Chapter 8
Dragons
Dragons
October 11
We made it to Aaron’s friend’s house. Well, it’s not exactly a house. It’s a giant tree! On the outside, it looks like a giant tree in the middle of a clearing. The inside, though, is carved out so that there are two floors.
The friend Aaron mentioned was a girl. She seems young, maybe in her twenties. She has short hair, died pink, that she keeps in pigtails at all times. Her hair is so short, though, that it spikes off at the end of the scrunchies. She also has the same pointy ears of an elf. “Aaron?” she asked, sounding confused. “What happened here?”
He just shook his head. “I don’t know…” he whispered.
“Well,” she said, “then give her to me and let’s find out. If you’re bringing her to me, than she must have been poisoned. Right?” Aaron nodded. I was put on a table and examined while Aaron was asked some questions about me. He managed to answer some, thanks to what James and I told him, but some he had no answer to. I tried to help answer them, but I couldn’t even move my mouth any more. She told me that her name was Alcina. She also told me that I should get some rest while she treated me. I didn’t see how this made sense, but I was tired, so I fell asleep quickly.
October 12
I woke up feeling much better. I could move my arms and legs a little, but they were really stiff. Alcina said that they would be like that for awhile, but that it should go away.
October 15
There was a knock on the door this morning. We had told Alcina about what had happened, so she asked us to hide in the closet while she answered the door. There was a small hole in the door, so I watched to see what was going on.
When the door opened, I heard Alcina gasp, but I couldn’t see who it was. I knew it wasn’t Ciaran, because he would have killed her in an instant. I heard her invite whoever it was in, and then she stepped out of the doorway.
“James?!” I shouted, opening the closet the closet door.
“Why are you in the closet?” he asked, laughing.
“Um, we thought it could have been Ciaran, so we hid.”
“We?” He asked.
Aaron came out from behind me.“Well, someone has to protect her for you. How did you find us anyway?” he asked.
“I followed your scent and Nicole’s. It wasn’t that hard.” He told us. By now, I had worked my stiff legs across the room and was hugging James around the waist.
“I'm sorry for what I said to you. I didn’t really mean it.” I said, trying to hold back my tears. “I don’t ever want you to leave me again. Okay?” He crouched down to my level and sat me on his knee. It made me remember when my dad used to do that and I collapsed into James’ arms, sobbing. “I love you,” I said and realized I hadn’t said it since my parents died.
He put his lips to my ear and whispered, “I love you, too. And I promise I’ll never leave you. Plus, we still have to finish our adventure, with Aaron along for the ride. It’s a good thing we’re here, because this was our next stop.”
“It was?” I asked
“It was.” He said, standing up and turning to Alcina. “That is, if you still train dragons.”
“Yes, yes I do.” She answered. “Do you wish to teach her to ride? She seems so young!”
“I do, and I'll ride with her to be safe. If you’ll lend us a dragon.”
“Fine. I never was able to say ‘no’ to you. But at least I can trust you.”
“Thank you.” James said, smiling.
October 16
I can’t believe I'm going to ride a dragon! Alcina rode one over from the field a few miles over. She’s huge! Bigger than a house! I know it’s a she because James told me. Her name is Lavenda. Her scales are bright purple.
“This is her.” James said. “By the way, I should warn you that dragons communicate by thought. They … I guess you could say they enter your mind, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. They know not to go into the deeper, more personal part, just enough that we can hear each others thoughts.”
“Are we quite ready to start flying, or are we going to stand around talking all day?” said a voice in my head.
“Is this Lavenda? If so, I like your scales.” I thought.
“Thank you,” she thought, “and what is your name?”
“My name is Nicole. It’s nice to meet you.” I told her.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now that we all know each other, let’s get started,” she shouted, letting out a roar that knocked me backwards. “Oops, sorry. I guess I went a bit overboard. I get excited about new riders.”
“Come on!” I shouted at James, who was also knocked down by Lavenda’s roar, “Let’s go!”
He climbed up first, and then helped me climb up. I felt really tall when I reached the seat–like saddle. It’s a good thing I'm not afraid of heights. “Ready to go.” I thought when we were both settled into the seat.
“Hold on!” Lavenda shouted. Then, she spread her wings, which must have been at least fifteen feet each, and took to the skies. I was holding onto James so tight, it probably would have hurt any normal human. I laughed when he asked me to loosen my grip. He made a little act as if I was strangling him and I almost fell of the saddle!
After a few hours, it was time for dinner, so we had to land. It was late by the time we finished dinner. I didn’t want to go to bed, but I was tired. There are only two bedrooms, so we have to share rooms, but I don’t mind. I share a room with Alcina, while James and Aaron share a room.
October 23
I’ve spent the past week learning how to fly. Of course, Lavenda actually does the flying. Now, after some help climbing up, I can fly by myself. I can tell Lavenda to go anywhere. As long as it’s not too far.
October 25
Someone’s at the door. Since we don’t know who it is, we’re stuck in the closet. Again. I'm afraid of who it might be, since I know it’s not James. Looking through the hole, I could see Alcina go to the door. She only opened it a crack, though, so I couldn’t see who it was. I could see that she was talking, but I was too far away to hear. After a few minutes, she invited whoever-it-was in.
He is an elf. I can tell by the ears. He looked like he was in his thirties, maybe. He has short brown hair and was, overall, good looking.
“You can come out now,” Alcina said, “I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. His name is Matt.”
I was the second one out of the closet. It was the same on the way in. After I walked out, Matt looked confused. I told him, “Hi, I'm Nicole. If you’re wondering why we were in the closet… Well, to make a long story short, we’re being chased by a bad vampire, and we didn’t know if you were him.”
“Nice to meet you. But,” he turned to Alcina, “I'm only here for a quick visit and to ask you for some burn healing herbs.”
“One of your students?” Alcina asked as she walked toward a cabinet. He nodded. She pulled out a small red jar that smelled like smoke. “This should take care of it,” she said, handing him the jar.
“Thank you,” Matt said. Then, he bowed and left.
November 2
I heard a loud crash from downstairs. James came in a second later and told me to hide and Aaron with me. The only place I could think of was under the bed, so we both hid there, watching the door.
I don’t know how, maybe because it was late and I was tired, but I fell asleep. I woke up when I felt that I was being lifted up, and I had trouble breathing. I put my hands by my throat and there was a hand holding the collar of my shirt. I opened my eyes to see Ciaran in front of me. I could see Aaron unconscious against the wall, but I didn’t know where James was. I tried to scream, but a small squeak came out instead.
He walked outside, still holding me. I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. When we were outside I gasped. I saw James lying on the ground. He was really bloody. I thought he was dead, but he groaned and moved his head to look at me.
“Nicole?” he whispered. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t even move. Suddenly there was a loud boom behind me. It shocked Ciaran so much that when he spun around, he let go of my shirt. I turned to see what the noise was, and I saw a giant puff of purple smoke. Out of it came a topless car the size of a large wheelchair. In it was a teenager. She had longish brown hair and behind her was a girl around my age. The girl had snow-white hair. I couldn’t see much other than that across the clearing, especially with the smoke.
I tried to stand up and go see if James was alright, but when I started to stand up, I felt really dizzy. I saw the teenager launch a missile like thing from the car, but it spread into a net in mid-air and wrapped around Ciaran. That was all I saw before I passed out.
November 2
I woke up in a lot of pain. Then, I remembered what happened. “James!” I shouted, sitting up. Looking around, I knew I was in my shared bedroom in Alcina’s house. I sighed in relief when I looked next to me. James was lying in the other bed. He was wrapped in bandages, but at least he looked better without being covered in blood.
Alcina came in a few moments later. “Oh, good. I see that I healed you well. I didn’t expect you to wake up until at least later tonight or tomorrow,” she said.
I nodded. “How is he?” I asked, looking at James.
“Well,” she told me, “he has a lot of injuries, but he’s strong. It might take awhile, but I'm sure he’ll be fine.”
November 11
It’s been a boring week. The teen that saved us is named Toniann. The white-haired girl’s name is Violet. She’s Toniann’s sister, and a vampire. Ironically, they’re both vampire slayers. They were trailing after Ciaran, starting when my parents died. Toniann almost caught him, but he ripped through the net and ran away.
November 12
James is conscious now. I was sitting in a chair next to his bed, wondering if he would ever wake up. I started to get up and go to sleep, when I heard him groan. “James?” I said, turning around. He was looking at me, smiling weakly.
“You’re alright,” he whispered, “I'm glad.”
“Well of course I'm okay,” I said, walking over and sitting on the side of his bed, “You’re the one that’s been unconscious for a week. I was starting to think that even after Alcina healed you, that you would … that you were going to die."
“Nicole…” he said and put his hand on mine.
November 16
James is fully recovered. He says that we need to move on soon, but Alcina wants to make sure his wounds won’t open. Toniann and Violet have continued hunting down Ciaran. I hope that they can kill him without getting hurt, or captured, like we did.
November 17
Alcina is done checking James’ wounds. He says that we will leave tomorrow.
