Sky

by Aaron Ehasz

  “Soren! They’re our friends,” Claudia said. “We should try persuasion first. Use our words, not our muscles.”

  “So you’re saying … we need to butter them up?” Soren asked.

  Instead of responding, Claudia tapped her nose. She always did that when she had an idea, ever since she was a little kid. Soren found it endearing, but their dad thought it was stupid, so Soren usually pretended he thought it was stupid too.

  But Dad wasn’t here. He tapped his own nose and smiled at Claudia.

  “Let’s hear it,” he said. “What’s your brilliant idea?”

  “Pancakes!” Claudia shouted. “Pancakes with butter.”

  A strange odor woke Rayla from a deep sleep. Then she relaxed. It was just the scent of buttery pancakes. By the time she got outside, the whole gang was already sitting at the Cursed Caldera’s communal table. Callum’s mage-friend, Claudia, was serving up the pancakes. Rayla scowled.

  “Go on, try one,” Soren said. “Or are you scared?”

  Rayla wasn’t scared. She was suspicious. Rayla moved a small stack of the golden cakes onto her plate. She stared at Soren as she stuffed a piece into her mouth. She didn’t care what it tasted like. The sweet pancake melted like a soft cloud on her tongue.

  “I have to admit … these are good,” Rayla said.

  Soren snickered.

  “Impossibly fluffy, right?” Claudia asked.

  “Exactly,” Ellis agreed. “How do you get them so light?”

  “The secret is separating the eggs, and beating the whites into a stiff meringue,” Claudia said in her lecture tone.

  “Wait, who are you?” Soren asked Ellis. “And what are you doing here?”

  “I’m Ellis,” she said. “I led the princes and Rayla up the mountain to meet Lujanne. I met her a couple of years ago. You see my pet?” Ellis pointed over toward an enormous wolf, who was gnawing on a large tree branch.

  “Uh, that beast is your pet?” Soren asked.

  “Yes, it’s a wolf. Her name is Ava!” Rayla snapped. “Ava only had three legs and Ellis’s dad wanted to kill her. So Lujanne created an illusion—a fourth leg so that humans would accept her.”

  “I only see three legs,” Soren said, munching on the pancakes.

  “The fourth leg only appears when she wears her Moonstone collar,” Rayla said. “As I mentioned, the fourth leg is just an illusion. And you know what else isn’t real?” Rayla said leadingly.

  Everyone stayed silent, waiting anxiously.

  “These pancakes.” Rayla spat her half-chewed bite onto the ground. “There’s something off about them.”

  “Oh, a hint of dark magic never did any harm,” Claudia said, winking at Rayla.

  Rayla seethed. She knew it. She wondered what creature had to die to make these pancakes so delectable.

  “So,” Claudia began, “now that we know you’re not kidnapped, you guys should come back home. With the dragon egg, of course.” She batted her eyes at Callum.

  Of course. Claudia has an agenda. There was no way the princes would fall for this. Rayla caught Callum and Ezran looking at each other.

  “Actually, there’s no dragon egg,” Callum said. Then he whispered something to Ezran, who immediately left the table.

  “What?! What happened to the egg?” Claudia said. Her expression had changed from sugary sweetness to outright panic.

  “You’ll understand in a second,” Callum said.

  “Oh no,” Rayla muttered. The princes were too trusting.

  Ezran returned to the table holding Zym. Rayla watched in horror as Claudia put two and two together.

  “Oh my, oh my, it’s sooooo cuuuuute!” Claudia squealed. “It’s a baby dwagon!” She stuck her hand out toward Zym.

  Rayla jumped out of her seat and threw herself between Ezran and Claudia, who was about to pet the dragonling.

  “Whoa—what happened to ‘it’s not an egg, it’s a powerful weapon’?” Rayla said, recalling the argument they’d had in that dungeon in Katolis. Back then, Claudia seemed unable or unwilling to see the egg as anything more than a dark magic tool.

  “Still true,” Claudia said without taking her eyes off Zym. She seemed unconcerned by her own hypocrisy. “Someday, it could bring death and destruction raining down on all of us. But right now, he’s so widdle!” Claudia reached out to stroke Zym’s head but Rayla slapped her hand away.

  “Well, get a good look, because we’re headed to Xadia to return him to his mother,” Rayla said.

  “Rayla’s right. We can’t go home yet. This mission is too important,” Callum said. Rayla was relieved. Callum hadn’t completely lost his head over this Claudia person.

  Soren jumped in. “But the thing is … Callum and Ezran do need to come home,” he said.

  Rayla thought she saw Soren wink at Claudia.

  “Because the king—your dad—really misses you,” Soren said.

  Rayla felt the blood drain from her face and nausea settle in her stomach. The king was dead. Soren had to know that. He was lying to the princes.

  Rayla seethed. Why hadn’t she just told them about the king? If she said something now, it would be her word against Soren’s.

  Claudia slammed the door to their hut closed. She couldn’t wait to give Soren a piece of her mind. But when she spun around to yell at him, she saw him standing there, grinning like a fool.

  “What are you so happy about?” Claudia sputtered.

  “Did you catch that intense look I got from the elf?” Soren asked. “I think she’s into me …” He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

  “She’s not into you, she’s onto you!” Claudia said. She was trying to keep her voice down, but she was furious. “The princes’ dad is dead, and you lied about it,” she hissed. She felt terrible for Callum and Ezran. “They’re our friends! It’s wrong.”

  She thought Soren would back down immediately and apologize, but instead he flared up.

  “You squash innocent creatures to make magic pancakes!” Soren shouted.

  Claudia shrugged and shook her head. What did dark magic have to do with lying to their friends? “How are we going to look Callum and Ezran in the eye when they find out we knew all along their dad was dead?”

  “Look, all I know is I tried it your way,” Soren said. He sat down in a moon chair and kicked his legs up on the table. “Using words … And now you don’t like the way that turned out. Maybe it’s time for my way—punching and stuff.” He slammed a balled-up fist into his open palm.

  “Ugh.” Soren really did not get it. “No. Give me one more day to convince Callum to leave with us. I’m going to rely on something that’s even stronger than muscles.”

  “Some kind of magic muscles?” Soren asked.

  “Trust. You can think of it as a magic muscle if that helps you,” Claudia said. Callum adored her. She knew she could get him on her side.

  “Trust.” Soren thought for a moment. “You know what, Clauds? I think trust building is a great idea.” He drummed his fingers on the table mischievously.

  Claudia didn’t have time to wonder what he was up to.

  “Glad you agree. I’m going to talk to Callum.”

  Claudia rushed out of the hut before Soren could change his mind.

  “I’m telling you, we can’t trust them,” Rayla said. This was about the tenth time she’d tried to turn Callum against Claudia and Soren.

  Callum was sick of hearing bad things about his friends, but he tried to understand where Rayla was coming from. “Look, I get it—you don’t like Claudia. She tried to kill you. Twice! Once with lightning. Once with smoke wolves. And she put you to sleep so her brother could stab you. So maybe it was three times. But on the other hand …” Callum immediately realized he was not prepared with anything “on the other hand.”

  “Yes?”

  “Uh … she made you pancakes!” He was grasping, and they both knew it. “All right, you’re probably right not to like her. But remember, until today she thought you were trying to
hurt me and Ezran.”

  “That’s not it, Callum. I know they’re lying to you. I know because …” Rayla suddenly became oddly serious and hesitant.

  “Because what?” Callum asked. But before she could answer, he heard a light rap on the door.

  “Knock, kno-ock.” Callum smiled at the sound of Claudia’s throaty voice.

  Rayla narrowed her eyes at him. Callum rushed over to the door and opened it.

  “Oh! Hi, Claudia,” Callum said. “What are you doing here?” His stomach was in knots. Claudia might be looking for her primal stone. Which unfortunately no longer existed.

  “Um, I wondered if you would go for a walk with me,” Claudia said. “I really want to see the Moon Temple.” She peeked over Callum’s shoulder.

  “Sure thing,” Callum said. He felt a little relieved. He turned to look over his shoulder. “Rayla, can we finish this conversation later?”

  “Whatever you say, Callum,” Rayla responded.

  Claudia grabbed Callum’s hand and pulled him down out of the hut and along the path toward the temple.

  “So, are you two … Did I interrupt something? Between you and … your elf?” Claudia asked, lifting her eyebrows slightly.

  “What, me and Rayla? Nooo!” Callum said nervously. He didn’t want Claudia to think there was anything romantic between him and Rayla. “I don’t think of her that way. I think of her more as … an assassin. An assassin-friend,” Callum said. It would be horrible if Claudia got the wrong idea.

  “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Claudia said. She waved one hand in the air. “No, I totally have friends like that.” She said it casually, but she slowed down her pace and Callum could tell she was relieved.

  “So, uh, you wanted to … talk?” Callum asked. For some reason, Callum illustrated the word talk by moving his hand like a puppet. Why did he always find himself doing strange and awkward things around Claudia? Probably better just to put his hands away for now. He shoved them in his pockets, but that felt awkward too. He scratched his head, and then his elbow. His elbow! Had it always been this pointy? Why, oh why, had he been born with such pointy elbows?

  “Yes. I need to tell you about some things that happened back at home,” Claudia said. “Good things, bad things …”

  Good things, bad things, Callum thought. Claudia’s primal stone was a good thing. He had broken it, which was a bad thing. Callum suddenly felt very anxious about this, and knew it was only a matter of time until Claudia discovered the truth. His anxiety was like a growing bubble, and Callum thought perhaps he could simply pop it. “I broke your primal stone,” Callum blurted out.

  “What did you say?” Claudia asked. She sounded truly shocked.

  “Sorry, I broke it. I broke your primal stone. I’ve been feeling really terrible about it,” Callum said. Popping the bubble had not released his anxiety.

  “But how did you break—”

  “I smashed it,” Callum said. “Yup.” He closed his eyes, hoping she wouldn’t get angry with him. When he opened his eyes, Claudia was smiling.

  “Hmm. Well—accidents happen,” Claudia said.

  “Oh, well … I did it on purpose,” Callum said. Callum wanted to slap himself on the forehead. He didn’t have to tell Claudia he smashed it on purpose. He was always doing that—going overboard with the information.

  “I’m sure you had a good reason, Callum,” Claudia said. She shrugged and brushed her long hair away from her face. Callum couldn’t believe it—Claudia was still smiling at him. Suddenly, he could breathe again.

  “I did! I really did have a good reason. You’re the best, Claudia … I know this doesn’t exactly make up for it, but I thought maybe you would let me show you around all the magic Moon places and stuff?”

  “I would definitely let you,” Claudia said.

  “What?” Had he heard her right? “Great!” Callum said. “This way.”

  A few minutes later, they’d reached an incredible castle-like structure.

  “This is the Moon Temple,” Callum said. “Isn’t it amazing? Like a work of art?” He wondered if Claudia would appreciate it in the same way.

  The building was all silver, with a half dozen sparkling spires and grand gazebos nestled into the grounds. Everything was surrounded by a moat and waterfalls.

  “It’s incredible,” Claudia said breathlessly. “Can you show me the inside?”

  “Sure!” Callum said. He led her up hundreds of shimmering stairs, across the moat. They entered the temple through the central atrium, where light shone through moon-shaped windows illuminating green garlanded archways. Butterflies glided gently along. The towering walls of the atrium were made of granite, and hundreds of runes had been etched into them.

  Callum looked over at Claudia. The ethereal beauty seemed to have caught her by surprise.

  “This place is breathtaking,” she murmured.

  “Yeah, I wonder what all these runes do,” Callum said, staring up at them. The runes glowed in the dim light.

  “They’re probably the most incredible spells,” Claudia said. “I barely recognize any of them.”

  “I would love to try new spells,” Callum said. “It’s just too bad humans can’t do magic without a primal stone.”

  Claudia was looking at him like he was nuts. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “We can do magic. I’ve shown you magic. You’ve seen what my dad can do.”

  Callum shook his head. “No, I meant primal magic. That’s what I’m interested in now. Not, you know …” Claudia squinted back at him, waiting for Callum to finish his thought aloud. Perhaps she knew what he was suggesting, but she was going to make Callum say it. “Your kind of magic,” he said, hanging his head.

  “Oh? My kind of magic?” Claudia asked. Callum knew he hadn’t phrased it right. And now he’d managed to offend Claudia.

  “Dark magic,” Callum whispered.

  Claudia was frowning now.

  She lowered her voice. “Do you always whisper when you’re being judgmental?” she asked.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” Callum said. He didn’t want Claudia to feel bad. “It’s just, I loved learning magic—and I feel sad now that I can’t.”

  “But you can. If you want to,” Claudia said. She removed her dark magic spell book from her bag and held it out to Callum.

  He shook his head. “I want to learn primal magic,” he said. “But you have to be born with that magic inside you.” Claudia looked really annoyed. Maybe showing her around the Moon Temple had been a bad idea. “Let’s go outside,” he suggested.

  “That’s the great thing about dark magic,” Claudia said, ignoring Callum’s suggestion. “You just take creatures that are born with magic inside—and squeeze it out of them.” Just then, an exquisite giant moon moth fluttered up and perched gently on Claudia’s shoulder. For a moment, Callum feared Claudia might demonstrate her point on the delicate creature. Instead, she gently nuzzled it.

  Callum gulped.

  “You’re doing it again, Prince Judgyface,” Claudia said. “Look, here’s how I think about it. Humans weren’t born with magic—we were born with nothing—but we still found a way to do amazing things. That’s what dark magic is really about.”

  Claudia was explaining things in a way that actually kind of made sense. Callum had sometimes felt like nothing himself, and he had sometimes felt powerless. Magic made him feel different. Maybe being able to do amazing things was worth it?

  But deep down, Callum knew dark magic required killing. You had to kill a magic creature and take something that belonged to it naturally in order to do those amazing things Claudia was talking about. “I’m sorry. It’s just not for me,” Callum said.

  Claudia shrugged.

  “Come on,” Callum said. “There’s something else I want to show you.”

  Together, they descended into the Moonhenge. The moss-covered rocks looked a little shabby to Callum now that he was trying to impress someone. “There’s not that much to see here,” he
said. “But I thought you might be interested.”

  Claudia was thrilled. “Ruins! I love ancient ruins!!”

  “Really? Me too!” Callum said. He couldn’t believe they had this interest in common. It was almost enough to forget about the dark magic disagreement. He watched, mesmerized, as Claudia ran to the middle of the Moonhenge and started spinning, her skirts twirling around her.

  “If you close your eyes, you can imagine what it was like,” she said softly. Her eyelids fluttered shut. “Everything was so magical back then … It’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah … beautiful,” he said. Forget the ruins. He couldn’t take his eyes off Claudia.

  She opened one eye. “Hey—your eyes aren’t closed,” she said. “No fair.”

  Callum felt his face turn red as a cherry. Then Claudia breezed over to him, tilted her head, crossed her eyes, and made a fish face. Callum relaxed a little. Claudia completed the face with an enormous snort. They both started laughing.

  “You think this is great?” Callum asked. “Wait until you see the Moon Nexus.”

  “Let’s go!” Claudia said. “Lead the way.”

  Callum started toward a nearby path, and then stopped.

  “Actually, hold on. We should come back tonight after the moon rises,” he said. It would be spectacular at night.

  “Great. It’s a date,” Claudia said. She waved goodbye and headed back toward the huts, leaving Callum wondering at the possibilities the evening held in store.

  The sun was getting high in the sky, and Soren realized he’d made little progress on his mission to capture (or was it kill?) the princes. Claudia had gone off to flex her “trust muscles” at Callum, so Soren would go to work on Ezran.

  Out the window of his room, Soren could see the young prince playing with his little dragon. They appeared to be wrestling. The grumpy glow toad, the weird girl, and her three-legged dog were hanging out too. Soren left the hut and walked over to join them.

  Soren had an idea. These kids looked up to him. Trusted him even. Maybe he could convince them to play a game … a dangerous game.