B0075M2D1U EBOK (11 page)

Brennan nervously cleared his throat and gave Anya a sideways glance. She looked at him with her wide blue eyes and nodded once, as if giving him the go-ahead to speak.

Brennan blew out a deep breath, as if to steady himself, and then he said, “Ruby, we are more than just fairies. We are…descendant fairies of the Earthen Royal Court and heirs to the Throne.”

I blinked in surprised confusion, “What? What are you saying? What exactly does that mean?” Boy. Talk about unexpected.

Anya spoke up. “It means that Brennan and I are part of the Fairy Royal Court. Our Father is King.”

“
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa,” I held up my hands, shaking my head in disbelief, “Just hold on a sec. Are you telling me that you are a Princess and
Brennan
is a
Prince
?” Prince Brennan. Talk about an oxymoron.

Anya raised her eyebrows and gave another sideways glance to her brother, who was looking directly at me and seemed a bit irked. Brennan spoke, “That is
exactly
what it means, Ruby. I am Prince Brennan Avery Luel Kaelin son of King Avery Oren Kaelin of the Earthen Royal Court of Fey.” He gave me a slight bow when he finished. Anya nodded her head, gave a slight curtsy and added, “And I am Princess Anya Donella Kaelin, daughter of King Avery Oren Kaelin of the Earthen Royal Court of Fey.”

My mouth hung open and I stared, looking dumbstruck at the two of them. “Shut the front door!” I said as I shook my head in disbelief. “I have known you guys for twelve years.
Twelve!
And this is the first I’m hearing of this?! What the hell? How could that
not
come up in conversation before now?” They both stood there, shaking their heads. Brennan standing firm with his arms folded across his chest and Anya twisting her hands nervously in front of her. She pleaded, “We couldn’t tell you before. Our father forbid us and there was no reason for you to know. There are not many people who can see fairies. It was for all of our safety.”

“
I still can’t believe this. I suppose it makes sense though. You guys have always been stronger than the other fairies I’ve met. And you’re obviously loaded…how else could you have that sweet cottage on the lake?” Anya was nodding in agreement and looking relieved as if she was glad I was finally up to speed with what was actually going on. Brennan interrupted me, “There’s more.”

“
More?” I shrieked, “How could there possibly be
more
? Wait. Don’t tell me. It has something to do with all those weird things happening, right?” Anya was shaking her head “yes” and Brennan gave a quick nod. “I knew it!” I exclaimed. “There’s some rogue fairies out there in the woods starting fires, isn’t there?”

“
Well…” Anya said, still nervously wringing her hands, “It’s not
exactly
fairies...”

“
What do you mean, ‘not exactly fairies’?” I pressed.

“
And it’s not just the fires,” she continued.

“
Come on…” I stood there impatiently, giving her the hand signal to continue on… “Aaaand…” I prodded…

Anya nervously looked at Brennan again. He gave a big sigh and then spoke, “It’s like Anya said, it’s not just the fires. At first, we didn’t think anything of the tree farm fire, although it was odd. But then, when we heard of the other fires, we started to worry.”

Anya interrupted, “Yes, and when you mentioned the incident with the boats in the marina, we really got concerned. The forest has been unusually quiet too. Not only have fairies been staying away, but other wildlife – insects and birds – had been acting strangely too. Also, we had noticed some odd shifts with our magic. Remember when we appeared on the beach behind Jeremy last Saturday when we met to go swimming? That was a very close call. We should’ve been aware that he was already there and transported to the beach much farther away, in case he noticed. Then, when you told us about the dark shape you saw in the water, it confirmed our suspicions.” Brennan nodded in agreement.

“
Wait,” I held up my palms to them, as if to say ‘stop’, “Confirmed
what
suspicions?” I turned my head slightly and glared at them, squinting as if I could see right through them with X-ray vision.

“
Something has…escaped…from Fey,” Anya stuttered.

I waited for her to continue. She looked at Brennan with pleading eyes. Brennan looked me squarely in the eyes and spoke one word, “Sirrush.”

“
Sear-what? What the hell language is that? What’s that?” I asked in confusion.

Brennan shook his head, “Not what. Who. Sirrush is a
dragon
.”

I shook my head in disbelief and started pacing on the grass in front of them. “You have got. To be kidding. Me.” I said slowly. “First, you tell me you’re some kind of fairy royalty, and that your dad is the King. Then, you tell me that an effing
dragon
is responsible for burning down the Frederick’s tree farm and tipping over all those boats in the marina? Like, an honest to goodness, fire-breathing dragon? Are you serious? You cannot. Be serious. Please tell me you’re not serious.”

Anya’s face had a look of pure sympathy. “I am so sorry Ruby. It’s all true. What Brennan is telling you is the truth. When we went home to Fey, we confirmed our suspicions with our Royal Court and discovered he had escaped through a portal into your world. ”

I let out a big sigh. “Well, does this Sea-rust-Cyrus-whateverthehell you called it – this dragon…does he fly?” I asked.

Now it was Brennan’s turn to give me the squinty-eye glaring questioning look, “It’s pronounced Seer-RUSH. And, why do you ask?”

“
Oh…no reason,” I impatiently answered, shaking my head. “But I’m pretty sure it’s been spotted flyin’ around up there,” I said, flabbergasted, as I waved my hands frantically in the air. “It’s only been at night, so it’s been dark and difficult to see. But people think it’s some sort of humongous bird.”

Anya was shaking her head with worry. “This is bad, Brennan. Really,
really
, bad,” she said.

“
Why is this really,
really
bad?” I questioned.

“
It’s really, really bad,” Brennan started, “Because Sirrush would have been ill from making the trip through the portal from Fey to your world. He would’ve needed to regenerate in the water. Which, obviously, as you saw last week and told Anya, he was. Remember that dark hump you saw in the lake?” I nodded my head and he continued, “Well, dragons are reptilian-like creatures, similar to your alligators or crocodiles. They are serpentine, have scales, claws and large powerful tails, just like those creatures do. They can live out of the water and are quite strong, some having wings, such as Sirrush does. But, if they are ill, or use powerful magic such as Sirrush needed to come over from Fey, they need to return to the water to heal and regain their strength. If Sirrush was seen flying, that means he is healthy and strong again, and very likely to cause more havoc. He is named for the Babylonian dragon of chaos, which suits him quite well, don’t you think?”

I sighed and shook my head, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “Ahhh craptasic! Just what we need. More destruction around here. But wait a minute, aren’t dragons like fairies and invisible to most people? Only a few people can actually see fairies. Does it work the same way for dragons?” Anya was shaking her head, “No,” she said, “Dragons are quite visible to humans, except if they have the gift of cloaking. If a dragon is born with the gift of cloaking, then they can make themselves invisible at their own will. Otherwise, everyone – fairies and humans alike – can see them all the time. Sirrush does not have the gift of cloaking. He is just very crafty. And, his presence here has disrupted the usual flow of our magic. We need to be very careful.”

“
Wait a minute,” I quickly looked up at both Anya and Brennan, “How did he even get here? You said he needed powerful magic? And how come he’s the only dragon I’ve ever seen? I mean, if dragons exist in Fey, then how come they don’t come back and forth like the fairies do?”

“
It’s complicated,” Anya said.

“
Well,
uncomplicate
it,” I retorted. “You cannot just soda-pop fizz into my garden, tell me all this crap and freak me out about all the destruction that this crazyass dragon is going bring down on my town, and then follow it up with: it’s complicated. Duh! I
know
that it’s complicated. But you have to tell me. I can’t just stand by and watch a dragon destroy my home…Maybe even hurt people I care about!” The words came pouring out, but I was exasperated, and really starting to freak out now that I comprehended everything they were telling me. Brennan put his hands on my shoulders.

“
Calm down, Ruby. We’ll tell you everything. We’ll figure this out, okay?” He looked at me tentatively with his pale, ice-blue eyes.

I bit my lip and nodded my head, “I think I need to sit down.” I walked over to the garden swing to sit and took a couple of deep breaths. Okay. Calm down, Ruby. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. It seemed I was about to get an earful. It’s weird enough that I can see fairies. Now I have to deal with a runaway psycho dragon too?

Chapter 13

I sat on the swing in the backyard and thought about everything Anya and Brennan had told me. No wonder Brennan seemed older. There was a lot going on and I hadn’t a clue to any of it. They walked over to me, both of them looking at me, waiting for me to give them the go-ahead to continue. I could tell they were worried about overwhelming me with too much information at once. I took a deep, cleansing breath to steady myself. Whew. “Okay. Tell me
everything
,” I said.

Anya came to sit down next to me on the swing and Brennan nodded his head, standing in front of me. Brennan began speaking slowly, “Okay. You asked about Sirrush and why there aren’t other dragons coming through the portal from Fey. It only happens once in a Blue Moon.”

I rolled my eyes at Brennan. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever. What is that supposed to mean? Duh. I know that it doesn’t happen very often, otherwise I’d have seen some dragons before.”

Brennan pressed his lips together and was shaking his head at me, “No. I mean…it
literally
can only happen once in a Blue Moon.” Huh? The look of confusion was obvious on my face.

Brennan sighed, “Let me explain. Do you know about the legends of the dragon slayers?”

“
Kinda,” I said, “Weren’t they like, from the time of King Arthur and stuff? I thought it was mostly made-up Hollywood crap…for the movies and stuff.”

Brennan shook his head, “Not exactly. But yes, you’re right about the time of Arthur. It was during the early medieval times, around the 5th and 6th centuries. The dragon population was plentiful. There were many of them, and they too, could come to your world just as fairies do. As Anya told you, most dragons are completely visible to humans. Only a few have the gift of cloaking. But dragons are cursed in our world. You see, they must obey the Rule of the Blue Moon. Their heritage and laws command it. They may only travel through the portal to your world during a Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is a real phenomenon that occurs. It is the second full moon in a calendar month, which is very rare. It only happens about once every two-and-a-half years.

They would come through the portal to your world in droves on the nights of the Blue Moons. It was a fantastic
taisteal
for them. Uhh…” Brennan struggled to find the right word, “travel – a vacation – as you would call it. And although they aren’t all normally such devious and malicious creatures, humans of the past did not understand these strange, magical beasts. They were frightened by them, so they hunted and killed them.”

“
Soooo…dragon slayers were real?” I incredulously asked.

“
Yes,” Brennan answered. “And during that time, when such a huge number of dragons passed through the portals during the Blue Moons, many of their species were killed off by the slayers. Over that 200 year period, dragons became nearly extinct in our world because of it. Death of any kind upsets us greatly. By our nature, fairies are a peaceful race. We honor all life. Even though many dragons have a tendency for malicious behavior, they are very magical, powerful creatures, whose lives are not less worthy just because of their species. My ancestors, the King and Queen of that time and the members of the Royal Counsel, feared for their extinction because of the slayers and ordered that passage to your world was forbidden to all dragons. They did it to
protect
them, not to hurt them. Magical spells were cast upon the portals as a safe-guard so that the dragons couldn’t breach the portals on the nights of the Blue Moons. In fact, it made it nearly impossible. It has only happened two or three times since the seventh century when the law was written into the Feylinn Book of the Royal Counsel.”

“
The what?”

“
The Feylinn Book of the Royal Counsel. It is the binding magical book of laws that all in our world must live by or face the consequences. Once it is written in the book, it is binding and cannot be changed unless so ordered by the four Kings of the Royal Courts and the ritual of Oberon is performed. But that won’t likely ever happen. It is very rare. Plus, it is for the benefit of the entire species of dragons that the law even exists. Besides, we fairies are quite fond of humans and your world. We don’t want them causing too many disturbances over here. Dragons
have
been known to kill humans.”