Half-Dragon Solis, Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two - New Plan

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"Uh," Felix hedged, "Sorry, Mr. Charman, but why am I here? I'm not an operative or anything…"

"I am aware of that," Charman replied. "I won't ask you to do anything dangerous, Felix. You're free to walk away anytime you want. I just need your help for something. It's about Half-Dragon Locras."

"Jason?" Elise asked, leaning forward. "Are we going after him now?"

Charman nodded. "Rescuing our captured people was our priority, but now that most of them are back, we have to look at the bigger picture. If you'll remember, Jason was being hunted by Half-Dragon Black because of something Jason had seen, some kind of compromising information. That information could be very helpful for us, if Jason has managed to avoid being killed by agents thus far."

"He's a pretty resourceful kid," Elise noted grudgingly. "Plus, you have to remember that Half-Dragon Black is basically from before the dark ages. He won't be great at tracking someone inside a city."

"We can't say the same for his agents, though," Charman noted. "Jason could be in real danger, or already dead."

Felix was looking ill. "Sorry, Mr. Charman, but why do you need me?" he asked.

Charman looked up at him (the height difference was almost comically staggering), and his harsh expression softened a bit. "I'm sorry to drag you into it, Felix. The fact of the matter is, you knew Jason better than anyone else in this organization. We could use your insight."

"I... I guess," Felix hedged. "It's been a long time, though. I don't even know what he's like now."

"The only thing we know for sure is that we last saw him in Aris," Charman said. "He might have stayed there, or he might have run off to some other city. I think it can be assumed that he had little to no money on him, so travel could be a problem for him."

"He probably stayed in Aris, in that case," Elise said thoughtfully. "It's a decent-sized city; he should be able to blend in easy enough to avoid Black's people. On the other hand, he's probably hiding from us too."

"Could we use scryers?" Roykirk asked quietly.

"I tried that not long ago, but I shouldn't have been surprised it didn't work. Irreth knows a few tricks, and evidently he doesn't want to be found any more than his host does."

"Then… where do we start?" I frowned, then thought about it for a moment. Aris was my hometown; I knew a good portion of the city like the back of my hand. I took a few moments to go through a mental checklist. I doubted Jason would stick around that old factory district where we last saw him. We probably wouldn't find him in any developed business districts or residential areas, either. That left a few options.

"Actually," I said, answering my own question, "Now that I think about it, he might have gone to this old park near the river. It's kind of run-down, you see homeless guys around the bridges. Or else he could have gone to this old skate park that got closed down, no one keeps an eye on that place anymore."

Charman raised an eyebrow. "Well, it looks like you have a place to start, then. I'm afraid I don't have many suggestions, though I've compiled a list of likely locations."

"Um… Jason liked closed-in spaces," Felix said, hesitating. "I think he would have tried to go someplace quiet and small."

I ran over my mental checklist again. "The old skate park could be a good bet. Plus, there are some condemned buildings in the area he could use for shelter. There's a fence to keep trespassers out, but that probably wouldn't be a problem for a half-dragon."

Felix wrung his hands. "Is… is that all you needed from me?"

Charman regarded him thoughtfully. "Well, that depends on you, Felix." Felix just looked confused. "It's entirely your choice how far you want to go, but I planned to send these three off to Aris tonight. If you wanted to tag along and help them locate Jason, you would be welcome to."

"I-" I thought Felix would immediately refuse, but he glanced at me and hesitated. "I have to think about it."

"Let us know before tonight," Charman replied. He took some car keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Roykirk. "Theodore, you'll be driving. You can take the hybrid. Once you locate Jason, try to convince him to come back to the Lambton base with you. If you can't, keep an eye on his approximate location until I can get together a squad to take him in by force."

I winced. "Isn't that a little unnecessary?"

Charman narrowed his eyes. "No. It's for his own safety, and we need the information he has. He's just being to short-sighted to see that he'll be safe with us. If you don't agree with me, you'd best convince him to go with you willingly."

As we exited the office, Felix held me back. "I don't know what to do, Solis," he mumbled.

"Do what you want to," I insisted. "Do you feel you're up to going on a mission with us?"

"I don't think so," he sighed.

"Easy decision, then!" I exclaimed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to." Felix was a good enough friend, but to be honest, he wasn't agent material. I didn't want him getting himself hurt.

"Yeah, but," he said, shrugging me off, "It's not that simple anymore. I mean… Jason and I were friends. If I can help find him and convince him to come where he's safe, I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"I'm sure we can handle it ourselves. We have his hiding places narrowed down a bit, and I know my way around Aris," I assured him.

"I don't think he'll come with you," Felix muttered.

"Why not?"

"Because, he doesn't know you. After all he's been through, it won't be easy to get him to trust you." He hesitated. "He knows Elise, but he never liked her. If I come along, he might give you a chance."

The way he looked to me suggested he was waiting for instruction. What did he expect me to say? I wracked my brain, aware that the way he was feeling was very familiar to me. Hell, I'd had to make a very similar decision with Charman.

"…In the end, you've got to figure out what's more important to you," I finally said. "That's what I did. I thought Yorka and Damon needed me, so I helped them."

"But I can't do anything," he protested. "At least you can keep your head in a fight. Or let Teyaan do the fighting. Sythran wasn't a soldier, and I panic as soon as something goes wrong."

"You'll be with us," I pointed out. "We can protect you. If things seem dangerous, we can send you somewhere safe." Why was I encouraging him? He could get himself hurt, coming along with us.

At the same time, though, I didn't regret making the decision to become an operative, despite everything that had happened. Just doing something, being useful, even if it was dangerous to do so, was something of a relief. It gave me something I could control. Maybe I just wanted Felix to have that same confidence.

"Do you want me to come?" he asked quietly.

I shrugged. "I want you to do whatever's best, okay? I really think you've got to decide that for yourself."

He nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. Okay. I'll think about it."

I didn't see him for the rest of the day. Once we were about to leave, though, he hurried outside the house to join us, and wordlessly folded into the backseat beside me. He seemed to be shaking, but I thought I caught a look of determination in his eye.