The Dragonstones Trilogy

Sara cast James a grateful look, and waited until he was gone. She starred into the pool of water, unsure of what to do next. After a few seconds, the water rippled, and the surface changed, creating glowing images like a magical TV. Sara saw an elderly man stumble into the cave. His feet and hands were black, and the man’s breaths came in short gasps. Sara could tell from the man’s clothes that he was not from the current century, or even the previous one. Outside, Sara saw snow blowing around, and heard winds howling, the sound coming from an unknown source. The man had been seeking shelter from a blizzard. Sara could tell the man was unwell and close to death. Sara felt a sudden sympathy for this old man.

Before he died, the man mumbled something under his breath. Sara saw what looked like gold dust come out of the man. Something similar to instinct told Sara that this was the man’s essence. It wasn’t his soul, but part of him anyway. Sara saw the essence spread all over the cave, and enchant the things it touched. Sara saw the pool, a dark and murky puddle then, become larger and start to glow. Sara saw regular pebbles become diamonds and rubies. Crystals popped out of the ground, almost eagerly.

Even though this wonder was taking place, Sara saw a flash of realization cross the man’s face. Although he was transferring his essence, he would not live. The man had transferred his essence in hope that he would survive, that the cave would save him. He had changed the cave forever, but he would not live to see it. It was with this thought that the man died, though Sara didn’t know how she knew that.

Sara saw years pass in a single glimpse, when someone more modern looking, but still old fashioned, appeared at the mouth of the cave. The man had dark hair and brown eyes, that widened in wonder when he saw the magnificent cave. He looked familiar to Sara for some reason, but she couldn’t quite place what it was.

The man had a creature with him, about the size of an iguana. As Sara looked, she realized with a small amount of surprise that it was a dragon. Its ruby scales sparkled in the sunlight despite the black that seemed to infect the color. Sara watched as the human withdrew a necklace from inside his jacket. She felt a jolt. The necklace the man was holding was the same necklace that had saved Sara from the man oozing blackness. The man started gesturing wildly, and the same gold dust Sara had seen earlier turned blue. It seemed to float into the piece of jewelry. The man looked at the small dragon, as if seeking approval. The dragon nodded, but Sara saw that its scales were black around the edges, even darker than before.

The image on the water changed, and she saw the small dragon, completely black now. “You know that if you give me your magic, you can’t take it back,” the man said. He sounded a lot like Sara’s dad had.

The look the dragon gave him told the man, and Sara, that it already knew what it was doing. The man only nodded, and Sara watched in wonder as a red colored dust emerge from it, and went into the man. After the magic had been transferred, the dragon breathed its last breath. The man hastily wiped tears away from his face, and looked down. He loosened his grip on something he had been holding very tightly. It was the necklace. He and the dragon must have taken it from the cave.

“I swear to you, my descendants and I will guard this with our lives,” the man said to the dead dragon. “The last dragon deserves at least that.” The blue stones of the necklace seemed to glow in response to his words.

The water quivered, and changed again. Sara saw herself lying helpless on her bed. The man oozing blackness had the necklace she had seen over and over again in her vision. This was no memory, Sara knew. Her instincts told her that this was something that would happen, in the near future. The man stared at the necklace, his eyes getting larger as he laughed. It wasn’t the laugh brought on by pleasure, but by pure, hysterical madness.

The water rippled and showed a brief image of Sara and a dragon. The two seemed to somehow be taking up the same space. The dragon’s claws glowed green, with venom, Sara realized with a start. It was a venomous dragon.

Sara eyed the water as it rippled one last time, then returned to normal. Sara stood up, and wandered out of the cave, in a daze after what the pool had just shown her.

She was no less thoughtful when she found James playing a game on his phone, waiting for her to come out. As soon as he heard her, he looked up from his game and asked, “So, what did you see?”

“Stuff,” Sara replied evasively. She wasn’t sure what she would have told him, even if she had felt like talking.

James took the hint and changed the subject. “You like ice cream? I know a great place.”

Before Sara could respond, she felt something was wrong. The feeling was coming from the cave itself. Sara felt a distinct absence of thought as she walked towards the cave. Sara could feel herself changing out of her human form, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t seem to care about anything right now. Sara hunched over until she was walking on all four legs. She ignored James’s shouts, which were becoming more and more alarmed. Sara felt his hand on her shoulder, trying to restrain her, but she shrugged it off.

Sara heard a voice calling her into the cave. It sounded inviting, but something told Sara it wasn’t on her side. Sara came as close as she dared to the cave, and jumped. The inside of the cave, illuminated only seconds earlier, was pitch black.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sara braced herself, and stepped inside. The inside was blacker than it had appeared from outside. After a few more steps, Sara’s feet started moving on her own. Something was drawing her in.

The thought somehow jolting her back to reality, Sara tried to stop walking. She couldn’t. Sara felt a dark presence lurking in the cave, smothering the light and happiness she had felt earlier. It seemed to be alive, and intelligent, which surprised Sara even more.

When she reached what seemed like the middle of the cave, Sara stopped. She felt the presence tangibly, as if the source of all the darkness was right in front of her. Sara looked down at her claws. The venom was glowing dimly. It comforted Sara to know that there was some light.

The darkness was expanding, becoming darker. There was no question about that. Sara noticed that even her claws had stopped glowing, smothered by the blackness. Sara’s breathing sped up. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but it did little good. Why had she come in here? Sara already knew the answer. She had come inside because there was something here that she needed, though she didn't know what.

Sara could feel that whatever had drawn her here was close. The darkness seemed to know what she was thinking, and hurried to hide what she needed. Sara’s front foot came in contact with a group of polished stones on a thin chain. Yes! She had found it!

In a last effort, the darkness enveloped Sara. It was getting harder to breathe. Something forced its way down Sara’s throat, and into her lungs. It burned inside Sara’s chest. Sara coughed violently, trying to get it out. It refused to leave. Sara coughed again and snatched the object up with her hand. When had she changed back into a human? Blue light suddenly sliced through the darkness. The darkness retreated, and shrank. Sara realized with shock that the darkness was forming a shape. As Sara looked closer, she could see it arrange itself into a man.

Sara heard footsteps running toward her, but she was too focused on the newly formed person, oozing blackness. Sara blinked, making sure she was seeing things right. It was him. He glared at her, and Sara felt a chill run down her spine. James, out of breath, appeared behind her. She looked at him, and saw extreme fear and hatred on his face. Did James know him? The man looked at Sara and James calmly. “Give it to me James. If you do, you know that I’ll leave you and your family alone.”

James’s eyes turned fiery. His hands shook with barely controlled anger. “Yeah, and would destroy everything else. I think I’ll pass,” he said sarcastically. It was the first time Sara had seen him like this.

The man’s eyes turned cold. “Very well then.” He turned his attention to Sara. “Just like your father,” he murmured thoughtfully. A thousand questions hit Sara at once, all pounding to get out. Not asking any of them, Sara swallowed and tried to hide her fear. She had seen what he had done to her father.

Sara must not have done a very good job, because the man smiled coldly. “Give me the necklace, Sara. You have the Dragon Magic. Do you really need more power? Must you be the guardian of the Dragon Stones as well?” Seeing Sara’s confusion, he smiled. He continued, “Those stones you are holding in your hand have more power than you can imagine. Give me them, and I could make the universe a better place.” Unbidden, an image of Sara and her dad came to mind.

The necklace suddenly flared blue, and lit up the whole cave. The image of a dragon appeared next to Sara. James looked around in surprise, and jumped when the dragon’s image said, “Be gone, Drusk. She is under our protection.”

The necklace flared blue, and started humming. Immediately after, the man, Drusk, disintegrated, melting into the shadows just as he always did. When the light had returned to normal, Drusk was gone. Both were silent for a few minutes. Sara stared at where Drusk had stood in stunned silence. James's fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white. “What happened?” he asked, still seeming a bit mad.

Sara quickly shoved the necklace in her pocket. “I don’t know,” she said. Dim light still shone through her pants. Sara was glad that she would be going out into the sun, anyway.

Even after Sara had recovered from what had just happened, James hadn’t moved. Sara waited for a few minutes, then went outside to wait. It was getting darker outside, and Sara tried not to think of what lurked in the dark.

As Sara reached inside of her backpack for her phone, she shook herself mentally. Although she knew James himself used magic, Sara was still a bit wary of his reaction to her ability. James didn’t seem too surprised at Sara’s transformation, but he had been focused on Drusk. What if he decided he didn't want to be around her anymore? Sara tried not to board that train of thought.

After what seemed like forever and Sara had beaten her high score on one of her games, she heard James approaching her. She looked up. His face was still stormy, but for the most part, he seemed to have calmed down. Silently, they hiked back to their cars.

“See you tomorrow,” Sara said, hoping she was right.

“Yeah, see you,” James gave her a small smile. James was returning back to his old self. The drive back to Sara’s house was silent, except for the radio playing the newest pop song. Sara couldn't stop shaking, and barely got it together enough to drive home. It didn't really work until she almost crashed into a stop sign.

She needed to know more about this Drusk character, and magic in general. If she didn't figure it out soon, she might be in for more nasty surprises like what she had experienced tonight. Once she was home, Sara hunted for some paper and a sharpened pencil. When she had located her supplies, Sara sat down at her desk in the study and listed everything weird that had happened in her life that she could think of. The list ended up being longer than she had planned. The more she wrote, the more Sara recalled seeing strange people with wings, or the occasional person changing into animals. All had been fleeting glimpses, though, and Sara had never been sure until that moment.

After Sara had thought of all the magic she had seen in her life, Sara’s mom walked in. Sara quickly covered the list with the first thing she could find: her arm. Sara briefly considered sharing the list with her mom, but dismissed the idea. Long ago, Sara’s mom had made it clear that she did not believe in magic. She had ignored Sara every time Sara had pointed out the mermaid in the aquarium and the lady who left ice wherever she walked.

Sara’s mom seemed hesitant as she hovered in the doorway. After a few seconds, she drew in a deep breath and asked, “How’s school been?”

Sara blinked. So it was going to be one of those awkward talks they occasionally had. Each time, only two sentences were spoken. Sara answered with the usual response. “Okay.”

“You’ve got good grades?”

Sara didn’t need to answer. If her mom were to just do the work to check, she would know that Sara had straight As in every subject. Sara’s mom looked like she was trying to remember something. “Has anything. . .strange happened to you recently?” she asked finally.

“Well, now that you mention it, I tripped in the cafeteria and dumped food all over, I went hiking with a boy, and I’m turning into a dragon.” Sara casually slipped the last part in. She wasn’t sure which thing her mom would freak out most about, the dragon or the boy?

“You went hiking alone with a boy?!” Sara’s question was now answered.

“I didn’t say I was alone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Her voice was louder than before.

“I did ask to use the car,” Sara said defensively. “And I told you I was going hiking.”

“You didn’t say it was with a boy!” Mom’s voice was definitely getting louder.

“You didn’t ask!” Sara realized her voice was raising as well. She lowered it, and said as calmly as she could, “You never believe anything I say, so why would I tell you this when I knew I was wasting my time?” Sara forced herself to walk to her room, and sat on her bed, staring off into space. So much was happening to her, and she couldn’t tell anyone. Sara felt her eyes start to sting, and knew that she would have to cry to get these emotions out. It might as well be now. Sara let the tears fall, and buried her face in her hands. She kept her crying quiet, and ended it as soon as she could. When the sobs had ended successfully, Sara felt numb, but she was able to analyze the predicament more clearly now.

It hurt Sara when she hurt others, and she could hear sounds coming from the study a couple doors down. A sob. And another. Was her mom actually crying? Sara had rarely seen her mom cry. Maybe she was human after all. Now that Sara thought about it, the more she realized that her mom was concerned for her safety when Sara said she went hiking with a boy. Sara remembered all the kidnapping stories she’d heard and read. James would never do that, but now Sara could comprehend where her mother’s outburst had come from.

That still left several questions unanswered, but it was a start. Sara got up to apologize. If her life was being turned upside-down because of magic, it wasn’t her mom’s fault. When she was out of her room, a wave of irritation crashed into her. Why did she have to apologize? It was her mom’s fault Sara never told her anything. Her mom never listened to what Sara had to say. Sara continued on to the study. When she got there, she hovered in the doorway. Sara noted that her mom’s eyes were tinged with red. “I’m going for a walk.” Sara said shortly, and left. She wouldn’t apologize, not yet.

The fresh air outside was just what Sara needed. The sun was setting, lighting up the sky in shades of orange, pink, and yellow. There were very few clouds in the sky. Sara heard birds chirping, and getting ready for the night. Few cars passed her, and Sara found the quiet soothing. When Sara made it to Mageton’s small downtown, she kept herself alert, but she was not attacked. It was nice for Sara not having to fear for her life.