Enchanted Bookstore Legends (5-book complete epic fantasy romance box set)

by Marsha A. Moore

  “You aren’t listening with the right ears.” Draora danced a jig, kicking up her frothy petticoat, in the air above them. “It’s playing such a gay tune.”

  Lyra glanced at Raylene. “Do you hear music?”

  Her cousin beamed. “Yep, while I’m touching it.”

  Cullen motioned to Kenzo. “Any sign of the rangers?”

  “They passed the pool and continued along the trail maybe five minutes ago,” the owl reported.

  Lyra sensed a panicked emotion lifting the hairs of her arms and face. She handed the violin to Raylene who eagerly stroked its fingerboard.

  The uneasy emotion changed to a sketchy message from Cranewort. Kessa in danger, has been hurt. Dark Realm threatens serious harm to her unless we find and give them moonstone.

  “Lyra, what’s wrong, girl?” Vickie rushed to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “You’re as pale as Draora.”

  “Kessa, a little girl who’s a seer, who depends on me to keep her safe—she’s been hurt. Cullen, we need to get back as soon as possible. The Dark Realm is going to do even more to her unless we give them this keystone.”

  Draora dropped behind the headstone and scowled at Lyra. “That fiddle has family magic—not to be given away.”

  “I won’t give it away.” Lyra stood tall and said with a resolute tone, “But we must save that child.”

  “With this news, which way do you want to travel back to the Alliance? Cullen asked. “Through this portal, via Aria and Silva Caliga to the Alliance, or drive to the direct portal in my bookstore? How far are we from the island?”

  “An hour at most.” Lyra accepted the violin from Raylene and ran her fingers along the neck, circling the moonstone.

  “The time would be shorter through my bookstore…although traveling from Cranewort’s crossroads to the lair we’ll pass more potential battle areas than from Silva Caliga to the lair.”

  “Eburscon gained an advantage by learning how to use the Pearl of Pendola,” Lyra said. “He might be able to learn how to use the power of the fluorite keystone as well, if Kessa knows and is forced to help him. I’d like to stop briefly and consult with the queen of Aria and Lady Ysmena of Silva Caliga. They might know how to unlock powers from this moonstone.”

  “Good idea. We need something in our favor. And I prefer the safer route,” he replied to Lyra. “Kenzo, take Noba and fly toward the trail to watch for rangers. We’re heading back to the enchanted tree.”

  The owl and pseudodragon glided into the forest, while the others picked their way through tall grass and mud, trying not to slip onto a grave.

  Cullen walked the length of the woods near the big sycamore and pointed beside a sapling. “Here’s the path we used to pass through the thicket. It still has traces of our magic and will be more receptive to opening again.” He waved an arm and twigs lowered well ahead of them.

  In half the time, the group arrived back at the portal tree. They walked quietly, listening for voices. Cullen shot a questioning glance to his assistants.

  Lyra’s cousins hung to one side, whispering, while Vickie tapped on her cell phone.

  Kenzo sailed to his master’s wristlet. “Noba and I hear the men coming this way, returning on the trail. They’re still far, maybe four minutes or more.

  “Ray and I want to go with you,” Vickie announced. “Her grandma’s already going. Kin need to stay together.”

  “Are you sure?” Lyra looked from one to the other. “There are dangers and things you’ve never seen.”

  “Sounds even better,” the youngest cousin quipped with a grin.

  Cullen raised an eyebrow.

  Lyra knew if the magic circle of her relations could exist in Dragonspeir, it would work in her favor. Aside from that, the moral support of family bolstered her spirits. She leaned into Cullen. “What do you think about them joining us?”

  “It’s going to be difficult to keep them safe when they have no idea what dangers to avoid. They’ll be added responsibility for us. However, the magic that they use does offer some benefits—elements of surprise for our enemies.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “If we get in the way, you can always arrange to send us home,” Vickie suggested. “We really want to help out.”

  Lyra nodded. “We’ll give it a try.” She faced Cullen. “When you climbed up there as a panther, did you see any clues about how to open the portal? Did you see Symar do anything?”

  “I felt oscillations passing along the branches and trunk but didn’t see anything.”

  “Maybe the moonstone will open the portal?” Vickie suggested.

  Lyra held the keystone close to the symbol at the tree’s base. Flashes of light pulsed between the two, and Cullen placed a hand on the bark. “Do you feel anything?” she asked.

  “No.” He sighed and gazed up the mighty trunk.

  “I have an idea,” Lyra suggested. “Raylene, you heard the violin make music when you touched it. Let’s work with that magic.” She positioned the scroll with the moonstone touching the tree’s carving. “You hold it in this position while Cullen tests.”

  Raylene did as directed. “Nope. No music. I swear I heard it before.”

  “That’s because Lyra, you held it for her,” Vickie added.

  “You’re right! Let’s add more power with family members.” Lyra touched the round base of the instrument, Vickie did the same, and Draora wafted tendrils of her magic from her boot laces into their midst.

  “Such a sweet tune,” Draora said in a sing-song tone, pirouetting.

  “There. Those are the same vibrations,” Cullen called out, his head tipped back, looking at the tree’s crown.

  Noba flopped onto a branch directly above him. “Noba hears men loud now. Kenzo said to tell you about two minutes.” His message delivered, he returned to his post.

  “The portal’s opening. I can feel a rush of Aria magic like before.” Cullen stepped away. “Lyra, are you strong enough to get everyone up there?”

  She craned her neck back. “I hope so. I didn’t take time to restore fully on the fire star. I’ll do my best.” Lyra removed her downsized wizard’s staff from her pocket, returned it to normal, and primed it with her aura. She looked at her cousins. “You’re both sure?”

  They both nodded. “What about the cars?” Raylene asked.

  “I already texted Bob that Ray and I wanted to go with you. Told him not to worry since Draora was with us. He’s used to strange stuff from her. That’ll explain enough.” Vickie pulled out her cell and moved her thumbs across the keypad. “I’ll tell him to bring his mechanic buddy and take care of the cars.”

  “But he doesn’t have keys to mine,” Lyra said and gave her staff a slight twirl, casting a small cloud of gold at her feet.

  Vickie winked at her. “His buddy can hotwire anything with wheels.”

  “Okay. Come stand next to me and hold on. This cloud will take us up together.”

  Cullen joined the tight circle of women, and Lyra extended more aura from her staff. She couldn’t make the cloud that surrounded them opaque enough to dematerialize and transport. Instead, a translucent haze floated them slowly upward.

  Men’s voices yelled below them.

  Kenzo and Noba sailed past, but there was no sign of the witch.

  Chapter Twelve: The Auspex of the East

  Raylene’s screams filled Lyra ears. With the clouds of Aria covering the opening behind them, Lyra couldn’t see past her feet. She didn’t dare use any of her energy to pierce the thin veil over the portal, or they might sink into the fluffy pother, like in quicksand.

  Cullen made the first move and stepped a foot outside of Lyra’s golden vapors, gently testing the strength of the surface. He shielded his eyes against the bright sunlight and scanned the distance. “I don’t see any sign of Symar or his cimafa, but this place looks familiar.” He held his staff ready.

  “They were pretty badly hurt. I doubt they would still be around.” Lyra jo
ined him and glanced beyond her descending aura. She didn’t see anything other than the tops of rain-laden clouds and the leafless upper branches of sycamores that managed to extend into the thin atmosphere of Aria. No danger present, she pulled Vickie next to her.

  Kenzo and Noba circled, diving close to the portal.

  “Can’t we help Ray?” Lyra’s cousin clung to her arm.

  Before Lyra could answer, Raylene’s shrill cry grew louder, and her head poked through the cloud layer wrapped in a gauzy covering of her grandmother’s ghostly filaments.

  Draora herself calmly emerged beneath her granddaughter, who writhed against the cocoon. “Raylene, girl, be still. A good witch welcomes visits to new dimensions.”

  Lyra caught hold of a protruding elbow and guided her cousin to the group.

  Vickie patted the lumpy casing. “Ray, hush now. You’re safe. We’re all here.” Aside to Lyra, she continued, “When we were little, she fell out of a tree we were climbing from twenty-some feet. Guess she thought all trees would catch her like her grandma’s honey tree. Gave her a real scare.”

  The youngest cousin wiggled her hands to her face and pushed aside the filaments. Wide brown eyes rolled in all directions. “Where are we?”

  A brisk wind whistled through the bare limbs.

  Draora jerked, and her gaze darted across the open expanse. With a wave of her hand, she raised a gentle breeze that unraveled the web around her granddaughter.

  On her feet, Raylene cautiously kicked the springy cloud material with the toe of her boot. “Will this stuff hold us from falling through?”

  Suddenly, Draora screeched and raised her arms, creating a whirlwind around their group.

  A woman’s shrill voice crackled from behind, and Lyra spun around, clutching the violin to her chest, moonstone at her throat.

  Matted strands of dirty, white hair stuck out at all angles from the woman’s head. Stooped in posture, she faced the ground, but her lively black onyx eyes glinting through bushy brows locked onto Lyra. “Welcome you back to the post of Auspex Ochre of the East.”

  Lyra raised a hand to quiet Draora. “It’s all right. She’s a friend who can talk to birds.”

  “Is she? Not from my sensibilities,” the ghost-witch muttered as she settled her whipping winds.

  “Scribe Lyra, what question do you need me to voice to my birds this time?” Ochre pressed her hands against stains at her knees on the gray apron she wore. She worked to straighten her crooked spine.

  Lyra looked at the elderly woman, bewildered. “I’m sorry. The question I have is for Queen Mysa.”

  “Everyone who passes the portal of an auspex has a question.”

  “You told me before that you didn’t remember the last time someone went through this portal,” Lyra replied.

  “Might be. Might not.” Ochre stooped forward and rolled the cuffs of her dingy white blouse. “But that’s the law of the auspex portals. You must have a true question from your heart in order to be granted passage. Perhaps you wish to know how to play that fine violin.” She extended a hand and Lyra withdrew.

  Kenzo perched lightly on Draora’s shoulder, while Noba landed on his master’s wristlet.

  The ghost-witch bristled and stepped forward, tendrils of her snowy hair lifting around her ears. “I think my grandniece made herself clear.” Her fingers twitched at her side.

  The owl abruptly lifted off, sailing high above the shanty of the auspex.

  Ochre loomed forward, stepping on the ragged hem of her pale gray, full skirt, her eyes bulging.

  “Wait!” Lyra jumped between the two old ladies. She didn’t know what magic Ochre was capable of, but knew Draora might do some real harm to protect her family. “I have another question. But it’s very difficult. I don’t think anyone can answer it, not even Queen Mysa.”

  “My birds can answer anything I put to them. Let’s gather on my porch while I contact them.” Ochre motioned them to follow her toward her shanty. She walked with a limp that Lyra didn’t remember from before.

  The unpainted gray frame dwelling looked even more precarious, leaning farther toward the east. Sycamore limbs now propped up the side leaning toward the portal. The crude covering over the stoop remained the same, a ragged, stained canvas strung between the house and nearby tree limbs.

  Raylene lagged behind Lyra and whispered to Draora who floated just above the pother. “Grandma, what sort of witch is she?”

  Draora dropped back to answer. “Keep close to me or Lyra, you hear.”

  Raylene nodded and widened her stride to join Vickie behind the others on the makeshift porch.

  The auspex disappeared inside her house. She returned carrying a white porcelain vase of dried flowers, which she placed on an upturned crate. Ochre clasped Lyra’s free hand between her bony fingers. “Now, tell me your question, my child.”

  Lyra focused on Ochre’s deep set eyes and established the beginning of a connection for fascination. She wanted to be sure she received all the information the auspex knew. After pushing a mass of aura behind her eyes, she paused. A prickling sensation unnerved her, but she first needed to pose the question. “I want to know what the Dark Realm has done to harm the young Alliance seer named Kessa.”

  Ochre nodded. “It is heartfelt.” Her face lit with a crooked smile, and her grip on Lyra’s hand tightened like a vise. Her other hand grasped the neck of the violin below Lyra’s.

  Draora lifted a magical breeze around them, billowing the canvas like a sail.

  Lyra’s pulse pounded in her ears. She arrested the woman’s gaze and jumped aura into her mind. Lyra felt Cullen’s energy connect to her side. It comforted her to know that he followed her exploration of the woman’s thoughts. After the first glimpse at Ochre’s stored mental information, Lyra jerked. The person in front of her wasn’t the auspex.

  Cullen’s staff lit with the golden-blue light of their combined auras.

  The imposter squirmed, trying to get free of the mental hold. She pushed a leg forward, revealing a shin covered in a long burn.

  In response, Lyra poured more aura into the person’s mind, strengthening her connection. She scanned deeper inside the closest storage area, filled with temporary information. She flashed through topic threads: acquiring the moonstone; stealing Lyra’s aura; sharing quintessence with Eburscon and Tarom.

  Lyra’s hands shook, and she felt Cullen’s power surging wildly, filled with rage.

  Draora’s wind blustered, roaring in Lyra’s ears.

  Daring to use even more aura, she probed deeper, looking for information about Kessa. Sifting from file to file, she finally found what she wanted.

  When Kessa had refused to disclose how to unlock powers of the fluorite, the Qumeli chief had punished her severely. He cut off one of her ears.

  Lyra cringed. Bile rose into the back of her throat. Her whole body shook, demanding to stop the fascination, but she plunged still deeper into the person’s mind. Ticking through more files housing long-term desires and plans, she located one of interest. This person stored secret plans shared with no one, to steal both her and Kessa’s auras, then return both of their mutilated, dead bodies to the defeated Alliance.

  The shriek of a cimafa cut the air. Before Lyra could react, a death cone shot down onto her. Its power broke her mental connection.

  The deceiver faced the sinuous dark beast sailing overhead.

  It roared and thrashed with full vigor, clearly not the one that she had been recently injured.

  The black shadow of the dragon’s death cone bathed the imposter.

  The outer appearance of Ochre faded, and, instead, Symar snarled at Lyra. “I hope you enjoyed learning your fate.” His grip on her tightened with supernatural force. He yanked her forward, breaking her connection to Cullen. Symar’s force shattered bones in Lyra’s hand.

  She grimaced in pain.

  Cullen’s lasers showered the cimafa.

  Drops of dark blood rained onto the canvas as the beast reared.

/>   Its death cone lifted, and Lyra delivered a powerball internally through her wrenched hand into Symar’s. Her damaged tissues couldn’t withstand the transfer. Excruciating pain shot into her arm, and she winced.

  He screamed and let her go. He fell backward, the flesh of his hand charred.

  She knew that would be her only chance. With her other hand holding tight to the valuable violin, she couldn’t fire again. From the force of the release, her body pitched against Raylene’s legs.

  The cimafa coiled its neck downward once more, fire rimming its eyes. The edge of the death cone licked at Lyra’s feet.

  Raylene screamed and clutched the group of cousins together, her nails digging into Lyra’s shoulder.

  Draora pulled a white film of energy from the cousins and sent it squarely behind them through the keyhole in the shanty’s lock. The door crashed outward, and her magic swept the real auspex onto the porch. Her shackles fell to the ground.

  Cullen pummeled the cimafa with more lasers, but the dragon didn’t relent now that Symar fueled it with his own power.

  From her bent posture, Ochre stiffly raised her arms. She voiced a clear call in a foreign tongue.

  Chapter Thirteen: Nightingale’s Song

  Lyra grimaced, struggling to use her mutilated hand to remove and enlarge the shrunken wizard’s staff from the tight pocket of her jeans.

  Cullen stepped beside her and channeled some of her aura into his staff.

  The cimafa thrust its neck closer. The death cone covered the lower half of Lyra’s body but rose no higher. She was thankful for that much, the majority of aura stored in her heart and mind.

  The auspex continued her call, her voice ringing clear and loud.

  Within moments, a golden falcon, four times normal size, answered, diving at the cimafa with talons splayed wide. The raptor tore into one of the dragon’s red eyes and held on.

  The cimafa burst into a writhing, screaming dance.