Page 2 of Drakhana's Secret
The room settles down when the last of the elders arrive. Corbin acts our chief. He sits at the center of the five while Baba sits at his right. Each and every one of them is an impregnable force within our village. If there are any dragons that are most in tune with Mother Earth, it’s the five elders sitting in front of us.
Unless all five of them agree on the action to be taken, nothing will be done. There has to be a consensus. Corbin stands and explains the situation to everyone present. The rest of the elders sit there stone faced.
“What other clans like to do with their time is beyond us,” he says. “But we also must take into consideration that we are all interconnected. It is in that connection that we move forward with this vote. All in favor of staying out of the fight, raise your right hand.”
All the five elders raise their hands. Instant relief washes over the entire room. Murmurs of approval come from my fellow dragons. We will not join in whatever squabbles the other clans get into.
I trust our process implicitly as we stand and go about our day. Baba and I hurry back to her hut and check on our concoctions. Yet, even as I busy myself with work, I can’t help but feel troubled.
It seems like there’s so much chaos in the world. How long will it take before that trouble finds its way into our peaceful lives. Surely, we earth dragons will not be able to stay out of the fight when it comes knocking at our door.
Two
Gallant
There’s nothing more beautiful in this world than seeing the sun shining down on the Golden Gate Bridge. It makes the massive achievement of human engineering burn orange. Many tourists come to San Francisco just to see the bridge. And join the ghost tour over at Alcatraz.
The stunning view from my office never fails to stun me. I wish my fellow earth dragons saw what I get to see on a daily basis. It makes you appreciate the beauty of the world.
Many of the earth dragons are content to live in their small communities in and around Purple Mountain. Many of them haven’t even left the base of our homeland in generations. They are missing so much. At least take a vacation, see more of the world.
I wouldn’t trade being in San Francisco for anywhere else. That’s on a good day. Right now, I’m not having a good day. One might even refer to the day I’m having as a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
Yes, I may be in my lavish corner office of the penthouse of our main building, but I don’t see all the extravagance around me. All I see are the fires that I have to put out everywhere. Each call I get is about another trade deal gone wrong because of the fire and ice clans going at each other’s throats.
Why are some clans so selfish? Ruining it for the rest of us just because they aren’t content with their quest for power and territory. Here I am having to clean up their messes.
The earth dragons have always prided themselves in trading with the other clans. We provide many goods and services that they need and then they give us money or goods and services in return. It’s an age-old practice that dates back to our ancestors.
We are the Switzerland of dragons. We remain neutral. But it’s starting to become clear to me that we might not stay neutral for long.
Fights are breaking out in Central, Richmond, Sunset, Upper Market and Bernal Heights. It’s an ugly turf war that we’re being dragged into. Logan from the ice clan has secured LA and is working his way outward, which means nipping at the heels of my beloved San Francisco. Rastus from the fire clan is fortifying their hold on Las Vegas, or what’s left of it since their defeat in the hands of the ice clan recently. It’s a complete shit show.
The clans have devolved into street gangs. Fly the wrong colors and you get jumped. Can’t an honest dragon make good business anymore without it turning into a drive by? If only my peace-loving brethren knew what I had to deal with on a daily basis.
Just as soon as I put down my phone, it rings again. I’m almost afraid to pick it up. I need a fucking breather, but it could be something so I have to take the call.
I bring the receiver to my ear and say, “What?”
My guy on the other side isn’t even perturbed by my tone. “Sir, our shipment of salves and tonics that are supposed to go to the fire clan was intercepted by the ice clan before we could make the drop.”
“What happened to the merchandise?” I ask in panic.
To the uninitiated, it may just be salves and tonics, but to the dragon clans, the little bottles and pots might as well be gold. They are made of all-natural ingredients that can cure anything that ails a dragon. We earth dragons have cornered the market on ancient remedies. That one shipment he’s talking about is hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of inventory.
Baba, the chief maker of the stuff, is renowned within the clans for being the best at what she does. She’s a healer of unparalleled skill. Anyone she trains also becomes just as good.
“We booked it outta there before the fighting got too bad,” my guy says. “We’re returning to the warehouse now.”
“Double the security at the warehouse,” I say before letting out a breath of relief. There’s no time to relax. “It’s the wild west out there right now. We have to protect our assets.”
“Roger that.”
The call ends. For a brief second, my phone stops ringing. I actually think it died on me at first. I take the breather I need before the next catastrophe rears its ugly head.
In light of all this chaos, I’ve sent a petition to the clan elders to be given the permission to fight back. We need to defend what’s ours and we need to attack when provoked. The earth dragons need to show that we too have teeth and we’re not afraid to sink them into anyone who wishes to defy us.
I should be hearing from them soon. The vote is today. I already have a warehouse full of weapons just in case. Always be ready, that’s the motto I live by.
