The faeries were strong-willed and prepared to attack. However, they were useless if they could not hypnotize the boys. Because of this, the brothers had the upper hand. But the trance-like beauty of their song made it difficult to ignore. Mason and Carter slowed down again. The heart-song sang louder, as if trying to get the boys to focus only on her music.
“Let’s sing our own song,” Carter suggested. He was running out of breath. His legs felt weary beneath him. He watched Mason stumble a few feet ahead, and then fall to the ground. The faeries swarmed in. Carter could not allow Mason to fall under their spell! “No, no! Mason, sing with me! Sing with me! Row, row, row your boat…”
Mason’s eyes rolled back into their sockets. He was whispering the tune. Carter sang louder and louder, trying hard to combat the faeries, who now knew they had a victim close at hand. Carter swatted them away from Mason. Mason’s eyes fluttered. His singing became softer.
“Mason, you can’t let them win. They’re faeries! We still have so much to do.”
“So tired, Carter,” Mason replied.
“I know. Me, too.”
“No energy.”
Upon hearing the word energy, Carter knew exactly what his brother needed. He was glad he hadn’t succumbed back on that volcano, and eaten the energy bar. He fiddled with his backpack. The heart-song was working hard to keep the faeries at bay. Carter kept encouraging Mason to continue singing row, row your boat while he located the energy bar and tore open the package.
“Open your mouth, Mason!”
Mason’s eyes were closed now, but he did as his brother told him. Carter broke off small pieces of the bar and put them in Mason’s mouth, telling him to chew. Mason did as he was told.
“Chew, chew! Stay awake. You’ve got to get back up Mason.”
Carter knew if Mason fell asleep, there was another danger lurking close by: the fire-breathing dragon and he would do far worse than the faeries. He was not about to lose his brother to these stupid little jerks, or to the fierce dragon.
Mason opened his eyes, still chewing on the energy bar. The faeries were getting angrier by the minute, now that their victim was awake. They flapped their wings faster and their song grew louder.
Carter pulled Mason to his feet. “Sing…sing a song…sing out loud…sing out strong,” Carter sang.
Mason hummed the song and before long he was singing nearly as loudly as Carter.
The heart-song flew on ahead of them and the boys stayed close behind. The faeries continued to swarm. There was a light up ahead. Carter crossed the fingers of one hand while holding onto Mason’s hand with the other. “Look! I think that’s the inn.”
As they came closer to the light, the faeries began to thin out. The boys saw a wooden signpost stuck in the ground pointing to a small, two-story cottage. It simply read Tim’s Inn.
“That’s it.”
The fairies sensed they’d lost control, and still very, very angry, flew off in another direction. The encounter left Mason quite weak. Carter knocked on the front door.
A small man, actually not much larger than Izzy, opened it. “Yes? Oh my,” he said. “You’ve been attacked by the faeries, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Carter replied.
“Come in, come in.” The little man swung the door open wide.
The heart-song flew in and settled on a table in the center of the room. The man led the boys to a sofa where Mason promptly collapsed. He was pale and rather sickly.
“Looks like he might’ve been stung by one of ‘em buggers,” the man noted.
“No he wasn’t, but they sure wore him down.”
“Yes, I know.” Tears filled the man’s eyes.
Carter looked from the man to Mason and back again.
“I’m Tim, the inn keeper. I know more about those horrid faeries than I care to. My wife was hypnotized by them and placed under their sleeping spell. But my daughter found her before the dragon did. She and our unicorn, Sydney, brought her back home. She lays sleeping forever in our bedroom, unless, of course…” Tim’s eyes became focused and intent. “Unless you two are able to remove the dark veil cast upon us by the queen. Many say I am a cranky little man with no humor in my heart. But the truth is, I am still a light-seeker, albeit a very sad one. I have grown angry and bitter after what was done to my wife, but have remained enlightened enough to believe that one day she would wake again. That day will come when the two of you conquer the queen. That day, as you know, is only one day away.”
“Oh good, you’re here. We were getting worried about you,” a young woman bustled into the room. She was about the size of Tim with long blonde curls that grazed her ankles. In her arms was a plate of what Carter was sure had to be chocolate chip cookies. He couldn’t resist reaching his hand out for one as she passed by.
She swatted it. “Oh no, your brother is first, dear. He’s the one who needs the strength. These cookies are filled with magic and will remove that atrocious, sickly feeling coursing through his veins right now.”
The woman handed Mason a cookie. He quickly devoured it and just as quickly, the color returned to his face.
“This is my daughter, Claudia,” Tim said.
The boys waved and said, “Hi.”
“You are lucky, Mason,” she said.
“Yes.”
“They are hateful little beasts. My poor mother sleeps away her life because of their poison.”
Tim shook his head. Claudia handed Carter and her father a cookie.
“You are to stay the night and rest. But at first light, before the dragon wakes, you must rise and be on your way. You have to either make your way through the forest without him finding you, or you will be forced to fight him,” Tim said.
“How is it the dragon has not found and captured you?” Carter asked.
“Good question,” Claudia answered. “May I?” She looked at her father, who nodded his head. “If you were to walk outside our inn, you would notice a slight glow around it. This is the light-seeker’s glow. You are now on the Island of Desmal, the name given by the current queen. It used to be called the Island of Lucia, after Zamora’s mother, Queen Lucia. Queen Lucia was good and kind. You will find only a few places left with the light glow surrounding it. You see, as much hatred as the Queen has spread on this island, she has not yet done away with all the light. However, it glows dimmer with each passing day as her powers become stronger. As it stands right now, no one from the dark side will approach the light glow. It is still filled with great power. However, if the queen succeeds in her plan to take over your sweet sister’s soul, there will be no light glow left and the dragon will find us, and all others like us. Between the forces of nature and those of the monsters who follow the queen, this island and Boysen Land will be destroyed.
“The reason Seyem and Chelsea sent you here was because they knew if you could get past the faeries, you would be able to regain your strength and conquer the dragon, taking away one less weapon of destruction the queen has at her command, as you have done with lava monster and Sharp Jaw.
“We will know if you’ve succeeded in your mission, because if you have, the light will glow stronger than ever, and my mother will reawaken, along with all the others whom the faeries have put under their hypnotic trance. If you fail, we will know that, too. The light will disappear completely, and I don’t need to tell you what will happen then.”
The boys shook their heads and yawned deeply. They were exhausted.
Seeing this, Tim insisted Claudia show them to their beds. “You must get as much rest as possible. Tomorrow is the big day. Good night, boys.”
Claudia brought them to a tiny room with two beds just like the ones at home. They dropped into them after drinking the warm milk Claudia set on the nightstand between the beds. They fell asleep quickly, both of them with images in their heads of fire-breathing dragons, Izzy, the evil Queen Zamora, and what tomorrow might bring.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MISS LANI
Daw
n’s early rays shone through the small window of the inn far sooner than the boys expected or hoped. They could have gone on sleeping for hours. But the smell of hot chocolate and cinnamon buns filled the air, making it slightly easier to wake up.
Claudia’s soft voice sang out to them. “Rise and shine, boys.”
It was time to get the head start they desperately needed. They went into the kitchen, which was quite small, but welcoming. A cheery fire crackled in the fireplace next to the sofa Mason had so easily fallen into the night before. It warmed the entire room. The boys pulled on their socks and shoes, finished their cinnamon buns, hot chocolate, and the cheesy scrambled eggs Claudia whipped up with a snap of her fingers. It was clear to Carter and Mason that light-seekers all held some magical quality about them, whether it was cooking food instantly, or conjuring up heart-song birds to help guide their way.
“This is delicious,” Mason said between bites.
“Thank you. But you must hurry. There is something my father needs to give you before you go,” Claudia murmured.
“What’s that?” Carter asked.
“You’ll see.” She winked at Carter, who felt himself blush.
Mason laughed, enjoying his brother’s embarrassment.
“Hey gang, c’mon down.” It was Tim’s voice, and it sounded as if it were coming from directly beneath them. Mason’s laughter stopped abruptly and he gave Carter a weird look. “What in the world?” he mouthed. Carter shrugged.
“Follow me,” Claudia said.
She walked to the center of the room, where a flower-patterened rug lay. She moved back the rug and pointed her finger at the hardwood floor beneath it. Light shot out from her finger and a square shape formed in the center of the floor about three feet wide and large enough to get through. She bent down and twisted the gold knob attached to it. She pulled the door open. “Go on,” she said, pointing down the hole.
Mason went first, descending about two flights of spiraling stairs. The staircase was dimly lit by candlelight behind glass sconces on the interior walls. They could see the walls were made of brick. They heard laughter coming from below. The further they descended, the louder the chattering and laughter grew. It wasn’t long before they saw a yellow glow sneaking out from beneath the crack of a door.
“Open it, Mason,” Claudia instructed.
Mason did and light flooded everywhere. But it was not coming from a lamp or flashlight, but rather from a faerie.
“Oh no!” Mason cried. “You’ve tricked us, but why?” He put his head in the palms of his hands shaking it, thinking the worst. They’d been deceived by Tim, Claudia, and possibly even the beautiful Chelsea.
Carter looked on in bewilderment, not knowing what to think upon seeing what appeared to be one of the poison faeries they’d fought off the night before.
Tim placed a hand on Mason’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mason. Open your eyes and take a look, a good look. You know in your heart we are decent. If we were of the darkness, we would have done away with you when you entered the inn last night. Look into this faerie's eyes and what do you see?”
The faerie floated in front of Mason so he could get a good look. As with all of the other light-seekers, it was hard to miss the kindness there. The eyes were not cold and black, but instead, amber brown and filled with genuine warmth.
“What is she? What is this all about?” Carter asked.
“She is a decoy,” Tim answered. “She is your ticket out of the Enchanted Forest. She looks like the other faeries, right down to her poisonous stinger, which really doesn’t contain any poison at all.”
“Wow, where did she come from?” Carter asked.
“Good question,” Tim replied. “There is one way for me to communicate with my wife, Emily, even now. We share our dreams on many nights, and she came up with the idea. You see, Emily made dolls when she was awake. I do not say alive, because essentially she is still alive and shall remain in her state of sleep until either the destruction or the salvation of our land.”
“I don’t understand,” Carter said.
Carter and Mason glanced at each other, wondering if Tim weren’t a little bonkers.
“Finish the story, Father. The sun is rising,” Claudia interrupted.
“Oh yes. My wife came to me in our shared dream. She advised me of your coming, and told me of the perils you will face when you leave the Enchanted Forest. Perils we are all aware of, since you faced many last night with the faeries. But I do believe the two of you realize the faeries are not the gravest danger here in the forest.” Tim raised his bushy eyebrows for emphasis. The boys nodded. “Yes, the dragon is out there, and he uses the faeries to his advantage to render his victims helpless, so he can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner—depending on the time of day.”
Carter gulped. Mason gasped.
“It is difficult to take, but my dear Emily has shown me a way to see that your departure out of here is a safe one—one, I am afraid, that will bring you to a place where you will face your final showdown.”
“With the queen?” Mason asked.
“Yes, lad, with the queen. But even before you reach the palace gates, there is more that awaits you. Once you leave my home, I can no longer be of service. However, Miss Lani can.”
“Miss Lani?” Carter asked.
“I think he means the doll,” Mason said.
“Not a doll. She is an actual faerie, conceived through a doll and the shared vision of my wife and myself.”
“Huh?”
“Let me finish, boys. My wife came to me in my dream, and said to take her favorite doll, Miss Lani, out of the glass cabinet where she keeps her collection. She says the doll is special and from her great-great grandmother, who was a great healer in her time. Miss Lani represents all of the women—past, present, and future—from my wife’s bloodline. So with words of wisdom from my wife, and my own skills, I have created a faerie out of the doll.”
“Ahem,” Claudia interrupted.
“Yes, and of course, with some help from Claudia. She went out into the forest and found the special flower, an orchid-lotus hybrid, very difficult to find. By grinding the flower into a compound combined with a few other ingredients I, well, Claudia and I were able to perform the magic only my wife could have created. Our Miss Lani has been magically given life.”
Miss Lani lifted off the table and fluttered around. She flew to each boy and kissed him on the cheek. Carter brushed the kiss away. Mason grinned and remembered the mermaid, Chelsea.
“So how is she supposed to keep us from being eaten alive by the dragon?” Carter asked.
“This is the plan.” Tim, with a few interjections from Claudia, told them how Miss Lani would get them out of the forest safely and away from the dragon. There was the possibility—if all went as planned—of rendering the dragon useless.
They closed the door to the inn behind them and walked into the crisp morning. The heart-song, still sleepy, rested on Carter’s shoulder. Miss Lani flew out in front and away from them after turning around and winking. The plan was underway. Neither boy was certain it would work, but they had to take their chances.
Claudia and Tim watched from behind their curtains, waving at them and sending them luck.
Mason noticed, and hoped Carter did not, that the glow around the quaint little inn had grown dimmer through the night. However, from the apprehensive look on Carter’s face, Mason was sure he was already aware and feeling the same way. Neither of them said a word as they reluctantly entered the forest.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE DRAGON’S LAIR
“You know Mason, we’ve, like, never beaten the dragon before at home. Jemlock always dies.”
“Well, guess what?” Mason responded, “We’re Jemlock this time around. And inn case you hadn’t noticed, I have no intention of dying, either today or anytime soon, for that matter. True, we haven’t read this far into the guidebook, but from what I recall, it never mentioned a Tim, Claudia, or Miss Lani.”
/> “Something tells me they aren’t in the guidebook.”
“Yeah, Carter, something tells me the same thing. I think we’ve both already discovered the game we play on the Beacon 850 isn’t really the same game we’re playing now.” Mason rubbed his hand through his hair. He wanted more than anything to be safely back inside the inn, drinking another hot chocolate and eating cinnamon buns. Better yet, home, safe under the covers. There weren’t too many options, and the inn and home were not on the menu.
“Do you think it will work?” Carter whispered.
“What? Do I think what will work?”
“The plan!”
“Shhh. Do you want to wake him?” Mason asked.
“Isn’t that the plan? To wake the dragon?”
“Weren’t you listening to Tim? The plan isn’t for us to wake the dragon. The plan depends on Miss Lani and the other faeries.”
“Do you think the other faeries will recognize her goodness? Maybe you didn’t notice, but her eyes are much different than theirs, and she has that faint glow of light around her.”
“We don’t have a choice, Carter. We have to believe it will all work out and the plan will succeed. So many are counting on us, including our own little sister.”
“Do you think she’s okay?” Carter asked. “Do you think the queen has hurt her?”
Mason stopped, placed his hands squarely on Carter’s shoulders, and looked deep into his eyes. “I believe if that wicked old queen has a match, then she’s met hers in Izzy. Remember what an ornery baby she can be when she wants to.”
“I know. But what if she hasn’t eaten, or slept? What if she’s scared?”
“She’s a Clover, and we’re built tough and strong. I doubt the queen is starving her. After all, she wants to take over her body. But we can’t dwell on any of this. We have to get through this forest and reach Izzy.”
Carter nodded and cinched his backpack tighter up around his back, almost as if he sensed something was about to happen.
The Clover Siblings and the Evil of Desmal Page 9