The Crystal Dragon Series Collection

by Katie Cherry

  <<>>

  Hunter smacks the pluva on his plate with his spoon, watching it bounce from the impact. With a sigh, he pushes the still full tray of food away from him and leans back in his chair. Closing his eyes with a groan, he thinks back on the discoveries of the day. Patrick sent men to First Earth without clearing it through me to try and kill Nathan’s family. That could have gone so badly… and as his superior now, I would take the heat for it. He’s lucky, honestly, that Beryl escaped. She’s a much bigger player than he knows. He would know if he had ever gone to the Higher Power meetings, but he was lazy and hard-headed. Having just gone to one myself, I already know more about the greater plans than he ever did. …Although since that meeting, they decided to send someone to babysit me, he groans, resting his head on his desk. Thankfully they chose Dexter, who seems to like me well enough, but it is still going to be difficult to juggle having him here practically full-time for a while with Patrick trying to take back control.

  Standing, he staggers wearily toward the door. The halls are quiet as everyone but the guards are asleep, so Hunter remains in blissful solitude. Until he steps outside. There he finds two figures striding toward him. Recognizing the cloaks billowing in the wind, he groans and waits for them to come closer. To his surprise, it’s Bryce and a lower ranking soldier. “Bryce? What are you doing up so late?” he asks suspiciously, eying the soldier, who was now shaking with fear.

  “Hunter,” Bryce greets with a slight bow. “I was following this man, here. He’s choosing to be loyal to Patrick over you. I assume you had nothing to do with ordering this man’s unit to go to First Earth?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Hunter sighs wearily. “That was Patrick’s doing. Behind my back.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Bryce continues, pushing the soldier forward. “So when I saw this man creating a portal to go to First Earth, I knew that it was going under your nose once again.”

  “Thank you, Bryce,” Hunter says, straightening to look more like the leader he was supposed to be. “What were your orders, soldier?” Shaking like a leaf before him, the man bows his head to the ground and begins speaking. “Oh, stand up,” Hunter groans. “I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.”

  “S-sorry, m-my Lord,” the man stammers as he scrambles to his feet. “I was j-just saying how P-Patrick had commanded for someone to be sent to keep an eye on Nathan’s family and to r-report when they come up from hiding.”

  Closing his eyes, Hunter repeats to himself, you have the strength to deal with all these idiots. You have the patience to make good decisions and to be a good leader. “Alright,” he finally sighs, opening his eyes again. “Same plan. But you report to me, got it?”

  “Yes! Yes, of course, my Lord,” the man hastily accepts, relief on his chubby face. “Thank you.”

  “You are to take no action. Only to alert me- or Bryce- to new developments. You are to watch the house. Bryce, find someone to watch the father’s workplace.”

  “Of course, my Lord,” Bryce replies, looking pleased.

  Looking past him, Hunter sighs wistfully. No rest for the wicked, it seems, he thinks to himself as he turns and leads the way back into the castle, which was beginning to feel more and more constraining and like a prison to him every day.

  <<>>

  Nathan runs his fingers through his hair, blowing out the breath he had been holding, causing the mirror before him to steam up. Placing his hand back on the corner of the counter, he leans forward, watching the fog gradually disappear, leaving behind his plain reflection. Staring into his own eyes, he demands his reflection for answers.

  “What happened, man?” he asks himself, whispering quietly so no one nearby would be able to hear him. His mind goes back to the night before, slowly replaying the image of Crystal kissing Chet. “It was on the cheek, sure, but she kissed him. I thought her feelings for him were because of Hunter’s manipulation… maybe she’s not free of that yet? No… that’s what the serum did for her was release her from that. So it can’t be that… Ugh!” His hands instinctively go back up to messing with his hair, a nervous tick he had acquired. His voice increases in volume as he continues. “I mean… that did happen, didn’t it? I’m not crazy. But… nobody else was phased. It’s like they didn’t even see it. Chet? Really? I mean, I have a girlfriend, I know that, but those two were awfully public.”

  Sighing, his shoulders gradually relax. “I just need to let it go. It doesn’t matter anyways, I’m sure she was just caught up in the moment. I need to focus on getting ready to go to Quagon… that’s all I need to do. Just prepare. After breakfast, we’ll be heading out. Just us. No Chet.” Feeling better, he straightens his hair and steps out of the bathroom.

  After adding the finishing touches to his packing, he shoulders the back and heads down the stairs. His first clue that Crystal was right behind him is Nora flying past him to the kitchen. “Good morning, Nathan!” she chirps happily.

  “Good morning,” he replies, making sure to smile as he turns to her. “How did you sleep?” She looked remarkably refreshed. Of course, she hadn’t been up half the night over-analyzing useless stuff.

  “The best I have for a while!” she replies, hopping down the remaining stairs between them, coming up close to him, a grin stretching across her face. “Are you ready for today?”

  “Yep,” he says, his smile feeling more sincere the longer they talk. “I’m also ready for this breakfast,” he adds as they enter the kitchen, sending a wink to Matilda as she finishes adding the finishing touch to the crepes on the table. Beaming, she stands quickly, sending powdered sugar down her apron.

  “I hope you like it,” she says, coming up and giving each of them a hug, spreading the powdered sugar. “Good luck, you two. And don’t you worry, you’ll be back here before you know it!” she chortles before heading back to the kitchen once more.

  Laughing, he and Crystal wipe off the powdered sugar the best they can before sitting down at the table. Nora, meanwhile, gorges on her specially prepared meal in the corner of the room. As they begin eating, they’re joined by Thaddeus, Vlad, Alexander, Pearl, Angela, and Chet. No one says much as they eat, unsure of what to say.

  Finally, hugs are exchanged and short goodbyes repeated as the small Quagon party finally walks out of the door. Vlad doesn’t say much, so Crystal and Nathan don’t either, opting to take in the land around them. It may not look like this the next time we come back, Nathan frowns to himself, remembering how each time they come back, Zilferia is just a little more torn apart than before. He can tell Crystal had the same thought by how she stares sadly around at everything, even the little wall in the midst of being built. By the time they come back, Crystal’s birthplace would be a war zone.

  When Vlad stops, it’s in the same place as the last trip he sent them on, to their homes. “Alright. Well, we’ve all said goodbye- twice, now, but I just want to say it again.” His eyes soften as he looks at them, a sad smile on his face. “Good luck, and don’t forget to contact us whenever you need anything. Alright? Anything happens, you let us know. We can pull you back as quickly as needed.”

  “Alright, Vlad,” Crystal chuckles. “Thank you. We’ll be fine.”

  Nodding, he gestures toward the portal. “Alright. Well, see you soon. Remember to find the two people we have ready to help you learn how to navigate Quagon as soon as you get there. They’ve been alerted that you’re coming, so they shouldn’t be too hard to find. It’s a man and a woman.”

  “Got it,” Nathan nods, stepping forward. Looking back at Crystal, he smiles, feeling a sense of peace settle back into him, in spite of everything. Then, turning away from her, he takes a deep breath… and steps forward into the unknown.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Identity

  As soon as I step into the portal, I notice that it’s different than traveling to First or Second Earth, or Zilferia. It must look a little different depending on which realm you’re going to, I figure, staring at the pretty blue o
f the portal around us. After I feel the usual punch in my gut, which is actually less intense each time I feel it, the sound of waves begins. My heart lifts at the sound. It was so peaceful and relaxing… maybe this would be like a vacation. Maybe the Dragon Hunters wouldn’t be involved at any point this time. Bracing myself to face what’s on the other side of the portal, I gasp in shock when I find myself in mid-air. Screaming, I plummet toward the dark water below, watching Nathan falling a few feet away from me.

  It only takes a second for me to reach the water, but in my panic, it felt like we were further up. Instinctively closing my eyes, I hit the surface of the water, which drives the air from my lungs. Automatically drawing in a breath, I’m grateful for the device I got back in the Games, feeling the cold water around me, glad it’s not in my lungs. Opening my eyes, I’m struck by the beauty of it. Everything was so alive and full of movement beneath the waves. The light from the sun filters through the clear water, sparkling off of the scales of the fish swimming around me, which are strangely calm despite my abrupt entry to their domain. A few seem to peer at me curiously, but the others continue on, unfazed by my presence. Amazed, I slowly reach out to a nearby sea turtle, my fingers brushing over the hard, green and gold patterned shell. It looks over at me lazily before continuing forward, its flipper brushing against my arm as it does so.

  Shaking my head, I bring myself back to reality and swim up to the surface. As soon as I break the surface of the water, I notice a boat idling nearby. Swimming closer, I see two people helping Nathan out of the water. He looks to be safe. These must be the people the King had ready to help us, I think, drawing closer. The girl has blonde-brown hair and the man, about the same height as her, has dark wavy hair. “Hello?” I call once I get close enough.

  “Ah, you must be Crystal,” the man says, turning towards me. I immediately recognize the accent from the Quagon man I met during the Games. Relaxing, I smile up at him.

  “That’s me. You must be the people sent to help us?”

  “We are,” the girl replies, smiling at me kindly. “I’m Hannah, and this is Chester,” she introduces as they reach out and help pull me into the boat. Panting, I sit beside Nathan on a bench behind Hannah and Chester as they start the boat up. He smiles at me, his eyes glowing.

  “Isn’t it amazing down there?” he whispers, leaning over to me. Shivering against the brisk wind, I nod.

  As Chester starts up the boat and turns it around, Hannah steps toward us with gifts in hand. Warm, fuzzy towels. Sighing with relief, I wrap it around my shoulders as Nathan does the same. The growing pool of water beneath our feet slows as we begin to dry. Shrugging off my backpack, I’m relieved to find that it was waterproof. Thank heavens mom seems to think of everything, I smile, setting the backpack down in the boat. Even waterproofing the Bottomless Backpack Nathan bought me back on First Earth.

  “So,” Hannah begins, sitting in front of us and looking at us curiously. “We’ve heard a little about you both, obviously, but we don’t know much.”

  I chuckle nervously, glancing over at Nathan. “Oh, there’s not that much to tell, honestly. We’re just looking for my brother is all.”

  “Right… Rex, isn’t it? Sorry your family’s all broken apart,” she frowns sympathetically. “I hope you can find him.”

  “Thanks,” I murmur in response, my eyes automatically lowering. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be the ones to find him, though, I sigh to myself, closing my eyes for a moment.

  “So before we get into public,” Nathan begins, straightening. “What do we need to know to blend in?”

  “Hmm.” Running her eyes up and down our shivering bodies, she frowns. “Well honestly, there’s a lot we’re going to need to do, but we can only do it in town. We’ll have to get you both settled down and learning what you can about Quagon and its people before we get you out and about to get you looking more like us,” she decides. That’s when I notice a patch of minuscule scales along her neck and collarbone. Three thin white lines on each side of her neck allude to the gills that would open once underwater. Glancing at Chester behind her, I catch a glimpse of his hair. Now that I’m closer to him, I realize that it’s not just a dark brown, but has blue and green highlights running through it as well.

  “Don’t worry, it won’t be too invasive,” Hannah smiles, noticing my gaze. “You don’t have to get scales or fins or anything. Perhaps just something with your hair, and a sorely needed upgrade to your ScubaSpec.” Glancing at our confused faces, she explains, “That’s what those tiny devices are called. That enable you to breathe underwater?”

  “Oh,” Nathan nods, “but… we got them just a little over a year ago. Surely they aren’t that outdated?”

  “Well, honestly you got an older version,” Hannah admits. “It should also enable you to see better underwater as well- like, deeper where the sun doesn’t reach. And the newest release also combats the chill of the water. And now that it’s winter here as well, everyone has theirs upgraded. For you two to be shivering from the water, you would be seen as poor, but with that and a lack of fins or anything, you would be seen as an outsider, and the king tries to keep that as hush-hush as possible.”

  “I see… well that all sounds pretty cool anyways,” I slowly say, agreeing to look into such upgrades. After a moment, Nathan agrees as well.

  “Excellent,” Hannah smiles. “Now, you may want to see where we’re heading,” she winks, pointing behind us. Turning, I squint against the light shining off of the water. Finally, I notice a spot directly ahead that wasn’t a deep, sparkling blue.

  “Wow,” I murmur, my awe growing as we draw closer and more of the city can be seen. “There really are cities just floating in the water. That’s amazing.” It looked much like any city, but very clean. To the right of it a ways is a small island, covered in trees and other greenery. The city, Davenport as Hannah informs us, is surrounded by boats of all sizes as well. It seems what these people do more than anything is investigate the ocean. Seeing as the water is nearly one-hundred percent of their world, it makes sense. Still, altering your body to be more like the creatures found therein strikes me as a little extreme.

  Gulping down my fear and excitement, I watch as we draw closer to a small port. “Don’t worry,” Chester murmurs back to us as we pull in. “I made sure everyone here can be trusted,” he assures us as a few people come up to help take care of our small boat. Keeping my head down regardless, I carefully step off of the boat and onto Davenport for the first time, clutching my backpack. Nathan follows closely behind me, with Hannah accompanying.

  “Chester will catch up as soon as he finishes paying for the boat,” Hannah whispers to us, leading us away from the port. “But we need to get you away from prying eyes as soon as possible. It’s not safe to wander around until you can convince everyone you’re meant to be here.” Nodding in understanding, we hurry after her through the streets. The ground beneath us is firm, but does sway just a little when a larger tide rolls under our feet. I sure hope I don’t develop seasickness here. That would definitely give us away. Finally, we arrive at our hideout. Swiping an identification card like at a hotel on Second Earth, the door opens and Hannah ushers us inside.

  A light flickers on and Nathan and I look around curiously. Nothing is made of wood, which is a little unsettling at first. I hadn’t realized how much wood we utilized on Second Earth, but now I realize it was everywhere. Here, everything seemed to be made from minerals found in and under the water. Many things are made or decorated with shells, and a lot of it is also glass. Whatever pink mineral was in the small coin, the senine, seems to be abundant as well. “This is so weird,” Nathan murmurs, his fingers on the pink metal wall.

  “You get used to it,” Chester chuckles as he steps inside, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Hannah and I have been here for at least a decade. Welcome to our home,” he smiles. “You’ll be safe here as we help you adjust to life on Quagon and specifically Davenport.”

  “So wha
t if we need to search somewhere else for Rex?” Nathan asks. “What if he’s not in Davenport, but might be in a different city?”

  “The others are much smaller. Everyone knows everyone there. Others can take care of them. You’re the ones taking care of the bigger areas,” Hannah explains, sitting in a chair at the glass table. “It helps that you’re the boy’s age. It will help you to find each other,” she comforts, reaching out to me. “So don’t worry about how large Davenport is to search. Quagon has a much lower population than other universes since for a very long time it wasn’t seen as able to support human life. Obviously people eventually came in and changed that, but the influx of people hasn’t picked up much. No one has been traversing the realms in a very long time, honestly. It’s a rare thing, and most people in each realm have forgotten even the existence of the others. But here… it’s practically outlawed. The King would quickly dispose of you both if he learned outsiders had come.”

  Nathan blanches at the statement. “What?”

  “But that’s why we’re here,” Chester quickly adds, joining us at the table. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, I notice his webbed fingers. Well that’s a little creepy. “Don’t worry, you’re both safe with us here. We’ll get you to appear like natural Quagon citizens in no time!”

  “Right… but nothing extreme, right?” Nathan slowly questions, also looking at Chester’s fingers.

  “Of course, of course. You’ll fit in, but we don’t need you to look like you’re trying to one-up everyone else. We can do temporary tattoos and such, nothing permanent. Just enough to look like you’re from Quagon… but maybe not Davenport. Travel from city to city is fine with the King, just not realm to realm.”

  “Right,” Hannah chips in. “So we’ll need to get you both a background story. Perhaps you’re from… Keyon?”