The Crystal Dragon Series Collection

by Katie Cherry

  I stare at her in disbelief. “…Then we’ll rescue him too,” I finally declare.

  “That’s not such a good…” Josh begins before Reed punches him in the arm, silencing him.

  “That’s just fine, if we find him,” Reed says, watching me as he cautiously continues. “But if we don’t come across him, we can come back for him another time, alright? We aren’t going to go looking for him tonight. We have a mission to fulfill, and that’s our priority.”

  I nod, accepting this. I notice the others breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t bother to wonder why. “Then let’s go,” I say, continuing over the brown line. The protective spells surrounding the building have been lowered for a short time by Thaddeus. He told me before we left that he would be keeping an eye on us using magic and drop the shields around the building as we walk through- but he won’t be able to see us once we get past the last one. We’ll be on our own on the way out.

  My soft leather boots prevent the dry leaves from crackling when I step on them, and the others move as quietly as they can without such aid. Susan is amazingly light on her feet and doesn’t cause even a whisper of a sound. I can tell she’s the most experienced of the group. The warrior. Ham and Sierra follow me closely as we get closer to the stone building up ahead. I slow down and whisper to the others that the porcupine-tiger should be near and to watch out for it. They nod and we continue, peering into the darkness, alert for any sign of movement. We start to spread out a little. After a few minutes, I begin to get confused. Where is it? I thought it was around here somewhere…

  I freeze as I suddenly feel hot, wet breath on the back of my neck. I don’t dare move- or even breathe. I remain frozen as the head lowers toward me and I can hear it sniffing me like a curious dog. I close my eyes, praying that someone will notice and help me. I slowly inch my hand toward my belt where my bell is tucked. Just as I grasp it, the presence of the beast at my back abruptly disappears. My heart leaps into my throat and I spin around, my eyes sweeping the area.

  “Chet?!” I exclaim, shocked. Standing before me, bloodied sword in his left hand, is the boy that I rescued from the Dragon Hunters mere months before. And lying before him is the sprawled form of the porcupine-tiger. The rest of the group comes running, having heard me. “Chet, how did you… what…” He strides toward me and puts a gentle finger on my lips, silencing me. I obey this command for silence, but beg him with my eyes to explain.

  “Later,” he whispers, his face mere inches from mine. He pulls back a little to include the rest of the group. “Why are you here?!”

  “I… um…”

  “We came to rescue two of our own. Would you happen to know where they are?” Susan asks. I jump. She was so quiet, I had no idea that she was at my side, blade half-drawn. However, I can hear the rest of the group come up and join us.

  Chet’s eyes flick from Susan and back to me. I’m surprised by the new intensity of his gaze. “…Yes,” he finally confides. “Follow me,” he says, quietly leading the way to the stone castle. I remain frozen in place for a moment from shock before I turn and see him waiting for me, hand outstretched. “Come on,” he urges. I hesitantly take his hand, and he pulls me to the front of the group before releasing it. I can’t help but stare at him as we continue onward. He’s become so strong and self-assured I barely recognize the gentle, hopeful boy I met not so long ago. I also can’t help but touch my lips, remembering his finger on them… I shake it off. What’s wrong with me? I have a mission to finish! I can’t be sidetracked by other things!

  I take a deep breath as we stop beside a back door to the building. This is it… but am I ready? Am I really prepared to face this dark place again? After everything that happened… I glance around at the determined faces of my companions and decide that I am. This time, I won’t be alone.

  This time, I will show Patrick no mercy if I encounter him again.

  Chet glances back to me. I nod to show that I’m ready. He slowly nods back, then carefully eases the door open. I take a deep, shuddering breath, and follow him inside. The others follow me. Ham and Sierra are especially hesitant. They remember this place almost as distinctly as I do. But they never had to live through the horrors this place had to offer… I shudder and force myself to stop thinking about it. I can’t be distracted from this mission.

  Chet turns to us once the door is quietly shut behind the last person inside. “There are two possible places I can think where they might be kept,” he whispers. “However, we don’t have much time until someone combs through the hallways and rooms checking for intruders. We’ll have to split into two groups. Who’s going to come with Crystal and me?” I glance at him. He had never asked my opinion. I would have chosen to go with him, but still, he should have at least asked me first.

  He glances at me as if he knew what I was thinking. “Provided she wants to go with me, of course,” he adds. I nod, feeling even more confused now. Sierra and Susan opt to come with us while the four boys go in the other direction. Chet points them to the dungeon where Vlad was being kept. I feel a rush of gratitude. I don’t have to go down there in the dark where I can feel things watching me, while I feel at my most powerless… I feel a shiver run down my spine at the thought. I don’t know how Chet knew about my fear of the dark, but I’m even more glad that I am going to go with him now. “Follow me,” he whispers, creeping silently down the hallway. I follow him closely with Sierra right behind and Susan bringing up the rear.

  We head towards the section of the building where I had been held. The higher we climb, the tighter the knot in my stomach gets. By the time we reach the all-too-familiar hallway, I can hardly breathe. I swallow and forge on anyway, not giving voice to my complaints for what this place is doing to me. Chet stops in front of a door only a few steps from the room I was held in for so long. He turns to us and whispers, “I heard this is where Patrick keeps most of the things that he doesn’t want intruders to discover. I don’t know if that means prisoners or information- but I figure either could be beneficial.” We nod. “There may be a guard inside,” he continues. “Since there wasn’t a Dragon Hunter outside. Or I suppose we could have just gotten lucky and arrived just as they were switching guards. Either way, we should be quick and quiet.”

  We nod again and he crouches, pulling a key out from between two stones in the wall where the mortar had been chipped away. He slowly inserts the key into the doorknob, then gestures for us to back up. Once we do, he flings the door open and rushes into the room, sword in hand. After a few seconds, he steps out and waves us in.

  No one is in the room, but like Chet guessed, it’s packed full of books, diagrams, and other things that look important. “Since this will probably be our only chance to infiltrate this building for a while, we should gain as much information on his plans as we can. But we have to make it fast. We still need to help the others with the rescue,” Susan states. We all agree and focus on the bounty of information before us. Susan and Sierra head to the shelves around the perimeter of the room while Chet heads to one of the tables in the center and I go to the other. Papers and books are scattered all over the table in a disorganized mess as though someone had been in a hurry to find something. I rummage through diagrams of dragons, buildings, and fortifications before stopping on a familiar drawing.

  The Gift Stealer; my biggest mistake and Patrick’s greatest achievement and most effective weapon. Something that made not only my life more difficult, but also tons of innocent Villagers lives worse as well. I had helped Patrick forge a weapon, and had accidentally completely turned the tables in the war that is now raging.

  Everyone who’s died, been captured, or otherwise hurt in some way… was all because of me.

  A tear falls unbidden from my eye, splashing onto the diagram. I suddenly notice Chet by my side and quickly wipe at my eyes, setting the paper back onto the table. “…It’s not your fault,” he says comfortingly, laying a hand on my shoulder.

  I shake my head. “But it is. I was the one
that figured out how to fix his stupid machine… so now everyone that he’s used it on… their pain and… everything… is all because of me…”

  “How do you know that Patrick hadn’t been on the verge of figuring it out himself? Maybe asking you actually slowed him down. You didn’t do anything immediately- you waited as long as you could before you told him, right? So don’t blame yourself, okay?” His voice soothes me and I nod, sniffling.

  “Okay,” I whisper. “…Thanks.”

  He nods. “I… um, found something I think you might want to see,” he says, handing me a small book with a soft leather cover.

  “What is it?” I inquire.

  “Open it,” he urges.

  Hesitantly, I obey and read, ‘Today was another success. All of Zilferia is cowering before my might. As soon as I finish off the dragons and Sohos, I will concentrate my efforts on the Village. They still believe that they have hope. I must show them that they are wrong…” I glance back up at Chet. “Is this… Patrick’s journal?” I ask incredulously.

  “I’m pretty sure,” he confirms. “Let me know if you find anything interesting,” he says, heading back to the other table to continue searching. I gaze at the black leather book clutched in my hand, unable to believe what I have in my possession. This might have his plans for whatever he’s going to do next! We can be ready for him! I stuff down my excitement, setting it down carefully on the corner of the table. I’m taking this one with me.

  I catch sight of another diagram on the table and reach for it. Most of it is buried under some other papers, so I can’t tell what it is until I pull it out. I freeze, unable to breathe. The hand holding the paper trembles and the paper falls to the ground. I stoop down and retrieve it. Holding it closer to the light, I trace the letters on the page with a shaking finger. Dragon Slayer. The huge contraption must be the weapon that Tatiana told me about when I went to Dragon Mountain a few months before. The weapon that is impervious to fire- and strong enough to endure the strength of their claws… the device that is slaying dragons at an alarming rate.

  I suddenly hear a commotion just outside the closed and relocked door. Scrambling, I stuff the paper into the journal, which I clutch tightly to my chest. With my other hand, I pull out my dagger. Chet steps towards the door, and we follow him silently. He listens for a few seconds before grabbing the door handle and ripping it open. In a flash, the handle of his sword hits the man in the back of the head, sending him to the ground. I watch Chet carefully. He just doesn’t seem quite the same as when I first met him… he wasn’t ever this skilled with a sword, or this swift. He was just a boy…

  Once again, I shake off these distracting thoughts. Now is not the time for them. I can puzzle over it all later. “Come on, let’s find the others,” Chet whispers. “We’re bound to be found out soon. Let’s just hope the two you were looking for were in the dungeon.” We run as quickly as we can down the hallway while still keeping our footsteps light and soundless. We’re almost there when we run into trouble.

  We turn a corner and stop dead. Standing there are six Dragon Hunters, armed and waiting. Susan, the fastest to react to this new threat, takes down two of them with throwing knives before anyone else even really knows what’s going on. Chet helps her take down the remaining four. They finish before I even take a step forward to try and help. “Hurry!” Chet calls, racing down the steps into the dungeon. He quickly opens the door. Standing there is the rest of our group, their faces crestfallen.

  “Where are Zelda and Y’vette?” I ask frantically.

  Reed just shakes his head sadly. “They weren’t down there.”

  Susan doesn’t let us stew on this for long. “Well, we have to go now before we are captured. Come on, come on!” she calls, hastening us toward the door.

  We burst outside, only to find ourselves surrounded by more than twenty men covered in black cloaks. Standing directly in front of us is Patrick, grinning triumphantly. “Hello again, Crystal Dragon,” he greets calmly.

  Fury suddenly builds in me so rapidly and without warning that everything around me disappears in a haze. The only thing I can see clearly is Patrick’s smug face. His scar, for once not hidden, doesn’t throw me off at all. I focus on the proud look in his eyes and act without thinking. Moving faster than I ever have before, I charge at him while screaming at my friends to run- run away as fast as they can. Before I reach Patrick, however, I suddenly freeze mid-step. I quickly find the source of my block- a man standing close to Patrick has his hand outstretched and his eyes narrowed in concentration. Without hesitation, I throw my dagger hard. It flies straight and true, burying itself in his fleshy neck. He goes down in a gush of blood.

  I continue racing at Patrick, watching as the proud, power-hungry look on his face turns into surprise, shock- and even a little fear. Reaching in my belt as I continue forward, I pull out the small grenade and remove the pin. I throw it hard at Patrick, who somehow dodges it at the last second. It flies past him and explodes with a deafening retort, ripping a massive hole in the circle of men caging us in.

  With debris thick in the air, Patrick is suddenly veiled from my sight. I stop and spin around but am unable to see much in the murky air. The smoke and dirt particles are thick and hang in the air. I feel like I’m being smothered. I start to pull up my hood when a strong hand suddenly grabs my arm.

  A face appears through the dim surroundings, his gruesome features curled into a sneer. “Get away from me!” I scream, whacking Patrick’s hand with his journal. He curses and lets go. I see his eyes widen at the journal in my hand. His mouth opens to say something and his hand extends toward me again.

  Quickly backing away, I pull up my hood and race away as fast as I can. With the cloth over my mouth and nose, breathing is easier and I’m able to escape. I don’t stop running until I’m well past the line where the trees become healthier. Letting go of the hood and allowing the wind flying past to fling it onto my back, I run faster.

  When I finally do stop, I collapse and slide down to the ground beside a tree and start sobbing. The tears come fast and hard, and I’m still gasping for breath from my run. My heart is racing, and I feel overwhelmed by everything that happened. After a while, my crying slows, along with my heart rate and breathing. Exhausted, I let my head rest between my knees.

  And fall asleep.

  ******

  A sudden rustling nearby jolts me back to alertness. I swing up my head… and find two green, glowing feline eyes staring back at me. I’m too surprised to scream, or even move at all. I simply stare back at it, watching its every move even as it does the same to me. It takes a step toward me and is too close for comfort. I swallow nervously and am about to scream for help when more rustling reaches my ears.

  “Crystal?” I hear a worried voice call. The large cat backs away, finally breaking its gaze and racing off into the trees at the exact same moment that Sierra bursts out from the trees. Relief spreads quickly over her face. “Oh, Crystal… I found her!” she shouts. Immediately the sound of many footsteps come racing towards us as Sierra kneels in front of me. “Are you alright?” she asks, holding my face between her hands. Her touch is cool and helps bring me back to my senses.

  “Sierra? How long…” I glance at my watch.

  “You’ve been missing for almost an hour,” she informs me. “We’ve been searching like crazy… we didn’t realize you got so far! We were mostly looking closer to the explosion, then spreading out… We thought… we thought maybe…”

  I feel a pang in my chest. I keep accidentally hurting those nearest to me. “I’m so sorry, Sierra,” I say, feeling a tear fall unbidden from my eye. “I should have tried to find you… you thought that Patrick had captured me again…” She nods, sniffling, before regaining control of her emotions just as the others arrive.

  “Crystal! Thank goodness you’re okay!” Ham cries, rushing to me and giving me a hug as I rise to my feet, surprising me. He pulls back and holds me at arm’s length, eyes going up and dow
n my body. “…You are okay, right? I mean, I don’t see anything wrong…”

  “She’s fine,” Susan assures, amusement making her eyes shine in the faint moonlight. “Come on, we’ll talk about it later. We need to get out of here before Patrick sends a search party after us.”

  Josh snorts back laughter. “Do you really think he’d dare? Crystal just blew up about twenty of his men! And…”

  Reed cuts in impatiently. “You’re an idiot to think that he won’t. He didn’t know that Crystal was back before now. He would rather grab her from a few of us now while we’re in the woods- in his territory- before he would have to face the entire Village in order to get her.”

  Susan starts, a flash of fear spreading across her face and disappearing again so quickly I almost think I imagined it. “They’re coming,” she states. “I can… hear their thoughts… they’re looking for us. Run,” she calmly finishes, racing off into the darkness.

  I glance at Sierra, who grabs my hand and tears off with me in tow. She isn’t going as fast as I know she can with her Gift of speed, but she’s going plenty fast enough for me to barely keep my footing and prevent her from dragging me along the ground.

  We quickly catch up to Susan, who waves us onward. “Get Crystal home, Sierra. Don’t come looking for the rest of us, and don’t stop. Keep the Princess safe.”

  She nods and speeds up, racing around trees and leaping over fallen ones, dragging me behind her. I grimace. Not only does no one ever let me make my own decisions, but my arm feels like it’s being pulled out of its socket. “Sierra… wait…” I start.

  “No,” she responds, not even breathing hard. “I was on this mission with the sole order to protect you at all costs. That’s what I’m doing, and you can’t stop me.”

  “Okay, but…” I gasp as she leaps over a boulder and yet another wave of pain races from my shoulder down to my hand. “You’re… hurting me… slow down, at least… please.”