The Crystal Dragon Series Collection

by Katie Cherry

  “No, there’s not,” I bite back. “I’m not a freshman, I know how things work around here. You can’t haze me. Now let… me… go.”

  He laughs again. “Oh? Not a freshman? Just a dumb blonde, then… it’s the same thing. Challenging a senior football player… it’s not too smart,” he says, to the appreciation of his friends. “Now pay up, or I guess you’ll just be late to class…”

  I frown, rage boiling up inside of me. I struggle to contain it. A fight won’t be a good way to start the new school year. …But it’s difficult to control, just as it has been ever since I got back from Zilferia. “Dude… back away. Now. Before I… hurt you.”

  “Hurt me? This little blonde chick thinks she can hurt me? Did you guys hear that?” he guffaws. His laughter is the last straw. I quickly kick him in a few choice weak spots, swing around behind him, and jam my finger into a nerve in his neck before pushing him to the ground. I turn away, leaving him momentarily crumpled behind me. As I resume walking, I can feel the weight of the stares of everyone in the lobby. I walk faster and duck into the math classroom.

  I have never been so glad to be there in my entire life.

  *****

  I eat alone at lunch again. Justin is eating with his friends and doesn’t notice me, which makes me second-guess myself again. Surely if he was working for the bad guys, he would be with me as much as possible… right? Since he’s not, it makes it seem like he’s an average guy- forgetting about me within a few hours… he’ll probably talk to me on the bus again, though. If he really is an average guy, that is… which there’s still no proof of. I sigh and munch on the flavorless pizza slice, thinking about how much I just want to go home.

  I watch as the football player from that morning walks into the room and scowls, searching the room for something. Me. He finally spots me and stomps over. I calmly sip my chocolate milk and wait for him. He slams his hands down on the table, hoping to startle or intimidate me. I slowly set down the milk and look up and him with a sly smile. “Yes?”

  He gets flustered, suddenly unsure of himself from my lack of response. “I… I need to talk to you.”

  “Then talk,” I invite, tilting my head to the side as if interested in what he has to say.

  “You… you’ve got a lot of nerve, you know that?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  He shifts his feet, uncomfortable with my utter lack of concern. “…I’m gonna make you pay for what you did this morning,” he finally threatens.

  I raise an eyebrow. “Really? And how will you do that? By initiating a fight- right in front of the principal?” He turns to see if he’s really there. He is. The football player turns back around, scowling.

  “I’ll get you, Blondie, you can count on it,” he says before stomping off to rejoin his friends. I sigh and dump the rest of my lunch in the trash and head to my next class. Might as well get this over with, I decide, again longing to go home.

  *****

  Dragons are flying in the sky; so many that they block out the sun. One of them, a black one, is leading them. A person is riding it. The dragon flies unevenly, suddenly swinging to the right or the left once in a while before continuing on as it had before. The cluster swoops down above a small part of the Village, flames arcing from their mouths, setting buildings on fire. One of the dragons suddenly gets hit by lightning, and everything erupts into chaos; people flying around amid fire, water, and lightning. Dragons falling from the sky. People running, screaming… Dragons roaring, diving, and tearing with their mighty claws. Blood… blood is everywhere. Huge groups of people try to flee while others arrive to help. A voice booms amid the chaos, but it barely cuts through the noise. The dragons turn to escape the chaos with only one remaining- the leader. It spins in a circle, eyes searching the skies. It and the person riding it suddenly plummet toward the ground, but it pulls up at the last second. It fights an invisible foe. Its rider shouts and the man is revealed. The King looks up, panic written on his face as the dragon’s snarling head comes closer.

  “Crystal Shay!”

  I gasp and look up from my notebook. “Y… yes, Mr. Quiler?”

  “Pay attention, please.”

  “Y… yes, of course. Sorry. I was just… daydreaming. It won’t happen again, sir.”

  “I trust that it will not,” he warns before turning back to the board.

  I sigh and slouch back into my chair, shaking my head to try and clear it. These ‘daydreams’ have been getting more and more frequent as well as clear and realistic. I take a deep breath and look down at my notebook. As I feared, I had written something that I was not aware of writing.

  Return. The same message as the last time I had been caught off-guard by a vivid daydream of Zilferia. But what did it mean? Why… How did I write that- without even knowing what I was doing? Was someone trying to tell me something? Was it Gale? But how was that possible when Patrick had taken away my dragon part as well as my Gifts? Especially when I’m in a different realm?

  Even if I could return to Zilferia, I had no way of getting there besides using my watch to ask Thaddeus or Vlad to make a portal for me. Although I couldn’t do that anymore either.

  My watch had been stolen.

  *****

  “So, how was your day?”

  I turn and find Justin walking up beside me in the hallway as I head to the bus. I can’t help but be a little surprised. “I… uh… well, I don’t know, it was a normal day, I suppose,” I lie, avoiding telling him the truth.

  “And what’s a normal day like for Crystal?”

  “Oh… you don’t want to hear about it, I’m sure…”

  “Oh, come on. I told you I would be here for you to talk to, so I expect you to take me up on it!” he says jokingly.

  I chuckle. “Well…” I stop when I see the football player coming down the hallway. He spots me and walks faster, followed by his buddies. I gulp and turn a corner. Justin picks up his pace to keep up with me, looking surprised.

  “What’s wrong? The bus is the other way…”

  “I know,” I say, trying to act normal. “I just… um, forgot something in one of my classes. You can go ahead and get on the bus, don’t wait for me.”

  He looks confused and unsure. I glance behind me and see the football players gaining. I walk faster. Justin has to nearly jog to keep up. “Are you sure you don’t need help with anything? …Why are we walking so fast?”

  “…No reason. I just… like walking fast.” We come to a dead-end. I had been too preoccupied with getting away to realize that I had accidentally come down the hallway that leads to the janitor’s closet. My breath catches with worry and I spin around. The football player sneers as he strolls down the corridor towards us.

  “Dumb little blondie… trying to get away from me, eh? Too bad you weren’t smart enough to pick a hallway that didn’t have a dead end. Time to pay, girl.”

  “…What’s going on?” Justin asks, looking utterly lost.

  I grimace. “I kinda… beat him up earlier today.”

  “Wait… you did what?”

  “Time to pay for your mistake, Blondie,” my foe announces, walking closer and cracking his knuckles menacingly. I frown, thinking quickly. Should I fight him, or try and run? I lost my Gift for fighting… but that doesn’t mean that I can’t stand up to a bully. I’ve been taking self-defense lessons since I was seven. As powerful or scary as this guy looked, I was someone that shouldn’t be underestimated either. Dropping my things in the corner, I step forward to meet him as his friends make a loose circle around us, boxing Justin out. The football player grins and leans closer to me.

  “…I have your watch, by the way.” His voice sends shivers racing down my spine. “I may not have any Gifts, but you don’t anymore either… now I can show Patrick my worth and get into his inner circle and get my own insignia on my-” He stops suddenly and leans back, clearing his throat. “Uh, I didn’t mean to say that much… Not that it will matter much for you anyway, Crystal… not after I
take you back to him…”

  I try to swallow back the painful memories of Patrick, but it’s difficult… I duck as the Dragon Hunter’s fist flies through the air above my head as I duck. In my mind, I see the memories of Zilferia play though in fast forward, so vivid it is difficult to distinguish the past from the present. So I’m too slow to move aside as his fist connects with my jaw, sending me spinning backwards into the circle of boys, who shove me back into the center. They all begin cheering for him to hit me again. I move my tongue around my mouth and taste blood. I swallow and return my attention to the situation at hand.

  Not a moment too soon, either. I pivot on one foot, and his fist glances off my shoulder. It burns a little. He’s stronger than he looks. I crouch and prepare to fight back when I’m again caught off-guard by one of my vivid daydreams. Not now!! I plead. ANY time but now!

  My vision becomes a mix of what’s happening right now and my ‘daydream.’ The Dragon Hunter smirking at me. A crowd of people crying amid ashes and unmoving bodies. Justin’s worried face as he reaches out to me. Flaming arrows screaming through the air, leaving a trail of burning black cloaks. A big pair of hands coming towards me menacingly. Someone sprinting away from the group of screaming people, face black with soot. A fist speeding toward my stomach. A huge explosion and maniacal laughter. Justin stepping toward me as I’m on my knees, holding my stomach with my hands. A group of dragons circling in the air. The dirty floor of the school. A black dragon flying towards the Dragon Hunters’ castle with Hunter Dragon upon his back.

  Finally, I see, hear, and feel nothing.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Doves’ House

  Feet pounding, Nathan tears down a dark hallway. He’s alone in the cold, dark place. He runs into a wall and blood starts to pour from his nose. He continues to run, cradling a box in his arms. His wrists hurt, his nose hurts, his leg hurts, and his Familiar, is nowhere to be found. Yet he continues onward anyway. Then he’s forced to stop. He’s come to a dead end. He turns as the noise of people running towards him echoes through the hallway. They’ve found him. And he has nowhere else to run.

  Nathan sits upright in bed, gasping for air. He’s dripping with sweat. He looks around the room, slowly realizing that it was just a dream. He falls back into bed and closes his eyes, trying to return his breathing to normal. He slowly falls back asleep.

  The instant he does, however, his alarm-bot jumps onto his stomach and begins bouncing to wake him up. He groans. “I’m up, I’m up…”

  The alarm-bot beeps once to warn him not to sleep in, then climbs back up to its spot on the dresser. His light turns on. Squinting against the harsh light, he asks it to dim. Sighing, Nathan stumbles past the dimmed lamp towards the shower, trying to shake the feeling of despair lingering from the dream.

  “How are you this morning, Nathan?” the voice installed into the shower asks. Nathan sighs, wondering once again why his father had made his shower ‘intelligent.’

  “I’m fine. Medium hot water and light rose soap today, please.”

  “Of course, Nathan.”

  Nathan’s muscles slowly relax as the hot water cascades over him. He closes his eyes and enjoys the feeling of the shower cleaning the sweat and grime off him. His mind clears as he wakes up a little more. He smiles as he recalls the previous day. I get to go to Angela’s house today too, and hang out with her! Today will probably be even better than yesterday… especially if I don’t get attacked this time, he thinks to himself, recollecting the ugly monster that had grabbed him and hauled him off the bus.

  He quickly finishes getting ready for school and hurries to the bus stop. As the bus rolls to a stop in front of him, he can’t help but reflect on what had happened just twenty-four hours previous. As the bus doors open, he looks up at the bus driver, ‘T,’ and frowns. Why had he just ignored what was going on? Was it on purpose, or was he just seriously out of it?

  T smiles at him as if nothing had happened. “Good morning,” he greets.

  “Uh… good morning,” Nathan replies before hurrying past the strange old man. He notices as he sits that the broken window had been replaced. Angela gets on at the next stop. She spots him almost immediately and quickly heads toward him. He scoots over to give her a place to sit.

  “Hey, Nathan,” she greets, smiling widely.

  “Hey,” he replies, returning the smile.

  “You talked to your mom about coming to my house today, right?”

  “Yep,” he replies, watching as she melts with relief. “She said that I can go if I can stay for dinner.”

  Angela beams. “We were planning on it! My parents are really excited you’re coming. They can’t wait to meet you.”

  He laughs a little. “Really? What did you tell them about me?”

  She looks a little surprised. “The truth, of course. I told them how awesome you are at fending off ugly creatures, running, tennis… they’re really impressed,” she says, looking into Nathan’s eyes and smiling.

  He blushes a little and looks down at his hands. “I told you, I just told the monster it had the wrong person and it left… I’m not as awesome as you make it sound.” She laughs, causing Nathan to lift his head and look at her again. “What?”

  “I also told them about how humble you are,” she winks. Nathan can’t help but feel a small smile creep across his lips.

  Angela’s eyes suddenly shift from his to something behind him. She frowns in confusion. “What is that?” Turning, Nathan notices what looks like a fairy. He blinks and looks closer. No, he was mistaken. The thing flying beside them was simply a dragonfly. He shakes his head sheepishly, laughing at himself. I can’t believe I thought I saw a fairy… how childish and ridiculous is that? “I wonder why that dragonfly is following the bus,” Angela questions, watching him carefully.

  He shrugs. “I have no idea.”

  “Hmm. Weird. …So did you talk to your mom about doing cross-country and tennis?”

  “Yeah,” Nathan replies, turning from the window as the dragonfly seems to stop following the bus. “She said it was fine as long as I still get good grades and get my homework done.”

  “Awesome! So you can do both then?” she asks to clarify.

  “Yep, I can do both!”

  “Sweet! Now I can kick your butt again!”

  They both laugh at this as the bus comes to a stop outside of the school. Nathan finally relaxes and realizes just how tense he had been throughout the ride, worrying that the day would be a repeat of the one before.

  They walk to their first class together, talking and laughing. Nathan suddenly stops in the middle of his sentence. “What’s wrong?” Angela asks, concerned.

  “Jake,” he growls, glaring at the guy who punched him the day before.

  She frowns. “I thought you said you could take him on?”

  “Oh, I can,” Nathan assures.

  “Then why…”

  “I can’t take on him and his friends at the same time,” he explains.

  Angela’s mouth hardens into a thin line. “…He won’t attack you like that… if he really wants to fight you, it won’t be in a public place like this. Plus, I’m sure he’d prefer to fight one-on-one if he can.”

  “Well, that sure makes me feel better,” Nathan remarks sarcastically. Angela smiles and takes his hand in hers. She starts walking past Jake and his friends, hauling an unhappy Nathan behind her. “Angela…” he starts.

  “Shh,” she warns, continuing to smile, although it doesn’t look heartfelt anymore. “Just go with it. We have to pass them eventually anyway. Act like you didn’t even notice them.” He warily obeys, and they get past them without any problems, although Nathan can feel Jake’s eyes on them as they pass by. He shivers, concerned by the malice he can feel radiating from him; cold as ice. Nathan sighs with relief as they leave him behind. They quickly continue to their first class, not wanting to be marked tardy. They sit together at the back of the room.

  They survive Mrs. Sternile’s l
ecture and escape to their gym class together. The gym teacher, Mr. Hefferson, seems ecstatic to see Nathan again. “Nathan!” he greets, slapping a hand down on his shoulder, grinning. “I trust you talked to your mother about coming to cross country?”

  Nathan smiles. “Seems like my mom’s trying to get me out of the house- she let me sign up for both cross country and tennis!” The three of them laugh. This is going to be a great school year, he thinks, grinning from ear to ear as he watches Angela laugh at his little joke, mirth dancing in her pretty hazel eyes.

  “You beat her at basketball too?!” Rachael, one of Angela’s friends, exclaims at lunch. Nathan laughs at the bewildered stares from all the girls.

  “Yes, but only because I got lucky.”

  “I’ll say,” Angela remarks. “That three-point shot should not have gone in- your form was so sloppy!”

  The group laughs. “What else do you do, Nathan?” Another of Angela’s friends, the girl with pretty white-blonde hair with pink highlights asks.

  “Um… well, I think you’d be surprised at how well I can swim,” he says, subconsciously touching the black speck at the base of his throat, remembering how the tiny device had helped him breathe underwater in the ocean in Zilferia. Memories of Crystal Dragon and the realm flash through his brain. He takes a moment to slowly come back to himself and pull his thoughts away.

  “…Wouldn’t stand a chance,” one of the girls says. They all turn and look at Nathan, expecting him to say something.

  He blinks. “Uh… I’m sorry, what were we talking about?” he asks sheepishly. The girls laugh.

  The one who was talking smiles and calmly repeats herself. “I was just saying that Angela’s amazing at swimming. She was on the swim team in her other school last year and got first place! If you were to race her, you wouldn’t stand a chance.” She watches him carefully. The other girls stare at him as well. He smiles a little and takes another bite of his food.

  Angela finally breaks the silence. “…Well?”