A coyote howled in the distance, startling Ray. He glanced around, and then studied each side of the road carefully. His bike obediently waited, the sounds of metal expanding and contracting crackled off the exhaust pipe.

Satisfied that no vehicles were approaching, he retreated back into the woods. Firedrake leaned up against a tree, and Sorrel held his wing in a more comfortable position. "Okay, there hasn't been a car since I pulled over here," Ray explained. "My house isn't too far down the road, do you think you can walk that far?"

"No problem," Firedrake snorted. "And hey look, the bleeding stopped!"

Ray had run back to his house and fetched some blankets, he and Sorrel applied pressure to his wounds and stopped the bleeding.

Ray knocked the Kawasaki off it's kickstand and held both handlebars.

"Let's go, I'll watch the front, Sorrel you watch the back. If you see anything, get to the side of the road and hide in the ditch, or back in the woods if the trees aren't too thick."

"Alright, human," Sorrel called from Firedrake's back.

"Ray!" He responded.

"Whatever, just go!" Sorrel barked. Ray turned around and looked up at Firedrake. "There's no pleasing her, is there?" He whispered. The dragon shrugged.

"You get used to it."

Ray rolled his bike, at 350 pounds it was no pushover. They had gone about a quarter mile, when Ray could see the light coming from his garage. He turned around.

"See that light? That's it!" Ray shouted, a few paces ahead of them.

"Good, I don't mind the walking but every time I move my wing hurts!" Firedrake laughed.

His Remington bobbed back and forth with every step. The rifle was a birthday present from his Granddad, so that they could go hunting together. It featured tactical rails to add attachments, such as a red dot sight or a scope.

There was something magical about them both. Even though he didn't care much for Sorrel, he still thought she was something amazing. Why they were here, he couldn't say. In the back of his mind, he was terribly afraid that he was dreaming, and hope that this could be real. Ray smiled, feeling content. Everything was about to work out. He could let Firedrake rest until his wing heals, and then...

His smile vanished. Then what? They would leave. But leave to where? He still had so many questions to ask them, but now was not the time.

"Wait, I hear something!" Sorrel shouted. Ray spun around. After a few moments, he could see a speck of light coming in the distance. "There's a gap in the trees on the right side of the road, go!"

Ray pushed his bike to the side of the road, waiting for the car to pass. It began to get closer, and then Ray recognized the familiar headlights.

"It can't be," He said under his breath.

It was his worst fear. The same police officer that had harassed him just an hour ago was now speeding towards him. Ray struggled to push his bike into the ditch in time, but it was too late.

The blue lights flashed, the siren blared twice. The officer threw open his door and aimed his revolver directly at Ray's chest. Ray put his hands up in surrender. "I knew you were up to no good!" He barked. "Drop your weapon, now!"

Ray hesitated, and looked around. He could barely make out Firedrake in the woods to his right. Standing in the middle of the road, Ray gulped.

The officer clicked the hammer on his revolver. "I'll give you one last chance. Drop your weapon, now!" He repeated.

Ray had just begun to unsling the rifle, when he heard heavy footsteps on the grass in between the road and the woods. He turned his head. Firedrake was towering menacingly above them both.

The officer's trembling hands had dropped his revolver.

Firedrake growled threateningly. The police officer let out a yelp and jumped back into his patrol car, turned around, zipped off into the distance for a second time.

Ray looked first at Firedrake, Sorrel was prone on his back, hiding just behind his long neck, keeping his wing up. He glanced then at the revolver, picking it up through his sleeve, as not to leave finger prints, and opened the bell of the revolver, dumping out two rounds and threw them into the woods. Then he noticed a bag filled with a bunch of green shavings. It was marijuana. Ray smiled, and threw the bag off the road. He kicked the handgun into a ditch near to where the hemp had landed.

His heart rate began to decrease, and a familiar sense of adrenaline had faded away.

"Thanks," Ray sighed. And sat down in the middle of the pavement. "They're going to be looking for me, though."

"What do you mean?" Firedrake questioned.

"He's a police officer. They make sure we follow the law," Ray flipped his hair out of his face and unslung his rifle. "He already didn't like me, he almost busted me for smoking underage earlier today. Not only that, but you can't have a gun off of your own property unless you're 18."

""This," Ray gestured to his rifle. "It's a weapon."

"What does it do?" Sorrel shrugged. Ray picked a target, a fence post.

"Okay, watch that fence," Ray responded. Ray took aim down the iron sights, and pulled the trigger. The rifle blasted a .223 round into the fence post, turning it into a bunch of splinters. The Remington R-25 ejected the used shell and fell to the pavement, landing with a metallic clang. Ray picked up the shell before it could roll away and put it in his pocket, in case the police officer came back to find his revolver.

After the crack of the rifle, Sorrel flinched, her sensitive ears overloaded with sound and fell off Firedrake's back. Firedrake shook his head, the blast making his ears ring.

"Good lord!" Sorrel gasped. Ray offered her his hand, but she rejected it and pulled herself up by Firedrake's spines.

"And you were going to use that on us!" She pointed a finger at Ray. Firedrake turned at Ray. "Is that true?" He demanded.

Ray looked at his shoes, which had gone from a clean white to an earth tan. "Yes, but I didn't know what you were after I followed you," He explained. "I wanted to find out what it was that fell out of the sky, but I was scared to go back there without any form of protection."

"Humans are always the same, no matter where you go," Sorrel climbed back onto Firedrake.

"Sorrel, that sounds reasonable to me. But it is true," Firedrake said. "When humans are afraid of something, they destroy it." Firedrake echoed the wise dragon from back in his homeland.

"This isn't really the time or place," Ray stated. "Let me get you both to my house."

Ray lead them up his driveway, clearing some space in the garage and allowing Firedrake to get settled there. He collapsed and curled into a ball, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

Sorrel lay up against him, stroking his scales and cleaning his wounds caused by the trees.

Ray checked his cellphone. Apart from three new text messages, what caught his attention is that it was nearly 2:00 in the morning.

Ray gasped. "I just realized, I have to go study. I'll be gone all day tomorrow, just please don't get yourselves into any trouble."

Firedrake nodded and nuzzled Ray. "Thank you so much, Ray."

"It's nothing, really. Happy to help," he blushed. "Sorrel, if you need anything, my room is the first door on the right upstairs. I'll leave the door unlocked."

He showed sorrel how to open the garage door, so she would be a bit more trusting of him.

Ray had just realized then how tired he was as he climbed the stairs to his room. He sat down at his desk, opening his trigonometry homework. After 45 minutes, he still didn't understand a word of it, but sighed. "Good enough," he murmured. Ray crawled into bed, both excited and anxious. He knew It wasn't the last he'd seen of that police officer.