The Crystal Dragon Series Collection

by Katie Cherry

  I blink as we reenter the light until my eyes adjust. I’m surprised as we pass my room. “Where are we going?” I ask.

  Patrick smirks, and I can clearly see that he’s hiding something. “We’re just going to… test you. I want to see if you can solve a certain… problem I give you.”

  I frown. Something is definitely off about this… I shake it off. I will do whatever he asks me. I won’t be here much longer anyway. At least, that’s the hope. Maybe I’ll take as long as possible to do whatever it is he asks me to do so I can buy more time for Nathan. I would do nothing at all to be even more cautious, but that might make things worse because of Patrick’s temper. I’ll need to tread carefully around him, that’s for sure.

  We climb and reach a much larger room than the one I had before. The stone is also a lighter shade than the stone in the last room. I walk in and am surprised by the window on the south wall. Patrick seemed to be keeping me away from anything that could make it so someone could see me through before. I shrug. Oh well, the reasoning doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just grateful I will be able to look at something other than the wall now. Patrick releases me and walks out the door without another word. George and Chet come into the room to guard me this time.

  Neither of them say anything, so neither do I. We wait in silence for him to return. While we wait, I continue to look around the room. There isn’t much in it- just a large table and a single chair in front of it, facing the door. There is a rug underneath both of them, but that is all that is decorating the room. There’s nothing else but the clean stone walls.

  Patrick soon comes back, followed by four other Dragon Hunters. Patrick is carrying a large paper while the four behind him struggle to move a large metal contraption. The four place the… whatever it is, next to the table, then leave. Patrick sits me down in the chair and lays his paper out in front of me. It’s a drawing of the plans for the contraption that is now looming over me.

  I raise an eyebrow. “What is this supposed to be?” I ask.

  “This is the layout for this… machine. There’s a problem with it. Your job is to figure it out.”

  I stare at him. “What? Seriously? …Then you must not know me as well as you’d like to think you do. I’m no good at mechanics. What is this thing even supposed to do?”

  Patrick’s brow furrows as he contemplates how to respond. It… um… we’ll let you figure that one out. It will… be part of the equation.” It’s obvious he’s hiding something, but the question is… what? Wait a second… this is a perfect excuse to delay until Nathan comes and saves me! How am I supposed to make something work the way it’s supposed to when I don’t even know its purpose in the first place? I grin in triumph.

  Patrick looks confused at this, but he decides it doesn’t matter. As long as I do what he wants, he’s content. With that, he leaves me alone with no idea what to do.

  <<>>

  “Do you know what we’re going to do yet?” Nathan asks. Thaddeus holds up a hand, telling him to wait until he finishes eating. He had come back over right after lunch, telling the impostor that he wanted to ask him when they could go home. He fidgets, waiting impatiently. Every second they waste is another second Crystal has to spend with a dangerous maniac. Thaddeus finally finishes his sandwich and takes a drink of milk. Nathan groans. It’s like he’s trying to take as long as possible!

  He stands and puts the dishes in the sink, then sits back down. He looks up at Nathan, his eyes kind but serious. “Sit down!” he instructs. “All your fidgeting and pacing is making me nauseous.”

  Nathan swallows hard and forces himself to sit. The very action feels almost like a betrayal to Crystal, like he doesn’t care about her enough to rush to her side as soon as he can. He grits his teeth and waits for Thaddeus to speak, at the edge of his seat. He sighs at Nathan’s impatience. “Didn’t I teach you patience?” He laughs a little and shakes his head. “Well, I suppose your actions are only reasonable.”

  Nathan then loses what little tolerance he had left. “What is your plan?! We need to get this impostor off our tails!”

  He sighs again, and Nathan knows he’s disappointed, but he doesn’t care. “Very well. There was only one way I could think of to keep the impostor from alerting Patrick to us catching on to his ruse. …We have to not capture or harm her in any way. All we need to do is simply tell her that you are going home. That you two, as the overall winners, will be able to go home first- that way, we won’t have to send Sierra, Lloyd, and Ham away before we can get rid of the fake Crystal. I am quite sure the impostor will then slip off back to the Dragon Hunters, since she does not have a way back here from First Earth. I imagine that the Vladimir impostor will help her to get away. We will then follow her as she heads back to their main building. Hopefully, we can slip in after her when she disables the protective spells and no one will ever know we got in. Of course, getting out may be a little more difficult, but our main concern is getting in quietly. It doesn’t matter how much noise and chaos we cause getting out.”

  Nathan stares at him. That wasn’t at all what he was thinking. All he could think of was how to attack the impostor. He smiles a little at his reckless stupidity. Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that… or anything even close, for that matter. …No wonder I could never beat Thaddeus at chess. He truly is a mastermind! Thinking ahead of just what needs to be done now… manipulating something that could cripple us into something that aids us… He shakes his head in awe, newly appreciating Thaddeus’s intelligence.

  “Wait… did you say we?” he asks, thrown off guard once again. He figured Thaddeus’s part would be helping to plan and to get them there. Not to face the danger head-on.

  Thaddeus smiles wearily. Nathan suddenly notices he hasn’t gotten much more sleep than he himself had recently. “Yes. I intend to come with you, of course. You might need someone who can use magic, plus I’m not going to just stand by while my niece gets tortured by that fiend.” He laughs at the look on Nathan’s face at the word ‘magic.’ “Did you already forget that I can use magic? Not only did I use it constantly to keep Crystal’s identity hidden during the Challenges, I just cast a spell not too long ago to keep our words veiled!”

  He’s startled, then laughs at himself. I can’t believe I already forgot that! I don’t know that I’ll ever fully grasp the intricacies that this world provides- like magic. They don’t laugh long. Nathan thanks him, then starts to leave. As he steps out onto the street, Thaddeus’s hand on his shoulder stops him. “Don’t you want to know when to tell the fake Crystal when to leave?” Nathan chuckles at himself again.

  “Yes, of course! Sorry, I’m not thinking.” Thaddeus smiles, then tells him to inform the impostor that everyone is leaving in the morning. Nathan thanks him again and heads back to the Square, where he left Ham, Sierra, Lloyd, and the impostor. His heart feels lighter now that they have a plan, and he feels like skipping. He smiles. “Don’t worry, Crystal. We’re coming for you,” he whispers triumphantly.

  <<>>

  I’m worried. I have no clue as to what I should do, and Patrick’s reports say that Nathan still has no idea what’s going on, so apparently Gale wasn’t able to contact him. Not only that, but he’s leaving Zilferia tomorrow morning! I guess my plan didn’t work, I sigh as I stare at the paper with pictures on it that mean nothing to me. Now what am I going to do? …I can’t escape by myself, and Chet and Vlad are counting on me to get them out of here! …I don’t know that obeying Patrick will help me much now that there’s no reason to stall him… I hang my head in my hands and close my eyes. The hated feeling of hopelessness once again smothers me in its blanket of sorrow. I struggle to breathe through the pain of disappointment and hatred- and perhaps even fear- of Patrick.

  Well, if there is no longer a reason to obey Patrick, then I’ll just see what I can do to stop his progress. …Maybe for starters, I’ll tell him I figured out the problem with this machine, and make it so it will blow up or something
. I don’t care anymore if I lose myself in the process of getting rid of Patrick and his Dragon Hunters. They must be taken care of, and I’m here, so it might as well be me. I take a deep breath and peer at the paper again. They told me the power source was simply magic… but where did they get the magic to put into it? It would have to come from somewhere, right?

  My eyes trace the shape of the machine, following a tube that’s convoluted and connected strangely. Something about this has always seemed a little… off to me, but could that really be what’s wrong with this machine? No, it’s too simple. But… I think that it is! I grin, pleased with myself. Then I frown. I don’t know how what to tell Patrick to do to make it blow up, though… I really don’t know much about engineering. …Well, maybe I’ll find another way to destroy him and his operation… I don’t have much choice at the moment anyway. I’ll just find another opportunity to strike… I look up to see the door opening. Patrick storms into the room, his foul mood seeming to darken the very air around him.

  “What’s taking you so long?” he demands, slamming his hands down on the wooden table with a thump. “It’s been two days! Haven’t you figured it out yet?”

  “Well, why couldn’t you figure it out?” I bite back, taunting him. “Why are you depending on a sixteen-year-old girl to think for you? Are you really that lacking in intelligence?” Patrick’s face gets red with anger. He barely restrains himself from hitting me, although I can see on his face how much he would love to do so.

  “I told you,” he growls through clenched teeth, “This is a test. I want to see what you can and cannot do. …I already know the answer to the puzzle. The purpose is to see how long it will take you to figure it out.” With that, he spins around and storms toward the door, apparently fed up with me.

  “Wait!” I call out as he reaches a hand out toward the door. Clenching his fist, he stops and turns around.

  “What is it?” he growls. Great, now I’ve put him in an even worse mood than before. I swallow and decide not to try and make anything up to tell him; especially since he claims he already knows what the problem is anyway.

  “I… I figured it out,” I squeak out uncertainly.

  “Well, it’s about time!” And with that, he leaves.

  “Where’s he going?” I ask Chet and George. They both shrug, so I sigh and wait for him to come back. He returns sooner than I thought, with three men behind him.

  “Well then, if you really have figured it out, tell my men what it is.”

  I nod, still confused as to what he’s getting at. I point to part of the picture. First I want to check as to what they want each piece to do, even if they won’t tell me the purpose of the machine as a whole. “This is supposed to connect these two things, correct?” I ask. They nod. I check with a few other things, but Patrick soon grows impatient.

  “Have you figured out the problem or not?” he spits out.

  “Yes.” Turning to the actual thing beside the table, I point out the over-complicated tube. Disconnecting and reconnecting a few things, I free up the extra tube before taking it and connecting it through the top to what seems to be the main part of the machine, then let it emerge out the front. I take another small tube from a pile of spares they gave me and make it stick out the side, explaining that whatever gunk the machine produces releases here.

  I don’t really know what I just did, especially since I still don’t know what the machine is even supposed to do, besides have powerful suction and have somewhere for… something… to go when the device is finished. I back away from it so the three can see what I did. They swarm over it for a couple minutes, and once they’re done, one of them gives a slight nod to Patrick. He smiles wickedly and walks out of the room, leaving the three to carry the machine back out of the room. Chet lends them a hand. I watch, dumbfounded, as they go and the door closes behind them.

  “What the crap just happened?” I wonder out loud. George shrugs, just as lost as I am.

  I sigh and sit back down in the uncomfortable chair and close my eyes. I don’t want to sleep, I just… ponder. I try to figure out what I’m going to do now to send word to Nathan before it’s too late, but my only plan didn’t work, so I haven’t a clue what to do. I think of him, already missing the sound of his laughter and even his stubbornness.

  <<>>

  …I sure hope the impostor really bought my story… Nathan can’t help but worry as he lies in bed, unable to sleep. Crystal really needs my help- I just know it! She’s in trouble… He glances over at ‘Crystal’ and watches as she sleeps. Well, I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. The only way we can get to the real Crystal is with stealth and surprise. We won’t have surprise on our side if the impostor knows we’re coming… No. Thaddeus’s plan will work. It has to. Still, he can’t shake the feeling that the impostor won’t act the way they’re expecting. Sighing, he pushes these thoughts out of his head. Worrying about tomorrow won’t change anything. He rolls over and finally falls asleep.

  When he wakes, the impostor is already gone. He smiles a little. She’d been slipping up even more than usual lately. Crystal wouldn’t just leave without him, she would make sure he was ready to go as well. They were partners, and they trusted each other with their lives… and that bond was something you just can’t duplicate.

  He gets dressed and finds his friends already eating breakfast. They’re all excited, and he understands their anticipation. People around them assume that it’s because they’re going home, but it’s actually because they can’t wait to save Crystal- just like him; although he’s less excited than he is nervous and anxious. Still, he sits next to the fake Crystal and starts on his breakfast. Ham, Lloyd, and Sierra still try to act normal by talking about seeing their families again, and the impostor eats it up. Nathan grins a little before quickly wiping it away. Man, this impostor is so gullible!

  When they finish eating, Thaddeus and ‘Vlad’ come up to their table and tell them what to expect. “You will go one by one,” Thaddeus explains. “The winning team will go first. So the order will be Crystal, then Nathan, Sierra, Ham, and Lloyd will be after the rest of the contestants since he was out of the Games first. You will go with Vladimir to the portal in a few minutes, Crystal. We will leave you now so you can say your goodbyes.” Then they move on to the other contestants’ tables to tell them the news as well.

  The goodbyes aren’t very heartfelt since the four of them would be seeing each other again in just a matter of minutes, and the other doesn’t know how Crystal would act saying goodbye.

  ‘Vlad’ returns soon after they finish and has ‘Crystal’ go with him. Nathan grins. This is so perfect! Since they’re both actually Dragon Hunters, ‘Vlad’ will probably just send her into the forest toward the Dragon Hunters’ building. This couldn’t be better!

  Sure enough, it doesn’t take long for Vlad to return for him. Nathan follows him, trying to act like he’s excited when really, he’s terrified. Thaddeus told him he made it so his portal would just put him in the forest a few feet away rather than sending him back to First Earth, but… what if it doesn’t work? How would he get back and save Crystal then? He shakes off the feeling of foreboding and keeps moving. He just has to trust Thaddeus.

  They reach the spot sooner than he expected. ‘Vlad’ gestures to a large tree. “This is your portal.” Nathan nods, swallowing his fear. He steps forward and walks through the tree. There’s a slight tingling sensation, but it doesn’t last long. Next thing he knows, he’s standing behind a tree only a few yards away from Vlad. He peers around it and watches as Vlad nods, satisfied, and heads back to the Square to get Sierra.

  He tells her to travel through the same tree. She ends up beside Nathan. Her eyes widen with surprise, but she stays quiet. The same thing happens with Ham. Nathan watches intensely as Jake is led to the same tree. He holds his breath, fearing he might pop up there with them. After a minute, he doesn’t appear. He releases the breath he had been holding, relieved that it worked just like Thaddeus said i
t would. As Vlad leaves, he remembers what Thaddeus told them to do next.

  “Let’s go,” he whispers to Ham and Sierra. They nod and start heading in the general direction of the Dragon Hunters. After about ten minutes, Nathan’s fear returns that they made a mistake, but they spot a person in the distance soon after. She stops in a small clearing and looks around cautiously. They quickly duck behind some trees.

  Satisfied, ‘Crystal’ couches down and concentrates. She shimmers and becomes a girl with long black hair, who stands and begins walking away again. She’s wearing all black, with even her hands covered- just like the other Dragon Hunters. They quietly follow her again, Nathan’s two friends treading carefully right behind him. They travel for a few more minutes before Thaddeus and Lloyd catch up to them. Their appearance is sudden, causing Sierra to yelp, but Nathan stops her just in time. Thaddeus had already warned him that he would create another short-distance portal to put himself and Lloyd right behind them. He releases Sierra, nods to Thaddeus and Lloyd, and continues after the impostor with single-minded determination. The other three exchange surprised looks, but Nathan hardly notices.

  The only thing he’s concerned about is Crystal.

  <<>>

  I stare at the wall, biting my lip with frustration. Patrick hasn’t come back yet, and Chet doesn’t know what’s going on either. Not only that, but it’s too late for me to stop Nathan from leaving. He left about an hour ago, which I know because the person who was impersonating me reported to Patrick as soon as she left. My impersonator will be back soon, apparently. I sigh and rest my head on the table. I feel like I should be crying, my heart wrenching with sorrow, yet… I’m not. I’m puzzled, but I figure that I’m so sad and so drained, I can’t cry. When I was on earth, I heard that happens sometimes. The person is kind of just too… numb to cry.