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

by Jill Nojack

  Lizbet concentrated for a moment. "We were on the cruise ship on Saturday, and it's going on Saturday again now, so...seven days left, tops?"

  "That's plenty of time, right? With you, me, and James working on this, we have to be able to solve it. Plus, we can ask Thomas, too. You know how kind of amazing he is with magic. No matter how much you don't like him, we need to ask him."

  "I don't want to admit it, but you're right. Will you ask?"

  "Sure, I've got the shop this morning and Thomas is working, too. And this book is going everywhere with me until we figure this out. Since I'm crashing at your place tonight, maybe we can all get together and work on it."

  "Why are you staying over?"

  "Dad's going to be staying in the woods to keep Mona company. Didn't James tell you that he was going to hang with dad for some of the night, too? That way Avenall can get some sleep before he takes the second watch."

  "No, he didn't mention it."

  "No? Well, apparently some bossy fae queen's mom called and said that poor Avenall is stuck playing bodyguard for anybody who stays with Mona out in the woods."

  "Oh yeah, that fae queen. Wow, she's a real wench, huh?"

  Tanji opened her eyes wide while she performed an exaggerated nod, "Oh yes, that queen is a real wench!"

  They tried hard to giggle softly so they didn't wake anyone else up.

  ***

  When Tanji arrived at the Moore's later that afternoon, Thomas and James trailed behind her. James carried the stack of wirebound notebooks where he wrote Myrddin's spell knowledge as it surfaced. They all took seats around the table, and Tanji ran down the list of ideas she'd had about how to help Mona.

  "Here's the way I see it. One—Mona has to get fleshy within the next ten days or she's tree-woman forever. Two—if she gets fleshy, she also gets bloody. Real bloody. Three—there is no three, because she's already bled to death before we get to three." She tipped her open book of magic toward her slightly as if she was going to read from it, then let it fall back to the table. "After a day of study on the topic while Thomas did most of the work at the shop, that's what I got. One of you two better be a whole lot smarter than I am."

  "I got nothin'", James said. "You're right about what happens. The problem is where the arrow hit. We can't heal her fast enough to prevent her from bleeding out. This needs one of Thomas's magical macgyvers. There's no one spell that's going to take care of it." James looked to Thomas. "All we can do is hope that creative brain of yours jumps through some hoops pretty quick and saves the day."

  Thomas avoided James's gaze, pretending to be absorbed in reading over Tanji's shoulder. "I need time with the book and Myrddin's notebooks. Understand that I can't promise anything."

  "Sure, but don't sell yourself short. You've got the best magical mind of all of us," James replied.

  Thomas took Tanji's book and began to page through it, stopping here and there. At one point, he asked James to pass him the notebook he was reading. He compared the pages, then moved on. They were all intent on their work. The time passed quickly.

  It was getting dark when James stood up and asked, "You want to go for a walk, Lizzie? Get a little chilly air to clear our heads?"

  Tanji quickly put in, "I'll go too, since Thomas is still working and might appreciate the time alone."

  Thomas stopped her. "No, I'd like you to stay. Knowing you're here helps me focus."

  Tanji reluctantly agreed, and Lizbet trailed behind James, holding his hand until they stopped at the door to get dressed for the brisk air outside.

  Thomas took Tanji's hand in his as she sat down, but she pulled it away. "Stop it. I told you I don't want to be with you that way anymore."

  "I know. But my surprise is almost ready, and you'll forgive me then for being distracted. I know you will."

  "Look, the only surprise I want is that you know how to fix Mona. Right? Keep your mind on that instead of on me. You already missed out on that chance."

  Thomas couldn't reveal his secret yet, but he desperately wanted Tanji to reconsider. What he'd planned he'd done for her as well as for himself. But if he used what he knew to bring Mona back to her flesh state, she might reveal Freoric as the cause of her trouble. Freoric shouldn't have done what he'd done to her, but there can be casualties when working for the greater good. Still, helping Mona might be the fastest route back to Tanji's affections.

  "How much longer do we have before nature takes her?"

  "Around nine days as of this morning, assuming I got an accurate estimate. I'd say we don't want to push it, so we really need to be rushing in there with the cavalry by Thursday, don't you think?"

  Thomas already knew he could cure Mona. It would be simple enough even though it would probably take most of a day and at least one lesser healer to assist. He was stronger in his magic now than any of them knew. Stronger even than James. But he didn't want to help her too soon: he still needed Freoric's service. He couldn't allow Mona to reveal the name of her attacker. On the other hand, he didn't want to let the half-dryad die and had never intended that she would. He'd only wanted to stop her from communicating for a while.

  He could put off healing her for a few more days and still look good in Tanji's eyes. The globe would be filled soon, anyway. After that, he, Freoric, and Tanji would be on their way to the elvin compound, and Freoric would have nothing more to fear.

  "I'll keep working on this until I have a solution. Can I have the time off work if I need it?"

  "Yeah, take whatever time you need. I'll close the shop if that's what it takes. Who cares about the stupid shop until Mona's okay?"

  Thomas patted her hand again, and he noticed that she didn't pull it away this time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The Dragon’s Retort

  Before dawn, the dragons flew again toward the great lake that lay to the north. They had to be fed at least every other day, and there was no likely food source near except a small herd of dairy cattle. Avenall's new friend, the pretty half-fae Tanji, had told him the cattle were off limits. He wasn't sure what it meant when she said, "Eamon will be wearing you for a hat if you even think about letting the dragons near that herd," but he was convinced he didn't want to find out. Although there was a small lake near the cabin, it was frozen over. While the dragons could certainly thaw it, there were men fishing through holes in the ice who would be endangered if the ice was weakened.

  He took the dragons as high as they would fly to make them less visible from the ground. He rode in Fein's mind all the way there so that he could see farther than with his own limited vision. To the east, machines took to the sky and traveled in many directions. He kept the dragons well west of their origin so that they did not spook from sharing the sky with the noisy sky-boats of silver.

  When the large lake appeared below, he found a rocky beach on a small island where the dragons were able to fish, feed, and have their freedom. Avenall let them enjoy themselves until the early afternoon when a boat drew nearby and its occupants began taking pictures. He summoned Fein, mounted, and the dragons started their journey back to the barn where they would need to hide once again.

  On the way back, he watched the ground with Fein's eyes. As they flew over the area of forest by the queen's village, he looked sharp for any traces of an elvin encampment on the ground, but he saw none.

  Then, as he urged Fein to the right, toward the barn where they would again hide for the night, Fein abruptly veered left and forced a picture into Avenall's brain. Far below, three human children surrounded a fourth as she tried to enter her car. The fourth was Tanji. He sent a thought picture to the other dragons to circle in wait but gave Fein his head to rush toward the endangered girl.

  ***

  Tanji startled when an arm came around her neck from behind and a voice told her not to scream. She didn't scream, but she did swing her elbows backwards with as much force as she could muster and pushed off from the side of the car with one leg, hoping to knock her attacker off
balance so she could take off running. In the back of her mind, she remembered Eamon telling her that making flowers grow would never afford her much protection. She wished too late she'd delved further into spells that weren't so focused on healing and other practical uses like rainmaking.

  It didn't matter much anyway. Her attacker pulled her around, and she faced two others. Kids she recognized as seniors, a year ahead of her. She also recognized the wildness in their eyes: it warned her of the suped up strength, alertness, and sense of invincibility of the chronic duster.

  She was in a world of trouble, that was for sure. The guy who had her in a headlock would be dusted up, and there was no way she'd be able to fight him off when he was under the influence.

  His voice was loud in her ear. "Where's your dust? You're friends with that uppity queen. She's always got it, so you gotta have it, too."

  "Look, I don't use pixie dust for spells anymore. And I can't travel the aether. Seriously, I don't have anything you'd want."

  "Somebody get her keys and check the car."

  The blonde girl, who stood closest to her, pulled her purse away. Her heavy winter coat prevented the strap from scraping her, but she was going to leave a hecka bruise.

  The girl dumped the contents of the purse on the ground. She picked the ring of keys up from the pile. It took her a long time to find the right key and get it into the lock. Once she did, she started throwing things out of the car and onto the ground, The GPS, the trash bag full of fry wrappers and milkshake cups, the emergency flares and blanket.

  "S'nothin here, Greg. She has to have it on her."

  The other boy broke out in a scary grin. "I'll frisk her, if you keep her still." The boy started forward, then his eyes widened in fright as they darted to look behind her. He abruptly turned and ran.

  "Greg, geez," the girl who was stepping back out of the car said before she also saw something just over Tanji's shoulder and headed away at top speed.

  The kid who had her in a headlock turned to look over his shoulder, placing painful pressure on the arm he'd pinned behind her back. There was a whooshing sound, and he suddenly let go to take off in the same direction as his friends.

  She rubbed her injured arm as she turned, blue sparks traveling along the sore places to help with the pain.

  Behind her stood the black dragon, rearing to his full height and breathing a short gout of flame.

  Tanji forgot her pain and beamed when a handsome face wearing a broad smile peeked out from around the dragon's long neck.

  ***

  Tanji looked around in both directions before she entered the code for the alarm at the front door of the Magic On Main shop. She'd talked for a while with the new elf in town after he turned up to be her white knight, but she was still feeling a little rattled and didn't want anyone to be able to get into the shop who shouldn't be there.

  She'd felt so positive about magic when it returned to the world, almost sharing Thomas's total enthusiasm. That was part of his attraction. But magic, as Eamon had drilled into them all over the past few months, often has unanticipated consequences. The kids who got hooked on dust were just one way that played out. Her father made his living coming up with solutions for some of the others through "Ron Ross's Magical Pest Control" service. Even though she enjoyed her own new powers and running what was probably the first real magic shop in the country, she was beginning to understand why some people might have a problem with this new world.

  Tanji was surprised to find Thomas already behind the counter, busying himself filling herb packets. He usually didn't arrive until the minute his shift started. Well, at least he'd put the alarm back on so she didn't freak out about it. She was worried he was there early to spend time with her, and she didn't want to get into a fight with him again and put him off on helping Mona. She had to be nice, but not too nice. Not an easy thing to do when you're thinking about a dishy elf instead. Of course, she'd thought Thomas was dishy, too, not so long ago. She pulled herself back into her retail reality and started her shop opening routine. Go along to get along, like her dad often said. She could deal.

  "Have you labeled the new stock?"

  "No. Just got here. How was school?"

  "Same old, same old. I did have myself a little brouhaha with some dusters in the parking lot, but no harm done." She intentionally didn't mention Avenall's part in her rescue.

  "Are you hurt?"

  "Nah. They were just looking for dust. They figured I'd have some 'cause I'm Lizbet's friend, I guess. I'm thinking about making a sign for the shop, just to be safe, that says we don't have dust on the premises. Some of those kids are really starting to go over the line on what they'll do to get it."

  "Too right, they are. Do we have anything on hand we can make a sign from?"

  "Yeah, I think so. There's some poster board left over from the signs we made for the grand opening."

  "I'm done with the herbs. I'll get on it."

  After Thomas placed the new sign in the shop's front window, he went to her and stood a little too close for someone who's just a friend. "I'm so close to being able to reveal everything I've been working on," he said. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. Especially after what happened to Mona, I want to keep you safe."

  He looked like he was going to kiss her, but Tanji was saved by the bell as a middle-aged woman entered the shop and started to browse. Tanji extricated herself quickly as she said, "I'll see if she needs anything."

  It wasn't comfortable working with Thomas now, not when he acted like nothing had changed. Because it had changed completely, and he needed to understand that—but she worried that if she made a big thing of it, he'd be less focused on helping Mona, and there was no way she was going to be responsible for that.

  ***

  "Give me a sec, and I'll walk you to your car," Thomas said as he put the broom back on its hanger while Tanji started bundling up to go.

  "No, I'm good. I can get there under my own steam."

  It was clear she was avoiding him. She'd been avoiding him the entire shift, keeping customers or some bit of work she suddenly had to do between them. She'd been angry with him before, but it didn't usually spin itself out this long.

  He slipped up behind her quickly and grabbed her by a wrist as she tried to put her mittens on. He stroked the inside of her wrist with his thumb, a faint blue spark traveling along the vein there without her noticing it. "Don't be cross with me, love. My project will be done soon, and I'll be more attentive. I promise."

  Tanji looked into his eyes, taking a breath as she readied herself to reply, but her eyes lost focus and she slumped slowly downward before she could respond. Thomas caught her and lay her gently on the ground, then held his hands above her and used his magic to raise her slightly, suspending her inches above the floor as he guided her floating figure into the back storeroom. Once there, he lowered her gently to the ground again and talked to her softly while he prepared the spell.

  "I'm sorry for this. But you'd object if you knew, even though it's for your own good. It will help you when we heal your friend, and it will serve you where we're going. Your magic has to exceed the abilities of a half-human sorceress for you be accepted there."

  He rolled her over to lie flat on her back, opened her coat, and spritzed the front of her dress with an atomizer he pulled from one of his coat pockets. Then he took a bottle from another pocket and held it up before his eyes. The contents glowed and swirled with the concentrated essence of the wisps. He'd filled the bottle himself that morning from the globe.

  He estimated the bottle contained the magic of two to three of them. They would give her powers beyond those of an elvin sorceress when added to her own, but they would not raise her ability above what he had given James. He'd considered giving her more, but he didn't want her to notice an extreme jump in her power and suspect it wasn't natural. Maybe he would reserve a few wisps for his own use to continue to improve her once they were away from here.

 
He positioned himself at her head, cradling it in his hands and using a focusing chant to prevent the wisps from being distracted from their goal. He removed the bottle's glass stopper, and the wisps were immediately drawn to the attractant he'd sprayed on Tanji's clothes. They spread out as they lingered over her body, then sunk into it and disappeared, leaving behind only a light blue glow. Within minutes, the glow dissipated. It was done.

  Thomas floated Tanji back to the spot in front of the coat hook and tilted her into a vertical position. He placed her feet on the floor and took hold of her wrist again, then sent a pulse to release her from his charm. She immediately snatched her wrist away and said, "Seriously, Thomas? I told you there's nothing between us. Let it go. I don't want us to end up not even being friends."

  He let her walk to her car alone while he locked up.

  CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

  Restless

  The potion was beginning to wear off and the gnomes were restless. It wasn't the way of a gnome to be quiet and still for so long. Gurrdenn decided it was time to take action.

  Under his instruction, they built their circle of magic around Freoric's encampment as quickly as possible. They danced. They made the noises and gestures that lay the barrier down. All things could pass through except that which made Freoric. He'd be trapped until the others decided to do something with him. Gnome magic makes strong fences.

  When they were done, they stood just outside the circle, making as much noise as possible to wake the assassin so that they could jeer at him when he reached the barrier but could not pass. He was lucky they only planned to heckle him. They could have treated him as they did game and created a barrier to let the meat pass through but leave the hide behind.