Chasing Dragons

1

Cory Chase stood on a corner, pausing to look around. The ring on his hand pulled him toward a walled house down the street. He checked his watch, realizing he had walked across Church Hill after dealing with the strange knight of wands. He didn't feel tired, even though he should have been.

He briefly considered how he should handle getting this new jewel if it was in the house. Maybe he could just knock on the door, and ask politely. A stranger on your doorstep at three in the morning asking to come in shouldn't be a big deal.

If you were a lonely insomniac who really believed in conversation with total strangers.

Chase stood there for a few more moments. Then he told himself it was better to get this done before another monster showed up to try and kill him. After all if he were pulled to the stone, he wouldn't have to look for it on his own.

Chase crossed the street, jumping over the low wall surrounding the house he was interested in. He walked up the walk, taking in the symbol carved in the driveway as he went. He paused at the front door, considering waiting until daylight as he stared at the door bell.

Let's get this over with.

Chase thumbed the button, then again after counting to a minute. He waited for another couple of minutes before pressing the bell again. He heard steps approaching the door through the wood.

The door swung open, revealing a man in a black suit, tie loose on his shoulders. He appeared to be Asian, with almond eyes and black hair. He was slightly taller than Chase, peering down at his visitor.

"What can I do for you?," the stranger asked.

"My name is Cory Chase," said Chase. "I am looking for a jewel that you might have in your possession. I was wondering if I might have it."

"Even if I had such a jewel, why should I give it to you?," the home owner asked.

"Because it's mine," said Chase, raising the hand bearing his ring. A beam of yellow light glimmered from it, pouring into the house in a solid band.

2

"Come in," said the owner of the house. "My name is Jack Dragon. Perhaps you can tell me what this is about."

As soon as Chase stepped over the door sill, the ring started dragging him forward. Even with his new strength, he was having problems restraining himself. The yellow beam pulled him into a vast library, against a large table in the middle of the room, then to a particular book on one of the shelves. The book flopped out of place. A small jewel on the end of a metal book mark attached itself to an empty setting.

Cory grimaced, then broke the book mark off with his other hand.

"Sorry about that," he said to Dragon, who had followed him to the room, and stood in the door. He placed the small metal hook on the table.

"I guess you want an explanation," Chase said, relieved that the compulsion was gone after he had placed the stone in its setting.

"That would be nice," said Jack, gesturing to a chair beside the table.

"A guy left me this ring in his will. He didn't say what it did, but he did say I had to guard it with my life," said Chase. "This giant snake was in the water where I found the first rock, and this pile of metal tried to get at me when I got in to Church Hill. Now I think I'll get out of your hair."

"That's not a lot," said Jack. "Do you need assistance?"

"I think I have it covered," Chase said. "Unless you know where the other ten stones are. That would be a big help."

"I can find out," said Jack, smiling lightly.

3

Jack Dragon pulled an atlas from one of the bookshelves. He placed it on the table, opening it to a map of the world. It would be best to start with the biggest area, assuming all of the stones were on Earth, and not somewhere else. If he had to expand his search outward, he would use his dimensions book next.

Chase watched silently. He had seen enough strange things in the last few days to keep his mouth shut about one more.

Jack traced a symbol on the map. Chinese numbers lit up when his finger stopped. He was happy to say most of the the numbers were in the continental United States. That meant he could concentrate on that map a few pages further in the book. He repeated his symbol on the second map, and was rewarded with numbers in different states. Individual cities were under each number.

Jack took a pad of paper and pen from his jacket pocket. He wrote the name of each city down in his careful cursive. When you wrote a symbol to change things, your penmanship had to improve so that you didn't write the wrong symbol by mistake.

"I think this will be an immense help to you," Jack said, tearing the page off the pad and handing it to Chase. "I can't say if the stones will still be where I found them by the time you arrive at these places."

"Thanks," said Chase. "This will be a big help if you're right."

"I am."

epilogue

He clutched his chest, realizing that his enemy had gained another piece of his power. The cards in his breast pocket told him that with their sympathetic vibration. He stood up, going to the dingy window of his hotel.

His two creatures had failed miserably to stop the sailor. He didn't know if it was because Chase's ring made him that strong, or because of the meddling from the Blinker, and that shadow man.

Right now he didn't know where Chase was, and had been unable to find him with his cards. He did know that this ringbearer had to die before he assembled all the pieces of his inheritance. That was the only way to insure that he could join the ring with his cards. His powers would double.

No tramp was going to get in his way.

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