The brick wall exploded, and the graffiti that was spray painted on was sent into small fragments and scattered on the parked cars on the street. John Dee landed on a parked car, leaving the right side of the Bentley badly damaged. He was bloodied and was missing his left arm. His glasses were shattered, and his right eye piece was missing. His right eye was also missing; it was closed with blood flowing from it. He felt his life force draining from his body.
A cat-like humanoid jumped from the hole in the wall. He was standing a clear eight feet, with his cat ears making it eight feet, three inches. It’s mixed brown, black blond, and orange fur was clean; not a single drop of blood was on it. He’s eyes burned yellow, and his wet, red nose was glistening from the light. It was on its legs, and his tail was half gone. An old injury from its youth.
"Well, well, well, if it isn’t Johnathan Dee, so tell me where my niece is, you rotten human.” The cat hissed.
“That’s for me." John began to say when blood clogged his lungs. He coughed, filled his mouth with blood, and spit it out.
“Is the wizard so fragile he can’t take a few hits from my sharpening claws?" He walked to John and grabbed him, pulling him close and up. “One last time, tell me where my niece is, and I’ll make your death quick.”
“Go to hell, you feline-infested flea bag.” John spat in his face. The spit was mixed with blood and saliva. “You’ll never get to her, and she doesn’t want to see you.”
The giant cat took his left hand and tore John’s shirt off; he threw it in the side walk and extended his claws to his stomach. He made a circle around his gut, and blood started to come out. He stopped and placed them with the tips slightly in.
“Once more, old man, where is my niece?" He growled, and he slowly pushed his claws into John’s stomach.
"Ahhhhhhh!" John screamed. “You can go to hell, you son of a bitch."
The monster sighed, and with a quick motion of his hand, it was now grabbing his spine and exposing it to the open air. He dropped the bone and then let John’s body drop lifeless. The cat liked his blooded clawed hand and left. The cat transformed back into a human once it was far enough away.
“Nooooooo….” Ryan shouted.
Ryan woke in black darkness. He was drenched in sweat, and his new familiar was sleeping on his cat perch. The covers fell to his lap, and he pulled them off. He spun to the side of the bed and breathed in huge gulfs of air. He steadied his heartbeat and stood up. The small dragon stirred up and looked at him with sleepy eyes.
“It’s ok, Dagron, sleep; I’m just going to get some water.” Ryan said as he walked to the door.
He walked in the hallway, and to his unsurprised expression, the hallway was black as vanta. He walked the wooden floors, hearing the creaks and groans. He had gotten used to walking in the darkness the first time he bumped into and destroyed old furniture and even a masterpiece from Picasso himself. Luckily, John Dee had placed a fake in its place.
"Ryan, if you are to live here, you are going to have to get used to walking in complete darkness.” John Dee said, “And if you fail to walk in complete darkness, then you can see yourself out of my place and leave the book behind.”
"Yes, sir, I’ll do my best.” Ryan began to say:
Ryan reached the stairs and walked down the steps one by one. It had been the second night he had stayed, and the book had offered him a cheat. In the first week, he began to see outlines of objects. He was able to avoid things without making a noise. John Dee was impressed, but he told him not to cheat ever again. He was on the second floor when an unexpected movement occurred next to the training dummies. He thought he saw a female outline that had cat-like ears. Ryan took a second look, and nothing was there. He chalked it up to his nerves being on edge from the nightmare he had.
Ryan was halfway down the last flight of stairs when he was attacked by a human-sized cat. The feline was about his height and was, in fact, completely black. Its yellow-green eyes looked into his; the ferocious killer eyes were hungry for his flesh. Her tail snacked its way to Ryan’s right leg and wrapped around it. While her hands heaped on his shoulders. She flipped him head over heels, and with a loud ruckus, he landed on the bottom floor. Blood had begun to spring from the now-open wound.
Ryan managed to wrestle free from her grasp and roll away from her. He immediately sprang to his feet and cast a quick fireball at her chest. The flaming orange and red ball flew across the room and landed a direct hit. Fur was singing, and the smell of burnt hair was now wafting around the room. He jumped to the right and grabbed a cutlass sword that was hanging on the wall. The twenty-eight-inch blade was slashing and hacking the air to fend off the wild cat. He managed to cut her left arm from the crook of her arm and diagonally cut to the wrist. She hissed and tried to claw at him with her right arm. Seeing that he had a weapon, she ran to the front door and ran for it.
Ryan sighed in relief and fell to the ground. His new familiar came racing down the steps, making huge, loud noises as it descended the stairs at that time. Each time the dragon would land, a piece of antique furniture would be destroyed. Vases, fine chine, and any old artwork that was hanging up.
From the top steps, John Dee forcefully opened his bedroom door. He walked to the stairs and shouted at Ryan for being so loud and at Drogan.
“What the hell is going on?” John Dee screamed, “Can’t anyone sleep peacefully, Ryan? What did I tell you about Drogan?”
"John, come quickly. I think we had a late-night visit." Ryan shouted back, “I think it was the cursed girl in the cage."
"Impossible, the cage is locked with extremely high magic spells.” John said as he got to Ryan, "Jesus, look at this place. Ryan, is that my sword?”
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"Yeah, sorry, I had to defend myself. I was trying to come down and get some water.” Ryan explained, “You see, I came down because I had a bad dream about you.”
The two of them went to the kitchen, and John Dee grabbed the tea kettle pot from the stove. He walked to the sink and opened the tap. Cold water rushed from the faucet, splashing inside the kettle. He filled the pot and placed it on the stove. Gas started to leak out, and the sound of the sparker sounded and lit the gas. The blue flame jumped around and danced as it heated the kettle. The water inside started to boil, and the spot rang with a whistle.
Ryan grabbed the tea filter and placed it in John Dee’s cup. He added the green tea and poured the hot water on top of the green tea, and it began to filter through. Green tea flowed down, and Ryan discarded the used leaves. He placed it in his cup and added more green tea, and John poured a glass for him. The two sat there and let tea sit for five minutes, and they both sipped.
“So tell me about this dream you had.” John asked after taking a sip of the tea.
"Well, I was dreaming about you getting destroyed.” Ryan just blurted out, "What I mean is you had gone back to L.A. and were looking for someone, and there you got jumped by a big cat creature, and he has been asking about his niece. You were missing something in body parts and looked half dead.”
"Really, how detailed would you see the dream to be?" Asked John, “Would you say that it was life-like or real-like? Because there is a difference.”
"Well, from what I remember, I would say it felt almost as if I was there with you.” Ryan said, “It felt like everything I did was just a farce.”
"Ryan, what you just witnessed is a premonition.” John bluntly said, “You are a dear gift indeed; there are only ever sixteen people at any given moment that can do what you do. And because of that, they are hunted to the ends of the multiverse.”
“So what you’re saying is that I should keep this ability just between us.” Asked Ryan.
"Yes, and every premonition from this day forward you will keep to yourself; if Merlin’s First Counsel found out, you would be made to do their bedding or be hunted as a sport.” John said sourly, “I had a friend who accidentally told his master, and he sold him for a fortune. You don’t have to worry about me; I would never sell you for a fortune, possible two fortunes worth.”
John laughed and took another sip; Ryan did as well, and both sat in silence for thirty minutes. They watch the sun begin to peek out from the window. People started to walk on the sidewalk, and cars started to be seen in the street. The noise of a small dog snapped the two out of their silence.
"Well, I think we should go to Los Angeles and pay our friend a visit.” John said, “Do you know what he looked like exactly?”
“He was standing eight feet. It had mixed brown, black blond, and orange fur. He had yellow eyes, and half its tail was gone.” Ryan said, “That’s all I could remember.”
“Are you kidding me? That's more than enough.” John said confidently, “In fact, I know exactly how he is.”
"Really, who is he, and how do you know that he won’t kill you this time?” Asked Ryan.
"Well, for one, you said that I went alone.” John continued,”Two, you are going to come with me. I think it’s time you worked in the field.”
“You really think I’m ready to fight out there with you?” Asked Ryan.
"Yes, I do. You are a fast learner, and you also have the ability to transport us to any place.” John said, “With that new ability, we can finally say goodbye to airplane travel.”
“But this is going to be my first and last trip on an airplane?” Ryan said almost immediately, “That sucks.”
"Well, go get ready; we leave immediately; oh, and don’t forget to disguise Dagron,” said John.
Ryan walked up the stairs and thought about how he was going to disguise a dragon. He thought maybe he could put him in a pet carrier with dog ears and a tail and have him bark. That’s when he forgot that dragons have a hard time barking. He then came to the door, opened the handle, and walked in. The dragon was sitting up and waiting excitedly. Ryan walked to the closet and got his duffle bag. He took the staff, and with a wave of the hand, he shrank the staff into a more manageable size. He placed the staff into the duffle bag, went to the dresser, and pulled out five pairs of underwear and socks. He pushed down the first drawer, pulled the second drawer, and got two pairs of jeans and five shirts. He folded them and placed them in the bag. He went to the dragon and held out his hands.
“Ok buddy, I need to disguise you, ok?" Ryan said.
The dragon shook its head and then circled the cat bed. It began to glow and shrink to the size of an iguana. Ryan placed a hand on the dragon and placed him in his pocket. The small dragon crawled into his pocket and made it home. Ryan whistled, grabbed his shoes, and went to the front door.
"Well, we don’t have to worry about Dagron; he has shrunk to fit in my pocket.” Ryan said as the dragon popped out, waved at John Dee, and dropped back into the pocket.
"Well, isn’t that convenient?" John was amused.
"Well, I’m ready. What airport are we leaving from?” Asked Ryan.
“We will be flying from La Guardia.” Said John, “And when we have concluded, we will use your teleportation to make it back.”
"Well, this is going to be a little difficult.” Said Ryan while thinking, “The furthest I’ve traveled back from was Chicago; I met a wizard who was cocky and just rough around the edges.”
"Yes, I’ve met the same wizard; he’s lived for two hundred years, and he managed to destroy a hive of bees that would harvest humans.” John said, “When they took them back to their hive, they would inject them with venom and tuck them into a honey cell. Then they would enclose them in the wax cell and transubstantiate. Their bodies would harden, and then their legs would split in two. The butts would elongate and harden. The torso would split and encase itself in its calcium bones. There heads would be enlarged, and their iris would split, making them see in UV vision.”
“Jesus, what happened?” I asked Ryan as they walked out the front door to the taxi waiting out front.
"Well, he simply killed the queen; the rest would eventually die; those that were not too far into the process would revert back.”
"The ones that didn’t would be killed and burned; their families wouldn’t even know what happened. That would also be the time that we started the Chicago Fire. We needed to make sure that the nest was completely destroyed.”
"Well, anyway, this jump from LA to New York will be the longest I’ve jumped.” Ryan said.
The yellow cab was a new Tesla model. The man was of Middle Eastern descent; he had black hair, brown skin, and brown eyes. A red shirt with blue jeans. His seat had wooden beds in it, and a divider separated them from the front. The two got in the cab, and the driver turned around.
"So, where are we headed, my friend?” Said the cab driver while talking on his head set, "No, no, I’m not busy. What do you need? My friend, where are we going?”
“Umm, to the airport, LaGuardia, please.” Said John.
"Ok, ok, my friend, you know it’s rush hour traffic?” The cab driver said, "What? I said no, she can’t go. She was grounded, that's why.”
They drove from forty-ninth street up to fifty-seventh street, turned right, and went a mile and a half. Turn right onto Queensboro Bridge. They crossed the bridge, and the taxi was now sitting at the red light. The signal turned green, and the taxi drive turned right. They went down the street to Van Dam Street, went to Borden Avenue, went on I-278 E, and followed it to the airport. The driver went to terminal 1 and drove off.
Ryan grabbed their bags, and John led the way. The small dragon was sleeping comfortably. They walked to the ticket counter, and a slender man was dressed in the airline's uniform. He was five feet five and had black hair.
"Hello, what can I help you with?” The guy asked.
“We need two plane tickets to Las Angeles.” John said, taking out his wallet, “How much, sir?"
“That will be three hundred and six dollars.” He said he was typing on the computer.
John grabbed the tickets from the man. He and Ryan walked to security and presented their IDs and tickets. Dagron popped his head out, and the security guard looked at the little dragon, cocked his head, and just wondered. The dragon fell back in and went to sleep. The guard just shook his head and went back to work. He didn’t get paid enough to investigate illusions. The pair walked to the gate, and the boarding process was just in the middle. They got in line and presented their tickets.
“So tell me, what am I going to be doing in L.A.? Am I going to go with you to your friend?” Ryan asked.
"Yes, we might have to stay a week, so I hope you packed appropriately.” John replied, “You well need to go to the ocean.”
“Swimming now, that’s a vacation; I thought we were going to see your friend." Ryan said.
"Yes, but he’s an aquatic creature that can’t breathe above the water, so we have to go down to him.” John looked back, explaining their trip.
"Huh, so wait, ok, I think.” Ryan tried to grasp the concept but failed. He didn’t have the right equipment to go scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean.
John Dee told him to shush, and they presented their tickets to the stewardess. She looked at them and scanned them. She gave them back, and the two walked down the ramp. They saw their onboard flight attendant, and she guided them to their seat. Ryan took the bags and placed them in the overhead bin. They sat in their seats and relaxed. The small dragon slept in Ryan’s pocket all the way to Las Angels.