The Crystal Dragon Series Collection Read online

  Nathan looks a little frustrated at this long explanation, but he stays calm and pants, “Okay… fine. Teach us… what we have… to know.”

  “We’ll get to that,” he replies, a knowing twinkle in his stormy eyes. “For now though, please go ahead and ask away at any other questions on your mind. I will do my best to answer them.”

  I already have a question on my mind. Quite a few, actually. So I start with the simplest one. “How many… Challenges… are there?” The pain in my legs is starting to drive me to distraction, but I know that I must know everything I can, so I don’t waste time crying over the pain that intensifies with each step, but listen to Thaddeus instead.

  “Hmm… since this is only the second year we have done this, we aren’t entirely sure. It will depend on how long it takes for all but one team to drop out- either voluntarily after one team wins three Challenges in a row, or from injuries too severe for them to continue. Last year it took almost an entire year to finally have a winning team. We went through a lot of Challenges then- about one every week or two, but some lasted about that long as well. This year, we are mostly planning them as we go, but we have a rough idea of what is coming. So far, we have begun planning for about twenty… but again, we don’t finalize anything until we know that there is a need for another one. I’ll tell you this much, however,” he says with a knowing glint in his eyes. “I personally don’t think it will take that long this time. They’re all much more dangerous since Vlad is in charge- for the most part- this year. Now that’s all you’re getting out of me about that!”

  Now it’s Nathan’s turn to ask a question. “What… happens… after each… Challenge… when you win… or lose? And how do you… win… or lose?”

  “Well, each Challenge has a goal. It may be to find or kill a specific creature, defeat someone of your choice in a skill, which can be riddles, flying, fighting… anything that involves any of the Gifts. I would advise you to pick one to work on that you either know is your Gift or you have a feeling about so you can develop it fully. There could be many goals to accomplish, which is why I need to train you both at the same time in the skills you will both need to work on while Vlad works on you both individually to work on your major weaknesses. Although today will just be to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are.

  “After each Challenge, the top three teams receive prizes, and everyone resumes training for the next Challenge. So all those involved in the Games will not be disturbed by the observers, we have microscopic cameras set around the arena. I can’t tell you what the prizes will be- I don’t know myself anyway. …Any other questions?”

  “Yes,” I say. “What will I… be doing… while Nathan is… with Vlad? Can I… go and… watch?”

  “No!” Thaddeus gasps, shocked by the mere suggestion. He’s so surprised, in fact, that he stops climbing. I sigh in relief. He stares at me with concern. “Heavens, no! That’s why we train you each individually as well- the pressure from another person will affect the test. It is also just in case you have some special talents that you may want to hide, in case you have to fight one another in a Challenge, or if you are captured- in the Games, of course- and quizzed about your partner’s special Gifts. It’s just extra security. But to answer your question,” he continues as he resumes climbing, “you can train with me one on one if you would like, or I could arrange for someone else to join us and teach you while Nathan is with Vlad. The same goes for you while Crystal is with Vladimir,” he continues, turning his gaze to Nathan.

  We’re getting very near the top now, and I can see that Thaddeus is pretty much done answering our questions. However, I am desperate for him to clear up something that has been bugging me since I first met Vlad. “Thaddeus… stop for… a second… please. I have… something to… say before we… continue… and I… need to breathe… first…”

  Looking at me strangely, he stops. Nathan shoots me a grateful glance as we both lean forward, hands on our knees, and pant until we can get our breath back. As we do, I can feel my muscles beginning to tighten into stone, and I can immediately tell that I will be very sore in the morning. In fact, I will probably barely even be able to move. What a great way to kick off the First Challenge- barely being able to move without pain! That won’t be good no matter what the Challenge is!

  Pushing this out of my mind for the moment, I straighten to see Thaddeus patiently waiting for my question. “Just remember,” he comments, “that this will take time away from your learning.”

  “I know,” I say. “But it’s worth it. I have to know something- here and now.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me, clearly surprised. Nathan looks at me as well, intrigued now. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I forge ahead with my question. “When I first met Vlad, he… mentioned something about my eyes. He said something along the lines of ‘my eyes are just like the King’s.’ …Can you please explain that to me?” Confused, Thaddeus steps closer and peers into my eyes. He jumps back, choking down a startled exclamation. I’m nervous, but I have to continue. “He… he said that my eyes are just how the Princess’s eyes are supposed to look.”

  “Can… can you turn your eyes into… into dragon eyes?” he asks me, shock and excitement in his voice. Sighing, I decide to try. I haven’t done it in a long time, but I must get complete answers out of this guy. So, I roll my eyes back into my head and will my gold dragon’s eyes to appear. I can instantly see greater detail of everything around me, although everything is tinted amber- which gives everything a magical look and feel.

  To my surprise, there’s something new that I notice this time. I can see… the color of Thaddeus and Nathan’s thoughts and emotions. Looking at Nathan, I can see an aura around him. It’s dark green, which I instinctively perceive to be inquisitiveness and curiosity. I also detect a light gold- wonder and devotion to something- as well as black with anxiety or fear. I pick out a very light rose color ringing it all, which I take to mean love. Although there’s not much of it, so I don’t know what he loves, and I doubt he knows it either it’s so slight.

  Nathan’s colors are all a bit dull, except for the green, the prominent one. Thaddeus’s, however, are bright and almost hurt my eyes. There are so many thoughts flying through his brain that all I can see at first is a swirling, multicolored aura surrounding him. After a few seconds of focusing, I can pick out the major ones. Light green- surprise, grey- he’s hiding something and is conflicted, gold- wonder, a little bit of black- anxiety, magenta- wariness, and so many more that can’t be put into words.

  “Whoa!” Nathan exclaims, leaning back from shock at first, and then forward with interest. “I had no idea… that’s… wow.”

  “Yes, this is quite… interesting,” Thaddeus says, looking at me like I’m some dangerous new threat to be carefully examined before he dares approach me. “This… confirms a lot of things… as well as makes everything much more complicated.”

  “So, wait,” Nathan says, looking confused. “Does this mean… that she’s the Princess?” I look at Thaddeus, switch my eyes back to normal, and wait for his verdict. It takes him a while to reply.

  “I… would say so,” he confirms, sounding like he’s in shock. “But this doesn’t change anything. Yes, we are looking for the King and Queen’s lost children, but even when we find them, they need to have grown into their Gifts to rule. Oh, and by the way, Crystal, members of the royal family have more Gifts than the others- three, sometimes four. And I’m sorry, but the Games aren’t off- for anyone. Besides, Crystal can’t just leave you alone, Nathan. So you’re both still in this together.”

  “Wait… what?” Nathan responds, looking even more lost and confused than ever. “That’s why we’re having these ‘Games?’ Because the King and Queen lost their kids? So they’re risking all of our lives… to find Crystal and her brothers? No offense,” he adds to me.

  “None taken,” I reply. “I was thinking the same thing. But what makes you so sure I want to be this Princess?” I ask, turning
back to Thaddeus. “What makes you think I’ll just go along with anything you say?” He looks stunned. “And how come we haven’t seen the King and Queen- who are apparently my parents- yet? How do we know they aren’t just your puppets? Or are they just some figurehead no one’s ever seen because they don’t actually exist?”

  I mean for the words to sting, and they do. I don’t know why I’m being so harsh to Thaddeus. I guess I’m just taking out my frustration at all of these secrets on him. I’ve finally accepted that this place exists and that this is all actually happening, so I care about how things run and that I should be adequately informed about everything involving me, so I’m getting frustrated because I’m not being properly informed- about anything.

  Nathan glances at me, surprised, and it looks like he’s about to go off on me again about making our helpers mad and decreasing our chances of survival, but then he just gives me a small nod, indicating that he’s on my side. I’m shocked, but grateful.

  “What… how could you… how dare you?!” Thaddeus exclaims, suddenly shaking with anger. This is the first time I’ve seen him anything but cool and collected, so now I’m scared and worried and wishing I hadn’t said anything. I may have pushed him a little too far. “How dare you take out your anger on Pearl and Alexander Dragon! They are the best King and Queen we have had in centuries- and they are your parents, no less! They have fallen into depression, sickness, and now even a coma. They don’t even know that their backup plan, the Games, are now under way so we could recruit people to help find their children for them… let alone know that their daughter is now here. We have no idea how to help them.”

  Gulping, I feel remorse for my harsh words. “I… I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

  Sighing, Thaddeus calms himself down. “No, you didn’t know. I’m sorry as well. I keep forgetting to put myself in your shoes and realizing that you know next to nothing of this world and our lives. You’re just frustrated, and I understand that. I’m sorry. I won’t snap like that again,” he promises. He pauses and takes a deep breath before giving us a small smile. “Now then, are we ready to continue? We are almost there, and we really must begin your training. After all, it wouldn’t be good to finally get our Princess back and then get her killed, now would it?”

  Nathan and I don’t comment, opting instead to trudge after him, our sore legs screaming out in pain with each step, but neither of us makes a sound. I feel Nathan’s eyes on me almost the whole time, but I pretend not to notice. When we finally reach the top, we get to a door made of dark, rich wood. Thaddeus opens it and directs us through. We emerge and feel a fresh breeze on our faces, cooling the heated skin. Once our eyes adjust to the lighting, we look around, wide-eyed.

  The height at which we are at in the sky takes my breath away. A small flock of beautiful, colorful birds fly overhead, singing and filling the air with joyful music, harmonizing with the song of the trees. The landscape is so beautiful and alive, it’s a welcome change from Earth’s streets and cars gunking up the air. Under and all around is the Village with the King and Queen’s palace to our right, shimmering a little in the growing daylight. A vast forest stretches as far as I can see from the left of the village and before it as well. To the right of the forest lie huge, majestic mountains, and on the other side of those is a plain field, empty and barren. Or so I think at first. Switching my eyes into dragon eyes, I look again. Everything is still tinted gold, but I can see both farther and clearer with my eyes. This gives me an idea, and without thinking about how it would be possible, I zoom in with my eyes- almost as though they were cameras. I can now see the plain with much greater detail, so I can also view all the wildlife running around in there. A lot of them appear like they do on Earth, but I’ve learned not to trust how something looks in this place.

  Switching my eyes back, I turn to Thaddeus, who is also gazing out at the terrain, but not with peace and admiration on his face. He looks anxious, like the whole world rests on his shoulders, crushing him, and he can’t take it anymore. I feel a pang of sympathy. Walking over to stand next to him, I lean against the railing, pretend I’m looking out at the land, and quietly say to him, “I’m sorry if I’m causing you any extra stress. I’d like to help you in any way that I can.”

  He turns slowly from the view to look at me, letting the sorrow in his eyes show. “No, you aren’t causing anything,” he responds, his voice low. “It’s just… I’m Pearl’s uncle, and I’m concerned about her. Not to mention all the things I must take care of now that she and Alexander are no longer physically able to run Zilferia. The responsibility shifts to my shoulders, since there are no other members of the royal family alive and here right now except for you, and you are not yet ready to run anything. I thank you for the offer, but I am the one who needs to help you right now.” He takes a deep breath and pushes his anxiety down again. “We need to get you two ready to win these Games!”

  We sit at a table with three chairs around it and he waves Nathan over. He sits beside me and we face Thaddeus. This is when our training truly begins. He starts by informing us about ‘just a few of the creatures you may encounter here,’ but there are so many, I get them all confused. Hopefully, it will all just come back to me when I need it… because there’s no way I’m going to remember all of this!

  One creature in particular that I do remember, however, is dragons. Apparently, not only do they exist here, but they thrive and are seen often. They grow to be as large as mountains- although that takes hundreds, sometimes thousands of years- and they don’t typically come anywhere near the Village. As for the obvious- they have scales, wings, forelegs and hind legs, and breathe fire. I learned something new about them, though. Fully grown dragons can look into a person’s heart, although no one survived it- that is, until my many-times-great grandparents, James and Sally, came along. Their last names were then changed to Dragon, a gift from the old dragon that saw into their hearts. They were made dragon friends, and the dragon then made them rulers over Zilferia.

  “Wait,” Nathan interrupts, a little confused. “Dragons can think? And talk?”

  “Of course they can think! They are wiser than all of our Kings and Queens. And in a way, they can talk,” Thaddeus responds. “They communicate by touching your mind with theirs and then sending you their thoughts. The younger ones can’t form words, so they use pictures and feelings such as hunger or surprise.” He proceeds to tell us about the history of Zilferia- my history, apparently, although I’m still having a hard time buying into it.

  “From then on, the Dragon family was to bring their children to the dragons and have them judged. Every now and again, there was a ‘bad seed,’ but for the most part, the children were all just fine. When the children married, the fiancé would be judged and made a real part of the Dragon family if they were deemed worthy. As a benefit of being DragonFriend, the family grew gradually more in-tune to the dragons’ magic, and it became interwoven into their very being.

  “Six generations after James and Sally, there was a child born who had a particularly strong connection to the dragon magic. Her name was Alexandra, but she went by Alex. She was kidnapped soon after birth, and then lost in the wilderness. Fortunately, there was an old hermit who lived alone in the forest who found her and raised her until she was eight. They then died of old age, leaving Alex alone once again. She tried to find food, but being so young, she didn’t know what was and wasn’t edible and eventually ate some berries that put her into a coma. She was found by a young dragon just as she crumpled to the ground. His name was Jack. This particular dragon had been there when her parents were judged, so he didn’t harm her since he recognized her as a member of the Dragon family. He quickly took her to his cave to try and revive her.

  “She wasn’t responding to him, so he flew over to the Dragon Mage and asked for his help. When told that the girl was a DragonFriend, the Mage came quickly. But the only way to save the girl was to turn her into a dragon- a feat only possible because of Alex’s strong con
nection to dragon magic. So they made the decision and transformed her into a dragon, although she could also turn back into a girl at will. Alex soon revived, and, to make a long story short, after a few years she and Jack fell in love and were married. Shortly afterward, Jack asked the Dragon Mage to enable him to turn into both a human and a dragon as well so he could be with Alex and help her find her family in human form to attract less attention to himself.

  “The spell was unpredictable, however, and worked differently for him. He was part dragon and part human. He looked like a human at first glance, but he had dragon eyes and claws as well as a pair of wings that he could make disappear at will. But he could not take the form of a full human or a full dragon. The two were successful at finding Alex’s parents, and they were reunited. When the parents learned that Jack was a dragon, he was very respected.

  “They had six children, each with draconian characteristics, although they all faded with each passing generation. Even down to today, most of the Dragons still have dragon eyes they can hide or reveal whenever they wish. The dragons believe that there will be another like Alex, able to turn into both a dragon and a human at will. They say the ability will not show up until a time of darkness and peril for all the land is on the horizon.” Thaddeus and Nathan both look at me, and I can see in their eyes the question.

  “It won’t be me!” I quickly assure them. “I don’t want to be a dragon, and I don’t want to rule this Kingdom- I don’t even want to be here! I just want to go home!”

  “…We’ll have to see if you change your mind on that or not,” Thaddeus murmurs, inspecting me. “For now, we won’t force you to do anything.”