by Jen Crane
“Bay, Edina, and Stella Drakontos.” Gaspare spoke authoritatively and with a great deal of ceremony as he approached us. “Until recently, your kind was thought extinct. The discovery of your existence, indeed the very existence of dragons, has caused the people of Thayer to relive their horrors and losses suffered so long ago. I have considered your egregious and violent past, and by the authority granted me as Prime Minister of Thayer, I declare your existence a threat and a burden to the people of Thayer at large. I hereby sentence you to permanent and irrevocable elimination.”
A collective gasp ran through the angry throng of people. I saw a few grimaces, but overall the population was morbidly pleased. They would finally get the blood they’d been thirsting for.
A single tear trailed down my mother’s pale cheek. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry you’re suffering the sins of your mother. This is what I tried for so many years to prevent. It’s why I raised you far away from here. Why I never told you who you were. I thought ignorance was safety, but I was wrong. So wrong.”
“Mom, don’t. We’ll be fine,” I assured her. “It’s not what you think.” I really hoped it wasn’t what she thought. I prayed I was right to trust Gaspare.
Gresham’s eyes were no longer dull, but shined with spirited intent. “You cannot prosecute Stella for the crimes of her ancestors, Gaspare,” he said. “Release her. Afford her a trial, at least.” He said the last forcefully, like an order. Gaspare straightened, as if he would chastise or punish him, but Gresham didn’t back down.
“It’s over, Rowan,” Gaspare said and clasped Bay roughly behind the neck. She threw her head in objection, cursing Gaspare and the people around us so obscenely my eyes bulged in shock. It probably looked like fear, and that was good for my act.
With Bay in hand and all of us cocooned together, Gaspare traced us from the decimated cabin, from the vicious mob, from Gresham and Ewan. I felt the immediate crisp cold that always accompanied tracing, and then I felt nothing at all.
Chapter 9
We landed roughly in a patch of fragrant yellow wildflowers. Bound together as we were, the landing was clumsy and the three of us toppled over. I had the extreme misfortune of being on the bottom, and struggled to catch my breath as the women on top of me wrestled to stand.
“Patience, patience. Give me a minute,” Gaspare said from nearby.
The glistening whites of my mother’s eyes monopolized what little I could see of her face. I could feel her terror; the furious thrums of her body vibrated us both.
Bay thrummed with what looked like another emotion altogether: rage.
As quickly as he snatched us from the forest, Gaspare released us from our webbed wrap. I clumsily stood and dusted myself off, noticing Bay making a beeline for Gaspare. She hadn’t even taken the time to change forms.
I ran between the two screaming, “Bay, no. Wait! We’re safe. We’re safe.”
I was too late. I thought she’d plow into Gaspare, but he avoided her with the ease of a matador.
“Bay,” I called. “He’s not going to hurt us.” I looked to Gaspare for confirmation. “Right?”
“Right.” Gaspare nodded and held out his arms in a placating gesture. “It was all a show. I’m sorry I frightened you.”
I was finally able to wrangle my spry granny and wrapped my arms around her middle in an attempt to keep her from murdering my uncle.
“Explain,” Bay gritted, breathing hard as Mother slinked to our sides.
“Yes, explain. Both of you.” She gave me a pointed look. She knew I had something up my sleeve.
Gaspare swallowed hard. “Would you like to go first, or shall I?”
I had the sneaking suspicion he was uncomfortable as the sole focus of three redheaded dragon women.
“Mom, Bay,” I said. “I’m sorry you two were so scared. Gaspare and I were communicating through the whole ‘I’m going to eradicate these women’ ordeal—” “Eliminate,” Gaspare corrected. “I said eliminate.”
“Okay, ‘eliminate,’ and, well, he’s got some sort of plan. He’s not actually going to kill us. He helped us get away from the vicious mob of assholes back there.”
“Ladies don’t curse, Stella,” my mother cut in, and I rolled my eyes.
“Care to share this plan?” Bay asked in her rolling lilt. Her accent was always stronger when she was upset. She was still rigid with anger, and fear, but with each passing moment, she relaxed a notch. I held out hope she would not smite Gaspare where he stood.
I nodded at Gaspare to go on, for I’d reached the extent of my insider knowledge.
He cleared his throat nervously again, and I worked to hide my smile. Thayer’s Prime Minister, one of the most powerful men I’d met and a talented and rare omni, afraid of a few gingers.
“Despite my hopes to the contrary, it is clear the people of Thayer aren’t ready to accept the existence of dragons with open arms. There may be some who’d be receptive, of course, but public sentiment for the most part would like to see you burn.” He looked up sharply. “Ah, pardon the expression.”
Bay rolled her eyes, but my mother’s face held impatience.
“So, what are you saying?” she snapped.
“What I’m saying is perhaps you could make your home here. In Pearl.”
Gaspare extended his arm, drawing our gazes from our immediate surroundings. We’d been so unnerved we hadn’t looked beyond one another.
I followed the direction of his hand and discovered with a start that we stood at the top of a steep cliff. The rocky drop ended in turquoise waters so clear the rich coral of a nearby reef was visible hundreds of yards away.
To our right, the landmass extended for miles along steep, rocky cliffs that disappeared beneath the aqua water. Small, sandy beaches littered the place, as did tropical trees and other, brightly hued plant life. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and the four of us stood silent, taking it all in as the salty air whipped around us from our elevated perch.
Beneath our feet, the fragrant yellow flowers led from the ocean to an enormous caldera, a bowl-like pit formed by the deflating of an ancient volcano. Any lava long since gone, the caldera was lush and green and had several big lakes. The green expanse was stunning and ended at a cliff like the one we stood atop, the ocean resurfacing again behind the rocky wall.
“It’s an island,” I said.
“An archipelago, actually—several islands. This one’s the largest. From far away, it looks like a small mountain. Nothing special. But once you’re inside, this.” He motioned toward the green expanse.
Having absorbed the very big picture, I began to notice details. Distinct rows of farmland covered mounded plateaus in the center of the bowl. The gray brown roofs of white-, yellow- and salmon-colored houses collected around the largest lake. A sliver of smoke rose from what looked like an open-air market in the distance.
“It’s inhabited,” I breathed. “By whom?”
Gaspare’s slow smile went all the way to his eyes, which relayed love, peace, and joy.
Chapter 10
“What better way to learn than to see for yourselves?” Gaspare crooked an arm in invitation.
Bay and my mother were stunned silent. They looked amusingly similar with mouths agape and green eyes flickering wildly to take it all in.
His offer was tempting, but I couldn't think past my concern for Ewan, and certainly not to go exploring.
“I'd really like to go back to Thayer and check on Ewan," I told Gaspare. “There was so much blood.”
“He’s fine. Just scratches.” Gaspare waved away my concerns.
“Just to let him know we're all right,” I pressed.
“You can't go anywhere near that mob right now. No, you'd better lay low for now." Gaspare shook his head with finality.
"You're probably right," I admitted. "Will you look in on him, then? Make sure he wasn't hurt too badly and let him know I'm okay?"
Gaspare lifted his head slightly, which I took as a begrudged yes. "Shall
we?" he asked.
“Ah, okay. Mom? Bay? You wanna go see?”
“I…I…” Bay couldn’t form a complete sentence—the first time I ever recalled that particular difficulty in her—and my mother could only nod her head dumbly.
Together, we traced once more. This time inside the caldera, to an obscure inlet of a lake. From the new vantage, we could better see the houses, which were simple in design but bright and clean. Everything was tidy, lovely. Most had gardens, and docks led onto the lake or toward covered gazebos.
“Where is this?” Mother asked. “Who are these people?” She took in a shaky breath. “There’s magic here. I can feel it.”
“Yes,” Gaspare agreed. “There is much magic here. Magic…and dragons.”
Three sets of eyes flew to Gaspare’s face to determine his meaning.
He timed it perfectly. The very moment he said ‘dragons,’ a dozen winged beasts vaulted into the air from a nearby bank of rocks.
“They gather here each night at 9 o’clock. One last moonlit flight before turning in for the night. Helps them relax, they say. I myself prefer a good jog, but whatever sizzles your bacon, right?”
My heart stopped in my chest. “Dragons?” I said, not trusting my eyes. “There are dragons here?”
“We’re not the last?” Bay croaked. She raised her head, and her spine—her entire being—followed. She discarded the weight of the world like a lead cape. “We’re not the last,” she repeated. It wasn’t a question.
“Who? You still haven’t said who.” My mother’s breathing came hard, nearly frantic, and I moved closer to her for support.
“It’s a very long stor—” The three of us interrupted Gaspare in unison, each voicing our objection to skipping over details. We’d have answers, by God. We needed answers, lengthy or not.
“All right, ladies. All right. I’ll start from the beginning.”
There was a wooden bench tucked into tall, wheat-like grass and I took a seat, beyond ready to hear Gaspare’s tale. I patted the bench beside me, but my mother and Bay declined. They stood, shifting nervously from foot to foot, crossing and uncrossing arms, brimming with nervous energy.
“As you know,” Gaspare began, “I’ve been prime minister for a very long time. Centuries ago, when Brandubh began collecting dragons and enslaving them for use in what would eventually become the Steward Massacre, many of my associates—my friends—were your kind. It became clear very quickly the threat they faced. Many fought back; fought fiercely against him. All too soon, they realized they had no real defense against Brandubh. Time after time their friends and loved ones lost the battle to him. So we formed a plan to get them out of danger.
“A few very close friends and I had been working to prepare this place, and succeeded in keeping it a secret. I knew Pearl from my childhood. It was secluded, uninhibited, hidden. Pearl seemed perfect for our clandestine plan. Fated even. We proceeded to temporarily relocate anyone of dragon descent who’d agree to come. And later, we brought over skin changers who faced discrimination and danger.
“Many families relocated here, but many more refused to run.” He looked away. “You know what happened to them.” Gaspare stopped for a moment as the old memory resurfaced. “In fact, we used actual events to hide the people who are here. Many who’ve made their homes in Pearl were thought killed in battle. It was meant to be temporary, until the unrest in Thayer settled, until public sentiment returned to normal. But these people formed a community here. An accepting, open, loving community, and they chose to stay. Pearl Isle is what Thayer used to be, what I continue to hope it will be again. But, as you’ve felt all too keenly tonight, isn’t.”
We mumbled our agreement and watched as the dragons’ powerful forms silhouetted against the crescent moon.
It was the nasally chuff that got my attention. Until I heard it, I’d been fully absorbed in Gaspare’s story, and in the extraordinary beauty of a clan of dragons flying freely in the night sky. I turned toward the sound and found Bay’s change almost fully complete. She stretched her long neck and snorted again, whipping her fine, strong tail as she finished the transformation.
“Bay, what—”
“’Tis fine, dear,” she spoke wordlessly. “These are my people.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
She wheezed a throaty laugh and thrust powerful back legs, vaulting into the darkness and shaking the ground beneath us.
Bay’s elegant silhouette joined the others, and together they performed an aerial dance stunning in its fierce beauty. The dragons’ masterful wings pulled in tight as they dove and swooped, and then snapped outward, a glide so delicate their wings seemed made of gossamer.
My mother, who’d crowded in close beside me, let out a nervous whine.
“Go ahead, Mom. Look, Bay’s fine.”
“No,” she shook her head violently. “No. I don’t think so.”
My poor, complex, damaged mother. Together with Bay, she’d found the strength to save me from Brandubh. But once that fight was over, she’d shrunk back into her old shell. I squeezed her hand in support.
“Do you think Bay knows some of them?” I asked Gaspare.
“Hmm?” He, too, was entranced by the aerial display.
“Bay. Do you think she knows some of the dragons she’s flying with?”
“Almost certainly. Look how they’ve let her in. Look at them soar as one. Beautiful. Transcendent.”
“How long do they usually stay up there?” I asked.
“Until they come down.”
I scoffed at his typical non-answer. “So, what now?”
“I’ll show you where you’ll be staying. I’ve a cottage here. You’re welcome as long as you like.”
“Oh, I don’t like that,” my mother said.
I let out a pent-up breath. “Well, what choice do we have? We can’t go back to the cabin. It’s gone. I can’t go back to The Root. We can’t sleep here on the sand.”
“We could go home,” she said in a low voice, her eyes studying the ground.
“Home? You mean home-home?”
She nodded and looked up, her eyes as deep and cloudy as the dark lake in front of us.
“You left our home,” I said, losing the fight to keep my emotions in check. “You left me. At a time when I desperately needed your help. I was so confused, Mother. The world around me came crashing down and I needed a firm foundation. I needed you.”
As usual, when faced with conflict or criticism, she closed down and folded in on herself. Her shoulders hunched and her head drooped like an abused dog.
In the past, I had always felt so guilty, so sorry for her when she shut down that I held my anger in. Confronting my mother always felt like berating her because she just took it. Engaging in an argument was impossible because she never fought back.
That we couldn’t get this out in the open; that I couldn’t get any straight damned answers to my questions was beyond irritating. I balled my fists and let out a frustrated “Argh!”
She closed her eyes and looked away from me. Not for the first time, I thought we might never work through our problems.
“We’re all tired,” Gaspare said gently. “Let’s head to the cottage. Everything will look better in the morning.”
I nodded and looked up for my grandmother. “Bay,” I sent up, hopeful she could hear me. “We’re beat and heading to Gaspare’s for the night. Better come on down.”
“Don’t wait up,” she called. “I’ll see ya when I see ya.”
“What? Bay! Come down here and stop being ridiculous! You don’t even know where we’re staying.”
“I’ll find a place to land. Be fine.” Bay wrapped herself in her strong wings and spiraled upward in a joyful ascension.
Happy. She was happy. And she deserved it. I shook my head and grinned, glad at least one of us had found some peace.
“You and Bay are so different, Mom. So different.”
“Yes,” she said. “As different as you and me.
”
Chapter 11
Gaspare’s “cottage” was a two-story, four-bedroom that could comfortably house a family of eight. After a brief tour, he left us, promising to return the next morning to answer all of our questions. Under normal circumstances, I could never have slept with the new information and worry hanging over my head, but I’d had what certainly felt like the longest day of my life. I fell face first onto the comforter of the coastal-themed guest room with one last thought of Ewan and Boone and Timbra, and didn’t think again until morning.
“So, what you’re telling me is not only are there dragons and skin changers here, but they’re living together in harmony with people of all descents. No ‘dragons are evil killers’ or ‘skin changers can’t be trusted.’ They’re neighbors and friends. One big happy family.”
Gaspare tended to gulp coffee rather than sip it, and rose to pour himself another cup. There was no staff here like at the PM residence back in Thayer. I preferred him this way. He never really fit with the whole “privileged” persona anyway.
“Yes.”
I shook my head at his matter-of-fact tone. I had woken rested, hungry, and with a longing for adventure. But I also wanted to know that my friends, especially Ewan, were okay. I wondered how soon I could see them again. Gaspare hadn't gone by the night before to check on Ewan, which was a source of irritation for me. He had caused many of Ewan's injuries, yet seemed completely unconcerned.
My mother shuffled out of her room for coffee, but retreated again to shower. I was raring to go before I bit Gaspare's head off, again, about the friends I'd left behind in Thayer. I had already showered and grabbed jeans and a top from a shifter-friendly closet Gaspare showed us the night before. Before long, Mother joined us at the kitchen bar still looking a bit worse for wear.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded, and I suspected she was putting on a front braver than she felt.
“First things first,” chirped Gaspare. “Let’s retrieve your grandmother. I know where she stayed last night.”
