by Sariah Skye
"Ah, that’s what we want you to think," she said, smugly.
"Wait now—who is this we?" I asked.
"The Loremasters. It’s where they are headquartered. To the ordinary human or even dragon, you can drive through Castle Danger and not notice anything out of the ordinary. As far as the rest of Minnesota and the rest of the area is concerned: it’s just a fabulous place to go camping, along the giant Lake Superior. But hidden in the woods is a secret realm where the Loremasters live and work, and take in threatened magical beings to keep them safe."
My eyes widened. Gabriel swore under his breath.
"You’re not serious?" I asked, incredulous.
"I am serious as a dragon bite," she replied. "Outside of the Loremasters, hardly anyone knows we exist and you cannot access the realm unless you’ve been imbibed with a potion to grant you access by a very powerful Alchemist."
"There’s Alchemists too?" I asked, my voice barely an audible squeak.
She nodded with a grin. "Oh yes. Usually witches or sorcerers that specialize in potion making. It’s pretty damn fascinating actually." She glanced at a wristwatch she was hiding underneath the sleeve of her oversized sweater. "Shit, we need to go. They are going to come looking for us within the next few hours."
"Wait!" I leapt up and pushed her down into the chair. "I can’t just go! I have a home here…" I glanced around wryly, wrinkling my nose. "Okay, so it’s not the greatest, but it’s all I have. I have a friend that is missing, I have a job and I have—my cat!" I exclaimed, pointing at Sona who was padding around suspiciously. She yelped and darted out of the room.
"Leorah, I’m afraid you have no choice." Kiarra, who the couple times I met her was the cheeriest, perkiest thing I believe I’d ever met—cheerier then a songbird on a spring morning when all you really just want to do is sleep—sounded solemn and controlled; appearing serious. She reached out and grasped my hands in hers and squeezed reassuringly. "If you don’t…no one can protect you once you get caught. They want something from you, and I can promise you, it’s not good."
"My grandfather can do something; I know he can…" I started, not feeling entirely convinced about that myself.
Kiarra shook her head. "He can’t, not this time. Believe it or not, I’m the only one that can help you right now. Well, me and the Loremasters."
It was Gabriel’s turn to interject suspicion. "Wait wait wait…how do we know you aren’t the one after her. I mean…what a coincidence about all this, huh?"
I pulled away, back towards him. He grasped my shoulders with his hands tightly and I leaned back in towards him.
Kiarra heaved a weighted sigh. "I know how this all must seem. I know. I wouldn’t believe it myself, but you’re going to have to trust me this time. You know what trouble I’m going to get into if they find me here, helping you? I won’t even get a trial, I’ll just be killed, instantly," she said, with a dramatic snap of her fingers to prove her point.
"Not if you’re really working for them. Or the…evil thing," Gabriel said, struggling to find a term for the evil dream entity.
"The Loremasters can help you figure out what you’re up against. They have records and memories of everything that ever existed throughout time. If one could have come to you themselves, they would have but for now, I’m their best option. Their only option." Kiarra sighed again. "Look, you’re a pink dragon. Your magic lies in the spirit element…I’m sure Gabriel here has explained this to you at least a little bit, but I know you have no idea truly how powerful that element and you are. I do. One of your abilities should be to sense whether or not someone is telling you the truth—it’s how you determine whether or not to side with someone or battle them, it’s one of the many powerful and sometimes scary skills pink dragons have. I don’t know quite how you do it, but from what I’ve heard you just close your eyes and read your gut—it never lies to you. It will always be honest with you. Try it, now, and it will tell you that I am in fact telling you the truth. I am your ally."
I hesitated, considering her words.
"How do you know so much about a pink dragon’s powers?" Gabriel asked, the very question that was forming in my own mind.
Kiarra sighed again; a conflicted groan. "Okay, what I’m about to tell you needs to remain a secret. I mean it. It’s the entire reason I joined the Loremasters. It’s the entire reason I tried to get in close with you, why I seemed too eager to meet you at first." She paused, as if struggling internally with something.
"Well…what?" I prompted impatiently.
She inhaled and exhaled again quickly. "Cyril—the last known pink dragon—well he wasn’t crazy at all. In fact, he was very sane, and powerful. And, he was my grandfather."
I winced, as if dodging a punch of ice to the face. I felt my heart leap up into my throat, and I tried to choke it down like a sour drink of spoiled milk.
"What!?!" Gabriel managed to ask for me, dumbfounded.
"But—Cyril had a dragon that was stillborn. He didn’t have any other dragons…did he?" I asked, second-guessing myself. It wouldn’t be the first or the last time my knowledge of my own society failed me.
"That’s true, the dragon that would have been my aunt died at childbirth. But what no one knows—what he hid from everyone—is that he paired with another female at a later time, when he was exiled. He refused to assist the corrupt leaders of the Court at the time, so he was exiled…sent to Earth to live out the remainder of his days. He wasn’t alone though, another dragon named Philomenia went missing around the same time. They had three dragons together, one of them was my father. The kids re-assimilated into dragon society, once he was found, and assassinated. I still don’t know how he died, but he left behind a trunkful of journals, books, dictations about life and his powers, knowing fully well what the Court and Kingdom were doing to his good name, and the name of all the pink dragons that would come after him. I've been studying them for years, so I know something about how your magic is supposed to work. Well, I know how his worked and there should be many similarities."
I narrowed my eyes at her, still feeling suspicious. "How do I know—really?"
"Just listen to your instincts, Leo. They will never lie to you, even if others do. Listen to them, what do they say?" She turned to Gabriel now and said, "And you, can you detect whether or not I’m using any magic at this time?"
Gabriel closed his eyes for a minute, and opened them again slowly. "I can’t read any magic. At least, none that I’m aware of."
"Leo, just try to use your magic and let it tell you whether or not I’m telling the truth," she said earnestly.
I breathed out. "Okay…I don’t know what I’m doing though." Gabriel pulled my hand into his lap, stroking the back of it with his thumb. I glanced into his honest brown eyes, and he nodded.
I bit my lip, and closed my eyes. I concentrated on Kiarra, and replayed the words she told in my mind. How am I supposed to tell if you’re lying? I asked myself, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, I was overcome by a wave of peace…light shrouded my vision and warmth—like summer sunlight—touched my fingertips, feeling like a trusted friend I hadn’t seen in a while. All at once, I knew that Kiarra was in fact telling the truth. I don’t know how…but I just knew.
My eyes flew open. The light dissipated, but it lingered for a moment around Kiarra’s form. I just nodded at Gabriel.
"She’s telling the truth." I said confidently.
"You’re sure?" he asked, squeezing my hand.
I nodded quickly. "Yes. I can’t tell you how I just— "
"—if you say so, that’s good enough for me," he said. He leaned over, and planted an affectionate kiss on my cheek before standing. "Well…what do we have to do?"
Kiarra let out a low whistle. "Wow, that was intense," she said with a laugh. "You’re strong, for sure."
"You felt that?" I didn’t know what she felt, exactly.
She nodded. "The energy in the room—it was intense. Like fog. You could almost slice it with a knife.
"
I chuckled. "Well…what can I say?" I asked rhetorically with a nonchalant shrug.
"How long will it take for us to get there? Your Castle place?" Gabriel asked.
"Oh, not long. It’s just a portal ride away." She produced a vial from her pants pocket—it was small, but it was almost like looking at bottled lightning—you could see the electricity crackling in it. It was powerful, whatever it was. "All I have to do is throw this into a portal before we jump in, and it will re-direct the path to Castle Danger, and destroy the entrance portal behind us so no one can follow."
"You’re going to use the one in the woods?" I asked, with trepidation. That would make it very, very hard to come back.
"Well, I kind of have to. It’s the closest portal to us, the next one being hours away. We could drive but…we don’t have that kind of time," she said.
I groaned. "What am I going to do—with my life? How long are we going to be gone? And what about my cat?"
"Bring her," Kiarra said. "Castle Danger is home to many, many animals, both domestic and wild. Many people who seek the safety of the realm have animal guides and familiars that stick with them. So, she’ll be right at home."
I breathed in relief. "That’s good. But what about—what about Kit? And my apartment?"
"Is it really worth your life?" she asked.
Gabriel shook his head. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, and nuzzled my cheek with his own. He leaned over and whispered, "It’ll be okay. I’m with you. You have to do this."
I nodded, and forced a smile. "Okay…I guess I’ll pack."
"I’ll start shutting stuff down," he said, kissing my cheek again and pulling away.
"I’m still worried about Kit," I said, and I briefly explained to Kiarra the situation with my friend. She didn’t have much to offer but a sympathetic "I’m sorry" and reassured me that Kit’s yellow beetle was still parked outside the portal. She said the Loremasters could probably help.
I didn’t completely unpack my bag from the other day when we were heading back towards the dragon realm, but there were still quite a few things I wanted to add now, especially knowing that it would be harder to return.
Kiarra followed me into my bedroom and offered to help me, urging me to pack only what I truly needed and practical items. As I packed, she told me more about the Order—things I already knew but things that no one else did, so another fact to prove my instinct was correct, even asked me if Gabriel was part of the O’Donnell bloodline. She said according to one of her grandfather, Cyril’s books about the Order that because the Knight and the dragon had to work so closely together, an unshakeable bond was formed and sometimes, they fell in love. The stronger the bond though, the stronger the connection with magic. She said quite frequently, the bond between knight and dragon was so tight that if one lost their life prematurely, quite often the other died shortly after, no matter if it was a dragon or human that went first. The notion made me slightly nauseous, being that close to someone that you literally couldn’t live without them. I couldn’t say that about Gabriel yet, in fact I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure how I felt about him, other than the fact I was incredibly disappointed we didn’t consummate our relationship last night, and that being around him made me feel more calm, more confident. But love?
I knew I had fallen for him pretty good, for me to even consider sleeping with him. I’d never allowed another to ever get so close to me so soon. It took me nearly six months to speak to Kit about something that wasn’t work related, and another month or so before I agreed to go out to dinner with her or do something outside of work. I have never fallen for anyone this fast, it was strange that I did now but, perhaps that's how it worked? How would I know based on no experience?
I guess I’d find out sooner or later how I felt about him exactly. Or, perhaps I already knew, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
She also told me more about her grandfather’s magic, how he was able to heal, how he could use compulsion on most sentient beings aside from basic amplifying or dispersing the four elements. I did have to ask her about his wings—did he have the flimsy, iridescent looking wings? Could he fly?
She said he didn’t have those type of wings and that like any other dragon, he could fly, and she wasn’t sure why mine were different. But if anyone would know, it’d be the Loremasters. The same went for my ‘evil’ entity that kept haunting me, so to speak.
I didn’t know why all of a sudden I was divulging these things to her; maybe it was the fact that suddenly, she wasn’t that perky, cheerleader type that made me sick to my stomach. She wasn’t the person that was taking my brother away. She wasn’t exactly a friend, but she was someone with answers and I couldn’t afford to burn that bridge, yet.
She did keep checking her phone, though and tapping her foot anxiously. She was nervous about something—more than just being caught by the Court helping me. I called her out on it, as I was shoving the last bit of clothing and toiletries in a wheeled suitcase I was opting to bring this time. I had no idea what this new realm would have in store for me even though she assured me there would be food, water and everything I would need. Still…better to be safe than sorry. I should have asked about Mountain Dew and Star Trek, I thought, regrettably to myself.
"Your brother," she said, with a wry smile. "Any moment he’s going to know they’re after me, too."
"They aren’t going to hurt him, are they?" I asked, worried.
She shook her head. "No, they’ll give him a truth serum and they’ll learn he really doesn’t know anything. They’ll just think I was with him to get to you…he’ll think I betrayed him." She sighed. "It’ll be awhile before I can tell him the truth, but at least he won’t be harmed."
I frowned, watching her dark eyes well up with tears that she refused to let fall down her face. "You do care about him, don’t you?"
She chuckled, pressing her fingertips to her closed eyes and squinting, trying to pressure the tears to stop presenting themselves. "Pink dragon instinct?"
I shook my head. "No, sister instinct. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he understands."
She looked up momentarily and smiled half-heartedly. "Thank you."
A few more minutes, I had everything packed. Gabriel had shut down the water coming into the apartment and pried all the windows shut . He said he had cast some sort of enchant on the place to keep people out (like landlords that would be wondering where missing rent might be, although Kiarra assured me I’d be able to still get online via the internet and make some sort of payment or…something. Though with no human income, I didn’t see how it was possible). Gabriel himself packed up his small amount of clothing and his laptop and had helped gather Sona in her carrier—again (she was not happy about that and even nipped him lightly on his palm) and her bag of food. I sent them ahead to my car while I locked up, pausing for a moment before shutting out the lights, feeling mournful at the thought of possibly losing my first place of my own, wondering if I’d ever be able to come back to it…all my collections, my tchotchkes and all my crap…two years of normality all possibly gone in a day. I closed the door behind me and stuck the key in the lock, turning it and hearing the deadbolt tumble and lock with a click.
"So how did you get here, then?" I asked, climbing into the driver’s seat of my purple Neon and turning over the ignition.
"Well, Maxxus had put me in contact with one of the rogues, and he hooked me up with a cab driver—another rogue who was familiar with driving dragons to and from the portal," Kiarra replied.
"And we’re just going to leave my car there in the clearing? Kit’s car is already there, someone might think something is up," I said, beginning our drive to the portal
"No, we’re actually going to drive it right into the portal," Kiarra replied.
Gabriel and I exchanged smiles. "Cool," I said.
When we arrived at the clearing, Maxxus was standing in the middle in his human form, apparently waiting for us to arrive. He rushed up to th
e car the second he saw us.
"What took so long?" he mouthed, pointing at the imaginary wristwatch on his arm.
I pulled into park and got out of the car, Gabriel and Kiarra following suit.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had to get her over safely," Maxxus said, nodding towards Kiarra, "and prevent any more of them from coming over. No small feat, might I add. There are two dragons knocked out on the other side, we need to get outta here!" he exclaimed, motioning towards the portal.
"Wait, wait!" I held up my hands. "You’re coming with us? No. No no no…"
Kiarra came up beside me. "We don’t have a choice. They’ll be after him now too. Had he simply let me over—okay. But he’s attacked members of the Court on an official mission. He’s committed treason. He’s one of us now."
I raised a brow, and crossed my arms over my chest. "One of what? Idiots?"
Maxxus chuckled, briefly reaching out a long arm and grasping my shoulder before Gabriel came up beside me, glaring daggers at him. "Just another member of Leo’s army," he said, with a laugh.
"But—why?" I asked, dumbfounded. "You might never be able to come back here, again. You could be exiled!"
Maxxus just shrugged. "Well, at least I’ll be in good company," he said, nodding to Kiarra who just smiled and nodded. "Besides, your grandfather is one of my favorite beings ever—he took me on when many wouldn’t, and has been more loyal to me then my own family ever has been. I owe it to him to try to keep his granddaughter safe."
I let out a low growl, begrudgingly. "Fine. Get the hell in the car." I turned to Kiarra. "What do we do now?’
"Climb in, and I’ll throw this—" she held up the small vial containing the swirling blue liquid inside, "—into the portal. We wait until it shifts and we’ll have about one minute to get in before it implodes on itself, destroying the portal for good. So everyone, get into the car, and Leo drive about twenty feet to the portal and be ready...I’ll jump in and you floor it. We need to be quick."