The Rise of the Dawnstar

by Farah Oomerbhoy

  Tristan thrust a quiver of arrows at me and I strapped it on. He handed me a sleek-looking yew bow. It was light, beautifully carved at the ends with flowers and vines, and far easier to use than the ones in Evolon. “Let’s see what you can do.”

  I nocked the first arrow, my muscles straining, making sure to keep my elbow up as I had been taught.

  “Concentrate with your fae senses,” Tristan said softly, standing behind me and adjusting my grip on the bow. “Use the air around you, and find the quickest way through it to your target.”

  I took a deep breath and did as he instructed. I could feel the air guiding me and connecting to my magic as I released the arrow. I tried not to break the link, but the wind shifted slightly and I was thrown off. The arrow hit the target a little to the left of the bullseye.

  “Not bad. I want you to get used to the bow—keep practicing. Once you have mastered using air magic for the arrows, we can add silver-fire to it.”

  “It’s about time,” I grinned at Tristan. “But when can I practice using silver-fire with my sword like you do?”

  “When I believe you are ready.” Tristan ended the conversation.

  * * *

  I practiced archery whenever I had time in between my other training sessions. I spent my mornings with Tristan, Cade, and Skye sparring in the training field and my afternoons walking in the gardens with the dowager.

  Sometimes we would go to the library and come back with a stack of books for me to read as the dowager taught me the various intricacies of fae magic and guided me through understanding the political world of the fae. There was so much information in the castle library, famous throughout Avalonia for its extraordinary collections of books and ancient scrolls, and I devoured book after book about fae history.

  One evening I met Tristan at the training ground for our usual sparring practice. “Follow me,” he said when he saw me.

  “Where are we going?” I ran after him. “I thought we were supposed to be training.”

  “We are.” Tristan gestured to the centaurs to open the city gates, which led out into the valley.

  Once we had exited the city, Tristan broke into a jog.

  “Where are you going?” I shouted.

  “Let’s see if you can keep up,” he shouted back.

  I groaned and broke into a sprint. I soon caught up with him, but every time I did he would go a little faster. My heartbeat quickened as the muscles in my legs burned, but I pushed forward.

  “You need to hone your senses,” said Tristan as he ran, his voice even. “You are stronger and faster than you know. Your fae blood gives you endurance and strength that no mage could ever hope to have. When you fight, when you run, use your magic, feel it as a part of you. You are fae, the elements are at your command.”

  Didn’t he ever get tired?

  I pumped my arms and pushed myself to increase my speed. I opened myself to the fae magic that lay around me and felt the earth beneath my feet reaching up to meet me. My senses sharpened as I concentrated, each step guided by the earth on which I ran. I knew where the stones were; I knew where to place my feet as if the ground itself were telling me where to go. The air around me whispered, and my pace sped up. It was as if the air was assisting me, giving me more power in my lungs, pushing me forward at a speed I had never reached before.

  We headed for the forest that led up to the hills. Tristan ran through the trees, sure-footed and nimble, without missing a step. I ran faster than I ever had, jumping over fallen logs and zigzagging through the trees. We were running at an incline, but I pushed myself further, my fae magic giving me extra strength and speed.

  “Oww!” I tripped over a fallen log and landed smack on my face.

  Tristan was beside me in an instant. “You need to maintain your connection to the elements as you run. If you hesitate or lose concentration, this is what happens.”

  It seemed like ever since I’d got here I had spent most of my time lying flat on my face. I groaned as my muscles screamed in protest, but I pushed myself up and healed my scraped knees and palms; the pain subsided but didn’t go away completely. I had to admit fae healing was convenient.

  “Maybe we should go back,” Tristan said, looking at the sky. The sun had started to set behind the mountains and the valley took on a dusky glow. Birds chirped high in the trees as they settled in for the night, and the crickets seemed to be trying to outdo their chatter. “It will get dark soon, and we don’t want to be outside the city walls at night. I can also understand if you are tired; demi-fae do not have the same endurance as the High Fae.”

  “Demi-fae sounds better than half-breed,” I said, as I followed him back down the hill into the valley.

  Tristan nodded. “Demi-fae is the politically correct term,” he said, slightly embarrassed as we traversed a rough path through the trees. “But some of the nobility believe the fae should not intermarry with other races.”

  “Why? Why not be tolerant?” I tried to keep up with his pace.

  “Many are,” said Tristan as we neared the city gates, “but as you know, our numbers have been rapidly decreasing over the centuries. The High Fae who are left are only a handful, the last remnants of a long-forgotten world, when the lands of the kingdom of Elfi stretched far beyond the Old Forest and beyond the great Southern Sea.”

  “It did?” I had never heard this version of Avalonian history before.

  Tristan nodded as the centaurs opened the southern gate for us to enter. “It was in the age of the ancients,” he elaborated. “Before the Demon Wars, the mages did not rule Avalonia. It was the High Fae who were absolute lords of this world. This was before Dragath came, before Auraken Fire-drake defeated him and trapped him in what many thought was an eternal prison. The Ancient Fae, as they are now called, were more powerful than anything any of us have ever seen—even the Elder Fae.”

  “What happened to the rest of the kingdom? I have never seen this mentioned in any of the books the dowager made me read.”

  “You won’t find any information on the Ancient Fae in those books. Most of our older texts were destroyed during the Demon Wars,” Tristan said as we passed the fae guards and climbed the big sweeping staircase to the palace. “But there is a story about an ancient queen etched into the walls of the great library.”

  “There is? I’ve never seen it.”

  “That’s because it is in a much older part of the library than you usually frequent.” He paused, as if reluctant to continue, and finally said, “Come. I will show you.”

  I followed him to the castle library. As usual, it was mostly empty, except for a few house sprites who wandered around cleaning continuously. Occasionally a member of the High Fae would come down to get a book, or read silently at one of the tables positioned between corridors.

  Tristan led me past my usual reading shelves into passages I had never been in before. The library was seemingly endless, running deep into the mountain in long winding corridors that descended further down into catacombs which housed some of the older texts.

  Tristan stopped in a shadowy corridor and lit up his hand with fae light. I did the same as I followed him deeper into the mountain. This part of the library had no books, only smooth stone walls and endless passages leading into darkness.

  He went over to one wall and held up his hand. The fae light shone brightly as beautiful etchings came into view; ancient frescoes thousands of years old hidden under the Crystal Castle. The original colors had faded as time had passed, but most were still visible.

  “They say the Crystal Castle was built on the ruins of an Ancient Fae fortress that was destroyed by Dragath during the Demon Wars,” Tristan said. “These walls are part of the original structure.”

  I drew in a sharp breath. “These are beautiful,” I whispered, gazing at the intricately rendered paintings of long dead fae warriors fighting a hideous demon. I knew who the demon was; my granduncle had shown me a similar painting in a book at the Summer Palace. But this fresco showed a da
rk-haired queen in full fae armor fighting Dragath with twin swords of silver-fire flashing in her hands.

  “Dragath,” I whispered.

  Tristan nodded. “During the Demon Wars, the last of the Ancient Fae queens, Illaria of the house of Eos-Eirendil, also known as Illaria Lightbringer, fought Dragath and his armies for hundreds of years. But when Dragath created the Dark Dagger and trapped all Illaria’s fire-fae warriors within it, the rest of Illaria’s forces were defeated and Elfi fell.”

  I looked at the etching of the ancient fae queen, and I couldn’t understand why this story sounded familiar. Illaria Lightbringer was a name I had never heard before, but somehow, I knew I had to find out more about her.

  “Avalonia was plunged into chaos,” Tristan continued, “until Auraken Firedrake arose—a fae-mage with unimaginable magic, equal to that of the ancients—and saved our world. But the rest of the fae lands, south of the Old Forest—a whole civilization once lush and prosperous with a huge population of fae—are now a wasteland, an ancient world destroyed by the darkness of Dragath.”

  “What happened to Illaria Lightbringer?”

  “The legends say Illaria fought alongside Auraken in the final battle. She used up the last of her ancient magic to save Auraken so he could defeat Dragath. The mages tend to leave her out of the stories. They want Avalonia to forget the Ancient Fae and the powers they once possessed, but the High Fae still remember Illaria Lightbringer and the great ancient dynasty of Eos-Eirendil. She is the real hero of this world. If not for her, Auraken Firedrake would never have been able to overcome the darkness.”

  Illaria Lightbringer was a true queen, a legendary hero, giving her life to save this world. The thought gave me hope. If I could be half as courageous as her I could be a great queen.

  “After Dragath fell,” Tristan went on, “Illaria disappeared, and the last of ancient magic left this world forever. No one knows what actually happened in those final days, but she was last seen riding into battle on the back of a dragon.”

  My eyes went wide, and I could feel them lighting up. “Are there dragons in Avalonia?”

  “Not anymore.” Tristan shook his head and moved over to the opposite wall. “When ancient magic disappeared from this world, so did the dragons.” He held up his hand as a beam of light fell on a lifelike etching of a dragon’s head. Parts of the original colors were still visible and I could see purple scales glistening as the fae light illuminated the fresco. The dragon’s eyes seemed to glow with an unearthly radiance as I moved closer, running my fingers over the magnificent work of art.

  “Where are they now?”

  Tristan shrugged. “No one has seen a dragon in over five thousand years. The legends say the dragons were powerful, immortal creatures born with their own powers. They were also very intelligent and greatly knowledgeable about ancient magic. They were once our greatest allies and fought beside the fae in the Demon Wars.”

  Tristan moved away from the wall and the ancient paintings retreated into the shadows.

  “I thought dragons were dangerous creatures?” I asked as we walked back to the main library.

  “They are,” said Tristan, “very dangerous. But there was a time when a few rare Ancient Fae could speak to them with their minds and summon them to our aid in times of need. Dragons cannot resist the call of a powerful dragonlord, even if they don’t want to help, they have no choice. Normally dragons didn’t interfere in the wars of the world except when called upon or summoned by a dragonlord.”

  “So why can’t we call them to help us?” I asked, my mind whirling with the possibilities of dragons. “We need to find a dragonlord to help us.”

  Tristan shook his head. “There are no dragonlords left in Avalonia. Illaria Lightbringer was the last of them. Many have tried to summon a dragon over the years, but failed. There is no one who has that kind of power anymore, and no dragons are left to call to our aid.”

  My heart was heavy; if Illaria Lightbringer could not defeat Dragath, even with the help of dragons, I knew I never could. So I had to make sure the Book of Abraxas was not opened and Dragath never released. Because if Dragath ever returned to this world, that would be a battle we could never win.

  Not without ancient magic.

  I had to find the Dawnstar. It was our only hope, and time was running out.

  16

  The Fae Codex

  The weeks that followed were filled with training from dawn till dusk and sometimes late into the night. In the evenings Tristan and I would run in the valley and the hills outside the city, and I would return exhausted with barely enough energy to eat and portal myself to my room.

  It had been a little over a month since I arrived in Elfi, and not a day went by that I didn’t think of Rafe, Uncle Gabriel, and the rest of my friends and family. I had asked my grandmother and Rhiannon about them a few times, but no one seemed to have any answers. I had no idea what was happening in Eldoren, and I needed to get back to help them. But I was not done here. Not by a long shot. I still had so much to learn and so little time to do it.

  Tristan continued to train me, but as soon as the training sessions were over he left. The conversation in the catacombs was our only one. Skye never asked me to go out again. I started to feel so alone, with no one to talk to and no real friends. Even Snow had gone away to see her family and wouldn’t be back for a while.

  When I was in my room, I read what I could and studied the books the dowager had chosen for me. But slowly all the confidence I had gathered so far began to disappear. I missed my friends Vivienne and Kalen; I missed Rafe and Erien, and Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Serena. I missed my old friend Penelope Plumpleberry and her appropriate advice, there whenever I needed it. Now I was alone, in a palace with no warmth, no laughter, no fun—just endless feasts and social backstabbing between the courts. I didn’t know how long I could keep this up.

  But I had to remain here and I had to learn; that was all that was important. At least that’s what I kept telling myself, every time I saw Cade, Tristan, Skye, and Brianna on their way out of the castle for some entertainment. I would watch them from my window until they were out of sight, swallowed up by the fae lights that hovered and swirled over the city, illuminating Iris in its ethereal gleam.

  On top of all my physical training with Tristan, I practiced creating portals and learning to use my spirit magic. I could open and close them at will, but the dowager never let me open one leading outside the city. It was forbidden, as it was a direct threat to the safety of the citizens of Elfi. The magic surrounding Iris prevented anyone from opening a portal into the city. For an enemy to enter, one had to be created from the inside.

  I took care to visualize the places I went to properly before I released my magic. I didn’t want to make any mistakes with this. After what happened with Lilith, portals scared me, and my heartbeat sped up every time I used one. But I learned to control my fears, because I had no choice. I had to do this if was going to improve. There was no easy way to get through it.

  “Once you take off your amulet,” said the dowager, during a rigorous portal session where I had to create as many consecutive portals as I could within one minute, “you will be able to access your powers more freely.”

  I disappeared, entering a portal and appearing behind her. “And when will I be able to do that?”

  She turned to face me. “Soon. Once I am satisfied that you have learned control over your powers, Izadora said she will allow you to remove it.”

  “What about Morgana?” I wanted to be able to take off my amulet and find out the true extent of my powers. But at the same time I was scared of what would happen if I couldn’t control it again. The amulet was all that prevented her from finding me.

  “Morgana already knows where you are,” said the dowager. “The Drakaar must have informed her that the fae came to your aid. She’s not stupid, she knows the safest place would be to take you to Elfi, to your grandmother. Izadora’s powers protect this kingdom, and as long as she
can hold the wards secure, Morgana’s army won’t be able to enter Elfi. But that doesn’t mean Morgana won’t try. And you must be ready to face her when she does.”

  I knew she was right. My time here in Elfi was limited. I needed to learn more about the Dawnstar. The mastermage had said that I must find it, that it was the only way to break the curse on the Dagger. The dowager was an Elder Fae—if anyone had information about the Dawnstar it would be her.

  So I told her about my mother and what the mastermage had explained about the Dawnstar. The dowager listened silently, but I could see the interest that sparked in her eyes when I mentioned the ancient weapon.

  “I didn’t think that anybody in the mage world still remembered this old legend,” said the dowager softly. “But it is not possible the ancients have left behind some sort of weapon, one that contained the last remnants of ancient magic, or we would have found it by now. No such weapon actually exists. The Dawnstar is a myth, a story told to give us hope.”

  I shook my head. “No, no, it can’t be. There has to be some truth to these legends, something more to this.” I couldn’t give up. “Without the power of the Dawnstar to break the curse on the Dark Dagger, my mother will be trapped inside it for eternity.” I tried to keep my voice even.

  The dowager’s eyes narrowed. “So you are telling me Morgana is in possession of the Dark Dagger and has Elayna trapped within it?”

  I nodded. “Yes, and Duke Silverthorne thinks she plans to use it to release Dragath from his prison.”

  The dowager stilled. “Does Izadora know?”

  I nodded.

  “Then we have less time than I thought. I shall have to increase your training, and I will speak to Izadora about removing your amulet.”

  “Thank you,” I nodded, “but the mastermage specifically told me that I need the Dawnstar if I am to break the curse on the Dark Dagger. I have to find it. Is there any way I can see the Fae Codex?”

  The dowager shook her head and looked around, making sure we were not being overheard. “I’m afraid that is impossible. The Fae Codex can only be seen by the queen and the fae elders. No outsider has ever touched the Codex, and none ever will.”