve regaled you with a cautionary tale from my youth, I’ll get back to my story…