The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 5

The rest of the afternoon passed by slowly, a blur between school and James’s eyes, and Sara went home. Sara had trouble sleeping that night. Every time she attempted to fall asleep, she saw the face of the man oozing blackness. He couldn’t seem to leave her alone these days. Sara finally concluded that she wasn’t going to get to sleep, and went to get a midnight snack around four in the morning.

Sitting at the table eating, Sara fell into a half-doze, not asleep, but not fully awake, either. Sara got up, and went to her room. She might as well try to get to sleep one more time.

Five minutes later, Sara was asleep. Her dreams were of the man oozing black reaching out to get her. Sara wanted to scream. Right before she woke up, Sara saw a cave. It wasn’t evil, Sara could tell that much. It gave Sara the same feeling she got whenever James was around. It even seemed to be inviting her, telling her to come. The cave was surrounded by blossoming trees that Sara had never seen before. Sara took one step toward the opening, and woke up, a mixture of sadness and disappointment filling her.

Sara lay in bed for a few seconds, wondering about the dream, then got out of bed. Sara instantly regretted it. She was stiff from changing positions last night, and she didn’t feel rested. Sara skipped breakfast altogether, still feeling full from her late snack, which had ended up being a little larger than the average snack.

At lunch, Sara waited for James to come sit by her. She was getting used to him, but not quite his eyes. She didn’t think she could ever look at his eyes and not want to lose herself in them. “You like the mountains?” he asked her when he finally sat down next to her.

“Yeah, why?” Sara asked while peeling an orange.

“Some friends and I are going hiking tomorrow, and I thought you might want to come along.”

“I thought you said you didn’t have friends.”

“I said I wasn’t great at making friends. I have friends.” James smiled slightly, almost as if he wanted to laugh at her but was trying not to.

“Oh. Sure. What time?” Sara didn’t need to check her schedule. Everything was open.

“Right after school. Need a ride?”

“Um, no. I’ll just meet you at the trail.”

“Sounds great. I know a great spot you will definitely want to see.” James’s eyes lit up, as if he was genuinely excited to show her. . .whatever he was going to show her.

“What is it?” Sara asked, smiling. James’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“It’s a surprise.” James said. Although Sara reminded herself over and over that she had just met James, she felt like she could trust him. His eyes were sincere, and each time she had been around him, she felt safe.

After school, Sara told her mom that she would need the car tomorrow, and, as expected, her mom didn’t mind. Sara’s mom firmly believed that as long as Sara told her where she was going and what she was doing, Sara should have her freedom.

The next day, Sara woke up not feeling rested. She had had her usual dreams about the man oozing black, and had seen more glimpses of the cave. Sara poured a bowl of cereal, and after eating one bite, threw the rest away. She had lost her appetite just thinking about the dream.

Sara’s mom, who had witnessed the incident, looked at her daughter. “Has school been good lately?” she asked after some hesitation.

“Pretty much. Math still stinks, and things have been happening.” Sara said.

“What kind of things?” Sara’s mom said.

Sara was hesitant to answer. She was sure her mom wouldn’t believe her. After a few moments, she answered, “Nothing.” At that point she knew it sounded suspicious.

Sara, halfway out the door, peered over her shoulder and thought she saw the dishes doing themselves. She blinked, and they went back to normal. Sara had seen several curiosities such as this during her life, but no one believed her when she told anyone.

She rolled her eyes, and got into the family car. Sara’s mom had her own car, but she had also bought another car for Sara. The only drawback was that Sara had to pay for the insurance and gas, so Sara seldom drove, and more frequently took the bus. The day went by painfully slowly, and whenever Sara would look at the clock frequently. All the clocks in the school seemed to hate her, and wouldn’t tick any faster.

At lunch, James asked Sara between bites of a chicken sandwich, “You excited to go hiking today?”

“Yep,” Sara replied.

“Turns out my friends can’t make it. Do you still want to go?”

“Sure. It’ll be fun,” Sara said.

“Great,” James said, “The surprise is a little up the trail, so bring good hiking shoes.” Sara already had hers. She almost always wore sneakers, unless it was a special occasion and she wanted to look nice. A sudden thought hit her. “Have you ever lost control of your powers?” she asked.

James thought for a second. “Once, I was at a concert, and the music was so loud that I lit up the whole room. Everybody just thought that someone had turned the lights on.”

“What was the concert for?”

“Some rock band. I forgot the name after the concert ended.”

When school ended, Sara got into her car, and drove to the starting point in the trail.

The drive to the mountains was short and vibrant due to the trees’ leaves. Sara loved autumn. It was always never as long as she wanted, so she enjoyed the short season. When Sara saw the trail up ahead, she found a parking space, and walked up to James, who was waiting for her.

The hike wasn’t very challenging, just long. Sara and James talked a little, but for the most part were content to be out in nature. Squirrels and birds could be seen getting ready for winter, and the mountains towered over her. Nearby, a river rushed past them behind the trees, gurgling and crashing against the rocks.

About thirty minutes later, James said, “We’re almost there.” He pointed at a small trail going off into the trees. “We just have to go about five more minutes.”

As Sara hiked on the smaller trail, she sensed a lighter energy than the rest of the canyon. The trees and animals seemed more alive, and welcoming than the others. Sara could tell it affected James too. He started talking faster, more excitedly. His enthusiasm got to Sara, and she started talking more as well, laughing more, smiling more.

The trail ended abruptly, almost as if it wanted its hikers not to notice until they were thrown mercilessly from the smooth dirt onto the sticks, rocks, and mud. Sara almost crashed into a tree, but avoided it just in time. James took her hand, and led her over to some trees, blossoming out of season, the flowers blowing in a nonexistent breeze. James led her past the nature-defying trees, and stopped as the two were greeted by a cave. It was the one from her dreams.

Sara tried to hide her surprise, but she was sure some of it showed. She had never been great at hiding her emotions. “You wanted to show me a cave?”

“It’s a special cave. Magic,” James said, and, without waiting for a reply, went in. Curious, Sara followed him. Sara was sure this wasn’t like other caves, but she hadn’t been expecting the cave to be lit by glowing white crystals.

The cave was much more spacious than the outside had made it out to be. It seemed to stretch for miles, but was all one large chamber. As Sara looked, she could see James near a pool a little distance away. She went to join him.

The pool glowed just like the crystals. Its glow, however, was more of a light green color. The bottom was strewn liberally with gemstones. As Sara looked around, she noticed that the cave really was beautiful. The walls shined, and their glossy surface reflected the light given off by the crystals. Ribbons of gold and silver gracefully accented the sides of the cavern, swirling as if they were magic itself. Other than the ones in the pond, Sara couldn’t see many jewels, but the cave had other characteristics that took Sara’s breath away.

Everywhere, Sara could see glowing spheres of light, not much larger than a baseball. The small orbs varied in color, and floated in the air. Not only were the spheres floating, they were moving. A pink orb floated right up to Sara, hovered, and lazily floated away.

Sara, after getting over her shock, asked the question she knew James expected. “What is this place?”

“It’s a cave.”

“I know that. I mean, why are we here?”

“I don’t really know. My family showed me this cave, and I thought it was cool.”

“Your family knows about this?” Sara said. Now that she thought about it, it did seem pretty obvious. If James knew about magic, his family must too. Sara was surprised she hadn’t thought of it. She supposed part of it was because her mother didn't believe in magic.

“Of course,” James said indifferently.

“Does anyone else know about it?”

“Not really. As far as I know, we’re the only ones.”

Sara starred at her surroundings. “You said there was magic in this cave?” she asked.

“Yes.” James said, pointing to the floating orbs, then moving his finger down to the water. “The pool gives knowledge you may need in the future, the crystals can be ground up and used to heal any sickness, and the orbs here kill anyone with dark magic, unless they are really powerful. They’re full of something like poison to dark magic.”

“That seems helpful.”

James’s face darkened slightly. “My sister has dark magic. Those orbs could kill her if she ever came in here.”

“How come you know so much about this place?” Sara asked quickly, steering them both away from what seemed to be a forbidden topic. She made a mental note: James’s sister had dark magic.

“My dad found this place when he was hiking. The pool told him everything we know.” James stated, still seeming a little troubled by the thought of his sister’s magic.

“What do you mean?” Sara asked.

“I mean that the pool shows you visions.”

“Oh.” Sara said. She walked over to the pool.

James knew what she was thinking. “How badly do you need advice?” he asked.

“Pretty bad. A lot has happened lately.”

“Look into the pool, and it’ll show you what you need to know. I’ll meet you outside,” James said, leaving her to her thoughts, and her future.