by D J DuMont
“Try it,” Anjali said. “Make your hand into a fist, then say ‘lux.’”
Cara’s voice sounded in the darkness. “Lux.” Moments later, a beam of light sprang forth from her hand as well.
“Oh my gosh,” Cara shrieked. “It worked! I just did magic.”
“Let me try,” Locke insisted, likely annoyed that someone else had been the first to cast a spell with their new rings. “Lux!”
A beam of light shot from his hand as well, and he let out a whoop of excitement. Sylvie and Willow looked at each other and grinned in the strange shadows of all the light beams. Then, in unison, they said “Lux.” Each of their rings instantly lit up with a light beam as well.
“Wow,” Sylvie said in an awe-filled voice. She pointed her ring toward the treetops above them and turned it in slow circles. “That’s a pretty neat trick.”
“Nice work,” Anjali said, and Headmaster Damon gave them a little round of applause. Sam, however, was not amused.
“Quiet,” he hissed. “The dragons don’t like to be disturbed by a lot of noise at night. They are in a quiet, resting mood right now, and it’s best to keep them that way.”
Willow and the others settled down, but Willow still kept staring down at her ring, amazed that she had made light spring from it by just speaking a single word. They walked in silence now, deeper and deeper into the woods, which seemed to grow darker and darker. If it hadn’t been for their ring lights, Willow was pretty sure she would have twisted an ankle by now.
After several more minutes of walking, Sam turned and held up his hand for them to stop. “Alright, we’re just about there. Keep your voices low, and no sudden movements, okay?”
“Will they hurt us?” Cara asked, her voice trembling a bit. Willow thought for a moment that perhaps Cara had been right about one thing: perhaps the “courage” magic ring wasn’t exactly suited to her.
“No, they won’t hurt you. Not when I’m around, at least. But we want to be respectful of them and not agitate them. Lights off, too. I don’t want you swinging those blinding beams around in their eyes.”
“Lux deleo,” Anjali said in response. Her ring’s light instantly flickered out. The rest of the group repeated the words she’d spoken, and soon all of the lights were extinguished. Sam grunted and then started moving forward. Willow followed carefully along with the rest, silently praying that she wasn’t going to trip and end up face-first in the dirt.
But she didn’t have to worry for long. After less than thirty seconds of walking, they suddenly emerged into a large clearing in the woods. The pitch black of the forest gave way to moonlit grass. The brilliance of the moon felt like a shock after the forest, and the silver light gave the illusion that the ground was shimmering. The clearing had plenty of open space, but it also had several humongous stables. Willow gaped at them. They looked exactly like you would expect horse stables to look, only they were about ten times larger. There was also a ladder leading up to a raised walkway on the front side of the building. That ladder appeared to be where Sam was heading now, and the group scrambled after him.
There were at least one hundred steps, and Willow’s legs were burning by the time she reached the top. She took several deep breaths, trying not to look as exhausted as she felt. Although the staff doctor had cleared her and given her a clean bill of health before she left sick bay the day before, Willow still had some lingering exhaustion left over from the Dragon Heart Virus. Locke bounded up without breaking a sweat, and probably would have bounded ahead of Sam if the stable hand hadn’t stopped him.
“Slow down, son. These dragons are well-trained, but, trust me, you still don’t want to startle them.”
Locke made an impatient face, but did slow down and remain behind Sam. The rest of the group obediently waited as well, and Sam walked forward onto the walkway and began to whistle. Willow realized as she watched him that all of Sam’s former skittishness had disappeared. Here, around the dragons, he seemed confident and sure of himself. The walkway went right past a set of huge open windows that presumably looked down on the dragons in their stable, and Sam stopped to whistle in each window. Finally, he turned back toward the group.
“Alright, it’s safe to come up now.”
Willow was the last one to reach the windows, but even before she caught a glimpse of what was below, the gasps from her fellow trainees told her that she was about to see something magnificent. In truth, magnificent didn’t even begin to cover it. For when she looked down through the window, she saw a group of seven dragons. She had known, of course, that there were dragons in the stables, but somehow even knowing that didn’t prepare her for the sight.
They were huge. They must have stood at least fifteen feet tall, and each of their eyes was twice the size of Willow’s fist. Their long, sleek bodies all looked slightly different, but there were similarities. All of them had wings, which right now were folded up against their bodies. And their tails were all spiked, although the number and size of the spikes varied greatly. Their bodies were covered in thick scales of varying colors. Some were dark, almost black. Others were green. One was a deep golden yellow. One was almost orange and another was red. Their heads all had horns, and occasionally puffs of smoke rose from their giant nostrils.
“They…they breathe fire?” Cara asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“Some of them. There are a few that breathe acid instead. The red and golden ones there breathe fire. That one’s Cayenne and that one’s Saffron. Oh, and the orange-ish one over on the other side is Yarrow.”
At the sound of their names, the dragons raised their heads and looked up at Sam. He gave them a wave, and they huffed out smoke and then put their heads back down.
“Now that green one over there, that’s Sage. That one is Anjali’s dragon, and she breathes acid. The dark brown one is Nutmeg. She almost looks black in this light, huh? She breathes acid, too. Pepper and Tarragon are the last two over there. Pepper breathes acid and Tarragon breathes lightning, which works just as well as fire for actually setting things on fire.”
Sam chuckled, and waved at the dragons as they looked up at him. Despite their fearsome horns, spikes and claws, they were so calm and peaceful right now that it was almost hard to imagine they could hurt anyone. The way they looked at Sam reminded Willow of the way a puppy would look at its owner.
Willow wondered how her father must have felt the first time he saw dragons. She wondered what his dragon was named, and what its power was. Did it breathe fire, acid, or lightning? There were so many things she would have loved to ask him. How did it feel to ride a dragon for the first time? Was he scared? Willow sighed. Probably not. She couldn’t imagine her father being scared. He’d always been the bravest man she knew. Then again, he had received the ruby intelligence ring, not the sapphire courage one. But that wasn’t all that surprising, either. Willow had always thought he was the smartest man she knew, as well as the bravest. She wondered if he would have been disappointed in her for only receiving the loyalty ring. She didn’t care what Anjali said about the ring being rare and a sign of special abilities. It seemed to her that she had just been told by the ring cauldron that she wasn’t as capable as the other trainees in her class. Seriously, who bragged about being loyal?
Willow’s face must have shown her unhappiness, because Anjali came to stand next to her. Everyone was talking amongst themselves now, pointing out different things about the different dragons’ appearances, or asking Sam questions about how he cared for the dragons. Anjali’s soft voice was lost in the noise to all but Willow.
“I know you’re disappointed by your ring, Willow. But I promise you, the day will come when you see just how special you are. Don’t wish to change who you are. Embrace it. In your truth lies your power. Your father would have been very proud of you, and the loyalty ring is a great honor.”
Willow tried to smile convincingly, but she knew Anjali could still see her frustration. Anjali reached over and squeezed Willow’s shoulder, then
winked at her.
“Trust me, Willow. I may be young for a master trainer, but my whole life has been spent on the Dragon Heart Program. I know a special agent when I see one. And you, my dear, are special. Just like your father.”
Before Willow could respond, a loud roar startled her. One of the dragons had stood, and was coming toward the windows. Willow’s heart felt like it stopped in her chest. When the dragon was in a standing position, its head came right up to the walkway. Had something made it angry? Was it going to attack? Desperately, Willow looked to Sam for help. But Sam was only laughing.
“Alright, alright, Nutmeg. Calm down. I brought one for everyone.”
Willow noticed that a large burlap sack had just appeared next to Sam. He must have been hiding it under a magic spell, but the spell had been lifted and he was reaching into the sack now. To Willow’s surprise, he pulled out a whole coconut.
“Is that a…”
“Coconut? Yes. The dragons love them. Don’t ask me why. Who would have thought that dragons would be obsessed with coconuts? But they are, so the CIA buys them for us in bulk and ships them over. Nutmeg, especially, goes crazy for them. Here, girl.”
Sam held out the coconut to Nutmeg, and the dragon sucked it into her mouth in one quick movement. She crunched the whole coconut between her teeth for a few seconds, then swallowed. Willow watched in astonishment as Nutmeg leaned in to give Sam a gentle nuzzle. Nutmeg’s head was nearly the same size as Sam’s whole body, but Sam didn’t seem the least bit afraid. Instead, he laughed, and patted the top of her head. Willow felt amazed that such huge beasts could be so affectionate.
The other dragons seemed to have realized now that Sam had brought coconuts, and they crowded around the walkway windows. Sam passed out coconuts, laughing and patting the giant beasts on the head. Willow looked over and caught Sylvie’s eye. Sylvie smiled and shrugged. Cara was standing back a bit, still not sure that these dragons could be trusted not to fry her to a crisp at any moment. As for Locke, he couldn’t quite manage to hide the expression of awe on his face. Even a tough, know-it-all like him couldn’t help feeling small in the presence of dragons.
Willow turned to see that Anjali still stood next to her, watching the coconut feast with a smile on her face.
“Which one is yours, again?” Willow asked. Before Anjali could answer, the green dragon had come over and stuck its giant muzzle right in Anjali’s face. Anjali laughed and patted the dragon’s head.
“This one’s mine. Sage.”
Willow would never have admitted it out loud, but having a dragon this close made her feel like she was about to have a heart attack. Could these beasts really be trusted? Anjali and Sam seemed to think so. Sam was telling Nutmeg that the coconuts were all gone in the same tone of voice you might use to tell a four-year-old that the candy had all been eaten. Anjali was still laughing and petting Sage.
“I’m sorry, girl. I don’t have any more coconuts. Sam’s the only one who had them tonight.”
Willow shook her head. “This is crazy, you know? Tame dragons, eating tropical fruit. And all with names of herbs and spices? It makes them seem not so fierce and terrifying, you know?”
Anjali glanced over at Willow. “Sam named them all. He likes to cook, so he gave them spice names that he thought fit their personality. For example, Cayenne has a bit of a spicy temper, if you will. Nutmeg is sweet. Saffron can act like a bit of a princess, hence she was named after one of the most expensive spices. You get the picture.”
Willow smiled. “Yeah. It makes sense I guess. It’s kind of cute that Sam cooks. You’d never know it, by looking at him. He’s such a stern-looking guy.”
Anjali smiled back at her. “Yes, but he has a softer side. And that softer side really comes out when he talks to his dragons. As for the dragons, they can definitely be sweet and affectionate, as you’re seeing right now. But don’t let that fool you. They are fierce when they need to be. When they’re on a mission, they will protect a trainer they love to the death.”
As if to confirm this, Sage bared her giant dragon teeth for all to see. Willow jumped back, startled, but Anjali just laughed again.
“Sage, stop showing off.”
Sage settled down, but that didn’t stop Willow from taking another step backward from the dragon, anyway. As she stepped toward the windowsill again, she noticed another dragon for the first time. This dragon was curled up in a far corner, nearly blending into the dark-hued wall behind it. It looked back at her with sad eyes, but didn’t move. It hadn’t joined the others in search of a coconut, and it seemed listless, as though the energy to lift its head would simply be too much.
“Anjali, what’s that dragon’s name? Is it sick?”
Anjali’s laughter faded, and she exchanged a glance with Sam before turning back to Willow.
“That’s Clove. He was your father’s dragon. He isn’t sick. Not physically, anyway. He’s just heartbroken. He’s been that way since he came back from a mission without your father about a year and a half ago.”
Willow’s heart twisted in her chest. She leaned over the windowsill a bit and reached her hand out. “Clove,” she whispered to him. “I know how you feel. I miss him more than anything, too.”
Clove actually lifted his head, then, and focused his eyes on Willow. Willow held his gaze, saying with her eyes the things her heart felt—the things which words could never truly explain. Willow didn’t realize that everyone around her had gone silent until Clove started to stand. That’s when she heard Anjali behind her, gasping. But Willow never took her eyes from Clove.
The giant dragon stood, and moved toward Willow. As it got closer, it swung its head back and forth and roared, then drew in a deep breath.
“Clove!” Sam’s voice said in warning. But Clove ignored him. The beast let his breath out in full force, right above Willow’s head. The dragon’s breath turned into snow when it left his body, and Willow soon found herself covered in little snowflakes.
“Well, I’ll be,” Sam’s voice behind her said. “Clove’s power is breathing snow or ice, as you can see. But he hasn’t done it since he came back without your father.”
Clove stepped forward and nuzzled Willow. In return, Willow wrapped her arms around as much of the dragon’s giant head as she could. He grunted, and then, suddenly, all of the other dragons came to surround him. Cayenne was first, followed by Nutmeg. Then came Sage, Pepper, Tarragon, and Saffron. Last of all was Yarrow.
Willow didn’t know exactly what to make of all this. All she knew was that, strangely enough, she felt like Clove understood better than anyone else the heartbreak she felt over losing her father. Having another living being sympathize with the depths of her pain made her feel strangely better.
Eventually, Clove grunted again and stepped back. Willow nodded, and waved to him. Then, without a word, she turned to head down the steps that led from the walkway back to solid ground. The rest of the group followed quietly. No one wanted to speak and break the spell that seemed to have come over them all. When they eventually made it back to the Dragon Heart building, Anjali started bidding them good night, reminding them to be on time the next day as training would begin in earnest then. Locke and Cara started heading back to the main Birch Point campus, but Sylvie had a few questions for Anjali. Willow hung back to wait for her friend. She was in no hurry to get back to Alexis, anyway. She didn’t want to have to answer questions about where she’d been, and she was hoping Alexis might be asleep by the time she reached their dorm room. Willow had enough to think about right now without worrying about convincing her new roommate that her disappearance was nothing personal.
“Well, goodnight Miss Ember.”
The sound of Sam’s voice startled Willow. She turned abruptly and saw him tipping his hat to her, already starting to turn to leave. Suddenly, Willow was struck with a thought.
“Sam, wait. Can you tell me how the dragons are assigned? Do you pick them for us? Or do we have any say in which one is ours?”
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br /> Sam shook his head. “I don’t choose the dragon. Neither do you. The dragon must choose you. When the time comes for you to begin working with a dragon, the right dragon will come to you. We can train dragons quite well, but they must be willing to be trained. The choice of who will ride with them, and who will command them, must be theirs and theirs alone.”
“Oh,” Willow said. Her voice must have sounded quite disappointed, because Sam smiled kindly at her.
“Why? Was there a particular dragon you liked tonight?”
“Well, uh, I just thought it would be nice if I could work with Clove. Since he was my dad’s dragon and all.”
Sam’s expression turned to one of deep sadness. “Oh. I see. Well, Clove is a very special dragon, but I don’t want you to be disappointed. I can already tell you that he won’t choose you.”
Willow looked up at Sam, feeling more miserable than ever. Was it already that obvious to Sam that she wasn’t as good as the other trainees? Was this because she’d received the loyalty ring instead of the intelligence or courage ring?
“I…I…” Willow was at a loss for words. She wanted to say something in her own defense, but what? Sam was an expert dragon trainer. Surely, he knew if someone wasn’t up to par for a particular dragon.
“It’s not your fault, Miss Ember.” Sam looked uneasily over at Anjali, then back at Willow.
“It’s not my fault that I’m not as good of an agent as my father?”
Sam looked shocked. “No, no. That’s not what I meant at all. It’s just that…”
He gave another uneasy glance in Anjali’s direction. “Look, I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you this, but, well…”
Willow’s heart inexplicably started pounding. What could Sam possibly want to tell her that Anjali didn’t want her to know? “What is it, Sam?”
“It’s just that Clove isn’t going to choose you because he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to choose anyone.”
“But maybe he’d change his mind if he could choose the daughter of his old partner, don’t you think?”