Starsong

by Annabelle Jay

  The other dragons followed me, and in the air we ducked and dipped in a dance of sorrow and pain and love. For some reason, flying as a dragon was the only thing that made sense. If Sara Lee could have seen us, she would have been honored by our tribute; she would have danced too.

  We continued on that way, twirling and twisting for what seemed like the rest of eternity, until we accidentally stumbled upon the first Secret Keeper.

  Chapter TWENTY-TWO

  SARA LEE

  HOW CAN I explain the feeling of being torn into pieces and yet still alive? My bones, scattered across the ground where Nimue and I had fallen, called to each other like children in a game of Marco Polo. Tibia? Here. Fibula? Over here. I concentrated all of my energy on the closest bones, the ones in my direct vision, and called them to me like pets. In time, the bones near my skull began to move, rocking slightly and then rolling with full force to reconnect to my head. One by one the pieces reconnected, forming a puzzle of white bones that I prayed I could reassemble.

  As I waited, I asked myself again how this could have happened to me; in the history of my time on Draman, I had never heard of such a thing. Yet Dramanians so rarely transformed that they would never have even suspected this hidden power of theirs—if it was indeed a Dramanian power and not something altogether different that I had inherited or caught like the common cold—and they knew little about their bone dragon sides except that they wanted to hide them. Maybe we were indestructible, or at least much more resilient than our other halves.

  Night passed into day, then back again. I marked time by the slow roll of a bone, the rejoining of a ligament; otherwise, the world around me was just the same old desert with the same old rattlesnakes and scorpions. I had no flesh into which they could insert their venom, so they merely explored the space between my bones and then ambled away.

  Finally, after several more moons—perhaps a week—in that secluded place, I rose again, my bones safely in their skeletal bedchambers. Though I had no idea where the others had gone, I sensed Nimue the way I could sense an oncoming storm without seeing a single cloud. She was close, but at least a day’s journey by dragon flight and many more by foot. If I could get in the air, I would at least be able to head them off before their next stop.

  I followed them across the country to some state called New York. A whole different climate than New Mexico—where Allanah told Nimue and me we’d arrived—this state had snow on the ground and temperatures, though I could not feel them yet, at below twenty degrees. The people below me wore puffy coats and boots up to their knees, and they sprinted across the space between car and house or mall and car like deer being chased by a predator. Apparently, that predator was the cold.

  I worried about Dena and Allanah, who would not be able to withstand such weather even on the backs of dragons, unless Benita or Roger constantly blew dragon steam their way or they had stopped to purchase two of the puffy coats. I worried about Nimue—how she would react when she saw me alive, and whether her first reaction would be her typical anger.

  Though my body had not been formed at the time, I had heard the sorrowful sound she emitted when the others broke the news that I was dead. I had seen her transition through my empty sockets, and fly above me like the beautiful flyer I always knew she could be. Would all of that just vanish when she knew I was back? Or would she embrace me now with more openness than ever before?

  I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Down below me were the five dragons and two humans, along with someone else I did not recognize. Without seeing his or her face, however, I still sensed that it was a Secret Keeper. Slowly, I landed on a thick tree branch some distance away, from which point I could hear what was going on without being seen.

  “Thank goodness we found you in the woods,” Nimue said as she put a hand on the person’s shoulder. Was her tone… flirtatious?

  I leaned forward on the branch to hear more.

  “After the death of my maid, I just couldn’t imagine continuing our quest,” she confessed.

  Maid? I thought. After everything that happened, I’m still just a maid to you?

  “I’m glad I could be your knight in shining armor,” the being said, and now I knew it was a man. “The Secret Keeper’s confessions have been passed down in my family for generations, but I never thought I would have to use them.”

  “And what can you tell us about Nyneve?” Allanah pressed, cutting through whatever disgustingly flirty comment Nimue was about to make. “Is she here on Earth? And why is she trying so hard to kill Merlin?”

  The Secret Keeper laughed. “Here on Earth? Nyneve has been trapped on a distant planet for hundreds of years. Don’t you know the history?”

  “Afraid not,” Nimue said, pushing in front of Allanah to be closer to the stranger. “Maybe you can enlighten us?”

  “Let’s start a fire first,” the man said. “I’ll go gather the wood.”

  While the others talked among themselves, the Secret Keeper headed right in my direction. He was around our age, maybe a few years older, and though he wore a thick parka, I could tell by his gait that he was a rugged man used to the outdoors. He had a long brown beard that hid his face and brown skin darkened even more by the sun.

  Suddenly, he startled me by saying, “I know you’re in here, Secret Keeper.”

  Shhh, I whispered, and he actually understood me. Perhaps as Secret Keepers our language was universal. No one knows I’m alive.

  “You gave them quite a fright,” he chastised. “Where have you been the past few days they journeyed?”

  Sewing myself back together without a needle, I said, almost harrumphing at the end.

  “Well anyway, I’m glad they don’t know about you. You mustn’t tell them.”

  Why not?

  “Because if the Lady of the Lake gets her hands on Allanah and Dena, she will be able to destroy Merlin once and for all, and if they follow you to her, she’ll have the perfect opportunity to do so. He’s who this is all about; he’s the one she wants revenge on, even if she has to take down all of the species in her path.”

  But why does Nyneve hate him so much?

  “It’s not Nyneve,” he said, but a call from the group around the fire distracted him. “Listen to what I’m about to say. I’ll tell them the story, and then distract them while you fly off and try to save the day. But whatever happens, don’t let them know you’re alive. Okay?”

  Fine. I wanted to talk to Nimue so badly that I ached, but I would have rather saved her than been with her. Thank you, Secret Keeper.

  He nodded, then turned back with the wood and returned to the fire.

  “Gather round, my children,” he joked, and Nimue humored him with a laugh. “I am going to tell you the story of the three sisters of the lake. Or lakes. I’m not sure. Anyway, a long time ago there were three sisters called Nimue, Nyneve, and Elaine. Born to normal parents, these three sorceresses had great powers even as young girls. Their favorite place of all was the lake near their house, a regular old lake that to them was an underwater wonderland. However, they were naughty, especially Elaine, and as they grew up and learned more about their powers, they became a bit… evil.

  “Merlin heard of the girls’ powers and traveled across the land to stop them from causing more havoc in the surrounding towns. As punishment, he trapped them in three different lakes on three different planets, each under a sheet of ice, banishing them to a life stuck in the same place under water until they were released by him. Now, even though the girls were sisters, they had very different dispositions. With all of the time on their hands to ponder what they had done, trapped as they were in the same position under water for a hundred years, they also had very different reactions to their punishment.

  “Nyneve, always the more kindhearted of the sisters, spent the time in reflection. She saw the error of her ways, and was enlightened. After the weather on her planet changed and melted her lake, she became the Mother, the one you chanced upon during your trip. I believ
e that she helped you because she wants Merlin to release her from her prison.

  “Nimue, your namesake, is the Lady of the Lake who helped Arthur in order to gain her freedom, having become quite resourceful during her underwater adventure.”

  “And Elaine?” Nimue asked. “What of her?”

  “Elaine was not as constructive with her time. Already the hateful one of the three, she spent her time seething and plotting ways to get Merlin back for his crime against her. In his past, before his memories were returned to him, Merlin accidentally released Elaine. Though she had the chance to kill him then, she did not. Instead, she waited for her sister and the other sorceresses to use the North Star to bring Merlin back, and then she attacked. Whoever wants to save Merlin and the rest of humanity must find Elaine. The water will guide that person to her, when seen from the right angle.”

  “And what angle is that?” Allanah asked.

  “Beats me,” the Secret Keeper said. “I don’t make the secrets, I just keep them until they’re needed—like right now, for example.”

  This last sentence, I knew, was directed at me. On cue, I lifted off the branch and began my journey, never looking back to see how the Secret Keeper distracted the others or listening to his other tales. I had my mission, and I would not return to Nimue’s side until I had completed it.

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  NIMUE

  I COULD have sworn I saw a bone dragon leap from the trees to a soaring flight above where we sat around the fire, but I knew that was impossible. Sara Lee was gone, and whether my heart had accepted it or not, my mind knew the truth. Charming this lumberjack into helping us had not been easy for me—with Sara Lee dead, the last thing I wanted to do was pretend to flirt with a random stranger—but I could not blow my cover by talking about the ghost of the woman I loved.

  “We should leave now,” I said after the man, who refused to tell us his real name, finished telling us the story of the three ladies. “Who knows how much of a difference a day could make, and I don’t want to take any risks.”

  “Not so fast, Princess,” the man said. “You have no idea what this Lady of the Lake is capable of. She may not have her entire robot army formed yet, but she doesn’t need a few more electronics to protect her; she’s powerful enough on her own.”

  “Then tell us quickly,” I said, unable to temper my impatience. The longer we sat there, the more time I had to think about Sara Lee.

  “To begin with, Elaine’s water powers are much stronger than her sisters. She can control the waves of the ocean when she wants to, or the flow of a stream. All of the creatures in the sea work for her—except her two sisters, of course. But Nimue is in hiding and Nyneve is on another planet, so I doubt we can count on them for help. Maybe Nimue, if we manage to find her, but she’s very good at staying out of sight.”

  “And beyond her water powers?” Victoria asked. She had transformed back into her human form and was taking notes on one of her father’s notepads. “What else can she do?”

  “Once she gets someone wet, she can control them until the water dries. They become her minions, doing anything she bids them. Oh, I guess that would have been important to mention to… uh… anyway, it’s no matter, all will be revealed in time.”

  “Who did you talk to?” Dena asked suspiciously. “Has someone else been asking about Elaine besides us?”

  “No, it’s just an expression of the Secret Keepers… you know… uh….” He trailed off. Apparently some of the Secret Keepers were terrible liars—and not great secret keepers either, considering it had taken little persuasion to talk this one into helping us.

  Then I felt it. That same feeling I used to get in the castle when Sara Lee was getting into trouble somewhere, sneaking into the palace pantry or flying off the roof in the middle of the night. She was somewhere close, though the signal seemed to be fading by the second.

  What happened next surprised everyone, most of all me. In a fit of anger, I flew to the Secret Keeper’s side and wrapped my pale little hands around his neck.

  “Listen to me, scum,” I hissed in a voice more fitting for a dragon than a princess, “I know that you’ve seen Sara Lee. I can feel her presence leaving this area, which means she was here around the time you took that little stroll of yours. Tell us where she’s going, or I swear I will rip your hairy little head right off your body.”

  “Nimue!” Allanah exclaimed. “Sara Lee is dead, you saw her destroyed body with your own eyes.”

  “I know what I saw,” I said, not letting go of the man’s neck, “but apparently what I saw was a lie. Just like the tales this excuse for a Secret Keeper has been spinning for the past hour.”

  He began to sputter in my grasp, and then, right before the life would have drained out of him, he spoke.

  “Fine. Yes. I saw her.”

  I let him go.

  “Where is she going?” I demanded. “Tell me, or I’ll turn into a bone dragon and breathe a little fire right at—”

  “She’s going to find Elaine,” he finally said between gasps.

  “Quickly,” I said to the others, “we need to follow her before I lose her trail.”

  “You can’t,” the man interrupted. “Elaine has heard tales of the boy Mani’s next parents, and she’s been searching for Allanah and Dena since she began this vengeful quest. If she gets her hands on them, they will never find the egg, and then Mani will never—”

  “Shut up!” I yelled. “You are the worst Secret Keeper who ever lived.”

  “What is he talking about?” Allanah asked me. “Why would Elaine care so much about our son? You mentioned he was an associate of Merlin’s, but it sounds like….” She trailed off, and then she and Dena turned to each other with wide eyes.

  Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. My heart pumped to this beat, quickening faster and faster. They knew, and I could not undo their knowing; I could not save Mani and Lup.

  “Help me,” I begged the Secret Keeper, who was finally standing and seemingly recovered from his near-death experience.

  “Oh, now you want my help?” he mocked. “Didn’t you just try to kill me?”

  “Well, didn’t you just lie to me about Sara Lee?” I echoed. “It’s not like your help is what I want to ask for right now either.”

  “Touché. Fine, I’ll help, but you owe me one, Princess.”

  The Secret Keeper raised his hand and the eyes of everyone around the campfire except me closed. With a twist of his hand, the man pulled some kind of blue, murky matter from the foreheads of them all, then sent it into his hand to be absorbed into his body.

  “What are you doing?” I asked in a whisper as again he pulled out blue matter.

  “They don’t call us Secret Keepers for nothing,” he said. “We don’t just keep secrets; we steal them and keep them inside of us until the time to return them comes. Or not, in this case.”

  “Thank you. One more thing before you turn them back on or whatever: you mentioned forgetting to tell someone the insignificant detail of mind control by water. Was that person Sara Lee?”

  “Yes, it was. By now, it may already be too late for her.” He turned back to my friends. “Now, let’s try this all again.”

  The Secret Keeper turned his hand in the opposite direction, and all of my friends’ eyes opened.

  “I’m sorry, I must have nodded off,” Roger said as he adjusted his glasses. “What were you saying about the three sisters of the lake?”

  “Wait, don’t turn them back on yet,” I said, and the Secret Keeper turned his hand back so that their eyes closed for a second time. “If we can’t take them with us, can we just put them to sleep for a while?”

  “I suppose, but I would need to stay here to oversee their sleep and make sure no wild dogs eat them or whatever happens to slumbering humans in the woods. You’d have to try to save Sara Lee by yourself.”

  “I can do it,” I said much more confidently than I felt. “I can save her.”

  “Good. Then find a b
ody of water and repeat Elaine’s name as you stare into it. The new flow will take you right to her.”

  “Say her name. Follow the flow. Got it. But couldn’t anyone do this exact same thing?”

  “If they knew about it.” The Secret Keeper didn’t seem bothered by this fact. “I guess it’s a good thing it’s a secret.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  “Oh, and Nimue?”

  “Yes?”

  “Whatever happens, don’t get in.”

  Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

  SARA LEE

  WHY COULDN’T the man just tell me where to find Elaine? I grumbled to myself as I flew away from the woods. Do the Secret Keepers always have to speak in riddles?

  But maybe he didn’t know where to find Elaine; all he knew was how to find her.

  My first order of business was finding a body of water, and my second would be solving what the Secret Keeper meant by the phrase “when seen from the right angle.” Secret Keepers were apparently vague, so I knew that angle could mean a physical angle, mental angle, mathematical angle, or something else I hadn’t even thought of yet.

  We were already pretty far upstate, so the first large body of water I came to happened to be what the humans called Niagara Falls. Large and booming, the spray from the falls leaped all the way onto my bones. Not enough to soak me, but just enough to make my bones gleam in the moonlight.

  Now for the right angle, I thought as I flew slowly down the tall wall of water, then viewed the liquid from both sides. Nothing.

  Maybe he meant from inside the water looking up? I wondered.

  After checking that no humans watched from above, I dove into the powerful water flow. Eyes open for clues, I let the liquid guide me down the Niagara River for a while, but no bright arrows or magical blue symbols appeared. Maybe I wasn’t in the right kind of water? Did I need a lake to find my guide, or perhaps a small stream where I could—