Driving the Last Spike Ch. 01

(c) Edited by Penn Lady

This is a copyrighted work of fiction. All rights reserved.

*

Dakota drove down the snowy lane towards her new house, returning home from her shift at the library. The drifted snow to either side glittered brightly in the moon light. Classes had resumed following the Christmas break and the many new students starting the semester were in and out of the library assessing the resources. They were getting a jump studying for the semester, researching for early assignments, or just looking for something to read. It had been a long night, but soon she would be home.

As she arrived, Dakota reflected on the vast changes that had recently occurred in her life. Her new lover, Sebastian, was a dragon who until a few months past had been human. Their intertwined paths had been equal parts harrowing and beautiful, and for all the uncanniness that came with it she wouldn't trade a moment of the wonderment.

Pushing an errant lock of blond hair out of her face, she grabbed her backpack and turned off the engine. She exited the car and dashed into the utility room out of the cold and snow. Once there, she discarded her outerwear, kicked off her snow-covered boots, went into the kitchen and fished for a book in her backpack. She smiled as she sensed Sebastian at the back door.

The back door opened and Sebastian entered with a cold draft and a small sweep of snow as Dakota turned to face him. Her smile grew broader as she took in his human form. He wasn't much taller than she was, perhaps two inches above her five six. Where Dakota was athletic, his build was lithe and he moved with a graceful ease that reminded Dakota of his dragon form.

He closed the distance between them in a few steps and enfolded Dakota in a hug, the backpack momentarily forgotten.

"I've missed you," he said.

She embraced him in return. "I missed you too."

They stood in silence for several moments just enjoying each others presence. Then Dakota turned to her backpack.

"I've got something here I want to show you," she said. Removing a large hardcover book, she turned to Sebastian while flipping through the pages. "Here it is."

She moved the book close to Sebastian, her finger resting next to a figure in a photograph. "Who does that look like to you?"

Sebastian studied the photograph. It was on old black and white picture of a group of workers, mostly Asian, gathered around their tools. The figure Dakota indicated did look familiar. A tall, regal man with his long black hair tied into a braid and a scowl on his face.

"Qiang?" he asked, surprised.

"That's what I thought," Dakota responded, moving the book back in front of herself.

"What's the book about?"

"The building of the American railroad. An engineering student came in to the library today looking for reference material for a report he was working on about the human cost of engineering."

"The human cost?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, you know how many people died or were terribly injured in building things like the Brooklyn Bridge, the American railroad, or some of the high rise skyscrapers when they were first going up. Stuff like that."

"I guess I can see that. But what would Qiang be doing working for the railroad?"

Dakota shrugged, returning the book to her backpack. "I don't know, but I thought we might go ask tomorrow, before the restaurant opens."

"I guess it's worth a try, but he can be tight lipped about his past."

"Well, if he says no, he says no."

*******************

They arrived at the restaurant around ten in the morning, an hour before opening. Qiang was out sweeping new fallen snow from the sidewalk. He stopped his work as the car pulled up and waved to them as they got out. He returned to his work, his back to his visitors. A Cheshire cat grin spread across Sebastian's face as he gathered up some snow and packed it in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Dakota asked.

I'm going to throw a snowball at Qiang, he answered back mentally.

Dakota sighed and shook her head. "You want to die."

Sebastian let fly with his weapon. His aim was true, and the projectile was on what appeared to be the correct trajectory. Then in a burst of flame the snowball ceased to exist when it was about a foot away from Qiang.

"Oh, that is so not fair," Sebastian groused.

Qiang laid his broom against a low brick wall that formed a planter in front of the building.

"Perhaps," he conceded in an even, slightly amused tone as he gathered snow into his hands from the low wall. "But there are those who would say an unprovoked sneak attack is dishonorable and must be answered." He finished packing the snowball and turned to face Dakota and Sebastian. "The question now becomes, what will you do to avoid my attack." Before Sebastian could react Qiang made his return strike, hitting Sebastian square on.

"Absolutely nothing. What an interesting strategy."

Sebastian recovered quickly. "Of course you know, this means war."

Qiang raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding me, right?"

By way of reply, Sebastian began to gather more snow.

"As you wish." Qiang's tone held equal parts humor and warning as he gathered his arsenal.

Dakota took a step back, hoping not to be drawn, or impressed, into the coming battle. For all its intensity, the skirmish was short lived. Sebastian applied the tactics he learned in countless previous snow battles, but Qiang seemed to deduce his strategies rather quickly. Even so, amidst much advancing, retreating, and maneuvering, as well as copious amounts of snow exchanged by both sides, a decisive victory proved elusive.

During the exchange, however, Sebastian observed something he had never seen before. Qiang laughing. There had always been a wall between them. To Sebastian's sensibilities it was there to starkly define the differences between them. In that moment, Sebastian dared to hope there was a chance of opening a door through the wall. This more than anything made him reluctant to end the fight and so he pressed all the harder. But when a ill aimed snow ball went wide of its mark and nearly hit Dakota, both of them stopped to assess any damage.

Dakota peered around from the snow spattered book she held before her face.

"Is it safe? Are you two are done now?" Dakota asked.

"Yes," Qiang and Sebastian both replied, knocking snow off themselves.

"Nice block," Qiang added.

"Thanks." Dakota dusted the snow off the book. She handed it to Qiang, opening it to a marked page. He took it, a look of curiosity on his face.

"I was wondering if that was you, if you don't mind my asking."

Qiang looked at the book, his expression becoming wistful. "I have not seen this in many, many years," he said softly.

"So that is you?" Dakota asked.

Without looking from the book Qiang answered, "Yes. Yes it is. Good eye."

Sebastian cocked his head. "Why were you there?" he asked, trying to imagine Qiang as a workman.

Qiang closed the book and leaned against the planter wall. His look was distant, but not angry. It was reflective, and very similar to how Chang was when he thought of the past.

"And thereby hangs a tale." He was silent again for a moment, apparently considering something, before adding, "If you are interested in hearing it, come by after the restaurant closes tonight and I will tell you. Please let Chang know he is also welcome, if he's interested."

*********************

Later that night, at about eleven, Dakota pulled into the nearly deserted parking lot with Chang and Sebastian accompanying her. She paused for a moment after turning off the car.

"It's strange," she said. "Qiang seems like such a closed book."

"Hmm," Chang ruminated from the backseat. "Sometimes, even the most closed books want to be opened. I think his life is very isolated."

Dakota nodded as she opened her door. "I imagine it is."

Sebastian climbed out of the front passenger side door. "I think it's kind of cool, him talking to us."

"Oh, I agree. This isn't bad. Just strange."

Chang smiled and exited the car. "Let us hope it is the start of much good strangeness."

They crossed the parking lot and found the restaurant door unlocked. Entering, they were greeted by Qiang and Mingzhu as they rose from a table. Qiang smiled graciously while Mingzhu grinned.

"I'm glad you were able to make it," he said as he went to lock the doors. "Please, come with me."

Qiang led his guests through the restaurant to the kitchen, then to his office. He paused at the abstract flame-like tapestry at the far wall. He brushed his hand across it and it flared into living flame.

Dakota and Chang had both witnessed this before. Sebastian had not. He inhaled sharply and took a step back, surprised and deeply impressed with the display of magic. As the flame parted showing some sort of space beyond, Qiang bowed indicating with his free hand that they should enter.

Dakota slipped her arm around Sebastian's, leading him in.

"So this is what you were telling me about?" he asked as they crossed the threshold.

"Yes." Dakota nodded.

"Wow," Sebastian whispered as his gaze traveled the space.

"Tell me about it."

Sebastian nodded absently as seemingly endless impressions assaulted his senses. Flickering fire light was the only light source in the room, casting odd shadows on the walls, furniture, and scattered throw pillows. The smells of the place were rich and hard to define. The heat, generated by several burning braziers, was stifling. Especially when compared the to winter river he'd been more accustomed to. The thing that struck Sebastian most strongly, though, was the overwhelming sense of Qiang that pervaded the space. He found it intimidating. His body involuntarily clenched around his pearl and he became aware of a growing need to shift crawling up his spine.

Dakota pressed in close. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Sebastian shook his head, unsure of how to describe what he was experiencing. Then Qiang was beside him.

"You are a welcome guest here. Be at ease," he said softly.

Sebastian startled, then nodded. Though he felt strangely relieved at the words, he was still agitated. Qiang took a step back and gestured to Dakota to follow him.

"Shift, if that will make you more comfortable."

Sebastian nodded. "I think that will, thank you," he said as he released the human form with a sigh. The blue dragon he became settled, trembling, among the pillows. Instinctively, he reached out for the river and was comforted by its shifting presence. A few deep breaths restored his equilibrium. He looked up to see the others watching him. Dakota with concern, Qiang with uncertainty, and Chang with calm patience.

"Um, sorry," he said sheepishly looking down. "I don't know what that was all about."

Chang walked over to Sebastian with a reassuring smile. "You are in the lair of an occasional rival. That there would be some discomfiture is not surprising. I was hoping there might not be, but it was not as bad as it could have been." He drew his hand down Sebastian's snout in a gesture of comfort, then walked past him to assume his dragon form behind Sebastian. His enormous length coiled effortlessly around the space, a glittering inky blackness in the shadows.

Qiang assumed his dragon form. Resplendent red and gold scales reflected the dancing firelight as he arranged himself. His neck was arched elegantly. He waited for Mingzhu and Dakota to make themselves comfortable against himself and Sebastian respectively, then started.

"I suppose the most pertinent place to begin is to say the end of my fledgling years corresponded to the end of the second Opium War."

Chang made a sound of surprise. Sebastian and Dakota turned to look at him.

"I should have seen that, given your age," he said, thoughtful. "I'm sorry I did not."

Qiang shook his head. "It doesn't really matter, not anymore."

"I think it might."

Sebastian looked between them, loath to admit his ignorance. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment's hesitation. "But what are the Opium Wars? I mean, I've heard the term but I really don't know anything about them."

"Of course you don't," Qiang quipped, with humor in his tone. Then he became serious. "The Opium Wars were two conflicts between China and England about the import and sale of opium to the Chinese."

When Qiang didn't continue, Chang added, "That was part of it."

"Oh? What would you add?" Qiang asked, curious.

Chang paused a moment in thought. "I will say unequivocally that opium was a bane to the Chinese people and the English government the aggressor both in its proliferation and the Opium Wars themselves. However, it is also possible for both sides of a conflict to be equally wrong. The meeting of East and West could have been,should have been, an unprecedented opportunity for learning and growth." Chang's expression became one of disdain, a look he rarely wore. "Both sides squandered it egregiously."

Qiang nodded, his expression distant. "I can't say that isn't a fair assessment, though for the actual wars, I was still a fledgling and knew little about the details of the conflict. As I said, my fledgling years ended in 1860, the same year as the Opium Wars. One of the...terms of the treaty gave British ships the right to transport Chinese indentured servants to America for work on the American Railroad."

"You weren't an indentured servant," Sebastian stated.

"No, but a friend of mine was. His name was Fai, and he had no idea as to my true nature..."

**********

Fai waited for his friend Qiang by a moon gate bathed in the late morning sun. The gate and its gardens were some of the few things left standing following the Taiping rebellion. As much as he was heartsick at what was to come in his life, at least he would no longer have to see the devastation of his homeland. As he listened to the gentle splash of water made by the fountains, he thought about his friend.

He had known Qiang for a few years and still knew precious little about him. He had many times told himself the next time he saw Qiang he would ask the myriad of questions he had. What was his family name, what village was he from? What prefecture, what province? But whenever they were together it seemed these questions would just leave his mind and not reoccur until well after they separated again. Fai's family did not trust this strange man, thinking he must be a bandit or some other form of outlaw to not reveal such information. Fai did not think so, however, and simply stopped mentioning his visits once he became an adult.

Fai leaned against the moon gate wall. It seemed strange that he would soon be revealing dark family news to a man he knew both so well and so little, but his heart was heavy with it and he needed some sort of solace. In truth, Qiang was one of the few friends he had and was the one he trusted the most.

He had arrived early for their meeting and was surprised when Qiang showed up but a short time after Fai himself had arrived. Qiang shouted out a happy greeting as he came over, then saw the look Fai wore.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

Fai sighed. "I'm going to America to do work," he responded, looking away.

"America?" Qiang asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Yes," Fai replied with a shrug, turning back. "My father incurred a gambling dept and this is how he has to pay it off. The farm is in ruins and can no longer provide income. There's really not much to be done for it."

"When are you leaving?"

"Two days time. I have some business I need to finish this afternoon, but maybe we can have a drink tonight? Tomorrow night I want to spend with my family before I leave that morning."

"Certainly," Qiang answered, though his mind was already elsewhere. "I'll even buy."

Qiang stood his ground, the austere beauty of the mountain side all around him. There was a thick forest around him, the ancient trees reaching endlessly for the sky and digging deeply into the earth. The sky, where it could be seen, was deep azure blue, the air clean and just the slightest bit cool.

However, the beauty of the spirit world was lost on him in that moment. His twenty-five foot length was tense, with claws dug deep into the ground of the plateau. Red scales and gold underscales crackled with his barely contained anger. His similarly colored mane shifted in the heat that was rising off him, waving about his antlers.

The object of his stand off, his elder Zongxian, stood equally unmovable. The much greater length melded neatly with the surroundings. His immense coils were scaled with dark green making the gold highlights stand out, the underscales were likewise gold, and in places rested within the ground. In contrast, his mane hung neatly about his face and antlers. He appeared almost impassive, but Qiang knew better and lashed his tail about in agitation. His elder was not impassive, merely too long attached to his mountain.

Zongxian regarded his impetuous youngling with a sigh. "Why is it always the fire-bound ones that give me such trouble? At least a water-dragon or earth-dragon will find a place and settle. Even an air-dragon settles the sky over a particular region. But a fire dragon? Off you go, everywhere. And you want to go to America, of all places." Zongxian shook his head and the end of his rant. Then, he set out to convince his youngling to stay.

"Look, it seems this is the business of his family, not the concern of Heaven."

"It's not right he has to go to some foreign land due to the behavior of his parent. He has committed no wrong and accrued no debt. Why isn't it the concern of Heaven that someone is being misused?"

"It's not so simple as that," Zongxian explained. "Their dynamics are theirs to create and implement. That is free will. Your friend is perfectly able to refuse and go his own way. Heaven would not interfere in that either."

"But he would never do that."

"And that is his choice."

"It's not right."

"Perhaps not, but it is their way. What would you have Heaven do? Negate free will when the outcome displeases us? Or you? Then what is its point?"

Qiang looked away, his proud snout curled into a snarl. Once again, Zongxian reflected on the difficulty of the fire-bound.

"You feel everything with such intensity, Qiang, and that is becoming a most distressing fact. It seems the concerns of the moment forever eclipse your ability to consider the concerns of tomorrow, or even the next moment. Clearly, the long view eludes you." Zongxian could not hide his frustration, nor did Qiang think he tried to.

Zongxian sighed as he weighed his options. Dragons were rare, only becoming more so in these later years. There were only three other fledglings hatched in the same cycle as Qiang, and he was the strongest by far. Even now, barely out of his fledgling period, Zongxian could see the power dancing just under the surface. Waiting to burst out like a wild fire. He was loathe to let him leave.

However, free will also applied to dragons and Qiang could go with or without Zongxian's blessing, or even his permission. To judge from what the elder dragon could tell, the younger might do just that. At least if Zongxian took control of the endeavor he could hope to partially direct Qiang's actions.

"It would seem you are set on this course. So be it. You can't interfere with their decisions, but you may accompany this mortal and see to his safety. However, you are not to reveal your nature."

Qiang's hopeful look curdled at the last condition. "If I'm not to reveal my nature, what would you have me do?"

Zongxian shrugged expansively. "Join as another worker." At Qiang's look of disgust Zongxian added, "If he's that important, that is what you must do."