The Golden Back Scratcher
Part 3 - The Silver Bridle
“Heads’ up, gang! Shen-Gong-Wu alert!” Dojo yelled, slithering his way out into the courtyard where the young monks were practicing their Wudai skills.
He unfurled the Sacred Scroll to reveal the image of a bridle, like that a horse would wear, as the kids all gathered around.
“The sister Shen-Gong-Wu to the Crystal Dragon has revealed itself!” Dojo exclaimed. “The Silver Bridle – it enables anyone who uses it to tame and ride any wild beast it’s put onto, but it especially comes in handy for use on the Crystal Dragon.”
“Whooo-eee! That’d sure come in handy on some broncos back home ah know!” Clay said with a grin.
“Bronco?” Omi asked, curious.
“Uh… a wild horse; not tamed to carry riders,” Clay explained.
“Ah!” said Omi with a grin. “Yet another beast to master – like that of the Milk Cow!”
The others laughed while Clay muttered, “Not quite like, pardner.”
“Yeah, well—“ Dojo started to say, but the earth abruptly went berserk.
“Wh-what’s going on?” shouted Raimundo, wind-milling to keep his balance.
“Earthquake!” Kimiko shouted back.
“Clay! This is your element!” cried Omi, who then dodged to the side as parts of the temple began falling around them.
“Right!” the cowboy agreed. “Ah just have no idea how ah’m supposed t’ stop an earthquake!”
The point was moot as the quake ceased only a few moments later.
“Whoa… that was weird,” grumbled Kimiko. She looked around at the debris lying around the courtyard and winced, knowing she and her fellow teammates would be expected to clean it up. Then she gasped as she spotted—
“Dojo!”
The boys turned at her cry and followed her line of gaze. Lying nearby, with a chunk of stone close to his head, was Dojo.
The monks scrambled over to their friend and Kimiko gently slid her hands under Dojo’s head and lifted him up a bit. His eyes were closed and his tongue was lolling out the side of his mouth.
“Dojo!” said Omi worriedly. “Dojo, are you alright?”
Dojo mumbled and his head wagged from side to side very slowly.
Clay reached around and fingered the bump on the back of Dojo’s head. “Yeah, looks like he got knocked a good one, there.”
“Now what do we do?” Raimundo groaned.
“S-Sorry, guys,” Dojo stammered, opening his eyes slightly. “Best I can tell you… it’s somewhere in Montana.”
“Is that the state of Montana in the USA?” asked Clay. “Or Montana Province in Bulgaria?”
The others looked at him incredulously.
“What? A cowboy cain’t know anythin’ about geography?” he muttered defensively.
“The first one,” Dojo said, lifting one paw to rub lightly at his severely aching head.
“Alright, then – we know it’s the Silver Bridle; we just look for anything related to horses, most likely,” opined Raimundo.
“Pardner, Montana’s got a lot of horse ranches.”
“It’s better than nothing,” said Kimiko. “I’ll go put Dojo on his pillow and tell Master Fung where we’re going.”
“How’ll we get there without Dojo?” asked Raimundo with a scowl.
“With the Silver Manta Ray!” exclaimed Omi, who stood straight from the crouch he’d been in – gaining perhaps an inch in height.
“This’ gonna take forever!” Raimundo grouched.
Omi shook his head. “I have a feeling that if we search for Chase Young and Jack Spicer, we will locate the Silver Bridle.”
The others said nothing; they knew Omi was most likely correct.
~*~*~*~
Jack looked up at the arrival of the Silver Manta Ray, watching it land smoothly but gently on the ground twenty feet away.
Not a moment later, Chase Young flashed into existence kitty-corner to Jack and the Xiaolin Monks.
“And so we meet again,” drawled Chase as the monks ran over to face the two villains.
“Talk about your bad pennies,” Jack snarked, shaking his head. “I notice that yet again, Wuya isn’t with you. I never would have thought her to be content with the role of a housewife.”
“She has no choice, as I do not wish her to be the one in control of the Crystal Dragon,” replied Chase. “It’s better for me to have it in any case; you’re number one on Wuya’s hit parade, Spicer.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about,” groused Raimundo suddenly. “Chase Young is, what, a thousand years old? If an old geezer like him can learn slang and use it properly, there has to be hope for you, Omi!”
“Your silly little opinion has been noted, Raimundo,” Omi growled.
“Hmph,” Raimundo grunted, folding his arms across his chest.
Jack looked at Chase and jerked his thumb towards the monks. “Lover’s spat?”
Chase grimaced. “Don’t go there, Spicer.”
“For real,” Kimiko agreed, her tone saying she was grossed out.
“Whatever – you know the routine by now,” Jack sneered.
“Yeah, yeah… you mouth off, saying you’re not gonna let any of us win; Chase taunts you; we beat you up, and you lose anyway,” Raimundo said with a smirk.
Jack bared his teeth in a growl. Before he could do anything, however, a new voice interrupted.
“What’re y’all doin’ out here?”
Everyone turned to see a tall, lean, grizzled looking man in dusty denims, a plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat. His full mustache was salt-and-pepper colored, and his tanned face spoke of a lifetime spent in hard work outdoors. Standing behind him was a bunch of men dressed similarly with the same rugged hard-labor look.
“Uhhh… hello, honorable stranger!” Omi said with a huge smile. “Myself and my three friends are monks from the Xiaolin Temple! You… um… have a very pretty ranch…?”
The ranch hand gave the strange yellow boy a jaundiced glance, but said nevertheless, “Well, thank you, I reckon. But that doesn’t explain what y’all are doin’ out here by our stable, or who these two are.”
“Beggin’ your pardon, sir,” said Clay, stepping forward with a touch to his hat’s brim. “But we’re the Good Guys in this li’l scenario; these two’re fixin’ to steal somethin’ from ya, and if you’d be obliged t’ hear us out—“
Jack decided they’d all wasted enough time already. He had other things more important to take care of than standing around chatting with a bunch of hicks.
He twisted his left wrist so he could see the panel on the device he was wearing on his wrist and pressed a button. A moment later, the air car he’d used to get to Montana turned, moving on autopilot, and began firing lasers in the general direction of the monks and Chase; Jack figuring those five people to be the tougher targets. Then he ran in the direction of the nearby stable, intent on locating the Silver Bridle while the others leaped out of the way, with the ranch hands doing most of the yelling.
Jack had just made it to the stable doors when he heard a tremendous crash and the sound of severely distressed metal. He looked back to see his air car lying in a smoldering, crunched-up wreck, with Clay standing close to it, smirking happily.
“Oh, man – you are so getting a bill for that!” Jack shouted, and then bolted into the stable, upsetting the horses inside.
Looking around, he searched the walls that held horse care and riding equipment. He didn’t spot anything except plain brown and black leather bridles; however, when he turned around, frantically looking, he spotted a gleam from the far end of the stable, near one of the horse stalls, and ran quickly in that direction.
To his relief, hanging outside the stall of a large, impressive looking black horse, was quite obviously the Silver Bridle.
“Hey! You get on away from Gitana!” a voice bellowed from behind him, and he heard the pounding thud of several boots racing after him.
Reaching out, Jack grabbed hold of the Shen-Gong-Wu.
Unfortunately, Omi’s hand darted in and caught it as well.
Jack growled again and turned to face the little yellow monk, who was perched atop the gate of the horse stall and glowering fiercely at him. Everyone else who’d run in after them halted to the side to watch the goings-on.
“Jack Spicer! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!” Omi said firmly.
“A whobie-whatta?” asked one of the ranch hands, but he was shushed.
“Name your game, Baldilocks,” Jack shot back.
Omi’s eyes narrowed angrily and a few feet away, Jack heard Clay mutter, “Oooo-whee! The boy sure do like t’ live dangerously!”
“The game, pale-face, is a horse race across the field; my Tongue of Saiping against your Silk Spinner. First to reach the Silver Bridle wins,” Omi said decisively.
“Y’know, as a comeback, ‘pale-face’ is somewhat lacking in landing a critical blow,” Jack commented with a wicked grin.
“Do you accept the challenge or not?!” yelled Omi, his voice going high in his agitation.
“But I don’t do saddles!” Jack grumbled. “Me and horses don’t mix!”
“Sissy city boy!” sneered one of the ranch hands, though he had no idea what was going on.
Jack stuck his tongue out at the man and turned his attention back to Omi.
“Then you forfeit?” Omi asked, pleased.
Jack chewed on his lower lip as he thought about it. Then his gaze landed on the calmly waiting Chase Young, and an idea came to him.
Smiling, he said, “Chase, the favor I ask of you is to take my place in the Xiaolin Showdown challenge issued by Omi.”
Chase, feeling the magic of the Golden Back Scratcher ripple through him, nodded his head briefly and stepped forward to take hold of the Silver Bridle while Jack let go and backed away after handing over the Silk Spinner to Chase.
“Boy, I don’t know what all is going on—“ said the rancher who’d spoken to them all outside began, but was interrupted as Chase began speaking.
“On Jack Spicer’s behalf, little one, I accept your challenge,” Chase said, grinning wickedly at Omi.
Omi dearly wanted to smack the grin off of the man’s face, but decided that winning the challenge came first; serving up a dish of score-settling in Chase Young’s face could be dealt with after. Nodding his head, Omi agreed.
Together, the two of them yelled: “Let’s go – Xiaolin Showdown!”
Xiaolin magic spread outward from the Silver Bridle, radically rearranging the local geography. By the time the showdown arena had finished setting itself up, everyone not actively in the race was seated atop fence rails outside, where they could get a clear view of the two contestants.
“What in the ding-dong blue blazes?” yelled one of the ranch hands, while the others were shouting their own things.
Earth, Wind, and Fire turned to the ranchers, getting them to calm down as they explained what was going on.
Chase and Omi were each seated atop a horse; neither horse was adorned in a saddle or bridle. Omi looked almost comical, as tiny as he was, seated almost on his horse’s neck – practically the only place for him to sit that was truly comfortable. Chase, on the other hand, looked dashing and imposing atop his strong, steady mount – the black horse that had been in the stall the Silver Bridle had been hanging up outside of.
“Gong Yi Tampai!” they both yelled, and with that, Chase gave a kick to Gitana’s flanks with his heels and the big black horse bolted with a shrill neigh.
Omi pulled out his Shen-Gong-Wu and said, “Horse! Hello-my-name-is-Omi-please-we-are-in-a-r
The
horse neighed back, but thanks to Shen-Gong-Wu, her reply was easily
understood. “Alright, then! But you’d best hang on tight, Omi! And my
name’s Ruth!”
Omi had barely clenched his hands tightly in the
mare’s mane before she abruptly took off running, hell bent on catching
up with the other horse.
Omi yelled as he found himself
stretched out over the mare’s neck and shoulders; the speed of Ruth’s
run so fast that he was literally flying along behind her.
The
Xiaolin monks – in their blue magical armor – pumped their fists and
yelled encouragement as Omi went streaking past them. The ranch hands
cheered him on as well, figuring that they might as well root for the
little guy than the bad one. Jack, on another section of railing, was
yelling after Chase, who was farther ahead, also shouting encouragement.
Gitana
and Ruth raced across the field, nimbly dodging sudden gopher holes
that opened up in front of them. Several times, Omi used the Tongue of
Saiping to yell encouragement to Ruth, while Chase never once made use
of the Silk Spinner, confident in his ability to handle Gitana.
The
race was close, and despite the fact that Ruth wasn’t weighted down by
her rider, Chase still won by a nose; triumphantly snagging the Silver
Bridle out of the air a moment before Omi leaped from Ruth’s back in an
attempt to catch the Shen-Gong-Wu.
The field shrank itself back
down to normal size and Chase and Omi cantered back to the waiting
group on their horses. Omi, predictably enough, was pouting slightly,
while Chase looked like satisfaction personified.
Pulling Gitana to a gentle stop, Chase gracefully dismounted and walked over to Jack, the Silver Bridle securely in his grasp.
“Well,
guess that means I’ve got some explainin’ to do to the Boss,” grumbled
the lead ranch hand. “She’s gonna wonder where the antique bridle went
to.”
“Not our problem,” taunted Jack with a huge smirk. “We won it fair and square.”
Grinning,
Jack reached out with his pale hands, but before he could touch the
Silver Bridle, Chase said politely, "Jack... may I have a word with you
in private?"
Confused, and a bit worried, Jack nonetheless
shrugged and replied, "Sure, I guess; it's the least I can do since you
won me the Silver Bridle."
While the monks conversed in low
tones – Earth, Wind, and Fire doing their best to cheer up Water – Jack
followed Chase into the nearby feed barn.
"What's—“ Jack started
to ask. He never finished the sentence as, a flashing second later, he
found himself slammed face first into a tall stack of hay bales and
pressed tightly against it, while at the same time his right arm was
caught and twisted painfully high up between his shoulder blades.
Struggling,
Jack screamed in pain and demanded that Chase let go of him. For his
efforts, the hand on the back of his head pushed harder, and Jack found
himself severely lacking air.
“What all’s going—“ said the ranch hand with salt-and-pepper hair, beginning to enter the stable.
Chase flicked two fingers and the doors slammed shut, locking everyone out.
"Listen to me," Chase growled in Jack’s ear a moment later. "You invoked a Favor to have me win the race for you, but nothing was ever said about keeping my hands – or feet – off of you. I wish to make a deal with you, Spicer; if you're agreeable to this idea, nod once."
Jack,
fast running out of air, quickly nodded and felt Chase's hand leave his
head, though he still had Jack’s arm in a tight grip. He flung his head
back, pulling his face free from the scratchy hay, and gulped air
wildly. When he'd calmed, Chase began speaking.
"Here's the deal, Jack: You freely and willingly hand over the Silver Bridle to me, and I promise not to damage you any further. In fact, I will allow you to ride home with me without complaint."
Jack blinked. "Ride home...? But don't you telep-AHH!"
Chase
pulled Jack's arm a fraction of an inch higher, feeling the strain in
the young muscle and bone. "Not this time. Now, do we have a deal or
not?"
"I c-could always use a F-Favor," Jack stammered through the pain.
"Providing
you're conscious to say the words. I can always knock you out and take
the Bridle from you; as I did when I took the Crystal Dragon from
Pedrosa."
Jack trembled wildly, thinking, trying to find some
way of getting out of his current predicament. He gasped and whimpered
when Chase pulled his arm just a tiny bit higher, and fresh pain burst
across his nerves.
"Jack," Chase murmured against his ear, "I'll
sweeten the pot by adding that I'll heal the damage done to your arm
and shoulder immediately upon agreement. What do you say?"
"If I say 'no'...?" Jack gritted, tears spilling from his eyes and tracking down his cheeks in quicksilver trails.
"Then I hurt you, enjoy it, and end up taking the Silver Bridle anyway."
"As
if you aren't enjoying it now," the youth muttered despairingly,
wondering what would be the first to give: his arm or his... emotions.
"Spicer—“
"Fine! Alright! You win! Take the damned thing!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs, desperate for the pain to stop.
Immediately,
Chase let go of his arm, and Jack nearly passed out in relief. He was
caught around the waist and turned so that he could lean back against
the hay bale stack; moments later, Chase's hands – encased in a magical
black glow – ran slowly from his shoulder to his fingertips. In the
wake of his hands' passage, the pain faded away as if it had never been.
Jack
flexed his arm experimentally and was relieved to feel no pain. He gave
Chase a shrewd look and said, "This isn't a quick fix, is it? Am I
going to have to take care of this again later?"
"You should have ascertained that fact before agreeing," Chase said with a smirk.
Jack groaned and closed his eyes.
"No,
Spicer – I healed you, permanently. Now, let's get going; it is several
hours' flight from here to China, even on the Crystal Dragon."
Jack's eyes snapped open wide. "You brought the Crystal Dragon?"
Chase's grin was wide and wicked. "I had no intention of losing the Silver Bridle to any of you."
"Dude... you have major cojones," Jack said, his tone a mixture of awe and resentment.
"Of course I do; how else do you think I've managed to come so far?"
Jack
wanted to be flippant and say something along the lines of "Dragon
Juice", but decided he'd been slapped around enough for one day.
"Follow me," said Chase, and he led the way out of the feed barn through the now open doors.
The
monks were waiting in front of the Silver Manta Ray, staring stonily at
the two villains as they emerged from the barn. The ranch hands were a
little ways off, muttering amongst each other about the goings on.
Raimundo took one look at Jack and smirked as he asked, "Dude, what happened to your face?"
Jack
blinked and then brought a hand up to run over his face. He could feel
the pock-marks indenting his flesh; caused by the several strands of
stiff hay that had been shoved into his skin when he'd been shoved into
the hay. He gave Chase a dirty look; Chase merely shrugged and subtly
stroked his own right arm while raising an eyebrow.
Jack understood; Chase had offered to heal his arm – he'd said nothing about taking care of his face.
"None of your business is what it is!" Jack shot back.
"Whatever," Raimundo snickered.
"We'll be off now," said Chase pleasantly, his expression set on 'smug'. "Thank you for the exercise, Omi."
Omi scowled at him and did not reply.
"Come, Jack," Chase said, and walked several feet away from the monks and their vehicle.
Jack
followed Chase and watched as the man held up the new Shen-Gong-Wu and
called out, "Silver Bridle!" The Bridle glowed briefly and then, a
moment later, Chase removed the Crystal Dragon from his left arm guard
and threw it up into the air, calling its name.
In a burst of
light, the Crystal Dragon grew to a much larger size as it came to
life, roaring, with the Silver Bridle merging to wrap around its' head.
It shuddered, roaring, beating its' massive crystalline wings, and then
stilled and looked expectantly at Chase.
"No way!" "He had it
the whole time!" "This was planned!" "Aw, man!" came the cries from the
Xiaolin monks at the sight of the crystal European dragon.
The ranch hands had something a lot less polite to say about the sudden appearance of a giant crystal dragon on their ranch.
"Get aboard, Spicer," Chase snapped, and he turned to face the monks, who were running towards them.
"But—“
Jack started to argue, only to find himself caught by the collar of his
jacket and literally thrown onto the Crystal Dragon's back where its'
neck merged with its' shoulders.
The massive beast twitched
restlessly beneath him and he patted it nervously as he stammered,
"N-nice dragon! Please, don't hurt me! Chase put me up here!"
The
Crystal Dragon huffed, but made no move to either buck him off or eat
him, so Jack decided he could chance watching what was going on between
Chase and the monks.
"The Crystal Dragon is now in my control," Chase told the four irritated teenagers. "Jack gave me the Silver Bridle, freely and willingly."
"I somehow doubt that, if the screaming we heard – and Jack Spicer's face – is any indication!" spat Omi.
"For
all you know, it could be a bad case of acne," sneered Chase, ignoring
the outraged "HEY!" from behind him. "Suffice it to say, both
Shen-Gong-Wu are now mine to use. If you're lucky, I'll wait at least a
week before I turn it upon you."
With that, Chase crouched and
then leaped high in the air, using his momentum to pull himself
backwards in a flip and turn simultaneously so that he landed neatly
behind Jack.
Wrapping his left arm around Jack's waist, he
caught the reins of the Silver Bridle in his right hand. Flicking the
reins, he gave the order, and the Crystal Dragon launched itself and
its' riders into the clear blue Montana sky, leaving the monks behind
to explain the dragon to the stunned ranchers.
Chase directed
the Crystal Dragon westward across the United States, heading home for
China. After several minutes of flying, he noticed that Jack was
sitting rigidly against him; apparently afraid of moving an inch in any
direction. Leaning forward slightly, he put his mouth close to Jack’s
ear and said, “Relax, Spicer – I won’t let you fall.”
“Evil Ev-Everlord,” Jack stammered out, not relaxing a bit. In fact, when Chase started to lean forward, pressing him
forward by doing so, he lashed out and clenched his left hand onto
Chase’s left thigh, while his right hand came to scrabble against and
then hook into Chase’s left arm guard.
Chase chuckled darkly.
“True, but in this instance, I have no desire to fling you off of the
Crystal Dragon. As it is, don’t you fly around in your machines?”
“That’s different,” Jack argued. “I’m the one in control!”
“Well, you’re not in control now – I am. And I always keep my word.”
“But—“
“Jack,” growled Chase into the youth’s ear, feeling Jack shiver against him. “I want you to trust me and relax. Close your eyes and give in to the freedom of unfettered flight rarely experienced by humans.”
Jack
sighed. It was such a simple request, and Chase was correct – the man
always kept his word, even when it displeased him to do so. Figuring he
had nothing else to lose, Jack sighed again and then closed his eyes.
Chase
knew Jack had closed his eyes when he felt the youth pressing back
against him a bit harder. Smirking, he murmured into Jack’s ear, “Very
good, Spicer. You know I’m not going anywhere; you can feel me – my
chest to your back, my groin to your hips, my thighs alongside yours.
Trust that I’m here and that I won’t let you fall.”
Jack did the
best he could to relax, though he was very aware of Chase’s body so
close to his own. He could feel the power of the Crystal Dragon
thrumming beneath him and he could feel the cool wind and the warm sun
as they sped along.
Chase smiled, pleased when Jack slowly
relaxed against him, although Spicer didn’t remove his hand from his
leg. Chase decided to let that minor nit-pick go; considering how
nerved up the boy was about letting someone else be in control of the
flight, he should be thankful that all Jack had grabbed was his thigh.
The
two of them stayed silent as the Crystal Dragon flew on, eventually
passing over the coastline shared by California and Oregon, and out
over the Pacific ocean. Chase glanced over the Crystal Dragon’s side to
look down into the deep blue water, saw a few sharks, and decided not
to mention it to Jack. He was reasonably certain the youth would
shriek, and he wasn’t at all anxious to test the theory that Spicer’s
high-pitched yells might be enough to shatter the Crystal Dragon.
Several
miles out to sea, Chase felt Jack go limp against him; saw the
garishly-colored red head slump forward, felt Jack’s hand release his
arm guard, and realized that the youth had fallen asleep. Chase smirked
and left Jack alone, figuring it was better this way; much easier on
both of them.
It wasn’t until they arrived off the coast of mainland China that Chase got a wicked idea and gave in to the urge.
Rather
than wake Jack immediately, he slowly slid his left hand downwards
while he nuzzled his face past Jack’s collar to rest his lips against
the youth’s pale, slim neck. He teased Jack’s neck with deft brushes of
his lips over the smooth skin, interrupting with soft nibbles and
gentle licks here and there – nothing ever hard enough that would wake
Jack up.
While his mouth was busy, Chase’s hand reached between
Jack’s widely spread legs and cupped the bulge of the still soft cock
through the material of Jack’s leather trousers. He rubbed and pressed
and stroked gently; still working carefully to keep the youth from
waking up. He was rewarded for his efforts as Jack’s cock began to
harden, lengthening against the inner left thigh.
Jack moaned
softly in his sleep, shifting restlessly. Chase paused, and then
resumed his activities when it became obvious that Jack would stay
asleep. He lightly stroked his gloved fingertips up and down the length
of Jack’s erection and continued to tease the supple, warm neck with
his mouth.
Several moments later, when Jack had begun moaning
steadily in his sleep, Chase grinned and put his mouth to the youth’s
ear. As he pressed down a bit harder and stroked the length of the
shaft, Chase drawled in his sexiest tone: “Jack…”
Jack whimpered and came in his pants without ever once waking up.
Chase,
feeling the hard cock pulsing fiercely beneath his fingertips, smiled
and settled his hand back around Jack’s waist and left off teasing the
pale, soft neck.
Several minutes later, the Spicer estate came into view as the Crystal Dragon flew towards it.
“Jack!” Chase barked, his tone sharp and cold. “Wake up, Spicer!”
Jack
snorted awake and looked around blearily. As he struggled to sit
upright, he became aware of a discomforting sensation in his trousers,
and he blinked his gummy eyes; rubbing them to get rid of the gritty
feeling as he came further awake. A moment later, he flushed bright red
with mortification as he realized what he’d done while he’d been asleep.
Chase,
who’d tilted his head so he could get a good enough view, saw the
bright red color spreading across Jack’s frost white cheek, and smirked
wickedly.
The Crystal Dragon, under Chase’s direction, slowed as
it entered the Spicer estate; eventually lowering slowly down on steady
wings to land gently on bright green grass several yards away from the
mansion.
“Well, I certainly hope you enjoyed your nap,” Chase teased sarcastically.
“S-sorry,” Jack muttered. “Had no idea I was this tired.”
“Honestly,
Spicer – I’m beginning to think I ought to keep you just to save you
from yourself,” said the evil everlord in exasperation. “How are you
going to take over the world if you’re dropping from exhaustion every
two hours?”
Jack, feeling ashamed and ridiculous and small,
shrugged and began to move in preparation for dismount, hoping beyond
hope that Chase hadn’t noticed anything… unusual.
Chase
gallantly offered his left arm to Jack and helped the youth bring his
right leg over the Crystal Dragon’s neck, and watched as Jack slid to
the ground, landing on unsteady feet.
Jack tottered a few feet
away from the dragon and turned to look up at Chase. His heart felt
tight as he looked up at the elegant and commanding figure seated so
confidently atop the crystal Shen-Gong-Wu.
“Thanks for the ride home,” he said, embarrassed when his voice cracked slightly while speaking.
Chase
arched an eyebrow and said, “Don’t expect me to make a habit of this.
And recall that you now have only three Favors left; choose wisely when
you decide to make use of them, Spicer.”
Jack scowled, but
rather than hash out the same old tune again, he merely turned on his
heel and stalked away towards his house, grimacing at the cool, slick
mess running down his leg.
Chase watched him go, noticing the
stiff gait, and snickered meanly to himself. Then, with a flick of the
reins of the Silver Bridle, he directed the Crystal Dragon to fly
upwards into the air and away towards his home.