In the morning, Ian woke up and lay in the dark silence beneath Firecracker's wing. As he slowly fought of the sleepy haze in his mind, he remembered the vampire girl from last night, and pat the dragon's side. Firecracker lifted his wing, allowing Ian to step out into the morning light.
Ian stretched, his back cracking. Looking around, he noticed that Mavis was gone.
Well he thought If vampires exist, then I suppose that the legends of the fatal allergy to sunlight is true as well.
Ian saw that his sleeping mat had a body-shaped impression on it, indicating that Mavis had taken up his offer to sleep on it. Turning around, he saw Firecracker yawn tiredly, his set of fangs gleaming in the morning sun.
"Well, bud, it looks like it's just you and me today." The dragon seemed to smile. He did not have what humans called lips, just ever-bared teeth, but the look in his eyes and demeanor had said it all.
The pair went for a walk in the thick woods, and they found lake, and went fishing. Well, it technically could be called "fishing". Firecracker would shoot a blast of flame at the water, sending up a gigantic splash of liquid. Then he would fly through the cascade and come out the other side with a few fish in his jaws or skewered on his talons.
Eventually, nightfall came. Ian and Firecracker lounged around their camp, watching the sunset.
"You smell like smoked fish," Ian said. Firecracker grunted and rolled his eyes. Ian leaned back against Firecracker's scaly side and dozed off.
An unknown amount of time later, Ian felt something whack him in the head, sending him toppling over.
"Firecracker!" The dragon growled, and threw his saddle at Ian, nearly hitting the boy in the face. Ian managed to dodge the large object in the dim light. "What is the matter with you?!" Firecracker roared lightly and pushed Ian over to his cloak and crossbow. "He-Hey! Okay, okay, alright, I'm going! I'm going! Sheesh!" Ian sensed that Firecracker was hearing something that he couldn't. Legends and lore stated clearly that dragons were highly intelligent creatures with superior senses compared to those of a human.
Ian threw on his cloak and quickly saddled and mounted Firecracker, and secured his crossbow to its holster on the right side of the saddle. Firecracker needed no encouragement to take off, shooting up the instant Ian attached his safety cords. Ian felt the straps stretch, straining from his weight.
Twenty seconds later, the pair leveled out. Ian looked around at the night sky.
"Okay, I'm up here. What exactly did you want me to see?" Firecracker banked to face the nearby town that Ian visited yesterday. Down below, the boy saw a large pile of wood and small glowing flames moving around in the town square, which he attributed to torches being held by townspeople. In the middle of the pile of wood, he saw a small black spot. The smell of garlic was prominent.
"Firecracker, get us closer. Give me another pass. There's something I wanna see." The young dragon grunted and banked hard to the left, giving Ian a closer look. Thanks to his dark cloak and the dragon's black hide, none of the townspeople below saw the pair that was flying above them.
Looking back at the woodpile, Ian got a better look at the black spot in the wood pile.
Mavis. She was tied to a post, a distressed look on her face.
"Ah, man," Ian muttered. "Firecracker, let me down, but hover overhead. I might need you." The dragon grunted, and glided down to a clearing. Ian slid off, and Firecracker took wing, hovering over the town.
Ian walked back to the town, his crossbow in hand. Once there, he saw there was what seemed to be the entire town in the streets, all focused on the vampire. Everyone was wearing necklaces made of garlic.
"HO THERE!" Ian hollered, raising his hand in greeting. The crowd turned to see the new arrival.
"Who are you?" A large man stepped forward. Ian presumed him to be the leader of the crowd.
Ian paused. There was a good chance that these people heard about what occurred in New Jersey.
"I asked you a question, boy," the man said. "Who are you?"
"You may call me 'Ian'," the boy said. "What is it that you have going on here?"
"We caught a vampire lurking about," The large man said. "You came to us when we were about to ignite its pyre."
Ian turned to face the girl who was tied to the stake in the wood pile. "Ah, I remember you," he said, nodding slowly as he strode through the crowd as they parted with him. Mavis slowly looked up and made eye contact with the familiar human. "We meet again." Ian turned to the crowd and paced slowly. "This vampire paid me a visit to my camp last night. I managed to ward the creature off, with a little help from a good friend of mine."
"Who is this friend of yours," a woman asked. "Surely one who can fight off a vampire is very powerful, or uses some sort of sorcery. Are you a wizard?"
"No, I'm not a wizard. As for my friend: He's watching over me right now," Ian said, glancing upwards. "Probably making sure I do not do anything overly stupid."
"You are very fortunate that the Lord kept you safe in the presence of such evil," the woman said, stepping forward.
"Actually, no," Ian said, holding up a hand. "My protector is no supernatural being." He pursed his lips and gave a shrill whistle. "Firecracker! Come on down, buddy!" A large shriek echoed across the sky, attracting the people's attention. The crowd yelled and backed away quickly as the large, black, winged creature descended. Firecracker landed gracefully, his wings flapping to slow his decline. He touched down and looked to face his human, and crooned, sniffing Ian to make sure he was alright. "Yes, yes, it is good to see you too. Though I was away from you for just five minutes, ya know." Firecracker didn't care how long they were apart. His human could have gotten hurt during that time.
Ian turned to the crowd. "Everyone, I would like you all to meet Firecracker." Firecracker sniffed at the mass of people curiously. Turning his head slowly, Ian saw mostly concerned faces with some of pure fear. "He won't hurt you. He's quite docile when he's not being threatened or guarding me." Firecracker got bored and started to walk around, exploring his surroundings.
Ian noticed a familiar face in the crowd. "Hello, Rosalie." The young woman gave a small wave. Ian turned and saw Firecracker doing something he shouldn't be doing. "Firecracker, get off of that house before you cave the roof in!" The dragon growled, and slunk off the building reluctantly. "Stubborn dragon." He turned back to the crowd. "I'll take this vampire off of your hands. I'll fly off with her and make sure she doesn't ever return."
"What will you do to it?" The lead man said.
"I'll leave her out in a clearing, and let the sun do the rest," Ian said as if it were no big deal. Mavis gasped in horror. Firecracker belched loudly, sending out a small jet of flame. Ian gave an amused snort.
The lead man nodded. "How can we be sure that you won't come back and attack us with your dragon?"
"I understand where you are coming from," Ian said, holding up a pacifying hand. "But do not fear. I am on a mission to promote peace and safety. Attacking this town would be sort of redundant towards that cause."
The lead man nodded. "If no one is opposed to the offer..." No one spoke up. "You may take the vampire away from us."
Ian smiled. "Here, Firecracker!" The dragonlet bounded over and crouched, allowing Ian to climb up. Firecracker rose to his full height of ten feet, and spread his wings. He conducted a controlled hover over to the wood pile and picked up the post that Mavis was tied to. Ian tapped his heels against Firecracker's sides and the dragon shot up, carrying the post. At the height of their climb, he shot out a blast of fire, and soared back to camp.
After setting the post down gently, Firecracker landed. The post rolled slightly, gently pressing Mavis into the ground. Ian unclipped the safety straps and slid off from saddle. He didn't take the saddle off though. Instead he strode over to Mavis and removed his knife.
"If you're going to kill me, don't leave me in the sun," Mavis said. "Take that there knife and rip my heart out. It will be less painful compared to being left out in the sun." Ian knelt and slashed the ropes binding her to the post. Then he sheathed his knife and turned away, walking to the pile of equipment and started to pack it.
"You are more than welcome to come with us," Ian said.
"Why would you want a vampire to accompany you?" Mavis said, rising.
"This is how I see it," Ian said, pausing from packing the saddlebags. "Two days ago, I gave you the perfect opportunity to hurt me. But you did not take that opportunity. I feel I can trust you. You need to trust me. If you come with us, you will be a heck of a lot safer than you would be if you were alone."
Mavis thought for a bit as Ian continued to pack. When he finished, Ian rose and attached the bags to the saddle. "You coming?"
Mavis sighed and stepped forward. "You're the only human who has ever been nice to me. I guess I should stay with you." Ian smiled and took Mavis' hand so he could help her up into the saddle. Firecracker growled slightly, suspicious of this new female. She didn't smell like anything he had smelled before.
"Easy, Firecracker, easy," Ian said gently. "This is Mavis, and she will be traveling with us. You need to be nice to her." Firecracker just snarled at Ian, swung at his human's head with his tail, and roared disapprovingly. "Hey! I know you don't want to carry any more weight, and that you don't like Mavis, for whatever reason, but how would you feel if we left Mavis here and she got killed?" The dragon growled. He didn't care what happened to this thing, which wasn't human, even though it looked like one.
"Are you sure I can come with you?" Mavis said. "I don't think your dragon likes me very much."
"He'll survive," Ian said. "And, yes, I'm sure you can come with us. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one to leave someone behind who has done nothing to me." Mavis nodded, understanding. "Firecracker, you need to be nice to Mavis." The dragon glared at his human. Had he lost his mind.
Ian helped Mavis up onto the saddle and made sure she was comfortably seated before swinging himself up. Firecracker rose and stretched out his wings.
"Mavis, you are going to want to hang on tight," Ian said, turning his head back to her. "From the time I made the saddle, Firecracker has gone fast during takeoff."
"Okay..." Mavis said, carefully placing her hands on Ian's shoulders. The sudden jerk upwards nearly pulled her off. Her arms encircled Ian's torso, pulling herself closer to him, burying her face in his shoulder.
Ian smiled, Ian reaching back to comfort her. "Hold on." He paused. "And don't even try to bite my neck. I need that."
"Not funny," Mavis growled, feeble as it was. "I'm literally terrified."
"You'll get used to it,' Ian said as Firecracker leveled out. "Just look at this."
"I'm not looking," Mavis said. "I'm scared out of my mind."
Ian shrugged. "We'll be airborne for a while. It's a long time until daybreak, and that's a long time until you open your eyes."
True to her word, Mavis kept her eyes shut until they landed. Ian would have sworn, since her grip lessened somewhat, that she had fallen asleep.
That day, after Ian had made camp, he offered Mavis the spot beneath Firecracker's wing.
"Thanks," She said.
Ian nodded. "Not at all a problem. I'll keep watch."
Mavis nodded, before approaching the scary-looking dragon. Firecracker, yawned, exposing rows of dagger-like teeth, then raised his wing, allowing the inhuman girl to crawl beneath.