The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 25

Sara watched James, who obviously was thinking of the same thing she was. If this tunnel was half as bad as the shadow portal, neither of them wanted to travel by using it. James glanced at Aubrynn, then seemed to draw strength from somewhere. He straightened his shoulders, then ran into the light tunnel.

Sara felt a wave of jealousy, but quickly fought it down. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t looked to her for courage. At least, that was what she told herself. The outside of the tunnel opened enough to let James through, folding away from him like two pieces of fabric. He stood inside the tube for a moment, then shot up without warning. Sara couldn’t help but smile when she heard him screaming. Sara could feel his exhilaration, and knew he wasn’t hurt.

Aubrynn looked at Sara. “You go next. I’ll come after you, and close the tunnel behind me.”

Sara nodded. “Okay.” She did as James had done, charging at the tunnel. The tunnel opened again, and like James, Sara shot straight up.

As she flew upward, Sara felt like she was flying through a rainbow. The tunnel reflected the sunlight, sparkling with many colors of different shades. Sara passed a flash of blue. The Dragon Stones glowed in response.

The diamond tunnel seemed to have no end, but it didn’t matter to Sara. This whole creation was a work of art. Sara passed a brilliant display of reds, greens, and blues, and couldn’t help exclaiming “Wow!” to herself.

The tunnel got brighter and brighter, until Sara had to shield her eyes. The colors got lighter as she went as well, until the tunnel was a bright, pure white. Sara’s eyes watered from the light, until she had to close them. Even behind her eyelids, she could tell the tunnel was getting brighter. When Sara couldn’t bear another moment in the tunnel, the ascent abruptly halted.

Sara kept her eyes closed, waiting for the queasiness to come, as it had after taking the shadow portal. When she didn’t feel sick, Sara realized why. When she had taken the shadow portal, she had hated every moment of it. The magic felt wrong, and she had felt sick even before the journey ended. Through the light tunnel, Sara had felt nothing but wonder and a certain thrill.

Content that she would not be sick, Sara opened her eyes and looked around. She was in what looked like a hotel, an expensive one. The walls were decorated ornately with paintings, and the carpet was softer than any she had ever experienced. The room she was in was well lit, and when Sara looked up, she found out why. The entire ceiling was made of glass.

The room was full of people, none of whom seemed to care that a teenage girl had randomly appeared in their midst. Sara strained her eyes for James, and after some effort, located him near a small tree, which looked perfectly real. Next to him stood Aubrynn, and Sara felt another small twinge of jealousy when he laughed at something she said.

Sara pushed down the feeling. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if she felt jealous over every little thing involving James.

Sara took a deep breath, then pushed through people until she reached James and Aubrynn. Aubrynn smiled when she saw Sara. “Your rooms are ready,” she said. “I can take you there, if you like.”

“Sure, that would be great,” Sara said. She couldn’t help comparing herself with the other young woman. Aubrynn had beautiful, wavy red hair, and sparkling crystal eyes. Even her freckles had a certain elegance about them. With a sinking feeling, Sara realized that she wasn’t anywhere near Aubrynn in the beauty department.

Aubrynn smiled, and said, “Follow me.” They passed through a series of hallways, made completely out of glass, lighting their way easily. Sara looked outside, and saw that they were right next to what looked like a park, full of trees with pink, lavender, and blue blossoms. Even though the surroundings were pretty, even magical, every time Sara glanced over at James she almost always found his gaze on Aubrynn.

The halls turned back into regular walls, and Aubrynn stopped in front of two white and gold doors. “These two rooms are yours. My mom is pretty busy, so she’ll see you when she gets the chance. Let me know if you want to go to the city or something.”

“Your mom?” James asked.

Aubrynn nodded. “Yeah. Queen Alva’s my mother.” She looked down at a watch on her wrist, then said, “I’d better go. See you later.” Aubrynn turned and walked back the way they had come, her red hair swishing behind her.

Sara watched her go. Aubrynn seemed nice enough, but Sara wasn’t sure how she felt about her. James cleared his throat, and Sara turned to look at him. Sara’s heart did a strange fluttering motion, and Sara told it to stop. Crushes didn’t make girls feel like this, even when other girls were involved.

Sara halted her current train of thought by focusing on what James was saying. “So. . .should we go inside?” James asked.

Sara pushed down more thoughts of James and Aubrynn and quickly said, “Yes. Let’s.” She turned the door’s golden handle, and forgot to breathe when she saw the inside.

Aubrynn had grossly misspoken when she had said rooms. What Sara saw was a suite, large enough to be an entire house. Like the rest of the hotel, it was expensive, yet tastefully decorated. Just as the hotel’s theme seemed to be glass, an entire wall made of glass faced a balcony and grove of pink flowery trees. Beyond that, was a blue green lake, with several boats on it that Sara could see.

Sara stepped into the room. There was a living area, with a coffee table and furniture, all following the same white and gold theme. Sara walked past that and turned a corner. She faced a white and gold kitchen, and beyond that, a white and gold bed. Sara focused on the kitchen, and walked toward the fridge. She opened it, and saw that it was full of food, all kinds she loved.

Sara suddenly felt dizzy, and fought the urge to throw up. She took deep, gasping breaths. She heard James say, “Sara!” as everything went black.

Sara woke up on the bed she had seen earlier. James was sitting on a nearby chair, watching her with concern. “Household magic,” Sara said, explaining.

James nodded. “I recognized it too.”

Sara looked away as her eyes filled with tears. She had tried not to think of her mom for some time now, and had succeeded for the most part. There had always been more urgent things to think about. The Stone, Aevill, her and James’s recent connection. Sara had worked extra hard not to think of her mom, and how suddenly she had died.

At first, Sara and James had planned on going after the Shadow Stones, magical objects that Aevill used to control dark magicians against their will. Drana, James’s sister who had dark magic, had been forced to attack Sara and James. During their last fight against Drana, Sara’s mom had been caught in the middle of it.

Sara didn’t know exactly what had happened, but James told her she didn’t want to know. What she did know, was that her mother was dead.

Sara buried her face in the pillow, and cried. Although she had cried rivers when her mother had first died, the pain was still as fresh as it had been then.

James sat there silently, letting her cry. After a few minutes, he started humming a song, and Sara felt both calm, which certainly came from the spell, and surprise, which she knew was not her own.

The connection was definitely growing stronger. She was feeling James’s emotions more and more now, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Sara lifted her head off of the pillow, and turned to look at James, even though she knew that her face was red and blotchy from crying.

James’s spell had taken full effect now, and Sara felt completely calm. She could think of her deceased mother without crying. Realizing how bad she probably looked, Sara apologized. “Sorry,” she said, trying to smile. She pushed some stray hairs out of her face.

“For what?” James asked, looking genuinely confused.

“For crying, I guess.” Sara smiled at what she was saying.

James looked at her. “There’s nothing wrong with crying. We all feel things from time to time,” he said.

Sara looked at James, surprised at what he had just said. She had always known James to be smart and kind, but she had never before thought of him as wise. That was a quality she had always associated with dragons, not people.

On an impulse, Sara got off the bed and hugged him. After a second, he hugged her back. Sara pulled away and said, “Thanks for being such a good friend.” She tried not to think of if they would ever be more. First they had to get through this war with Aevill.

James smiled. “No problem.”

There was a brief silence, and Sara felt like she needed to say something. “What do you know about queen Alva?” she asked.

James shook his head. “Honestly, I’d never even heard of her before Aubrynn told me about her.”

“So how could she be the queen of magicians if no one’s heard of her?”

James thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe only a few obey her, and they think of her as their queen. Either way, we’ll replace out soon.”

The white room took on a pinkish color, then turned dark along with the sky outside in a matter of seconds. Sara’s vision took on a greenish tinge, but even through it she could see James’s glowing green eyes, exactly the same as hers.

“Aubrynn said that time works differently here,” James said. He paused for a moment. “Where do you think we are?” he asked her.

Sara shrugged. “We can ask her later.” The Dragon Stones glowed, lighting up the room and giving it a bluish color. Sara glanced at James, and he nodded, knowing exactly what she was asking. “Go ahead,” he said.

Sara smiled, then touched a Dragon Stone. The first thing she saw as she entered the Dragon Cave was Flame. His bronze scales and amber eyes were easy to discern from the other dragons’ bright colors.

Hello Sara. His tail waved back and forth, a sign of impatience.

Hi. Sara said as she shifted into a dragon. The tail hadn’t stopped moving.

Where were you before you answered our call? Flame asked.

James and I actually don’t know. A girl named Aubrynn found us and said some queen wanted to see us. We went through a light tunnel. Why?

Sara could feel the uneasiness among the dragons. So you’re in the Light Kingdom. Flame said. For many years, the Light Kingdom was among the dragons’ largest allies. It still claims to be.

So what’s wrong with it? Sara asked.

Just be careful.

Sensing that that was all the dragons wanted to say, Sara changed back into a human and touched a Dragon Stone. She closed her eyes and tried to understand what the dragons had told her. If they were in the territory of one of the dragons’ largest allies, why did she need to be careful?

Sara opened her eyes and found herself in the same room she had left. James sat in the same chair he had been in before, only this time he was reading a book. Sara didn’t recognize the title. James looked up when he saw the Dragon Stones’ trademark blue flash of light.

“So what did the dragons say?” he asked her.

Sara shrugged. “Not much. They wanted to know where we were. When I told them, what I knew, they said we were in a Light Kingdom. Have you heard of it?” James shook his head, and Sara continued, “After that, all they said was to be careful.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that,” James said.

Sara glanced out the window that took up an entire wall. It was so dark that she couldn’t see anything. Sara shuddered involuntarily. The dark always unnerved her.

James saw where she was looking, and said, “You know, it’s getting late. You should probably get to bed.” When Sara didn’t move, he said, “Or you could read. There’s a bookshelf over there. It can get you any book.”

“More household magic?” Sara tried to keep her voice calm, but it still cracked at the end of the sentence.

James nodded. His glowing eyes widened as he realized what he had done. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

Sara shook her head. “No. It’s fine.” She knew she was lying, but she couldn’t cry about her mother forever. She needed to get on with her life. She changed the subject to something safer, something that they had discussed so many times that Sara had stopped counting. “So where do you think the Stone is?”

James sighed, and Sara knew that he was as tired of the subject as she was. Outside, the sun rose faster than Sara had ever seen before, and within seconds the room was full of the bright light. Sara looked at James. “I wasn’t in the Dragon Cave that long, was I?”

James shook his head. “You were barely gone for five minutes.”

Sara looked out the window again. The light outside was a far cry from the blackness she had seen seconds ago. Sara looked over at James, and saw that his eyes no longer glowed, though they hadn’t lost their bright green color.

Sara heard a knock on the door, and after a moment Aubrynn entered. She fit in perfectly with the hotel’s theme wearing a soft white and gold dress, and her red hair seemed to glow.

Aubrynn took in the scene of James sitting reading a book, and Sara standing near the glass wall. “Didn’t you two sleep?” she asked them.

Sara and James both shook their heads. James asked, “Do all your nights last five, ten minutes?”

Aubrynn shook her head. “Sometimes they last the-” she made finger quotes in the air. “‘Normal’ amount of time, sometimes weeks, and once we had one for a whole year. What I normally do is sleep when it’s dark, and wake when it gets light.”

“That must get annoying,” Sara said, thinking about the five minute night.

“Not really.” Aubrynn looked at them suddenly. “Mom will probably be able to talk to you sometime in the afternoon, but it could be a little later. I know how boring this place can be, and was wondering if you wanted to come to town with me.”

Sara looked around the hotel room, and could think of many words to describe it, boring being none of them, but she appreciated Aubrynn’s offer. “Sure,” she said, smiling. “That would be great.”

“Awesome. When you two are ready, just go through the tunnel.” Aubrynn pointed to a place in front of the glass wall, near where Sara was. Just as it had yesterday, the light tunnel appeared, sparkling like it was made of diamond. Aubrynn walked toward it, then paused. “I’ll meet you guys there,” she said. Aubrynn walked into the tunnel, then shot up, just as they had done in the tunnel yesterday.

James closed the book he was reading, then yawned. “You ready to go?” he asked her.

“Hold on a second.” Sara raced to the suite’s bathroom, and looked in the mirror. For the most part, she looked fine, but her eyes had a slight redness to them that said she had been crying. After splashing water on her face and quickly brushing her hair, Sara deemed herself ‘good enough’ and walked back into the living area where James was waiting.

“Let’s go,” Sara said. She ran at the tunnel, and after a short trip, was back on the ground. Sara looked around.

At first, Sara wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Houses of every style era were crammed next to each other on every street. People drove various vehicles, including carriages, cars from every year, airplanes, helicopters, trains, and- Sara’s eyes widened- a UFO. James landed with a thud behind her. Sara glanced back at him to see his eyes wide with wonder. “Wow,” he whispered, and Sara completely agreed.

Over every house, there was a different type of weather. Over some, it was snowing, others had tornadoes, and some had clear weather. Sara had never given much thought to how many magical creatures there were, but in this place, millions could live comfortably and with plenty of space. Sara saw people who looked normal, like her and James, and others that were more exotic. A little girl raced past Sara, her blonde hair trailing behind her. The girl sang something, and she leaped up into the air in front of James. James ducked when the girl narrowly missed kicking him in the face. Sara laughed at James’s surprised expression.

A river rushed past Sara where there had previously been dry ground. Sara looked into the clear blue water and was surprised to see a face there. It looked like a boy’s, around twelve or thirteen. The boy smiled, then waved as the river rushed past her. After a moment, the end of the river rushed past Sara, and the ground was dry again.

Sara heard Aubrynn’s voice behind her. “Pretty amazing, isn’t it? I’ve lived my whole life here, only leaving when I went to your world on some errand my mother send me on, like I was with you.”

They turned to see Aubrynn standing behind them, a dreamy expression on her face, and pride for her city. “Our world?” James asked.

Aubrynn looked at him, surprised. “Of course! The Light Kingdom is its own world. No dark magician has ever set foot here.” She smiled, and Sara though of how wonderful it would be, to not be constantly in danger of dark magic.

“Is there a Dark Kingdom?” Sara asked, and Aubrynn shrugged. “Maybe. Dark magic has been enjoying your world for a while, through.”

Aubrynn’s eyes brightened suddenly. “You guys have never been here before. The one thing you can’t miss is Tara’s bakery.” She grabbed Sara’s arm and dragged her down one of the streets. “It’s this way,” she said.

Aubrynn didn’t release Sara, and Sara had to be careful not to bump into anybody. The streets were crowded, so this was a nearly impossible feat. Sara managed to slam into as few people as possible, but behind her, Sara heard that James wasn’t having such luck. His voice stood out to her more than any of the other people’s. “Excuse me. Sorry. Sara! Aubrynn! Wait up!”

Sara stopped, but Aubrynn kept going. She turned back to see what Sara was doing, and crashed into a very tall, earthy creature that appeared to be covered in moss. James managed to fight his way through the crowd, and made his way over to Sara and Aubrynn.

“Thanks,” he said, panting slightly. “How much farther is this place?”

Aubrynn looked around, then pointed. “About one more block that way.”

Sara and James both groaned at the thought of fighting through more crowds for another block. Sara looked at James and asked, “Can’t you teleport us there?” she asked him.

James’s face reddened slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Aubrynn beat him to it. “It’s only one block. You guys can do it.” She and James exchanged a look, and Sara wondered what they knew that she didn’t.

Aubrynn walked past James and Sara. “Come on,” she said as she disappeared into the crowds. James and Sara followed her, pushing past all sorts of magical creatures. Sara looked up and saw Aubrynn’s shiny red hair ahead of them. Sara pointed at her. “That way,” she said to James as she tripped over something. She looked down to see a small person, about as tall as her knee. “Sorry,” she said to him. He only grunted and continued on his way.

Sara reached back and grabbed James. “Come on,” she said after looking ahead again and seeing that Aubrynn had stopped in front of a newer building. Sara and James fought their way through the crowds until they were able to see the house more clearly. In front, there was a small garden with the same creatures Sara had seen at Mr. Thompson’s house-florauna, he had called them. Just like before, the creatures looked like plants from the stem up, except for where the flower was. At the center of the flower were animal heads, with petals growing around them. The animal heads of these flowers seemed to mostly consist of cats and a few elephants.

Sara was so focused on the florauna that she almost didn’t notice the sign in front of the house that said, “Auntie Tara’s Bakery.” The building looked like a normal home, and Sara could smell the familiar scent of cooking. Aubrynn waited until James and Sara had caught up to her, then went inside, trusting that they would follow.

As Sara entered the house, the smell of cooking grew stronger. The inside was decorated in pink and white. Shelves lined the walls, each one full of pastries, cakes, and rolls. Several tables were in the bakery as well, each one with treats on it like the ones on the shelves. Sara stepped closer to a nearby shelf, and noticed that each treat was a different flavor. Some flavors were the same, but mostly each pastry was different. Sara started to examine them closer, but a distinctly feminine voice called out, “Aubrynn! Is that you?”

Sara turned to see a shorter woman dressed in pink to match her bakery walk toward Aubrynn with a huge smile on her face. “It’s been so long since you last came here!” she said.

Aubrynn smiled. “Hey Tara. I’ve been gone for a while. Sorry I couldn’t come by sooner.”

“That’s completely fine,” Tara said.

Aubrynn glanced at James and Sara, and said, “Tara, I’d like you to meet Sara and James. It’s their first time here.”

Tara looked at Sara. “I could have guessed that. All first timers have that same surprised look on their faces.” Tara looked closer at Sara’s eyes, then at James’s. “Are you two related?” she asked them.

“No,” Sara and James both said quickly. Sara looked at James, then thought of how she looked. Other than their eyes, they didn’t look at all alike, at least, not in any ways that Sara knew of.

“Oh. You both have the most beautiful eyes. I would have guessed that you were related. Oh well.” Tara looked at them. “Well, if this is your first time, help yourselves to anything you’d like.” Tara waved her hand around, gesturing at the pastries that were so plentiful that they had to be stacked on top of each other. “As you can see, I have plenty to spare.”

“Thanks,” Aubrynn said as she grabbed a cupcake. Sara looked at the treats on the shelves, and noticed that each one had a label, the letters formed with plenty of swirls and flourishes. She read some of the closest ones to her. TRUTH, HOPE, JOY, LOVE. Sara decided on the latter. James grabbed the one next to it, and asked Tara, “So, why do they have these labels?” He bit into the muffin he was holding.

“Oh!” Tara said. “I have cooking magic. I can use magic on certain foods to make the consumer feel a certain way. Others stronger than me could make someone act differently than they normally would have, but I am not that powerful. What did you choose?” she asked Sara. When she saw the label, she exclaimed, “Oh! That always was a favorite of mine. Those will make you fall in love with the closest boy to you. Or, if you were a boy, the closest girl.” Sara choked on the bite of ‘love’ pastry she was eating.

James choked on what he was eating as well. “Do all of your foods have magic in them?” he asked, his voice sounding a little strained.

“Of course!” Tara said. “My foods would be quite boring had it been otherwise.” She walked over and checked the label on his food. “Honesty.” Tara looked up at James. “Good choice. That one always keeps me from telling a lie, whether I know it or not.”

James glanced at Sara, then asked carefully, “How strong is it?”

Tara smiled. “Not very strong. You need to eat the whole thing.” Sara let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She glanced at James. Were his emotions affecting her now? It made sense, that if she felt them long enough they would.

Trying to ignore James’s emotions, Sara focused on him. That ended up being a mistake. His light hair sparkled in the sunlight that streamed perfectly through the front of the store. James’s smile, which almost always seemed to be on his face, could make any situation seem cheerful. His eyes, though Sara was still a bit unused to their new color, were quickly growing on her. James laughed at something Tara said, and Sara felt like she could easily lose herself in the sound. His eyes met hers, and Sara had to remind herself to breathe.

Sara realized with a start that James was the closest person to her. She looked down at the food she had eaten part of, and realized why she was feeling this way. She had ingested some of Tara’s love potion. Sara let out a sigh of relief. That had to be it. The other idea was just too impossible.

Feeling calmer, Sara rejoined the conversation with James, Aubrynn, and Tara. Tara took them to the back of the bakery, where all of the treats were made daily. Sara watched magicians, all with cooking magic, as Tara had explained, make sweets that each had something extra baked into them. The magicians would make sweets as they normally would, then, just before they went in the oven, would put different colors of magic into the foods.

Sara felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning, she saw a young boy. With his light hair and eyes, he reminded her of a younger version of James. Shyly, the boy offered her a miniature cake. “Here. It’s my very first one. Try it,” he said proudly.

When Sara hesitated, the boy added, “Please.”

Sara looked down at the kid and smiled. She accepted the food, then did as the boy had told her. She tried it.

The food tasted awful, but Sara succeeded at swallowing the first bite. The boy looked up at her hopefully. “It’s good,” she said, lying through a fake smile and hoping it looked real.

“Good,” the boy said. He turned and ran off.

Sara watched him go, until she felt pain attack her from the inside. Sara gasped, struggling for breath. Her legs gave out. She felt like she was being stabbed from all directions. Waves of fear, panic, and despair crashed into her. Sara felt hot pain consume her. She screamed, and was grateful when her vision started to blacken. Before she passed out, Sara heard James say her name.