The Dragonlings and the Magic Four-Leaf Clover

by S. E. Smith

  “King Tamblin knew right then and there that he had to find this magical, mystical kingdom and claim it for his own. Once again, he demanded that the old man give him the coin and again the old man refused. Finally, in a fit of rage, he ordered his guards to seize the old man and lock him in the deepest cell in his dungeon. King Tamblin ignored his sister’s outcry of horror and the old man’s dire warnings that whoever held the gold coin must return it to the kingdom of the Leprechauns by first light or the city and the Little People who lived there would be lost forever. King Tamblin refused to listen to the old man’s wild warnings. He was lost in the beauty of the gold coin that he now held in his hand.”

  Paul grew quiet. He bent down, picked up several sticks, and carefully placed them in the fire. He purposely paused in his tale to let everyone think about what King Tamblin had done. He could sense the tension rising among the group. It wasn’t until Calo released an impatient snarl that he knew they were ready for the climax of the story.

  “Well, what happened? Did King Tamblin keep the gold coin? What about the old man? What happened to him?” Calo demanded.

  “It’s okay, Daddy. Everythings goings to be alrights,” Hope said, patting her dad on his knee.

  Calo’s expression grew tender, and he bent down, picked up his daughter and placed her on his lap. Cree reached over and brushed Hope’s dark-brown hair back from her cheek. The love on the two men’s faces for the little girl was a tangible reminder that no matter where you lived in the universe, love and family mattered.

  “King Tamblin sat at the table in the dining hall long after everyone else retired for the night. The large fire in the hearth burned down to a bed of coals, and still he sat, twirling the gold coin in his hand and rubbing it between his fingers, completely enthralled. Just before dawn, King Tamblin looked at the hearth in surprise when tiny sparks began to dance. Before long, the sparks grew until the vision of a tall, beautiful woman appeared,” Paul said.

  “A Wood Fairy,” Morah breathed with delight.

  Paul nodded. “Not just any Wood Fairy, but the Queen of the Wood Fairies. She knew who the old man was and what he was planning, for to reach King Tamblin’s kingdom, he’d had to pass through her forest. She also knew that she wouldn’t let the Kingdom of Glitter or the Little People perish. Throughout the night, the Queen of the Wood Fairies had watched from the hearth as King Tamblin stared, mesmerized, at the gold in his hand. Stepping toward him, she searched his tired face,” Paul said, staring down at the dancing flames in the fire pit.

  “‘Why do you keep the gold coin?’ the Queen of the Wood Fairies asked solemnly.

  “King Tamblin looked up at the Queen of the Wood Fairies with dazed eyes. ‘It calls to me,’ King Tamblin admitted. ‘I see a city that glitters when I look at the gold and feel the warmth of the metal flowing through my soul,’ the King said, peering back at the Queen of the Wood Fairies with an unhealthy hunger in his eyes.

  “‘You wish to go to the city that glitters?’ the Queen asked.

  “’More than anything,’ King Tamblin replied.

  “’Give to me the gold coin, and I will make your wish come true, King Tamblin,’ the Queen instructed with a graceful bow of her head. She held out her hand.

  “King Tamblin gripped the gold coin in his hand. At first, he was reluctant to part with it, but the more he thought about what the old man had said, the more he wanted to have all the gold and not just a single coin. He reluctantly placed the coin in the Queen’s hand and made his wish.

  “’I wish to go to the Kingdom of Glitter,’ King Tamblin stated.

  “’Sleep, King Tamblin, and when you wake, your wish will have come true. But be warned, you will never be able to return to your kingdom here unless you first do four things. First, you must give up your greed for gold. This will only happen when you find something more precious to warm your heart. Second, only the bravest of all warriors can return the gold coin to you. You must be willing to give the coin to one who will hold it dear to their heart. Only then will you truly become King of, not just the Leprechauns, but also of the people of Glitter. Third, you must understand that to be strong; you must at times be humble. Finally, only when you are given a gift that is rare, magical, and untouched by greed, will you finally understand what it means to be home—for home is truly where the heart is, King Tamblin, and that is far more precious than all the gold in the world,’ the Queen of the Wood Fairies warned.“

  Paul looked around the group. “King Tamblin closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke the next morning, he was no longer in his own kingdom. He was now in the Kingdom of Glitter, but that was not all.

  “Lest you forgot, when Tamblin took the gold coin, it belonged to none other than the King of the Leprechauns. Now, Tamblin had traded the coin for a wish, but he still held the power of the Leprechaun’s gold in his cold heart. He would be the new King of the Leprechauns and ruler of the Little People of Glitter but, as a reminder of the greed in his heart, the Queen of the Wood Fairies had turned King Tamblin’s skin green.

  “As the years passed, King Tamblin soon grew to love and respect the people of Glitter, but he also missed his sister. King Tamblin saw that while the citizens of Glitter had as much gold as they wanted, that was not what made them happy. Their love for each other is what warmed their hearts.

  “Over time, the dazzle of gold did not call to King Tamblin the way it once had. Instead, he longed for the sound of his sister’s voice and the wisdom of her stories.

  “So, he began looking for the four things the Queen of the Wood Fairies had instructed him to find in the hopes of bringing her to Glitter.

  “Each year in March, a doorway would open along the boundary of his kingdom for one single night. In preparation to make the doorway connect to his former kingdom, King Tamblin searched for the bravest warriors who would help him recover the gold coin from the Queen of the Wood Fairies. However, he still needed one bit of magic to make it all work,” Paul said, pausing again.

  “But… What is the magic he needs?” Creon asked.

  “I knows!” Morah said, twirling to face her uncle. “A four-leaf clover! You gets four wishes with it, but you gots to be careful what’s you wishes for.”

  “I have a question. What is a four-leaf clover?” Kelan asked with a frown.

  Chapter Four

  That was a great story, Paul,” Mandra said an hour later.

  Paul chuckled. He looked over at where Morah lay tucked under the blanket in their makeshift shelter. The soft and reassuring snores of the kids could be heard coming from the various covered sleeping areas. He looked up as Creon and Trelon approached the fire. Both men looked worn out.

  “Did you find them?” Paul asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yeah, finally,” Trelon said with a yawn. He scratched his stomach. “At least the girls didn’t bring anything too destructive with them.”

  Creon held up his hand. Even in the dim light of the fire, it was obvious something had bitten his hand several times. A wry smile twisted his lips.

  “So says the warrior who refused to stick his hand in the hole,” Creon muttered.

  Trelon shook his head. “First of all, it was your daughter who dug the hole, not mine. Second, I warned you that you might want to ask Harvey to take a look first. Hell, I even offered to ask Symba,” he retorted, motioning to his symbiot who now formed a nice thick bed and a large tent.

  “You know that is cheating, right?” Mandra asked, looking at the shelter Trelon’s symbiot formed.

  Trelon shook his head and grinned. “You’re just jealous I thought of using Symba. Besides, with Amber and Jade, I need all the help I can get. They are getting even more creative as they get older.”

  “What did they build this time that has teeth?” Paul asked, nodding toward Creon’s hand.

  “Well, after I finally found the hole Spring dug for her and Phoenix to sleep in, I discovered that Amber and Jade had joined them. What Trelon neglected to tel
l me was that his two had been working on a new defense bot,” Creon dryly replied.

  “A defense bot?” Mandra asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Think replicas of the girls in their dragon forms with lots of very sharp teeth,” Creon explained.

  Trelon chuckled. “I thought it was very innovative of them to make tiny robots of themselves in their dragon forms,” he said with a grin.

  “Almost as innovative as Paul when he included those species that Ariel discovered on that moon in his story. At least we won’t have to worry about the kids going on an adventure to find them!” Mandra commented.

  Paul shrugged. “When you and Ariel shared the story with us, I knew Morah would get a kick out of it. I just added a little Irish mythology to the story, threw in a hint of a holiday we have back on Earth called St. Patrick’s Day, and the whole thing made for the perfect bedtime tale. Morah reminds me so much of Trisha, Ariel, and Carmen at that age. They loved it when I made up stories,” he said.

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but watching the girls on my own is worse than training new warriors. I’m exhausted,” Trelon said behind a yawn before he stood up and stretched.

  Mandra looked at the hard ground and thin blanket in his shelter. He brushed his hand over the symbiot on his wrist. Jabir was already sound asleep on Precious. In seconds, the symbiot had carefully transformed under the little boy to create a shelter identical to the one Symba created for Trelon.

  Paul chuckled when he saw Zoran, Mandra, and Kelan’s symbiots do the same thing. Not to be outdone, Ha’ven waved his hand and created an elaborate tent for him and Alice. Vox, Viper, and the two cubs had disappeared earlier. Paul suspected they were comfortably ensconced in a tree somewhere.

  With a sigh, he brushed the symbiot on his wrist. He decided there really wasn’t any reason not to take advantage of having a little comfort. After all, it wasn’t like this was a boot camp for survival training. It was a family camp-out.

  “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning,” Paul quietly said before retreating to his and Morah’s now very comfortable shelter.

  He kneeled down next to Morah and picked up the half-dozen dolls scattered across his side of the bed. He piled them on the ground beside her before lying down. He lifted his arm when a thin blanket formed over him.

  “Thank you, Crash,” Paul murmured with a contented sigh. “Help me keep an eye on her.”

  Warmth filled him. For a brief moment, he remembered that he was going to check to see if the Goddesses were still hanging around. No sooner had that thought flashed through his mind than sleep pulled at him. The last thing he thought about was that he hoped they’d enjoyed the story as much as the children and guys did, if they even stayed to listen to it.

  Arosa sighed as she watched all the children and men slowly settle down for the night. Arilla floated down to sit next to her in the tree. Her sister wiggled her golden nose when one of the smaller symbiots stuck its head out of a tent. A moment later, Morah atop Princess Buttercup approached them. She carefully slid to the ground and turned to look up at her.

  “Come, sister,” Arosa murmured, floating down to sit on one of the logs.

  Arilla joined her sister down on the logs that encircled the rock-lined firepit. With a wave of her hand, the flames rose from the bed of coals. The campsite was cast in soft, shadowed hues. Arosa solidified and opened her arms to the little girl when she toddled toward her, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

  “I saw you,” Morah said with a wide yawn as she climbed up onto Arosa’s lap and snuggled against her. “Mommy says I goings to be likes her. Are you’s Princess Buttercup’s mommies?”

  Arosa looked over Morah’s head and chuckled. That was what these two goddesses loved about this species. They never knew what was going to happen or what they would say or do. There was always an adventure waiting to unfold with these little ones.

  “Yes, I guess we are Princess Buttercup’s mothers,” Arosa replied.

  “Did you like Dada’s story? He’s the bestest storytellers in the whole world,” Morah bragged with a sigh.

  “Yes, it was a wonderful story,” Arilla agreed, touching Morah’s soft, curly hair.

  “I wishes…,” Morah started to say before a yawn stopped her and she closed her eyes.

  Arosa gently stroked her hand down Morah’s back as she held her. She was curious about the little girl’s wish. Arilla looked at her with questioning eyes as well.

  “What do you wish for, little Priestess?” Arilla gently asked.

  “I wishes the story was trues. I wants to meets a real live Leprechaun,” Morah answered before lifting her hand and sliding her thumb in her mouth.

  Arilla looked at her sister with a mischievous grin. Arosa started to shake her head. Usually, she was the one who made the impulsive decisions that got them into trouble with the elder of their species, Aikaterina.

  “Sleep, little Priestess. When you wake your wish will be granted. Oh, and look for the magic four-leaf clover,” Arilla murmured, remembering that part of the story.

  Arosa stood up with Morah in her arms and floated over to her symbiot tent. The fluid body of the symbiot parted at her silent command and Arosa laid Morah down next to her father. Rising upward, the symbiot covered the father and daughter once again with Princess Buttercup resuming her place next to Morah.

  Arosa’s body shimmered and faded. She looked at her sister and laughed. What harm could there be in granting Morah’s wish? With a whisper, both sisters waved their hands. Power swirled through the air, wrapping around each of the men sleeping in the tents. At the same time, a portal to a beautiful kingdom opened—a kingdom with a city that glittered and was ruled by none other than the unsuspecting King of the Leprechauns, King Tamblin.

  Chapter Five

  Where’s my daddy?” Jabir asked early the next morning, looking around and scratching his belly as Precious sniffed the ground where they had been sleeping.

  “I don’t know. We can’t find our daddy either. And I don’t remember this place. The trees look all funny,” Amber and Jade said, bounding up to the other children.

  “I can’t find my dad either,” Roam complained, shifting from his tiger cub and looking around at the colorful forest with a puzzled expression. “I’ve sniffed everywhere and Bálint said he couldn’t find no tracks.”

  A slight sniffle escaped Hope and she looked around with wide, frightened eyes. Phoenix and Alice immediately stepped closer to the tiny little girl. Leo sniffed the air before he sneezed. Shifting from a black tiger cub back into a little boy, he shook his head.

  “I don’t smells nothing eithers and I don’t sees no blood. I don’t thinks they gots eaten. There would be lots of blood if they’s gots eaten and pieces of thems all overs the place,” Leo said, pawing at the dew-damp soil.

  Zohar rolled his eyes and shook his head at the younger boy. He looked around the unusual forest. This was not the same one they were in yesterday. The trees here weren’t much taller than their dads, and mixed throughout them were mushrooms in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors that were large enough to stand underneath them. Gone were the huge trees and thick ferns they played in yesterday. Also gone were the fire pit and circle of logs that they sat around last night.

  He had woken up when he felt Goldie, his parents’ symbiot, shake him. Zohar hadn’t been too concerned when he saw that his dad was gone—until he couldn’t find him. That was when he had woken Bálint and Roam. Soon, their whispers had woken the others. As each youngling emerged from their tents, they all said the same thing—their dads were missing. As the oldest and the son of the King of the Valdier, Zohar decided he would have to take charge.

  “I think we need to spread out and look for them. Phoenix, Alice and Spring stay close to Hope. Amber, you and Jade take to the trees. Jabir, you talk to any animals you can find and see if they saw what happened. Bálint, I need you to find some tracks,” Zohar ordered, turning to each dragonling as he spoke.

  “What
do you want us to do, Zohar?” Roam asked, looking at the other boy.

  Zohar looked over at Leo who had shifted back into a cub again and grimaced. Roam’s cousin had the wings of an insect hanging out of his mouth, and it looked like he had another bug trapped beneath one of his front paws. Nodding his head at Leo, he hoped Roam understood what he was trying to tell him.

  “Search the camp for any clues and make sure Leo doesn’t eat them,” Zohar instructed before he paused and looked around. “Where’s Morah?” he suddenly asked.

  Everyone turned toward the tent Grandpa Paul and Morah had slept in. Morah, hearing her name, sat up and rubbed her eyes. Realizing that she was the only one in the tent, she clumsily climbed out and motioned for Crash to reform into the shape of a unicorn while Princess Buttercup took on the shape of a jackrabbit from her father’s world, complete with extra-long ears and fluffy tail.

  Zohar hurried over to where she stood rubbing her eyes again. She yawned and stretched, her bare toes peeking out from under her long, red princess gown. She blinked up at him when he stopped in front of her.

  “Do you know where Grandpa is?” Zohar anxiously asked.

  Zohar saw the confusion on her face. She thought about what he said for a moment before she turned and looked at where Crash was rubbing his nose against the soft blue-green grass. Zohar watched her tilt her head and look around her with an expression of wonder on her face, turning in a circle until she was facing him once again. She shook her head.

  “Nope, I haven’t seen Dada since I wents to sleep after I talks to the Goddesses,” Morah replied with a frown.

  “You saw the Goddesses?” Alice asked, stepping closer to Morah.

  “I saw them last night, but I was sleepy,” Phoenix said, looking at Morah. “I thought they were just listening to Grandpa’s story. They like our story-time.”