by Katie Cherry
I sigh and peer into my cup of hot chocolate and realize that it’s not as hot anymore. I raise the cup to my lips and swallow some of it. I then set the rest of it down on the table and curl up under the covers on my bed and fall asleep.
Thankfully, I don’t dream.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Girl
Nathan jumps as his cell phone vibrates once again. It was the fifth time that morning that it had gone off, and it was only nine thirty. He was still eating breakfast. He sighs and sets down his fork. “I’ll be right back,” he says to Zarafa, who nods. He walks into another room and pulls the phone out of his pocket. It was Angela, again. Why would she be calling so often on a Sunday? There must be something terribly wrong, Nathan figures, so he finally answers it.
“Angela? What do you want?” He didn’t mean to be so harsh, but his nerves were tight nowadays.
Her voice is filled with relief when she replies. “Nathan! Oh, I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear your voice again!”
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“…Nothing. I was just hoping that nothing was wrong with you… I was worried that ugly red monster that attacked while we were on the bus came back and got you.”
Nathan pauses. “…Why would you think that?”
“Because I saw it outside your house yesterday. I was really worried!”
It was outside his house yesterday? But yesterday he had been here, with Zarafa, who controlled the little beasts. “…I’m fine,” he says. “…Was there a pink one with the red one?”
“Um, yes, I think there was,” she confirms. “The red one had a bag. It looked like they were looking for something.”
“…But they left?”
“Yes.”
“…Well, that’s good…”
“Nathan? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m just… thinking. You don’t have any idea why they were there?”
“No. The only thing I could think of was that they were looking for you. I’m glad they weren’t, although I thought that they might have already got you since you weren’t around. I’ve been calling you a lot because I was so worried!”
“Well, there’s no need to be worried anymore,” he replies. “I’m just hanging at a friend’s house. I’ll see you on the bus on Monday, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” she says, sounding much happier. “I’m glad you’re alright, by the way.”
“Yeah, me too,” he says before hanging up.
Before he goes back in to finish his breakfast, he stops and thinks. Why were Rosulkip- and the other red monster whose name he keeps forgetting- snooping around his house with a sack? What were they looking for? He has an idea, but he sure doesn’t like it.
They probably found and took Greg.
<<
Angela slowly lowers her hand, the cell phone still clenched tightly in her fist. Nathan was worried about something, and it was obvious. Was T right? Did he already suspect her to be spying on him? …That she knew about Crystal? She shakes her head, chiding herself. Of course not- she’s just being paranoid. What was he worried about, then? Obviously he was fine… was it because the creatures knew where he lived? Possibly. But she had a feeling it was something more than that… Greg! His Familiar!
Suddenly she has a flashback to when she was back on Zilferia, an average citizen… back when she didn’t know as much as she does now that she’s a spy/guardian for the Queen. Back when Nathan and Crystal were still in the Games. She remembered the stunning red-tailed hawk, Nora, that Crystal got. They had developed a bond instantly. Greg and Nathan had as well…
Picturing the rat, Angela swallows. She doesn’t really like rodents, but she isn’t as squeamish about them as many girls are.
She sighs. It appears that she’ll have to look into why the Dorff were really there. Although Angela doesn’t need to discover anything to tell her that the Dorff are bad news.
After all, they were enlisted into Patrick’s service. They served the Dragon Hunters.
<<
Bryce strides into the room just as Nathan finishes his last gulp of orange juice. He doesn’t stop to say hello.
“Nathan, come with me. Now.”
Nathan stands, confused, but follows Bryce as he leads him to the door, which he left open when he came in. “Um…”
“No time for questions. I will fill you in as we walk.”
“…Okay…” Nathan grabs his backpack as he nearly jogs to keep up with Bryce’s long legs and shuts the door behind them.
“I just came from a Dragon Hunters’ meeting,” he begins as they start down the hill that Zarafa’s huge house is set on. “They are planning something big. It all goes down in about an hour.”
“…What does?” Nathan asks, not looking forward to the answer.
Bryce doesn’t answer him. “I figure we should be there to watch it all go down and try and prevent some of it if we can.”
“Wait, we’re going towards the Dragon Hunters??” Was his search partner stupid, or suicidal?
“Yes. You can blend in as an average citizen, and I can blend in as a Dragon Hunter.” He looks down at Nathan with his intense gaze. “Are you up for this? There are far more opportunities for you to help take down the bad guys if you stop running and hiding from them.”
Nathan frowns. “I don’t run and hide.” Bryce nods, accepting this as him going along with his plan, but Nathan still isn’t sure. He follows reluctantly. Something tells him that this is a very, very bad idea.
<<
Angela fidgets, waiting for word to come if the rat is still in Nathan’s room or not. She had sent Auna to find out, but it was taking a little longer than she expected. Finally, there’s a light tapping on her window. She rushes to it and lifts it up.
The small, fragile-looking fairiye flutters in. She’s about as tall as Angela’s pointer finger, and her wings, thin and delicate, extend to either side of her. Long white-blonde hair drifts around the tiny face, going down far enough to nearly reach the end of her light blue-green dress. The fairiye kicks her tiny feet excitedly as she hovers in the air, the sparkles on the light green shoes catching Angela’s eye. She’s shaking with energy and her bright blue eyes lock onto Angela’s as she relays the information, which is just what she was dreading when she asked her to go look for Greg.
“The Familiar is not present in the house, nor in his favorite places around the neighborhood. I cannot sense his magic anywhere.”
Angela sighs. “Thank you, Auna.”
The small fairiye lands on her right shoulder and puts a tiny hand on her face. “Are we going to go look for him?”
“Yes. Nathan needs his Familiar to keep him safe whenever we can’t be there with him.”
“You mean when you can’t,” Auna laughs. “His eyes can catch me and see through my cloaking spell. I can’t be with him anyway.”
“Even more reason for him to have his Familiar. He needs as much protection as we can provide. I will NOT fail in my mission from the Queen.”
Auna drifts up in front of Angela’s face and tilts her head to the side thoughtfully. “How do you know he didn’t take Greg with him?”
“I don’t for sure,” Angela sighs. “I just know that I can’t leave this alone. I can’t sit still and do nothing if there’s some way that I can help. The Queen is trusting me to take good care of Nathan, and that’s what I intend to do. …But I hope you are right and Greg is with him.”
“When are we going to look for him? Today’s Sunday. You know Walter and Ramona don’t approve of you going anywhere on Sundays. And after that, you have to go to school, play your sports, do your homework, and keep an eye on Nathan. We can’t look out for both Greg and Nathan at the same time.”
“I’ll think of something… we need to go find him now. Who knows what those Dorff may have done to him? We could be too late if we wait too long.”
She then walks over to her backpack and dumps the school stuff out on the
bed before filling the pack with magical tools, food, and anything else that might help her in the hunt. She pulls it on before opening her door and walking downstairs, finding her parents quietly reading. “Mom?”
Ramona carefully puts a bookmark in the book before setting it down next to her and looking back up at her daughter, tucking some of her short blonde hair behind her ear. “Yes, dear?”
“One of my friends texted me, and she’s having a really hard time today. She lives near here… can I go over and see if I can make her feel better?”
Her mom grins and her dad looks proud. “Of course. Take however long you need, just try and be back for dinner.”
“Okay, I will. Thanks.”
“Bye,” Walter calls as he and Ramona pick up their books once more.
“Bye,” she responds before closing the door behind her. She turns to Auna. “Lead the way.”
<<
When they get to the spot, Bryce says to split up, but he’ll be close by and keeping an eye on Nathan as he investigates. Before he can protest, Bryce had already disappeared. He sighs and walks around, not having any clue what he’s supposed to be looking for. He peeks into the windows of the stores he passes by, other people quickly walking past him. He still finds it a little strange to see people on First Earth walking rather than using hoverboards. He was used to Tanguay, where everyone had enough money for all the technology that kept coming out.
He goes into a few of the more interesting stores, but everything seems to be as it always is. Nothing seems to be wrong. Nathan relaxes. Bryce must have just heard wrong. Or maybe the Dragon Hunters changed their minds about coming here to do… whatever it was that they were going to do.
He changes his mind once he sees something flicker by the window in front of him. That fairy again… the one he saw on the bus! …Or he thought he saw. He wasn’t sure if he did or not, but his stay on Zilferia told him to follow his instincts- and his instincts were telling him to follow the fairy. So he darts into the store bathroom and turns into a small moth before darting out the window in pursuit of the fairy as it zips along.
After following it for a short time, he realizes that it seems to be searching for something. He decides that he needs to talk to it, so he shifts back into himself and dashes into a cooking shop, buying a simple glass jar before speeding back outside. After peering around, he spots the tiny person standing on a bush, eating a blackberry. He sneaks forward until he’s close enough to use his Gift to control the wind and push the fairy into the jar. She almost gets away regardless of the considerable gust, but Nathan manages to snatch her out of the air and dump her into the jar, clamping his hand over the top.
Lifting it up to eye level, he regards the fairy with interest. The beautiful, delicate fairy’s wings flutter nervously as she stares back at him, hands on her hips. Suddenly he hears a light, clear voice in his head and knows instantly that it’s the fairy’s voice. “Well, Nathan Anderson, you caught me. Now what are you going to do with me?”
“Just ask a few questions,” He replies, deeply intrigued by the magical creature. “Which realm are you from?”
“Lii, originally,” she replies, folding her arms to show her discontentment at being stuck in a jar.
“How did you get here?”
“Through a portal, obviously.”
“Why?”
“…I’m on a mission.”
“And what mission would that be?”
“You don’t need to know that,” she replies, sticking her tiny tongue out at him. He grins and tries to keep from laughing.
“What are you looking for?”
“…Your Familiar, Greg.”
Nathan freezes. “…Greg? How do you know about him? As a matter of fact, how do you know about me?”
The small creature sighs. “I reside with Angela while I am here in this realm. She told me about you.”
Nathan pauses, then decides to decipher this later. “But Angela doesn’t know that I have a Familiar…”
“No, but those with magic can sense other magic users. I am attempting to find Greg because I believe that he was taken by the Dorff. …Unless he’s with you?” Her icy blue eyes quickly scan him.
“…No, I don’t have him with me. We were separated. …Why would you believe that he was taken by the two Dorff?”
“Because the Dorff are known to only work for Patrick’s Dragon Hunters,” she tartly replies. “By the way, this jar is completely unnecessary. Let me out and I will still talk to you.” Nathan frowns. “…I’m kind of suffocating in here,” she continues. Nathan notices that she’s leaning against the glass like she can barely support herself.
“Oh, sorry!” Nathan says, lifting his hand from the top of the jar. After taking a few deep breaths, she jumps into the air and stands on the lip of the jar and tilts her head at him inquisitively. “…Why are you so surprised?”
Nathan swallows. “I… um… just didn’t realize that there were Dragon Hunters on First Earth.”
The fairy laughs. “You’re kidding me, right? There are Dragon Hunters in every realm!”
“Wait… all of them?” He repeats, instantly thinking about Crystal. If there were Dragon Hunters in Second Earth…
“Yes, all of them,” she sighs.
After a few seconds, Nathan again decides to move on before the fairy gets bored and leaves before he can ask anything else. “What is your name?”
“Auna,” she smiles. “By the way, I am not a fairy, I am a fairiye. Fairies are the cousins to the Fairiye, and they are less intelligent and less adept at using magic than us, although we do look similar.”
“Oh… sorry,” he says.
Auna suddenly freezes. “Angela’s in danger!”
“Wait… what?”
“I have a bond with her much like you and your Familiar’s bond,” she explains impatiently, lifting into the air, her wings becoming a blur. “She needs us, now! Follow me!” she gasps as she darts forward. Nathan quickly shifts into a magpie and follows the fairiye as she zips away so fast he can barely keep up with her. They find Angela within a couple of minutes.
She’s surrounded by five Dragon Hunters, their hoods hiding their faces. Angela is spinning in circles slowly, trying to keep all of them in sight at the same time. The Dragon Hunters press in closer to her, but she lashes out at them, pushing them back. Nathan can see the fear in her eyes as she continues to glance around at the men, a challenging glare attempting to hide the fear.
Nathan quickly lands and shifts back into himself before shifting into a large wolf and charging into the midst of them, leaping onto the nearest man and biting into his neck before breaking it with a sharp twist of his head. He lands on top of the body and stands there, hackles raised, as he bares his now bloody teeth at the rest of the men, who turn to face him instead.
<<
Auna flutters up in front of Angela as the large silver wolf distracts the Dragon Hunters. “Angela! Let’s get out of here! Now!”
“Um, right!” she replies, backing away from the fight, even as she is unable to tear her eyes from the scene as the wolf is tackled by all of the Dragon Hunters at once. She gasps, afraid for the wolf- or whoever it is that shifted into the wolf, since there are no wolf packs around these parts, plus wolves don’t act like this- but her rescuer darts out from under them with nothing but a scratch on its shoulder. It glances at the cut, bares its teeth in anger, then savagely rips a chunk of meat from one of the man’s legs. He goes down, screaming.
Angela can’t take it anymore. She turns to Auna. “I have to help!” she says before turning and racing towards the fight. Auna sighs, but follows. She needs to protect Angela as best she can, even if the foolish girl won’t listen to her.
Luckily, the wolf had already taken down three of the five Dragon Hunters and the last two were fleeing, so Auna didn’t have to worry about her too much. Angela then rushes to the side of the large grey wolf, the people still remaining around them gawking. “Tha
nk you for saving me!” she gasps gratefully, her arms around the wolf’s neck for a moment in a small hug. “Who are you? How did you know where I was? …Were you sent here for me?”
<<
Boy, I sure wish she would stop talking to me so much, Nathan sighs to himself. I need to get out of here. He snarls at the girl so she would back away. He dips his head to her in farewell before turning and loping off into the trees in the park nearby. Once far enough away from people, he shifts back into his own form, gasping at the sting of pain in his shoulder. Grimacing, he tears the sleeve off of the shirt, wrapping it around the wound as well as he can. Then he remembers Bryce and decides that he needs to find him and update him on what happened with the Dragon hunters as well as with the fairiye, Auna.
He starts walking back out of the park, but stops. Should he tell Bryce about Auna? After all, he trusted the fairiye, although he wasn’t quite sure why. And she had told him… that the Dorff were known to work only for Patrick.
But that can’t be right, he tries to reassure himself as he begins walking again, slower. The Dorff obeyed Zarafa, and she had already been proven to be working for the King and Queen- not that jerk, Patrick. …But what if I’m wrong? What if that wasn’t Alexander Dragon that I saw in that hologram? What if Zarafa tampered with it before she let me see it? …What if she and Bryce have been lying to me this entire time?
Or Bryce could be misled as well. …Even Zarafa could have no idea who she’s actually working for. Then again, what if the fairiye’s facts were wrong? What if the Dorff were working for good now? He groans and stops walking for a second. Too many ‘what ifs!’ I need to find out who’s telling me the truth, and I need to find it out now!
He suddenly hears men talking in low whispers behind a group of trees. Nathan quickly and quietly edges over to them, listening intently.
“Curse Bryce! He should have been controlling the boy- not gallivanting who knows where, doing who knows what! He failed in his job, and therefore caused us to fail in ours.” There are murmurings of agreement at this. “So what should we do about that?” He continues, sneering.