by Jen Crane
“Where did you stay? It wasn’t here.” I grimaced at my own accusing tone. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.”
He laughed. “No, it’s okay. I plan to show you that today, too.”
“Dears,” Bay said in a rush and ran toward us. “I’d like you to meet Forster McCreight, an old friend of mine.” She looked at him adoringly, if a bit sadly. And often.
Forster McCreight was of medium build and height, but there was something about him that required attention. Demanded it, even. His head was shaved so closely he was nearly bald, so nothing distracted from his strong features. Framed by gentle creases, his eyes were light blue and so clear I knew they held no secrets. Maybe that was what was so intriguing about him. He seemed open, honest, and genuine.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. McCreight.”
“Forster, please.” He shook mine and Mother’s hands.
“How do you two kids know each other?” I asked.
Bay’s sad smile foreshadowed her dark story. “Forster’s wife and I were dear friends. She was killed during the Steward Massacre. Rose’s loss was a hard one for many of us. She was a unique and vibrant soul.”
Bay looked up at Forster and shook her head. “All these years I thought both she and Forster had been killed.”
“So, you’re like us, then?” I asked. “A dragon?”
A sly grin transformed his face into playful, but no less sincere. “I’m a dragon, but not like you. You’ve a little something extra, don’t you?”
I flushed, still uncomfortable with my newfound lineage of dragon and omni blood, and steered the subject away from myself. “How did you survive? How did you get here, to Pearl?”
Forster’s mouth twisted ruefully as he recalled the events of so many years before. “I didn’t come by choice, I’ll tell you that. Bay was right to think me dead; I nearly died fighting the battles after The Massacre. Rose and I were surrounded, exhausted. She fought fiercely until the end, but a blow caught her in the chest.” He glanced at the ground. “It was instant, at least.”
‘Sorry’ never seemed enough in times like these, but it was all I had. “I’m so sorry.”
“The next blow found me. Knocked me unconscious. Next thing I knew, I woke up here. If I hadn’t been so injured, I would have killed Gaspare.”
“Dammit, Forster. Are we still talking about this?” Gaspare threw his hands out dramatically.
“I guess I’m just not over it yet.”
“When do you think you might be? Another couple centuries? You are the most obstinate ba—”
“It was you?” I asked. “You brought him here, Uncle Gaspare?”
Blue eyes caught the sun, magnifying their brightening at my endearment. “You don’t usually call me uncle.” He beamed. “I like it.”
I shrugged and made a face. My choice of words wasn’t premeditated.
Gaspare patted me on the shoulder and went on.
“Yes, I found him, thank the gods. And Forster would thank me if he wasn’t so hard-headed. He was nearly dead when I traced him here. When he woke, he put up a hell of a fight, but with his injuries, he could do nothing until he healed.”
Forster’s hands clenched when he said, “I wanted to go back for Rose.”
“I know. I know you did, and I’m sorry for that.”
Forster’s clear eyes clouded and his nostrils flared, but he went on. “I desperately wanted to avenge my Rose’s death. I still do—well, I did.” His whole body expanded on a deep breath, and he looked at Mother and me. “Bay told me what happened last night. You three have done the impossible. You’ve conquered and rid our world of one evil bastard, and I’m indebted to you. We all are.”
I shifted uncomfortably and nodded my head.
“So, you never did go back?” Mother asked gently. “To Thayer?”
“I never did. By the time I recovered enough to fight again, Gaspare brought word the battle was lost. Rose’s remains were returned to me, and I interred her at the foot of the mountain near a ginkgo.” Forster looked to the distance, I assumed to where Rose had been laid to rest. “So many on our side died over the course of the long war. I channeled my despair into helping rescue those who still had a chance, and into building a community here.”
“I’d love to pay my respects to Rose,” Bay said. “It’s a wonderful place you’ve built here, Forster. I can’t wait to see more of it.”
Bay’s newfound friends and outlook had done wonders for her appearance. Though Thayerians lived longer and aged much more slowly than humans, her face still held proof of her age. But where before her skin had looked weathered and dull; there was now a pinkness to her cheeks, a shine to her eyes. Seeing Bay happy made me happy, and I was hopeful for this new start, this new place. I was in no hurry to get back to Thayer.
“Bay,” I said. “Tell us about the other people you met last night like Mr. McCreight.”
“Forster, please,” he said.
“Sorry. Forster.”
“Oh, I flew like I hadna flown in years,” she gushed. “We talked and soared until nearly dawn. I canna remember ever feeling that free, though I know I must’ve known it long ago. O’ course they wanted to know everythin’ about my…” Bay’s voice slowed and cracked with emotion, but she powered through, “imprisonment, and about Eiven and Stryde.”
“Bay, Eiven and Stryde’s circumstances were what all of us here were facing. What we all feared.” Forster looked sympathetically at Mother. “And of course we knew of Edina’s horrific plight.”
Mother turned her head in an attempt to ignore the conversation. I wasn’t surprised at her response. That she didn’t deal well with her past was no secret to me, of all people.
Forster went on, “Hearing Bay’s stories was therapeutic for us. It reinforced what we suspected—that coming here to Pearl was the right choice, tough as it was.”
“’Twas healing for me, too, Forster. Not just finding my own kind, but reliving some of the old days, the good times with Eiven and Stryde. Recalling those memories has soothed my soul.”
Forster met her warm gaze before clearing his throat and turning to us. “Would you like to meet some of them?”
“Yes,” I said in a rush and Mother “Mmm’ed” noncommittally.
He laughed at my eagerness. “All right. Let’s go into town.”
“Well, folks, this is where I get off,” Gaspare said.
“Oh no. Stay,” I pleaded.
“I’ll catch up with you all this afternoon. I still have Thayer to run, you know, and Forster’s perfectly capable of showing you around.”
Gaspare prepared to trace and I raised my hand in goodbye to him before a thought struck me. “Gaspare, wait! Will you go by The Root today?”
“What for?”
I shot him an irritated look. "To check on Ewan. To tell him I’m all right, that I’m safe. I want my friends—you remember Boone and Timbra—I want them to know you didn’t execute us.”
Gaspare shifted and his posture was suddenly stiff. His frown made him look older than he’d ever seemed. “They can’t know, Stella. Everyone must think you dead…or at least lost forever.” He reached to touch my arm, but I jerked away. “I’m so sorry.”
“No way,” I shook my head furiously. “No freakin way, Gaspare. That wasn’t part of the deal. You never mentioned that or I’d never have agreed to it!”
“Deal? What deal?” his voice rose, but he quieted again. “I got you out of there before Gresham had no choice but to jail you—or worse, before the mob killed you. I brought you to a place where you and your family can have a fresh start. You know that Bay and Edina wouldn’t survive being imprisoned again. No, there was no deal…and there’s no other way,” he said sadly.
I was fighting mad, my hands squeezed into tight fists. “We could’ve gotten out of there ourselves. We killed Brandubh, we could have fought our way out.”
“Oh, and more death and destruction would certainly instill confidence in the inherent good of dragons? Co
me on, Stella. You three would’ve been on the run for the rest of your lives, which here in Thayer are very long. Is that what you’d rather have? A life of hiding? Of fear?”
“No. I don’t know. I should’ve had a choice. There's no way I'm leaving Ewan. You can't expect me to just forget about him, to abandon my friends and start a life here. That's crazy. They don't even know I'm alive!”
His guilty face said he'd already thought of that.
My tone softened when I pleaded, “Oh, no. No. You can’t let them think me dead, Gaspare. It’ll kill them. It’s cruel, not to mention completely unnecessary.”
“It is necessary. If your friends don’t act as if they’ve lost you, if they’re not completely convincing, people will ferret out the truth. If you want to live here with Bay and your mother and start a new life where dragons aren’t the enemy, you’ll accept this truth, hard as it is. It’ll get easier with time, trust me. You’ll make new friends and you’ll find someone new.”
I shook my head furiously. He didn’t understand. There didn’t exist a better friend than Timbra Redfern. Even Boone was exceptional. And Ewan and I were just getting started, but I knew what was between us was right.
No. I would not accept his logic. I couldn’t.
“And don’t get any ideas about tracing back to Thayer,” he said. “You can’t. It’s the small price of living here.”
“Oh, who’s going to stop me?” I was being impertinent, and I knew it. But the whole situation was ridiculously overstated.
“It’s heavily warded. Only a select few can travel between Pearl and Thayer. I’m sorry, but it’s too risky for you to go.”
“A select few? Like you? Who else?”
“Those who know about this place.” His tone indicated the conversation was over, but I didn’t agree.
“Oh, you always have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I snapped. “Why don’t you tell me how Livia and Brandubh found me at the cabin, if it was so heavily warded? Hell, the whole town popped in like there weren’t any wards at all. I don’t think we’re any more safe here than we were in Thayer.”
“Ah, that’s our fault, actually,” said Bay sheepishly.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Those were my wards to break, and, well, I broke them.”
“But, why?”
“When I left you at the cabin, I went in search of your mother. I found her where I knew she’d be, the cavern your father found her in.”
I looked to my mother, but she didn’t meet my gaze.
“Together, we formed a plan to trap Brandubh. We knew he’d come sooner or later, and we were ready for him. We knew when he showed up.”
“Wait.” I held up a hand and leaned toward Bay to hear better. “You used me as bait?”
“’Tis not as bad as you make it sound.”
“Says the one who didn’t have a hook in her mouth!”
“It worked out fine, didn’t it?” Bay’s strong but aged hands moved to her hips. “We’re all alive. Brandubh is dead. We’re together.”
“Yeah, we’re together. We defeated Brandubh. But people still hate us, even more now if that’s possible. We can’t go home, and I’m stuck here while my friends are in Thayer thinking I’m dead. Not my idea of a flawless rescue effort.” I cut my eyes at Gaspare to make sure he knew the last part referred to him.
“I am sorry,” he said. “I’ll look in on your friends to make sure they’re all right, but I cannot tell them where you are.”
I blinked back angry tears and gritted my teeth. The argument with Gaspare was going nowhere. I looked away as he traced back to Thayer. I would figure out a way to see them. I had to.
Steeling myself, I returned to the others with renewed purpose. “Where to first?”
Forster flinched at my tone but answered smoothly, “Bay tells me you cannot fly freely in Thayer, that you’ve never experienced that part of our life. I thought you might like to take a tour of Pearl, dragon-style.”
Furious as I was, flying sounded the perfect way to work out a little frustration, and I pumped my fist in a cheer, unable to contain my excitement. Bay and Forster both beamed. Even Mother produced a hesitant smile.
“Let’s do this,” I said, and shuddered into my dragon. The others followed, and together we ascended the tropical sky.
I’d seen Mom and Bay’s dragons, of course, but not Forster’s, which was something to behold. A flying contradiction, Forster was powerful and fierce, yet his clear blue eyes shone beneath scaled eyebrows the color of polished oyster shells. His dragon was a translucent white that would have seemed delicate if not for razor sharp talons and gnarled, leathery wings.
“Check out this badass version of Falkor the Luckdragon,” I thought to myself before remembering to shield my thoughts in animal form. I followed up my snark with a weak “Sorry, Mr. McCreight.”
Unable to leave his island hideaway for so many years, I doubt he understood the reference, but he laughed and flew higher.
“Pearl Isle is part of an archipelago of the same name,” Forster said, spearing toward the edge of the green expanse filling Pearl’s bowl-shaped caldera. “There are six smaller islands besides Pearl. Look,” he said as we flew over the crater’s edge and were met with clear, turquoise water as far as our eyes could see. “There, to your right.”
The island closest to us was the tallest. Its edges formed steep cliffs that fell into the sea below. Each island was shorter than the one before it, the final one little more than a flat, white beach surrounding a large stand of trees.
I can’t wait to tell Ewan about this, I thought, and then fear-shaped panic sat on my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs. What if Gaspare was right? What if I couldn’t see Ewan again? What if the only way to make this work was to lose him and my friends forever? Is it worth it? Would I rather live in hiding in Thayer to be with them?
The only other choice, really, was returning to the States, but that option held even less appeal. I couldn’t be myself; couldn’t use magic or my animal form. Could Ewan and my friends trace back and forth to visit? Maybe, but it seemed risky even to me.
I had to think of something. Knowing my friends as I did, they would never be satisfied leaving things they way they’d ended. Thinking me dead just wasn’t a scenario they would accept without certainty. Gaspare hadn’t thought this all the way through.
“…right, Stella?” called Mother.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I said you always wanted a beach vacation. Now you live on an island.”
I didn’t reply. I was happy to be alive, sure. And free. But at what cost? I closed my eyes and tried to lose myself in the sensation of warm wind rushing along my sleek, scaled body.
Without warning, my thoughts turned again to Ewan. The image of him flying through the trees, of the blood left behind by his injuries flooded my mind. I closed my eyes again, but this time against the onslaught of fear for his safety, against the ache left in my chest at the thought of never seeing him again.
As the others discussed the landscape, I concentrated on a plan for the future, a way forward.
“What’s that one called?” Bay asked as we flew over a mid-sized island dominated by a wide plateau.
“That’s Topaz. Pearl Isle was given its name for several reasons. It’s unique and rises from the sea, true. But also, pearls are perfect symbols for metamorphosis. They’re formed when a foreign object invades an oyster. What was once an intruder becomes a treasure. The name symbolizes us, the inhabitants of Pearl, who came to the island weary and abused, but who have formed a lustrous community, iridescent in its diversity, in its cultures. A people, a treasure, a gem. A pearl.”
“That’s lovely,” Bay mused.
“Each island is named after a gemstone. In order, there’s Pearl, Jade, Ruby, Topaz, Emerald, Sapphire, and Opal.”
“Does anyone live on them?” I asked.
“Aye, some prefer privacy to communal life, and make their homes on t
he smaller islands. Of course, Opal is too close to sea level to support any housing, and is used as a beach.
“Oh, look,” Forster said. “The Tremaines. You’ll want to meet them. Beacon and Solace are your age, or thereabout.”
“Tremaines? Who?” I began, but soon understood.
Four dragons flew swiftly into view. It was an astounding feeling. Flying was a new enough concept to me, but meeting someone else—someone friendly—in the sky was so foreign I could hardly comprehend my circumstances. It felt bizarre to be in my own skin, like an out of body experience, and that’s saying something considering I was already out of my natural body.
“Is this them, Forster?” A female voice called good-naturedly. “Are these the Dreaded Drakontos?”
“Mother!” a young woman admonished.
“Oh, she’s just ribbing them, Solace. Don’t be so uptight.” This from whom I assumed was the patriarch of the Tremaine family, his imposing black form much larger than his wife’s or daughter’s. A similar-looking but smaller male flanked him.
True to her nature, Bay took charge of the situation. “I’m Bay Drakontos. Hello. This is my daughter, Edina, and my granddaughter, Stella.”
“Juno Tremaine,” the larger female said. “My husband, Charles,” she nodded to him, “my daughter, Solace, and her brother, Beacon.”
Chapter 12
We flew for a while with the Tremaines, and then made our way back to their home on Pearl. Forster was right. We could never be so free in Thayer. After rolling through the air, laughing and learning from my new friends, I felt refreshed, renewed, right.
The couple invited us to join them for coffee. Bay accepted, but it was a beautiful warm day. Beacon and Solace offered to show me around the property, which appealed to me more. As we walked, they quizzed me about Radix, about a life in Thayer they’d never known.
“I’d love to attend a grand university like that,” Solace said, releasing her thick black hair from its ponytail. “Ours is small. It’s a fine school—I don’t mean it’s bad—I just dream of something…more, you know?”
