by Jeanna Kunce
Kalob then turned to Cora and repeated his question about her future plans.
“Well,” she said, “I thought about flying straight back to the elder council to report what’s been going on. But considering all the dragon hunting and the possibility that the king may go totally crazy over his prizes getting away, I would like to ask if I can stay here and wait for Tomai’s return.” Cora’s expression and actions didn’t give any clues to whether she and Tomai shared the same feelings for each other, yet still Darien wondered.
The elves agreed to let Cora stay too, and Kalob turned once more to Amani. “Is it safe to assume you will be returning to your baby sister with your parents?” he asked.
Amani nodded, though he also looked questioningly at Darien. Kalani noticed and turned her attention to Darien as well, her large eyes gazing through the flickering fire at the girl now sitting nervously on her low circular seat.
“Now Darien,” Kalani began, “you never really explained why you were walking alone in a faraway forest and how you came to save the baby dragon. Where are your people? Where do you come from?”
Darien squirmed inside and felt strangely intimidated by this tiny powerful elf, but then she told herself that all she had to do was be honest about what had happened. “I really don’t know how I came to be here,” she said. “I was in my house, in a place very different from here, and I made a painting with some magic paints. One minute I was there, looking at the picture, and the next minute I just sort of fell into . . . here. The forest anyway. Then Tabo needed help, and from then on I’ve barely had a chance to think about what happened—I was more worried about helping Amani and his family.” Kalani looked at both of them and knew instantly that Darien was telling the truth.
“So,” Darien continued, “I can’t really tell you where my people are; I don’t know. I don’t know how to get back to them, and I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do until I figure it out.” Her brow wrinkled with worry as she realized the magnitude of her problem. “Honestly,” Darien continued, “I am so tired right now I can barely talk. Your food was so good and so filling, and your fire is so cozy. If you let me stay for the night, I promise I will try to come up with a plan first thing in the morning.”
Kalani laughed, “Of course you can stay! And don’t trouble yourself over the future tonight. You deserve to rest from your long journey. I’ve never heard of the magical paints of which you speak, but we will do whatever we can to help you return to your home, if that is what you wish.”
As though Kalani’s words had power in them (and perhaps they did), Darien felt her nervousness and cares slipping away.
“But before you sleep,” Kalani said, “there is something Audric and Brisa wanted me to give to you.” She withdrew something shiny and gold from a small pouch and handed it to Kalob. “It is not our best work, being rather hastily and crudely made,” she said, though anyone else would say it was beautiful and flawless, “but it should serve its purpose.”
Kalob brought the gold piece to Darien, and what she saw took her breath away. It looked like a coiled bracelet, but up close she could see that it was actually in the shape of a flying dragon with its mouth open. Kalob slipped it over her hand and fit it perfectly on her upper arm.
“Is this made from—?” Darien asked.
“Yes, it’s pure dragon gold. There was one scale on Audric’s side that couldn’t be repaired, and he asked if we could make this for you. You see, it’s not only pretty to look at, it has a purpose: if you are ever in need, you can breathe into the dragon’s mouth, and someone from Audric’s family will hear your whistle and come to your aid.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Darien whispered. “This is so amazing.” For an instant, she wondered what her parents would think of her being honored this way, but their voices in her head seemed to be silent now.
Amani smiled at her proudly. “You deserve it. You’re an extraordinary young girl. I’m glad that I didn’t pick you up in my teeth and throw you into the lake when I first met you.”
Everyone laughed and the mood lightened. Kalani fetched some soft blankets for Will, Saara, and Darien, while Kalob brought out a twisty carved-wood instrument he called a folute. As he began to play, Will and Saara sat close together and enjoyed the fresh air and freedom after their captivity in the dreary palace basement. The dragons lay down by the fire and politely listened, though music was not something they usually appreciated. But Darien was entranced by it: the strange melody, the fluid way Kalob’s fingers moved from one note to the next, the way the music almost got inside her and made goose bumps rise up on her arms. Darien had thought she didn’t have the words before; this truly made her speechless.
Kalani came and stood next to Darien. “He’s truly the one with the gift,” the elf murmured. “Sometimes I think he could conquer all the world’s evils just with his music.” She looked with affection at her twin while they listened raptly to the harmonies he made.
After a while, Kalani began to hum along with her brother’s music, and though Darien tried her best to stay awake, she felt her eyelids growing steadily heavier. In the last instant before she drifted off to sleep, Darien thought, That’s strange, I feel like I’ve heard this song before.
13
Lost and Found
Something woolly and itchy scratched at Darien’s cheek and she woke up with a jolt. For a moment, she couldn’t figure out where she was, then she realized she was laying on the dark floral rug in her parents’ living room.
Darien’s senses seemed muffled as she looked groggily around the room. She heard the very quiet humming of Miss Millie, who glanced up from her knitting as if nothing remarkable had happened. Is that the same song? No, it can’t be, Darien thought. She stood up to look at her painting, careful not to step too close.
She needn’t have worried. The painting was still in its place on the wall, but now the colors seemed faded and aged somehow; all the vibrancy and life had gone. Darien looked closer and saw the place where she had saved Tabo (had she really?) but there were no signs of any dragons now, either near the lake or in the sky. She carefully peeled the tape off and knew she would have to keep this picture safe and secret. In the following weeks, Darien would spend much of her spare time redrawing the picture over and over, but wistfully adding a family of four dragons flying overhead.
“Where is everyone?” she asked as she turned and saw through the windows that it was dark out. Her mouth was dry and her voiced seemed scratchy, as though she had been asleep for days.
“Who do you mean, dear?”
“My parents. It’s dark out, and I’ve been gone for hours and hours . . . I think. Shouldn’t they be home by now?” Darien said, confused.
“Oh no,” Miss Millie reassured her, “I don’t think it’s even been two hours since you dozed off. It’s only dark because of the storm, remember?”
Darien nodded vaguely, trying to figure it all out. Looking down at the picture in her hands, she felt a mixture of relief at being back home and sadness at leaving her friends without even having a chance to say goodbye. She wondered how they had reacted to her disappearance and what was happening to them now. She sensed piercing eyes looking her way, but when she raised her head Miss Millie seemed absorbed in her knitting once again. After a minute, Miss Millie met Darien’s searching eyes and gave her a knowing look in return, though she remained silent. Something did happen, and she knows it too, Darien thought, even if neither of us ever talks about it.
Miss Millie’s brisk voice cut in before Darien could ask any questions. “Shall we go eat some lunch? I’m always extra hungry on these damp, rainy days; what about you?” And before Darien could answer, the mysterious woman tapped her way down the hall and into the kitchen.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Darien called and took a few moments to think about what had happened. Had it all been a dream? It had seemed so real. Her cloth
es were still just as clean and neat as they had been when she put them on that morning, though in the other place they had become dirty and torn. But her right shoulder was terribly sore. Did I really fall off of a dragon while fighting strange, hairy, flying creatures? Just thinking about the charlots made a shiver tickle its chilly fingers up her back.
She checked her arm—the dragon whistle was gone, yet there was a fading impression encircling her arm where it had been. This doesn’t make any sense. Darien regretted losing the bracelet; it had been a very special gift and beautiful as well. It was hard for her to believe she had done all the brave things to deserve it, even if it had been a dream. I remember so many things that happened, so clearly, and I never do that with my regular dreams.
Darien realized that standing there thinking about it wasn’t getting her any closer to knowing the answers she wanted. She headed to the kitchen, her muscles aching and the beginnings of hunger pangs in her stomach, even though it seemed like she had just eaten in the elf village. Walking through the door, she felt a comforting rush of warmth from the stove, though she was too distracted to wonder what Miss Millie might decide to make for lunch. Darien deliberately laid her painting on the table, hoping to continue their conversation, but Miss Millie sent her to wash up before eating.
With a sigh, but knowing better than to argue, Darien walked off to the bathroom. When she rinsed her hands in front of the mirror, she found herself gazing back at her own face, familiar yet different too, more confident, more grown-up. There was a new assertive look in her pale green eyes and, as impossible as it sounds, she would’ve sworn that she was noticeably taller. She smiled and decided she liked what she saw. She wondered if anyone else would notice but decided that it didn’t really matter.
Feeling a small cramp in her arm, Darien rotated her shoulder to stretch it out and suddenly heard a clattering sound on the bathroom tile. It was the missing dragon whistle! She scooped it up with delight. Certainly she was happy to have it back, but she was even happier to have something real to prove, if only to herself, that she had really been in that other world and done amazing things. Though her heart was elated, she also felt an instinct to hide her treasure, at least until she knew if it was safe to share her secret. She wrapped it in an old beach towel and tucked it in the back of the linen closet temporarily until she could think of the best place to keep it.
Darien returned to the kitchen and smelled something that made her stomach growl longingly. By the time she fetched drinks from the refrigerator and set the table, Miss Millie had served up a big bowl of steaming buttery noodles, some leftover chicken, and sautéed vegetables in a light seasoned sauce that smelled vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t have said why since the odor was different from the more bland way her mother tended to cook.
Looking wide-eyed at the noodles, Darien asked, “How did you know these are my favorite?”
Miss Millie smiled a thin mysterious smile and remained quiet, but when she sat down to eat she leaned over and whispered, “Your mom left me a note.”
Darien rolled her eyes at herself, and they started to eat in a comfortable silence. After a while, Miss Millie began to ask Darien questions: What are you doing in school; What do you do for fun; Who are your friends and what are they like—the same stuff adults always seem to ask kids. Though Miss Millie was a more attentive listener than most grown-ups, and she did seem genuinely interested, Darien was starting to feel foolish for ever thinking this lady could be a witch, even if she did have a box of magical paints.
They finished cleaning up their lunch dishes, and Darien was just about to walk out of the kitchen when Miss Millie paused to pick up the painting from the end of the table. She looked at it intently for quite some time while Darien’s full stomach clenched nervously.
“So, do you want to tell me what happened when you went into the painting?”
Darien smiled.
Characters
Darien (DARE-EE-EN) A ten-year-old girl who dreams of finding adventure and excitement
Miss Mildred (MILL-DRED) Darien’s neighbor across the street. Also known as Miss Millie or Miss Mildew
Amani (AH-MAH-NEE) First-born son of Audric and Brisa
Tabo (TAH-BOH) New baby born of Audric and Brisa, sister to Amani
Audric (AW-DRICK) Former member of King Dex’s guard
Brisa (BREE-SAH) Wife of Audric
Gallia (GAH-LEE-AH) Sister to Audric
Grisha (GREE-SHAH) Head of the Elder Council of Dragons
King Dex (DECKS) Former king who died under mysterious circumstances
King Nevin Radburn (NEV-IN RAD-BURN) Became the new king after King Dex’s death
Will (WILL) Craftsman and prisoner
Saara (SAY-RAH) Will’s wife
Rian (RYE-AN) Son of Will and Saara
Qwinn (KWIN) Daughter of Will and Saara, sister to Rian
Tomai (TOH-MYE) Pure-blood dragon
Cora (KO-RAH) Pure-blood dragon
Kalani (KAH-LAH-NEE) Elf maiden
Kalob (KAY-LOB) Twin brother of Kalani
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