Wynter Reign

by Emmy R Bennett

  “I’ll take a Pink Lily,” I say.

  “Make that two,” my aunt says and puts the menu down, smiling.

  “Is there s-something els-se I can get you? Appetizers-s, perhaps-s,” she says, looking up from her notepad.

  “How about an order of Spike Dip, too,” Dad replies.

  “Coming right up,” the server says and twirls around, carting off to order our food.

  “Spike Dip? Do you know what the urchin did to Rory, and you’re ordering it to eat? And furthermore, she’s a—”

  “Yes, she is,” Dad interrupts. “Her family, among a few others, fled when the war came upon the Storm Castle—”

  “The day I fell from the rock,” I say.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m beginning to understand how much of an impact my screaming rendered that day.”

  “You have no idea,” Dad says.

  “Nyta found Halle on the beach one day, near the rocks by the cave in Pine Willow Valley, abandoned as a baby. Well, not really abandoned, but she was near death. Her mother, father, and brother gutted. All that remained were their skins. I don’t think the enemy knew of the child’s existence. The mother must have had an egg stashed somewhere and was able to hide it under a rock, keeping it safe.”

  “Hang on a minute. Iknes Shaw are born from eggs?”

  “Of course, they are snakes. They are born looking like a human, but they have the scaled skin of a reptile. Her name, Halle, means rock. Nyta named her. Said her name brings meaning, that she’s strong, and she felt it fitting.”

  “So Nyta raised her?”

  “Like one of her own, yes.”

  Halle comes back with our drinks. “Three moggle pops-s,” she says and sets them down on the table. “Your appetizer will be on the way. Are you ready to order?”

  “I think so,” Dad states. “Wynter?”

  “Cricket burger.”

  “And kale cobbler fries-s?” Halle asks.

  “Oh yes, please. I forgot about those. They are the best in town.” I hadn’t had those in such a long time. A blend of kale, potatoes from Earth, and Ladorielle sea plankton fried in bat oil.

  “Very well.” She jots my order down, glancing at Aunt Fran. “Oh, I’m not hungry,” Fran says.

  Dad and I hide a smile. “I’ll have what she’s having, a cricket burger,” Dad says, “and calamari.”

  “Great,” Halle says and darts off to put in our order.

  I look down at this strange drink in front of me. “So, this is a Pink Lily Moggle Pop?”

  Fran smiles. “Tastes like bubbling lemonade,” she says, taking her first sip.

  I follow suit and take a swig of mine. “Tastes like lemonade, but with a tart, sweet kick”

  Fran gives a gentle laugh. “Remember coming here as a kid? You would hang out here after school under Nyta’s care.”

  I look at Dad. “Yeah, I remember. You were always gone, leaving Aunt Fran and I alone many times.”

  “You weren’t alone. You had family everywhere. There was always someone to play with. You and Rory would go scout tadpoles in the Rock Water Pond. Remember?” Dad asks.

  Fran smiles, grabbing my hand. “Give it time, Wynter.” She takes another sip of her drink. “I mean, come on, you just came into your power a few days ago. What’s it been, like a week? You discovered you’re a shifter, and you have so much on your plate…give yourself a break. I see you worrying. It will be fine. I will be right by your side every step of the way.”

  I huff. “Has it only been a week? Feels like it’s been months already.”

  Halle comes over holding in her hand our appetizer and sets it on the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “No,” Dad answers, “this will be good. Thank you.”

  Halle turns away.

  “So, this is Spike Dip? I don’t think I have ever had it. How do I know it won’t blind me like it tried to do Rory?”

  “Once it’s been cooked, the poison dissipates. Besides, it’s the outer shell that’s harmful, not the flesh underneath.” Fran answers.

  I take a spoonful of dip and dap it on my plate and grab a small handful of chips. “So, Dad, tell me more about what happened to your brother, Uncle Chad?” Taking my first bite, I savor it, as it begins to have a party in my mouth. “Wow, this is amazing.”

  Dad laughs. “Yes, it’s one of Scale Café & Grills most popular dishes.”

  Dad appears to avoid my initial question, and I shoot him an irritated look.

  “Right, Chad. Well, as you may have guessed—told might be the better word—a dragon cannot die by fire. They can’t die by fire in either form.”

  “Go on...”

  “But…we can be killed by a strike to the heart. If it grows cold, without getting the proper attention, we die.” He looks at Fran. “In your aunt’s case, her body has perished, but her spirit lives on. The magic for Dragonscale Island allows her to keep a physical form. If she ventures off the Island, she will revert back to a spirit.”

  “Except she wears that necklace,” I add. I don’t think he realizes I know about the regenerating spell.

  He clears his throat, as though surprised. “Yes, Mother told her,” Fran adds.

  “I see,” Dad says appearing confused. “If our hearts are not healed and tended to immediately by a priestess, then we don’t have the chance to live a mortal life on Dragonscale Island.”

  “Under normal circumstances, Dad, right?” I look at Fran then back to Dad. “Yes, I know this already. It’s why we had to rush so fast to get to Nyta.”

  Aunt Fran gives a grim smile. “Not exactly the perfect way to live an immortal life, but it’s something, I guess. Nyta, has my body safe somewhere.”

  “It’s all beginning to make sense,” I say.

  Aunt Fran gives me a look, as though she knows my thoughts immediately.

  “Why not bring you back, now? I mean, if you can come back from this death state you’re in—”

  “Not out loud,” my aunt says. “If I was solid and not of spirit form, I couldn’t help with the eclipse happening at the end of the month.” She gives a wicked smile. A smile that is conniving and devilish.

  I provide a slight chuckle. “I get it. You’re trying to beat Sarmira at her own game. Instead of possessing a body, you’re using this regenerating spell against her. She isn’t going to suspect that you’re really alive, is she?”

  My aunt and Dad both beam.

  “Not here. Our thoughts are not as protected in public,” she says.

  “Okay, so what about Uncle Chad?” I press, now that I’m beginning to catch up to my family’s little scheme.

  Dad takes in a deep breath. “Well, of course, I didn’t know I was of Deagon blood until that day I changed into a fiery ball of rage. You see, magic isn’t as strong on Earth as here. It’s as though it’s suppressed. Filtered, if you will.”

  “You are saying there’s magic on earth, but not as strong as it can be?”

  “Precisely, and on the Super Blue Blood Moon, it will be the strongest it has been since 1866.”

  I reach back to my memories of reading when the last time the Storm family was strong enough to flee. When the Storm family tried to escape the first time, or when Sara was poisoned. “I’m going to take a guess here. All those different times the family tried to get away; it was because of the past Super Blue Blood Moon eclipses, wasn’t it? This was a hundred and fifty years ago,” I say.

  Dad adds, “Yes and no. Super Blue Blood Moons are one of the strongest, but any full moon will give us an added charge. Blair’s younger sons, Cory and Cole, were really young on Ladorielle time when the last Super Blue Blood Moon eclipse occurred.”

  The thought occurs to me that many of the orphans at Storm River Manor are perhaps much older than first believed.

  “I still don’t get this time issue thing between here and Earth.”

  Fran smiles. “I know. Don’t think too hard, about it right now. It’s not exact, but roughly, for every t
en years spent on Earth, it’s been about a year on Ladorielle.”

  “Sara and Isobel were at their strongest in defeating Moyer during one of these moon phases,” Fran adds.

  “But I wasn’t born during any eclipse. How did you have the strength to save us?” I ask.

  “Isalora called upon the Spirits of Immortality.” Fran leans in, whispering, “Remember the book?”

  “Yes.”

  “She bound her spirit with them, the Spirits of Immortality. By doing that, she gave us enough power to escape. Namari, your little dragon, hatched the same night you were born, and his magic showed us the way to Geneviève, and we all left.”

  “Sounds like my mother beat Moyer at her own game, didn’t she?”

  “Perhaps, but the last Super Blue Blood Moon gave Sara enough power to use magic to keep the cottage protected for another hundred and fifty years. It’s that power that has protected it since, and the magic in the cottage grows stronger, allowing Isalora to do her work away from Ladorielle’s universe. Remember, Wynter, during that small amount of time when you fell from the rock, all those years ago, it has given Moyer ample time for her to raise a supernatural army.”

  “It goes both ways, though, right?”

  “I’m afraid so. Sarmira has more power to direct Moyer’s body into doing unfathomable things.”

  Halle comes back, bringing our main course. “Here you are. I have two cricket burgers and kale cobbler fries. Is there anything else I can get you?”

  I shake my head and she walks off.

  “So back to Chad,” I ask, “what happened?”

  “His ashes rose up.”

  “You’re saying like a phoenix?”

  “Similar, maybe. I should remind you, I thought Chad was dead, that I killed him. This dragon shifter secret was kept from me all my life. I didn’t stick around to find out what happened to my brother. Instead, I ran after Moyer but she disappeared. I fled to the cottage to warn Sara, told her of what happened, and she informed me that it was the magic of the Super Blue Blood Moon that reengaged my shifting form.”

  “And that’s how Sarmira found out I was a Deagon. Am I right?” I ask.

  “Yes. And she knew Chad would be reborn, as he is my brother.”

  “But Moyer had to already know this. You’re her sons, she’s my grandmother.”

  “But Sarmira didn’t. Somehow, Maura Moyer, imprisoned within her own mind and body, kept that secret from Sarmira, until the day I shifted.”

  We finish lunch in time to see a familiar face walk in the restaurant. It’s Garrick standing at the door, waving his hand, and trying to grab our attention. I nudge Aunt Fran.

  She looks in my direction. “What does he want?”

  “I don’t know, but it seems important.”

  “He’s not at his post,” Dad adds. “That’s not good.”

  I frown and nearly choke on the food in my mouth as I swallow it down. “What do you mean, not good?”

  “Hang on, you two. Wait here, and I’ll find out what’s up.” We watch Fran get up and walk to Garrick, and he whispers in her ear.

  “Dad. Can you make out what they’re saying?”

  “No, it’s too loud.”

  Two soldiers squeeze by Garrick and approach our table, wearing silver chainmail and grab our attention. I notice they wear the same filigree emblem on their chest as I have on my necklace.

  One of them bends down by Dad’s ear. My keen hearing hears him say, “They are here. You must leave now.” I look at Aunt Fran and Garrick still by the door. She gives a nod, indicating our meal is over.

  “Let’s scoot, kid. Time to vacate.” Dad throws a wad of cash down on the table and grabs my hand, pulling me to the door, with two soldiers behind us.

  Startled by the abrupt departure, I ask, “What’s going on?”

  Dad wears a look of concern on his face. “Something’s come up. We can’t talk here.”

  As we leave the restaurant, Garrick adds, “Dragonscale requests you return quickly.”

  Fran says, “We’ve been followed.”

  Fran and I tail behind Dad and Garrick while the two soldiers follow behind us. I’m boxed in on all sides. A third and fourth soldier come in on my left and right.

  I’m led down a path to an unfamiliar home. More guards stand at the entrance while Dad opens the door.

  “Whose home is this? We can’t barge into someone’s house.”

  “It’s not a home,” Garrick says, “it’s a station made to look like one. Blending in is what we shifters do.”

  “Soldiers go where you go, Wynter, they always have,” my aunt remarks.

  “I don’t remember them from earlier. Where have they been hiding?”

  “The soldiers stay back a little, mixing in to allow space, so that you can have a little bit of privacy. But we have word that there is a mole in Ashengale.”

  “A mole?”

  “We can’t risk having you shift. This is the safest way back to the castle.”

  I’m led to a stairwell heading downward. The memories of the basement at Storm River Manor swamp me and I protest. “What’s down there?”

  “The way out,” Garrick says. There’s a sudden movement, and the walls begin to shake. Pictures fall, and glass dishes smash to the floor.

  “What is that?”

  “We’re under attack!” Garrick screams, “Move, move, move!”

  Chapter 26

  Rory Fernshadow

  The Past:

  At the Cottage of Storm River Manor

  The portal door to the cottage opens, showing the same chair in the loft. “Time to prepare,” Aoes says.

  I say goodbye to my mother and pass through. The others follow. Isalora is in the kitchen boiling a nasty brew. Instead of warm scrumptious smells, it has an odor of vomit and death.

  “Gah,” Thom shouts, “what is that awful stench?”

  “Ah, don’t you like it?” Isalora springs back, stirring it as if she’s proud of such a reeking accomplishment. “It will help Zak.”

  I snicker, thinking this should be good.

  “You expect me to drink something as gawd awful as that?”

  She looks up from her masterpiece. “I do, and you will, if you ever think to succeed in getting your sister back,” she retorts.

  Zak grunts as he comes down the stairs and observes the putrid concoction.

  “It’s about ready. I was beginning to worry you didn’t make it to the library.”

  “And yet, you still make this,” Dom scoffs.

  “Ah, yes well, Aoes popped in a few seconds ago to say all was well.”

  “Popped in?” I interject. “Like appear and disappear?”

  Isalora snickers. “Not exactly.” She points to an amethyst quartz, where half of it looks like a rock and on the other side it’s slit open, revealing tiny shades of purple and lavender sparkling crystals.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  “It’s what one might call a crystal ball, I suppose, but it’s my communication to Ladorielle.”

  “It looks like one giant cluster of gemstones stuck together.”

  “It’s mined in the dwarven mountains,” Thom cuts in.

  “The dryads trade them for magical dust. They can make enchantments, but some of their dust is used to make our tools stronger. A win, win,” Dom adds.

  I think of Arryn, remembering the dagger she gave to Cory, and wonder if it was also enchanted, which is why it glowed a little while ago.

  “I see Arryn and Akira are not with you,” Isalora mentions, continuing to concentrate on her ill brew.

  “Staying behind. Apparently, Sara has her doing something,” I answer, annoyed.

  “I see Cory isn’t here, either,” Isalora says.

  “Yes, he is helping Blair get as many innocents as they can find to the portal hub. Are you sure this will work?” I ask.

  “Working your nostrils, is it?” She takes a scoop of the liquid and pours it into a mug. “Looks finished. Here, d
rink this.”

  She pushes the cup towards Zak, and he eyes it intently. “Is this your means to kill me, woman?”

  “Kill you?” She huffs. “Hardly, if I wanted to do that, I would have done it a long time ago.” She snaps her fingers, and a scorpion appears on his shoulder. “One move, and he’ll pierce you before you even decide to throw him off.” The stinger is centimeters from Zak’s neck. “Now drink, or I’ll feed my pet.”

  “No need for the hostility, My Lady,” Zak implores, and he downs the drink.

  Isalora snaps her fingers and smiles, removing the crawling critter. “There, that’s better. I’m glad we could agree.” She stares at him. “My family mean more to me than you will ever know, as I assume so does yours. I will not take a chance on this going south. Moyer knows you’re here, she can smell you, and while I can appreciate your wanting to help for the greater good of the cause, know that I will do anything to keep my daughter safe, and I mean anything.”

  That’s the understatement of the century, knowing she paid with her life to keep Wynter safe.

  Isalora peers my way, as though she hears my thoughts, and tilts her head slightly to the right. “The potion will obscure his stink from others.”

  She changes her focus. “Now, you all look exhausted. Go clean up and get ready for this evening. We have work to do,” she says.

  “Rest? Seriously, Isalora, I’m ready to get us out of here. Enough resting,” I say.

  “Aye, and you will. You leave the cottage early in the morning, right before Redmae turns in for the day of sleep. That’s when you will give her the antidote.”

  “Will she be able to know who she is, once I give it to her?” I ask. “How is waiting in the morning going to solve any of this?”

  “Nothing is guaranteed, is it? The worse that can happen is she won’t have any changes. If it’s a success, she will be able to understand people, but she will not be able to communicate with them.”

  “And you think that’s going to help Wynter through the trials and defeat Sarmira. How will that be possible if she can’t communicate?”

  “Leave that to the land of Ladorielle to worry about. Getting your sister safely home is your job and rescuing Cole. The curses of them both will not be lifted until Wynter finishes her trials.”