“We’ll take your word for it,” he said again, laughing.
Anya rolled her eyes, but smiled good-naturedly as the others started laughing.
“Come on,” she said. She started walking forward briskly, and the others scrambled to keep up with her, still chuckling. But they weren’t laughing anymore a few minutes later when they turned the corner around another big redwood trunk. Now there was a clear path through the brush, and the waterfall was on full display. It was rushing a great deal more than it had been in the picture Anya’s father had taken decades earlier, but the rock wall next to it looked the same. And there, spread across the front of the falls, plain as day, was a giant root of a redwood in the shape of a claw.
Finn stared in disbelief. This was exactly what they had hoped to find, and yet, now that it was right in front of him, he could hardly believe his eyes. The scene was beautiful, with glittering, cascading water providing a white backdrop for the deep reddish wood of the forest claw root. At the bottom of the rocky cliff from which the waterfall fell, there was a large pool of swirling water. The pool grew narrower the further away it got from the waterfall, until it turned into a stream that flowed away into the depths of the forest. The view from where they stood was nothing short of majestic, but it wasn’t just the natural beauty that had grabbed a hold of him. There was a certain magic in the air, too. He couldn’t quite explain it, but he knew they had just found something significant.
As he looked over at the four faces next to him, he knew he was not the only one in awe. The whole group looked at the waterfall with reverence, as though they had never seen anything quite so stunning. And perhaps none of them had, thought Finn.
“We found it,” Anya finally said, stating the obvious. Murmurs of agreement came from all around her. Then, the loud cawing of a bird somewhere above them seemed to break them all out of their trance.
“Come on,” Finn said. “Let’s go check it out.
It took them another half hour to reach the bottom of the falls. The brush grew thicker and more overgrown the closer they got to the water. But, finally, they made it to the edge of the pool. Anya stood in the same spot where she had stood all those years earlier for her father to take her picture, and looked around with tears glistening in her eyes.
“I can’t believe I was here with him,” she said, blinking quickly to try to control her emotions. All she succeeded in doing, though, was causing a few tears to escape her eyelids and roll down her cheeks. Finn wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the top of her head as the whole group stared at the waterfall.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Izzy said. “You were here so long ago, and now you’re here again, hopefully to find the dragon amethyst. It’s almost like destiny intended it.”
“I think destiny intended a lot of things,” Anya said, reaching to squeeze Finn’s hands, which were clasped across her stomach. Finn’s whole body warmed at her touch, and he kissed her head again.
“Well, enough staring at the place,” Owen finally said, breaking the spell somewhat. “Let’s see if we can find the cave that’s supposedly behind all that water.”
Finn let go of Anya and walked over to the foot of the rock wall with Owen. Spray from the falls quickly made their hair and clothes damp, and the whole wall was a slippery, wet mess.
“It’s not going to be an easy climb,” Finn said. “Maybe Owen and I should go it alone and you ladies can wait down here for us.”
“Are you crazy?” Izzy said. “I’m not some dainty princess who can’t climb a wall just because of a bit of water. I want to see what’s in that cave.”
“Yeah, I already missed out on the cave once when I was a kid,” Anya said. “This time I’m going in.”
Finn saw Owen glance over at Raven. “I suppose that means you’re coming, too?” Owen asked with a resigned sigh. Raven merely grinned in response.
“Alright,” Finn said. “Looks like we’re all going. Be careful, please. I know Izzy is a doctor, but I’d still like to avoid having any broken bones for her to treat if we can.”
“Wait, why can’t the wizards just fly their broomsticks up?” Anya asked. “That seems safer than trying to climb.”
“Aw where would the fun in that be?” Raven said with a wink. “Besides, it’s difficult to hover on a broom, especially with water spraying all around you. I think climbing might actually be the better option.”
Anya looked doubtful, and Finn had his own doubts as well, but he said nothing. He figured it was better to let the wizards be the judge of where it was safe for them to ride a broomstick.
“Come on,” Owen said impatiently. “Enough dilly-dallying already. I want to see what’s up there.”
“Me too,” Finn said, then jumped up to start climbing. “Race you to the top, Owen.”
Owen grunted and jumped up beside Finn. “That’s a race you know you’re gonna lose, brother,” he said.
Finn was too busy looking for his next rock hold to answer, but from below him he heard Raven’s voice, dripping with sarcasm. “What happened to being careful, boys?” she asked. “I swear to god if one of you falls and hits your head because you’re being stupid and racing, I’m going to kill you.”
“Hey, it’s all good,” Izzy said. “If they kill themselves off that just means more food for us.”
Peals of laughter rose to Finn’s ears, but he did not respond. He was too busy concentrating on the task of climbing. He could feel his body growing warm from the effort, and he was probably sweating, but it was hard to tell since he was already so soaked from the waterfall’s spray. He glanced below him now and then to make sure that the women were alright, especially Anya. He felt nervous to have her climbing up this steep, slippery cliff, but he knew he could not deny her this opportunity. She was, after all, the whole reason they were here. Besides, she had a lot of experience in the great outdoors. He had to trust that she knew what she was capable of and would not push her limits too far.
Finn kept an eye to his right as he climbed, looking for anything that might indicate a hidden cave. But all he could see behind the falling water was a sheer rock cliff, worn smooth by centuries of water pounding against it. He continued to climb, and had nearly reached the halfway point, when he finally saw a break in the rock wall. Just below the spot where the giant forest claw tree root stretched across the waterfall, there appeared to be a ledge. Finn felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement, and he sped up his climb, quickly pulling ahead of Owen. The closer he got, the more sure he was that he had found the cave. The entrance was not as large as he would have thought, but it was plenty big enough for him to know it was a cave, at least. Owen finally saw it, too, and gave a shout of triumph. Their little race was forgotten now. All they cared about was that they had found the cave.
Getting to it was a bit tricky. The wall behind the waterfall was smooth, with no footholds. Finn had to stand on the portion of the cliff that was not worn down and reach as far as he could just to grab the bottom of the cave floor. Once he had a grip on it, he hoisted himself up. For a moment, he was dangling by one arm, and he felt a slight bit of dizziness as he made the mistake of looking down. But then, he managed to grab the ledge with his other hand, too, and pull himself up. The cave was dark, much darker than he expected. The waterfall muted all of the light from outside, and it looked like the front of the cave was relatively small, anyway. It looked like there was a tunnel leading away from the main entrance, but he would explore more in a minute. First, he wanted to make sure everyone else got in safely.
Owen was already swinging himself up in much the same manner Finn just had, and Finn took a moment to grin at him and say, “I won the race, bro.”
“You had a head start,” Owen said, rolling his eyes.
“Tsk, tsk. Sore loser,” Finn said, still grinning.
“Oh shut up and let’s get the girls in here,” Owen replied. Finn laughed, but nodded.
“Grab my feet so I don’t fall out,” Owen said, lying flat
on his stomach with his arms hanging over the edge of the cave entrance. Finn did as he asked, bracing his own feet against the side of the cave’s wall and holding onto Owen’s feet.
“Grab my hands. I’ll pull you up,” Owen yelled out the entrance. A moment later, Finn felt Owen lurch forward a bit as one of the women grabbed his hands. Finn held on tightly, and a moment later, Izzy’s face appeared in the cave entrance. He couldn’t see her expression very well, but he could tell her eyes were wide with wonder.
“This place is really well hidden,” she said.
Finn didn’t have time to reply before he felt Owen grabbing another one of the woman, and a moment later Raven appeared. Finally, Anya was pulled up, breathless and soaking wet like the rest of them, but looking very happy.
“We found it!” Anya said, excitement filling her voice.
“We did,” Owen agreed. “But what is it, exactly? I can’t see anything in here. It doesn’t seem to be much more than a rocky hole behind a waterfall.”
“Magicae lucis,” Izzy and Raven said at the same time, then laughed. Their magic rings instantly lit up with flashlight-like beams, which they swept across the rocky space. The front portion didn’t look like much, but there was indeed a tunnel.
“Come on,” Finn said, pointing toward the tunnel. “If there’s anything of interest in here, it’ll be in that tunnel.”
Anya bit her lip, looking worried. “I hope this was all worth it,” she said.
“Hey, chin up, lady,” Raven said, giving Anya a friendly squeeze on the shoulder. “We might find something amazing in that tunnel, and, even if we don’t, at least we tried.”
Finn gave Anya’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze as well, and then followed Izzy’s flashlight down the tunnel. It was long, narrow, and dark, and Finn was glad the wizards could light the way. He’d been so excited to climb up here that he hadn’t even thought to bring an actual flashlight. Finn felt like they were walking forever, but in reality it was probably only about a minute before Izzy gave a shout. Finn wasn’t quite sure whether her shout had been one of excitement or terror, but he rushed forward to see what she was looking at and rushed right into a gigantic, open room. What he saw in that room rendered him speechless.
By the light of Izzy’s ring, he could see the outline of a dragon skeleton. The bones must have been here for centuries, undisturbed except perhaps by Anya’s father and whomever it was that had told Anya’s father about this place. On the wall behind the dragon skeleton, someone had etched some writing into the wall. And in the dragon’s bony skeleton claws, a giant amethyst rested.
“What in the world…” Owen said as he came into the room. Raven’s light also fell on the shimmering purple stone and the dragon skeleton. For a moment, no one spoke or moved. Finally, Anya broke the silence.
“Is that…is that the dragon amethyst?” she asked.
“I would think so,” Owen said. “Finn, can you read what’s written on the wall? It’s in an old dragon dialect. You’re better at reading those then I am.”
Finn walked over to the wall and squinted his eyes at the ancient characters etched into the stone. By the light of Izzy’s ring, he slowly read and translated the message.
“Here lies Cyril, the noble dragon king, may he rest in peace. And may his powers, held in this noble dragon amethyst, remain untouched by evil hands for as long as those who are good still walk the earth.”
“It’s true, then,” Raven said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “This is the dragon amethyst. We found it. We actually found it.”
Finn nodded, reaching for Anya’s hand. The moment almost did not seem real. They had sought this stone for so long, and had expected to do great battles to get it. And yet, here it was, lying quietly in a cave in the middle of a forest, where it had been for ages.
“Are these bones from the dragon king who made the amethyst, then?” Anya asked.
“Yes,” Izzy said. “I don’t know how he ended up here. Perhaps the wizard who helped him with the stone brought him here to die in peace. He would have been weak, with all his powers gone and his enemies torturing him. But it appears that, at least, he was able to die with dignity. May he rest in peace.”
“Should we try to move him?” Owen asked, looking over at Finn. “Bury him, perhaps?”
Finn shook his head. “No. I think this is as fine a burial as he could have asked for. We should leave him here, undisturbed. I hope his old bones rest easier, too, now that the amethyst will be safely in the hands of good shifters and wizards.”
Finn looked over at Anya, who was staring mournfully at the bones. “Did your dad ever say anything about the man who told him of this place? I’m curious who he was, and how he knew of it.”
Anya shook her head. “My dad didn’t tell me much. Only that the man was one of the wisest, kindest men he ever met. There’s a picture of him here in the back of the notebook, actually. His name was Wyatt, I guess. That’s what’s written on the picture. But there’s no last name.”
“Funny,” Owen said, leaning over to look at the notebook, which Anya had pulled out of her jacket pocket and opened. “Finn, wasn’t Wyatt your father’s name?”
“Yeah,” Finn said with a shrug. “But that’s just coincidence. There’s no way it’s the same Wyatt.”
“Um…” Owen said, looking at the picture then. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Look at this picture. This is the spitting image of you, Finn.”
Finn suddenly felt hot all over. With a feeling of slight trepidation, he leaned over to look at the picture that Anya was now holding up to Owen’s face. He had no idea what his dad had looked like. He had been so young when he was orphaned, and all of his family’s possessions, including photographs, had been destroyed in the war. But when he looked at the photo in Anya’s hand, his heart clenched up tightly.
A man, who indeed was the spitting image of Finn, was standing in front of a giant redwood trunk, arms stretched up to the sky and a huge smile on his face. There was no denying the relation. On the back of the photo, in neat cursive, was written simply, “Good luck and all the best. Sincerely, Wyatt.”
“Anya,” Finn said, looking back and forth between her and the photo. His eyes were growing blurry from the tears that had started to fill them. “This…this is my father.”
“Are you sure?” Anya asked, her eyes widening. “I…I can see the resemblance, now that I really look at the picture. I hadn’t paid much attention to it until just now.”
“It’s my father, I’m sure of it,” Finn said, his voice choked with emotion. “His name was Wyatt, and this picture looks exactly like me. It has to be him. I…I can’t believe this. I’ve never seen a picture of him before. I thought any record of him was gone. Yet somehow, he knew your dad. My father knew the father of my lifemate.”
Finn looked at Anya’s eyes, which were filled with tears now, too. She pressed the photo he was holding against his chest. “You take it,” she said. “Keep it. It’s yours.”
Finn nodded, then pulled her in close. He didn’t care that everyone was standing right there watching, he closed his mouth over hers, kissing the girl who had been connected to him for decades, without their even knowing it.
When Finn pulled back from Anya, he saw Izzy walking gingerly over and picking up the dragon amethyst. She looked at it with reverence, and then smiled up at the rest of the group.
“It seems like this stone is truly magical,” she said. “It’s been working its magic here for a long time, and it brought us here together. This is a good sign. The war is turning. Good will prevail in the end. I can feel it in my bones.”
Finn wiped at his eyes and smiled. “Wait ‘till Peter and Knox hear about this,” he said, grinning at Anya. “Maybe Peter will finally have to admit that the laws about memory wiping need to be changed. It would have been disastrous if we’d wiped your memory.”
“I dunno,” Izzy said with a grin on her face, too. “I agree that the memory wiping laws need to change. But I think that you
and Anya would have still found each other regardless of whether your memories had been wiped. Destiny obviously wants you two together.”
“Fine by me,” Finn said, sweeping Anya in for another kiss.
“Alright, lovebirds,” Owen piped in. “That’s sweet and all, but save the kissing for later. We need to get this stone out of here and to safety. I suggest we take it out of here and then fly it back to the Redwood Dragons base camp. That’s not too far from here, and once we’re there we’ll be able to contact Knox and Peter and see where they want the stone.”
“Good idea,” Finn said, his heart swelling with happiness as he held Anya tight. “Come on, Anya. I’m going to show you my home.”
Chapter Sixteen
The sky was dark by the time the dragon amethyst search party approached the Redwood Dragons’ base camp. This had been easy enough to arrange, given how long it had taken to get the dragon amethyst out of the cave, and how long it took to fly home from the northern redwoods. The group would have waited for darkness anyway, though. They worried that Saul was watching the area near the Redwood Dragons’ cabins, and they did not want to have to fight another battle right now. They were tired, and ready for some well-deserved rest. Luckily, their invisibility shields and chameleon tricks worked extra well in the darkness, and the trip was as uneventful as they could have hoped for. The most exciting part was when they reached the spot near the cabins where they needed to descend into the forest.
“Hold on tight,” Izzy said over her shoulder, giving Anya just enough warning to grab onto Izzy tightly before Izzy pointed her broomstick straight down and started zooming toward the treetops at full speed. Anya squeezed her eyes shut, sure that they were going to crash into the thick branches. But Izzy managed to expertly maneuver through the obstacles and land safely in a small clearing with no more than a small thud. Anya stumbled off the broomstick, dizzy and disoriented, but Izzy seemed completely stable as she gently swung off herself. A rush of wind passed by Anya’s ear, then, and seconds later she saw Finn’s dragon come into view as he dropped his chameleon-like disguise. A few seconds after that, she heard another hiss as Raven ended the invisibility spell that had been disguising her and Owen. The whole group had landed safely.
Destiny and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 5) Page 16
