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Promise

The sun shone hot and bright on the Archipelago. The seven islands clustered together, each one dramatically different from the others. Many a learned scientist would have said that it was impossible for an island covered in snow and glaciers to exist scarcely five miles away from an island with a tropical jungle to rival the Amazon. Then again, many scientists had never visited the Archipelago of Dragons. They would have found its inhabitants almost as interesting as the islands they lived on.

I scythed through the water, stretching my neck forward. I laid my ear-fins back to streamline my head, though I was already moving pretty fast. Eventually, my goal appeared through the bubbles: the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water.
I slowed and surfaced slightly as I entered the marsh, gliding on the water like a crocodile. Crocodiles had shown me how to swim in the first place, and Aquagem said that it showed. Incidentally, Aquagem was the reason for my visit to the Shattered Isle.
I floated through the marshlands, pushing through reeds and cattails. My tail moved slowly back and forth, barely making a ripple. The others on my home, the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap, thought that I was silly, playing with crocodiles and swimming like a croc. But I was proud of my skill, and it’s not like the others on the Emerald Isle had anything good to say about me in the first place.
Just then, I caught sight of Aquagem, creeping through the reeds, eyes fixed on something in the water. I followed her gaze and saw a heron. I floated a little closer, camouflaged by the weeds and mud plastered on me.
In a flurry of water and snapping jaws, Aquagem and I leaped for the heron at the same time. I seized its feathered neck in my teeth and bit. The heron went limp.
“That was my kill, Rubygem” Aquagem protested, glaring at me. I grinned around the heron.
“First come, first served,” I returned. “You eat it, though. Technically, I’m not allowed to hunt on this island.” I laid the dead bird at her claws. “So, what’s up?”
“Topazgem is in trouble with the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams again,” she rolled her blue eyes and lashed her tail. “We should go get him before His Dainty Desert-ness freezes to death or the Crystal Islanders kill him.” I sighed. Topazgem could never resist teasing his island’s ancient rival: the Crystal Isle. Almost every day, it seemed, he was in some sort of trouble with them. Luckily, Aquagem and I always bailed him out.
My friend slipped into the water with me and we were off.
No other Emerald Islander understood my fascination with water. They all flew from place to place and looked down their snouts at land-bound creatures. I was the most looked-at-down-a-snout dragon in the Archipelago because I preferred to swim.
It was a little like flying underwater, flaring my wings every now and then to propel myself forward. As with flying, my tail was important for steering, but unlike flying, I also kicked my legs. I had to slow down so I didn’t lose Aquagem. Despite being a Shattered Islander, she wasn’t as fast as me underwater.
It was a quick swim northeast from the Shattered Isle to the Crystal one. Soon, the water became freezing, and chunks of ice began to float past. I thought that the island’s name was very accurate: it was cold enough to make you believe that even your dreams were frozen. We crawled onto a bank of ice and fluttered to the island’s mainland (if that makes any sense).
We took flight and scanned the windswept tundra for Topazgem. It would be easy to spot his bright yellow scales from the air. Sure enough, it was only a few minutes before we saw him, ringed by angry Crystal Islanders. They were harder to see, due to their camouflaged scales. I went into a dive.
“Now, look, I didn’t mean any harm…” I heard Topazgem plead.
“No harm?! You were throwing rocks at our penguins! We eat those, you know,” a pale gray dragon shouted. Others added their own cries of outrage. It looked like we had arrived just in time.
“Let him go,” I ordered, alighting beside him. “He really didn’t mean it. He was just teasing them.” Aquagem landed on his other side.
“You always come to his rescue,” a member of the mob protested. “And he never changes his ways! We might have been convinced the last ten times this has happened, but I, for one, am not going to stand by while an albino freak protects this miscreant from justice!” There were shouts of approval. Topazgem started to look ill. I bared my fangs and arched my neck, kneading the icy ground. I hated it when people called me a freak.
“Oh, so it’s insults now, is it?” I snarled. “Listen, Frosty, call me a freak all you want, but leave Topazgem out of it. He’s crazy. I promise to make sure he doesn’t do this again.” Aquagem growled as well. She didn’t like it when dragons made fun of my coloration either. After all, it wasn’t my fault that I was an albino.
“Let them go, Sapphirejewel,” a new voice commanded. It was full of quiet authority and almost as familiar to me as my own. It was Opaljewel.
He looked white at first, but when the sun hit him, his scales burst into a rainbow of colors. His eyes were pale turquoise. His soul-stone’s cord was striped with orange, indicating his position as a ‘jewel’. Aquagem, Topazgem, and my cords were all solid colors, denoting our ‘gem’ status.
Gem was the lowest rank, which you received at eight years of age. Jewel the next up, which you got at fifteen, and after your twentieth birthday you got to pick the end of your first name. You were stuck with your last name for life, though. I was Rubygem Frost, for my white scales, Topazgem was Spark, for his wild tendencies, Aquagem was Hydra, for her love of water, and Opaljewel was Prism, for reasons you can probably guess. Opaljewel and I were the same age, but his birthday came first in the year.
“But Opaljewel,” Sapphiregem whined, “he needs to be taught a lesson!”
“Warm Sand Islanders have been causing trouble on our isle for generations. Can any of you deny returning the favor?” Opaljewel demanded. No one looked him in the eye. “I didn’t think so. Our rivalry has lasted centuries; one single dragon will not be enough to change that. Besides,” he added with a smile, “who here would like to risk the Warm Sand Islanders’ revenge?” Topazgem laughed at that thought. The mob dispersed, still grumbling, but not looking nearly as bloodthirsty. The Warm Sand Islanders were very inventive when it came to getting back at people.
“Thanks, Opaljewel,” the yellow dragon thanked him. “I thought I was cooked.”
“No problem,” Opaljewel spoke to Topazgem, but his eyes were locked on me. “Anytime.” My ear-fins lowered in embarrassment at his prolonged glance. Aquagem giggled and nudged me.
“Hey,” I scrambled for a change of subject, “have any of you learned the human spell yet? We have to memorize it by tomorrow.”
“I forgot all about it!” Topazgem cried. “Who wants to turn into a human, anyway?”
“‘Only in their humanness can the Soul-Taker be cast down’,” Opaljewel quoted. “The Promised One is supposed to be young, so they think teaching all young ones the spell will help him.”
“Who says the Promised One is a boy?” Aquagem challenged, arching her neck. Opaljewel shrugged, looking uncomfortable. We all took flight and headed for the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap. The weather turned hot and humid. The water turned crystal clear and bright blue.
We landed in the clearing at the island’s center, where the elders lived. I led the way to a fallen tree, the den of Pearleyes, the eldest elder. She was centuries old, and milky cream where she used to be pink. Her sight and hearing were almost gone, but she was the wisest dragon in the Archipelago. So I thought, at least.
“Elder Pearleyes?” I called, peering into the hole in the tree’s side. It was a big tree, and hollow. A snowy eye blinked open. An irate voice, cracked with age, called out.
“What do you want, what do you want? I was sleeping.”
“Forgive me, Elder,” I bowed my head respectfully. “My friends and I have come to receive the human spell.”
“Cutting it close, aren’t you?” Pearleyes snorted. “Well, fine.” She blew out on us, her warm breath blowing back our ears with more force than I would have thought the ancient lizard could muster. “There you are. Just stand on your hind legs and say, ‘two legs, two arms, hair and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in’. Don’t bother complaining to me, I didn’t make up the rhyme. Now go away and let me sleep.” The eye shut and a gusty snore echoed out of the tree. We retreated to a safe distance. Elder Pearleyes was a little irritable, but if you needed someone to talk to, she was the one.
“Oh, me first!” Aquagem squealed, bouncing up and down. She rose wobblingly onto her hind legs and chirped, “Two legs, two arms, hair, and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in!” There was a flash of blue light, and I covered my eyes with my wing. When I looked again, a spurt of water sprayed outward and Aquagem was a human.
She was huge and pink. Her hair was the same pastel blue of her scales, her eyes the same blue as usual. She was covered by a yellow dress.
Topazgem repeated the rhyme and transformed in a burst of yellow light and a smattering of, you guessed it, sparks. His hair was bright yellow, his eyes orange. He wore a gray shirt, green cargo vest, and jeans. Opaljewel disappeared in a flash of white light and dazzling rainbows. He became sparkly-haired, turquoise-eyed, wearing a green shirt and jeans. It was my turn.
I recited the line, feeling stupid on my hind legs. How did humans walk like this? Suddenly, my scales froze and I went numb. There was a blaze of white light and frost crystals, and I was taller.
I was still an albino, hair and skin white and my eyes and mouth red. I wore a creamy-colored skirt, boots, and a blue shirt. All of us still had our soul-stones around our necks.
“Hey, I can walk!” Aquagem exclaimed in a strange voice. She teetered around in a circle, her arms spread wide. “And I don’t even have a tail.”
“Look at these strange things! They don’t even have claws,” Topazgem held up his claw. Well, now it was a hand. It certainly looked strange and unnatural. Opaljewel stared at me.
“You’re prettier as a dragon,” he murmured. I felt my cheeks go hot. Startled, I clapped my hands to them.
“Your face is red!” Aquagem howled with laughter. We all fell over each other, laughing and joking about the novelty of being human.
“And what are you doing, Rubygem Frost?” a sneering voice demanded. I looked down. There, I saw Firejewel Flare leering up at me. He was so small, it was laughable.
To be fair, he wasn’t all that tiny, but I was so used to him towering over me, it was a novel sensation to tower over him.
“I am practicing my human spell,” I replied with as much dignity as I could muster. It was difficult, as Topazgem currently had me in a headlock as Aquagem tickled me and Opaljewel egged them on.
“Humph, that Crystal Islander couldn’t do a human spell without Old Pearleyes, huh? I figured it out myself!” Firejewel bragged. Ever since he had become a jewel, two weeks ago, he thought he was in command of the world, as well as irresistibly handsome. For some reason, he liked me, and was constantly trying to get to me by putting down Opaljewel. Clearly, it wasn’t working as he’d planned.
“Do it then,” Opaljewel instructed. Firejewel stalled.
“I, uh, don’t quite remember the, ehm, words…?”
“Lare-fay ucks-say alls-bay,” Topazgem rolled his eyes like he couldn’t believe Firejewel didn’t remember. I held back a giggle.
“Oh, of course, and in, eh, Aylish, too,” the idiot smiled knowingly.
“Pig Latin,” Topazgem corrected.
“I know,” Firejewel shouted out the false words. “Lare-fay ucks-say alls-bay!” Opaljewel, Topazgem, Aquagem, and I all fell over laughing too hard to breathe. Firejewel was confused until Aquagem managed to gasp out what he had really said. He was livid, stalking away and yelling rude things over his shoulder.
“I guess it’s time to be dragons again,” Topazgem admitted. “It’s getting late; I should head back to the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes.” Aquagem echoed this sentiment. They laid their hands along their noses, sideways, and barked, “Release!” More flashes of light, sparks, and water followed their return to their true shapes. They flicked their wings in farewell as they took flight, headed for home.
I turned to Opaljewel.
“You know,” he began, casually studying the jungle surrounding them, “I heard about this thing humans do. When a boy and a girl leave each other for the night, they do this thing called kissing.”
“Oh,” I had no idea what kissing was, but I pretended I did.
“Want to try?” Opaljewel smiled wickedly. I shrugged.
Without warning, he grabbed my face in both hands and pressed his lips to mine. A feeling stirred in my belly, one I couldn’t identify. We stayed like that for an eternity of five seconds. He pulled away and grinned crookedly. I couldn’t breathe. He saluted me and said, “Release.”
When he had resumed dragon form and flown off, I stayed in human shape for a minute, staring at the trees. Ah, well, it was just curiosity. He had just wanted to know what it was like, that’s all. So why did I want him to have meant it so badly?

I woke the next day to the sound of meeting-drums. All Emerald Islanders were to gather in the elders’ clearing when it sounded, so, yawning, I obeyed, wondering what was up. I heard a rush of wings, looked up, and gasped at what I saw.
Dragons were flying in from all the islands of the Archipelago! Neon dragons from the Isle of Warm Sands teased pale ones from the Crystal Isle. Dark dragons from the Isle of Starlit Water conferred seriously with pastel dragons from the Isle of Peace and Beauty. The Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest had also sent representatives, flying alongside Shattered Islanders. The air was thick with them!
I began to hurry. Something serious must have happened for all of the islands to have sent envoys. I didn’t want to be stuck at the back.
I reached the clearing just as it began to fill up, and got a prime spot in the limbs of a tall tree overlooking the meeting rock. This was a large, flat slab of stone that the meeting heads stood on to address the assembled dragons.
I was shocked to see Pearleyes on the meeting rock. She was so old, she rarely left her tree. What was going on? I waited impatiently as the clearing filled with crowds of dragons and swarms more perched in the trees.
“Greetings, dragons of the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap,” Pearleyes began in her quavering voice. “And welcome to the delegates sent from the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams, the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water, the Isle of Peace and Beauty, the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees, the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes, and the Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest. We have received disturbing reports from all corners of the Archipelago of Dragons, reports that require immediate attention. Amethystwing of the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees shall tell of them.”
A deep purple dragon stepped forth, looking grave.
“Greetings, all,” he boomed. “The news is, indeed, disturbing. As you all know, Starlit Water Islanders are nocturnal. Lately, however, the days have stopped coming.” There were smothered chuckles from the crowd. “Laugh all you want, but the sun has ceased to rise over our island. In recent times, many of our younger dragons have gone missing, such as Jasperjewel Boulder and Sungem Raven.” There was a ripple at this. Sungem was well known as a gem-ranked prodigy. She had hypnotized all the Elders on her Isle at once, single-clawed, and held it all day. “Crags Islanders have also told of missing young ones and prolonged nights in their region,” Amethystwing nodded at the representatives. “This all points to an unwanted conclusion: the Prophecy of Souls is coming true.”
There was a horrified silence. Many looked like they didn’t know whether to laugh or cower in fear. This same confusion stole over my features. How was that possible? Wasn’t the Prophecy of Souls an elders’ tale, obsessed over by half-insane ancients; a thing to be scoffed at and only believed in because of the old ones’ vehement declarations of its existence? No one I knew had ever seen the thing.
“‘All shall be wasted, and the light shall leave for better places’!” Pearleyes howled keeningly. “The Prophecy has come, my brothers and sisters, and we are a part of it! But only,” she continued, creamy eyes blazing, “if we can find the Promised One in time, before the Soul-Taker ravages the Archipelago!”
“Hold on, Pearleyes,” a new dragon from the Isle of Warm Sands spoke up. “Isn’t this all a bit extreme? Surely the young ones merely ran off on their own? Surely the sun cannot cease to rise? Surely…”
“Surely yourself, Garnetclaw,” Pearleyes roared back. “This is no joke.”
“But how will we know the Promised One when we see them?” Garnetclaw whined.
“A young one, marked and innocent, suffering, wronged, and from the Emerald Isle,” Pearleyes mused. “We must think on this. The meeting ends with a warning, friends: stay on your island! Do not leave until we have sorted out this crisis. That is all.”
The gathering dispersed among anxious muttering. I sat on the branch for a long time, lost in my thoughts. Who was the Promised One? I knew all the young ones on the island, and none of them seemed to match the description.
“Are you Rubygem Frost?” A voice broke into my thoughts. I looked up to see a creamy dragon watching me closely. It annoyed me that while other dragons were almost white, they all were this sort of cream- white, but my white scales all but glowed in the dark. And other creamy dragons had eye colors.
“That’s me,” I responded.
“Greetings, I am Diamondfang Star of the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams,” he twisted an ear in a polite hello. I dipped my head in respect of his seniority. “I heard that you are close friends with Opaljewel Prism.”
“I am.” I was suspicious of this Crystal Islander. If Opaljewel had wanted to tell me something, why hadn’t he told me himself? Jewels could go on representative duty.
“I am sorry to tell you, but Opaljewel is one of the missing dragons. I’m truly sorry,” Diamondfang did look sympathetic. I didn’t notice. My entire body had gone numb. It wasn’t true. Opaljewel hadn’t gone missing, he was too careful for that.
A thought hit me so hard, I groaned in pain. Had he gone missing as he flew back from seeing me? Had that kiss been the last time anyone had seen him? If he hadn’t stayed behind… if he had left sooner… would he have…? Right then, I wished dragons could cry, so I could let out this emotion.
I threw back my head and howl-roared as loud and long as I could. My lungs and throat hurt, but I kept on. Diamondfang put a claw on my shoulder, but I snapped at him, my eyes on fire. I sprang into the air. If I flew to the Crystal Isle I would find him. He would be waiting for me, like always, and maybe we could kiss again…
I folded my wings and plummeted into the sea. The water hit me hard, but I didn’t feel it. I thrashed underwater, clawing at fish and throwing up sand to cloud the water. I burst from the ocean in a shower of crystal droplets, water streaming down my face in an imitation of tears. I let out another pain-filled shriek, and slowly dropped back to the water. I floated on my back, panting, not caring if I drowned.
I had known Opaljewel for as long as I could remember; back when he had been Opalgem, and just Opal, before that. He had always been there when I was sad, angry, even when I was happy, because he made me happy just by being there. Even if neither of us had ever said it, we had never needed to say it; we both just knew that we had… I had… loved him. I couldn’t live in a world without his sparkly scales, his quiet assurance, and his serious smile. He was so real, so there, if I reached out, I could touch him…

The world jerked and I floundered. I was back on dry land, though how I had gotten there was anyone’s guess. I opened my eyes to the tropical lushness of the Emerald Isle, of home. Startoes Palm hovered above me, frowning, as usual.
“She’s waking up,” he called. Pearleyes appeared behind him.
“What happened?” I demanded, not caring if I sounded rude. “Who brought me back?”
“Startoes did,” Pearleyes told me, “he found you floating on a patch of ice. Did you go to the Crystal Isle even though you knew it wasn’t allowed?”
“No,” I frowned, “I only got about a mile offshore. Where did the ice come from?”
“You tell us,” Startoes retorted. He was the second eldest on the Emerald Isle, though he was nowhere near Pearleyes’ age. “It’s floating over there. We assume it’s ice because it’s cold, but it’s a strange color, and for some reason, it isn’t melting.”
I stood and trotted to the beach. I was only a few yards into the trees. There, bobbing on the waves was a floe of weird ice. It was ruby-red. It looked as out-of-place on a tropical island as a turquoise palm tree in Antarctica. I sniffed it and poked it. It felt and smelled like ice. I tried to break off a piece, but it was hard as diamond.
As I laid a claw on it, the chunk suddenly liquefied and melted back into the sea.
“Can you explain this to us?” Pearleyes probed. I shook my head dumbly.
Out of the corner of my ruby eyes, I saw a flash of movement. There was a snap and a thump, and something red flared beside me. I whirled, stunned beyond all words.
Startoes’ tail, in the act of whipping at my head, had hit a solid sheet of the same ruby-ice. Startoes tugged his tail away, and the sheet melted. The water pooled on the sand and disappeared. Pearleyes looked intently at me.
“So, it seems that the ice protects you,” she murmured.
“But that was a spell,” I blurted. “And I didn’t recite anything or make a pentacle or light candles or…”
“Some magicks do not need such things. These are used by dragons we call ‘Marked’ because the magic marks them in some way. In your case, I would say your albino coloring is the mark the ice that protects you has left,” Pearleyes mused.
“Why haven’t I ever heard of this before?”
“There has not been a Marked one for years,” Startoes explained. “The last one was a thousand years ago, when even Pearleyes was Pearlgem.”
“His name was Amberheart Blaze,” the elder’s eyes went misty as she remembered. “His Marked magic was that he could breathe fire, like the dragons of legend. His scales were shining gold, and his mark was a blaze of black over his face, thus his name. His sire had also been marked, though I forget how. Amberheart made a study of Marked magicks and wrote all he knew on a stone tablet. He said that ones with Marked magic like yours, Rubygem, could not control it. It appears when you are in danger, deflects said danger, and disappears again. Usually, such magicks stay hidden until a time of great stress or danger, and burst forth. I would say you were drowning, but your magic saved you.”
I was stunned. Me, a Marked Dragon? That was preposterous. I was nothing special, just an orphaned albino who liked to swim. I couldn’t be marked.
“Aha,” Startoes breathed, “it all makes sense now. ‘Marked… not as innocent as they appear… in their prime… on the Emerald Isle…’” I didn’t like the way he was quoting the Prophecy of Souls. Surely he didn’t think…?
“Come with me, Rubygem,” Pearleyes ordered, turning away. I hurried after her as she marched through the jungle. The vigor in her step surprised me; I had thought she was so feeble. After all, she was over a thousand years old!
We came to the clearing eventually, and the two elders ushered me onto the rock. Now I was trembling. No, they couldn’t seriously believe… could they? Startoes directed a waiting dragon, Emeraldscale, to beat the meeting drums again. The drums were really two hollow logs, but the sound was the same. Emeraldscale went to it with a will, and dragons once more gathered in the clearing. Many looked apprehensive, probably expecting more bad news. Still more looked surprised to see me, the water-loving albino freak, standing behind Pearleyes. Quickly, the clearing filled.
“Greetings once more, Emerald Islanders,” Pearleyes bellowed. “This meeting focuses on more joyous news. For while the elders of all the islands believe this time to be the one prophesized in the Prophecy of Souls, does not the prophecy also foretell the coming of a hero? Does it not say the Promised One shall come to our aid, and appear on this very island, no less? Brothers and sisters, I believe that we have found the Promised One.”
There was a general outcry of joy, intermixed with dark rumblings. I assumed that they weren’t happy to see me up here while Pearleyes talked of the Promised One. I looked slightly less than heroic. I felt sick to my stomach. Startoes shoved me to the front of the rock.
“This,” he announced, “is Rubygem Frost. You all know her as a water-loving albino, but I tell you, she is more than she appears.” He swiped a claw at me, blindingly fast despite his age. I whirled to face him, my eyes spitting fire. An audible gasp arose as my protective ice shot out of nowhere to block him. Startoes retreated, shaking his sore claw, and the ruby-ice melted.
“Rubygem,” Pearleyes announced grandly, “is a Marked Dragon!” This time, the cheers were heartfelt. “For those of you still with doubts, allow me to explain. She appears an innocent gem-ranked dragon, does she not? Yet she is marked and in her prime. She suffers from the taunts of her peers for her looks and love of water, and she is only now showing her true nature as a Marked dragon.” I wondered when I had become so easily read. I had never confided, not even to Opaljewel, of my stinging torment at the barbed words of others. I nodded, feeling dazed. She continued,
“She knows and has used the human spell, and look at her soul-stone. It is smooth. Of all Islanders, she is the only one with a soul-stone without facets. Can any of you claim this? The Soul-Taker has wronged her when, just yesterday, he took her love, Opaljewel.” I nearly died right there when she said the word ‘love’. My ears were so flat with embarrassment that I doubted they were visible anymore. “She was born in the summer to Blueflame Trinity, in the year of hurricanes. Sadly, Blueflame was killed by a lightning strike that same year, in the strike that felled the tree which is now my den. Can any of you still doubt that she is the Promised One?”
“I doubt it,” a drawling voice spoke up. I bristled. “Do you really intend to send a gem-ranked dragoness to the human lands? She’ll probably mess everything up.” Firejewel pushed his was to the front of the crowd. I glared at him and arched my neck angrily.
“Excuse me? I’ll mess everything up? Take that back, you sexist bastard!” I leaped off the rock and struck Firejewel. We rolled over and over, clawing each other. I was untouchable. Every time he swiped at me, a patch of ruby-ice flared up to block him. I, on the other hand, was free to claw him up to my heart’s content.
Finally, Firejewel rolled on his back shrieking, “I yield, I yield! Stop, already.” I drew back, not even breathing hard. Topazgem and I sparred all the time; this dragon was nothing compared to my friend’s lightning speed. And I had never been protected by a shield of red ice as hard as diamonds before. It really helped. I let Firejewel up and he retreated into the crowd, eyes promising that I hadn’t heard the last of this.
“Any other objections?” Pearleyes called, calmly as if nothing had happened. There were a few rumbles from the crowd, but no one spoke up. “Then it is settled. Rubygem Frost is the Promised One. She must travel to the human lands and save our islands.”
“I don’t doubt you, Elder,” a dragon yelled. “But what about the other isles? Shouldn’t we get their approval before sending her alone?”
“There is risk in a lone dragon, or even a group of them, traveling from island to island,” Pearleyes mused. “But then, there is risk in sending her to the human lands with or without the other isles’ approval. Rubygem, will you take the risk? No one will hold it against you if you refuse.” I jumped, startled. I hadn’t thought that I got a say in this. I was scared at the thought of being alone in strange lands, but I was also scared that if I was the Promised One and didn’t go, it would mean the end of the Archipelago. Pearleyes was wrong. I would hold it against me if I turned down the only possible way I could see of saving Opaljewel. If there was even the slightest chance…
“I’ll take the risk, Elder,” I lifted my chin proudly. “I’ll go to the human lands with or without the islands’ approval. But, Elder?” I lowered my voice so that only she could hear me.
“Yes, Rubygem?”
“Would it be possible for me to make two stops at the Isles of Warm Sands and Rushing Water before I leave?”
“You wish to tell your friends of Opaljewel’s disappearance.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Then go, but be swift. We do not know how long it will be before our own island is engulfed by darkness as well,” she dipped her head. I returned the gesture and took off like a bat out of hell for the shore.

Aquagem and Topazgem were devastated by the news of Opaljewel. They were shocked by the fact that I was the Promised One. They were amazed about my ruby-ice. They were upset that I had to go to the human lands alone. Mostly, they reflected my own feelings perfectly.
Topazgem offered to go with me to the human lands. As much as I would have enjoyed the company, I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Who knew what would happen if we did something that the prophecy clearly told us not to do? I told him no.
From the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water, it was a two-day swim to the human lands. It would have been a shorter flight, but a lone dragon was too easily picked off, and not necessarily by the Soul-Taker, either. Ever gotten on the bad side of a hungry sea-serpent? It wasn’t hard, and the results weren’t pretty. At night, I rested on a conveniently placed rock sticking out of the sea.
By the next day, I had reached the human land called ‘North Carolina’ in ‘the United States of America’. Thus began the hunt for a suitably deserted place where a girl could randomly pop out of nowhere. This could take a while.
I had studied human culture and inventions almost every day of my life. I knew all about ‘cities’, ‘cars’, and ‘pavement’. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
How did humans live like this; all squashed together in stone boxes where they couldn’t see the sky or feel the wind? I was an Emerald Islander born and bred, a jungle-girl, and this maze of grays and blacks with hardly a breath of vegetation was the most horrible thing I had seen yet. But the cars were a close second.
I flitted from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the thermals. It was an unusually hot spring, and the heat off the cars was wonderful. But as far as I could see, that was the only good thing about them. They were noisy, stinky, and it was alarming, the way they charged around with reckless abandon for anything in their way. I was glad they stuck to their ‘roads’ for the most part.
Eventually, the buildings grew farther apart, traffic thinned, and trees and bushes became more abundant. I gratefully left the city for the suburbs. The number of humans on the sidewalk also lessened, but it was still too populated for an orphaned albino appearing out of nowhere to go overlooked. The hunt continued.
Around noon, I came to a stretch of road with no buildings near it. I resorted to flapping from tree to tree. Soon enough, I came to a sign. I tilted back my head and squinted at the letters. As I said, I had studied human culture thoroughly and had even learned to read the human language English. Reading wasn’t exactly my strong point, though.
A car rumbled towards me, a little girl’s head sticking out of the window.
“Look, Daddy!” she squealed. “There’s a dragon!”
“I’m sure there is, sweetheart,” I heard ‘daddy’ sigh as the car sped out of earshot. Stifling a chuckle, I managed to puzzle out the sign.
WELCOME TO VIRGINIA! YOU ARE NOW EXITING NORTH CAROLINA.
This seemed fairly obvious to me. If you were in Virginia, you weren’t in North Carolina, you were in Virginia! It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Humans really were a breed apart.
I continued on my way, keeping an eye out for observant little girls. Halfway through Virginia, I had to stop for the night. I climbed up into a cherry blossom tree. The white flowers went perfectly with my white scales. I went to sleep, hoping that I would find a house tomorrow.

“It looks like an iquana.”
“Idiot, iguanas aren’t that big!”
“Is it wearing a necklace?”
“Maybe we should call animal control.”
“Nah, let’s just shoot it ourselves.”
I woke to cheerful sounds: birds singing… the wind blowing gently through the grass… a bunch of teenage boys discussing whether or not to shoot me. America the Beautiful! I loved the place!
Apparently, there had been a storm during the night. The ground was soaked, as was I, and all my camouflaging flowers had blown off the tree. At least I hadn’t been struck by lightning. It would’ve been just my luck. One of the boys leveled a BB gun at me.
“Dicks!” I yelled, taking flight. I had learned to speak English and, as with my own language, I could speak it much better than I could read it. After I was safely a mile away, the hunt continued.
I saw a few promising spots, but nothing really jumped out at me. It wasn’t until I was nearing Washington DC that I found Arum Lane. It was beautiful.
The houses in the surrounding neighborhood were tiny, beat-up places without many inhabitants. There were lots of fast-food places and even a tiny school! It was the perfect place for me to go unseen. Arum Lane itself was pretty much deserted. I scurried down it until I came to a good-sized house. It looked uninhabitable: at least ten years into deep decay.
I crawled in a shattered window, since the door was blocked with fallen plaster and tumbled bricks. I tiptoed up half-rotted stairs, and entered what must have been the master bedroom. All kinds of furniture from all over the house had been stored in here: tables, chairs, beds, couches, cabinets, and desks, to name a few. Most had been covered with heavy, white dust sheets. I climbed onto the master bed and bounced a few times.
The resulting clouds of dust shot up my nose, making me sneeze violently six times. Rusted springs creaked deafeningly loud in the silent house. I rose to my hind claws. Right. No jumping on the bed, then.
“Two legs, two arms, hair and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in.”

Nick had wanted to go explore the abandoned house on Arum Lane, so we went. I hadn’t wanted to, but I never went against Nick. We crawled in through the smashed window and kicked around the ground floor, looking for something the previous owners might have left. In my opinion, it was supremely boring. Then again, no one asked my opinion.
You know, they say this place is haunted, I said to Nick. He hit me, and I went sprawling in the dusty ruins.
“Don’t be retarded, squirt,” Nick replied loudly. “Ghosts aren’t real.” He headed towards the rotting stairs, me following. We carefully climbed them, though I almost fell through twice. We made it to the second floor without mishap. I glanced down, and noticed a clear track through the dust carpeting the floor. Nick saw it, too.
We followed the track to the old bedroom. When we saw what was inside, we stopped dead.
A girl, her skin palest ivory, smiled at us with insanely red lips and ruby eyes. Her snowy hair fell to her shoulders, strung with pastel-blue beads. She wore a loose shirt of the same blue and a creamy-white skirt. Her boots were brown with creamy fur cuffs and two pompons of the same color hanging off each boot. Around her neck, a ruby the size and shape of a chicken’s egg dangled from a green cord. She was the palest person I’d ever seen.
Told you so, I turned to Nick smugly.

Description
1
Promise

The sun shone hot and bright on the Archipelago. The seven islands clustered together, each one dramatically different from the others. Many a learned scientist would have said that it was impossible for an island covered in snow and glaciers to exist scarcely five miles away from an island with a tropical jungle to rival the Amazon. Then again, many scientists had never visited the Archipelago of Dragons. They would have found its inhabitants almost as interesting as the islands they lived on.

I scythed through the water, stretching my neck forward. I laid my ear-fins back to streamline my head, though I was already moving pretty fast. Eventually, my goal appeared through the bubbles: the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water.
I slowed and surfaced slightly as I entered the marsh, gliding on the water like a crocodile. Crocodiles had shown me how to swim in the first place, and Aquagem said that it showed. Incidentally, Aquagem was the reason for my visit to the Shattered Isle.
I floated through the marshlands, pushing through reeds and cattails. My tail moved slowly back and forth, barely making a ripple. The others on my home, the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap, thought that I was silly, playing with crocodiles and swimming like a croc. But I was proud of my skill, and it’s not like the others on the Emerald Isle had anything good to say about me in the first place.
Just then, I caught sight of Aquagem, creeping through the reeds, eyes fixed on something in the water. I followed her gaze and saw a heron. I floated a little closer, camouflaged by the weeds and mud plastered on me.
In a flurry of water and snapping jaws, Aquagem and I leaped for the heron at the same time. I seized its feathered neck in my teeth and bit. The heron went limp.
“That was my kill, Rubygem” Aquagem protested, glaring at me. I grinned around the heron.
“First come, first served,” I returned. “You eat it, though. Technically, I’m not allowed to hunt on this island.” I laid the dead bird at her claws. “So, what’s up?”
“Topazgem is in trouble with the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams again,” she rolled her blue eyes and lashed her tail. “We should go get him before His Dainty Desert-ness freezes to death or the Crystal Islanders kill him.” I sighed. Topazgem could never resist teasing his island’s ancient rival: the Crystal Isle. Almost every day, it seemed, he was in some sort of trouble with them. Luckily, Aquagem and I always bailed him out.
My friend slipped into the water with me and we were off.
No other Emerald Islander understood my fascination with water. They all flew from place to place and looked down their snouts at land-bound creatures. I was the most looked-at-down-a-snout dragon in the Archipelago because I preferred to swim.
It was a little like flying underwater, flaring my wings every now and then to propel myself forward. As with flying, my tail was important for steering, but unlike flying, I also kicked my legs. I had to slow down so I didn’t lose Aquagem. Despite being a Shattered Islander, she wasn’t as fast as me underwater.
It was a quick swim northeast from the Shattered Isle to the Crystal one. Soon, the water became freezing, and chunks of ice began to float past. I thought that the island’s name was very accurate: it was cold enough to make you believe that even your dreams were frozen. We crawled onto a bank of ice and fluttered to the island’s mainland (if that makes any sense).
We took flight and scanned the windswept tundra for Topazgem. It would be easy to spot his bright yellow scales from the air. Sure enough, it was only a few minutes before we saw him, ringed by angry Crystal Islanders. They were harder to see, due to their camouflaged scales. I went into a dive.
“Now, look, I didn’t mean any harm…” I heard Topazgem plead.
“No harm?! You were throwing rocks at our penguins! We eat those, you know,” a pale gray dragon shouted. Others added their own cries of outrage. It looked like we had arrived just in time.
“Let him go,” I ordered, alighting beside him. “He really didn’t mean it. He was just teasing them.” Aquagem landed on his other side.
“You always come to his rescue,” a member of the mob protested. “And he never changes his ways! We might have been convinced the last ten times this has happened, but I, for one, am not going to stand by while an albino freak protects this miscreant from justice!” There were shouts of approval. Topazgem started to look ill. I bared my fangs and arched my neck, kneading the icy ground. I hated it when people called me a freak.
“Oh, so it’s insults now, is it?” I snarled. “Listen, Frosty, call me a freak all you want, but leave Topazgem out of it. He’s crazy. I promise to make sure he doesn’t do this again.” Aquagem growled as well. She didn’t like it when dragons made fun of my coloration either. After all, it wasn’t my fault that I was an albino.
“Let them go, Sapphirejewel,” a new voice commanded. It was full of quiet authority and almost as familiar to me as my own. It was Opaljewel.
He looked white at first, but when the sun hit him, his scales burst into a rainbow of colors. His eyes were pale turquoise. His soul-stone’s cord was striped with orange, indicating his position as a ‘jewel’. Aquagem, Topazgem, and my cords were all solid colors, denoting our ‘gem’ status.
Gem was the lowest rank, which you received at eight years of age. Jewel the next up, which you got at fifteen, and after your twentieth birthday you got to pick the end of your first name. You were stuck with your last name for life, though. I was Rubygem Frost, for my white scales, Topazgem was Spark, for his wild tendencies, Aquagem was Hydra, for her love of water, and Opaljewel was Prism, for reasons you can probably guess. Opaljewel and I were the same age, but his birthday came first in the year.
“But Opaljewel,” Sapphiregem whined, “he needs to be taught a lesson!”
“Warm Sand Islanders have been causing trouble on our isle for generations. Can any of you deny returning the favor?” Opaljewel demanded. No one looked him in the eye. “I didn’t think so. Our rivalry has lasted centuries; one single dragon will not be enough to change that. Besides,” he added with a smile, “who here would like to risk the Warm Sand Islanders’ revenge?” Topazgem laughed at that thought. The mob dispersed, still grumbling, but not looking nearly as bloodthirsty. The Warm Sand Islanders were very inventive when it came to getting back at people.
“Thanks, Opaljewel,” the yellow dragon thanked him. “I thought I was cooked.”
“No problem,” Opaljewel spoke to Topazgem, but his eyes were locked on me. “Anytime.” My ear-fins lowered in embarrassment at his prolonged glance. Aquagem giggled and nudged me.
“Hey,” I scrambled for a change of subject, “have any of you learned the human spell yet? We have to memorize it by tomorrow.”
“I forgot all about it!” Topazgem cried. “Who wants to turn into a human, anyway?”
“‘Only in their humanness can the Soul-Taker be cast down’,” Opaljewel quoted. “The Promised One is supposed to be young, so they think teaching all young ones the spell will help him.”
“Who says the Promised One is a boy?” Aquagem challenged, arching her neck. Opaljewel shrugged, looking uncomfortable. We all took flight and headed for the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap. The weather turned hot and humid. The water turned crystal clear and bright blue.
We landed in the clearing at the island’s center, where the elders lived. I led the way to a fallen tree, the den of Pearleyes, the eldest elder. She was centuries old, and milky cream where she used to be pink. Her sight and hearing were almost gone, but she was the wisest dragon in the Archipelago. So I thought, at least.
“Elder Pearleyes?” I called, peering into the hole in the tree’s side. It was a big tree, and hollow. A snowy eye blinked open. An irate voice, cracked with age, called out.
“What do you want, what do you want? I was sleeping.”
“Forgive me, Elder,” I bowed my head respectfully. “My friends and I have come to receive the human spell.”
“Cutting it close, aren’t you?” Pearleyes snorted. “Well, fine.” She blew out on us, her warm breath blowing back our ears with more force than I would have thought the ancient lizard could muster. “There you are. Just stand on your hind legs and say, ‘two legs, two arms, hair and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in’. Don’t bother complaining to me, I didn’t make up the rhyme. Now go away and let me sleep.” The eye shut and a gusty snore echoed out of the tree. We retreated to a safe distance. Elder Pearleyes was a little irritable, but if you needed someone to talk to, she was the one.
“Oh, me first!” Aquagem squealed, bouncing up and down. She rose wobblingly onto her hind legs and chirped, “Two legs, two arms, hair, and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in!” There was a flash of blue light, and I covered my eyes with my wing. When I looked again, a spurt of water sprayed outward and Aquagem was a human.
She was huge and pink. Her hair was the same pastel blue of her scales, her eyes the same blue as usual. She was covered by a yellow dress.
Topazgem repeated the rhyme and transformed in a burst of yellow light and a smattering of, you guessed it, sparks. His hair was bright yellow, his eyes orange. He wore a gray shirt, green cargo vest, and jeans. Opaljewel disappeared in a flash of white light and dazzling rainbows. He became sparkly-haired, turquoise-eyed, wearing a green shirt and jeans. It was my turn.
I recited the line, feeling stupid on my hind legs. How did humans walk like this? Suddenly, my scales froze and I went numb. There was a blaze of white light and frost crystals, and I was taller.
I was still an albino, hair and skin white and my eyes and mouth red. I wore a creamy-colored skirt, boots, and a blue shirt. All of us still had our soul-stones around our necks.
“Hey, I can walk!” Aquagem exclaimed in a strange voice. She teetered around in a circle, her arms spread wide. “And I don’t even have a tail.”
“Look at these strange things! They don’t even have claws,” Topazgem held up his claw. Well, now it was a hand. It certainly looked strange and unnatural. Opaljewel stared at me.
“You’re prettier as a dragon,” he murmured. I felt my cheeks go hot. Startled, I clapped my hands to them.
“Your face is red!” Aquagem howled with laughter. We all fell over each other, laughing and joking about the novelty of being human.
“And what are you doing, Rubygem Frost?” a sneering voice demanded. I looked down. There, I saw Firejewel Flare leering up at me. He was so small, it was laughable.
To be fair, he wasn’t all that tiny, but I was so used to him towering over me, it was a novel sensation to tower over him.
“I am practicing my human spell,” I replied with as much dignity as I could muster. It was difficult, as Topazgem currently had me in a headlock as Aquagem tickled me and Opaljewel egged them on.
“Humph, that Crystal Islander couldn’t do a human spell without Old Pearleyes, huh? I figured it out myself!” Firejewel bragged. Ever since he had become a jewel, two weeks ago, he thought he was in command of the world, as well as irresistibly handsome. For some reason, he liked me, and was constantly trying to get to me by putting down Opaljewel. Clearly, it wasn’t working as he’d planned.
“Do it then,” Opaljewel instructed. Firejewel stalled.
“I, uh, don’t quite remember the, ehm, words…?”
“Lare-fay ucks-say alls-bay,” Topazgem rolled his eyes like he couldn’t believe Firejewel didn’t remember. I held back a giggle.
“Oh, of course, and in, eh, Aylish, too,” the idiot smiled knowingly.
“Pig Latin,” Topazgem corrected.
“I know,” Firejewel shouted out the false words. “Lare-fay ucks-say alls-bay!” Opaljewel, Topazgem, Aquagem, and I all fell over laughing too hard to breathe. Firejewel was confused until Aquagem managed to gasp out what he had really said. He was livid, stalking away and yelling rude things over his shoulder.
“I guess it’s time to be dragons again,” Topazgem admitted. “It’s getting late; I should head back to the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes.” Aquagem echoed this sentiment. They laid their hands along their noses, sideways, and barked, “Release!” More flashes of light, sparks, and water followed their return to their true shapes. They flicked their wings in farewell as they took flight, headed for home.
I turned to Opaljewel.
“You know,” he began, casually studying the jungle surrounding them, “I heard about this thing humans do. When a boy and a girl leave each other for the night, they do this thing called kissing.”
“Oh,” I had no idea what kissing was, but I pretended I did.
“Want to try?” Opaljewel smiled wickedly. I shrugged.
Without warning, he grabbed my face in both hands and pressed his lips to mine. A feeling stirred in my belly, one I couldn’t identify. We stayed like that for an eternity of five seconds. He pulled away and grinned crookedly. I couldn’t breathe. He saluted me and said, “Release.”
When he had resumed dragon form and flown off, I stayed in human shape for a minute, staring at the trees. Ah, well, it was just curiosity. He had just wanted to know what it was like, that’s all. So why did I want him to have meant it so badly?

I woke the next day to the sound of meeting-drums. All Emerald Islanders were to gather in the elders’ clearing when it sounded, so, yawning, I obeyed, wondering what was up. I heard a rush of wings, looked up, and gasped at what I saw.
Dragons were flying in from all the islands of the Archipelago! Neon dragons from the Isle of Warm Sands teased pale ones from the Crystal Isle. Dark dragons from the Isle of Starlit Water conferred seriously with pastel dragons from the Isle of Peace and Beauty. The Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest had also sent representatives, flying alongside Shattered Islanders. The air was thick with them!
I began to hurry. Something serious must have happened for all of the islands to have sent envoys. I didn’t want to be stuck at the back.
I reached the clearing just as it began to fill up, and got a prime spot in the limbs of a tall tree overlooking the meeting rock. This was a large, flat slab of stone that the meeting heads stood on to address the assembled dragons.
I was shocked to see Pearleyes on the meeting rock. She was so old, she rarely left her tree. What was going on? I waited impatiently as the clearing filled with crowds of dragons and swarms more perched in the trees.
“Greetings, dragons of the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap,” Pearleyes began in her quavering voice. “And welcome to the delegates sent from the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams, the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water, the Isle of Peace and Beauty, the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees, the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes, and the Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest. We have received disturbing reports from all corners of the Archipelago of Dragons, reports that require immediate attention. Amethystwing of the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees shall tell of them.”
A deep purple dragon stepped forth, looking grave.
“Greetings, all,” he boomed. “The news is, indeed, disturbing. As you all know, Starlit Water Islanders are nocturnal. Lately, however, the days have stopped coming.” There were smothered chuckles from the crowd. “Laugh all you want, but the sun has ceased to rise over our island. In recent times, many of our younger dragons have gone missing, such as Jasperjewel Boulder and Sungem Raven.” There was a ripple at this. Sungem was well known as a gem-ranked prodigy. She had hypnotized all the Elders on her Isle at once, single-clawed, and held it all day. “Crags Islanders have also told of missing young ones and prolonged nights in their region,” Amethystwing nodded at the representatives. “This all points to an unwanted conclusion: the Prophecy of Souls is coming true.”
There was a horrified silence. Many looked like they didn’t know whether to laugh or cower in fear. This same confusion stole over my features. How was that possible? Wasn’t the Prophecy of Souls an elders’ tale, obsessed over by half-insane ancients; a thing to be scoffed at and only believed in because of the old ones’ vehement declarations of its existence? No one I knew had ever seen the thing.
“‘All shall be wasted, and the light shall leave for better places’!” Pearleyes howled keeningly. “The Prophecy has come, my brothers and sisters, and we are a part of it! But only,” she continued, creamy eyes blazing, “if we can find the Promised One in time, before the Soul-Taker ravages the Archipelago!”
“Hold on, Pearleyes,” a new dragon from the Isle of Warm Sands spoke up. “Isn’t this all a bit extreme? Surely the young ones merely ran off on their own? Surely the sun cannot cease to rise? Surely…”
“Surely yourself, Garnetclaw,” Pearleyes roared back. “This is no joke.”
“But how will we know the Promised One when we see them?” Garnetclaw whined.
“A young one, marked and innocent, suffering, wronged, and from the Emerald Isle,” Pearleyes mused. “We must think on this. The meeting ends with a warning, friends: stay on your island! Do not leave until we have sorted out this crisis. That is all.”
The gathering dispersed among anxious muttering. I sat on the branch for a long time, lost in my thoughts. Who was the Promised One? I knew all the young ones on the island, and none of them seemed to match the description.
“Are you Rubygem Frost?” A voice broke into my thoughts. I looked up to see a creamy dragon watching me closely. It annoyed me that while other dragons were almost white, they all were this sort of cream- white, but my white scales all but glowed in the dark. And other creamy dragons had eye colors.
“That’s me,” I responded.
“Greetings, I am Diamondfang Star of the Crystal Isle of Howling Winds and Frozen Dreams,” he twisted an ear in a polite hello. I dipped my head in respect of his seniority. “I heard that you are close friends with Opaljewel Prism.”
“I am.” I was suspicious of this Crystal Islander. If Opaljewel had wanted to tell me something, why hadn’t he told me himself? Jewels could go on representative duty.
“I am sorry to tell you, but Opaljewel is one of the missing dragons. I’m truly sorry,” Diamondfang did look sympathetic. I didn’t notice. My entire body had gone numb. It wasn’t true. Opaljewel hadn’t gone missing, he was too careful for that.
A thought hit me so hard, I groaned in pain. Had he gone missing as he flew back from seeing me? Had that kiss been the last time anyone had seen him? If he hadn’t stayed behind… if he had left sooner… would he have…? Right then, I wished dragons could cry, so I could let out this emotion.
I threw back my head and howl-roared as loud and long as I could. My lungs and throat hurt, but I kept on. Diamondfang put a claw on my shoulder, but I snapped at him, my eyes on fire. I sprang into the air. If I flew to the Crystal Isle I would find him. He would be waiting for me, like always, and maybe we could kiss again…
I folded my wings and plummeted into the sea. The water hit me hard, but I didn’t feel it. I thrashed underwater, clawing at fish and throwing up sand to cloud the water. I burst from the ocean in a shower of crystal droplets, water streaming down my face in an imitation of tears. I let out another pain-filled shriek, and slowly dropped back to the water. I floated on my back, panting, not caring if I drowned.
I had known Opaljewel for as long as I could remember; back when he had been Opalgem, and just Opal, before that. He had always been there when I was sad, angry, even when I was happy, because he made me happy just by being there. Even if neither of us had ever said it, we had never needed to say it; we both just knew that we had… I had… loved him. I couldn’t live in a world without his sparkly scales, his quiet assurance, and his serious smile. He was so real, so there, if I reached out, I could touch him…

The world jerked and I floundered. I was back on dry land, though how I had gotten there was anyone’s guess. I opened my eyes to the tropical lushness of the Emerald Isle, of home. Startoes Palm hovered above me, frowning, as usual.
“She’s waking up,” he called. Pearleyes appeared behind him.
“What happened?” I demanded, not caring if I sounded rude. “Who brought me back?”
“Startoes did,” Pearleyes told me, “he found you floating on a patch of ice. Did you go to the Crystal Isle even though you knew it wasn’t allowed?”
“No,” I frowned, “I only got about a mile offshore. Where did the ice come from?”
“You tell us,” Startoes retorted. He was the second eldest on the Emerald Isle, though he was nowhere near Pearleyes’ age. “It’s floating over there. We assume it’s ice because it’s cold, but it’s a strange color, and for some reason, it isn’t melting.”
I stood and trotted to the beach. I was only a few yards into the trees. There, bobbing on the waves was a floe of weird ice. It was ruby-red. It looked as out-of-place on a tropical island as a turquoise palm tree in Antarctica. I sniffed it and poked it. It felt and smelled like ice. I tried to break off a piece, but it was hard as diamond.
As I laid a claw on it, the chunk suddenly liquefied and melted back into the sea.
“Can you explain this to us?” Pearleyes probed. I shook my head dumbly.
Out of the corner of my ruby eyes, I saw a flash of movement. There was a snap and a thump, and something red flared beside me. I whirled, stunned beyond all words.
Startoes’ tail, in the act of whipping at my head, had hit a solid sheet of the same ruby-ice. Startoes tugged his tail away, and the sheet melted. The water pooled on the sand and disappeared. Pearleyes looked intently at me.
“So, it seems that the ice protects you,” she murmured.
“But that was a spell,” I blurted. “And I didn’t recite anything or make a pentacle or light candles or…”
“Some magicks do not need such things. These are used by dragons we call ‘Marked’ because the magic marks them in some way. In your case, I would say your albino coloring is the mark the ice that protects you has left,” Pearleyes mused.
“Why haven’t I ever heard of this before?”
“There has not been a Marked one for years,” Startoes explained. “The last one was a thousand years ago, when even Pearleyes was Pearlgem.”
“His name was Amberheart Blaze,” the elder’s eyes went misty as she remembered. “His Marked magic was that he could breathe fire, like the dragons of legend. His scales were shining gold, and his mark was a blaze of black over his face, thus his name. His sire had also been marked, though I forget how. Amberheart made a study of Marked magicks and wrote all he knew on a stone tablet. He said that ones with Marked magic like yours, Rubygem, could not control it. It appears when you are in danger, deflects said danger, and disappears again. Usually, such magicks stay hidden until a time of great stress or danger, and burst forth. I would say you were drowning, but your magic saved you.”
I was stunned. Me, a Marked Dragon? That was preposterous. I was nothing special, just an orphaned albino who liked to swim. I couldn’t be marked.
“Aha,” Startoes breathed, “it all makes sense now. ‘Marked… not as innocent as they appear… in their prime… on the Emerald Isle…’” I didn’t like the way he was quoting the Prophecy of Souls. Surely he didn’t think…?
“Come with me, Rubygem,” Pearleyes ordered, turning away. I hurried after her as she marched through the jungle. The vigor in her step surprised me; I had thought she was so feeble. After all, she was over a thousand years old!
We came to the clearing eventually, and the two elders ushered me onto the rock. Now I was trembling. No, they couldn’t seriously believe… could they? Startoes directed a waiting dragon, Emeraldscale, to beat the meeting drums again. The drums were really two hollow logs, but the sound was the same. Emeraldscale went to it with a will, and dragons once more gathered in the clearing. Many looked apprehensive, probably expecting more bad news. Still more looked surprised to see me, the water-loving albino freak, standing behind Pearleyes. Quickly, the clearing filled.
“Greetings once more, Emerald Islanders,” Pearleyes bellowed. “This meeting focuses on more joyous news. For while the elders of all the islands believe this time to be the one prophesized in the Prophecy of Souls, does not the prophecy also foretell the coming of a hero? Does it not say the Promised One shall come to our aid, and appear on this very island, no less? Brothers and sisters, I believe that we have found the Promised One.”
There was a general outcry of joy, intermixed with dark rumblings. I assumed that they weren’t happy to see me up here while Pearleyes talked of the Promised One. I looked slightly less than heroic. I felt sick to my stomach. Startoes shoved me to the front of the rock.
“This,” he announced, “is Rubygem Frost. You all know her as a water-loving albino, but I tell you, she is more than she appears.” He swiped a claw at me, blindingly fast despite his age. I whirled to face him, my eyes spitting fire. An audible gasp arose as my protective ice shot out of nowhere to block him. Startoes retreated, shaking his sore claw, and the ruby-ice melted.
“Rubygem,” Pearleyes announced grandly, “is a Marked Dragon!” This time, the cheers were heartfelt. “For those of you still with doubts, allow me to explain. She appears an innocent gem-ranked dragon, does she not? Yet she is marked and in her prime. She suffers from the taunts of her peers for her looks and love of water, and she is only now showing her true nature as a Marked dragon.” I wondered when I had become so easily read. I had never confided, not even to Opaljewel, of my stinging torment at the barbed words of others. I nodded, feeling dazed. She continued,
“She knows and has used the human spell, and look at her soul-stone. It is smooth. Of all Islanders, she is the only one with a soul-stone without facets. Can any of you claim this? The Soul-Taker has wronged her when, just yesterday, he took her love, Opaljewel.” I nearly died right there when she said the word ‘love’. My ears were so flat with embarrassment that I doubted they were visible anymore. “She was born in the summer to Blueflame Trinity, in the year of hurricanes. Sadly, Blueflame was killed by a lightning strike that same year, in the strike that felled the tree which is now my den. Can any of you still doubt that she is the Promised One?”
“I doubt it,” a drawling voice spoke up. I bristled. “Do you really intend to send a gem-ranked dragoness to the human lands? She’ll probably mess everything up.” Firejewel pushed his was to the front of the crowd. I glared at him and arched my neck angrily.
“Excuse me? I’ll mess everything up? Take that back, you sexist bastard!” I leaped off the rock and struck Firejewel. We rolled over and over, clawing each other. I was untouchable. Every time he swiped at me, a patch of ruby-ice flared up to block him. I, on the other hand, was free to claw him up to my heart’s content.
Finally, Firejewel rolled on his back shrieking, “I yield, I yield! Stop, already.” I drew back, not even breathing hard. Topazgem and I sparred all the time; this dragon was nothing compared to my friend’s lightning speed. And I had never been protected by a shield of red ice as hard as diamonds before. It really helped. I let Firejewel up and he retreated into the crowd, eyes promising that I hadn’t heard the last of this.
“Any other objections?” Pearleyes called, calmly as if nothing had happened. There were a few rumbles from the crowd, but no one spoke up. “Then it is settled. Rubygem Frost is the Promised One. She must travel to the human lands and save our islands.”
“I don’t doubt you, Elder,” a dragon yelled. “But what about the other isles? Shouldn’t we get their approval before sending her alone?”
“There is risk in a lone dragon, or even a group of them, traveling from island to island,” Pearleyes mused. “But then, there is risk in sending her to the human lands with or without the other isles’ approval. Rubygem, will you take the risk? No one will hold it against you if you refuse.” I jumped, startled. I hadn’t thought that I got a say in this. I was scared at the thought of being alone in strange lands, but I was also scared that if I was the Promised One and didn’t go, it would mean the end of the Archipelago. Pearleyes was wrong. I would hold it against me if I turned down the only possible way I could see of saving Opaljewel. If there was even the slightest chance…
“I’ll take the risk, Elder,” I lifted my chin proudly. “I’ll go to the human lands with or without the islands’ approval. But, Elder?” I lowered my voice so that only she could hear me.
“Yes, Rubygem?”
“Would it be possible for me to make two stops at the Isles of Warm Sands and Rushing Water before I leave?”
“You wish to tell your friends of Opaljewel’s disappearance.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Then go, but be swift. We do not know how long it will be before our own island is engulfed by darkness as well,” she dipped her head. I returned the gesture and took off like a bat out of hell for the shore.

Aquagem and Topazgem were devastated by the news of Opaljewel. They were shocked by the fact that I was the Promised One. They were amazed about my ruby-ice. They were upset that I had to go to the human lands alone. Mostly, they reflected my own feelings perfectly.
Topazgem offered to go with me to the human lands. As much as I would have enjoyed the company, I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Who knew what would happen if we did something that the prophecy clearly told us not to do? I told him no.
From the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water, it was a two-day swim to the human lands. It would have been a shorter flight, but a lone dragon was too easily picked off, and not necessarily by the Soul-Taker, either. Ever gotten on the bad side of a hungry sea-serpent? It wasn’t hard, and the results weren’t pretty. At night, I rested on a conveniently placed rock sticking out of the sea.
By the next day, I had reached the human land called ‘North Carolina’ in ‘the United States of America’. Thus began the hunt for a suitably deserted place where a girl could randomly pop out of nowhere. This could take a while.
I had studied human culture and inventions almost every day of my life. I knew all about ‘cities’, ‘cars’, and ‘pavement’. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
How did humans live like this; all squashed together in stone boxes where they couldn’t see the sky or feel the wind? I was an Emerald Islander born and bred, a jungle-girl, and this maze of grays and blacks with hardly a breath of vegetation was the most horrible thing I had seen yet. But the cars were a close second.
I flitted from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the thermals. It was an unusually hot spring, and the heat off the cars was wonderful. But as far as I could see, that was the only good thing about them. They were noisy, stinky, and it was alarming, the way they charged around with reckless abandon for anything in their way. I was glad they stuck to their ‘roads’ for the most part.
Eventually, the buildings grew farther apart, traffic thinned, and trees and bushes became more abundant. I gratefully left the city for the suburbs. The number of humans on the sidewalk also lessened, but it was still too populated for an orphaned albino appearing out of nowhere to go overlooked. The hunt continued.
Around noon, I came to a stretch of road with no buildings near it. I resorted to flapping from tree to tree. Soon enough, I came to a sign. I tilted back my head and squinted at the letters. As I said, I had studied human culture thoroughly and had even learned to read the human language English. Reading wasn’t exactly my strong point, though.
A car rumbled towards me, a little girl’s head sticking out of the window.
“Look, Daddy!” she squealed. “There’s a dragon!”
“I’m sure there is, sweetheart,” I heard ‘daddy’ sigh as the car sped out of earshot. Stifling a chuckle, I managed to puzzle out the sign.
WELCOME TO VIRGINIA! YOU ARE NOW EXITING NORTH CAROLINA.
This seemed fairly obvious to me. If you were in Virginia, you weren’t in North Carolina, you were in Virginia! It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Humans really were a breed apart.
I continued on my way, keeping an eye out for observant little girls. Halfway through Virginia, I had to stop for the night. I climbed up into a cherry blossom tree. The white flowers went perfectly with my white scales. I went to sleep, hoping that I would find a house tomorrow.

“It looks like an iquana.”
“Idiot, iguanas aren’t that big!”
“Is it wearing a necklace?”
“Maybe we should call animal control.”
“Nah, let’s just shoot it ourselves.”
I woke to cheerful sounds: birds singing… the wind blowing gently through the grass… a bunch of teenage boys discussing whether or not to shoot me. America the Beautiful! I loved the place!
Apparently, there had been a storm during the night. The ground was soaked, as was I, and all my camouflaging flowers had blown off the tree. At least I hadn’t been struck by lightning. It would’ve been just my luck. One of the boys leveled a BB gun at me.
“Dicks!” I yelled, taking flight. I had learned to speak English and, as with my own language, I could speak it much better than I could read it. After I was safely a mile away, the hunt continued.
I saw a few promising spots, but nothing really jumped out at me. It wasn’t until I was nearing Washington DC that I found Arum Lane. It was beautiful.
The houses in the surrounding neighborhood were tiny, beat-up places without many inhabitants. There were lots of fast-food places and even a tiny school! It was the perfect place for me to go unseen. Arum Lane itself was pretty much deserted. I scurried down it until I came to a good-sized house. It looked uninhabitable: at least ten years into deep decay.
I crawled in a shattered window, since the door was blocked with fallen plaster and tumbled bricks. I tiptoed up half-rotted stairs, and entered what must have been the master bedroom. All kinds of furniture from all over the house had been stored in here: tables, chairs, beds, couches, cabinets, and desks, to name a few. Most had been covered with heavy, white dust sheets. I climbed onto the master bed and bounced a few times.
The resulting clouds of dust shot up my nose, making me sneeze violently six times. Rusted springs creaked deafeningly loud in the silent house. I rose to my hind claws. Right. No jumping on the bed, then.
“Two legs, two arms, hair and skin, humans shed the skin I’m in.”

Nick had wanted to go explore the abandoned house on Arum Lane, so we went. I hadn’t wanted to, but I never went against Nick. We crawled in through the smashed window and kicked around the ground floor, looking for something the previous owners might have left. In my opinion, it was supremely boring. Then again, no one asked my opinion.
You know, they say this place is haunted, I said to Nick. He hit me, and I went sprawling in the dusty ruins.
“Don’t be retarded, squirt,” Nick replied loudly. “Ghosts aren’t real.” He headed towards the rotting stairs, me following. We carefully climbed them, though I almost fell through twice. We made it to the second floor without mishap. I glanced down, and noticed a clear track through the dust carpeting the floor. Nick saw it, too.
We followed the track to the old bedroom. When we saw what was inside, we stopped dead.
A girl, her skin palest ivory, smiled at us with insanely red lips and ruby eyes. Her snowy hair fell to her shoulders, strung with pastel-blue beads. She wore a loose shirt of the same blue and a creamy-white skirt. Her boots were brown with creamy fur cuffs and two pompons of the same color hanging off each boot. Around her neck, a ruby the size and shape of a chicken’s egg dangled from a green cord. She was the palest person I’d ever seen.
Told you so, I turned to Nick smugly.