by Katie French
The sound of their retreating footsteps grew quiet until it disappeared completely. The birds were silent overhead, and only the crackling of the fire could be heard.
“Well, no reason to beat around the bush,” she said. “My name is Scarlett Drake. I’m your aunt.”
An emotion I couldn’t describe filled my chest. I didn’t know whether to be surprised, angry, or relieved. This woman was my mother’s sister—Aunt Scarlett who I’d met once when I was two, according to Mom and Dad.
My aunt.
A Dragon Warden.
What the hell? Why hadn’t anyone told me? When I finally found Dad, he would have a lot of explaining to do. My mouth opened and closed. What did I say to this?
“I see I’ve rendered you speechless,” she said. “Good. I talk. You listen.”
She undid the large wooden button that held her cloak in place. It slid down her shoulders to fall gently over the log.
“As you’ve already figured out, I’m a Dragon Warden. The beacon I protect is in Juneau, Alaska. It is where Rose and I grew up, the place where your grandmother, her mother, and her mother’s mother were wardens before me. The female members of our family have inherited the task for centuries. Unfortunately, the responsibility has suddenly fallen onto you, an untrained girl.”
A million replies whirled inside my head, but all I could say was, “My mother never taught me.”
“Yes. You were too young when she died. She was probably easing you into the knowledge of dragons when she passed. She wouldn’t have taught you much until you turned twelve. Roger should have taken you away from Summers Lake, but he never listened.”
“You mean you’ve talked to Dad?” I asked, feeling betrayed.
“After Rose died, yes.”
“And after that?” I demanded, as if this woman owed me an explanation, as if she should have been there for me somehow. I bit my lower lip, wishing I could take the childish question back.
“No, not after that,” she replied coldly, setting me straight about any misconceptions I might have. “I feared if you stayed here, you would eventually stumble onto the ring and the sword, but Roger didn’t want to leave Summers Lake since he felt closer to Rose here.” She looked at my hand, then at the weapon. “Though I never imagined you would make such a mess of things.”
“I made a mess of things? Look, you just showed up. Don’t pretend to know what’s going on here.”
“Oh, I know,” she said. “The entire dragon world knows.”
I shook my head, overwhelmed. I didn’t understand exactly what “the entire dragon world” meant, but it sounded like a lot of dragons. Did they all know I sucked at being warden? Either way, I wasn’t going to let my long-lost aunt intimidate me.
“Then they all know I rescued four innocent teenagers from a deranged dragon.” That had to count for something. I held my chin up.
“What Tara Palmer is doing is wrong,” she said in a too-calm tone that made my blood boil. “However, that doesn’t mean that what you did is right—not to mention how you did it.”
Another preachy adult. Figures!
I’d had enough of those. Everyone relished telling me what I was doing wrong. Ki’s father. Santiago’s father. They all seemed stuck in their old ways, none attempting to fix the problems that cropped up.
I grabbed my sword and stood.
“If you came here to scold me for doing my best with the crappy lot I was given,” I said, “you could have saved yourself the trip. There are enough people telling me how much I suck already. I don’t need another one. All I want is to rescue my father from Tara Palmer. I couldn’t care less about your rules, your creeds, or whatever.”
My aunt stood in one fluid motion, her face a mask of unrestrained fury.
“Insolent child,” she spat. “Do you think you and those foolhardy hatchlings can go against one of the most powerful dragon dens to ever exist? Your ignorance knows no boundaries. And that’s exactly why you don’t realize that in order to save Roger, you have to follow the Dragon’s Creed. If you don’t, you will never see him again.”
Wrath seemed to spill from her very pore. Her left hand was a tight, trembling fist at her side, and the ring glowed as if ignited by her rage. She looked formidable and, I had to admit, quite scary.
I paced to the edge of the clearing to disguise my discomfort and shame. Was I being insolent? Ignorant? I had gotten lucky against Tara Palmer, but my aunt was right. How could I go against Deeploch by myself? I couldn’t. I understood that much.
I needed help, and I wasn’t too proud to ask for it.
Turning to face her, I said, “Teach me then.”
She smirked in a way that made me regret asking her for help. “Why do you think I’m here, child?”
Chapter Five
“Pack it up. Let’s go.” The Scarlet Warden stood up, drawing her cape to her shoulders and fastening the wooden button. Her impatient stare locked on me as I continued to sit by the fire.
Just starting to thaw from my dunk in the river, I still shivered in my wet clothes. I glanced between her and my three dragons, but none offered any answers. They seemed as scared to speak up as I was.
“Go where?” I asked.
She kicked apart the logs on the fire, which sent up a cloud of smoke as the flames began to gutter. “We need to train right away. Take me to your safe space.”
When I didn’t answer with anything other than a look of ignorance, she rolled her eyes, turning to the boys. “You have a haven? A refuge?” They stared at her. “A place where normal humans cannot find you in your dragon forms?” she said like they were complete idiots.
“Oh, Mirror Island,” Ki piped up, sounding pleased with himself. One look from my aunt made the joy slide from his face.
“Yes, Mirror Island. Let’s go.” She gestured forward with a sweep of her hand.
With a volley of exchanged glances, we complied. Santiago took the lead, heading down a path I hoped led back to the Mustang. We fell in step on the trail, the boys up front, then me and my aunt taking up the rear.
A million questions rolled around in my head, but I knew asking her would do me no good. She was surly, impatient, and clearly not very fond of teenagers. She kept calling the boys hatchlings even though it clearly pissed them off. And the things she’d said about me and my botched job with Tara Palmer still felt like hot coals burning through my insides. Who was she to judge what happened? We all nearly died. I felt like a little kid tracking mud through the house. If you had just listened, you wouldn’t have made such a mess.
Listen to whom? Where the hell had she been?
There was one question I couldn’t shake, though. As I stopped to hold back a pine bow for her, I met her gaze. Her eyes were intensely green. I could see my mother in her face.
I swallowed hard. “Do you know where my father is?”
She blinked as if the question took her by surprise. This time, her tone was softer than its normal knife’s edge. “No, child, I do not. I know Tara is holding him, and that she will not harm him until she gets what she wants.”
“What does she want?” I asked, my voice thick in my throat. Talking about Dad still felt like eating nails.
My aunt flicked her eyes to where the boys were quickly disappearing through the foliage. “Tara wants what all tyrants have wanted from the beginning of time. Power. The ability to push her agenda ahead of all others. To make those below her cower in her majesty.”
“Speak like a normal person,” I said, growing frustrated. My head was pounding again, a stab of pain slicing its way through my frontal lobe. “What is she planning to do?”
My sass clearly annoyed her, but she answered me. “From what the Warden Council has surmised, she wants to turn humans into dragons. Fill the world with them so her kind no longer has to hide. And then she intends to rule them all.”
I thought of Frank, his mutilated form more Gollum than dragon. “That’s what she was trying to do?” I whispered, growing cold.
My aunt pushed past me, striding up the path. “Time is short. Keep moving.”
My stomach clenching with the thought of everyone submitting to Tara Palmer, I followed my aunt down the path. At least now, we had someone on our side who seemed to know what was going on and maybe how to fix it.
When we reached the parking lot, Tom was leaning against the Mustang. At the sight of us, his eyes darted up, widening as he saw my aunt.
Her eyes narrowed. “Tara’s offspring,” she said, drawing her blade. “They’ll have to do better than this.” She gripped her sword, charging at Tom like she was about to cut him in half.
“Stop!” I shouted. Holding out my hand, I went to reach for her. Instead, a force shot out of my ring, hitting the Scarlet Warden in the back and throwing her forward.
Anyone else would have fallen headfirst into the pavement, but she managed to turn her stumble into a front flip and land in a crouch like she was a female Jackie Chan.
“Holy crap,” Fang said.
Her head whipped in my direction. I stared at her, then at the burning ring on my outstretched hand.
“Sorry, I—”
“That’s more like it,” she said, standing up and brushing flecks of gravel off her clothes. Her cape unfurled, flashing red in the sunshine.
“Tom’s not here to fight against us,” Ki explained.
When I tore my awestruck gaze from my hand, all three boys were standing in front of Tom, ready to protect him. My heart swelled. Tom clearly had no idea what was going on judging by the confusion on his face.
“I’ll explain in the car,” I said to him. To my aunt, I said, “Please don’t start attacking people until you know whose side they’re on. Geeze.” I ran my fingers through my still-damp hair. This day was quickly swirling down the toilet.
The Scarlet Warden made no apology. She sheathed her blade and pulled out a key fob, pressing the button. A chirp drew my attention to another car in the parking lot. A brand-new Dodge Charger in, you guessed it, scarlet red sat in a little patch of shade at the edge of the lot. My aunt strode toward it, pulling her cloak off and stuffing it in the passenger seat.
A sports car? I was expecting a flaming horse or something.
Fang whistled. Santiago strode forward, following her. “Sweet ride. Can I take a spin?”
“No room.” She slammed the door, daring him to challenge her blatant lie.
He knew better, though, and whirled around to start back to us, shaking his head.
We piled into my hunk of junk, the Mustang groaning under the weight of four grown men plus me. Ki had won some bet, so was given the shotgun seat. I glanced back to Fang, whose knees were practically under his chin. Santiago sat in the back middle, a sheen of sweat somehow making him even more tantalizing, but I was too stressed to spend time thinking about it.
My long-lost aunt. What in the hell had I gotten myself into?
As we drove, Ki and Santiago filled Tom in. He took the news in stoic silence, his eyes studying the trees that streaked past. When they were finished, Ki peppered me with questions about my aunt, none that I could answer. I knew nothing about her. In fact, there had been no pictures, no birthday cards, no visits at Christmas. Where was she when my mother died? No one from that side of the family even attended the funeral. The more I thought about it, the madder I grew. My hands flexed on the steering wheel.
“Are you okay?” Ki asked, his brow folded in worry.
“Fine,” I said unconvincingly.
“It’s a lot to take in. A new aunt. A new mentor.”
“She’s not my mentor,” I snapped, though there really was no other word for her. Mean aunt lady who was going to teach me dragon magic didn’t have a great ring to it.
We arrived back in Summers Lake at twilight. It took nearly another hour to get out to the island via the boat. The Scarlet Warden had refused to fly dragon back.
When we docked on the rocky shore, Ki and Fang’s father were there to greet us.
He bowed as my aunt stepped out of the boat and strode forward, holding her cape out of the waves.
“Honorable Dragon Warden, it is our pleasure to have you on our island.” Mr. Liang pitched forward again, his hands clasped together. He was wearing casual jeans and a loose button-down dress shirt, which looked out of place for a reunion on the beach.
“Xiānsheng Liang, it is nice to see you again. I think it’s been since the Accords in Guangzhou if I am not mistaken.”
“You are not mistaken. Good memory. My sons have informed me that you have arrived to begin tutelage of your niece.”
“Attempt tutelage,” she corrected with a side glance my way. “We shall see if she is worthy.”
My ears burned hot. Now she was trash talking me in front of Ki and Fang’s father.
But Mr. Liang’s smile did not falter. “Your niece is brave and willing. We have tried to teach her, but have failed. I am sure she will do better under your excellent care.”
My aunt nodded. The two of them chatted for a while as the five of us stood around listening like children who’d been dragged along to their parents’ formal dinner party. Finally, they stopped reminiscing about events I could not understand and drew their attention back to me.
“Lila, it’s time to begin,” she said.
I glanced around, the beach now submerged in darkness. “But it’s too dark. We normally stop when…” My words died in my throat as her sword began to glow a bright scarlet. More light flooded the beach. Noticing it came from behind me, I drew my blade from the scabbard on my back. My sword had followed suit, a brilliant white shining from the blade like a wild lightsaber.
Her expression was smug as she peered at me. “See if you can keep up.”
She started hiking toward the forest. I glanced at the boys and they joined me, the four of us following her as the wind rustled the long grass.
Without looking back, she said, “No dragons. They stay here.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Why not? They go everywhere with me.”
“And they shouldn’t. You’ve grown too attached, and what good has it done you?” She whirled around, her blazing sword cutting a swath through the darkness like fire. “They stay here, or we don’t train.”
In the dark, I scanned the boys’ faces. I could see they were uneasy sending me off with a woman none of us knew. I made a calming gesture with my hands that I hoped they understood. A staticky voice inside my head became a frantic Santiago. Call if you need us.
Ki thoughts were barely a whisper. Be careful.
I got nothing from Tom or Fang, but then my receiver brain was always missing signals. Maybe that was something she could help me with.
With a nod, I took a deep breath and followed the Scarlet Warden into the dark forest.
The minute we were within the tree line, branches scraping at our arms, she doused both our lights. A thick dark closed in around us.
“What in the fresh hell?” I groped around with one hand while willing my sword to light with the other.
“Stop bumbling around like a child.” Her voice was sharp, clear, and to my right. I reached out for her, but found empty air.
I bit back a growl. “You know, you’re not a particularly good teacher. Have you considered taking a community course where they teach things like being patient? Or even nice?”
“Being nice will not help you. I’m sure those boys have been nice.”
I didn’t like her tone, but I bit my tongue, reminding myself why we were out here. Dad’s face swam forward in my mind. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stop whining and focus. Go inside yourself. Find your inner sanctum.”
“Inner sanctum? Is that a medical condition?” I joked.
She growled low. “Just shut up and focus on the energy around you. In you.”
Closing my eyes, I set my sword onto the ground and then took a deep breath. I wasn’t good at calm, at quiet. I was better at running and yelling and bashing. But I tried to be still, tun
ing out the buzzing mosquitoes and rustling leaves. I pushed away thoughts of my itchy elbow and how good Santiago looked with his shirt off.
“Are you focused?”
“Yes,” I mumbled. I tried harder. I let go of everything.
For a while, there was a great nothingness, a void. Then a humming filled my body, expanding outward into the space around me. My fingers tingled. My ring burned.
When I opened my eyes, my sword, still where I’d set it on the ground, was glowing.
“I’m doing it,” I whispered, feeling elated.
When I glanced up, my aunt gave an exasperated roll of her eyes. “Let’s try something else.”
She seemed to be one of those teachers who could never be pleased no matter what one did. Awesome.
For the next few hours, she drilled me on ring technique—how to light it, use it to repel things and people, and draw things to me. She showed me how to conjure fire (though I sucked at it) and how to use it to sense magical disturbances around me (I couldn’t do that at all). She lit a fire with hers, then extinguished it. Threw boulders around. She levitated things.
I made a branch twirl around in the dirt. Talk about screwing the pooch.
By the time she was done running me through my paces, I was filthy, my clothes were torn, and I was so tired I could barely stand.
“Are we done? I really need some rest for my interview,” I moaned. It had to be past three AM, though my phone battery had died long ago.
“Are we done?” she mocked. “We’ll be done when you get something right. We’ll do telepathy now. Sit on that rock. Open your mind to me.” She pointed to a boulder she’d just been Jedi-mind-tricking.
Opening my mind sounded unpleasant, but sitting sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world. Crumpling to the rock, I closed my eyes and let my body sag.
Lila, my aunt’s voice sounded in my head. Can you hear me?
Loud and clear, I shot back, wishing I could just go to sleep. Feel free to poke around. Just shut the door when you’re done.
The strangest sensation filled me, like someone actually poking around in my head. It was like my brain was a library card catalogue and someone was pulling out drawers and rifling through. I squirmed on the rock, uncomfortable.
