Willow's Dark Discovery

by D J DuMont

  “Can you feel my father? Is he still alive?”

  Clove’s sad brown eyes looked straight into Willow’s green ones, and he nodded his head. Willow’s heart leapt and broke all at once, and the emotions she’d been trying so hard to hold back overwhelmed her. A sob caught in her throat as she threw herself against Clove, and then she wept. And wept, and wept.

  Nothing else mattered in that moment, except the fact that somewhere out there, her father still lived. And she was going to find him if it was the last thing she did.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Willow, none of those stories are true. Locke is telling you old folktales that have been passed down from generation to generation with no basis in reality.”

  “It is true. I already told you. I talked to Clove last night, and he told me my father is still alive.”

  Willow saw Anjali and Sam exchange a glance that said they clearly thought she was losing her marbles.

  “Willow,” Anjali tried again, her voice gentle and soothing. She sounded like someone who was talking to a stubborn young child. Willow was seething on the inside, but she clenched her fists and did her best to remain calm. She reminded herself over and over again that exploding in anger wasn’t going to help her cause. But the longer she sat here, the harder it was not to explode.

  “Dragons don’t talk,” Sam cut in. He sounded a lot less patient than Anjali. Willow knew he was angry that she had, yet again, gone to see the dragons without his permission. The first time he had excused her, since she’d acted in a fit of sorrow, and since she’d managed to convince Clove to come out of the stables. But he viewed this second incident as much less excusable. Sneaking into the stables at night was an ostentatious display of rebellion, in his opinion. But Willow didn’t care whether Sam was angry at her. She wasn’t backing down.

  “I already told you. He didn’t actually talk. He nodded his head yes. He might not be able to speak but he can communicate.”

  Sam threw his hands up in frustration. “He’s never communicated with me like that. But even if I give you the benefit of the doubt for a moment and assume he was actually nodding his head yes, that still doesn’t change the fact that there’s no way he could possibly know whether your father was alive. Magic is an amazing tool, Willow, but it does have its limits.”

  Willow jumped to her feet and shook her finger in Sam’s direction. “No, it doesn’t! My father always said to remember that I had magic inside of me, and that I could do anything. Anything means anything. And dragons are the most ancient of magical beings. It makes perfect sense that they would be able to do things that seem impossible, like sensing whether their partner is alive.”

  “Willow,” Anjali said, in that same patronizing tone. Willow whirled around to face her.

  “How can you just sit there when my father is alive? We have to find him! We have to save him!”

  “Willow, it’s not up to me.”

  “But you could talk to Dragon Heart Leadership. If you told them that Clove thinks my father is alive, they would listen to you.”

  “They would think I was crazy.”

  Willow couldn’t take this anymore. Hot tears spilled over her cheeks as she turned and stormed out of the room. She ran blindly, not knowing where she was going and not caring. All she knew was that she had to get away from Anjali and Sam. She couldn’t stand to sit there anymore, listening to them talk down to her when her father needed their help.

  Willow ran down the hallway, past the alchemy classroom, past the divination room, and past the potions lab, until she ran smack into someone. Wincing at the pain from the impact, she took a step backward.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going,” said an all too familiar voice. It was Locke.

  “Oh great,” Willow said. “Just what I needed. You again.”

  To her surprise, though, Locke didn’t respond with another jab. Instead, he seemed taken aback when he saw her tear-streaked face.

  “Whoa. What’s wrong with you?”

  Willow sighed, and tried to wipe at her tears. “Not that it matters much to you, but I found out last night that my father is alive. But Anjali and Sam don’t believe me.”

  Locke frowned. “How did you find that out? And why won’t they believe you?”

  “I went and talked to Clove. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but I did.”

  Locke shrugged. “Why would that sound crazy?”

  Willow managed the tiniest of smiles. For perhaps the first time since she’d met Locke, she didn’t entirely hate him. “After you told me that dragons can feel their partners, I wondered if Clove could feel my father, since he was my father’s dragon. I went and asked him if my dad was still alive, and he nodded yes.”

  To Willow’s surprise, Locke burst out into laughter. Willow glared at him, her brief moment of not hating him completely gone. “It’s not funny! It’s true. He really told me that. I thought you of all people would believe me, since you’re the one who told me that dragons could feel their partners.”

  It took Locke a moment to be able to control his laughter long enough to speak. “Oh, I believe you alright. What I can’t believe is that you thought you could just waltz up to Anjali and Sam and expect them to believe you.”

  Willow kept glaring at him. She still didn’t see what was so funny about all of this.

  “I tried to tell you, Willow. That’s all ancient magic. The newer Dragon Heart leaders don’t believe in it. They think it’s all a bunch of hocus-pocus, no pun intended. I’m actually surprised your dad managed to make a connection like that with his dragon, since he doesn’t come from a wizarding background at all. But I guess it makes sense. If his magic was as powerful as everyone said it was, then he would have to have been open-minded and tried some of the ancient magical methods.”

  “Is,” Willow said. “His magic is powerful. You’re talking about him in past tense like he’s dead. But according to Clove, he’s not.”

  Locke managed to look mildly apologetic. “Right. Well, anyway, you get my point. The staff here definitely doesn’t believe in all of that stuff. I probably shouldn’t have even told you about it in the first place.”

  “Why not?”

  Locke laughed. “Because, I’m planning to use the old magical methods to outshine all of you on our practice mission and get the Golden Dragon Heart Award. I don’t want you to jump in and use those methods, too. Of course, I’m not really worried. You can’t even handle modern magic spells, so there’s pretty much no chance of you mastering the ancient ones.”

  With that, Locke burst into laughter again, and then took off down the hallway. “Toodles, Willow. See you at the dragon stables. I can’t wait to see which dragon picks me. Whichever one it is, it’s sure to be the best one.”

  Willow watched Locke walk away, feeling defeated. She didn’t care much which dragon picked him. All the dragons were great, so everyone was sure to get a good match. But she did care about what he’d said about ancient magic.

  If it was true that no one in Dragon Heart leadership was going to believe her, then she was back at square one. How could she find her father on her own, when she had no leads and no resources? All she had was the assurance of one dragon that he was still alive.

  Feeling lonelier than ever, Willow turned to start the long walk to the dragon stables. At least, before this day was done, Cayenne would officially be hers. Willow already loved the giant beast, and could hardly wait to be able to spend more time with her without raising Sam’s ire.

  Still, as Willow walked outside, she wasn’t sure that even the dragon choosing ceremony would be able to cheer her up.

  Chapter Twenty

  Willow wasn’t sure what she had been expecting for the dragon choosing ceremony, but it certainly hadn’t been this. The dragons had all been dressed up for the occasion, with sparkling headdresses and shimmering saddles. Cara, in a know-it-all tone that rivaled Locke’s, explained to all of them that the saddles and headdresses were only worn for special occasions, and
that the Dragon Heart Agents would normally be expected to ride their dragons bareback.

  Willow wasn’t surprised by this news, since all of the photos and video footage she’d seen of Dragon Heart Agents in action showed the agents riding without saddles. She had to admit, she would have preferred a saddle, or something to hold onto, at least. The dragons were huge, and they flew so high. Willow tried not to think about the possibility of falling off.

  The biggest surprise of all wasn’t the festively decorated dragons, though. It was the special visitors who had shown up for the ceremony. Headmaster Damon was here, and Willow supposed she couldn’t blame him for wanting to be part of this flashy event. But Mandie Reeve, a high-ranking official from the very tops of Dragon Heart leadership had also shown up. Locke alternated between trying to suck up to Mandie and teasing Willow that she should go tell Mandie that Clove had talked to her.

  Willow only glared at Locke, although she couldn’t say she wasn’t tempted by the idea. Even if Mandie laughed her off like Sam and Anjali had done, wasn’t it at least worth a shot? But it didn’t matter much whether Willow wanted to talk to Mandie or not. The ceremony was so structured and busy that there was no time for small talk with anyone in charge.

  Sam had brought all of the dragons out into the big clearing by the dragon stables, where the ceremony was taking place. Willow was happy to see that Clove was participating in the ceremony. He and Anjali’s dragon, Jade, stood together at the end of the dragon line since they already had partners. They still seemed excited for the day’s festivities, though.

  Willow barely listened as Mandie droned on and on about the importance of dragons to the Dragon Heart Program, and about how dragon-wizard teams had saved the lives of many government officials and civilians alike. Willow knew she should pay more attention, but watching the dragons was far more interesting than listening to Mandie. Sam seemed to think so, too. He was standing by the dragons with a huge burlap sack, bouncing impatiently from one foot to another. Willow was sure the sack was filled with coconuts, and that Sam was itching to pass out the treats to his beloved dragons.

  Once Mandie was done talking, Headmaster Damon gave a lengthy speech as well. After him, Anjali took the podium. By then, Sam had decided he was done pretending to pay attention, and began passing out coconuts to the dragons. Sylvie, Locke, and Cara didn’t seem to have any attention left to give Anjali either, because they kept stealing glances at the dragons. Willow, however, was quite interested in what Anjali had to say. Willow hoped that somehow there would be some hint in Anjali’s speech that she was sorry for brushing off Willow’s words earlier today, or that perhaps ancient magic might still have a place in the modern world. But Anjali’s speech didn’t mention anything that could be vaguely construed as an apology, and Willow felt foolish for even hoping so. It was time to accept the truth. Willow was the only one here, other than perhaps Locke, who believed that her father was still alive. And even if Locke believed it, he didn’t seem to care much.

  Thankfully, when the speeches ended, things got much more interesting, and Willow could think about something other than her father for a while. Sam was going to give a demonstration of the dragons’ flying skills, and Anjali was going to help him. First, he reintroduced all of the dragons, which Willow was grateful for. It was easy to confuse all of the names, especially since they were all spice names. As he called out their names, they all gave demonstrations of their powers, filling the air with fire, acid, smoke, snow, ice and lightning. Even Locke seemed impressed as each dragon stepped forward. A thick, fresh snow had fallen the night before, but much of it melted under the breath of the fire-breathing dragons.

  “Pepper! Saffron! Cayenne! Yarrow! Nutmeg! Sage! Tarragon! Clove!”

  Willow’s heart filled with joy as Clove stepped forward and breathed a huge flurry of snow into the air. He seemed to be actually enjoying himself. Perhaps the fact that Willow had listened to him and believed him that her father was still alive had given him new hope. His headdress and saddle sparkled in the late afternoon sun as he stepped back into line with the other dragons, and then, the show began.

  Pepper knelt low so that Sam could climb on, and Sage did the same for Anjali. Then, with a shout from Sam, all of the dragons started flapping their giant wings and rising into the sky. They formed two lines, with half the dragons behind Sam and Pepper, and the other half behind Anjali and Sage. The dragons weaved up and down, in and out, going in huge circles, taking swooping dives, and then shooting upward again as fast as they could. The spectacle reminded Willow somewhat of an air show, and halfway through she realized that her mouth was hanging open in amazement. Even the ever-skeptical Cara was squealing and pointing as Sam put the dragons through their paces.

  “Can you believe we’re going to learn how to ride them like that?” Sylvie asked, leaning over to whisper in Willow’s ear. Willow could only shake her head. The idea of being so high up on such a fast-flying animal was both terrifying and exhilarating. Willow wondered how her mother would feel if she knew what kind of boarding school Willow was really attending.

  Much sooner than Willow would have liked, the demonstration came to an end. Willow could have watched the magnificent beasts swooping through the sky forever, but now the choosing portion of the ceremony had arrived. The dragons landed and once again formed a line. Then, Mandie stepped forward. As the highest ranking officer, she would perform the magic spell necessary to bind each dragon to its chosen trainee.

  Cara was chosen to go first, and she stepped forward with much more confidence than she usually showed. Perhaps the courage ring was having an effect on her after all. Or maybe she was just pleased at the chance to go first. Cara always thought that, since she came from the longest line of Dragon Hearts, that she deserved first pick of everything. She and Locke occasionally came to blows over this, but for the most part they were friends—allies who bonded over the fact that they were the only “true” Dragon Hearts in the program. Sylvie’s family, like Willow’s mom, didn’t even know about the Dragon Heart Program or that magic existed.

  Willow turned her attention back to Cara, who was standing proudly beside Mandie in front of the line of dragons. Cara, like the rest of the trainees, was wearing her Dragon Heart Uniform. The snug black fabric showed off Cara’s perfect figure quite well, and the smooth black boots not only protected her feet from the snow, but also would make good riding boots when she finally climbed atop her dragon.

  There wouldn’t be any riding today, though, which was perhaps another reason Cara looked so confident. Today was only the choosing. Once everyone officially had a dragon, there would be a celebratory feast. The real work of learning to ride and fight with a dragon would begin next week.

  Mandie raised her magic ring and held it above Cara’s head. Then, in a loud voice, she called out. “Honored Dragons, here stands Cara Moss of the Dragon Hearts. Which of you will take her as your rider?”

  The dragons looked back and forth amongst themselves, and then seemed to somehow make a decision.

  “The idea that dragons can’t communicate is a bunch of baloney,” Willow whispered to Sylvie. “Did you see how they all looked at each other? It’s like they were discussing which of them would take Cara.”

  Anjali turned to give Willow a sharp look, silencing her. Willow was too far away for Anjali to have actually heard what she said, but the hissing of her whispers must have been loud enough to catch Anjali’s attention. Still, as soon as Anjali turned back around, Sylvie nodded at Willow and mouthed, “You’re right.”

  Meanwhile, one of the dragons had begun to step forward toward Cara. The dark brown beast came and stood right in front of Cara, then bent its head low to nuzzle Cara’s face.

  “This is Nutmeg,” Sam announced. “She’s a strong, swift dragon, and can breathe acid. But don’t let that fool you. Just like the spice she’s named after, she can be delicate and sweet. A perfect match for Cara.”

  Willow tried to hold back a snort of laughter. C
ara struck her as more the acid type than the sweet type. But this was Cara’s moment of glory, and Willow didn’t want to be rude. Cara reached up to pet Nutmeg, while Mandie spoke out the words of the magic spell that would bind the two together as partners in magic. Nutmeg and Cara went to stand to the side, and Locke was called forward next. He stood as proudly as ever as Mandie called out to the dragons.

  “Honored Dragons, here stands Locke Nash of the Dragon Hearts. Which of you will take him as your rider?”

  Again, the dragons seemed to consult with themselves. This time, the dragon that stepped forward was a burnt orange color. The dragon came to stand in front of Locke and bowed. Locke returned the bow, which somewhat impressed Willow. She hadn’t thought he had it in him to bow to anyone, not even a dragon. Sam again stepped forward to announce the dragon.

  “This is Yarrow. A strong dragon who breathes fire, and has already saved lives when the dragon training camp was attacked a few decades ago.”

  “A few decades ago?” Sylvie whispered to Willow. “How old are these dragons?”

  Willow shrugged. “Old. They live hundreds of years, if Locke knows what he’s talking about.”

  Anjali glared at them again, and once again Willow fell silent as Sam continued his introduction of Yarrow.

  “Yarrow is known to many Native Americans as ‘life medicine,’ an appropriate name for a dragon who has already proven his ability to serve and protect. An excellent match for the noble Locke.”

  Locke reached up to pet Yarrow as Mandie spoke the magic spell to bind them. Sylvie was called up next. Willow stood alone now, and couldn’t help but wonder if the fact that she was being chosen last was meant as some sort of dig at her for trying to convince Sam and Anjali that Clove had told her that her father was alive. But Willow did her best to push away the annoyance that tried to creep in. This was Sylvie’s special moment to be chosen by a dragon, and Willow wanted to concentrate on being happy for her friend rather than angry at her instructors.