Chapter 16

The following character is mentioned in this chapter:

Muchalinda

The Blue Dragon, his name is mentioned but he does not appear in this chapter

We were all up at a decent hour the next morning. There was no need to get up early or to rush, as we wanted all of the government’s workers to be at their jobs before we activated the wards.

Following breakfast for everyone including the Clan’s newest members, we set up the teams to do the actual activation of the wards. This would all be done by members of our Clan, so that none of our employees could be blamed for it. Steve and Keith would have the activation of the wards at the Interior Building. They would also cast and expand Doreen’s Ward to enclose the area around the building in a shell. This would prevent the government from using helicopters to rescue people in the buildings or to supply them with food or other items. Lastly, they would cancel the Freeze spell on our prisoners and the ward on the conference room there before returning to the Nest.

Dad and I would activate the wards at the EPA’s facilities and the Reagan Building. We would also cast Doreen’s Ward around the area and expand it to cover all of those buildings. Lastly, we would cancel the Freeze spell and release the prisoners in the North Building plus cancel the ward on the conference room there. All of this was to happen at 9:50 in the morning. At the same time in Atlanta, Dallas and Doreen would activate the wards at the Russell Building and the Nunn Building before canceling the Freeze spells on our prisoners there.

We were all ready to depart for our sites when Mom threw a wrench into our plans.

“I’m going to Washington with you,” she announced in a voice that allowed for no questioning.

“Do you just want to see what happens?” Dad asked.

“No, dear, I’m going to visit the President after everything is activated. I had those at work transfer all of the video confessions and your directives to a large flash drive last night. You already had everyone identified, so the President will know who the culprits are. I’m also going to give him a piece of my mind about the unscrupulous people in the government. They need more people with moral fortitude,” she insisted. There is no arguing with Mom. She is, after all, the Dragon Queen of the West.

We all transferred to Lafayette Park at about 9:30 before splitting up to go to our assigned locations. Mom accompanied Dad and me. On arriving at the Reagan Building, we went up to the top floor before transferring to the roof. While we could activate the many spells from anywhere nearby, we needed to see how much of the area Doreen’s Ward covered after casting it and while expanding it. We could shift it, if necessary, to cover the area that we wanted covered.

As 9:50 approached, we prepared to activate all of the standby spells that we had cast yesterday at the same time.

“Now!” Dad said looking up from his watch, and we activated all of the spells. Instantly, the power went out in the buildings as we felt all the wards on their exterior surfaces come into existence to prevent anyone from either leaving or entering the buildings. A few seconds later, we both cast Doreen’s Ward and began expanding it to cover the entire area of the EPA’s Buildings and the Ronald Reagan Building. We needed to cast it with a light red tint so we could see what it covered as we expanded it and adjusted its location as necessary. Mom helped by observing part of the area as we expanded it and made the corrections. When it covered everything that we had decided should be covered, we ended the spell and darkened the tint to a bright red color to keep people from crashing into it.

Following that, we transferred into the conference room in the North Building where our prisoners were still under a Freeze spell. First we canceled the ward on the room and then the Freeze spell on the men. Mom had a few choice words for them.

“You despicable bunch of lowlifes. No one would call you men, as you are lower than worms. Be assured that WE will be watching you. Take one step from the restrictions that my Husband, Khawlhring, gave you, and we will squash you like the bugs you are. You have the word of Tintaglia, the Dragon Queen of the West, on that,” Mother told them in a loud Dragon voice as smoke drifted from her nostrils. Her use of Dad’s and her Dragon names in Gaelic had nearly knocked out all eight of the prisoners. The smoke really scared them. We transferred out of the building following that, leaving them to their own devices over the next five days.

Meanwhile, there was panic at the Interior Department’s Building and at the EPA’s Buildings. Only a few in the Reagan Building had noticed what had happened there so far. Those in buildings near the warded areas had noticed quickly when a part of their building was affected by the overlap from Doreen’s Ward, and they couldn’t access it and those trapped in it couldn’t leave the warded area. This had happened at both sites in D.C.

Within minutes, traffic in the area around both sites was a disaster as people had crashed into the suddenly appearing wards, or had been rear ended by those not able to stop quickly enough to avoid hitting them. In most cases, there was no way around the blockage, and traffic had to be rerouted. All of this took time. It also took time to get those involved moved out of the affected areas.

It being D.C., there were plenty of reporters out looking for any kind of a story, and these problems attracted a number of them. No one, especially the police, had any explanation for what had occurred, where it came from, or how to solve the problem. They also didn’t realize that it would be five days before the problem solved itself.

At the same time in Atlanta, Dallas and Doreen had activated the spells at the Nunn and the Russell Buildings cutting the power and warding the areas of those buildings used by the EPA and the Interior Department. Few people took notice of this initially, but they would once the news broke about what had happened in D.C. They also canceled the wards and Freeze spells on the prisoners in those areas.

After transferring out of the EPA’s North Building, we appeared on 17th Street at State Place. This was where we had entered the White House area on our first visit. Mom walked right up to the gate there and spoke to the guard.

“I’m here to speak to the President,” she informed him in a demanding voice.

“I don’t have any appointments listed for this time period,” the guard replied, as several Secret Service men drifted in the direction of the gate on hearing her loud demand.

“NO, I don’t have an appointment. I don’t need one. Tell the President that Madailein Kavanagh, the Dragon Queen of the West, is here to see him about a matter of National Security,” she told him.

“I’m sorry, the President can’t see you. He’s busy presently,” the guard told her, not impressed at all with who she said claimed to be.

“Really!” Mom replied. “He doesn’t know how really busy he is going to be in a few minutes. If you won’t summon him or alert him, I’ll need to do it myself,” she finished angrily. The two Secret Service men were much closer by now and had drawn their guns on hearing her threat. They didn’t realize how much trouble they were about to be in.

Without another word, Mom transformed into her Dragon form as Tintaglia the Dragon Queen of the West at the forty-foot-tall level.

“I don’t have time to argue with fools. My Daughter will need to be fed shortly,” she continued in a loud Dragon voice as she looked around and smiled a Dragon’s smile. “Perhaps I’ll take one of you with me after I see the President. Deirdre is almost old enough to catch her meat by herself now. One of these young men should provide meat for her for four or five days. The meat will be better with a little age on it also,” she finished as smoke drifted from her nostrils while she looked directly at the Secret Service men who had blanched on hearing this, and that’s not to mention their shock at seeing her turn into a Dragon.

Following that, she merely stepped over the fence. The Secret Service men backed up out of her way without a thought of using their guns. They were even too startled to use their radios. Dad and I transferred inside to follow Mom. We all had our wards around us of course. She moved right over to the entrance to the Oval office before shrinking to her twelve-foot-tall size and making her way inside before changing back to her Human form.

“Wait out there,” she told us and closed the door as she intended to speak to the President whether he was busy or not.

Of course, there had been reporters hanging around near the entrance area of the White House, and they had recorded all of this. They, or those they worked for, soon put the two incidents together and had it all over the news in no time.

Mom was in with the President for a bit over a half an hour before she came out, and we all transferred back to Atlanta. She hadn’t said how the meeting had gone.

On arriving back at the Nest from D.C., we found all of the others waiting for us when we reached the Entrance Hall.

“How did it go?” they all asked, but Deirdre let out a squall at the same time. Mom took her youngest Daughter in her arms, and she immediately quieted down.

“The President was more than a little upset that I had crashed his meeting, but quickly quieted down when I explained why I was there. Of course, that was after I cast a Freeze spell to keep all of those there under control.

“I quickly explained what we had done, and who the culprits were. I left the flash drive with him that had all of the confessions on it. He and the others weren’t happy to learn what I had to say, and they claimed to have no knowledge of what had been going on. I don’t believe that most of them did because most of them have no idea of what is happening most of the time anyway,” she told us before pausing.

“We should all go home. I’m sure the news and the talk shows will be very entertaining this afternoon. We can all use a good rest also,” she finished.

“What about the two Chinese and the Iranian?” Dad asked before I could.

“They are under a Freeze spell in the Audience Chamber,” Mom said. “They won’t be going anywhere. Even if they could cancel the Freeze spell, which they can’t, they could never get out of the Nest. Besides, the Queens in the Jewel are here and would burn them to ash if they so much as move an inch. Tomorrow will be soon enough to deal with them,” she added with a smile.

After collecting all of our children and some other things that we had brought with us, Mom opened the Entrance, and extended the platform. We all began disappearing in family groups then. Mom, Dad, and Deirdre were the last to leave, and the entrance closed behind them. That afternoon, we all relaxed as much as possible. Mom had been correct, the media and their attempts to correct their earlier stories were very comical to watch.

The noontime news was full of the events in Washington, and naturally they blamed everything that had happened on the Dragons, not being aware of the involvement of the government yet. They would soon learn about it though.

At that afternoon’s news conference, the President revealed the entire story, and the involvement of those in the EPA, the Interior Department, and the Congress as well as the Chinese and the Iranians. This really rocked the news media back on their heels as they rushed to cover their asses. They had again rushed stories into the news without checking on the facts so they could get more advertising dollars. Now, they were worried that they too had aggravated the Dragons, and they didn’t need any of their facilities or their people quarantined for five days or even longer.

A lot of companies and various other organizations both governmental and private began storing a week’s worth of supplies at their facilities in case the Dragons should become upset with them for some reason.

At the Russian Embassy in D.C. that afternoon, the Ambassador called in his Chief of Station. He was on his fourth glass of vodka after watching the President’s news conference and also the latest D.C. News.

“Starevich, send message to Moscow. Say, ‘Do not fuck with Dragons. They have no sense of humor much like old KBG’,” he told him. His assistant was shocked by his language but put it down to the vodka. He did send the message as he too had seen the news. Those in other capitals around the world had also seen the news. Many reconsidered their policies toward the Dragons.

The following day, David De Tocqueville was interviewed again, but about the events in Washington this time. The reporters were anxious for his views on what had occurred the previous day.

“Were you expecting anything like this to happen, Mr. De Tocqueville?” one of the reporters asked.

“I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was sure that the Dragons were the ones responsible for freezing the demonstrators in place, but I had no actual knowledge of it, so I was careful not to accuse them. After the President’s news conference yesterday, I was certain that the Magic structures covering those two sites were produced by the Dragons. None of those in our Association are capable of producing such a structure. The Dragons are, but I and others have no idea where they obtained the spell for them. From what I have seen on the news and descriptions from people that I trust, they appear to be related to the Nesting Spell that only pregnant Female Dragons can cast. These are slightly different and were apparently cast by male Dragons. Other than that, I can tell you nothing more about them except to repeat that in twenty-five years none of our members have been able to even crack their perimeter wards let alone any of the more powerful ones,” David finished.

We also had things to consider the next morning. The first of them was the remaining prisoners. The second was visiting Tibet to check on the money and how it was being spent. We took up the question of the prisoners first.

“What should we do with them?” Jorani asked as we all sat in the kitchen after breakfast. All four Daughters were there with us in two mobile cribs.

“We could leave the two Chinese in the mountains of Tibet,” Dad suggested.

“In which Reality?” Mom asked. Dad looked at her with a shocked expression on hearing this.

“I hadn’t considered that,” he said with a smile.

“Certainly not in the Dragon Reality. There are too many people there now for that,” I said.

“There is much empty space there in our Reality,” Jorani injected.

“What about the Demon-lands in the area of Tibet?” Mom asked with a big smile.

“We’ve never been there in Tibet, but I taught Jorani to fly in the Demon-lands from Thailand. They were very dry, mountainous, and wind swept. We came across some minor Demons from China there and chased them off. I wouldn’t imagine that the Demon-lands in the Tibet area are any better or very populated,” I told her with a grin.

“And the Iranian?” Dad asked.

“The Demon-lands where Iran is. Perhaps he’ll run into some of the Major Demons working for us there,” Mom suggested.

“In any event, we’ll need to interrogate them thoroughly before releasing them to see who sent them here. I don’t believe that they thought this up on their own. Someone in their government is surely behind this,” I pointed out.