Chapter 6 Fire!

I labored slowly upward, attempting to find a thermal for my exhausted wings to glide on. I finally found one, and, getting my bearings, set off north, and slightly eastward. Since there was not much headwind, I made relatively good time over the city. The journey seemed much shorter without traffic and without having to stick to roads.

As I flew, I contemplated what had happened. I still felt a bit shocked. A dragon.... I was a dragon.

The view was amazing. I could count on my fingers the times I had been to a big city, and I had always been slightly awed by the glittering buildings and flashing lights. Flying over one, however, was even better. I could see the entire city, like a mountain of metal, the high rise buildings creating the glittering slopes, the surrounding houses, the foothills. Roads spread in all directions, creating an enormous spider's web.

Suddenly, something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a column of smoke rising from a building, turning the sky a dull gray. A house was on fire!

It was a small house, your regular corner job, three bedroom, one bath kind of thing. Only, it wouldn't be there for long. Flames rose from the roof and windows, torching several tree branches hanging over the shingles.

I glanced around and saw the nearest fire truck, about a half mile away, stuck in traffic with its lights on. It would never get there in time to save the house. Or any possible occupants.

Just then, a man and a woman came stumbling out of the front door, coughing and hacking. The woman immediately tried to turn around and go back in. I circled closer, trying to hear what they were saying. The woman was screaming, "—can't leave her there! I have to go back and get her! Please! Please! Oh, my baby! Ohhh...!" She sobbed and wailed, while her husband just clutched her arm with a despairing look on his face. He knew what would happen if she went back in there, but...

I decided I had to do something. I dove down, rocketing towards the roof, backwinging to land at the apex, just beside where the fire was raging. I didn't feel a thing. I guessed my scales were good for more than just repelling bullets!

I turned to face the couple on the ground, who were staring at me in shock. "Where is her room?" I growled, sinking my claws into the melting tar of the roof. The pair seemed too stunned to answer, but I saw the man's eyes flick towards the area opposite the flames from where I was.

I turned and, leaping over the fire, dug my claws into the roof and pulled. With a crack and a rumble, a chunk of the roof tore off in my grip, flaking drywall and insulation as I threw it to the side. I thrust my head into the gap.

I was in a small room, mostly bare of furnishings, except for a crib and changing table, and a small chest of drawers. I snaked my head over to where the crib sat. Inside, a small child, perhaps a year old, stared back at my huge snout.

Then the baby started laughing. I was relieved. I thought for sure that she was going to start screaming as soon as I poked my nose over the edge of the crib. Then she started to cough.

I noticed the door was open a crack, letting smoke into the room. The hole I had made in the roof had let out what little smoke had started to seep in in the first place, but now my head and neck were blocking it from escaping again, and it was slowly filling the space.

Quickly, I reached in and took the blanket the child was wrapped in gently in my teeth. Slowly now, I retracted my head, making sure not to bump the precious bundle against the sharp edges of the hole.

As I raised my head above the house, making sure to avoid the smoke, the child's parents cried out in fear. Apparently they thought I was going to eat her or something. "It's ok." I mumbled through the blanket, aware that one false move could send the couple running in terror.

They stiffened, disbelieving. Then the mother stepped forward, hesitantly. She looked at me imploringly, and whispered, "Are you... are you a spirit?" I was surprised, but I realized that this woman was trying not to panic. She was likely attempting to figure out whether or not I was an unnatural being, an angel or something of that sort. The human mind is a strange thing... it comes up with all sorts of weird ways to deal with extreme situations.

I decided not to answer, instead stretching out my neck towards the distraught mother. The bundle between my teeth came gently to rest gently in her arms. She clutched the baby to her chest, and the father, who had been watching in a sort of shocked, detached way, suddenly rushed over and swept them both up in his arms.

I looked on for a moment, then turned and crouched, raising my wings, ready to leap. Suddenly the mother called out, "wait!" I lowered them again, and turned back to look.

They were all staring at me, including the infant. Then the father hoarsely whispered two words; the two words that made it all worthwhile.

"Thank you."