Close Encounters of the Magical Kind

by Jeffrey M. Poole

Sarah smiled. At least that was one thing she wouldn’t have to worry about. With her good friend Lia watching her nephews it meant her sister, Annie, could rest. She really shouldn’t have come, Sarah thought with a frown, as she was eight months pregnant with twins this time. However, her sister had pleaded with her to not be left behind. Therefore Tristan, ever the devoted husband, had refused to leave her side, even for a moment.

  Once Annie and her family finally crossed over into Lentari Sarah waved over Steve’s parents, Stan and Bonnie Miller of Phoenix. Both of the Millers, Sarah remembered, had been to Lentari once before. It had been the celebration of Celestia’s defeat back when she and Steve had stopped being Mikal’s bodyguards.

  “This is all so amazing,” Bonnie said, clutching her husband’s arm tightly in hers. “We’re going to a wedding on another world! Let’s see if the girls at my bridge club can top that one!”

  “You haven’t told them about Lentari, have you?” Stan asked, shocked.

  “Of course I have. Oh, stop your fretting. No one ever believes me.”

  Sarah smiled. Her parents were the last to cross over. Her mother, Sue, ever since learning both her daughters had been to a magical land, had been desperate to be included. She was sure, Sarah knew, that her mother was secretly hoping she’d get her own jhorun the moment she stepped foot on Lentari, much like what she had thought had happened to Annie. Her father, Martin, had taken the news they had been invited to attend Mikal’s wedding with aplomb. Sarah had shaken her head when, after informing her father that he was accompanying her and Steve to Lentari, he had only smiled and said, “Neat.” Nothing seemed to rattle the man, Sarah thought. Perhaps seeing a dragon in the flesh? She nodded. That ought to do it.

  “Everyone stay with me,” Sarah ordered, as she noticed several members of her group had inched closer towards the door leading into the Great Hall. “We’re heading to Capily next. Stay close.”

  “Where’s the portal that’ll take us there?” Stan asked.

  Sarah hooked a thumb at the portal they had all just stepped through, which had just faded out. It now resembled nothing more than a large carving of the castle. Sarah opened her handbag and retrieved a light, sky-blue colored crystal key. She approached the carved relief of the castle, inserted the key into the keyhole disguised as a window, and activated the portal. Within moments they were looking at the insides of a large office. Visible through the large picture window was a wide open expanse of water. Rolling waves crashed against the shore, sending plumes of water high into the air.

  Sarah frowned. The water was choppier than it should be. There wasn’t any wind. There wasn’t even any clouds in the sky. If she didn’t know any better than she’d say something large was thrashing about in the surf.

  Sarah’s eyes widened. The shealk! The water dragons were supposed to be in attendance. Was that why the waves were so choppy? Were water dragons already here? She risked a glance at her father and smiled. If this didn’t surprise him then nothing would.

  “Okay, everyone, follow me. The ceremony will be down at the shore.”

  “Where are we now?” Bonnie asked Lia in a low voice.

  “Capily,” Lia answered, shifting Christopher from one hip to the other. “It’s a gorgeous seaside village. Just about everyone here is a fisherman.”

  “Have you been here before?”

  Lia nodded, “A few times. We’re now on the western coast of Lentari.”

  “Where were we before?” Martin asked, falling into step besides them.

  “That was R’Tal, dad,” Sarah answered, overhearing the question. “We were at the castle. It’s on the eastern side of the kingdom. Northeastern, if you want to get technical. It’s where the king and queen live.”

  “So you’re telling me that we just jumped from one side of the country to the other?” Sue asked, joining the conversation.

  Sarah sighed, “Mom. I told you I’m a teleporter. I do this type of thing all the time here. You know this. I know you know this. Why are you acting so surprised now?”

  Her mother fell silent. When she didn’t get an answer Sarah looked over at her. Both of her parents had fallen silent and had come to a stop the instant they had departed the Constable’s office. The problem was, they were blocking traffic. No one else could leave the office until they moved out of the way.

  “Mom, dad, you’re blocking the way. Let everyone else out, okay?”

  Her father pointed at something she couldn’t see. She saw his mouth move but couldn’t hear anything. Moments later her mother was pointing, too. Was it a shealk? Perhaps they had spied one of the shealk that were supposed to be in attendance?

  Sarah eagerly pushed her way past her parents and came to a stop. She grinned. Well, that would explain the holdup. Nearly a dozen griffins were reclining on the ground not more than a few feet away. Every single griffin had turned and was watching them intently, as though she and her group had just walked into a noisy bar to find it fall deathly quiet. Lying so still on the ground that he could have been mistaken for a statue, one griffin, larger and with a few streaks of gray coloring his otherwise tawny fur, rose to his feet and approached. The older fellow regarded Sarah for a few moments and then bowed his head.

  “Lady Sarah. A pleasure as always.”

  “It talks!” Sue cried, clutching her husband’s arm in a death grip. “Omigod! It’s talking to us!”

  Exasperated, Sarah turned to her mother.

  “Let’s go over this one more time. You’re in Lentari. Dragons live here. So do griffins. There’s nothing to worry about. In fact, come meet Pheris. Dad, you, too.”

  Sarah had to resort to pulling her mother’s left arm while her father pulled on her right. Once they were standing in front of Pheris, Sarah smiled and curtsied before her griffin friend.

  “Hello, Pheris. It’s good to see you!”

  “And you, Lady Sarah,” the griffin returned, bowing low. “Is this your sire?”

  Sarah nodded, “Yes. These are my parents. This is Martin and this is Sue, my mother.”

  The griffin bowed a third time, “It is an honor to meet you all.”

  Sarah finished introducing the rest of the group before she herded everyone toward the water. She could see that there was a lot of activity down at the water front and she was anxious to meet her first shealk. She detected a presence by her side and glanced over. It was Lia.

  “I can’t believe that little booger is getting married,” Lia observed. “Seems like only yesterday I was volunteering to help battle that bi... um, mean lady. It was hard to forget. I was accused of being an evil sorceress.”

  Sarah giggled, “Remember when the dwarves tied you up on that pole harness? Steve and I found you stretched across a giant hearth. I thought the dwarves were going to have you for dinner.”

  Lia’s face soured, “It’s kinda hard to forget. What’s worse was I had to see your husband laughing at me, like he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.”

  Sarah tried to stifle a smile, “He still does. I know he remembers that fondly.”

  “I swear, if he asks me to juggle something then I’m gonna let him have it,” Lia vowed.

  Her friend moved off, joining her husband, Adam, as they neared the vast rows of piers. Sarah could see three huge galleons lashed to their berths nearby. Everywhere she looked she could see ships. Row boats, crude canoes, fishing trawlers, ferries, and even large, flat-bottomed boats were tethered to the many rows of piers. It looked as though not a single boat was out on the water. In fact, Sarah couldn’t remember seeing that many boats all in one place before.

  A commotion sounded on her right. She glanced over to see her husband and Commander Rhenyon directing traffic. A dozen griffins had just landed and Rhenyon was gesturing to an expanse of open grass area to the north. An armed contingent of dwarves appeared next. Sarah traced the line of dwarves back to the Constable’s office. They must have arrived right after they did.

  Steve pointed at a section of the beac
h with a number of chairs set up. One dwarf approached, went down on a knee, and began speaking to her husband. Steve was staring at the dwarf with a bemused expression on his face. He finally squatted down so that he could hear what the dwarf was saying. Sarah sighed. She was too far away to make out what was said. She saw the dwarf point at the beach and then point over at the griffins. Perhaps they wanted to be seated next to them?

  Sarah shrugged. She didn’t realize that the dwarves and the griffins were allies. She watched Steve shrug and nod his head. The lead dwarf said something to his companions. The rest of the dwarves rushed forward, grabbed the chairs, and hurriedly set them up in a semi-circular formation next to the griffins.

  Sarah approached her husband and tapped his shoulder.

  “What was that all about?”

  Steve grinned, “Hey there! Would you believe they want to avoid the shore? Turns out dwarves hate water. They asked to move their chairs farther away. Since the majority of the shealk haven’t shown up yet, and I’m pretty sure the dwarves aren’t allies of the shealk, I thought some distance was in order. Man alive, this is turning out to be a pain in the ass.”

  “What is?” Sarah asked.

  Steve caught sight of his parents and waved. They promptly waved back. Steve stretched his back and groaned when he felt a couple of painful kinks forming.

  “Let’s do a recap, shall we?” Steve turned to point off to the south. “The dragons are over there. Griffins and dwarves are okay with them, but guess what? We humans are apparently still scared to death of them.”

  Sarah frowned, “Didn’t you tell the villagers that they’re harmless?”

  “Yeah, I did. So did Constable Fensham. So did all the king’s guards that are presently here. Everyone assured the villagers that the dragons have peaceful intentions. It still didn’t work.”

  “But the dragons are our allies!” Sarah protested. “They shouldn’t have to sit apart from the rest of us just because the people here are jittery.”

  “I agree. The dragons volunteered to leave. Holy cow. I’ve never seen the king so angry. He scolded the entire village. He accused every single villager of embarrassing him, the kingdom, and humanity in general. Kri’Entu went on and on, for at least 15 minutes straight.”

  “And their feelings now?” Sarah asked.

  “Still nervous, but they dare not speak against the king.”

  “Good.”

  “Now, over there,” Steve continued, pointing over at a section of wooden boardwalk that stretched up and down the shoreline, “is where the shealk will be. I met Balthor. He seems nice.”

  “Who’s Balthor?” Sarah asked.

  “That’s Gareth’s father. Did you know the shealk have their own wizards? Apparently that’s Balthor’s role. He can transform himself into a human.”

  “Well, obviously,” Sarah laughed. “Balthor’s son is human, isn’t he? Wait. Is he? Completely human, that is.”

  “Yep. I asked that, too. Gareth is completely human, but shares his father’s jhorun.”

  “Which is?” Sarah inquired.

  “Spellcasting. Apparently both father and son are whizzes at making spells.”

  Sarah nodded, “I can believe it. I’ve seen Gareth at work. So, when does the ceremony start?”

  Steve shrugged, “I overheard the king talking to Rhenyon. I think they plan on getting things underway once the rest of the shealk arrive.”

  “How many more are there supposed to be?” Sarah asked. “Are they all transforming to humans for the duration of the wedding?”

  “No. Only Balthor can do that. The rest will be right down there. Do you see that gap in the piers? Fensham had several piers dismantled so that the shealk would have enough room at the water’s edge. Their eyesight isn’t the best. They have trouble seeing out of the water,” Steve explained. “Something about their eyes drying out.”

  “Got it.”

  “Looks like your dad was finally surprised.”

  Sarah clapped excitedly, “I know, right? I’ve waited a long time to see that.”

  “Want to see it again? Looks like your parents have caught sight of the dragons.”

  “Who’s over there?” Sarah wanted to know. “Anyone we know so that I can introduce them? Is Kahvel here?”

  Steve shook his head, “No. He sends his regrets. He and Pryllan are otherwise occupied. Guess what just hatched?”

  Sarah gasped and clutched her husband’s hand.

  “Their egg hatched? Oh, how wonderful! Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “It’s another girl. Pryllan broke the news to me about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Do you know any of the dragons that are here?”

  Steve nodded, “I know two. Pravara is here, of course. Do you see her over there? She has her back to us at the moment.”

  Husband and wife watched the dark green dragon turn until she was looking straight at them. Pravara nodded. They nodded back. Sarah nudged Steve’s shoulder and pointed at a large red dragon that was nearby.

  “Is that Rhamalli?”

  Steve nodded, “Yep. He’s the other one. I was briefly talking to him earlier. You did know that he has a rider, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. Mikal told us.”

  “Rhamalli said that an additional five dragons have requested riders.”

  “That’s good news, right?” Sarah asked.

  “Kri’Entu told me just a little bit ago that he’s creating some type of Dragon Rider Enlistment program. He said he needs to be certain anyone he recommends to Kahvel will have proven themselves worthy.”

  “It makes sense,” Sarah said. “More dragon riders. That’s wonderful! I… hey! Where’s Emerion? Is he okay?”

  Steve turned to point at a nearby tree. To Sarah’s eyes it looked like a large red oak. Resting in the shade the tree’s ample canopy provided was the young griffin. She could see that he was awake and watching the proceedings with wide, unblinking eyes. Keeping a watchful eye on the baby griffin was none other than Peanut the corgi. The little dog was stretched out in what Steve had called the “Sphinx” position and only had eyes for the young griffin.

  “Peanut is watching her?” Sarah asked. “How in the world did you manage that?”

  “What? Peanut and Emerion? Those two took to each other like peanut butter and jelly. Somehow, and I don’t know how, Peanut figured out that Emerion is just a baby. So she’s being extra watchful over him. Extra protective. So as long as I keep Peanut in my sights then I’ll know Emerion will be nearby.”

  “What if Emerion decides to get up and take a stroll? I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

  “Corgis are herding dogs,” Steve reminded her. “He’s already tried a few times. She herds him back to that tree and keeps him there. It’s fascinating to watch.”

  “Have the other griffins said anything?” Sarah asked.

  Steve nodded, “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  “They all say how cute he is.”

  “Haven’t they asked about his parents?”

  “Pheris did. I told them that we are his parents now.”

  “And they were okay with it?” Sarah asked, dumbfounded. She had thought for certain that if anyone would have had a problem with the adoption of their young griffin, it’d be another griffin.

  “If they were, they didn’t say anything.”

  “I’m shocked. Surprised, even.”

  Her husband grinned and pointed at the water.

  “You’re about to be surprised again. Check out who just arrived. That has got to be the coolest thing ever.”

  Sarah turned to see for herself what Steve was pointing at. She sucked in a breath. Two long serpentine necks had just broken the surface of the water and were now staring at the proceedings. Each neck was at least 20 feet long and each of the shealk heads were silently regarding them. One had dark blue scales covering all of its body while the second had black scales covering everything but its undersides, whic
h were a light blue.

  A clamor broke out. Many of the villagers cried out in alarm. Children were snatched up by their parents and were whisked safely away.

  “We welcome the shealk delegation!” Kri’Entu all but shouted, raising his voice above all others. “So good of you to join us for these festivities!”

  Those villagers in the process of fleeing reluctantly came to a stop. Constable Fensham appeared next to the king’s side. He looked as upset and disgusted as the king did.

  “My most humble of apologies,” Steve heard the constable say. “I never knew our people were so… so – “

  “Courageous?” Kri’Entu muttered darkly.

  Steve stifled a laugh, but not before he caught the king’s eye. Kri’Entu sighed, winked at Steve, and faced the two swaying shealk.

  “You honor us with your presence. Thank you for coming.”

  Neither aquatic dragon said anything. There was a pregnant pause as everyone turned to look at the king. Kri’Entu turned to Fensham.

  “I’m ashamed to say that I never considered communication to be an issue. I had assumed that we would be able to talk to one another. Do you think they can they understand us, Constable?”

  “Not without some help they won’t,” a new voice announced.

  “Who’s that?” Sarah quietly asked, pointing to a strange man that was walking towards the king.

  “That’s Balthor,” Steve answered. “He’s Gareth’s father.”

  “Elucidate, Mister Balthor,” Kri’Entu was saying. “Is there something you can do to help us understand one another? I would like to say hello to your leader.”

  “Then you’ll have to wait for a bit,” Balthor informed the king. “Neither of those two is my Lord. They are only scouts. Lord Phaedren will be here at any moment.”

  “Lord Phaedren, leader of the shealk,” Kri’Entu breathed. “Please help me communicate with your Lord. What can you do?”

  Balthor closed his eyes. His lips moved but no one heard anything. Standing nearly a dozen feet away, Sarah smiled. Like father, like son. Balthor was chanting. He must be formulating some type of spell that would enable shealk and humans to talk to each other.

  Balthor finished, opened his eyes, and smiled at the king.