Claire Visits The Dragon, Part 4
Hi, folks. Had enough to eat yet? Yeah, this is
my favorite time of year, the Thanksgiving holiday season here in the United
States. It’s all about feasting and… (Well, okay, it’s actually supposed to be
about giving thanks, but…) It’s a time when we loosen our belts and eat as much
as we possibly can. I love it.
Unfortunately, I just joined Weight Watchers. I
know. It’s an insane time of year to start that, but my employer is
supplementing a group at work in an effort to support a healthy lifestyle, so what are you gonna do? So it’s been
feasting for everyone else and famine for me. Oh, well.
Thank god for my writing. I’m taking out my
frustrations on my characters. Someone’s going to pay for this, and it ain’t
gonna be pretty.
But that’s another story.
This week’s blog wraps up Claire’s visit to the
Dragon, part of the back story of Clifford and Claire that will be told in the
upcoming Red Wolf Rising, slated for
publication in the spring of 2014.
But first…
What I’m Currently
Reading…
…is Douglas Preston and
Lincoln Child’s Brimstone, which was highly recommended to me by my
know-it-all-friend-David. I’m enjoying the character of FBI Special Agent
Pendergast as he investigates an unfolding series of murders. Or, are they
murders? Because it’s beginning to look more and more like the victims maybe
sold their souls and the devil is coming to claim his due?
After getting well into the book I’ve discovered
this novel is approximately the midpoint of a series. That hasn’t diminished
the effect, because the story definitely stands on its own. But I’m tempted to
put it down and pick up the earlier novels because… well, just because.
Okay, now let’s wrap up Claire’s last visit to
The Dragon.
When we left off last week, Claire had just told
The Dragon she could tell Clifford was a werewolf, even though he hadn’t turned
yet. The Dragon had remarked what a special talent that was and had asked her
for a blood sample, which prompted her to muse upon the changes in the ancient
Fae’s behavior since her last visit five hundred years prior…
Claire shook
herself. Such distractions could wait until later. “O-oh, okay, sure,” she
stammered. “Um, Cliff’s wolf is different, too. I mean, I don’t know, it’s not
like I can tell he’s an omega, and I certainly wouldn’t try to predict what
color fur he’ll have…”
Her face screwed
up into a pained expression. “You know, my reasoning sounds so tenuous now that
I say it out loud. I don’t have any hard evidence, just a gut feeling. Except…
look at me.” She stood and spread her arms wide. “Do I look almost a thousand
years old?”
The Dragon
nodded. “I see your point. You are remarkably well-preserved, and you feel that
the presence of this man has simulated some super-enhanced kind of pack magic,
even with his wolf ‘trapped inside,’ as you say.”
“That’s the gist
of it.”
“Well, I’d be inclined to trust your gut. I’m
not sure what hard evidence we would
look for in a case like this, anyway.” He tapped a talon speculatively against
his jaw. “It would be nice to have something,
though. When dealing with prophecy, it’s easy to fall into the trap of
interpreting things the way you want them to play out.”
“Exactly,” she
agreed. “That’s one reason I can’t decide what to do, and why I came to see
you.”
“One reason. You have others?”
“He has a
family, a wife and a small boy. Relationships between our kind and normals are
tough at best. In a case like this, I doubt the marriage would survive.”
The Dragon
stiffened. “We’ve all made sacrifices for the good of mankind. If he is the Red
Wolf of Prophecy…”
“And what if
he’s not? I don’t want to be responsible for ruining his life.”
The Dragon
uncoiled himself a bit and stretched his neck across the table, peering closely
at her. “You have feelings for him?”
She felt herself
blush. “I… uh…” Self-consciously, she glanced at Sethmus.
“I ain’t saying’
nothing,” he grinned.
She sighed.
“There’s an attraction, yes.”
The Dragon
pulled his head back across the table, nodding. “And you’re worried that may be
clouding your judgment,” he suggested.
She nodded.
“Actually,” The
Dragon continued, “your attraction to him might be another indication he’s the one. We would expect a profound element
of charisma in a male omega. It would be more subtle than the sexual attraction
of an alpha male, but unlike that of an alpha, an omega female, such as
yourself, would not be immune to it.” He again began tapping his talon against
his jaw.
The tapping
increased in speed. Finally, it stopped and The Dragon straightened. “Yes,” he
concluded. “Yes, I think you should do it.”
“You think he’s
the one, then?”
The air rustled
across the room as he shrugged his wings. “There’s only one way to find out for
sure. I think it will be worth whatever risks to his present lifestyle. If his
wolf is ‘screaming to get out’ like you say, he should be happier for being
turned, regardless.”
“Probably so,”
she agreed. The relief was evident on her face. “That makes sense. And perhaps
some of that happiness will spread into his marriage.”
“Perhaps it
will. But, Claire, you must not tell him about the prophecy. At least, not
right away.”
“What? Why not?”
The Dragon
leaned forward. “Even if he is a red wolf, even if he is an omega, even if he
has abilities unlike any other, he still might not be the one destined to unite
the packs. If he thinks he is, he may try to force himself to fit the prophecy.
Think how dangerous that would be.”
“Then how will
we know?”
He sighed and
shifted his position. “Ah, that is a conundrum. If we can rely on the prophecy,
we must trust it will be revealed over time, but…
“Consider. Had
he been born to you as we expected, any special abilities would have been
triggered by the natural stressors of going through adolescence and young
adulthood. As his abilities were revealed, a nurturing pack environment would
have allowed him to hone the skills necessary to manage those abilities.
“Your
middle-aged Clifford Crane won’t have any of that. There will be much he’ll
have to unlearn just to function as a wolf, much less wrap his head around how
to deal with powers no one can teach him how to use. I’m not even sure it would
be a good idea to introduce him to a pack right away. It might be too much of a
shock.
“And as far as
saving the world… Well, what sort of leadership skills has he developed
throughout his human life? Do you know anything of his past? What does he do
for a living?”
“He does
something with computers. As for his past, uh… well, the only thing I’ve
learned about him is that he spent most of his adult life using drugs.” She
winced at her own words. “But he’s in recovery now.”
“What? He’s a
drug addict? Gods, you’re telling me the Red Wolf of Prophecy is a drug
addict?”
“In recovery.”
“What does that
mean?”
“Uh, it means he
used to be a drug addict. He hasn’t
done any drugs in ten years or more. He doesn’t even drink alcohol. He seems…
pretty stable…” She trailed off uncertainly, “…to me.”
The Dragon
muttered something to himself in a language she didn’t understand. She got the
gist of it telepathically, however.
He shook his
head slowly. “Okay, okay, all the more reason to go slowly. Turn him. See what
his wolf is like. If he shows promise, stay close to him. Help him adapt to
life as a wolf, but don’t go parading him in front of a pack until you’re
absolutely sure what he is.”
“Absolutely sure? But, how am I
supposed…”
The Dragon stood
and shrugged his huge wings one last time. “It will have to be up to you to
decide. I have faith in you. You must have faith in yourself. Now, you will
have to excuse me. There are some things I must attend to.” He looked at
Sethmus. “Will you get a blood sample for me?” He turned back to her. “That is,
if you don’t mind?”
“Uh, sure.” She
spread her hands. “I guess.”
“It was truly
good to see you again.” He turned and lumbered towards an arched exit at the
back of the lab, where he stopped and turned before ducking through. “Claire,”
he said, “the better you get to know Clifford Crane, the better you will be
able to recognize whatever greatness is in him. Allow yourself to feel. Go
ahead and fall in love with him. Better yet, allow him to fall in love with you.”
He was gone.
What the... You mean, that’s it? This Dragon character is a bit enigmatic for my tastes. Maybe a follow-up character profile could provide us some insight. Perhaps next week? Until then… Happy Reading!
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