The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 12

Sara’s mom burst into the room, wide eyed. She rushed over to Sara, assaulting her with questions. “What happened? Are you all right? I couldn’t get in. The door was stuck.”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Sara said, awkwardly hugging her mother. She looked around and saw that the dragons were gone. She would ask them about it later. “How long have I been asleep?”

Mom’s eyes were filled with concern as she answered, “Almost a month now.”

“What!” Sara exclaimed. “There’s no way I’m gonna make up all that schoolwork!”

“Is that really what your worried about right now?” Sara’s mom asked. “I was going out of my mind with worry!”

“It’s okay. I’m better now,” Sara said. “At least, I’m pretty sure.”

“What happened? I heard voices in your room.”

“Oh. That.” Sara looked at her mom. She decided to start small. “Do you believe in magic?” she asked.

Her mom hesitated, then said, “Yes.”

“That is what happened.” Sara would need a lot of time to explain things, and that was only if her mom believed her.

“Did people visit?” Sara asked her mom suddenly, “I thought I heard you talking with someone.”

“Yes. Some people named James and Cindy.”

“Cindy?”

“His mom,” Mom replied. “Don’t you think you should be resting?”

“I think I’ve rested enough,” Sara said.

Despite her mother’s protests, Sara spent the rest of the night eating ice cream and reading fantasy novels.

Making up all the work she had missed at school was difficult, but Sara soon discovered that the younger dragons were more than eager to test their knowledge by doing her work for her. After Sara told her what had happened, Cindy let Sara take a few days off from magic lessons. She didn’t ask any questions. Those days, Sara spent making up all the flying she had missed.

One time, Sara forgot to check where she landed, and landed right in front of the same little girl and her older sister. They looked at her like they were no longer surprised to see her. Sara smiled and waved. They waved back, and she walked inside.

Sara finally got around to having that talk with her mom about magic. It didn’t take much for Sara to notice that she had missed something while she had been in bed. Her mom seemed willing, even eager to accept the fact that magic did really exist and that Sara, along with herself, could use it. Sara learned that her mom had started rediscovering her magic at the same time that Sara had noticed hers.

Sara made sure to inform her mom that she wasn’t crazy. Her mom seemed willing to accept that, too. Two people both seeing the same things staggeringly reduced the chances of their both being crazy.

Sara tried not to think about it too much, but there was no denying that Drusk had stolen part of her life from her. She had been absent for so much. People’s lives had changed and she hadn’t been there to see it. Though she didn’t want to give Drusk the satisfaction, she would never forget him, because of what he had done. She was a month older, and could hardly tell the difference. But Sara would have to move on, because that was over now, and Drusk was gone. Drusk was gone.

After Sara’s short break, she started learning the more physical side of magic with Mrs. Robinson, or Cindy, as she liked to be called now. Sara had shifted into a dragon and back several times now, but hadn’t used the Dragon Stones much. She wore them every day, though.

“I wish I could meet dragons. There’s so much to learn from them,” Cindy said, looking at the necklace.

“Me too,” James said, popping out of nowhere. Sara jumped, then playfully glared at him.

“Did you do your homework?” Cindy asked James.

“Maybe,” James answered, smiling.

“I know some people who could do your homework,” Sara offered.

“Go do your homework, James,” Cindy said, then looked at her watch. “It’s getting late. Sara, you’d better go home. We can pick this up tomorrow.”

Sara flew home and went inside. She hadn’t planned on using the Dragon Stones, but the blue rocks glowed, calling to her. She needed to visit the dragons. In her room, Sara touched the necklace, and landed in the Dragons’ Cave.

The molten rock instantly warmed Sara, and she changed so she could absorb it more. Her green scales seemed orange in the red light. She asked a nearby dragon, Where is Flame? On one of her visits, Sara had found out that the brown dragon’s name was Flame, the red one’s Smolder, and the purple one’s Amethyst. Dragons were either named after the color of their scales, or the most common power for dragons: fire.

The dragon responded, He is over there. He looked over to one of the many caverns in the cave.

Sara turned, and walked over to the cave. Amethyst met her there, along with Flame and Smolder.

Hello, Sara, Smolder said.

Hi. Sara said. She turned to Flame. I’ve been meaning to ask you something. She said. In my room, you called Drusk, the man in my room Aevill. Why did you call him that?

Flame looked at her. His eyes were so full of wisdom that Sara couldn’t even begin to guess how much this dragon knew. He had lived for thousands of years, after all. Aevill was a dark mage that hated the dragons. Over time, he became so powerful that he killed all of us. Smolder was killed the same way Drusk tried to kill you.

So, was Aevill possessing Drusk or something?

In a way. Drusk must have admired Aevill at some point in time, until he became Aevill’s slave.

Why would Aevill want the Dragon Stones? Isn’t he powerful enough?

Aevill dreams of conquering the universe. As powerful as he is, he still needs the aid of the Dragons to triumph.

What does the word Aevill mean? Sara asked.

Did you prepare these questions ahead of time?

Yes.

Very well then. Aevill is the dragon word for Evil.

Aevill. Evil. Sara tested out the words. They do sound alike.

Yes. They do.

Shortly after that, Sara said goodbye, feeling content that her questions were answered.

The next day at lunch, Sara stepped into the lunch room, holding the bag that held her lunch. As she walked over to her regular table, she saw James. They both started eating their lunch, talking a little. “I heard there’s a new student today,” James said.

A few minutes later, someone came and sat next to Sara. When she looked up, Sara saw that it was the girl who had seen her change, several times. “Hi,” James said.

“Hi,” Sara said, trying to act normal.

“Hey, I’m Aspen.” Aspen had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was quiet, and obviously more than a little uncomfortable.

The conversation started out slow, but soon Aspen warmed up to Sara and James. During the middle of their conversation, Victoria sat down next to Sara. Her makeup was ruined, and her mascara was running. “Can I sit here today?” Victoria asked her. Her voice was small, broken.

Sara felt genuinely sorry for her, even though she had no idea what had happened. “Sure. What happened?”

“They’re jerks,” was all Victoria said. Sara didn’t press.

When lunch break was over, Aspen asked quietly, “Could I sit here tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Sara didn’t have to think.

Shyly, not knowing how she would be received, Victoria asked the same question. After a brief pause, Sara said, “Sure.”

“Great,” Aspen said. She looked around nervously, then closed her eyes. Some flowers suddenly appeared in front of Sara and James.

“Did you do that?” James asked her.

Aspen nodded.

“What was that?” Victoria asked, looking shocked.

“Magic,” James replied.

“You could see that?” Sara asked. Victoria nodded.

“That’s awesome,” Sara said. She focused, and changed into her other form. She saw James glowing.

“Don’t,” Aspen said, looking around. “What if someone sees?”

“They won’t. People see what they want to see,” Sara said confidently as she changed back.

“That’s good, I guess.” Aspen looked down at her schedule. “I think my next class is art.”

James and Sara exchanged a glance. “We’ll walk you over,” Sara said. “We have that same class anyway.”

The next day, Sara asked Victoria, who seemed to have recovered from the day before, “How could you see magic yesterday?”

“I don’t know,” Victoria answered. “I’ve always seen it, I guess.”

“Can you use magic?” Sara asked.

“I don’t think so.”

The group of people Sara sat with at lunch was getting more and more unusual. They had a music magician, a garden magician, a human that could see magic, and a guardian of the Dragon Stones. That night, Sara quickly visited the Dragons. Flame expressed a desire to meet Sara’s friends. Can I bring other people to meet you? Sara asked.

Only if they can not harm us. I think it would be wiser if you were to bring us across, Smolder answered.

At lunch break, the next day, Sara said to her friends, “I have some dragons I want you to meet.” She touched a Dragon Stone, and whispered, “Bring three dragons across.” It was convenient that the Dragon Stones understood English.

After a blinding flash of light, three dragons stood before her. “Guys, I want you to meet Flame, Smolder, and Amethyst.”

That night, Sara lay on her bed, seeing a bright smile, an orange shirt, and light blue eyes. James had told her to replace the calm within herself, but Sara doubted how much she would need that now. She finally had friends now, real friends. She had powers she had never heard of, and she and her mother finally had a good relationship. They had no more secrets.

Drusk was gone, for good. The dragons had killed him. At the thought, Sara felt some closure, like she could finally let her dad go. Sara didn’t know how she knew, but she did. Somehow, she knew that her father would be in her dreams no longer, and Drusk wasn’t going to haunt them.

Sara closed her eyes, and smiled. And James wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

Book Two: The Shadow Stones