Treasurekeeper

by Ripley Harper

  “Let me see… I definitely remember standing in that weird cave and lowering my shields. After that… Not much. A few vague impressions, that’s all.”

  “Wow,” he mutters under his breath. “I can’t believe it worked.”

  “Can’t believe what worked?”

  “Nothing.” But if I didn’t know him any better, I’d have sworn he looked guilty. I’m about to press him on the issue when he lightly puts his hand on mine.

  “Stop that!” I swat his hand away even as my entire body goes zing!

  “Stop what?”

  “You know what you’re doing.”

  “I can’t help it! I’ve never met an earthmaster before.”

  “Like hell you can’t!” His smile makes me blush. “And anyway, I’m not an earthmaster.”

  “You mastered both the shallow and deep skills of earthmagic, so that makes you an earthmaster, whether you like it or not.”

  “Really?” I drop my fork. “I mastered Growth and Healing?”

  He laughs. “Uhm, yeah.”

  “Were you there when it happened?”

  “Not at first. That cave they took you to is one of the Earthkeepers’ most sacred places of power; there’s no way the Green Lady would ever allow a Pendragon anywhere near it.”

  “But you saw me later.”

  “Yes. Apparently you ordered the Green Lady to release us from her prison. You wanted to ‘inspect your servants’ to make sure we ‘weren’t damaged’ in any way.”

  I groan. “You’re quoting me directly, aren’t you?”

  “I certainly am.” His slow, lazy grin makes my toes curl.

  “So what happened next?”

  “Maybe you should wait for Gunn to tell you this.”

  I look down at the tray of food, start picking at a piece of bread. “Where is he?”

  Not that I care, you understand. I’m just curious, that’s all.

  “In Rome. The Order of Keepers called another Assembly. The Green Lady had to go too. We expect them back within the next couple of days or so.”

  I put down the bread. “Are you telling me the Order called another meeting because of what I did?”

  “Of all its members.”

  “You must be kidding me! What’s wrong with them? Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

  His grin widens. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.”

  I snort. “You’re a good one to talk.”

  For the first time today, Jonathan drops his seductive act. “I’ve been meaning to apologize. You know, about that morning. When you told me about my mother, it was… I think I went a little mad. I’m really sorry, Jess. I’ve never hurt a girl before in my life, and I’ll never do it again. I promise.” His boyishly vulnerable, intensely remorseful look is enough to melt a heart of stone.

  “That’s good to know,” I say sweetly. Then I lean forward until I’m close enough to snap my fingers in his face. “Because if you ever try anything like that again, I’ll fucking kill you.”

  He flinches back in surprise.

  “Understand one thing,” I continue, my voice like ice. “I felt sorry for you that morning. And at the time I was… Well, let’s just say self-preservation wasn’t exactly at the top of my to-do list. I forgot how strong you were under those flashy looks and I almost got myself into real trouble. But it won’t happen again. Ever. So you’d better watch yourself, Jonathan Pendragon, because I’m not the type to let a pretty boy abuse me twice. You touch me again and you die.”

  Maddeningly, he looks relieved more than anything else. “Good to see you’ve still got that good ol’ fighting spirit.”

  “This isn’t a joke, Jonathan.”

  “I know.”

  Oh my.

  Those emerald eyes boring into mine, serious and glittering and gorgeous. That shiny dark hair, a little mussed, falling over one eye. The way his t-shirt stretches over his muscled chest, just enough to—–

  I shake my head, clear my throat, try to get a grip. “Jonathan. That’s enough. Your bloodmagic is completely out of control.”

  “I told you, I’m not doing it on purpose.”

  “I don’t care. If you don’t stop, you’ll have to leave.”

  “Okay.” He sucks in a breath, eyes smoldering. “I’ll try. Just give me a minute.”

  The minute passes in a thick, simmering silence. While I’m waiting for him to get his act together, I turn around, using the time to stuff a few more pieces of fruit into my mouth without him watching every bite I take.

  “Okay. I think that should do it.”

  I turn back to find him so close we’re almost touching. I can feel the heat coming off his skin, his body so near and so male and so unbelievably—–

  I jump up, knocking over my chair in the process. “That’s enough! Get out.”

  “I can’t help it! Your shine is doing something weird to my magic.”

  I look down at myself, confused. “I’m shining?”

  “Like the sun.”

  “Right now? While I’m standing here?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “You sure?”

  He lifts his hands. “Jess, I grew up around the shine. But I’ve never seen anything like the way you’re shining now. Don’t you feel different?”

  “Nope. I was a bit… confused when I woke up, but the food took care of that. Right now everything’s normal, except for, you know.” I wave a hand in his direction. “Dealing with all the bloodmagic you’re sending my way is a bit challenging.”

  “Challenging?” In the blink of an eye he’s out of his chair and standing right in front of me. My breath catches in my throat as he presses his hand gently into my lower back, the heat from his palm burning through my shirt and into my skin. “I think I can do a lot better than challenging.”

  It takes every single ounce of my willpower to pull away, march to the door, and fling it open. “That’s it! Out!”

  “I wasn’t going to—–”

  “I don’t care. Out!”

  “What’s going on?” Zig stands in the doorway, scowling.

  “Jonathan needs to leave.”

  Zig goes completely still. “Has he hurt you again?”

  “Please. Like he even could. It’s his bloodmagic. He’s messing with my mind somehow. Or my hormones. Whatever. I want him gone.”

  Zig gives Jonathan a disgusted look. “Don’t you have any sense of honor?”

  “I can’t help it! It’s an involuntary reaction—–”

  But before he can explain, Zig grabs him by the scruff of the neck and unceremoniously flings him from the room.

  Chapter 11

  If Earthmagic truly is a magic of Memory, why then does it hasten new life through the process of Growth, or preserve living things through the process of Healing?

  Perhaps it is because only the remembrance of our deepest origins can give Earthmasters the ability to see beyond the illusion of separateness to the origin of that one great single spark that lit the world to ensoul all creatures…

  From Orations of Aelius (1st Century CE); translated from the original Latin by Sofia Rodriguez (1999)

  Eventually it’s Zig who tells me what happened.

  He does this grudgingly and in his usual blunt and tactless way, but at least I can think straight while looking at him, so I’m not complaining. Jonathan waits outside, guarding the door with some of his newly acquired Enthrallment skills. At first I thought this was a completely unnecessary precaution, but now that I’ve listened to what Zig has to say I’m beginning to think it’s probably just as well.

  The first thing Zig tells me is that I am now a cavedragon as well as a firedragon.

  “What?”

  “There’s no doubt about it. Every keeper strong enough to get a glimpse of your spiritform while you’re shining has seen it.”

  I gape at him. “Are you telling me that when you look at me right now you’re seeing two dragons?”

  “The shine doesn’t affect me.” He flicks h
is eyes over me, coldly. “I see a girl. Nothing more.”

  “Okay, but what about other people? Powerful keepers like Gunn and the Green Lady. Do they see two dragons when I’m shining?”

  “That’s what they say.”

  I jump up and start pacing the room, tearing at my hair. “But how can I be two different dragons? It doesn’t even make sense!”

  “You aren’t any kind of dragon yet. If you were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  I stop in my tracks. “Because you’d be trying to kill me?”

  “Because you’d already be dead.” His voice is quiet and, for once, almost completely without anger. If anything it makes his words more chilling.

  Suddenly my knees feel so weak that I wish I was sitting down. I look into his strange silver eyes and feel a sharp little sting of fear.

  “Is that why you were so horrible to me earlier? Are cavedragons, like, more evil than firedragons? Am I now even more of a monster?”

  The dying dragon tattooed on his face twitches as he clenches his jaw. “You are what you are.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

  I walk to the nearest chair and sit down heavily. Then I put my head in my hands while I fight back the tears, and I don’t look up again until I’m sure I’ve got myself under control. Zig has seen far too much of my weakness already.

  “I know you don’t owe me anything. But this is a lot to process, and if I don’t get my head around it, there might be serious consequences.” The slight catch in my voice makes me wince. “Please Zig.”

  His scarred upper lip pulls back a little, as if I disgust him. “As far as I know, a cavedragon isn’t more evil than any other kind. But we don’t know much about them: nobody in my line has ever had to slay one. The bigger issue here is that you have the potential power of two full-grown dragons slumbering inside you now, and if you keep drawing on that power, you will soon transform, whether you want to or not.”

  I fight down the fear, try to think. “What if I don’t draw on the power? Will I be okay then?”

  His lip pulls back even further into a sneer.

  “I don’t mean okay okay. Obviously. I mean if I, like, ignore all my new earthmagic, will I stay myself for a little while longer?”

  “By all accounts the power is highly addictive. It wants to be used. There is nothing either of us can do to stop the fate that awaits you.”

  I lift my chin. “We’ll damn well see about that.”

  For a split second I imagine a glimmer of respect in his eyes. But it’s gone quicker than it came, and when he continues his story I soon realize why.

  Zig tells me the first thing I did after lowering my shields in that cave was to go so deep into a Remembering trance that they thought they’d never get me back. Apparently, the trance was completely different from my normal resting state—–for almost two whole days I went as hard and cold as a marble statue; I even stopped breathing! It was unlike anything anyone has ever seen before and, according to Zig, Gunn almost lost it, thinking I’d died and that it was all his fault.

  And then, afterward, I woke up from my trance so angry about what I remembered that I went batshit insane and caused a major international incident.

  “What do you mean ‘a major international incident’?”

  “I believe the phrase is self-explanatory.”

  “Zig.”

  Well. Apparently what I did was to use the basic earthmagic skill—–Growth—–to restore thousands upon thousands of square miles of rainforest to the Amazon basin, and in the process I destroyed hundreds of mining operations, four large towns, dozens of villages, and thousands of farms.

  “Please tell me this is some kind of joke.”

  “I don’t make jokes.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.” I wipe my hand over my ears, as if trying to wipe away his words. “Did anyone get hurt?”

  “Not as far as we know. But thousands have lost their homes or their livelihoods. And the big mining companies have lost billions of dollars.”

  “But… why? Why would I have done something that crazy?”

  “Apparently it was part of some bargain you made with the Green Lady years ago.”

  “But I only met her the other day!”

  “Yes. But the dragon inside you met her years ago, before you were born. When you came out of your Remembering trance, you were so deeply lost in your dragonshine that you didn’t know any of us.” He pauses. “But you certainly recognized the Green Lady.”

  Something about that pause makes me nervous. “What do you mean?”

  What he means is that I gave the Green Lady a long and lingering kiss. On the mouth. In front of everyone. And then I told her that I loved her and that I never forgot her in all the years we’ve been apart. And then I restored the rainforest, to please her, and then I kissed her again.

  Holy. Shit.

  I stare at him in open-mouthed horror. “No. Impossible. I don’t believe you.”

  “Believe what you want.”

  “But that would mean…” I rub my head, trying to process this. “It was my mother who knew her. It was my mother who came here, before I was born, and who made a deal with her.”

  “Yes.”

  “So… what? My mother was a lesbian?”

  Another minor little detail about her life she never bothered to share with her own daughter.

  But Zig shakes his head. “Such categories do not apply to your kind.”

  “Why not?”

  “Talk to Waymond about it, if you must know. Your sexual preferences are irrelevant to our situation here.”

  I’m about to argue when I realize he might have a point. Not about the relevance of those preferences to our current situation—–didn’t I just destroy farms and mines and villages because of some bizarre promise my mom made to her lady lover?—–but about the fact that Zig might not be the best person in the world to discuss such personal stuff with.

  “So what happens now? Will all those people who lost their homes and their farms be okay?”

  “The international response has been overwhelmingly positive, mostly because the Order of Keepers intervened immediately.”

  “What do you mean?”

  What he means is that those insanely rich, powerful creeps who run the Order had to funnel mind-blowing amounts of money this way in an attempt to contain the worst of the fallout, and as a consequence, “at least a humanitarian disaster has been avoided, if not a political one.”

  A humanitarian disaster!

  I clutch at my hair, stunned. “I must be in such big trouble!”

  “There has never been a greater breach of the Order’s secrecy rules in all its history. And so many countries are involved—–Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela—–that it will take more than an Enthrallment spell or two to smooth things over. People are angry and scared and they’re not going to stop digging until they find answers.”

  “Yeah, but still. Surely they won’t come to the conclusion that it was done by magic.”

  “Maybe not at first. But once science cannot explain something, people start re-examining the old myths and legends.” He pins me down with one of those ivy silver glares. “There are many Earthkeepers who live in this forest, and you’ve endangered their very existence by your rash and thoughtless actions.”

  “Actions?” I grimace. “There’s more?”

  Yup. Of course there is.

  Apparently, after using the basic skill of earthmagic to make the rainforest Grow, I also used the deep earthmagic skill of Healing to cure the Green Lady’s people of every disease, disorder or complaint they’ve ever suffered from.

  “But they’re Earthkeepers! Surely they could’ve Healed themselves?”

  “The Earthkeepers of the Amazon don’t practice Healing. They don’t believe in interfering with nature in such a drastic way.”

  “Still, I bet the people I Healed didn’t mind me interfering,
” I mutter defensively.

  “That’s not the problem.”

  Nope. It’s not. Because the real problem is that word has spread, which means that every lame, sick, blind, deaf or dying person within a couple hundred-mile radius has now flocked to the Green Lady’s village in the hopes of being magically Healed. By me.

  “What?”

  “There are at least four hundred very desperate people waiting on the riverbank outside, none of which have a scrap of magic in their veins.”

  “But…” I gape at him stupidly. “How did they even find out about any of this?”

  “The Earthkeepers who live in the forest share their lives with others. People are bound to notice when the blind suddenly see or the paralyzed suddenly walk.”

  “And do they know how I did it? What I am?”

  “As far as I could determine, the people waiting outside know nothing about the true origin of your magic. They believe you to be a Christian faith healer.

  “Oh God.”

  “Indeed.”

  I sigh. “Anything else I should know about?”

  Oh, yes. A lot more.

  Apparently, before my body was finally so worn out by all the magic I used that I fell into my resting state, I also shined so brightly that I broadcasted the location of the Green Lady’s secret village to everyone with as much as a sliver of magic inside them.

  “So the White Lady knows where we are?”

  “Every keeper in the world knows where we are.”

  “I bet the Green Lady wasn’t too happy about that.”

  “No.” He gives me an unreadable look. “But you could probably kiss that better.”

  “Don’t be gross.”

  “I’m merely stating a fact.”

  I realize that I’m developing a headache. “So is that why I have to stay in my room? Are there Skykeeper assassins out there? Did they try to kill me while I was resting?”

  Thankfully, he shakes his head. “This is one of the Green Clan’s most sacred places. No Skykeeper could even get close.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “The Earthkeepers are the problem. There hasn’t been an earthmaster for a very long time, and Greens from all over the world are flocking here, more and more every day, driven by an overwhelming need to pledge themselves to your service.”