Enchanted Bookstore Legends (5-book complete epic fantasy romance box set)

by Marsha A. Moore

“Incredible! They have such unusual magic there. I wish I could see Aria.” Ysmena turned to Lyra. “Now I understand why you had to release him back to his master.” She pointed ahead with her staff. “I can tell you four are slowing down, too tired to go much farther. After a few minutes more, we’ll stop at a glade.”

  Encouraged by the news, Lyra coaxed her rubbery muscles to keep working.

  Noba and Kenzo looked tired too, gliding on air currents as much as possible while they flew.

  “How are you holding up?” Cullen asked her, his expression drawn and eyes narrowed.

  “Okay. Happy to be out of danger. My senses seem unusually acute. I thought at first, the nebule affected me, but now I think it’s Nareene’s book. Elisabeth’s book boosted my powers in odd ways too,” Lyra replied. As they walked, she took his injured hand into hers and applied some healing. “What about you? This hand is badly burned, and your staff is broken.”

  “My energy is low, like Eburscon said. I’ve used a lot in battles. I haven’t been in the Alliance enough to recharge with the magnetics. You’re more reliant on the power transmitted by your birthmate star or even the other fire stars, but you may feel a slight decline in strength as well.”

  She coursed her palm above his burn, methodically restoring his tissues, layer by layer. “I can, but it doesn’t really bother me much. Just makes my aura reflexes slower. I feel tired all over.” When Lyra finished healing him, she studied his body. His gate was often unsteady, which concerned her. She’d never seen him so spent. Cullen was always her rock. Once again, she thought about Elisabeth’s declaration that one Scribe would be the one to stop the Black Dragon. Lyra wrapped an arm around Cullen’s waist. She’d be his rock now.

  The Lady of the Forest stopped in a small glade. “This is much smaller than I remembered, too narrow for the dragon who will transport you to land.” She lifted her lantern high above her head, and sparks shot out onto the surrounding trees.

  In response, those trees pried their roots out of the soil and crowded back onto their neighbors. They continued pushing together until she lowered her lantern.

  “Now, we have enough space. If you can call to your dragons, do so now to allow them the last rays of daylight to help them land. If you cannot reach them, I can message the Imperial Dragon.”

  Cullen looked at the broken staff in his hand, his face lined with concern. He rubbed his bloodswear ring, but Lyra moved faster.

  She clasped a hand around the glass globe of her phoenix flame and called up to the sky, “Lady of the Peace Meadow, please help me find a way home.” The orb shot a white bolt through the opening in the clearing. “Yord receives this signal, since he’s sworn as my protector.”

  “Rest now while we wait.” Ysmena waved her lantern and knobby root seats emerged. “Ivri, my favorite hemlock keeper, are you near?” she sang in a sweet soprano.

  Through the trees, a soft song reverberated. “Lady of the Forest, I shall come.” Moments later, the slight female circutamina scampered across the clearing and folded her hands together. “How may I serve?”

  “Can you find some simple and quick refreshments for our guests?”

  Thinking of food, Lyra’s empty stomach growled. They hadn’t eaten since the mid-morning breakfast Neo sent along for their boat ride to the grand aula.

  The keeper spun and visited several trees around the clearing.

  Circutamina spilled out from those trees, carrying sacks or bowls. Some rushed to the nearby stream and ladled water into mugs. They laid out a tasty meal of trail mix, muffins, and plenty of honey from Ivri’s own tree. Several skeps swung in the breeze.

  “Now I can see your hives.” Lyra walked over to the tree as she gobbled down a sticky muffin. “This still reminds me of a variety I’ve had before. It’s wonderful.”

  Ivri disappeared into the trunk and reappeared with a pint-size jar, dripping with the golden syrup down its sides. She held the container above her head to Lyra. “For you, Lady Lyra. The first colony of these bees was a gift from Scribe Brigid to me when I had just earned my tree.”

  “Thank you, Ivri. I’m honored.” Lyra accepted the honey and examined the lowest skep. Bees buzzed softly inside, and a couple darted out to have a look at the activity. Above the limb holding the hive, a symbol cut into the bark of the trunk. “What is this marking on your tree?” Now that she knew more about sigils, she wondered what this one meant. And, like the taste of the honey, something seemed familiar about the sigil.

  “Brigid carved it there. She said it was on the tree where she got the bees. The original symbol was supposed to be cut by a witch who made the bees magical. I don’t know more.”

  “Well, thanks for more of your tasty honey. I’m sure I’ll be back for more.” Lyra held up the jar and smiled.

  “It makes me happy to please.” Ivri bowed, and her long white hair swept over her head.

  Lyra rejoined Cullen and his assistants, enjoying the light meal while they examined the broken staff. “The metal housing where the crystal sits needs some easy repair, but replacing the stones and aligning them to my aura is a difficult task even for our skilled gemmator,” Cullen explained.

  “How long will that take?” Kenzo asked while fighting with Noba over the last nuts in the trail mix.

  “I’m sure he’ll start this evening and work for a few days. A high order wizard without a staff leaves many open to danger.”

  The whoosh of wings beating sounded over the tree line. A magnificent blue sentry covered the sky above the clearing and dropped down to make an abrupt landing. Yord’s massive thighs bulged with the exertion of braking so quickly. He let out a roar with the effort, and his wings missed clipping the trees on the far side of the glade by only a few yards.

  Lyra stood and waved to him.

  “I’m delighted to see your safe return, although you all look extremely tired. Climb on board. You too, Kenzo and Noba, if you wish.” Yord lowered one wing for them to easily mount.

  Lyra hugged Ysmena and Ivri. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Know you’re always welcome. My keepers and I will share our homes, food, and magic any time.” The Lady of the Forest lifted her lantern and let its soft light cover her four guests like a blanket. “This will comfort your tired bodies on the flight home.”

  After all were seated, Yord’s muscles clenched as he bounded into flight after only two strides. Above the canopy, he quickly adjusted his balance and established a smooth flying pattern. He scanned the forest and glanced back at his passengers. “I’ve never landed inside Silva Caliga. The keepers’ lights inside the tree limbs and trunks is quite a sight.”

  “Yes. It is lovely,” Lyra replied as she watched their twinkling lights and the evening mist rolling in. She sighed, feeling Ysmena’s magic snug around her and the pack containing Nareene’s Book of Dragonspeir at her back in Cullen’s lap.

  In the last rays of sunset, four dragons flew out to meet them. The golden and bronze scales glinting in the slanting rays identified the Imperial Dragon and Yasqu. A blue sentry flanked each.

  “Yasqu looks fully mended,” Cullen remarked, the energy in his voice improved. He rested a hand on Lyra’s hip, and she covered it with her own.

  ***

  At the lair, the travelers were too tired from their quest to celebrate their victory.

  Despite the looming need for sleep, Lyra scurried to deliver her prize to the Tortoise while Cullen searched for the gemmator craftsman.

  She handed over the newly acquired book to the Tortoise and soon located one of several copies of Brigid’s version. While he poured over Nareene’s four-hundred-year-old volume, she thumbed through the more recent text.

  The sigil on Ivri’s tree haunted her. Lyra had reread Brigid’s book after she finished her own, and she remembered seeing an intricate drawing. Drawn in a passage that seemed unimportant, she had passed it over as a page decoration.

  She flipped back and forth until she located the illustration. It was identical
to the carving on Ivri’s tree. She studied the scene that seemed like an ordinary break in the Scribe’s quest.

  Brigid had abruptly left Dragonspeir and traveled to southern Indiana when her mother became seriously ill and died. While there, Brigid recorded that she enjoyed some of the local honey at the home of some relations and visited the bee keeper. The keeper was a witch, like Ivri said. The same carving appeared on the tree where the witch kept her hives. Underneath the sigil, Brigid had written the caption, The family keep.

  In that phrase, Lyra identified the word “keep” as a noun, which meant a place to store or keep things safe. The remaining missing book had been written by Sorcha, two hundred years before Brigid. It seemed possible she had a reason to store a copy of Sorcha’s book in that keep. Lyra now understood this passage in Brigid’s book, along with the marked tree in Silva Caliga, served as clues left for future family members.

  Her pulse raced. The more she reread, the more it seemed likely. After the turn of the nineteenth century, transporting a queen bee and some of her workers and drones would have been a difficult task. Not merely a casual gesture of thanks to a good-hearted circutamina. Moreover, recalling her own writing process, no words could be written in a Book of Dragonspeir unless they were vital to the Scribe’s quest. The aura of a Scribe forced the writing of the magical text to be succinct.

  She sucked in a long breath and hoped no one else knew that or had pieced together the clues.

  Chapter Twenty-two: The Wizard’s Staff

  Lyra lay awake in the bed she shared with Cullen when they stayed at the lair. Eager to share her thoughts with him, sleep wouldn’t come. Her mind drifted back to the day’s events.

  After completing her research in the library, she had looked for him. A sentry said Yord had taken him to the main village of the Meadow of Peace to work with the gemmator, but that was hours ago. In their chamber, she took a bath and ate alone when their dinner trays arrived. His plate stood covered and waiting.

  She worried about his weakened state and hoped he could connect with Alliance magnetics to recharge his aura before leaving for Indiana. Would it be harder for him to restore himself without his staff? She didn’t fully understand the workings of a wizard’s staff, but badly wanted one to help her aim powerballs. Staffs and wands were awarded only to fully afflated sorcerers who made exemplary contributions to the Alliance. In her opinion, she qualified for the latter, but remained only partially afflated.

  She watched the stars through the window and wrestled with questions. She didn’t debate her decision to check out Brigid’s clues in Indiana. It was whether to take Cullen into a world where his magic would only diminish further and possibly put him at risk, unable to fight, if they met enemies from the Dark Realm. She considered making the last quest alone. She completed her bloodswear quest without Cullen. Kenzo had come along, but in the human world, he and Noba would be conspicuous, more hindrance than help. She’d miss the help and friendship of Cullen’s assistants.

  After the waning moon traveled past their window, Cullen finally entered. Quietly, he washed and sunk into the bed next to her.

  Lyra wrapped an arm around him and whispered, “What took you so long? I’ve been worried.”

  “I met with the craftsman, and he’ll have no trouble replacing the stones. The trouble will be matching those replacements to my aura because it’s so weak. I couldn’t risk losing more power, so I went to the room in the core of the lair where the main ley line of magnetism flows. Normally, after being gone for an extended time, a week in the Alliance will naturally restore me, but usually I take some books and study at the ley line to speed up the process. It makes me uneasy to have weakened power.

  “It’s making me nervous too. After you stayed with me in Florida for a week last Thanksgiving, you had to do that?”

  He nodded. “I felt my strength dropping the last day. First thing when I got back, I headed into the Alliance. But, the real problem now is that I’m recharging slower without my staff. It’s a strong channeling device and works with both outgoing and incoming energies.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m repowering more slowly, and the gemmator may have the staff ready, waiting on me to have sufficient energy for alignment.”

  Lyra lifted onto an elbow and explained what she had learned about Brigid’s family keep. “I think there’s a copy of Sorcha’s book stored there. If not that, she placed something else really important in or around the hive tree. There are too many clues pointing to that idea. I have to find out what’s there.” She touched his shoulder. “Is it safe for you to leave Dragonspeir?”

  Cullen shook his head and ran a jerky hand through his hair. “In my current state, no. I know you want to leave soon. I trust your instincts, especially when it comes to your family. The need to get there is urgent. Copies of Brigid’s book are common, so others have access to those same clues.” He studied her face, his own cut with lines of concern. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips, then rose from the bed. “It’s my appointment and job of choice to protect you. I’ll spend the night at the ley line to do everything I can to restore my power.” His voice was solemn. “We’ll see how much I improve by morning.” He rubbed a hand along her lower leg and left their room. Outside, he directed the guard to have a bed made for him in the magnetics suite.

  Lyra’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at dim objects in the room, her mind blank. Both his determination to keep her safe and the magnitude of his love amazed her. But she felt useless, unable to help him.

  Through the night, she tossed and turned, wishing dawn would come.

  ***

  Lyra’s feet hit the floor before both eyes opened. She dressed hurriedly and, in the hallway, located Yord among a group of guards. “I need to take breakfast to Cullen in the magnetics room. Can you arrange that and then take me there?”

  The brow of the blue knitted together. “Of course.” He didn’t ask questions and bounded down the hall.

  Other than the talk of few guards, the corridor was quiet in the early hour. Lyra sat on a bench and stared at the tapestry across from her while she waited. The scene depicted a ravaged battle field. Many wearing Alliance blue lay slaughtered on the ground at the feet of the Black Dragon. His drake minions surrounded him, and a squadron of cimafa circled him in the sky. Lyra clenched her fists, and her nostrils flared. The tapestry served as a painful reminder to fight for continued peace in the Alliance. Staring at that scene, Lyra resolved to take on the quest for the last book alone if Cullen was unable.

  Yord turned into the corridor and stood at her side with only a few strides. “Here is a sack with breakfast foods. I’ll take you to Sire Drake.”

  He led her through a maze of masonry hallways, then more passageways cut into bare rock, all lit by torch sconces. When he reached a large wooden door, he swung it open for her to enter.

  Inside the dimly lit room, Lyra couldn’t see to find her way. One wall glowed a faint blue, reminding her of the obsidian inclusions illuminating the walls in Terza. When her eyes adjusted, she found Cullen asleep on a sort of daybed.

  Yord motioned her back into the hall. “In sleep, the body can focus more on repair. It would be unwise to wake him.”

  Lyra nodded. She tiptoed into the room and sat in an upholstered chair several feet away. She watched Cullen’s chest rise and fall slowly during what seemed like a sound sleep. His face appeared healthier with some color, compared to his pallor yesterday. Eased by this and the white noise of the electrical hum, she dozed in and out.

  “Lyra, you’re here.” Cullen’s voice woke her. “It must be morning.”

  She sat upright, and stiffness shot through her neck. “Or later.” She rubbed the muscles and applied self-healing to release the tension. “You look better. How do you feel?” she said eagerly, rooting through the breakfast sack and offering him an apple.

  He accepted and took a large bite. “Better. Good enough to have an appetite. We need to ask for counsel with the Imperial D
ragon.” Still munching on the apple, he rose. “You’ve seen the blue electricity of the main ley line?”

  “Yes. I can feel the hum of the energy coursing through my aura. I actually feel rested even though I only napped in a chair.”

  “That’s how it operates.”

  “How did you manage to stay with me in Florida at Thanksgiving?” Lyra sampled a muffin, missing Ivri’s honey.

  He motioned her toward the door. “I fully energized before leaving and paced myself while away. I barely used magic, only household spells. No power throwing or transporting. Facing the urgency to leave for Terza, I didn’t take the same precautions for myself. And I should have renewed before we left for Silva Caliga, but I was tired after healing Yasqu. I assumed we’d return directly after picking up Kenzo and Noba.”

  ***

  When Lyra and Cullen entered the library of the Imperial Dragon, they found him pacing back and forth past the Tortoise where he sat studying the newly acquired lost volume. “I’m glad to see you in improved health, Sire Drake. We are tremendously concerned about your status, leaving both yourself and the Alliance at risk.”

  “I do feel better, but haven’t yet tested my powers,” Cullen replied. “I wanted to save my strength to align my wizard’s staff.’

  “When I learned you spent the night in the magnetics room, I sent for the gemmator to come as soon as he completed repairs on your staff.” The leader bowed his head to Lyra. “No commendation will serve as enough thanks for your successes acquiring these two missing volumes.”

  “I’m glad to serve the people of the Alliance.” She returned his bow. “I have an idea where to find the last book, from clues I found in Silva Caliga left by Scribe Brigid. I confirmed those clues in her Book of Dragonspeir last night.”

  “Then, I appeal to you to travel there at once. That last volume is the key to the Alliance permanently blocking the evil constraints of the Black Dragon.” He curved his long neck down to face Lyra at her level. “And where do you expect to recover that book?”