When I started writing this, I had a vague idea of telling a short tale about a Warlock/Lawyer type. I only had the roughest idea of where to go with the story. As I get busy I can't writeβbut I can think, and now I have the full story plotted out. It is taking a bit longer than I thought. It should be wrapped by the end of summer, but I also thought that I would be able to release a chapter a week. The best laid plans of mice and men... am I right? Thank you for reading and thank you for commenting. I truly appreciate it. Thank you also, to my editor, Archangel_M, who polishes the turds I send him and puts a bit of shine to them. :)
Hope you enjoy.
-Ahaz
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"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time." -Leonard Bernstein
I have every confidence in Ahaz. ;)
-Archangel_M
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"I wanna see the dragons, Martin," Chloe said.
"You're not seeing the dragons, Chloe," I responded.
"Martin, I really want to see the dragons," she pressed.
"And I really want you to be safe, so you're not seeing the dragons," I stated flatly.
"You could need me! How much do you know about dragons?" she asked.
"Enough to know that Gwydion and I are the only ones going to this meeting," I replied.
"Thought so. You're gonna need Xandra, Sofia, and me to back you up," Chloe said, almost lost in thought.
"You are not seeing the dragons, Chloe. I'm putting my foot down on this one," I said with steel in my voice.
Two hours later Chloe, Xandra, Sofia, Gwydion and I were headed to a Dragon Council meeting.
How does this shit always happen to me? It all started when the plane landed in Jamaica. I swear, when those three ladies get together I might as well just give up.
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Five days earlier
You would think that being a WarlockβHell, THE Warlockβwould get me used to heat. Not so. I couldn't feel a breeze, and the humidity of the Jamaican air was stifling. We had a one-day layover in Jamaica to pick up the girls, and then we were headed to a little villa on an island that few people know about. It was supposed to have been a retirement home for a Venezuelan oil magnate, but then he decided to finance an unsuccessful coup and lost everything. I bought it for pennies on the dollar and finished it up. I also staked him some money to get back into the game. However, instead of oil, he decided the drug trade was more profitable. I got my return on investment just before he got killed by a rival cartel. I have no moral compunctions about taking money from drug lords, but the guys that replaced him didn't seem to be the businessmen type I prefer to deal with. When they came looking for an investor, I refused them and they got a little primitive. I gave the CIA a heads-up that something was going down with the Mendoza cartel as my rage demons were tearing apart their operations. I had waited until Carlos, the head of the cartel, had sent his family away on vacation before striking. I wondered if that was a smart move or not, but I had done some research and found that his wife was ready to be done with the violence and her husband's infidelity. One thing you don't want to deal with is a pissed-off drug queen. Women who make it in that world scare me.
Sofia and Xandra's flight was due an hour behind us, so we chilled at an open-air bar right outside the airport. Chloe had dressed Gwydion in linen shirt with loafers and loose slacks. With the hat and sunglasses, he looked like a local... if the locals were 6' 3'' and pale as your friendly neighborhood ghost. Chloe herself had donned an oversized hat, oversized sunglasses, a wrap skirt and a loose white blouse. With her darker shading she really did look like a local. The only reason I mentioned their clothes is that they looked so different from how I normally see them.