The Brotherhood of the Dragon

Chapter One: Jason Dupree

The pain kept waking him up. It was uncomfortable lying on his stomach all the time, but he couldn't turn over. The back of his head, shoulders, and arms were burnt black from the heat of an explosion. The pain at times was horrendous. Luckily, he was tough, although he really didn't have much choice. He remembered what had happened. The car he rented on vacation had caught fire. As he ran from it, it exploded. The fireball had knocked him hard to the ground in its passage and ignited trees past where he fell. He had beaten the flames out on his head and taken off his burning shirt. The doctors thought the damage would've been greater if he hadn't acted so quickly. As the pain of the burns consumed his conscious mind, he remembered the men in long coats, shepherds he thought. They must have seen the explosion and came to help. He must have passed out and been unconscious until he woke up in the hospital. At scheduled times, a nurse would show up take his vital signs and give him more medicine. Then slowly he would again drift off into his dreams.

When the pain would allow him, he dreamed pleasant dreams. Dreams of dragons, dragons of all shapes and sizes. He loved dragons. He had loved dragons as a child. Dragons had directed his life. Unfortunately, dragons didn't exist. Stories from around the world had enthralled him with their descriptions of the great beasts, but there was never any evidence of them. Reptiles were as close to dragons as he could get. They become his obsession instead. Graduating from veterinary school, he landed a job with the San Diego Zoo Department of Reptiles. As time went by, he had specialized in the diseases and parasites that infect reptiles. This research greatly contributed to the commercial use of reptiles and he became well known in academic circles.

He dreamed of a phone call he had received. A gentleman with a British accent was yelling on the phone at him, "Is this Jason Dupree, the world-famous reptile specialist in reptile-related disease and parasites?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm Jason Dupree, but I don't believe I'm famous. By the way, you don't have to shout."

"Oh...OK," spoke the man, talking in a more normal tone. "I don't use these things very often. My name is Charlie Weasley. I've a problem with a parasite infecting my, ah, reptiles. Please listen closely. Tomorrow at six in the morning your time, an owl will be waiting at the front door to your home. It will have a package with a letter explaining everything. Be sure to place two of your copper coins into the pouch on the bird's leg. Pennies, I think they're called. I'll be contacting you again soon. Goodbye."

The man hung up the phone before Jason could respond. "Now that was a wild phone call," he thought to himself. "I don't think it's a prank call because he sounded sincere, but an owl carrying a letter. Unbelievable."

He told his wife about the phone call that night when he got home. They discussed the call and agree it must be some lunatic. He was thinking just before he went to sleep, "Owls aren't that smart. How would they know where to deliver a letter? Well, what if owls can carry mail? It would be neat to see one with package tied to it. What the heck, it's only a couple of minutes in the morning." He reset his alarm then went back to bed snuggling close to his wife.

He was restless with pain when he awoke in the hospital. His burns were aching more than usual. The sun was just rising as he looked out the window. There wasn't much smog today and the mountains could be seen in the distance. There were memories of dreams about traveling over mountains, beautiful mountains with very few roads. He was high in the air, but not in an airplane. The wind was blowing and it was very cold. Yes, it had to be a dream. He had many dreams lately and they didn't make sense even though he enjoyed them.

A nurse brought him his breakfast. "Good morning Jason," she said brightly. He backed off his bed, turned around, and sat down on the edge of the bed looking at the nurse. "If you would Jason, please sit on this stool while I change your dressings." He had done this many times in the last three weeks.

"Well nurse, am I getting any better?" he asked.

Delicately she removed his bandages. Spraying soothing liquid on his burns, she again bandaged them. "You aren't to be honest. The doctor is quite mystified about the lack of improvement. There I'm finished. Now you can eat your breakfast."

There wasn't a thing wrong with his appetite. He returned to the edge of the bed and dug into the breakfast. The food in the hospital was amazing. How could they take something perfectly normal and turn it into whatever it was? Breakfast was nutritionally balanced and bland as blotter paper. "Boy what I'd give for a dragon steak. Nice and thick broiled over a slow fire." He shook his head thinking, "Now my dreams are invading my mind while I'm awake. Well it was a pleasant thought, just so long as I can remember when it's a dream and when I'm awake."

The nurse came back into the room to pick up the tray. "If you don't mind, I will wait to give your medicine after the doctor examines you."

"OK," he replied. He walked around the room to get some exercise while waiting. There wasn't a thing wrong with his legs and the long periods in bed were bad for his muscles. However, the bouncing of his walking was causing his wounds to hurt. He gritted his teeth. "I must do this. I just need something to take my mind off the pain." He remembered his dream and where he had left off.

The alarm sounded at five forty-five a.m. Still sleepy he got up and put on his housecoat. He went to the front door opened it and went out and sat down on the steps to his house. The sun was on the horizon, thinking about coming up. "Only a few minutes more and I can go back to bed." Checking his watch he realized it was six o'clock. "O well, I've forgotten how peaceful it's in the mornings, I will wait a few moments in case the owl got lost," smiling to himself at the absurdity of it. A hoot sounded at a distance and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. Another hoot then another and he could see a large bird flying directly towards him. It slowed and settled on the ground a foot from him. Feeling stupid, he asked it as it folded its wings, "Do you have a letter for me?"

The owl hooted and held out its leg, then it nodded at it. There was a small package tied to the leg. In disbelief Jason reached down and untied it. The owl hooted again and turned around and held out the other leg. There was a small pouch on that leg. It hooted again and looked at him. "I'll be right back with your money," Jason said, wondering why he was talking to an owl. He picked up two pennies in the house and took them outside where he showed them to the bird. It stuck out its leg with the pouch on it. Slipping the money in the pouch, he stroked the owl's head and neck and said to the bird, "You've done a good job." With that the owl rubbed its beak on his hand and took off flying back the way it came.

Pain brought him back to reality. "Whew! Right when I was going to find out what was in the package," he thought, "but that is how dreams are. They always stop when they're most interesting." He sat down on the stool wondering how long he would be in the hospital.

The doctor and nurse entered the room and greeted him. The doctor explained quietly, "The nurse tells me your wounds are not healing properly. Let's take a look. He peeled off the bandages and was quiet. Turning Jason around he poked and prodded him. "Nurse, will you bandage him back up please?" The doctor explained as the nurse was working, "Jason you've been in here three weeks. Most people start healing burns very soon after it happens. You however, are different. The burns you have are just as fresh as the day you came in. Actually, the burns haven't even crusted over. Being a doctor yourself you know that is impossible, but it's true. There might have been some chemical in the explosion which keeps you from healing."

"Dragon's breath," muttered Jason.

"What did you say?" asked the doctor.

"I've been having strange dreams," he replied. "It's probably due to the medication. I love dragons and anything about them. They don't exist, but dreaming about them makes the time go by."

"Anything that will help. I'm going to check with friends of mine who specialize in chemical burns and see what we can do. You'll get better. I promise." The doctor left the room and the nurse gave Jason his medicine.

"Good," he thought. "May the dreams continue." Slowly the medicine took effect. As he adjusted his body to the bed, his mind wandered for a while then he began to dream.

The package was wrapped in plain brown paper tied with string. "The post office would never pass this." The package was addressed from Charles Weasley to Jason Dupree with his street address on it. There was no return address or stamps on it. "How odd!" Inside were a letter and a vial with what appeared to be three small insects. He opened the letter noticing it was written on parchment in ink.

"Dear Doctor Dupree, enclosed in a vial are three mites as we call them. They're infecting one of our species of reptile. The other species we raise are not affected. These mites are wrecking havoc with our stocks. They're ravenous and almost unstoppable. We have tried almost everything except picking them off one at a time. Due to the size and ferocity of our stock, that is not an option. All our experts are mystified. Since you're the world's leading expert on reptile parasites, we hope you can be of service to us. You'll be amply rewarded for your help. Thanks. Charlie Weasley."

Everything about this was strange, the phone call, the owl, and now the letter. The insects however were normal looking.

His wife woke and they discussed the letter as she was making him breakfast. Finally, she said smiling, "The facts surrounding this are very unusual. They have a problem and they came to you for help. They sound desperate. You must at least try to help them because they believe you can. If nothing else, think of the animals."

Jason took his wife's advice and carried the mites to work where he started analyzing them. The mites were unknown to him. He emailed his many friends in the academic world asking if any of them could identify the mites. An associate in Indonesia emailed him a photograph the next day. The note read this mite resembles one, which sometimes infests the Komodo dragons that we keep here.

He responded, "Excellent, that is very close to what I have. Could you send me a sample as soon as possible?" In two days sample insects arrived.

DNA testing revealed the two samples were almost identical. The sample from Charlie however was modified. It was bigger and the teeth or gnawing surfaces were different. He could not put his finger on the difference. The gnawing surfaces were a different color than the smaller insect. He removed some of what could be called teeth and examined them under a microscope. None of the tools he had would cut them. They were send to the University of California materials testing lab to determine what they were make of. The lab could tell him if they were organic or mineral based.

Going about his usual business, he checked on some patients of his. The tortoises were getting washed regularly to rid them of algae on their skin. A huge python was helped to shed its skin and one of the crocodiles had to have a tooth removed. Over all your typical day at the zoo, not too exciting.

He wandered over to the Komodo dragon pen having finished with his patients. He asked the handlers if they could hold one for him while he took samples of skin and looked for mites. The dragons could move fast especially if they thought they were in danger. It took six handlers for the one dragon, one for the head, one for each leg, and one for the tail. The tail was very powerful and a good swish could knock a man down. He snipped off some loose bits of skin and checked for mites, as the men struggled with the dragon. This dragon was clean of them. The handlers were thanked and he took his samples back to the lab.

The mites appeared to be bloodsuckers. They would probably inhabit the folds of skin of the dragon, where they could bit through the skin and drink up the blood. On the relatively smooth skin of the Komodo dragons, they would've only a few wrinkles where they could get access. If the skin was scaled, he conjectured there would be many places around and under the scales the mites could hide. A good infestation would cause great pain to the host and maybe even kill it. The skin of the Komodo was thick and tough. Comparing the chewing surfaces of the teeth of the mites to the skin, he realized the teeth were perfectly designed by nature to chew through the skin. "This is pretty neat," he thought, "but only if you weren't a Komodo dragon." The two mites were compared and it was obvious that the larger mites were for a larger reptile. Charlie hadn't revealed the type of reptile he was raising. It must be crocodiles or alligators, something bigger than a Komodo dragon possibly with scales.

When the materials testing lab returned its results, he was shocked. The teeth were made of carbide, an inorganic material used primarily in manufacturing. It's used to cut steel. What kind of psycho would fit a set of carbide dentures to a mite so it could chew through steel? Even more far fetched what kind of reptile did this mite feed on that it required such a set of teeth.

Some one was stroking his cheek gently. 'Wake up," a soft voice said. He opened his eyes and saw his wife looking at him. She kissed him on his forehead as he smiled. "Are you doing all right?" she asked.

"As well as can be expected," he grunted, as he slid off the bed and turned around and sat back down. His dream was answering some questions, but it could wait until later. His wife was looking nice today and it cheered him up to see her. She stroked his head and looked at him. "Why are you here today?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be working?"

She looked sad. "The doctor called me and told me your wounds weren't healing. He's having a couple of specialist's come into day to check you over and the doctor thought I could help brighten your day."

"Well, you certainly have!" He smiled and kissed her.

The doctor entered the room with the regular nurse and two strangers. "Hello Jason. This is Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore from England. They are visiting your zoo with some American colleagues and they heard about your difficulties. They're burn specialists in their own country."

"Good day," they both said.

"Good day to you too," he replied.

Madam Pomfrey was a neat and tidy person who looked both stern and caring at the same time. Most of the older nurses had that look. It probably had some thing to do with keeping rowdy patients in bed so they could heal. Now Professor Dumbledore looked vaguely familiar. He was a tall thin fellow apparently of great age. His clothes were sharply tailored and he had an impressive white beard almost to his waist. His eyes were blue and they danced with a sly humor. He had a pair of half glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose.

"May we see your burns?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"Sure," he replied, getting off the bed and sitting on the stool with his back to them.

Madam Pomfrey expertly removed the bandages.

His wife sucked in her breath. "O honey I didn't know you were burned so badly," pain in her voice.

"It's OK." He took her hand in his and patted it gently.

"Is it as we suspect?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Yes professor, I believe it's the consequence of dragon's breath. We'll know for sure if the doctor will turn off the lights," replied Madam Pomfrey.

"Sure," said the doctor, doubt in his voice.

Once the room became dark the doctor spoke, "Wow I've never seen any thing like that before!"

"What's wrong?" asked Jason.

His wife replied in amazement, "Where you're burned there are tiny twinkling green lights. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"Really! I wish I could see this!" he said excitedly.

"It's as we suspected Madam Pomfrey," spoke Dumbledore.

"I agree Professor. It's very rare and only effects those of muggle blood."

The doctor raising an eye asked, "You two speak as if you're familiar with this."

"Why yes, we are," stated Dumbledore. "The situation is quite complex. First, you need some one such as Jason, who is susceptible to the situation. He has what we call muggle blood, a term we coined to describe the susceptibility. Next, you need a common plant called dragon's breath to be pollinating in the area. Originally, a plant found only in England, it's now found throughout the world as an ornamental plant. The spores of the plant must then be floating in the air. Now comes the bad part. When there is a fire and explosion, the force of the explosion drives the spores into the burn caused by the fire. The spores glow in the dark, they're phosphorescence. They also strongly inhibit the healing process. We've seen this only twice before, once in England and once in Romania. As you can guess, to have all these situations together is quite rare. The spores will die eventually and the burn will heal. In the first incident we investigated, it took four months before the burn started to heal and it was just as fresh and painful for the whole time as if it were new. The poor fellow just about lost his mind. I suppose the good part is that as long as the spores are present they also inhibit infection. As Madam Pomfrey will attest, one way to rid the body of the spores is to pick each one out using a microscope, quite painful and time consuming. We used about every medicine we could think of to no avail. Then I discovered an ancient text describing the use of the Yaheja plant's flowers to cure deep burns. The plant is very rare and only grows in Asia Minor. Through a friend in the foreign ministry, I was able to obtain a small quantity. It appears to have strong antiseptic qualities combined with what I call a herbicide. It also promotes powerful tissue regeneration. The salve we made for the first gentleman was minimally successful. The spores had died and the burn finally had started to heal on its own. The second person, a lady, was more fortunate. We were able to identify the symptoms quickly and use the salve. The results were remarkable. The salve promoted extremely rapid healing and almost no scaring. We were ecstatic. However using it on other burn victims, it just didn't work. The interaction of the salve and the spores is what promoted the rapid healing. We've tried to duplicate the process in a laboratory, but so far we're unsuccessful."

The doctor spoke, "I'm impressed. What led you to think this was the problem?"

Dumbledore spoke, "Most all burns crust over within hours. One of the strongest signs of this problem is that the burn stays fresh, with no apparent healing by the body. This was the symptom that we heard about. Even though we're on holiday, it got our attention. We've a small quantity of the salve that will be sent to you as soon as possible. It's not enough and more will have to be made. I'll contact my associates and more will be sent. Jason, you'll be feeling better shortly. As for us, if you don't mind, we'll take our leave now as we're on holiday and there's much to see and enjoy."

Shaking both of their hands, the doctor replied, "Thanks to the both of you. This was quite out of my league. I care about my patients and this was far beyond my expertise."

"Thank you headmaster, I appreciate your concern," said Jason. 'How'd he know he was a headmaster?"

Dumbledore looked at Jason with a twinkle in his eye, "Well, good bye to you all. Madam Pomfrey and I've much to do." So saying, they walked out of the room.

As they walked down the hall Madam Pomfrey spoke, "Albus, that was the biggest pile of troll excrement I've ever had the pleasure to wade through!"

"I thought it was quite imaginative. One of my better tales I do believe!" a grin on his face. "Do you think they believed it?"

"I believed it and I know its troll excrement."

"Well better to tell an unbelievable story believably, than to do memory charms on every one here. Speaking of which, I think Jason is beginning to suspect something." Looking around, he said, "We must go," and with two little pops, they disappeared.

"I'm glad the mystery is cleared up," said the doctor. "Four months to wait for the wound to start healing is a long time. The pain has to be excruciating. I'm glad the cure is on the way."

"You're telling me!" exclaimed Jason. Finally the nurse gave him his medicine and he returned to his dreams.

Jason emailed his friend in Indonesia and requested information on methods to control the mites. The response was rapid. His colleague had already anticipated a request. The rarity of the Komodo dragon and the mite permitted the cure to be quite simple. A mild mixture of carbolic acid and iodine would both kill the mites and cleanse and disinfect the wounds. The mixture was a little irritating, but a small amount of pain medicine would aid to prevent the animal from becoming annoyed when the mixture was applied.

He sat at his desk wondering, "How am I going to get a hold of Charlie? How much medicine am I going to need? I better check and see if I can find some suppliers." Paging through the phone book, he found the sources he needed and started calling to find out the quantities available.

The phone rang. "Hello, Jason?" asked a voice.

"This is he."

"Good, this is Charlie Weasley," the man wasn't yelling like the first time. "I hope you have made some advancement in finding a cure for this parasite. They're causing great pain to my charges and I may have to put down some of them if we don't hurry."

"I understand," replied Jason. "I believe I've a cure and I have a good idea where the parasite might have come from. The mite however has been tampered with. If you could tell me the size and number of reptiles you have, I can order the components of the medicine and have everything ready to send to you tomorrow. I'll need to know where you are and I'll have to accompany the medicine in order to determine the dosage, the method of application, and monitor the effects."

"I'm not sure you should or can come," replied Charlie hesitantly. "Let me ask some of my companions." After a long pause he spoke, "We would rather you didn't come due to complications, however we're in agreement that your expertise is vital and time is important. We'll need about two hundred liters or about fifty of your gallons of the medicine. This is going to weigh quite a bit. Gather the materials you need and put them in an area where they can be retrieved unseen. This is very important. You must trust me. You'll also have to get yourself cold weather clothes and a knapsack. Pack as if you're going on a field trip, which is what you'll be doing. We should be able to control the situation in a few weeks. There'll be an owl on your doorstep tomorrow morning at six a.m. Thanks for your help." Again, he hung up before Jason could respond.

Jason was stumped. He kept field equipment readily available, as he'd been on several field trips to study reptiles in their natural environment. Leaving on a day's notice wasn't a problem as he'd done so in the past to help out other zoos. A secure storeroom was available. But where was he going, who was he going with, how were they going to travel, and what reptile was he going to have to doctor? It was all quite mysterious. Charlie was obviously under stress. It showed in his voice. Besides, it wasn't as if Charlie was trying to take over the world. He just had some sick reptiles and wanted them to get well. Sorting it all out he decided there wasn't anything to worry about and picked up the phone and ordered everything.

That night he told his wife as he was packing that he's going on a field trip to study a rare lizard in its natural habitat. She was used to his sudden departures and insisted they spent the night affirming their love.

The owl arrived on time. Jason removed the package and paid the postage. Inside the package was a small glass ball that glowed with a curling green smoke. There was an indentation where a person could put his fingertip if he wished. There was a note and it was short and to the point. The note said, "Go to where the medicine is with your equipment. It must be somewhere where no one will see us. Verify the security of the location. When satisfied place your finger in the indentation in the sphere and speak clearly, Charlie Weasley. This is a locator beacon to tell me where you are. I will be there as soon as I get your signal."

"Jason," a voice entered his dream. "You must wake up."

Coming back to reality and his pain, he sighed to himself. "My dream was just getting good."

He slid off the bed and turned around, the nurse was there with a tray. "I've your dinner for you."

"Thank you," he replied. "I need to go to the bathroom first and wash up." The action of his feet hitting the floor jarred his wounds and caused him to grunt in pain. "I'm all right," he said as a look of panic crossed the nurse's face. Washing up he thought, "That dream is so strong. It's almost as if I've lived it. Would I've done the things I've dreamed about. I wonder. You'll do things in your dreams you won't do in real life. But if the situation was real I think I would acted as I did in the dream."

"Nurse, are these strips of broiled iguana tail? It has be to iguana, chicken doesn't taste this bad. The food here is so bland. By the way broiled iguana tastes better than chicken." He grinned at her.

"This meal is nutritionally balanced and designed to aid your recovery. Taste is a secondary consideration."

"Yes, I understand, but if I can't stand to eat it, it won't do me any good."

"Well anyway, I have to check you out," she replied, starting her regular ministrations.

"I'm going to have to start getting some exercise even if it hurts or the road back to health will be too long. The medicine helps the pain, but my burns are not improving. I accept the fact the burns will take a while to recover from, but the rest of me requires attention too."

Finishing his dinner, he settled down on the bed on his chest waiting until the medicine started working and then he began to dream again.