The Darkness of Shadoewynne: Book 3 of the Shadoewynne series

by Penelope Kein

  I huffed at him. The loud cry of a bird that seemed to come from right behind me made me jump. The foreignness of the surroundings was getting to me. I took a deep breath to center myself and used my magic to feel the area. No threats.

  Kait nodded as he held out a hand to me. I took it and we walked further into the forest, looking for the sick dragon we were there to help. After a few minutes of searching, I said, “Why didn’t they guide us? For that matter, who drove the carriage?”

  “The hospital staff pre-programed the carriage with the last known location of the dragon. Nobody wanted to risk coming with us, so they sent us out here on our own. AH! There it is! Can you feel it?”

  I had kept my magic at the ready, but I hadn’t been using it to scan the area, so now I cast my magic out. A small area to our right felt wrong. “Yes, it feels like the cursed forest did.”

  He nodded. “Okay, we will move in slowly and quietly. Use your magic to tell if we are startling it, okay?”

  I took a deep breath before giving him a sharp jerk of my head. Now that we were out here, I was freaking out a bit. We were literally risking life and limb, and I was too stupid, too blinded by cuteness, to turn it down. I could have let Kait come out here by himself… That thought jerked me out of where my head had gone. No, I couldn’t have let him face this danger alone. Once I had calmed down enough to examine my feelings, I realized they were external, and being forced on me. I held my hands out, the blue glow of my magic lighting the shadowy undergrowth. The area I had noticed before was still there, but a faint impression of fear was closer, almost underfoot.

  To get a better feel for it, I stopped. The fear spiked. Whatever it was knew I was here. I bent down to look under the bush next to me, and a small, brown man cowered away from me. He couldn’t have been any bigger than my hand. His bark-textured brown skin blended well with his surroundings and his leafy clothing served to breakup his silhouette even further. I reached out slowly, and his mouth opened. I waited for him to speak, but a sound so high pitched I could barely hear it assaulted me instead. My hands clapped over my ears, but still the shriek burrowed in, until I dropped to my knees in pain. The sound abruptly cut off, but the ringing in my ears remained. Kait was shaking me, his mouth moving with no sound.

  After what felt like hours, the ringing subsided, and I could hear Kait yelling at the little brown man. When I pulled my hands away from my ears, blood covered them. I wiped them on the ground before I stood up. Kait stopped yelling and shaking his fist, which clutched the poor man.

  “What was that?” My voice sounded muffled to me, but Kait winced. I must have been loud.

  “This brownie,” he shook him again for good measure, “thought you were attacking, so he defended himself. I’ve yelled at him, but you have to be more careful, Princess!”

  “Hey! You said all I had to worry about was dragons. You didn’t mention anything else. Hold on before you yell at me more. I wanna fix my ears. This is annoying.” I turned my attention inward and healed the damage to my eardrums, wincing as the holes he had created knit back together. I looked back to Kait. “Okay. They’re fixed.” I pointed my finger at the brownie and addressed him. “You! I was trying to help you!” He shook his fist at me as he yelled at me in a different language. “I don’t understand you. Kait, do you know what he’s saying?”

  Kait was turning red from holding back a laugh. “He’s calling you every name he can think of right now. Why did you think he needed help?”

  “It felt like someone was pushing their fear into me, and when I investigated, I found him. I assumed he was the one doing that and I wanted to help him get away from whatever he was afraid of. It didn’t occur to me that he was afraid of us.”

  Kait shook his head. “Not just us. There’s dragons around too, and some of them are small enough to consider him a good meal. Before I release him, use your healing on him to make sure he is healthy.”

  The little man waved his arms while screaming at us, spittle flying as he did so. I gave Kait an incredulous look. “I don’t think he wants my help.”

  He stopped flailing and tilted his head at me. “Help?”

  “Yes, help. I want to help you.” He tilted his head the other way and studied me for a moment. Eventually, with a quick decisive nod, he consented to let me check him. He closed his eyes and appeared to brace himself, like he thought it would hurt. I held my finger over his head, careful to use only a small portion of power. The blue glow fell over his head, showering him in my power, which stuck to his hair and clothes. My eyes slid closed as I concentrated. It only took a moment to give him the all clear.

  “Everything appears to be fine. I didn’t feel any traces of the dark power or any other kinds of damage to him.” Kait nodded and set him on the ground. He looked up at us in bewilderment for a moment before scampering off into the tall bushes. I shrugged at Kait before flicking my hands at him to go. He shook his head at me.

  “You know, Princess, you should think before you do things. I mean, why wouldn’t it occur to you he was afraid of us?”

  “Because I was trying to help. He’s humanoid, so I assumed he wouldn’t be afraid of us and it just didn’t occur to me how much bigger we are than him.”

  He just shook his head and didn’t answer. I knew how shortsighted I had been; he didn’t need to berate me over it, and he knew it. Without another word, he took my hand, and we continued to search the hot jungle. You would think a dying dragon would be easier to find! If it was dying, how did it wander off?

  A few minutes later, a low huff from the left made me stop. Using my power, I felt the surrounding area. A sense of wrongness came from the same direction as the huff. I pointed and Kait nodded. We slowly advanced toward the sound. As I moved the foliage of a large fern out of the way, a clearing containing an obviously sick dragon came into view.

  The poor thing laid in the middle of a meadow, basking in the sun, but no iridescence shone from its hide. Instead, it was a mottled purple and green, and with each breath, a flurry of scales surrounded it. Every few seconds a huge huff would escape it as it panted its last breaths. My own breath caught in my throat and I rushed to its side.

  A strangled yell from Kait didn’t stop my headlong rush. I had to save this majestic creature! The recent lesson that wildlife doesn’t always know when we are trying to help slipped my mind as the certainty that it needed my help now took over my brain.

  A large, milky eye opened and stared at me for a second before it rolled back into the giant head. I gently put my hands on it, sending my power into the beast to find the ailment. The dark power that had been taking over David and Kait immediately assaulted me. However, this time, I didn’t need to step into the dragon's mind. I simply pulled the power from it, into a metaphysical jar similar to the one I had used with Kait, but much larger. Where Kait’s jar was a quart size, this one was closer to five gallons. When it was all gone, I scoured the body once more for any leftovers and found none. There was, however, an overwhelming hunger coming from the creature now. I trembled as its eye studied me again. This dragon was easily three times the size of Pearl. Its voice boomed in my head.

  “Puny Shadoewynne-creature, in thanks for healing me, I will not eat you, but you must leave now. You are not welcome in my territory, and my gratitude will only last so long. Leave!”

  It punctuated the last word with a giant blast of air directed at us which nearly knocked me on my ass. I opened my mouth to argue, but Kait rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand to pull me away.

  “Seriously, Princess, you need to learn to listen. He gave you a warning, you better heed it!” We moved quickly back to the waiting carriage. As Kait stepped into the carriage, the brownie from before jumped out of the underbrush, yelling at us. Kait paused, then turned to me. “He wants us to follow him. He says he has people that need help.”

  “Fine.” I knelt down. “Lead the way, little man!” He glared at me for a second before taking off into the forest. Shit, he’s fast! The bush
es were tall enough that he didn’t even stir the branches, and we lost him in the first ten feet. I yelled for him. “Brownie! Come back! I don’t know where you went!”

  He appeared about twenty feet to our right, seeming to cuss us out. Kait put a hand over his mouth, hiding his smile. I raised an eyebrow at him. “He doesn’t appreciate being called brownie or little man. He says he has a name which is unpronounceable by us.”

  I looked at the brownie. “I’m sorry, but I can’t pronounce your name.”

  He shook his finger at me, then muttered, “Sam.”

  “We can call you Sam?” He hunched his shoulders, but nodded his head. I got the distinct impression he was ashamed of that name, but if it was all he was giving us, I had no choice. “Okay, Sam. You’re too fast for us, we lost you in the forest. Can you ride on Kait’s shoulder and give him directions?”

  He nodded and climbed onto Kait’s hand. He clung to Kait’s thumb as he lifted him up and deposited him on his shoulder. He sat down and grabbed Kait’s earlobe to keep from falling off. Kait headed out, following the brownie’s directions and having a quiet conversation with him as we walked. After a few minutes, Kait spoke into my mind, relaying the brownie’s story.

  About three weeks ago, a mysterious illness struck his village, with the oldest and youngest falling sick first. The affected would slowly withdraw from society, eventually sitting somewhere in their house, staring at nothing. They would wither and die as they dehydrated to death. Relatives would try to help them but they would not respond to anything. Over half the remaining villagers were sick, and he had gone home to ask if he could bring me in to help. He watched from the forest as I healed the dragon and he figured that anyone that could heal a dragon could help them.

  We arrived at the village as he was finishing his story. When Kait stopped, I looked around, but saw nothing that resembled a home. It wasn’t until the first brownie woman in a cute dress stepped out of a fairy bell mushroom that I realized the fungus clinging to the downed trees were their homes. I sunk to my knees at the edge of the village and looked at Sam.

  “Sam, can you have them bring out the sick? I don’t want to accidentally destroy anything, so it’s probably safer if I stay here and they bring them to me.”

  He nodded, so Kait let him down and he scampered off, yelling at the top of his lungs. Soon, the surrounding area filled with little six-inch tall people. There were twenty or thirty on make-shift stretchers right at my knees, and the rest of them were milling around, looking like they were gossiping about me. They all kept shooting little glances at me and whispering behind their hands.

  I sighed and went to work on the first one. The darkness had infected them. I slowly healed them all, with no mishaps. By the time I finished, dozens of tiny bottles, one medium bottle, and one giant bottle, all filled with the darkness, cluttered my mind-scape. As I healed each one, they would cry out, then sit up and look around. After the first two, several people scurried off, returning with a ton of food, which they forced on the awakening people. It took several hours and I almost collapsed when I stood up after the last one.

  Kait caught me before I could hit the ground, though. I laid my head on his shoulder as the brownie people thanked us. It was all I could do to muster a nod to them. Kait swept me up into his arms and carried me to the carriage. I was asleep before the village was out of sight.

  *********

  When I woke up later, I was snug in the bed at the hotel. Kait was whispering with David and Travis in the other room with the lights dimmed. I stretched under the covers, enjoying the feel of the clean sheets against my naked body. The murmuring in the other room stopped and the door creaked open.

  “Babe, are you awake?”

  I made a sound of assent and the door opened the rest of the way, letting in the light from the other room for a moment before three bodies blocked it on their way in.

  Kait kissed my forehead. “Are you okay, Princess?”

  “Yes, I just over-exerted myself, I think. Healing that many brownies and the dragon was a lot for me to do, but I couldn’t turn them away.”

  “Sam was very grateful. His wife and child were among those you healed. Can you explain the sickness?”

  “It felt like the same thing that was affecting the dragon. A darkness cloaks their mind, suffocating their magic and their life-force. It’s the same thing I pulled out of you. We need to find its source and stop it.” I didn’t think the explosion seventy-five years ago caused it, but I didn’t say that part. I had no evidence either way.

  Kait nodded. “How did you heal them?”

  “The same way I healed you. I pulled the darkness out of them and captured it in a bottle. I need to figure out what to do with them. They are all in my mind now, and I don’t think I’d survive if the bottles break.”

  Kait blanched at that. “Yeah, let me think about that.”

  I smiled. “Where’s the dragon from the lobby earlier?”

  Kait snorted. “I can’t keep up with your changes of subject sometimes. He’s in the sitting area. He was begging at the door after we got back, so we had to let him in. I don’t know how you do it.”

  A small blue ball bounced off my chest before unfolding into the dragon. His relieved child-like voice filled my mind. “You’re alive! I worried about you! You were so still when he brought you in!”

  I rubbed his snout between his eyes, and he hummed happily. “I was just sleeping, little guy. I tired myself out. What’s your name?”

  He puffed out his chest. “My name is Gwynderfilous, but you can call me Gill.”

  “My name is Evalia. Pleased to meet you!” He settled in between my boobs, resting his head on one while curling his tail around the other.

  “I am happy you are safe. Feed me?”

  Chapter 16

  I looked at Kait and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. He still couldn’t hear Gill. “He’s hungry and wants us to feed him.”

  Kait crossed his arms over his chest. “They feed him in the lobby; they do not permit guests to feed him.”

  I tore my eyes from the bulging biceps and sinewy forearms that had caught my attention. “Hmm? What?”

  Kait chuckled. “I said, we aren’t allowed to feed him.”

  Gill opened one eye that was slowly rotating in a kaleidoscope of color and said, “You have to feed me. You’re my Shadoewynne now, and you need to feed me.”

  “Um, don’t you belong to the hotel?”

  He put his warm feet on my face while being careful not not scratch me with his claws. His eyes were less than an inch from mine, and his breath on my face was warm enough that I worried it would burn me. “Listen here!” His cute, innocent voice was hard as steel. “Nobody owns a dragon! You are ours, not the other way around!” He backed down, but was still muttering under his breath in my mind about presumptuous Shadoewynne and how we think we own everything. I stifled a laugh since I didn’t think he would appreciate it.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t make that mistake again.” He nodded regally as he laid down again.

  “Now, get me some food.” I relayed his message and his instructions.

  Kait said with a bemused grin, “I’m sure I can call the front desk and have something sent up for him. Anybody else hungry?”

  “I am! Order me something! I don’t care what.” Travis and David called out their orders, too. Kait walked back to the sitting room while rubbing his head. His feeling through the bond said he was amused at the cheekiness of the dragon, yet annoyed at being bossed around. It seemed he didn’t really know what to think.

  Travis and David milled around the room without saying anything. After a few moments, Kait returned. “I ordered us some sandwiches, and they are sending Gill’s food up too. In the meantime, boys, did you set everything up?”

  “Yes,” they chimed in unison. Kait smiled softly and nodded while rubbing his hands together. While we waited for the food, Kait finished telling the guys about our mission. Apparently, they had only gott
en back right before I woke up. Just as he finished, a hard knock sounded on the door. Kait answered the door and was back quickly with two trays of food. Sandwiches for us and a rare steak for Gill. The small dragon attacked the tray as soon as Kait set it down. I chuckled at his high-pitched growling as he tore into it. Kait shook his head as he handed me a hot ham and cheese sandwich.

  We finished our sandwiches in silence. When we finished Kait kissed my forehead and took our plates before raising an eyebrow at the guys. They followed him out to the sitting room. I started to get up, but Kait yelled, “Stay there! We will be back in a moment!”

  I grumbled but stayed put. Gill had climbed back up and snuggled back in on my stomach once he had inhaled his steak. As his breathing evened out into the deep breaths of slumber, I stroked his snout, amazed at the softness of his scales. A few minutes later, Kait, Travis, and David came back in the room. They had changed their clothes and now they were all wearing form fitting tuxedos with the sleeves rolled up.

  They came into the room and knelt on one knee in front of me. All three of them had little black boxes. Travis’s box was small and square, while David and Kait’s boxes were long, thin rectangles. I gasped.

  Kait cleared his throat before speaking, but his voice still caught a little. “This isn’t a thing in Shadoewynne, but we decided it’s important to represent both Earth customs and Shadoewynne customs in our relationships.”

  David’s voice was just as broken as he picked up where Kait left off. “It’s important to us that you know our level of commitment and what you mean to us. We love you from the bottom of our hearts. We want to be with you forever.”

  Travis was the most composed of them. He fiddled with the box as he said, “I can’t imagine my life without you. None of us can.” Then he popped open the box in his hand, revealing the biggest diamond ring I had ever seen. It had three medium-sized diamonds clustered in the center, with a multitude of small diamonds surrounding them.