The Dragonstones Trilogy

James immediately felt a difference when the magician died. The part that he had been trying to heal, where he had been able to feel at least some life, was now empty. James forced himself not to look at the corpse. Pain, helplessness, and panic assaulted him. James looked over at Sara, and saw where the emotions were coming from.

“He’s dead,” she said, seemingly with no feeling. Only James knew the inner turmoil she was fighting.

James forced himself to take charge. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said. “I called an ambulance through one of my songs, but he’s gone. I can feel it.” He reached down to help Sara up, but she pushed him away. “Aevill killed him.” She turned to look at him. Her eyes shone with tears very close to being shed.

James knew they had to get out of there. Without thinking about it, he sang a traveling song and took them both back to the hotel. They landed in Sara’s room. “So what happened before I got there?” James asked. Sara was obviously shaken by what had happened, but the sooner she talked about it, the sooner she could put it behind her.

Sara apparently had other thoughts. She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” James knew that if he pushed it, he would get nowhere. “Okay. We’ll leave tomorrow,” he said. He got up and paused at the door. “When you want to talk about it, I’ll be here.”

Sara nodded. “Okay, just...not right now.”

“Okay. See you later, then.” James closed the door behind him.

In his own room, James lay on the bed, thinking of what Alva had called the Lightstone. They needed to find it. Then Sara could defeat Aevill, and she wouldn’t have to constantly worry about getting attacked.

James heard a knock, and when he opened his door, he saw Sara. “Aevill was controlling him,” she said. “He wanted us to stop going after him. When I said no, he made the magician attack me.”

“How do you know that was Aevill?” James asked.

“He told me, and I could see it in his eyes,” Sara said. “Right before he died, they changed. They turned green.” Sara shuddered. “Aevill stabbed him,” she said.

James started humming a comfort song under his breath. Right now, if anyone needed comfort, Sara did. If James was honest with himself, he knew that he hadn’t left that fight unscathed, but he hadn’t been nearly as affected as Sara.

James felt the energy leaving his body at an alarming rate, but he could see the faint orange aura around him and Sara, so he knew it was working.

Sara looked up at him. “Thank you,” she said.

Before James could reply, the Dragon Stones glowed. “I’d better talk to the dragons,” she said, sounding somewhat reluctant to James’ s ears. “Okay. I’ll be here,” he said.

Sara smiled and touched a Dragon Stone. “See ya,” she said. The journey this time did not bring James any pain. In fact, though last time had seemed to take forever, this time James was transported to the Dragon Cave almost instantly. There was the usual bright blue flash of light, and James found himself in the Dragon Cave, right next to Sara.

Sara didn’t seem to realize that James was there at first. She shifted into a dragon, and seemed to focus on the dragons. Sara. Sara! That other human. What was his name?

After that last remark, Sara turned to see James standing there. He could see, as well as feel, her surprise. What are you doing here? She demanded, shifting back into a human.

James shrugged. “I don’t know. You touched a Dragon Stone, the way you always do, except this time, I came with you.”

The same bronze dragon from last time approached them. James tried to ignore the creature’s large teeth, and glowing eyes. Although he didn’t want to, James did a double take. The dragon’s eyes were glowing, just as Sara’s and James’s were. James hadn’t noticed that the last time he had been in the Dragon Cave.

Sara. We are so glad to know that you are safe. The dragon turned to James. I hope this trip was not as painful as your last visit to the Dragon Cave.

“You knew it was painful?” James asked. The answer was obvious.

Sara spoke at the same time to James. “You’ve been here before?”

James sighed and looked at Sara. “It was only one time, and you were in trouble.” He hoped he had given her enough information to satisfy her, but left enough details out that he wouldn’t have to talk about it.

Sara saw through his weak plan. “When? We’ve both been in trouble a lot lately.”

The bronze dragon sounded closer than before. Tell her, James.

James spun around to see the dragon right behind him. Just in time, he remembered not to scream and slowly backed away as he spoke. “We were still in the Light Kingdom, and you had just eaten that cake.” James proceeded to tell her what had happen, but often stumbled over his words when he glanced around and saw just how many dragons there were around him and Sara. It didn’t take James long to realize that showing her would be much easier.

He showed her everything: how his magic wouldn’t work at all, then his desperate ploy at using the Dragon Stones. James tried to skip over his fear of dragons, but he was pretty sure that Sara had seen at least some of it. The last thing he showed her was how he used magic with the dragons’ help.

“You should have told me this before now,” Sara said. She looked at him, and he could feel her hurt because he had not told her.

“Sorry,” James said quickly. “I hadn’t thought about it until now.”

Sara nodded. “It was just today, wasn’t it?”

“Yep,” James agreed, “I’m pretty sure.”

James felt eyes on him, and turned to see the bronze dragon watching him. You didn’t tell her that your magic is failing. He said.

“Yes I did,” James said, thinking back to that discussion in the hotel, right before Sara had made the mistake of going shopping.

Not how badly it is.

“Did you see what I showed Sara?”

Some of it. That didn’t make James feel any better. He couldn’t get the image of being eaten alive by that dragon out of his head.

The dragon interrupted his thoughts by saying, I’d tell her now, if I were you. The statement sounded somewhat like a threat to James’s ears, but he did as he was told.

James sighed, and started talking, hoping it would soon be over. “My magic is failing, but you already knew that. I can’t find any real pattern to it yet. Sometimes it works, but it hurts a ton and is very draining. Other times, no matter how desperate I am, it just doesn’t work.” James looked at Sara. She seemed to be taking the news well so far. “Someone thought that my magic would work when I really needed it, and I guess that’s true, but sometimes I think I need it, and it doesn’t work.”

“Who else knows about your magic?” Sara asked.

“No one you would know,” James lied. “Just a friend.”

Sara seemed to feel his guilt at lying to her, because she looked at him doubtfully, but luckily let the subject drop.

The bronze dragon spoke again. Smolder has had another vision. The dragon paused, and even seemed to smile. He seems to be having quite a few of those lately. Either way, you two are getting closer to finding the Stone, or the Lightstone, as several magicians call it. He turned to look at James. The dragons will try to help you with your magic, but in the end, your magic will have to come from within.

James wondered what the dragon meant by that last cryptic remark. It was possible he was talking about the dream, and how James was supposed to save Sara. The voice in his head, that had been constantly telling him You can’t protect her gave way to hope. Now, James heard his own voice. I can save her. I don’t know how I will, but I can.

The dragon looked at Sara. The times ahead will be hard for you. I suggest you visit us often. He looked at James. Now that you have entered the Dragon Cave, you should visit often as well.

Sara spoke for both of them. “We will.”

James looked at the dragon, Flame. The name seemed to suit the dragon, even though it didn’t really resemble fire.

The dragon seemed to think for a moment, then said, Don’t keep secrets. They may be of great importance in the future.

It may have just been James, but he could have sworn that he felt more guilt than normal. Keeping Mr. Day a secret was not entirely James’s decision. Mr. Day hadn’t wanted Sara to know, so James didn’t feel guilty for honoring a dead man’s wish. He looked at Sara closely, but didn’t see any signs that she was keeping something from him. James shrugged inwardly and assumed it was just his imagination.

Flame turned back to James, and James once again tried not to think of what it would feel like to be torn apart by those teeth. Flame seemed to smile, and James wondered if the dragon could hear his thoughts.

You two should go back now. Get some rest. Flame said.

Flame seemed to look at another dragon, but James could hear the dragon’s voice in his head. Keep Sara safe. Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

James wasn’t sure if he could speak to the huge dragon, so he simply nodded.

Sara, sensing that the meeting was over, reached up and touched a Dragon Stone. There was a flash of blue light, and they were back at the hotel.

James stood there, still trying to process the fact that he had just visited the Dragon Cave a second time, along with what the dragons had said.

Sara was watching James with an amused expression. “You’re scared of dragons?” she asked, although the look in her eyes told James that she already knew the answer.

James nodded. “How could you tell?”

“It was fairly obvious,” Sara said.

“Could the dragons tell?” James asked.

Sara thought for a moment. “No, at least, I don’t think so.” She smiled, though, making James think she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

James sighed with relief anyway, then said, “Tonight I’ll work on finding somewhere that the Stone could be.” He wasn’t looking forward to the task.

“Are you sure?” Sara asked. “Your magic-”

“Still works enough for me to do some things with it,” James interrupted. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. If I have to, I can always ask the dragons for help.”

“Okay,” Sara said, not sounding as if she fully believed him.

Sara turned, and entered her own room. She looked like she had been able to shove any thoughts about earlier that day out of her head, but James wanted to be sure. He sang a healing song to help her, but nothing happened. James sighed. It was probably for the best, anyway. He would need every last bit of magic he had left for the spell for finding what Alva called, the Lightstone.

James entered his own room and stared at the door for a moment. Sighing, he found his locating song, and started singing.

The spell didn’t work. James could tell that pretty early on, but he kept trying.

“If you know it’s not going to work, why are you still trying?”

James jumped when he heard Mr. Day’s voice. He turned and answered, “Because it’s the best lead we’ve got. We have absolutely no idea where the Stone is, so I’m doing what I can to try and find it, even when I know it won’t work.”

“James, it won’t do you any good. Your magic won’t help you with this.” Although the ghost’s expression was sympathetic, his voice was firm. “Go to bed James. That was not a request.”

James shook his head. “We need to find the Stone.”

“What if I told you that tonight you’ll find where the Stone is, but not through your failed attempts at magic.”

James looked at the ghost, shocked. “How?” he asked.

Mr. Day smiled. “You and Sara have both forgotten about her visions.”

“Sara’s going to have a vision tonight?”

The ghost nodded. “Yes,” he said simply. “Now get to bed.”

James obeyed. He didn’t know how long it was before he fell asleep, but it happened rather quickly.

At first, it seemed like just another dream, but as it went on, James realized that this was not any ordinary dream. He was having a vision. Even in his sleep, James wanted to protest. He wasn’t the one who had visions. That was Sara’s job!

Suddenly, James woke up. He sat straight up in the dark, panting. He looked down at his hands, and was even able to ignore the greenish tinge they had. James looked up, but didn’t really see anything. He knew where the Lightstone was, or at least, where to start looking.

“So that’s where it is,” he said to himself, and, even though he didn’t know at first, Mr. Day.