by Sariah Skye
"We found more robes and—oh," I said, surprised to see the tall stature of Finnian in the doorframe.
He gave me a pleasant smile and nodded at Gabriel who joined me. "Would you mind if I spoke to Leo, alone for a moment?"
Gabriel appeared hesitant and opened his mouth to say something, but I shot him a pointed look. "Umm…I’ll go see where my brother is staying. Be right back," he said, disappearing out the doorway but not before shooting Finnian a stern look.
Finnian chuckled. "I’m sorry," I said, "he’s—"
"No need, no need," Finnian said, sitting down on the sofa and gesturing for me to sit next to him. I did. "Are the rooms to your liking?"
I nodded. "They’re very beautiful."
"Do you have everything you need? Anything you need—we can procure for you. Just let me know, and it’s yours."
"But I don’t have any money here, and—"
He waved me off. "Leorah, as I explained, we do not use currency here. Just barter and trade for goods and services. You might not feel your purpose yet, but you will. Just your magic alone could be a great deal of help to a lot of the people here."
I bit my lip and looked away, ashamed. "Um…well I’m not sure about that. See, I just found out that I even—"
He waved me off again, a bright smile on his jovial face. "I already know about your situation. Remember, it’s my purpose to know. You’ve been using magic your whole life, you just don’t know it because you’ve been told not to. You just need some confidence and a few pointers and you’ll pick it up in no time."
I looked at him uncertainly. "Right. And you know this…how? How do you know all this…stuff? Are you a Seer, too? What exactly is a Loremaster? Are you human? Fairy? Alien?" I tried to add a jesting tone to the last word but I’m sure it didn’t come out that way, because for all I knew, maybe he was an alien.
Finnian chuckled. "Well, yes, I’m human. Partially…"
I raised a brow. "How does that work?"
Finnian grinned easily but ignored my comment. He reached out his hand slowly, and attempted to touch my cheek. I fought the urge to pull away.
With soft fingers he gently caressed my cheek. "Very dark. Very dark indeed." I watched in amazement as his eyes changed from gray to a deep brown.
"May I…look into your mind?" He asked. "I sensed the dark magic when you first entered, but I couldn’t be sure what it was. I conferred with Ceceline, she fears it may be a kind of magic we haven’t seen in sometime. A very frightening, evil magic."
I put a hand to my mouth and gasped but nodded. "Will I feel it?"
Closing his eyes, Finnian smiled. "No, you won’t feel anything." He cupped my cheek with his palm and shut his eyes. I sat there, still as a statue, intently watching his beautiful face. His eyes twitched under the lids, like he was in rapid-eye movement sleep; his lips formed muttering words but nothing came out.
It felt like forever, but finally, he pulled away. His eyes flew open, looking alarmed, in a pale blue. "This is…worse than I feared."
"What?" I squeaked.
"You’ve been touched by the Shadows."
"Huh? Shadows aren’t dangerous!" I glanced at the ground to see the dark silhouette of myself on the couch, sitting down.
Finnian managed a wry smile on his frightened face. "Well, no, our shadows aren’t dangerous. I speak of being in the shadow realm…"
"Shadow realm?"
Finnian let out a sigh. "Long ago as you know, dragons chose to separate themselves from humans not only to protect dragons but humans as well as some dragons wanted to dominate the human race, use them as slaves and," he paused, shuddering, "a food source."
I grimaced. "Ew."
"Yes," he agreed. "These dragons were banished to an empty realm, the shadow realm. Realms are basically just layers of different places, layered on top of one another. The realm where you go when you die, Earth that we live on right now, the dragon realm, and in between both those realms lies a small, unhabited realm that is hard to get to, even harder to leave. It is dark and desolate…anyone who goes there is consumed by Shadows. It's basically devoid of energy, of life. Some people have called it the void realm as well."
I winced. "That…does not sound good."
"No. You turn dark and evil. But, you turn very powerful. If you can find someone to do your bidding on the other side, you can be very destructive," Finnian explained.
"How do they do that?" I asked.
"Well, there are only a few times they can get through…’in between times’. In between dark and light, awake and asleep."
I gasped. "Is—is that what is happening to me?"
"Not entirely. My guess would be that they’ve recruited a Dreamwalker. From what I saw of your mind there was no portal, there still needs to be an actual portal between realms—between any realm," Finnian said. "But the Dreamwalker would still be bound to shadow realm "rules" as it were. So you must have been half awake, half asleep…and it was chased away by light. Either by the light itself, or by the fact that the light woke you up, this I can’t tell."
Feeling a sudden shiver, I pulled the robes tighter over me.
Finnian placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don’t worry, I think you’ll be safe here. We should be able to put a spell on you to ward off dream invaders just in case."
"But—why me? And how?"
"Well, that is an easy answer. It’s an ugly world to live in but if they can figure out how to break down the barriers, they could easily wreack havoc on all realms—Earth and dragon. Someone like you on their side would guarantee the scales tip in their favor," Finnian rested his hands in his lap and adjusted his long body. "As for how…well, I’m sure they have someone here that has marked you somehow. It would have to be someone close to you in order for them to get close enough to place a strong enough shadowmark on you."
I jumped up from my seat. "Oh my god! Kit!" I described to Finnian everything with Kit, how Gabriel felt the dark presence at the shop, about the storms and her going missing.
Finnian exhaled slowly, resting his head in his hands and scrubbing a hand over his face. "Yeah, that’s probably how they got to you. The question remains: how did they get to her? And…it doesn’t make sense, if she went through that portal, she would have gone to the dragon realm, yes?"
I thought back to the time I went through the portal, and it was already energized but neither Maxxus nor Nicodemus had seen anyone go through. I told Finnian.
"That certainly is…curious. And you’re sure these two are trustworthy? Do you believe they’d tell you the truth if someone had come over or not?"
Immediately, I nodded. "Well…Maxxus of course. Nicodemus is bound by honor and codes and tradition, I don’t think he would lie. It could mean his job."
Finnian shrugged. "The portal was destroyed, correct?"
"I think so, at least that’s what Kiarra said would happen," I replied.
"If she used the potion we gave her, then yes, it was. More or less. Hmm…" Finnian scratched his chin in thought. "What I don’t understand is, the storms. Even if someone from the shadow realm had come over, there is no way they’d have any Earth magic. The Shadow consumes every part of you, you turn into a shadow."
"What if they were controlling someone else?" I offered.
"Perhaps…" Finnian drummed his fingers on his thigh. "I think it’s more likely that it was someone else. There is…another force out there, after you."
It was my turn to facepalm myself. I slapped my hands against my face and groaned. "Fuck!" I glanced up, sheepishly. "Sorry."
Finnian patted my leg, and stood up with a grin. "Don’t worry. I can appreciate a good F-bomb. We will figure that out, too. Likely it’s a dragon—or a lot of dragons—who have a chip on their shoulder about you. Probably working with a nasty warlock. In the meantime, the market is happening soon, and then the festival. You will be there?"
I hadn’t discussed it with the others, but I nodded. "Can’t speak for anyone else, but it
sounds fun to me."
"Great," Finnian said. "You had better save me a dance."
I snickered. "I…don’t really dance."
"Don’t worry, it’ll come to you. Like your magic. Farewell." He waved and went to open the door to let himself out but instead it opened and he stepped back, as a glowering Gabriel stepped in. Finnian greeted him warmly, but Gabriel let out a grunt as he closed the door on Finnian.
"What’s that about?" Gabriel inquired grumpily.
"Bad news. Looks like we’re dealing with an old force that hasn’t been seen in a thousand years," I said, with a sigh, as Gabriel sat down next to me. The door opened and shut again, and Daniel let himself in.
"Mind if I—oh, hell, I’m going to anyway," Daniel said with a laugh, setting himself down on the matching chair next to us. He tucked his legs under him and sat cross legged. I was about to inquire about how he did that comfortably with his being so tall, but Gabriel interrupted.
"What?"
I sighed, and explained to him what Finnian told me, about the shadow realm. I looked back and forth and saw both brothers’ eyes widen.
"Oh…shit."
"Why now is my question," I said, shaking my head, feeling stress build up in my neck and head.
"You are the first pink dragon in centuries, they’re probably after your power," Daniel explained, sounded rather knowledgeable.
Gabriel raised a brow at his brother. "Something you already know?"
Daniel grinned sheepishly. "Maybe? Look at it though—when was the last time Finnian said we have seen anything from these Shadow dragons? 998 years ago?" I nodded. "Well…when did the last pink dragon live?"
"Fifteen—wait. Oh wow." Gabriel wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close to his chest. "He supposedly died almost one-thousand years ago…."
"Don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for." Daniel said, sounding rather confident.
I gave him a wry smile. "I wish I had that confidence."
He patted my leg and chuckled. "Trust me, I have enough for all of us."
Chapter 16
The little hidden village of Castle Danger was amazing—like stepping back in time, or into a Renaissance Festival complete with all sorts of colorful, crazy characters you wouldn’t believe were actually real.
We had spent about an hour or so wandering around the Marketplace, viewing and sampling the local faire. Of course, Kiarra was a regular so she had a general shopping list of things to gather. Her barter was her water magic, she could water crops, clean hard to reach objects, making her rather useful around the town. She knew everyone, and everyone knew her and she was greeted with warm smiles.
Gabriel, Daniel and I followed closely behind her, in awe of the makeshift market in the center of town (and the center of the town held the Loremasters building, a library, a school surrounding a square dotted with trees and flowers). Several booths were covered by canvas and wooden frames, others just sat in chairs with crates of goods like vegetables behind them. Artists, jewelers, weaponsmiths and metal sculptors, a butcher selling various meats which, I won’t lie, being a dragon I lingered at a bit longer than the others. Farmers were also selling their flowers and crops, vendors selling tapestries and clothing…it was all overwhelming.
Kiarra explained to me that generally every couple of days they had a Market and generally it specialized in one thing or another: food, or clothing or art but every other week they did one where everyone gathered so everyone could gather everything at once so this one was a bit more overwhelming than most.
What surprised me most, was that everyone already seemed to know me. Each vendor—no matter what species they were—gasped a little when they saw me and seemed to struggle for words before offering a friendly smile. It was far from the disgusted greetings I was used to getting.
A booth selling jewelry and small trinkets spoke to me. I paused, fingering the stones artfully wired on to chains that hung from branches the vendor had fashioned into jewelry stands. Gabriel and Daniel were a couple booths down, admiring some swords that were being sold by what I assumed was a green dragon who had made them. I wondered if Maxxus could do anything like that, being green himself. It occurred to me that not only wasn’t Maxxus present for the market but for someone who just gave up an awful lot to assist me in my time of need, I didn’t know much about him. I frowned. I would have to rectify that.
"Something troubling you, dear? The necklace not to your liking?" An older woman with a weathered face but beautiful, sky-blue eyes, wearing a bright colored scarf tied around her long, brown hair, salted with white and on her ears hung large brass hoops. She reminded me a bit of a Gypsy, and I wondered if that is what she was indeed.
I noticed that in my daydreaming I was fondling a beautiful pink crystal prism, hanging from a woven chain. I turned the stone to see it catch the late afternoon sun’s rays, and rainbows danced delightfully on my hands. I smiled. "No, actually. I was just…thinking about something else. But this is really quite lovely."
A pleasant smile spread across her face. "How appropriate. A pink crystal for the pink dragon."
I raised a brow, a question burning on my tongue. I opened my mouth to voice it, but wasn’t sure if I should.
"Go ahead, dear. Speak your mind. I can tell something is on it," she said insistently.
I exhaled. "Well…I’m just wondering. I’ve been here a total of about four hours now and everyone seems to know who I am…but I don’t know anything about anyone else, including what everyone is. There are unicorns and faeries here! I had no idea this stuff existed! Yet everyone already seems to know who I am. It’s a bit…"
"Unsettling?" she offered when I couldn’t supply the right word.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Amongst us are a great many seers and prophets. Your face has shown up in many of our visions. You’re like an old friend to many of us," she explained, with a warm smile.
I forced a smile. "That’s great to know…but…I don’t even know myself, how can everyone else know me?"
"We know you’re capable of great things," she explained. "Even if you’ve been told in the past that you aren’t capable of anything."
"So, can you tell me what you’ve seen of me? And if it’s not rude of me to ask…what are you?" I asked.
"Not rude at all. Why, I am human but also an alchemist. That’s someone who is able to imbue everyday objects with magic and potions…things like that. I also have the Sight on occasion but, it’s rare and fickle," she added with a laugh.
"An alchemist? So you do actually have powers?" I asked. I thumbed the pink crystal, feeling a certain buzz about it. A relaxing force, almost.
"I do, after many years of learning and teaching the craft." She nodded towards the crystal I was still holding. "Take it, dear. It’s clearly calling to you"
I dropped it quickly, letting it clink against another behind it. "Oh no. I couldn’t. I don’t…I don’t have anything to offer you. I’m supposed to have magic but I know nothing about it." I frowned sullenly.
"Perhaps not now, but you will. I have seen it," she said.
I perked up. "You have? What did you—I suppose you can’t tell me."
She shook her head. "I see the dark. And... I see your friends. Everything is sort of cloudy right now when I try to call it."
I blinked. It was cryptic at best. "The dark…what is this you speak of?"
She shrugged. "That I cannot say. It could be figurative or literal, I don’t know. Negativity, maybe. But I’ve seen your faces long before you ever arrived here, even if I didn’t know your names. I wish I could say more…"
I nodded knowingly. "I know, you can’t."
"In time….in time." She gently pulled the crystal and it’s chain off the branch and held it in one hand, and reached out for my palm. She gently pried my fingers open and let it slide into my open hand and placed them shut. "This is yours. You already pulled the energy out of it. It needs you. You are one. Take it. It could never be suit
ed for anyone else."
I grasped the cool metal and smooth stone and placed it over my heart. I felt a tingle, a surge of…happiness. "I don’t know how to thank you."
She smirked. "Dear, just your name will do. Knowing that this old woman isn’t just seeing make-believe in her mind is compensation enough, believe me."
I chuckled. "I am Leorah. On Earth I go by Leorah James. Back home it’s…well."
She chuckled, with a flourish of her hand that meant she understood. "I have heard Dragon spoken. It sounded like shrieks and grunts. Leorah is good enough." She explained, with a nod of acknowledgment. "I am Esmè Romanov. Please, come and see me again sometime. I always love the company."
I smiled warmly at her, opening up the chain and pulling it over my head and letting the pretty crystal rest on my chest. I grasped it with a palm and felt its positive energy. "Thank you, again. This is just what I needed."
"Anytime, dearie." She waved, and began tending to the next customer behind me.
I glanced around the market for Gabriel. I grinned to myself as he was surrounded by a handful of children, summoning water balls in his palms and shooting them at some bushes that were nearby. The kids of all different species (one had wings, another had pointy ears—fairies? Elves? Vulcans? Oy…) giggled with delight but still didn’t look as enthralled as Gabriel. His grin was ear-to-ear and his brown eyes positively sparkled, even through the lenses of his glasses.
I decided to leave him be. I scanned for some place to sit and noticed Maxxus sitting at a picnic table outside of the market, where several people (and one unicorn) had gathered to eat or drink or just chat. Maxxus, however sat by himself, his hands folded on the table as he looked around solemnly. I dodged customers and made my way over to him.
"Leo," he said, surprised as I sat across from him at the table. "Why aren’t you…" he gestured off towards Gabriel.
I took a glance back at him, he had now advanced to balls of Earth (mud, really) and the kids were daring to stick their hands in them, gleefully squealing as they got mud on their fingers. "I think I’ll let him be for a moment."