Her Rejection's Revenge

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: LADY GAGA

I laughed until my ribs ached, but I still went on gagging for breath. The others accosted me with looks of concern plastered on their faces, and I didn’t blame them. Tears of mirth rolled down my cheeks and I couldn’t remember a time when I laughed that hard.

“Zelda, are you okay?” Mama Juanita asked by touching my arms tentatively as though she was almost afraid of me.

Feeling self-conscious, I wiped the tear from my eye and gurgles of laughter escaped my lips yet again. “I’m fine. I’m fine,” I repeated for good measure. “It’s just..,” I made a slashing motion with my hand through the air to explain the unbelievable thing that had just happened to me.

“You spoke to the dragon?” Johnathan Barkley asked in astoundment. He was an old man who seemed to have defied death, and his crackled skin spoke of many years of survival through thick and thin.

“We understand each other,” I replied offhandedly, trying to make it sound insignificant. That was so typical of me that I cringed as I realized that I had fallen back into my habits. Back in the days, I used to downplay my assets in front of the Ocean Howl pack in order to make myself inconspicuous in front of the might Alpha Braxton Cooper.

And here I was doing it again. Old habits, as they said died hard.

“What does she want? Why did she blow the whole pace off?” another man whose name I could register at the moment questioned.

I shrugged, not willing to part with the whole truth. “Well, she’s scared as she lost her baby. And she’s hungry. Miriam and Ajax are bringing food at the moment we speak, and I have to go rescue her baby dragon from the Gautama caves. Anyone has any idea where it’s found?”

“Gautama caves? That would be in Sri Lanka. Far from here, Zelda.”

“There’s no way you can leave us with the dragon. You’re the only one who can calm it down. What if it decides to attack again?”

“We could chain her up?” somebody else suggested.

“Yeah? Good luck with that!” came a derisive sneer from Keith Landers, the strongest warrior of the pack.

Amidst the chaos, I was never more relieved to find my two friends hurrying back to the village in Dr. Kapadia’s green jeep with a sack full of fresh meat. I eyed the merchandise with gratefulness, an idea forming inside my head.

It was the longest moment of my life waiting for the dragon to wake up. Her snores resonated around the whole camp while most of the occupants resorted back to restoring a semblance of normality around. Most of the occupants because the rest of them were subjecting me to a military reconnaissance.

Questions to which I had no answers. How was I able to speak with a dragon? Did anyone from my family had any connection whatsoever to dragons? Why did the dragon attack us? Were there other dragons coming our way? It took me a while to reassure them that me speaking to Rhianna was a fluke. That I did not have any sign of dragon blood in me. And that the red dragon was harmless.

Of course I omitted the fact that Rhianna was a bum who wouldn’t even bother looking for her own kid. Courtesy of my awe with seeing a dragon for the first time.

Her majesty finally woke up and asked for me.

“Do you have my food?” she asked imperially and as if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly enough to scare the people away.

“I do,” I replied briskly. “I’ll feed you on one condition. You have to take me to Gautama Caves, and we will find Lady Gaga together,” I enunciated in a tone which brooked no discussion, even if saying the name made me lose some credibility.

I saw her look longingly at the meat, and her small acquiescence made me swoon in relief. I was expressing more bravado than anything and never envisaged that a dragon would comply to my demands. Yet, here I was, negotiating with one like I had every right to.

“Fine,” she eventually said, and I signaled to Miriam who threw one piece of meat towards the dragon. There was a loud rumble of approval as she devoured the food in less than one second. The rest of the food disappeared as well at the same speed.

“Ready?” I asked impatiently when Rhianna was licking her lips in appreciation, and she burped unceremoniously in answer to my lack of tolerance. “Rhianna?” I urged in restless eagerness.

“I’m coming! I’m coming,” she retorted peskily before making the effort to stand on her feet. It took her a while as we stood watching that good-for-nothing creature trying to stand. I crossed my arms across my chest to trample down my growing irritation.

“Hurry, Rhianna. We don’t have all day. We need to get Lady Gaga, remember?”

I heard a guffaw and I glanced to see Miriam chuckling at the name. The corner of my lips uplifted in an answering smile at her contagious laughter, and I shrugged helplessly. Ajax stood looking at us wearing a fierce expression which made me raise my eyebrows quizzically at him. He didn’t respond to my unspoken query, and I averted my eyes quickly.

I gasped in shock when I saw the dragon standing in its full majestic form with wings flapping and head held high. Lazy or not, the dragon was gorgeous and magnificent. There was nothing which could match that view right now, and she looked at me with her narrow slits eyes with a purposeful intent.

Bending her head towards me, she silently gave me the permission to climb on her back. I gulped down my excitement mingled with fear and clenched my jaw in resolution. Come on, Zee. This is your moment! You’ve always wanted to be someone special!

Even then, I glanced up at Miriam whose eyes looked suspiciously shiny with unshed tears as she gave me a nod of encouragement. Gulping down again the saliva which had pooled in the inside of my mouth, I acknowledged her encouragement by a subtle movement of my head and upheaved my body on the dragon’s head.

As soon as my feet touched the head, it lifted instantly making my balance stumble as I felt like I was surfing. There was nothing to cling to, and my body fell on the rough scales as I clung to one of the spikes. It seemed a little daunting.

But that was nothing compared to when the large body departed from the ground. I struggled to keep my balance, shifting my ass over the rough surface and wincing when it hurt. The ground drifted further away as we took altitude, and I swallowed hard again as I staggered again in disequilibrium, closing my eyes as terror enclosed my heart.

My grip on the spikes were deathlike and I was so afraid I would fall off that I rested my head on the side of the dragon’s head. Coward! my conscience whispered inside my head making my eyes snap open in alarm. That was who I was before. I was no longer afraid of anything now.

It was then that it struck me. I was flying. I looked down at the earth below us and the view took my breath away. Expanse of mountains and water covered the area with sometimes green pastures from time to time. We were high up, so the buildings looked like tiny Lego blocks, and the people were invisible. Insignificant.

That thought spurred a heavy feeling in my chest – a feeling of being invincible as we flew across countries like there were no restriction to boundaries. It felt both wonderful and heady. Excitement rode through me, and it was hard for me not to feel somewhat superior.

When we landed, I jumped off the dragon’s head with an ungraceful bounce, rubbing my bottom as it smarted.

“Think I’ll need a cushion next time,” I grimaced jokingly.

Rhianna looked over at me with serene eyes. “There won’t be a next time. Dragons are not a means of transport. We don’t carry humans around, definitely not ordinary humans,” she sprouted with an air of haughtiness.

“What do you mean by that?” I challenged back with some imperiousness as well as I inclined my head regally. “You think any ordinary human would have survived such a bumpy ride?”

She scoffed at me like she was offended, and I smiled at her to loosen the tension between us. The last thing I wanted was to make an enemy out of such a powerful creature. If I found her baby, maybe she would owe me one someday.

“Relax,” I teased lightly. “I know that dragons cannot be tamed. I was only joking. Let’s look for that daughter of yours, shall we?”

My offer of an olive branch was graciously accepted as I climbed into a small cave, crying out the name of Lady Gaga repeatedly over. An image of the singer crept into my head, and I mockingly thought it would serve me right if the latter appeared right in front of me!

However, neither singer nor dragon Lady Gaga was to be found.

I threw a worried look at Rhianna who shared my feelings. “You see? I told you I looked for her everywhere around. She’s not here.”

Pursing my lips in concentration, I glanced around again in contemplation, trying to find an explanation as to where a small dragon who could barely walk disappear. I had searched almost all the small caves which was out of Rhianna’s reach, and I was starting to get tired.

“Where could she have gone?” I wondered out loud. “You lived here?” I showed her one big cave, and she nodded again as I asked the question for the third time. I’d been so sure that she wouldn’t have gone too far.”

“That’s what I told myself too…,”

Help me!

I jumped in alarm at the small voice in my head, whirling back to Rhianna in shock. “Did you hear that?” I questioned curtly. “Was it you who spoke?”

“What?” asked the baffled dragon, and I instinctively knew it was Lady Gaga reaching out to me. My gut instinct told me it was her. I didn’t know how to explain that, but I felt connected to her as well. It was the same elementary gut feeling I had with Rhianna as well – that intrinsic knowledge that I could read her emotions.

“It’s your daughter,” I said without any doubt in my mind. “She’s in danger. We need to find her immediately.” I ran towards the mountains scanning the areas, but the voice was inside my head – I could not detect where the source was coming from.

Helplessness filled me, and my eyes filled with tears as I could feel the pain of the little baby dragon. Where could it be? I closed my eyes in concentration, in the hope that if I could feel anything else, it would help us.

There it was. Water. The baby dragon was surrounded by water.

“Follow me,” I shouted out of pure instinct, sprinting in the direction of the small river which floated somewhere nearby. Pursuing the direction of the current, I climbed a few rocks which led to an opening. It wasn’t a cave, not exactly. It was just a small opening filled with water from the high tide and there she was.

Lady Gaga! I rolled my eyes again at how ridiculous that sounded in my ears.

Help me, please, she pleaded in my head, and I mechanically registered the fact that this was the second dragon that I was communicating with. I rushed to her side and lifted her up to see that blood was dripping from her feet. I examined the wound with my expertise and concluded that it was nothing serious.

However, the baby as shaking, and I removed my scarf to wrap her frozen body in its warmth. “It’s okay, little one. I got you. You’re safe now,” I whispered lovingly to her, feeling a deep affinity for the defenseless creature.