The Secret World of Dragons

by Sandra Harvey

  Matt growled, but then left the cat alone, turning once again to Emma. ‘Where would you like me to start?’

  Emma bit her lip. ‘The beginning would be nice,’ she said quietly.

  Simon shoved a full pancake into his mouth and murmured something along the lines of, ‘Great, another three hours of listening to his own voice.’ With all the food in his mouth, it sounded more like, ‘Grape, neither tea hours of listing to his invoice.’

  ‘I guess you want to know how this Lucian Reeve came to be, huh?’ said Matt, leaning back in his chair.

  Emma simply nodded.

  Matt sighed and folded his hands behind his head. ‘How should I put this? … Lucian Reeve was … one of the first humans of your world to wander into Dragonis.’

  Emma gasped. ‘But … how long ago would this be?’

  ‘Oh, just about a thousand years ago,’ murmured Simon, as he dug his fork into his stack of pancakes.

  ‘A thousand years?’ breathed Emma. ‘My family name has been going for a thousand years?’

  Mystic chuckled on the counter, but it was Matt who continued the story. ‘As far as history goes,’ he replied. ‘Lucian was the first, though, to stumble into the secret world of dragons. He saved the life of a silver dragon – only just a hatchling – named Ghalgaun, and the two of them made a pack together, sealing the fate of humans and dragons.’

  ‘What kind of pact?’ questioned Emma.

  Mystic sighed. ‘You see, Lucian made the stupid mistake of touching the Dragon’s Tear, which Ghalgaun had been carrying with him. When the Dragon’s Tear is touched by someone for the first time, they become master over it. Therefore, Lucian was forever bound to it.’ He examined one of his long, silvery claws. ‘The Dragon’s Tear is a scale taken from the very flesh of G’zardac himself.’

  ‘Who is that?’ asked Emma.

  ‘The first dragon,’ answered Matt. ‘He’s the king of all dragons, the source of magic in this world.’

  Emma found it hard to believe that magic existed at all and even harder to believe that it came from an ancient creature. ‘So what’s so special about the Dragon’s Tear?’

  ‘Despite the fact that it’s made purely of magic?’ Mystic clicked his claws against the top of the counter. ‘Whoever touches the stone can speak to dragons. Dragontongue, they call it. Then there’s that added perk of immortality, which in some cases is hardly a benefit at all.’

  Simon snorted. ‘How can immortality not be a benefit?’

  Emma looked from the young racer to the cat. ‘Do you mean that anyone who touched the stone would live forever?’

  ‘Ageless and unchanging,’ whispered Matt, his gaze locked on the table. ‘That’s what they became. Neither part of the living world, nor the dying world.’ He smiled as he looked up at Emma. ‘That’s what Vanyir is – a ghost from the past.’

  ‘You mean … Vanyir touched the stone?’ Emma was truly confused with their twisted tale of the past and present. ‘How did he manage to do that? I thought he was the bad guy?’

  ‘He was – he is.’ Matt rubbed the back of his neck while he stared up at the ceiling in thought. ‘Lucian developed a close bond with the dragons, and soon everyone was following his lead. But Vanyir despised Lucian and his beliefs. He hated the dragons more than anything. He strived to bring their race to an end.’

  ‘So shouldn’t Lucian have done something?’ Emma rested her chin against her hand. ‘I mean … if this Vanyir guy was running around trying to kill the dragons, shouldn’t Lucian have been more careful?’

  Matt smiled at this. ‘Lucian was careful,’ he said. ‘But he was also very blind. When Vanyir revolted against Lucian, claiming that humans should rule Dragonis, he happened to have a secret weapon.’

  ‘Like what?’ enquired Emma.

  From the counter, she heard a muffled laugh. ‘That, Miss Reeve, would be friendship.’

  Emma frowned at the cat. ‘Are you trying to say that this Vanyir character and my ancestor, Lucian, were the best of friends?’

  ‘That’s right.’ The cat stretched and walked to the edge of the island counter. ‘They were inseparable. Though, in the end, Vanyir wanted absolute power. He couldn’t settle for being equal with the dragons. He wanted – he needed – to be the leader of Dragonis.’

  ‘But why would he want that?’ Emma couldn’t figure out why people were so greedy. Always the bad guy wanted to take control of everything. They could never want anything less. ‘Why did he hate the dragons so much?’

  Simon picked up his plate and carried it to the sink. ‘Who knows? He’s a baddie. They do what they like, no matter how many people they hurt … or how many mistakes they make.’

  ‘Like breaking the Dragon’s Tear,’ muttered Matt, leaning his elbows on the table. ‘That was Vanyir’s greatest mistake.’

  ‘Oh! So that’s how it happened!’ exclaimed Emma, fishing out the necklace from underneath her sweater. From the counter she heard Mystic hiss, while – as she looked up – Matt jumped from his chair, tipping it over onto the floor. He pointed an accusing finger at her.

  ‘You have the Sapphire Stone!’ he shouted. His eyes then flashed to Mystic. ‘You never said that she had it! You never mentioned it! You only told me –’

  ‘Oh, sit down,’ muttered Mystic, covering his ears with his paws. ‘You’re going to have the whole town at your door. You’re making such a racket over nothing at all.’

  ‘Nothing!’ echoed Matt. ‘The – Sapphire – Stone – is – in – my – house!’

  Mystic sighed. ‘Well, perhaps I should have mentioned it a little earlier …’

  ‘No, don’t be ridiculous. I was just fine with not knowing about it,’ said Matt sarcastically, picking up his chair but not sitting back down. ‘What exactly am I supposed to do with it? That’s why you brought it here, right? That’s what you need me for, isn’t it?’

  ‘You get so dramatic over everything,’ said Mystic, jumping from the counter to the table. ‘Yes, the girl has the Sapphire Stone. So what? It’s safe, isn’t it? Now go on, continue your story.’

  Matt glared at the cat and crossed his arms. ‘Why don’t you finish it?’ he spat. ‘I’m done.’

  Mystic sighed and rolled his violet eyes. He looked to Simon, who was now staring at Emma with curious eyes. ‘You finish the story,’ he said.

  ‘Me?’ Simon pointed to himself. ‘Okay …. So Vanyir broke the Dragon’s Tear before Lucian could stop him. I guess because the magic was severed, anyone who had touched the stone before were trapped in time too. Vanyir stole one half, the Crimson Stone, while Lucian hung onto the Sapphire Stone.

  ‘Later on a war started. Vanyir revolted against Lucian and the people who kept his beliefs with a powerful breed of black dragons. They say that …’ Simon frowned, trying to remember a part of the story. Emma could hear Mystic give a quiet, exaggerated sigh.

  ‘Oh right,’ said Simon suddenly, recalling the lost bit of information. ‘They say that Vanyir wanted both stones, even though the power of the Dragon’s Tear would never benefit him. They say that only a chosen one could ever use it.’

  ‘Like Lucian,’ stated Emma.

  ‘Not exactly,’ said Mystic, cutting Simon off as he opened his mouth to speak. ‘Lucian wasn’t chosen, after all. He sort of fell into his own destiny.’ The cat chuckled. ‘It’s odd how fate works sometimes.’

  ‘Anyway,’ said Simon loudly, as he scowled at the cat for interrupting him. ‘Lucian wanted to put the stones back together, to break the immortality curse upon Vanyir and kill him. But Vanyir beat him to the race. He killed Lucian on the battlefield. The Dragon’s Tear was never restored.’

  ‘If Lucian was killed, how am I alive?’ asked Emma, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Oh, well … good question,’ murmured Simon, flushing slightly.

  ‘This is why I never let you tell stories,’ said Matt to his brother, frowning at him. He turned his attention to Emma. ‘When Vanyir demanded the Sapphire Stone, Lucian didn’t hav
e it. He told Vanyir that he had “left the stone in the care of his future”.’ Matt gave Mystic a fleeting glance. ‘No one really understood what he meant by that, but Vannyir killed him before he had a chance to find out.

  ‘I guess it meant that … Lucian have given the stone to his wife, or maybe his child. Whichever the case, he didn’t have it on him when he died, because Vanyir walked away from that battle with only one stone.’

  ‘How do you even know what went on that day?’ questioned Emma.

  Matt shrugged. ‘It’s from the pages of history. You’ll find it in any old library around here.’

  ‘Well … how do you know Lucian died?’ Emma did not like the vague details of the story. ‘He might have escaped.’

  Matt shook his head. ‘It’s impossible. Lucian disappeared from the face of the earth that day. He passed on the Sapphire Stone to his family.’

  ‘But how do you know he even had a family … if you’re not sure?’ prodded Emma further.

  Matt sighed in frustration. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘No one really does. But the stone somehow made it from Dragonis to the world of the humans, and considering you have a whole line of Reeves behind you, I’m guessing Lucian had to have a family. Besides,’ he added, ‘if Lucian escaped the battle, he would have come back to save Dragonis.’

  Emma leaned back in her chair, defeated. It all made sense of course, except one thing.

  ‘You never told me why the Dragon’s Tear was so important.’ She gazed down at the Sapphire Stone around her neck. ‘I know what it can do if you touch it, but why was Ghalgaun carrying it? Why did G’zardac give it to him?’

  Ah, now you ask the most important question of all,’ said Mystic. His eyes glimmered when he looked to her. ‘The Dragon’s Tear was made for one reason alone: to select a human to help deliever the dragons back to freedom.’

  ‘Were they imprisoned?’

  ‘The dragons were a peaceful race of creatures. They roamed Dragonis and kept the world flourishing with the magic G’zardac gave them.’ Mystic closed his eyes and tilted his head down. ‘Yet the humans only saw them as tools to be used, slaves to be pushed. They captured the dragons and made them do anything they wanted.’ His eyes reopened to form tiny slits. ‘The Dragon’s Tear was supposed to fix that. If Ghalgaun found a human with a heart and mind strong enough to reunite the dragons with the people, then everything would be at peace once more.’

  ‘But that never happened,’ said Emma quietly.

  ‘No,’ murmured Mystic. He rested his head on his paws. ‘No, it did not. Lucian managed to sway the humans into befriending the dragons, but as you learned … Vanyir didn’t like this, and neither did many others. With his meddling ways, he twisted the minds of those people to follow him. Now there are thousands in Dragonis who would rather slay a dragon than befriend it. The magic of the world slowly dies with each dragon that is lost.’

  ‘And … what would happen if the stones aren’t pieced back together?’ Emma looked from the cat to the two brothers, but none of them seemed to have an answer for her. There was a long silence in which Emma could almost feel the dread rising up past her chest.

  Mystic finally responded. ‘The dragons will all die … on the night of the red moon.’

  Emma gulped, her fingers winding around the Sapphire Stone. ‘When is that?’ she whispered.

  ‘Exactly one month from today,’ said Mystic, his voice lower than usual. ‘When the red moon rises, it marks the day of a thousand years since the breaking of the Dragon’s Tear. Without that completed stone, the dragons have no immortality.’

  ‘Why?’ Emma shook her head. ‘I don’t understand what the stone has to do with it.’

  ‘Dragons feed on magic,’ explained Mystic wearily. ‘G’zardac poured his magic into the Dragon’s Tear – a thousand years worth of it. When the stone broke, the magic stopped flowing, and since G’zardac was tied to it …’ Mystic’s voice dropped to barely a whisper. ‘Since he was tied to it … he was also lost. The only thing that can save the dragons – and this world – is piecing that stone back together and freeing G’zardac before the magic runs out.’

  Emma hung her head. ‘No more secret world, then?’ she questioned softly.

  ‘This land would slowly die,’ said the cat. ‘Without magic our world would lose its protective seal and everything the dragons created would disappear. Nothing would exist but a barren wasteland. East of Dwenin, past the desert … you can already see the effects starting to begin. This world, Emma … this world was created by dragons, and they are the ones that sustain it.’

  ‘But … what am I supposed to do about it?’ whispered Emma. ‘I’m just … just a high school student. I’m not some sort of warrior … like Lucian. I can’t defeat Vanyir or save the dragons.’

  ‘Lucian was not a warrior,’ said Mystic, giving a bit of a cat-like smirk. ‘Furthermore, I’m not asking you to do anything. I am depending upon you to help us.’

  ‘Us?’ cut in Matt. ‘Did I just imagine you saying that word?’

  ‘No, you certainly did not imagine it,’ said Mystic gruffly. ‘Do you think I wasted all this time here for nothing? You are part of this … right from day one. So are you, Wheeler,’ added the cat, as she glanced at Simon, ‘believe it or not.’ Mystic snorted. ‘I’d rather not believe it, but I might as well add you to the team.’

  ‘He stays where he is,’ said Matt firmly.

  ‘Says who?’ Simon spoke up. ‘If that hairball on the table says the dragons are going to die in just a month, then I’m going to do all I can to save Redfyre.’

  Matt gave an angry sigh and put his hand to his forehead. ‘See what you’ve done?’ he growled, aiming his accusation at Mystic. ‘Now he isn’t going to shut up about it until he gets his way.’

  ‘Good,’ said Mystic. ‘I like determination.’

  Matt glared. ‘You’re only doing this for yourself,’ he snapped.

  ‘I’m doing this for the dragon race,’ said Mystic through gritted teeth. ‘Do you want to end up living in the human world?’

  ‘I doubt it’s a bad experience, considering how Emma wants to get back,’ retorted Matt. He glanced her way. ‘You do want to go home, don’t you?’

  Emma suddenly jumped up from her chair – as Matt had done only minutes before – and her hand flew to her forehead. ‘My father!’ she exclaimed. ‘He’ll soon be home now, I bet! He’s going to be frantic when he sees that I’m gone! He’ll call the police and send out a search! I’m going to be in so much trouble!’

  ‘You couldn’t possibly be in much more trouble than you are now,’ said Mystic. ‘Now sit back down and stop worrying. Your father, being a descendant of Lucian, being a descendant of Lucian, probably already knows that the stone was taken. That’s the first thing he probably checked. Therefore, he knows where you are … kind of.’

  ‘Kind of?’ repeated Emma, slowly relaxing into her chair again. ‘What does “kind of” mean?’

  ‘It means he has no idea what he’s talking about,’ Matt answered for the cat, smirking a little.

  Mystic glowered. ‘I know exactly what I’m talking about,’ he snapped. ‘If Lucas Reeve hid that stone away, then he obviously knew its importance. That doesn’t mean that he knows where Emma is, though. Just because he had the stone in his possession, doesn’t mean that he knows how to find her. Without a guide to lead him here, he can do nothing but wait for her return – and that’s saying that he even knows the real truth beyond the necklace.’

  Matt snorted. ‘Well, that really wraps it all up,’ he retorted.

  ‘What am I going to do?’ whispered Emma, as she pressed the Sapphire Stone within her hand again. It felt cold to the touch. ‘I have to get back. I didn’t sign up for this.’ She looked grimly towards Mystic. ‘I don’t know how to fight or anything. What use would I be?’

  The cat tilted his head to the side. ‘Why, you are the most important piece to this puzzle, he said softly. ‘You have the blood of a hero in you,
untainted by time. As long as you stick with me … you will be safe.’

  Emma could hardly believe what she was hearing. How on earth could a cat protect her from the wrath of a thousand year-old dragon warlord? The idea would seem absolutely absurd … if not for the look in his mauve-tinted eyes. He was no doubt serious about the whole idea of her coming along for the adventure. But with just a few lessons about the history of Dragonis, was she really prepared to save the world she only just discovered?

  ~ Chapter Seven ~

  Dark Riders in Town

  With the table cleared and the dishes washed and put away, the group of four didn’t really have much to do other than talk. Mystic and Simon were busy arguing over some ancient story about a wishing waterfall, while Matt was looking through an assortment of old documents and letters. Emma, meanwhile, preoccupied herself with the photos on the fridge.

  The first she noticed was a recent picture of Simon – bright-eyed and smiling – standing next to his dragon, Redfyre. He had his arm wrapped around his dragon’s neck, and in the hand of his free arm was a blue ribbon. Behind him, in the background, was a scenic view of a desert. Nothing else caught her attention, so she turned to another picture.

  The second had Matt in it. He had no dragon, so he wrapped his arm around his little brother’s neck instead. Matt was smiling unevenly, while Simon was scowling and trying to pry the older boy off him. They were both standing under the shadow of a tree. A park, perhaps?

  Most of the pictures only had one of the Wheeler siblings in them. They were all recent, too … except one.

  Emma moved a rather large magnet of a golden trophy over to the side and plucked an old photograph from underneath. The corners were peeling, even underneath the plastic that protected it from age. The boy in the picture looked like a much younger Matt, but the face did not quite fit. It was a greyscale photo, so it was hard to tell anything at all. There was a dragon too, standing behind the expressionless boy. At least … it looked sort of like a dragon, but very large compared to Redfyre.