Chapter 22

The following character appears in this chapter:

Mandara

Maddy’s Sword, called the Spirit Eater, enchanted and able to cancel Magic spells, can change sizes with its mistress, speaks in her mind, but doesn’t always obey her

The following character returns from earlier in the story:

Harmony

Youngest Daughter of the Lords of Magic, 4’-2’’ tall, 55 pounds, 8 years old, blond hair, very blue eyes

I had been more right than I had imagined last night. Today turned out to be a very busy one. It started as soon as we got up and turned on the news on the radio. The lead story on the morning news was about the gangland style execution of the leader of the D.C. branch of the MS-13 gang. According to the reporter covering the story for a D.C. Radio and TV station, it appears that those in MS-13 had tried to hide the murder of their leader believing that it wouldn’t be good for their image or reputation.

However, it appeared that Kevin Moreno was not very popular with those living in and around the Benning Terrace apartments, as multiple pictures of his dead body and the texts on the sign had been posted to various social media platforms showing his demise and the sign near his remains. This finally brought the police and then the FBI into the picture. Naturally the body and his assorted parts had been removed from the Recreation Center sports field by the time the law arrived. Even the post and the sign had been removed.

It also appeared that it had taken some time for the MS-13 members in and around the Benning Terrace buildings to realize what had happened after we had canceled all of the Freeze spells and wards when we left. I was sure that those still in the apartment had been startled on being freed to discover that their boss and the six Iranians were missing, and they hadn’t seen anything.

Since there had been multiple pictures of the sign on social media, the deed was immediately laid at our door. Because the police and the FBI had no body and only a bit of very dilute blood in the ground of the sports field, they had little evidence to go on that an actual crime had been committed. There also was no one making a complaint of a missing relative or friend. Their press release, later that night, suggested that the entire event had been created as a sensational hoax to reflect poorly on MS-13. The reporter did mention at the end of the story that all of the gruesome pictures had been removed from social media. The story was still covered by all of the major news media nationally for a time, as they didn’t appear to believe it was a hoax.

“Do they really believe that it was a hoax?” Mom asked in surprise after hearing the story.

“The police and the FBI are probably just trying to cover their asses since they have no evidence other than the pictures. I’m sure those in MS-13 have threatened everyone living in or around the Benning Terrace area to keep quiet about this. I’m also sure that they are wondering how we did that and worrying that We might return. They have probably already advised those in El Salvador, who actually run things, of their problem,” Dad told us.

As distracting as this was, We still had the Iranian prisoners to deal with today. Mom started on it after we had finished breakfast and all of the babies had been taken care of.

“What time are we dealing with those terrorists?” she asked.

“How does noon sound?” Dad asked. “We’ll need some help transferring the six of them to the summit of Sawnee Mountain in the Dragon Reality,” he continued.

“Noon sounds fine. Who will we need to help?” she asked.

“We’ll need the four of us males, and probably Dallas and Doreen will want to go. We’ll need you, my dear, as the Dragon Queen to authorize the executions,” Dad told her.

“Yes, I intend to be there. They were messing with MY company and were doing it in MY territory,” Mom told us in an indignant voice.

I went to alert Dallas and Doreen and their Husbands when the executions would be. My older Sisters were a bit upset at needing to move all of their children to Mom’s house while they were gone. They were not so upset that they would miss going however.

Just before 11:30, everyone arrived at Mom’s house. My Sisters had only allowed two of their Daughters’ Familiars to accompany them. Jorani and Chu would watch them and the babies for the short time we would be gone.

We transferred to the Stone Mountain Nest to collect the prisoners after everyone was settled. Following that, we moved them to the top of Stone Mountain before transferring ourselves and the prisoners to the summit of Sawnee Mountain in the Dragon Reality. The prisoners were under a full Freeze spell making it easy to move them. We were already in our Dragon forms at the twenty-five-foot-tall level. To ensure our privacy, we had cast a spell making sure that No One at Stone Mountain Park saw us or remembered us being there. The seven of us together are strong enough to cast the needed spell over the entire area of the park.

Appearing on the summit of Sawnee Mountain in the Dragon Reality, we lined the prisoners up facing west and then lined up about twelve feet away facing them. Mom stood in the center of our line to deliver her sentencing address to the prisoners. We had canceled their Freeze spells so they could hear it.

“You came into this country illegally bringing with you guns and other military equipment for the sole purpose of training groups of terrorists to attack and destroy private and government property, and especially people who were under the protection of the Dragon Queen.

“Those groups of terrorists have already been dealt with and are being held by lawful authorities. WE will do our best to ensure that they are treated as harshly as possible and remain in prison for a very long time. You also sought protection from another lawless group. Their leader has also been dealt with and was executed by Dragons.

“Your worst crime is that you did these things not to cause harm to the government, but to cause harm to the reputation of the Dragon Queen and her company. This is a grave insult and will not be tolerated. There is only one punishment for such an insult. For all of your crimes, I therefore sentence all six of you to be incinerated by Dragon Fire, and any of your ashes that remain are to be scattered by the wind as a reminder of what happens to those who attack the Dragon Queen,” Mom finished and stepped back out of the way.

“Carry out the sentence,” she told us, and the six of us breathed Dragon Fire on the prisoners. They were reduced to nothing but a few ashes in a minute or so. A light breeze was created by the fires and scattered the few remaining ashes. I personally thought that they had died much too easily and quickly, and deserved a more lingering and painful death, but I am not the Dragon Queen, only her Son. Once the ashes were dispersed, Mom addressed us.

“Let’s return home and decide how to solve the problem with the Iranian government,” she told us. We all cast the transfer spell to return to the front yard at Mom’s house and then to our Human forms.

Dad and I spent a good part of the remainder of the day on the internet, going over articles on the Iranian government and how it is organized. We found it to be quite a bit different from other governments and more like those in Communist or other totalitarian countries with its insistence on a ‘Supreme Leader’ who was chosen for life. It differed from the others in that those chosen or appointed had an ideology different from most of the others being based on religion. Those appointed to many positions in the government were Clerics and were appointed or chosen by the Supreme Leader, who himself was an important religious leader.

We found that they did have a constitution, an elected Executive Branch, and an elected Legislature plus a Judicial Branch. However, the Executive Branch, mainly the President, was second to the Supreme Leader and had no authority over the military. Much of the Legislature was also composed of Clerics, but that had been changing in recent years. We also noted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was separate from the regular Army and also supposedly under the direct control of the Supreme Leader. They are reported to be the most autonomous center of power in Iran and have resisted subordination to any civil authority from the President on down to the Clerical control embodied in the Supreme Leader’s representatives. This certainly confirmed our experience with them.

Later that day, while having dinner, the Nesting Ward activated alerting us again to the arrival of some being with a large Talent.

“Who can that be, and why now?” Jorani asked.

“Obviously it’s someone who wishes to see us for some reason,” Dad said as he rose from the table. “Let’s go see who it is and what they want,” he added in a tired voice.

“Will you need me?” Mom asked.

“We’ll need to see who it is. Craig will let you know if it’s important,” he told her before both of us vanished to appear on the driveway just inside our wards. The Silver Leader of the Major Demons was standing just outside of them.

“Greetings, Silver Leader,” Dad said after we appeared, but our guest appeared to be a bit apprehensive.

“Greetings,” he replied. “I only came to tell you that this one isn’t our fault,” he quickly added.

“What isn’t your fault? What happened?” Dad asked.

“There was another Colonel of the Revolutionary Guards killed along with some civilian engineer. Both killings occurred during daylight, so you know it wasn’t us who did it,” he continued. “Someone else is working there beside us,” he finished.

“If those things happened during daylight, then it couldn’t have been your team’s doing. We’ll see what we can learn and inform you of what we find out,” Dad told him. The Silver Leader seemed very relieved before he vanished.

“Let’s go check the news on the TV and the internet. Maybe there is something more about what happened there,” Dad said before we transferred back to the house and our interrupted dinner.

“Was that anything important?” Mom asked when we reappeared in the dining room.

“It was the Silver Leader of the Major Demons. He wanted to assure us that the recent assassinations in Tehran and elsewhere weren’t their fault,” Dad informed her to a shocked expression from Mom.

“Assassinations as in plural deaths?” she asked.

“It would appear that there is, at least, one other state or organization engaged in assassinations in Iran than ours,” Dad told her with a smile.

“Yes, I can guess who it may be. Israel would be first on the list, but I suspect that China, Iraq, and Syria are also there along with several other countries,” she told us.

“We’ll check on the news tonight to see what else we can learn,” Dad told her. She, Jorani, and Chu were soon off to care for the babies, leaving Dad and me to take care of the dishes.

Later, we checked the news. The internet had several stories from Iran. The first was a video which was identified as coming from Tasnim, Iran’s State news agency; it featured an individual identified as the current Head of the Revolutionary Guards who threatened that “the thugs and the remnants of terrorist groups affiliated with global arrogance and Zionism will be punished for their criminal acts”. The story then went on to say that this was the second murder of a Colonel from the Revolutionary Guards in the past two weeks. The attack had occurred during daylight.

A second piece covered the death of a prominent Iranian aerospace engineer who had worked in developing drones and missiles, and had died under mysterious circumstances in Tehran. Some sources claim that he is believed to have died of food poisoning.

There was a third piece about a drone attack on a military base near Tehran that left another engineer and a civilian injured. From all of this, it was apparent that none of these attacks could be laid at the feet of the Major Demons. This left the others that Mom had named as possibilities.

The following morning, Iran was in the news again. This time the attack had taken place overnight and was definitely the work of the Major Demons.

“Major train wreck in Iran,” was how the reporter started the story on the news. “A military train of some 50 cars was wrecked overnight on the rail line between Arak and Andimeshk in the Iranian western mountains when a long viaduct that it was crossing was blown up causing the loss of both engines and all fifty cars and their contents. The explosion and the crash could be heard for many miles, but this mountainous area of Iran is sparsely populated. Investigations continue on how this happened, and who is responsible for the calamity,” the report ended.

“That definitely sounds like one of the Major Demons’ actions,” Dad said, but asked, “why out in those mountains?”

“It’s possible that they robbed the train before blowing it up on the bridge,” Mom said with a grin. “They do like to blow things up,” she added. We would need to speak to the Major Demons about their activities, or at least their leaders.

Since there were other things that we needed to take care of that day, we waited until the afternoon to check on the Major Demons. The morning had been spent taking care of things at Dragon Security. Things that we had put off taking care of to deal with other matters. WE also sent the data on MS-13 to the FBI but anonymously.

“Who all should go with us?” Dad asked when Mom was ready. It was obvious that he was going.

“I would think just the two of us and Craig. That was sufficient before,” she told him.

“Alright, shall we proceed then?” he asked and joining hands Mom transferred the three of us to the Demon Lands and then to the Major Demons’ area. We had transformed into our Dragon forms at the twenty-five-foot-tall level on arriving in the Demon Lands. Our sudden appearance in the Major Demons’ area caused very little concern on their part.

“We need to speak to your Leaders,” Mom told those near us, while Dad and I were paying particular attention to the amount of military equipment that was stacked in nearly every available space.

“They’re coming,” a Demon with a red beret told her after a few seconds. Both Leaders appeared a few seconds later.

“Greetings, Dragon Queen,” they both said. Mom was very direct in her approach to the problem.

“Are you the ones who blew up the train in Iran last night?” she demanded. Both Demons smiled.

“Yes, we were,” the Silver Leader answered with a smirk.

“We needed much of the material on the train to fulfill several of our contracts,” the Red Leader added.

“Contracts? What contracts?” she demanded in an annoyed voice.

“We have contracts to supply weapons and other military equipment to several governments in Africa and the Middle East,” Silver told her as calmly as if it was nothing unusual.

“Are You Supporting Terrorists?” she demanded loudly in a very upset voice.

“Oh No! We wouldn’t do that. We did talk to some of them, but most of them are a bunch of crazies. The actual governments are much easier and serious to deal with. It’s just that most of them are poor and can’t get equipment from the Iranians, the Russians, or the Chinese without giving up their independence. Most of them have cash flow problems also, so we are working on the barter system,” the Red Leader told her.

“Just how much of the equipment on that train did you remove?” Mom asked inquisitively.

“Enough to fulfill our current contracts. Business hasn’t been as brisk as it was initially,” Silver told her.

“And they are wanting heavier stuff now. We had a real problem removing and transferring those four armored cars that we took. It required all of our Teams working together to remove them from the train cars, and then create a portal large enough to move them to the surface here. We weren’t going to bring them down here. A little wind and dust won’t hurt them,” Red told her.

“We needed to stop the train to remove them. We found a good location and stopped the train, but had to unfreeze the engineer to do it. We also needed to use Magic on their tracking system to make it appear that it was still moving, if slowly, while we worked. All of the Teams were worn out by the time we finished. It’s a good thing that we saved the armored cars for last,” Silver told us, as they both looked worn out just remembering what they had done.

“And you blew up the train when?” Mom asked.

“We sent two teams ahead with explosives from the train to mine the viaduct, and also planted explosives on the train cars to destroy evidence of the theft. They were all activated at the same time by a radio signal. It was a really beautiful explosion,” Red told us with a huge smile at the memory.

“Besides, we learned that most of those weapons and things were going to terrorists groups. So, we killed two birds with one stone, as you Humans say,” Silver told us with a satisfied smile.

“And just what are you bartering these weapons and other things for?” Mom demanded.

“Drugs mainly,” Red told her. “And some large female goats,” he added with another smile.

“Where are these drugs going? Who is using them?” Mom demanded in a very unhappy voice.

“Those in the Middle East are eager to get them since their religion forbids their use. There are also the Russians and the Chinese. We deal mostly in places where they are strongly forbidden, as the price is better there, and we don’t need to pay any bribes. We barter with the Russian mobs for booze and sell it in the Middle East, as it’s also forbidden by their religion,” Silver told us. It was obvious that they had gone into business in a major way.

“Alright, but be careful. Don’t distribute those weapons to people who would misuse them,” Mom told them before changing the subject.

“WE are going to have to deal with those running things in Iran soon. Are you able to transfer us to a few select locations there?” she asked the two Leaders.

“You don’t know any locations there?” both of them asked in surprise.

“It’s not an area that WE have had any dealings with in a very long time according to the Queens in the Jewel,” Mom told them.

“We now have numerous locations in Iran. Where do you want to go?” Red asked us.

“We don’t have any specific locations yet, as we are still working on the plans. I just want to be sure that we will be able to transfer there when we are ready,” she told them.

“And what will you pay us for this service?” Silver asked.

“WE will allow you to continue in business,” Mom told him, as smoke drifted from her nostrils. Both Demons backed up a step on hearing and seeing this.

“Okay!” both said in agreement before we transferred back home and returned to our Human forms.

Over the next three days, we, that is all of the Kavanaghs and the Sweeneys, considered various approaches and plans to the problem of Iran and its government. There were a lot of discussions, but no matter where we started from, we always seemed to wind up with the same conclusion. We would need to go to Iran and confront the Iranian leaders – civilian, military, and religious. They would need to be made to agree to our demands. This was followed by several more days of planning on exactly what we would do, and where we would go. We printed out a number of maps of Iran and some of its cities. Finally, we needed to visit the Major Demons again. They were not happy to see us again so soon.

“What is the problem, Dragon Queen?” the Silver Leader demanded when they appeared in the main hall of their area where we were waiting.

“There isn’t a problem,” Mom, as the Dragon Queen, told them, but she wasn’t happy with our reception. “We have decided what we will do in Iran and need to know if you can move us to the following places: number one is Tehran at night for a little use of major Magic overnight. Second is moving eight of us to the port city of Bandar Abbas also at night, but We will remain there for a day and a half at least,” she continued. The two Leaders looked at each other for a number of seconds before the Red Leader spoke.

“We need to consult with one of our Teams on the Tehran visit, but Bandar Abbas isn’t a problem. We have had many Teams working in and around there,” he told us before they left to consult with several of their followers. After a short time, they returned.

“We can arrange for you to meet a couple of Iranians who are less than happy with the current path that their country is on. They have transportation and can take you into Tehran,” Silver told us. We thanked them and told them that it would be a couple of days before we would need to go to Iran.

The following day, Mom alerted several of the local news broadcast stations and various other media outlets that she would have a major policy address the following day at Dragon Security’s main office.

Well before 10:00 the following morning, news trucks, vans, and satellite trucks began arriving outside the wards around our headquarters. They caused quite a traffic jam. As 10:00 o’clock approached, there were at least a dozen teams of reporters and their cameramen outside our wards waiting for the Dragon Queen to appear.

Mom, Dad, Steve, Keith, Jorani, and I appeared beside the building at 10:01. Dad dropped the perimeter wards temporally so the reporters and their cameramen could enter the area. It was a bright sunny day, but we had picked a spot that was shaded at that time of the day for the announcement. We had all also appeared in our Dragon forms at the twelve-foot-tall level. The reporters were all soon pushing and shoving each other to get the best position to ask their questions. Mom started once they had settled down some.

“Thank all of you for coming. I have an announcement first and will take a few questions following that,” she told them before starting.

“The Dragons have grown tired of the constant wrangling and fighting caused by those in charge in Iran. Therefore, WE, that is myself as Queen of the West and the Queen of the East, my Daughter-in-Law, will be traveling to Iran to meet with those in charge there in the city of Bandar Abbas in three days.

“WE fully expect the leaders of the civilian government, the military, and some senior religious leaders to be there to meet with us. This is not an invitation. This is a demand and it will be backed up with sufficient force to convince them to meet with us. WE are determined to set them on a new and more peaceful path at this meeting,” she finished. “Are there any questions?” she asked following that. Most of the reporters were just staring at her in stunned disbelief. One finally had a question.

“Do you actually think that you can convince them to alter their behavior? Many have tried previously,” he asked.

“Most definitely. WE can be very persuasive when we need to. We believe that they will agree to our proposals,” she told him.

“What type of persuasion will you be using?” another reporter asked.

“That will be between them and us. Others have no need to know,” Mom told him sharply before ending the news conference. Dad and the rest of us moved the reporters out after changing to twenty-five feet tall, and then restored the perimeter wards.

The story broke on the noontime news and was repeated all afternoon and all of that evening. The reaction of those in D.C. that afternoon was typical of what one could expect for a major catastrophe. The Secretary of State was so angry that he had trouble speaking to the reporters about it. You could actually see spittle flying out of his mouth as he ranted and raved about how the Dragon Queen had no business inserting herself into international negotiations, and that she was forbidden to go to Iran and to have any dealings with anyone there at all.

He also stated that he personally would see to it that she and those with her were not allowed to leave the country. Their passports would be revoked, and they would all be placed on the No Fly List with every airline and country in the world. “They will not go anywhere,” he told the reporters in a very positive voice. Later that evening, the President also appeared on a broadcast demanding that the Dragons cease and desist in their foray into international negations and politics. He, however, didn’t go as far as the Secretary of State had.

The following day, the Secretary of State, himself, arrived at Dobbins Airbase on a government plane to travel to the east side of Atlanta to personally confront the Dragon Queen. Traffic was disrupted all over the city for six hours. He and his six assistants and seven security guards arrived outside of the perimeter wards around our properties a bit after 1:00 PM that afternoon. On exiting their vehicles, the Secretary of State marched up to the wards and demanded, actually demanded!, to be admitted immediately.

Mom was busy with my youngest Sister, Deirdre, at the time and purposely let him wait ten minutes while she finished with her before going out to meet with him. She went in her Human form and carrying Deirdre with her. Dad and I trailed along behind her. Jorani, Chu, and our Daughters followed us.

The scene outside of our perimeter wards was indeed inspiring. We could tell that the sheriff had already detoured traffic around our properties, as the road was full of reporters, their cameramen, satellite trucks, and other news vehicles. There were many more reporters present than had been at Mom’s news conference.

Dad and I helped the Secretary of State and his minions through the wards, but left his security people outside along with all of the reporters. However, as Mom had told us, we didn’t use a Silence spell or silver the wards to prevent those present from seeing and hearing what occurred inside.

“How dare you even consider meddling in international negations. We are at a critical point in our negations at this time and your interference will ruin everything,” the Secretary screamed at Mom, as upset now as he had been yesterday.

“You little twerp. You and all of your limp dick, numb nut, change jiggling, heel rocking, pinstripe-suit-wearing predecessors have been negotiating with those in Iran for the past thirty years or more and have accomplished nothing. You have backed down and changed your demands plus given in to them on everything, and you chose to call that an accomplishment?” she demanded in a loud voice.

“WE are going to Iran, and they will listen to us and do what we want or else. WE will make them an offer they can’t refuse,” she added to a red-faced Secretary of State, sounding almost like Don Corleone in the Godfather. Just as she finished, Deirdre let a loud baby fart, and I was sure that she had also done something else in her diaper.

“You heard my Daughter’s opinion of you. Now get out of here and go back to D.C. and hide like you and your ilk usually do,” Mom told him with a smile before changing to her Dragon form at the forty-foot-tall level and breathing Dragon Fire over the top of their heads. Dad and I dropped the perimeter wards so they could exit, but no one was anxious to enter while they were down, as the Dragon Queen still looked angry thrashing her tail back and forth, and smoke was still drifting from her nostrils.

That was the last that we heard from the Secretary of State, but not from the media. Video of the meeting was played on all of the news and media outlets for the rest of that day and the next. Numerous talking heads gave their opinions on its content. We could have cared less about what they thought. Social media was full of comments also, as were many of the talk shows. Some people agreed with our approach while others didn’t. Their opinions didn’t affect us one way or the other.

That, of course, had been on Tuesday. That evening, Dad, Keith, Steve, and I transferred to the Major Demons area to arrange for our previously discussed trip to Tehran. There were three Major Demons waiting for us, and they all seemed very unhappy.

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“We’re missing out on shares of a lot of loot,” the one said in an unhappy voice.

“But look at what you will be doing,” Dad started. “WE are going to quarantine two of Tehran’s largest and most important Mosques. Can the others boast of doing anything like that?” he finished. The Demons appeared to be a bit happier after considering that. After checking on where we were going, they transferred us to someplace on the outskirts of Tehran. We were met there by two men who spoke broken English.

“These are Ali and Mohammad, They will take you to the two Mosques. They will need to be paid however,” the lead Demon told us. We were prepared for that and had Euros to give them.

“Where going?” asked the one calling himself Ali after being paid.

“We are going to the Shah Mosque, also now called the Imam Khomeini Mosque,” Dad told him indicating himself and Keith.

“You where?” the one calling himself Mohammad asked in even poorer English.

“We are going to the Sepahsalar Mosque also now called the Shahid Motahharl Mosque,” I told him indicating Steve and myself. Both men were shaking their heads.