The Bar

Time to explain the powers, and there is only onew place Silka can find suitable..

Jessica and Chris spent most of the night discussing everything from their routines in their human lives, to the effects the dragons had on them. Well on Jessica at least as she had been joined for some time now and had completed the bedding in process.

On a couple of occasions Chris had attempted to probe Jessica with varying success seeing things from her wondering what to have for breakfast tomorrow to a full on emotional barrage aimed squarely at him. Obviously there was some kind of connection going on there, but just how strong it was and just how to channel it would take some practice.

He was sure that Jessica must have realised what was going on as he had received a couple of strange looks from her on a couple of the occasions where he had gently poked her mind with his own.

The discussion turned to Jessica's powers and how they had developed. While Jessica wished she had all the answers to the hundreds of questions Chris had, she knew that she was still too early in her own development to answer them properly so she took him by his hand and they materialised in the great hall, the same hall that Syreena, Jessica's dragon had shown him while she was recounting their history to him.

When they appeared they found Silka, the great black dragon seated in the central, and largest of the chairs surrounding the table.

Jessica approached the drake reverently her gaze pointed to the floor before addressing her.

“Your Majesty. I come to seek your assistance in something.” Jessica said.

“What troubles you Jessica?” the black drake asked.

“Chris and I have been talking. I have been helping him with the transition as you requested, but he has asked me a question that I am not yet qualified to answer yet.” the young girl stated. “He wishes to know about how our joined powers develop and what he should be prepared for and as I am still developing mine, I was unable to answer him as thoroughly as I would like to.”

The Dragon raised a claw to her chin and scratched it for a moment in thought.

“I see. Yes, that IS quite a problem isn't it?”

She thought again for a moment before rising from her seat and moving around to the front of the table.

“I believe that I have a solution to this. I think it is time that you both met MY human counterpart.”

A thin veil of blue mist surrounded the dragon, and within the space of a second she had morphed into her human form. The girl who stood before them was around average height with jet black hair which was bunched into dread locks accented from time to time with a lock which was magenta in colour and stood out in stark contrast to the blackness of her hair

Her face was rather angular in nature and her clothing was sort of a cross between cyber-goth, punk, and biker. She overall had the appearance of someone who could hold their own in any fist fight and was something of a rebel.

The girl stepped forward and held out her right hand to first Jessica and then Chris.

“Hi! I'm Raven.” she said before smiling warmly at them both but as you looked into her pure black eyes you could see the dragon's fire, her life force burning behind them. The thousands of years of power, influence and the countless battles waged shone brightly behind those black eyes but it didn’t seem to dampen the demeanour of Raven in the slightest.

Chris found it a bit unsettling having been used for so long to reading peoples moods by their eyes. This wasn't going to be possible to do this time as all he could see was the dragon in them.

“So, you wanna talk powers eh?” Raven smiled at Chris. “Well. This is gonna take some time and I think I know just the place to do it. But before we go, take heed, follow my lead at all times. This isn’t the sort of place you can let your guard down as a stranger otherwise there are a handful there who will feast on your souls” she warned.

Chris looked over to Jessica who looked as apprehensive as he felt. Taking a deep breath he simply replied “Let's do this.” As Raven smiled, the chamber dissolved away to be replaced with a dark, earthy looking area full of laughter, activity and the overwhelming smell of smoke and alcohol.

Chris snuck in a look around the place and there were all kinds of creatures milling around, from demons to imps, gremlins and lizard like creatures and one or two dragons dotted here and there.

Raven ushered them to a booth in the back corner of the room and they took a seat around an old and very work looking table. It appeared to be made of oak or something similar and bore the scars of many a fight.

As they sat, a small impish looking human with something of a pot belly approached them wielding a small pad and a pencil. He drew up to the table and in a crisp cut glass accent spoke to the group

“Welcome to the hell bar. My name is Lucius. I will be your waiter for this evening. Please. May I fetch you a drink of some kind?”

Chris couldn’t help but smile at the manner in which the waiter spoke as he opened his mouth to order a coke or something similar, Raven took the lead and simply stated

“Three Fire Brews, and don't even think of watering them down or I'll turn you into an even more spineless wretch than you are already!”

“As you wish your Majesty” he replied before bowing and scurrying off toward the bar area to fetch the order.

“Damn staff here. You have to watch them like hawks otherwise they'll serve you demon piss if they think they can get away with it.” Raven mused. “It was never like this when I ran the place”

“This was YOURS?” Jessica asked seeming somewhat surprised by the notion that the girl in front of her could keep a place like this in order.

Raven simply laughed at the question. “It was a couple of centuries ago. Me and my the partner Tom ran this place. It really was awesome, nothing like what you see here now. There was actually a fighting ring in the middle of the place where there were always two people settling their differences. It used to draw quite a crowd and I have had a good few battles in it myself.

Raven leaned back in her chair and began “one time, me and my arch rival Sam decided to square off to see just who was the better fighter of the pair of us. We had spent many nights drinking in here and arguing over who would be better and one night we decided to put it all to the test. We both got in the ring and....”

Raven was interrupted by the return of Lucius baring a tray containing 3 tankards which were smoking, the smoke poured from the top of the mugs and on to the tray before falling to the floor but dissipating before it actually reached the ground. He removed the mugs from the tray and placed one before each of the people at the table and then taking a serviette and placing it precisely next to each of the mugs.

Chris couldn’t help but smile at the attention to detail that Lucius was making with each placement.

Raven was beginning to become even more annoyed with each passing moment at the fussing and it only took a couple of moments before she unleashed some of that anger on the waiter.

“Yes yes. We have the god damned napkins. They don't need to be aligned precisely, the world will NOT end if they aren't! Not be off with you before you taste my temper!” She waved him away nonchalantly and he moped off, clearly anxious as the last of the serviettes was not square to the table’s edge. As he slinked away Raven shouted to him “And while your back in the kitchen, see if you can get the chef to remove that stick from your a*s!”

Chris nearly burst out laughing, not because of the words Raven had used, but because in his own minds eye he could see a large wooden stick protruding from the waiters posterior and dragging along behind him on the ground.

“I think I'll call him the Ice Cream Man” he muttered to himself.

“Yeah, he does kind of look a bit like a Magnum bar” Jessica replied.

Has Jessica been seeing his thoughts? He wondered to himself but before he could explore the thought too deeply Raven spoke, drawing him out of his own mind and back into the moment.

“Right. So, just where to begin with the whole 'Powers' thing” Raven said. “I suggest you have a drink though. This place may be a dump now, but they serve the best fire brew in the entire realm, but be careful, this stuff packs a wallop!”