The East Gate (Dawnbringer, Book 2)

by Elon Vidal

  But if she had magic, she could always use it to bring her family back together and be able to protect them better too. As much as she loved botany, having magic would give her more options in life. It was a chance to discover some things that she had never imagined she could love. Or perhaps a chance to have it all. Magic and her own lab to experiment with plants and help bring about a more harmonious world.

  But would she be happy with all these when botany was her true passion? What if she never received another opportunity like the one she had already missed? What if she would never save lives like how she had intended when she'd first decided to join the program? What if that was her true calling, and all these were just distractions?

  After everything they had gone through to get here, she finally had the opportunity to get something that she had always wanted. This was it. This was the moment that would define her. And as she looked at all the wonderful options in front of her, she realized that there was one that she couldn't see.

  Elijah.

  Dawn thought about her best friend and what the rest of his life looked like. How he would have to live now without magic and start learning everything from scratch. How he might have children without magic someday and what that would do to him. It was already killing him now; she could tell how much he was trying to pretend like he was coping.

  As she thought of that another bubble appeared and she looked inside it. There was her best friend with short white hair, looking like himself again. He was laughing as he stood in front of a writing board, illustrating something on it in what seemed to be a class. He looked happy again, something she'd thought he would never be after losing such a big part of him.

  Dawn closed her eyes, she knew what she must do now. The only choice she had really, and she found that she felt peace with it.

  She chose Elijah.

  As soon as she made her decision, a bright light filled the entire space. The entire landscape began to dissolve as if blown away like pollen in the wind. The flying boulders, both the ones that dripped waterfalls and the ones set ablaze began to disintegrate and shatter into a million pieces. The springs recoiled into willow trees and both were lifted into the air, crumbling together with wisteria in a mix of purples, pinks, reds, and greens, spiraling ever more rapidly. The grass behind her feet also lifted in patches of fairy dust, and the rolling hills folded upon each other. Butterflies and imps, Air Sprites and fire, all sparkled and blended together. They whirled ever faster, mixing disaster with paradise, spinning, quickly accelerating around the patch of land that was left around her and the house under the angel oak in front of her.

  Light sparkles blinked in larger masses that were being absorbed by the oak’s branches. Faster and faster they jammed into each other and were being sucked in by the oak. The house below began to light up and radiate. The ground below her trembled and the leaves around her lifted into the air. With increasing force, the whole surrounding was being channeled by the angel oak and pulled into the house. Its walls bent and seemed as if they would break. The intensity of the light became brighter and Dawn had to cover her eyes with her arm. The force of the wind was sending her short hair towards her back.

  She still wanted to catch a glimpse of it all and tried to keep her eyes open and peak over her elbow. She could feel the increasing force of the wind as more sparkles of flames and water, nymphs, and hills, maple trees, moss, and charcoal crumbled and whirled above her and pounded into the house, with increasing pressure. Light became brighter, the scenery being sucked into the house until it too folded upon itself and took the angel oak with it. The main doors came crumbling in, the roof released into itself, the windows folded upon themselves and onto the each other.

  It was all being packed in with a deafening, overbearing roar until all that remained was a small shoe-sized jar floating in midair against a lit backdrop. Dawn was close enough to could see designs of chariots and stars, fish and snakes, adorning the vase contour, and the lid that shut it all was topped by the shape of a dragon. It too became suddenly engulfed by a streak of light that blinded her and in an instant, she landed on the ground with a loud thud.

  “Dawn!” she heard her mother call out before she was enveloped in a tight hug.

  Her ears were ringing, and she wondered where she was as she finally opened her eyes, taking in everyone. She was back in the council room and everyone was there. The djinn, the Enlightened, as well as Damon and Elijah.

  “You’re bleeding,” her mother said suddenly, starting to fuss over her.

  “I’m fine mom, help me up.”

  Isabel helped her stand up and she hissed in pain when her side protested. Strangely, when she had been in the other realm, she had not felt any pain at all. Had it even happened at all or had it all been a dream? She looked at her mom and realized, in spite of her inner hopes, she had not chosen the option of bringing them together to restore the love her parents had once displayed. She understood it could not be forced upon them, that it had to emerge of their own choice, yet couldn’t help but feel a bit saddened by it. She decided she wouldn’t give up on that hope, but it was not for her to decide.

  She quickly searched for Elijah among the crowd. Her mom helped her up and she finally locked eyes with him. He hesitated for an instant, but he then seemed not to be able to hold the act any longer and ran up to her and giving hugged her. As soon as she got up, from her lap fell the small vase she had seen instants earlier. She felt it slip, looked down, and with cat-like reflexes, managed to grasp it before it hit the ground.

  At that moment Elijah had wrapped his arms around her and she could feel his friendship and his worry. She felt comforted to see him safe again. It was all expressed in a warm embrace.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I was so worried about you and we were trying to bring you back and-”

  She drew back and smiled, “It’s fine. Can you try and make bubbles for me with magic?”

  He looked at her in confusion. “What? You know I can’t.”

  “Please,” she looked at him with pleading eyes, “just try. For me.”

  Elijah looked at her like she was crazy but because she had asked, he would do it. He held out his hand and closed his eyes. Three bubbles emerged from his palm and they gently flowed with the air in the room. One popped into Dawn’s nose. She jumped with glee, and hugged him back, around his neck. Elijah was in shock at first and he laughed nervously. She laughed and everyone else looked at the floating bubbles and seemed as perplexed as he was.

  “How?” was all he could muster.

  “I’ll explain it all to you later,” she promised, happy to finally be back home.

  Elijah seemed to realize he could summon more, and he excitedly filled the entire place with bubbles. Aiken smiled and seemed to welcome bursting a few, Gael seemed incredulous, and Isabel joined Dawn and Elijah in an embrace. Ezekiel had a wide smile and he too wrapped his broad arms around the trio.

  Everything was okay now, thank gods. ‘And I desperately need a shower,’ she thought, then looked at her excited best friend.

  “Is it over?” her mother asked.

  Dawn looked at the jar in her hands. She couldn’t say for certain. “I think so,” she replied. Still she was happy to be back.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  "Happy birthday," Elijah said as she opened the door.

  "Are you on your own time zone that I am not aware of?" she asked with a laugh. "My birthday is not until tomorrow."

  "Yeah well, this is your birthday treat so I'm giving you the authentic experience."

  Dawn smiled as she took him in, feeling really special that he was going all out for her. She just hoped that she looked the part too in her black knee length cocktail dress and matching heels that Maggie had helped her pick out. Her hair was curled to the side and held in place with a sparkly pin, and she hadn't bothered with any makeup except a little mascara and lip balm. But Elijah? Well, he looked exactly how she pictured a million dollars would look, perfect. Now she u
nderstood the age-old expression of someone looking like a million bucks.

  "You look perfect," Elijah continued.

  "Thanks, don't get too used to it," she laughed, then held up her hand for a fist bump.

  Elijah hesitated before returning the gesture in their usual greeting. For a second Dawn wondered if she should have gone in for a hug instead, but she didn’t want to think about that right now. There were a lot of reasons why that would be complicated. Number one, Elijah smelled really good, and it wasn't worth the temptation to lean in and get closer to him. Number two, what happened if she held on a second too long, or he held on a second too long? It was all so confusing and really not something they had ever gone through before now. Yet here they were.

  "Ready to go?" he asked, checking his watch.

  Dawn nodded and closed the door behind her.

  It felt really good finally being able to get back to be a normal girl and being free of bodyguards again. Well, as normal as one could be being part Fae and having a warlock best friend. But this was as normal as it was going to get, and she was going to enjoy it while it lasted. She even missed Damon a little, just a little. The warlock had grown on her, and he'd been a good friend to them right till the end of their little adventure. Even though she knew that she would see him around obviously, it just wouldn’t be the same. She would be out in the human world starting her botany program, and he would be out there saving the world from monsters known and unknown.

  "You really do look not half bad," Elijah said as he opened the car door for her, making her shove him playfully.

  "Do you even know how to drive?" she asked as she sat down, making sure she had her seatbelt on just in case.

  Elijah did the same and gave her a wink. "Of course not, but I do know how to use magic to get the car to do what I want."

  He placed his hand over the dashboard and made the car engine come alive. It was ready to take them to their destination. Dawn laughed and shook her head, feeling really happy that things were starting to go back to normal.

  "I just felt that you deserved the whole hurrah you know. Dressing up, being driven to a restaurant and eating great food."

  "Why thank you Elijah, how gentlemanly of you."

  He placed his hand over his heart and replied in a deep voice. "Thank you, miss."

  "Now drive me to this destination of ours, and don't get us killed along the way. I don’t think death would be a good look for me right now, it’s so last season."

  “You know what, I had never considered that. But you do look so much better alive,” Elijah teased.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just drive.”

  She settled in her seat and let the first-time driver experiment with her life. But if there was anyone in the world that she completely trusted with her life, it was her best friend. And sure enough, he got them to one of the fanciest restaurants that she had ever seen. Not that she had been to many, but she knew that this was fancy.

  A winding road made its way along a manicured garden and a smartly dressed valet opened her door. A beautiful fountain set splashed into a pond behind them and they walked through the main entrance archway carved with statues of ladies wrapped in drapes and pouring water from vases and reindeer proudly revealing their chest and lifting their antlers. Large windows allowed them to see through the inner a garden on the other side as the structure mixed the old stone that held up the building with the modern architecture exquisitely combined. Gardens extended on both ends and towers emerged from the four corners lined with intricate designs and iron window frames twisted into ribbons, clovers, dogs, and natural ornaments.

  “Wow dude, this is impressive,” she said as they walked in.

  Elijah offered her his arm and she took it, letting him lead them to the reservations desk. The young lady on the other side of the desk shamelessly flirted with Elijah as she checked their reservation, and she continued to do so even as she led them to their table.

  “You look dashing, sir,” she could not help to say. “Ma’am, you look stunning as well,” she had the decency to point out, yet back she went to Elijah, with smiles and less than obvious continued checks as she eyed him top to bottom, up to their table.

  All the while Dawn’s mind was racing with thoughts of making gagging gestures. She wanted to scream that she was right there. She instead held her tongue and behaved until they were finally alone.

  “I think she forgot to give you her number,” she said as Elijah drew her chair out for her.

  “What?”

  “She was flirting with you,” Dawn spelled it out, now confused by how much it had irritated her. It’s a normal reaction, she thought, not a big deal at all. She just wanted to be the center of Elijah’s attention tonight, nothing more.

  “She was being nice, and jealousy looks bad on you too,” Elijah smirked.

  “I am not jealous!”

  “I know, I’m just messing with you. So, what do you think of the place? Do you like it?”

  Dawn looked around the beautiful restaurant, it’s wooden carvings on the wall, various paintings in golden frames, and a couple marble fireplaces, and she then returned back at her best friend. Elijah was looking pretty dapper in his black slacks, black shirt and navy-blue blazer. His brown hair was wavy but carefully styled, and if it was anyone other than Elijah, she would have thought he looked like a model.

  "Why are you smiling?" he asked with a smile of his own.

  "You look different with brown hair," she said.

  Elijah pushed the hair on his left side behind his ear and blushed. "Good different or bad different?"

  She didn't think that with that bone structure and those blue eyes he could ever look bad, but again she didn't say that. It was kind of an unspoken rule in her friendship book. Never to say those kinds of compliments out loud. It didn't matter that she had avoided that for years, only to completely obliterate that effort with a kiss. No, she was going to pretend that moment of insanity had never happened.

  "You look like any warlock with brown hair would look, different," she replied before sticking out her tongue.

  Elijah touched his hair again. "Think I should change it back?"

  "Nah. This is like a dream come true for you isn't it? You should keep it for a while."

  She hid a smile when she said that, knowing it was going to be short-lived anyway. Already there were strands of white within his hair, and the edges of his hair were looking lighter than before. It seemed the white dragon magic would have its way after all.

  Elijah nodded and took the menu from the table. "Are you ready to order?"

  Dawn looked at her own menu and whistled. "You really went all out didn't you?"

  Everything on the menu had a fancy name and even fancier price. It was a good reminder that some food was not grown here on earth but on another planet, Dawn thought with a mental eye roll.

  "Nah, I just spelled the owner," he replied with a wink. "Kind of like your love potion."

  Dawn groaned and hid behind her menu, making Elijah laugh.

  "You really wanted to drug your parents?"

  Dawn lowered the menu and looked at him with a raised brow. "Since when are potions drugs?"

  "Since you wanted to use one on your parents without their knowledge."

  "Them knowing would defeat the whole purpose, don't you think? They already love each other anyway; the potion is just a reminder."

  Elijah shook his head. "You know what, you gave me my magic back and closed the gate to lock a god. If I'm going to root for anyone to succeed, it's you. We might as well do this too, we are already on the Council's blacklist anyway."

  “I don’t know about that; I think I was kind of growing on your grandfather. He smiled at me more than once, you know.”

  “But now that the end of the world crisis has been averted, he’s gone back to being his old self. Any new thing and he will have both our heads,” Elijah reminded her.

  “He’s your problem now anyway, you won’t see me arou
nd the training center for a while. And definitely not going down that creepy elevator.”

  “I’ll really miss having you around, but I could use the time to get back into my teachers’ good books and stay out of trouble.”

  Dawn pouted, “Aww Elijah, are you saying I’m bad influence?”

  “You are, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Dawn raised her glass of water as she grinned, "So here's to love potions and getting in trouble."

  Elijah raised his glass too and clinked it against hers. "Here's to real magic and getting out of trouble."

  As their glasses clinked and Dawn raised her head, she caught sight of someone walking into the restaurant. Something just drew her to focus on his profile, even though she had no reason to. A lot of people were walking in but this guy, there was something about him. And the more she studied him, the more that sense of familiarity was cemented.