You know, I think we can be good for each other.

"Out of my head!" Tonya waved her hands around like she was swatting at flies.

Anybody who sees you will think you're crazy.

"Whose fault is that? And why don't I feel pain anymore? Aren't you going to hatch out and eat me alive from the inside?"

Maybe. That is the normal way of my kind but you, my Dear, are special. With you as host, I can be a queen maker.

"I'm interested," but Tonya was still sure the thing inside was going to kill her.

I've been listening to you complain about this new mayor, Donna, and her brothers. You don't like the way they're running the town. You don't like the changes they've made in the rules. And you don't like the wall they're building to keep out the outside world.

"How do you know?"

Helen isn't the only person who can read your thoughts, Dumb Dumb.

"Hey!"

I call it like I see it, Doofus.

Not so doofus. Just maybe she knew how to beat this thing. Tonya ran and didn't stop running until she arrived at the Village of Loon Lake, now blocked off from Loon Lake City by ten feet of poured cement. At the insistence of the citizens, Donna had some of her Mod supporters cast a glamour over it, so it looked fancy. Instead of the hording and concrete that Tonya remembered, she approached brick fortifications, like a colonial-era fort. There was even a soldier, dressed in eighteenth-century garb. Tonya swept by him and went straight to the gate. It looked like a reinforced wooden door, two stories tall, but she could see through the glamour if she squinted. All magic-using citizens could.

The gate was actually a gap in the wall blocked off by a wooden arm, like the barrier to a parking lot. Tonya tried to walk around the arm.

"Check in at the gatehouse." Behind her, the ornamental soldier was standing too close for comfort.

She turned to confront him. "Save it for the tourists."

"Sorry, young lady. Everyone must check in."

"I'm a citizen from an Old Family. I've been walking here all my life."

"I know who you are, but rules are rules."

Inside her, the Dragon rolled over in its egg. Why it wasn't draining people now, to help her deal with this imbecile? With a few slurps on his life energy, the dragon could render him unconscious.

She shook her head, but she trudged to the guard house. As she entered the concrete corridor, it felt creepily like the border crossing into a foreign country. Behind thick, bullet-proof glass, stood a straight-backed man in a black, dragon logo uniform, signature of Donna's personal security company.

"State your purpose for visiting the Old Village."

"I'm going for a walk."

"Pass." The agent waved her through with a movement that agitated the nightstick on his belt.

As she entered the Village, dwarfed by building cranes, behind her the first guard called out, "See? Was that really so bad?"

Yes, it was. Tonya wanted to act without witnesses. 

______________________

Update for 2024: This story has been revised and published. You can buy it on the usual platforms or read it for free on Ream. https://reamstories.com/maaja

https://www.maajawentz.com/