Dragon Tender (Fae Unbound Teen Young Adult Fantasy Series Book 3)

by Jill Nojack

  Lizbet noted the wave of sadness that crossed his face. "No, I don't think so. This will help. I mean, like a lot. Maybe not so much the map, but we know now that we aren't looking for a person, we're looking for a tree. And we know what kind of help she's going to need when we find her. So, yes, it is kind of a lot of help. And maybe I can figure out this map. Or someone else can. Let me just snap a picture of this and get it to Tanji and James." Lizbet took out her phone and sent the picture to her friends. Then, she texted a quick explanation. She wished that she could follow the map home to look for Mona herself, but she was a Queen now, and she had to find out if the rest of the fae were in danger first.

  "With your leave, if you've not found her by the time I arrive, Fein and I could fly over the forest with your map. Fein has sharp sight, and the dryads are unique trees. They don't look like any other species."

  "In what way?"

  "One dryad might take the coloring and the bark of the pine but the leaves of an oak. Another might take the leaves and fruit of the chestnut but the limbs of a larch. It is unique to each dryad. I do not know which characteristics your Mona has when she joins with nature, but I am well acquainted with many trees and would be able to tell if I had found one that does not exist in the forest."

  "Okay. You're on the team. When will you be able to get to Ohio?"

  "The dragons are rested now. We'll take flight again and should arrive within the span of eight days. It will be difficult because the dragons will need some place to rest. The captain tells me that there are other ships that travel these waters at this season, but only a very few. It is my hope to find them. We have not yet tried resting upon the sea."

  "It's too bad the dragons are too big for me to pull you all through the aether. If Aisha was here, it wouldn't be a problem. That chick has some serious skills. But I could maybe take you and one of the small ones, and Eamon could take the long way with the rest of them. Not that I know what we're going to do with them when you get there."

  At this, Eamon, who'd been only half listening as he kept one eye on the dragons, sprang alert. "I'll be no part of a plan that has me shepherding dragons. T'isn't going to happen. Can't they just travel all the way by boat? This one seems to be going at a good clip. When's it supposed to arrive?"

  "We will be in a country called Florida within the next three days, yet I am not at ease here with all of these people near the dragons. And if we stay with this ship, we would still have another two long days of flight to your land of Ohio. The captain has shown me a map and given me this." Avenall held up a compass.

  "All right, it's settled then. I'm your queen, and I say you stay on the boat because that's what makes sense. You'll be in Ohio, like, three days earlier? Hopefully we'll have found Mona by then and your help won't be needed...although, don't you want to go home now that you've delivered Oriane's message?"

  "No. I can never return. I've committed treason. Nor will I allow my people to ruin these dragons by training them to be forces of destruction. Already, I have overheard the leaders talking about plans to war with humans. Or what kind of plans they have?" Avenall's green eyes flashed anger, and the dragons stirred behind him. Avenall took a deep breath and lowered his head, then raised it again, fully calm. The dragons settled back in. "I am ashamed of my people. Ashamed of what they have done and what they have not yet done. I know they've captured many of the dryads, and I know they've killed a human who was outside the gates."

  "Do you know why they did that?"

  "I no longer know why they do anything. From the day you rescued us from the shadow realm, it has been as if the elves have lost their minds and their honor—all of them, all at once. It was terrible in the shadow realm, but they have never joyed in being released from it. I am sorry I cannot tell you what plans they may have for battle, but I only overheard a brief talk about it. They believe they will destroy your technology, and you will then be destroyed as well."

  "They'd have to have gone crazy if they expect they can just get all of the humans out of the way at once. I mean, there's a lot of us around. Is that really what they think?"

  "Yes. But I don't know why they think it. It seems unreasonable to me. Nor would I wish to see that happen. That is why I took the dragons and have come to serve you."

  "Okay, I get that, but here's how it is: I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you. There's no North American court where you can stay. The fae native to my country have never been organized like the European fae were, and they aren't interested in the politics. Plus, there are plenty of wide open places out west where they can still be left alone, even if those places are pretty barren. But I guess I'll figure something out."

  Lizbet took his hand and held it for a while between both of hers. Inside her, where Morgan's memories lived, her past life called to his, and she felt so much joy in the touch. She didn't want to let him go but knew she had to. She dropped his hand and said, "Okay, I need to get going now. I've got fae to find."

  She released his hand, then turned and took Eamon's as she flung a handful of dust into the air. As they disappeared, she muttered, "Dragons. Sheesh. Where am I going to put a bunch of dragons?"

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Going Underground

  Eamon tugged his hand away on a narrow balcony near the top of the fae castle in Spain. It was late and they wouldn't be able to enjoy the view from the top of the mountain where the stone castle snuggled into the cliffs. They stood there quietly for a moment, waiting for sounds of activity within. In the courtyard below, there was only silence and shadows.

  "Seems deserted here, but let's go see what we can see," Lizbet said finally.

  They entered the turret through a thick wooden door. They walked carefully down the worn stone steps that were lit only by the moonlight in the open sky above them. They exited on the ground floor, where they would normally be greeted by at least one or two of the resident fae who sensed their arrival on the "landing pad" above. No one greeted them this time.

  Lizbet eased the backpack off her shoulders and again took out a plastic bag full of roughly ground leaves which she held close to her mouth and whispered into, then blew off of her palm. The starweed gathered at the ceiling, illuminating the room.

  "Well, lassie, I see you've added to your bag of tricks."

  "Yep, I've been working on it. But I'd rather be studying physics or be out riding my bike than sitting alone with Morgan's memories studying up on my magic. At least James and Tanji help me out with some of it once in a while, so I'm not so bored. Do you think I'm just too rational to be a sorceress?"

  Eamon smiled to himself, thinking of the laughing girl falling in the mud over and over as she learned how to use her wings. "Distracted by other things for now, perhaps. But too rational for magic? Nay, I think not."

  It was too quiet in the castle, Lizbet knew, as she and her companion went from chamber to chamber looking for the fae and finding no one. Just as at the Scottish court and the fortress of the nymphs in Greece, it was empty. There was no clue left behind to help them learn what had happened to the inhabitants.

  "I don't know, Eamon. I don't know what to do. They can't all just be gone."

  "Aye, I agree. But as to what happened, I have no more idea than you."

  "Well, we can't just keep going from site to site finding nothing. I say we stay here tonight since all the beds are still made up. If we stop home, Mom may find some reason to keep me there. Then we can take a look around tomorrow to see if we can find anything to point to what happened."

  "It's a good plan. But I'll not sleep. Choose your chamber, and I'll make myself comfortable just outside of it."

  Lizbet bent down slightly to grab his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I couldn't ask for a better friend than you."

  "Och, it's nothin', it's my duty to my queen." He brushed her hand away, looking flustered.

  "Sure. As Tanj would say, 'whatevs'", Lizbet said, grinning.

  ***

  "Are you sure you've had enou
gh biscuits, Eamon?" Louis, Sr. asked as he offered the plate heaped with a variety of cookies. Eamon approved of the fare provided by his cab-driving friend in London much more than the bologna sandwiches and apples they'd had at the Spanish court the night before. Lizbet had packed plenty of hot chocolate and sugar, but she hadn't planned their bagged lunches carefully enough for his liking. Unfortunately, the castle's kitchens had also been cleared of the treats that were usually stored there.

  Eamon held up a hand as if to decline, but then said, "Well, there does seem to be a surplus I might help with," as he scooped up another handful of shortbread and chocolate discs. "Thank ye, Louis, for the hospitality, as always."

  "It's a bribe, mate, I want to know what's happening in the land of the fae. It's dull here with James gone home." He turned to Lizbet, who sat next to Eamon on the worn but comfortable couch. "Lizbet? Another bickie?"

  "I'm good," she said over the rim of her tea cup, "But you do have a little guy over there who's been waiting patiently for his turn at the plate." She inclined her head toward Louis, Jr., who sat on the floor at the edge of the coffee table, his huge brown eyes following the platter of treats.

  Louis, Sr. faked surprise and said, "Louis, I'd completely forgotten about you. You wouldn't want another biscuit, would you? And spoil your dinner?"

  Little Louis's eyes grew wider at this but before he could speak up to say that he very much did want another biscuit, his father's booming laugh filled the room and he set the entire plate of cookies before his son, saying, "see that you keep an eye on that."

  The boy happily dipped his newfound riches into his glass of milk and delivered them into his mouth, but whenever Lizbet looked in his direction as the adults talked she could see he absorbed every word as surely as the cookies absorbed the milk.

  "So, we've been to the Scottish court, the Spanish court, and the nymph's fortress. We also went to a few of the centaur villages in Europe, and they're all deserted. It's like people just dropped what they were doing and disappeared. The elves are still in their compounds, though. So, hey, no problem there."

  "Do you think the elves did something to them? I know you were talking about rumors of war the last time you stopped in, but I didn't think there were enough elves to take on all of the other magical folk."

  "There are upwards of eighty thousands elves in the known encampments. Plus, there has always been talk of unmapped fortresses where the most conservative of the elves have themselves hidden. But even then, there would be what? At the most, like a hundred thousand elves and another twenty thousand followers among the other fae? That would be who? Maybe the spriggans, and the other "wild folk" Avenall mentioned, and there is apparently a reason to believe the sons of Bacchus are involved—James only just filled me in on who they are. I didn't think the elves were a real threat. I thought they'd be too smart to make that kind of trouble when they're so outnumbered.

  "But Hamish told you the elves attacked the Scottish court?"

  Eamon replied for her, "Aye, and it was a fearsome thing, he says. They captured many and killed a few. But they left it as if nothing had happened there. Much like what we've observed everywhere else."

  "It's not like they haven't acted like this before. I've been told the elves also tried to take over the rule of the fae two thousand years ago. James said they got slapped down good by the centaurs, so they pretty much gave up and tried to play nicer with everyone after that. Of course, they hadn't captured all the dragons yet, either. But even with that, I just can't see them having disappeared thousands and thousands of fae."

  At the end of the table, Louis, Jr. stopped dipping his biscuits in milk and said, "Everybody's gone? All the people I met when you took me to the court? Even Aisha? Aisha visited us last night. She likes daddy."

  The heads of both visitors swiveled abruptly to the adult Louis at the other end of the table. Lizbet raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry.

  Louis, Sr. shrugged. "Apparently there's this thing the nymphs have. It's not like I encouraged her. We met when you asked us to court, remember? I was just interested in learning more. You know how curious I am about everything fae."

  "What a minute—what thing nymphs have?" Lizbet asked, hoping for an answer that didn't include lifetime nymph bonding like Morgan had with Myrddin.

  "Like a soulmate thing, I guess. She says despite the thousands of men she's known in her lifetime, I'm the one she's destined for. Thousands of men—that's not intimidating."

  "Och, that's not good."

  "Hey, it's not so bad. I think I feel the same way. And I've missed having someone in my life since Louis's mother died."

  "But you're human, Louis. Aisha will mourn you forever." Eamon sighed deeply.

  "I hope to stick around for a while, mate." He smiled his brilliant smile.

  Lizbet interrupted. "Okay, so...love lives with immortal beings out of the way—not that it's not cool and everything that you're all lovey-dovey—but do you have any idea where she might have gone?"

  "None. She didn't mention anything about being in hiding. We don't talk about the fae much. Why do you think I'm dying for gossip?"

  Lizbet looked exasperated.

  A small voice broke in. "What about the under-courts?"

  Heads swiveled again, this time in the other direction.

  "From the mouth of a child! Why didn't I think of it? How do you know about those, lad?"

  "Aisha told me a bedtime story about the elvin war and how the nymphs hid themselves in the underground castles the fae used to have. She said they were perfect because all of the entrances were closed a long time ago and almost no one remembers where they are. Plus, you can't get to them except through the aether."

  "You remember the story well, lad. Aye, it's a great one from our history."

  "What are you guys talking about?" Lizbet asked.

  "Och, that's right. The human Morgan didn't know a great deal about the history of the fae, not having been raised among them. You wouldn't necessarily know the story. I keep forgettin' how spotty your education has been. But I think it's time to take our leave, and to do it gratefully. I'll educate you when we get there. Young Louis here may have solved a mystery."

  Lizbet took a deep breath and let it back out again, shaking her head. "You know, I'll never understand why fae can't just pick up a phone and let a person know what's going on instead of leaving clues and hints and dropping little random snippets of 411."

  ***

  When Lizbet emerged from the aether with Eamon in the cavernous space, the sheer volume of voices talking at once overwhelmed her. The high ceiling inside the mountain at the location of Dumbarton Castle bounced the sound back toward the hard stone floor beneath them. As the fae engaging in various activities around them noticed them, the voices began to fall silent. A beautiful woman with long red hair hurried forward.

  "Lizbet, my sister," she exclaimed as she threw her arms around her. "You've been to see my sweet Louis, yes?"

  "Yes, Aisha, I have. If I hadn't, I would never have found you."

  "I would have come for you sooner or later, be sure of that. You are our queen. I simply wished to see Louis more than I wished to see you. And I have been too busy for all the days since the elves attacked to take more than just a few moments away from gathering our people."

  "It's not possible for everyone to be in here."

  "No, that is true. But there are other under-castles in the lands the humans call Spain and France, and also near the court in the High Lands. And more, not all of us are below ground. The forest folk who could not bear to be so enclosed—the centaurs, the few remaining free dryads—have gone deeper into the forests, as far from the elvin compounds as they can roam. I or one of our sister auraes stop with each of the bands daily to be sure that nothing has befallen them. But now, come, we will have refreshment, and I will tell you what I know."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Stick To The Plan

  "I demand your silence!" Shan brought the empty
palms of his hands down on the wooden table, producing a loud slap. The council quieted, turning their attention to him again.

  "There is no need for this arguing among ourselves." He continued where he left off. "I tell you again that the Abomination is still alive not because our assassin has not done his job but because he has done it exceedingly well. The Abomination believes that we have accepted him among us. He believes he will return to our compound when his task is done. We could not achieve this task without him. Have none of you noticed that the wisps are gone? He is gathering all of this loose magic for a spell which will wither the roots of human power. I can think of no better use for the soulless things."

  "First you say the Abomination is still alive, and then that you are working in concert with him! Have you no sense of decency?" challenged Elder Groux. The chorus of voices rose again.

  "If you would be silent!" Shan thundered. "He is but a tool. A powerful wizard when we have none of our own strong enough to counter the human machinery of war. Have you forgotten what they did to each other while we were in the shadow realm? The devastation wrought by their bombs and flying ships? Our dragons and magic are but laughable next to their power to destroy."

  "But the Abomination? You have told him he can live among us!"

  "Yes, the assassin Freoric has told him that. I ask you, Elder Groux—would you believe the word of an assassin?"

  There was laughter then around the room. Groux held up his hands for silence.

  "I see your meaning now, Shan. Can you guarantee that this Abomination will not come among us when your plan has been worked?"

  "Yes. I can guarantee it. He will never set foot within this compound."

  Groux nodded his head. "Then my fears are laid to rest. I will wait to judge until I have seen the outcome of this plan."