Page 33 of Drakhana's Secret
I rush back into the tunnels and find Baba. She’s still at the hospital, but she’s taking a break by sipping some tea. Her brow furrows when she sees me approaching.
“What’s the matter?” she asks, standing to meet me.
I grab her arms and say, “I need to go.”
“Where?”
“To the city. I just saw a large number of ice dragons flying toward San Francisco. I need to warn Gallant that they are coming.”
“Are you sure that’s the best thing to do?”
“We have everything handled here. Everyone is safe within these tunnels. Just continue supervising everyone in my absence.”
“But—”
I shake my head as a gentle way of cutting her off. “I have to go, Baba. If I can be of any help to Gallant and our brethren who are fighting in the city, I need to take that chance. They need me.”
I see the moment of worry pass through Baba’s face. Then she puts on a brave mask and nods. She squeezes my hands in both of hers.
“Go,” she says. “We have everything handled here. Go and bring back our warriors.”
I nod, and without a second thought, I turn around. I’m not even fully outside yet when I call upon my dragon and take flight. I move as fast as I can while avoiding detection.
Twenty-Two
Gallant
Icall a general meeting so that we can all touch base of what’s going on in the city. Branson and Arthur are in attendance. I have elevated them to general status in this army that we are slowly building.
They both control two battalions each. Within each battalion they have three commanders. And under those commanders are several captains.
We have a good-sized force now since we have been careful with our resources. At the same time, once the other earth dragons in the city heard that we are winning and gaining ground, they started joining the cause. I’m hoping that word continues to spread and more join us. We are definitely stronger in numbers.
Joining the meeting as well are my business managers and financial advisers. Everyone needs to know what the other is doing. The fighters need to know what we are doing in business and the business side needs to know what the warriors need to continue their campaign.
I call the meeting to order and start by saying, “I’m happy with the latest financial reports that came to my desk the other day. I believe that we have made great strides in all the business ventures that we have entered. What of our stock portfolio?”
One of my financial advisers says, “We have diversified our stock options. We have a good balance between common stocks and preferred stocks. The companies listed in the folder in front of you are what we have bought so far.”
I glance through the list and ask, “Do we have voting rights to these?”
“Not yet, sir. But we can certainly buy more options if you’d like voting rights on the board of each of those companies.”
“I will place a check mark on each company that I think will do well for us to have a seat on the board.” I take my pen and start adding marks to the paper. “This way we have some say in how the company is run and which direction it will go. Eventually, my plan is for us to buy out these companies and own them for the dragon clan.”
“Well said, sir.” My financial adviser nods as he receives the paper that I hand over to him. “I will get on this and have the report to you by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.” I look him in the eye. “If you’d like to leave the meeting to start getting that accomplished, you are free to go.”
Without another word, the dragon pushes away from the table. He closes the folder with the piece of paper I handed to him tucked inside. He bids farewell to everyone at the meeting and leaves.
This is why I love being an earth dragon and working with earth dragons. We get the job done. We are reliable that when given a task we do everything in our power to get it accomplished. And when I say accomplished, there’s no room for mistakes.
I move my attention to my business managers and ask the first one, “What about our factories?”
“To keep up with the demand of our products, we have opened another factory,” he says.
“How many does that make?” I ask.
