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6
More Than Just Baked Cookies And Old Hags

While we waited for Will to wake up, Opaljewel told me a lot of things. He had been kidnapped, but the Soulless hadn’t been able to find me to ransom me. After a while, they had used him as bait to catch Aquagem and Topazgem. They had then let him go so that he’d find me and tell me and I’d try to save them.
Some things about this story didn’t add up. I asked him why Sunjewel was here if they didn’t know where I was. He speculated that it was pure coincidence. He pointed out that Sunjewel had still had her soul-stone, so maybe she really was just living here with her boyfriend. This sounded unlikely, but I couldn’t think of a better explanation.
“How many Soulless are we up against, Opaljewel?” I asked, steeling myself. I had to know how many dragons might be against us.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Around thirteen,” he estimated. “They’re divided into two flocks: Citrinespike’s flock of six and Tigerlily’s flock of five. In the first flock there’s Citrinespike, Smokyfoot, Peridothide, Jaspertail, Geeneye, Sunjewel, and Greenclaw. Then there’s Tigerlily, Buefang, Crystalspine, Onyxglitter, Jadeclaw, and Quartzscale. I guess, though, now that Citrinespike’s been replaced he must be in Tigerlily’s flock.”
“Wow, and they’re all over twenty? This could be tough,” I mused. There weren’t as many as I had feared, though. This was a small army if an army it was.
“Nah,” Opaljewel laughed. “The Soul-Taker gives them their own names early, but he picks them out for them. Most of the Soulless are just a bit older than we are.”
This was strange and slightly disturbing news.
“How can Sunjewel be a Soulless one and still have her soul-stone?” I wondered.
“Don’t look at me, I was just their prisoner,” Opaljewel threw up his claws. “And now they have Topazgem and Aquagem. We know it’s a trap, but we can’t just leave them!”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Hold on, I think Sleeping Beauty should help us plan.” I reached over to shake Will.
“One sec,” Opaljewel grabbed my wrist. “Who is this human?”
“He’s Will. Let go of me! He’s my friend,” I wiggled out of his grasp.
“But can we trust him?” Opaljewel’s eyes were deadly serious. “He’s a human, Rubygem. We all know what humans are like.”
“Not him,” I defended my sleeping friend vehemently. “Will isn’t like other humans. He’s like a dragon stuck in a human’s body. Will wouldn’t do anything to betray dragonkind, much less me. Accusing him of disloyalty is like… accusing Topazgem of disloyalty!” I triumphantly came up with an accurate comparison. Opaljewel seemed shocked at the suggestion that Will was as close to me as Topazgem.
“But, Rubygem…”
Pointedly ignoring him, I gave Will’s shoulder a vigorous shake. Either Opaljewel had changed a lot in the time we’d been apart, or I had changed more than I had thought.
Will slowly came to. He blinked sleepy, jade eyes and looked from me to Opaljewel to Nick, who was still paralyzed on the couch.
Will leaped up and ran to his brother. No amount of shaking could revive Will’s big brother, though he wasn’t dead yet. I wondered at Will. He was so concerned for his brother, even though Nick had hit him nearly every day since he was six years old. It was almost unnaturally forgiving.
“Will, this is Opaljewel. Opaljewel, Will,” I introduced them, though they already knew each other. “Will, do you remember what happened after we escaped the laboratory?” My mute friend shook his head sadly. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Nick may have been a jerk to him, but he was still Will’s older brother.
I explained events as they had appeared to me. A dim light of remembrance crept into Will’s eyes as the tale went on.
“And Opaljewel was just questioning your loyalty when I woke you up,” I finished. Will sighed and pointed at Opaljewel.
“Oh, I love this game,” I said sarcastically. “OK, Opaljewel…” He sketched a question mark in the air and pointed to himself. “If Opaljewel questions you…”
Eloquently, Will slapped his right fist into his left palm with a loud smack.
“Right,” I gulped, even as Opaljewel began laughing. “I wouldn’t laugh at him, Opaljewel. He’s dangerous even when he’s a human. Did we mention that Will was the one who took out Citrinespike, or that he was a human at the time?” The opal dragon shut up. “So, what should we do, Will?”
I dunno. Do we know where the Soul-Taker is?
He scribbled on a pad of paper he had taken from the coffee table.
“No.”
“I was unconscious when they kidnapped me in the first place and knocked out again when they released me on the Warm Sands Isle. All I know is that wherever they are, there are caves,” Opaljewel shrugged.
That’s helpful. That could B anywhere. Do we know any1 else who might know where to find them?
“No,” I started to answer.
“Not personally,” Opaljewel cut me off. “But the elves know almost everything.”
“Of course!” I exclaimed. “We can ask them for help!”
Where R they?
“They live just east of the Archipelago,” I explained. “Oh, yeah. Whoops. I forgot: they live on the same three islands as the witches. That could be problematic.”
?????????
“Witches don’t like dragons,” Opaljewel told Will in a superior way. “They might let us go if we give them you, though. Witches like having human body parts in their spells.”
“Opaljewel! We are not giving Will to the witches. They’ll probably think he’s one of them, anyway. He looks like one. I actually mistook him for one when we first met,” I admitted. Will glared at me with his witch-fire eyes again. “What?”
So, where R these 3 islands?
Will looked from me to Opaljewel, his face hopeful. Slowly, it dawned on all three of us that we had no freaking idea where to find the elves. That could also be problematic.
“Crap,” I sighed.
“Okay, let’s not panic,” Opaljewel instructed. “First things first. We know that it’s somewhere east of the Archipelago. That’s also where the pegasi and unicorns live, but we actually know where they are. We’ll turn into humans and get a  egasus or two to fly us wherever these islands are. Maybe one of the unicorns will know where they live.”
It was a good plan. It made sense. I wished I had thought of it myself. Will, on the other hand, looked suspicious. He didn’t seem to like Opaljewel at all. Well, they didn’t have to like each other. Hopefully, I’d get this whole ‘casting down the Soul-Taker’ thing over with quickly and they’d never have to see each other again. Though I could tell it was going to be a royal pain until then.

We were all set to fly off and find the elves when I finally got Ruby’s attention. I pointed to Nick. I could practically hear the little wheels in her head grinding away.
“I don’t know, Will,” she gave up. “We’ll have to make Sunjewel take off the hypnotism somehow. We’ll do that the minute we free her from the Soul-Taker, alright?” Dissatisfied with this slipshod plan, I nodded. There wasn’t anything more I could do.
Well, I had my own plan forming that differed slightly from Ruby and Opaljewel’s, but I didn’t tell them that. Why would they care, anyway? Opaljewel didn’t know the guy but clearly didn’t like me, and Ruby just knew him as a jerk. She didn’t realize that it was the hypnotism making him act like that. She hadn’t known him before Raven/Sunjewel came.
I have got to stop calling her Raven. Raven never existed.
Anyway, Ruby magicked me into dragon-hood and we flew off southeast. It was a largely uneventful flight. Ruby made us stop on crags of rock a few times when she thought I looked tired, not that I said anything. These stops were always short because I couldn’t stand the smug look on Opaljewel’s face.
You’re just a weak human; that look said. You don’t even have enough stamina for this quick flight! Along the way we occasionally dove down and caught some fish.
“Hey, Ruby,” I called, at one point, just to break the silence. “What exactly do witches do?”
“Well, they make potions and charms, which are physical things imbued with magic,” my albino friend replied. “But they can also hex people over short distances. Why do you want to know?”
“I just want to know what we’re up against,” I dismissed it. “Just curiosity.” We flew for a while longer in silence.
Then we came in sight of the Archipelago of Dragons, and all thoughts of animosity were wiped from my brain.
The first Isle we passed over was, according to Ruby, the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water. It looked like its name suggested, like it had once been a whole island made of rock, but had been smashed to bits. Now chunks of rock littered an expanse of marshland.
To the north, we could see glaciers sticking out of the water, getting bigger as they got closer to the Crystal Isle of Howling Wind and Frozen Dreams. From this distance, the Crystal Isle looked like a small white hump of ice on the horizon.
To the south was the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes. I could see the heat waves shimmering over the desert island.
“Wow, you live here?” I exclaimed, in an ecstasy of wonder.
“Yeah,” Opaljewel bragged, “parts of your lands looked like our isles once, but you all ruined it and now we dragons are the sole protectors of beauty.” Ruby swooped closer and smacked him with her wing.
“Shut up, Opaljewel,” she instructed. “We haven’t even passed over the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap yet. And stop dissing humans. They’re alright most of the time.”
As this went on, we flew over the Shattered Isle. It wasn’t long before I saw the Emerald Isle. It sat majestically in the ocean, like the emerald for which it was named among a sea of sapphires and silver. A lush, tropical jewel, the island was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life. There was no contest.
“It’s so pretty against that sunset,” I nodded at the horizon. The fiery colors of the sky were reflected in the calm waters.
“Hold on, the sun shouldn’t be setting,” Ruby frowned. “Look, the sun’s right overhead! So, where’re those colors coming from?”
“The night is coming over the Emerald Isle!” Opaljewel gasped. “The Isles of Starlit Water, Crags, and Peace are all under perpetual night!”
“You dragons have no idea what’s going on around you, do you?” I asked smugly. “They aren’t under perpetual night, there’s a sort of black mist blocking the sunlight.”
Sure enough, the sky was blotted out by a slowly swirling miasma of blackness. It would have been obvious to anyone looking up, but I guess thousands of years of expecting eternal night kind of influenced their opinions. I was reluctant to fly into that dark, oily fog.
“Um, Ruby, can we, like, go around that stuff?” I suggested timidly.
“Scared?” Opaljewel challenged me.
“I’m not scared!” I bristled. “Who knows how far this stuff goes? We might fly right over the unicorns’ island and not even notice!”
“But who knows how far north it goes?” Ruby countered. “We should just keep going the way we are.” I unwillingly gave in. Ruby had to know more about this than me. After all, she was the Promised One, not me.
I braced myself and flew into the miasma.
It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. It was oily and unpleasant against my scales, but it thinned out the lower you went. It didn’t taste toxic, either.
We flew on.
Ruby told me that the Isle of Peace and Beauty was normally covered in cherry blossom trees and fields of lavender flowers, all centered around a purple mountain resembling Mt. Fuji. Now it looked sinister, sparsely covered with trees and a brooding, jagged peak.
To the north, I could now just make out the Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest as a hulking range of gloomy mountains rising from the ocean. In the south, the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees just looked like a shapeless lump of solid blackness.
We had an uneventful flight all that day, though the black fog wore off after a few miles. Finally, we came in sight of an itty-bitty little island. I swear, if I had blinked I would have missed it. This was the unicorns’ island.
By this time, the sun was truly setting. We spiraled down to land on the strip of sand the unicorns had the gall to call a ‘beach’. The three of us curled up and went to sleep right there. Well, I curled up and shut one eye. I kept the other on Opaljewel until I was sure he was asleep.
I still trusted that everyone in my life would leave someday. And I didn’t trust him not to betray us as he left.

“Here, danger-bad maybe-perhaps, or not,” a string of strange words floated over the small island. I sat up from my place in the sand and saw a huddle of what looked like white foals. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they had tiny knobs of horns in their foreheads and that their eyes were bright magenta.
“Hello,” I greeted them, trying to sound friendly and harmless. They whinnied, but I couldn’t tell whether it was fear or amusement. The group moved restlessly and muttered to each other.
“Dragon-drake, not-never here-home-island,” one danced on the tips of its little hooves and flicked its plumy tail. Once more, I couldn’t tell whether it was scared, excited, or just happy. Their eyes were slightly wistful, like most horse’s eyes. And I’ve never seen a horse smile, so I wouldn’t know if these unicorns were.
“Over-more-than three dragon-drake-dragoness,” another neighed, shaking its head up and down like it was trying to get water out of its ear or dislodge something annoying. Or maybe it was agreeing. Once more, I really was clueless. “Intruders-trespassers-interlopers!”
“No, we came to ask for your help!” I interrupted, not liking where that line of thought might lead. “We came to ask where we can find the elves!”
“Dragon-drake want-know-ask where find-seek elf?” a little foal skipped to the front of the group. This one didn’t have a horn or magenta eyes, and it wasn’t white. It was a baby Pegasus, dark gray with tiny pigeon-wings and brown eyes.
“Um, yes…?” I sort-of answered. These things were hard to follow. And they talked too fast!
“Dragon-drake not want-know-ask!” the little Pegasus nickered. “Dragon-drake fly-leave-go there-home-isle!” I started to understand what it was saying. Strangely, they spoke a weird kind of English: a bunch of synonyms all strung together and really bad grammar. I could do that if it helped them understand what I wanted.
God, I’m so glad Opaljewel isn’t awake to hear this, I thought, opening my mouth to try.
“Uh, dragon-drake want-know-ask where find-seek elf,” I ‘confirmed’. “Where dragon-drake find-seek elves?” The group of unicorns and Pegasi neighed and bucked, probably with surprise at hearing their own language out of a dragon’s mouth.
“Dragon-drake ask-question-inquire Oldie Ollie!” the tiny Pegasus neighed. “What dragon-drake named-called? I Pigeon!”
“Dragon-drake named-called Blackgem,” I replied, hoping the name was simple enough for the equestrian babies.
“Ooh, Black-Gem,” Pigeon’s ears shot up. “Black-Gem dragon-drake come-follow-after Pigeon.” She (I think it was a she) trotted off, her entourage of unicorn foals trailing along behind. There wasn’t any time to wake Ruby or Opaljewel, so I hurried after the gray Pegasus.
She led me to the center of the island, where there was a cluster of adult unicorns and pegasi. Some of the adult unicorns had the same white coat as the little ones, but some were coal-black with orange-red manes and tails. All their horns were spiraling and golden. The pegasi came in all colors and patterns.
There was quite a stir in the herd when they saw me with their young ones. I mean, I was the same size as the foals, but it’s not like I was eating them or anything!
“Pigeon, where found-located-came-across young-small dragon-drake?!” A Pegasus mare the same color as Pigeon galloped up, her eyes simultaneously glaring at me and looking concernedly at Pigeon.
“Mama-Meadowlark,” Pigeon whinnied. “Dragon-drake crawl-slither-climb out of ocean-sea-water! Dragon-drake want-ask-know where find-seek elf!”
“”Dragon-drake, leave-go-fly now!” A white unicorn male thundered. The unicorns began to advance on me with their horns lowered while the pegasi sheltered the foals under their wings.
“Wait-stop-halt!” I yelped. Despite my fear, I thought I was getting the hang of this. “I named-called Black-Gem. I not hurt-harm-threaten you! I want-ask-know where find-seek elf!”
“Black-Gem want-need see Oldie Ollie,” Pigeon put in from her position under Meadowlark’s wings. On cue, an old-looking unicorn stepped forward. It was white, but going gray around its shoulders with age. A gray beard grew from its chin under incongruently lively magenta eyes.
“I am Oldie Ollie,” the unicorn neighed. I nearly dropped dead on the spot. He sounded like my dad! Exactly like a human man! “What do you want to ask me?”
“Oh, thank God!” I cried. “You speak normal English! I might have gone crazy if I’d had to say ‘I want-ask-know where find-seek elf’ one more flipping time!” Oldie Ollie laughed, but stopped and looked puzzled.
“You talk like a human,” he noticed. “What island are you from?”
“Washington DC,” I replied, “is not quite an island, but that’s where I’m from. My friend Rubygem transformed me so I could fly out and find the elves with her. She and Opaljewel are asleep on the beach back there.” I gestured in the direction I had come.
“I thought your name was Blackgem,” an old-lady Pegasus who sounded like my mom stepped up beside Ollie. “That’s not a human name.”
“Nah, I’m Will, Blackgem is my dragon name,” I waved a claw in dismissal of the subject. I intended to find out who these un-horse-like unicorn and Pegasus were and why they sounded like my parents. “Um, why do you speak English so well?”
“We’re transformed humans, too, believe it or not,” the Pegasus sighed. “A dragon-turned-human like you put a spell on us. I doubt even another dragon’s magic could remove it. But this is all beside the point. We cannot help you find the elves, but we can lend you someone who can. This is our daughter, Sparrow Hawk.” A young Pegasus stepped up. She was a glossy palomino and her wings were speckled with brown and were more tan than the rest of her pale gold body. Her mane and tail were white, her eyes were magenta and her horn was shining brass. She was a half-unicorn half-pegasus.
“Hi, Will,” she chirruped in a voice more of a bird’s than a horse’s. “I’m half-and-half, as you can see. I have very good eyes and a very good nose. I’m sure I could help you find the elves.”
“You can come,” I agreed, knowing that Opaljewel would be all over me for this. “But, Sparrow Hawk, are you big enough to carry something for us?”
“You can call me Sparrow,” the sandy horse-thing nickered. “What did you have in mind for me to carry?”
“Me,” I grinned. “Release,” I added, touching my three claws to my forehead. The unicorns and pegasi recoiled in shock as I returned to my human form. Sparrow recovered first and stepped forward to snuffle at my hair.
“You’re skinny enough,” she noted, lipping a strand of my bangs. “I think I can manage.” Ollie and the old Pegasus moved closer.
“He smells familiar,” Ollie murmured.
“He looks familiar,” the old Pegasus added. I smiled. I had finally found my parents. I was sure of it. Now I had to convince them, which shouldn’t be too hard considering that they were actually old enough to remember my face.
You’re Oliver and Janice, aren’t you? I questioned. If they really were my parents, they understood sign language. You had a son called Nicholas. His girlfriend was the dragon Sunjewel posing as the girl Raven Goth and she was the one who spelled you, right?
“Yes, that’s right,” Ollie cried. “Do you know our sons, are they alright, how did you know who we are?”
“James!” Janice screamed loudly enough to wake the dead. “My little boy!” She awkwardly lurched forward and wrapped me up in a hug of wings and her neck. “Oh, how did you ever…? And where did you get those scars and cuts?”
You don’t want to know, I wiggled uncomfortably in her grasp. I guess you really are my mom, huh? What possessed you to call me James?
“We named you after your grandfather,” my dad sounded choked up. “But you introduced yourself as Will. Why…?”
I was little when you left. I couldn’t remember my name.
“But surely Nicholas told you your own name!”
Uh… there’s a long story behind that… I hesitated. I wasn’t quite sure how to explain the whole Nick/Raven thing to my parents. Raven didn’t leave after getting rid of you two. She stuck around and hypnotized Nick out of his mind for years. We only just found out and drove her away yesterday. So then we have to find her cause Nick’s still hypnotized and Ruby’s the Promised One and I said I’d help her bring down the Soul-Taker…
My mom hushed me for a minute while my dad translated all that was said to Sparrow.
“Wow, you hang out with the high and mighty, doncha?” Sparrow whistled. The whistle sounded slightly wrong coming from an animal that looked so much like a horse.
Holy crap, you’re my sister! I dazedly signed. I sat down hard and my mom finally let go of me. She turned and told Sparrow what I had realized.
“I guess so,” Sparrow sounded stunned. “Whoa, this is unexpected.” At this point, Ruby and Opaljewel appeared, running for us. I guess all the shouting had woken them. I stood up and waved my hands to get their attention. We’re all friends here, right? I addressed my parents.
“Of course.”
“Will!” Ruby skidded to a halt in front of me. “What were you thinking, going off like that alone? Why are you human? Hold on, let me spell you…” She did a quick dance and turned me into a dragon again.
“It’s okay, Ruby,” I smiled as soon as I could speak. “Sparrow Hawk says she can carry me and help us find the elves.”
“And it turns out I’m his…mmmph!” Sparrow was cut off as I grabbed her muzzle with my claws, being careful not to cut her.
“Don’t tell them yet,” I hissed. I still didn’t trust that Opaljewel was completely on our side. “Just keep quiet, OK, Sparrow?”
“Fine. Jeez, you’re a pushy older brother,” she grumbled. I turned back to Ruby, who was staring at me. I prayed like hell that she hadn’t heard that last comment.
“This is Sparrow Hawk,” I said shortly. “Sparrow, this is Ruby and Opaljewel.”
“We’re very pleased to meet the dragons’ Promised One,” Dad said politely. I had deliberately not introduced my parents.
“You told them about that?!” Opaljewel rounded on me. “What if they tell somebody, squirt?”
“Who’ll they tell? The wind? And so what if they did tell somebody that they saw the Promised One? Everybody knows that’s Ruby,” I snapped, anger building up inside me. “And, Opaljewel, if you call me squirt one more time I swear I will rip out your intestines and roast them over an open fire, so help me, God.” There was a long silence. Everybody but me shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, there’s a conversation killer,” Sparrow noticed. “You all want to get going?”
“Fine,” Opaljewel stalked away. I wondered what his problem was. I released Ruby’s spell and climbed onto Sparrow Hawk. There was a moment of awkwardness as I figured out how to sit on her without being in the way of her wings. In another second I was settled and we were ready to go.
So we did.

Around ten minutes into the flight, I think we were all sick of each other. I know I was. Opaljewel and Will fought constantly over every little thing and then appealed to me. I tried to be as patient as I could, but it took everything I had not to start yelling like they were. I wondered if this was what it was like to have kids. If so, I was so staying single.
Sparrow was the only one who stayed out of it. Sometimes she would say something to Will and we would change direction but she largely stayed silent. I wondered if she was regretting coming along with us.
I did a lot of wondering during that flight.
I wondered how Will had convinced Sparrow to help us, and why he had been a human when we had caught up to him. I wondered why the unicorns and pegasi had spoken English, albeit a strange type of English. I wondered why Opaljewel and Will had it in for each other and why they had to be so obvious about it.
To stop myself wondering, I tried to come up with a plan for the next few days.
1)  We would find the elves islands and ask about the Soul-Taker. Hopefully, we would avoid the witches and hopefully, the elves would know something.
2)  a. if they didn’t know anything about the Soul-Taker, we’d have to find a different way to locate Topazgem and Aquagem.
        b. if they did know, we’d go there and rescue Topazgem and Aquagem. We might even ‘cast down’ the Soul-Taker while we were at it.
Good. Two simple steps. I thought we could handle that. After an unusually long stretch of silence, I asked Sparrow Hawk how she knew which way to go.
“It’s hard over a stretch of featureless water,” she admitted. “I know it’s somewhere east of here, so I’m keeping us going the right way. Every now and then, you can catch sight of a really strong current. I’m hoping that if we follow the currents, we’ll come across the Whirligig. From there, we head north a bit and we’ll find it.”
“Whoa, hold it right there,” Opaljewel interrupted. “We’re actively trying to find the Whirligig?”
“Well, it’s one of the few bearings we have,” Sparrow whinnied. “What do you think will happen to us if we fly over it? The Whirligig’s only dangerous when you’re in a boat or swimming.”
Will waved his hand to grab my attention and sketched a question mark in the air. I could guess what was confusing him.
“The Whirligig’s a gigantic whirlpool,” I explained. “It never stops and never moves from just south of the elves’ and witches’ islands. I guess it can’t do much to us flying over it, but sometimes sea monsters hang around the Whirligig for kicks. They think it’s fun to spin around in it.”
“If we fly high enough, no sea monster should be able to reach us,” Sparrow sounded assured. I wasn’t so sure, but I trusted to her judgment. Mostly that was because I couldn’t come up with a better plan myself, though.
As if to compound this miserable adventure, the wind picked up. Within minutes, it was raining. This was just perfect. Finally, our short-temperedness seemed to get to Sparrow. Apparently, she didn’t like the rain at all.
Nobody had expected it to go as far as it did.
Opaljewel meanly commented that Sparrow Hawk looked like a drowned rat when she was wet. Sparrow replied that someone who looked so much like an overgrown lizard shouldn’t say things about how other people looked. Will had silently laughed, and Opaljewel saw it even through the gloom of the now-overcast sky. He said that at least Will couldn’t really help looking as bad as he did.
“After all,” he had sniffed. “I bet your mother was dead drunk the entire time she was pregnant.” I was all set to break it up before it got any farther, but I was too late.
Will was furious, but he couldn’t do anything from Sparrow’s back. Sparrow had no such trouble. She threw herself at Opaljewel, angrily kicking and biting him. Startled, he dropped altitude to escape. Sparrow Hawk reared and bucked in midair and pursued him.
I sped between the two of them, shouting and shoving until they backed off. Sparrow flicked her tail contemptuously and flew off in a huff. I couldn’t tell what was bothering her. If anyone should have been mad, it would’ve been Will. I looked over to ask him if he knew what was eating Sparrow.
Will wasn’t there.
Sparrow’s back was empty.

Well, I hadn’t meant to buck him off. I’d never flown with a passenger before, and I felt guilty for not noticing that I had thrown him. The stupid dragon’s comment about Oliver and Janice had insulted me so much that I hadn’t even spared a thought for my brother.
Whoops.
We flew back to search for him. Ruby and I called his name over and over, though there wasn’t much point in it. The guy was mute; it’s not like he could answer. Otherwise, we would’ve heard him yelling as he fell or something.
I was beginning to think we’d never find him.
We kind of didn’t.
It was the sea serpent who did that.
Right about then, it sucked to be Will.

I was pretty darn ticked. I mean, here I was fighting for my life in the middle of the ocean, and they hadn’t even noticed I was gone. Some friends they were.
And then, when they had finally noticed my lack of presence, they flew over me like five times without seeing me. Well, I could tell they were really putting an effort into this. If it weren’t so serious, it might have been funny. As it was, if I survived, I was never letting them forget this.
Ever.
I floundered and tried to tread water, but my limbs were slowly going numb from the icy liquid. Every other breath I took was more water than oxygen. I could feel myself sinking.
Suddenly, something sharp snagged the back of my shirt and jacket. I was yanked upwards, out of the water. My first thought was that Ruby and Opaljewel had finally found me. I was hauled up higher and higher and higher. I realized that I seemed to be beside a huge, green wall of some kind. It was encrusted with barnacles, seaweed, and a multitude of other underwater wildlife.
Abruptly, the wall came to an end in a lumpy bulge the vague shape of a dragon’s head. It took me a minute to notice the protruding, yellowed fangs and the huge, bloodshot eye.
Not Ruby.
The gargantuan mouth opened, hitting me with a blast of warm, damp air reeking of rotting fish. I could see straight down the thing’s throat. I was willing to bet that, shortly, I would be straight down the thing’s throat. Sure enough, the monster tossed me in the air and opened its mouth wider to catch me. I fell towards the waiting teeth.
I slammed into something that didn’t feel like teeth or a tongue. It whipped me away before I had time to register what had happened.
“Hold on, Will, or you’ll fall off again,” I heard a familiar neigh. It seemed that while I could fall off her back without her noticing, a giant sea serpent could get her attention.
I was still feeling slightly annoyed.
But I hung on.
The sea serpent didn’t really appreciate having its dinner snatched away by a flying unicorn. It gave an earth-shattering roar and lunged at us. Ruby, just a tiny white speck in comparison, jumped in between us and the monster. With a flash of red light, the largest sheet of ruby-ice I had ever seen appeared. The monster smashed into it, its massive body coiling up like a slinky.
It threw itself against the ice, enraged. The ice shuddered at the blow. I could tell it couldn’t stand many more hits like that. Sparrow pumped her wings as fast as she could, Opaljewel beside us. Ruby was still behind us, holding up the wall of ice.
“Give it up, Ruby,” Opaljewel yelled over his shoulder. “Hurry up and get out of there!” Ruby didn’t need to be told twice. The ruby-ice disappeared and the albino dragoness skimmed low over the waves as she tried to catch up with us.
Frantically, I gestured upwards. We needed to go higher to escape the monster. He could go a lot faster than us, and the water was his domain. If we got high enough, he might not be able to reach us.
Opaljewel saw me and angled upwards. My sister followed his lead, as did Ruby. We all flew up, but none of us got high enough. The sea monster burst from the ocean beneath us in an explosion of water. A claw reached up and closed around Ruby.
“Ruby!” Sparrow and Opaljewel screamed as the dragoness disappeared into the serpent’s scaly claw. We all swooped around and flew at the thing’s head.
The monster swiped at Opaljewel with its free claw. Coils of its immense body churned the ocean into a white froth as it tried to swat us out of the air. Sparrow nearly bucked me off again and again as she dodged the monster’s attacks. We lost sight of Opaljewel as the monster thrashed.
“Will, how’re we supposed to take this thing down?” Sparrow neighed. I don’t know how she expected me to answer. I doubt I would’ve even if I could’ve. My insatiable Fury was creeping back over me.
I grabbed a firmer hold on my sister’s mane and nudged her ribs with my knee. Instinctively, she veered to the side. I tugged gently on her mane and she slanted upwards. Soon, she saw where we were headed and didn’t need me to guide her anymore.  As we rose, Opaljewel swooped in beside us, screamed that he’d distract the serpent, and zoomed off again. This was fine by me. I urged my sister to fly faster by nudging her gently with my knees and toes.

I was a little surprised when Will was able to convey directions through gentle tugs and nudges, but there was no time for that. I pumped my wings as fast and hard as I could, hoping Opaljewel could keep the beast’s attention away from us.
Finally, our target came in sight. The serpent hadn’t yet eaten Ruby, preoccupied as he was with Opaljewel, who was buzzing around his eyes and nostrils annoyingly.
I squared off with our goal and charged.

At first, all I saw were scales. I shoved my head between the talons, enabling myself to see the plight of my friends. I tried to struggle, but it was hopeless. I could barely breathe, let alone do any damage to the thing. It was just too big.
Then, in the midst of my captor’s thrashings, I caught sight of Will and Sparrow Hawk. They were flying right at me, scarily fast, the palomino’s horn leveled. I braced myself.
There was a sickening thumping, meaty sound as Sparrow hit. The monster’s grip slackened as it shrieked in pain. I took the chance to wiggle free. Sparrow pulled her bloody horn out of its wounded wrist and flew after me.
“How’re we gonna beat this thing?” I yelled.
“I dunno!” Sparrow bellowed back. “I guess I’ll have to stab its heart or throat! You help Opaljewel distract it!” They swerved away and I headed for the beast’s head.

The sea serpent was in pain; that much was clear. Its left eye was bleeding and ruined, and blood welled up from its injured claw. Its immense coils twitched and lashed in spasms of wrath and agony. Its movements churned the ocean into white froth. Its roars sent waves of saliva and rain over us all.
I wished with all my heart that we hadn’t had to chase Raven across the sea.
Sparrow strained to fly faster, but she was quickly tiring. Her hooves weakly bicycled beneath her, as if she was running. I patted her neck and massaged her shoulders as well as I could.
Head down, ears back, red-stained horn leveled, Sparrow flew at the sea serpent.
It saw us coming from the corner of its eye, but it was too late to do anything. It lunged forward to snap at us, exposing its throat perfectly. Warm blood splattered both of us as my little sister slit the monster’s throat with a twist of her head.
With a gargling death scream, the serpent clutched its neck. Like a tree being chopped down, it slowly toppled backwards, glaring hate from its already-glazing-over eye. The body hit with a splash, sending spray into the air almost as high as the serpent had been. Limply, it sank from sight. We circled for a while, waiting for it to come back up and tear us all to shreds, but it really was dead.
By now, Sparrow was nearly frothing at the mouth with exhaustion. I signaled to the others that we needed to find a place to land fast. We scanned the dark waves through the rain for any land at all. I still rubbed her shoulders.
At last, just as Sparrow was sagging dangerously low, we saw a jutting spire of rock. The top was just wide enough for Sparrow to land, her knees buckling as she collapsed. Within instants, she was asleep. Luckily, there was room for the three of us to curl up at her side.

The next day, we took off creakily on sore wings. As we flew, I became aware of a low, rushing sound. After a few minutes, we came across the source.
A huge whirlpool swirled and gurgled beneath us. The white-foamed water zoomed around in ever-tightening circles, making you dizzy if you stared at it too long. I saw a sea serpent the twin of the one we had killed, spinning around the whirlpool. Its hissing whoops were just barely audible over the roar of the rushing seawater.
“I guess that monster we killed was going to or from the Whirligig,” Sparrow Hawk supposed. I shrugged, not really caring. We’d killed that one, so all that mattered now was not getting caught by the other one.
I tried to make Will turn into a dragon as we approached the three islands, but it was hard to dance in midair.
“Hey, Rubygem!” Opaljewel called when the three islands were only a mile or two away. “Why don’t we split up? You and Will can search that island, Sparrow and I will search that one, and we can meet up at the third one at sunset!”
“OK,” I agreed. This way would take less time and stop Will and Opaljewel from bickering all day. I looked over at Will for his approval and was immediately exasperated again. He was signaling to Sparrow: pointing at his eyes, then at Opaljewel, and then at Sparrow herself. Keep an eye on him, he was saying.
Ugh! Why couldn’t those two trust each other for a single minute? Why did Will rely on a flying unicorn we had only just met to keep an eye on my best friend in the world? I couldn’t understand it.
All four of us landed on the middle island and I danced Will into his dragon-shape. Dragons had better sense than humans, and a witch was less likely to attack two young dragons than one young human. So we parted from Opaljewel and Sparrow Hawk and it was just the two of us; just like old times, huh?
Yeah, old times on a creepy witch-inhabited island. Sure.
Tall, black trees towered above us, all but cutting off the bright sun. Cold, white mist reached insubstantial fingers up the trunks, muting what little light came down that far. Above the ocean it had been a balmy 90°F, but under that black canopy, among the creeping fog, it dropped to around 70°F. It was incredible.
The mist didn’t help at all as Will and I trudged through the black forest, searching for any sign of elves. We peered under bushes and between tree roots. We squinted into the branches above us and scoured the ground for a telltale footprint. All the while it was painfully apparent that we could search until sundown and not have seen a fraction of this tiny island no matter how thoroughly we scoured the underbrush.
As we looked, Will grew more and more tense. I guessed he was either worrying about Nick or witches. My patience also began to wear thin as the day went on. I needed to find those elves to find my friends to find the Soulless to find the Soul-Taker so I could cast him down! I couldn’t bear the thought of that toxic-looking gas overtaking my beautiful Emerald Isle.
The silence between us grew thicker and thicker until it was almost as palpable as the fog around us. A feeling of urgency began to gnaw at me, but this feeling had nothing to do with elves or witches. Will was more subdued than usual. I knew I was missing something, but I felt like I didn’t have long to figure out what it was. I turned to confront Will.
“Yah!” I yelped. My front leg had suddenly sunk up to its elbow in mud and water! I yanked and flailed, on the verge of plunging face-first into the swamp. Will grabbed my leg and chest and wrenched me out with a resounding SQUELCH! I sat heavily and took a few steadying breaths.
“Thanks, Will,” I whispered.
“It looks like we’ll have to go around the wetlands,” he answered, surveying the ground ahead of us. “I’ll go first.” We set off once again, more cautiously this time. Our progress was slowed by our need to test the ground ahead of us. It was still painfully apparent that we could never hope to find a single elf under these conditions.
As we tramped onwards, I became aware of a noise. It was so quiet that I didn’t notice it, at first. But then it swelled, and I identified it as a chant.
“By the light of waning moon, give us power
By all things that writhe in the swamp, grant us supremacy
By the thousands of voices crying in torment, give us strength
By green witchfire and haunting witchchant, grant us knowledge
Dig your almighty claws into the earth and make our enemies rue their births!”
I shuddered. Evil witchcraft: unlike dragons’ gentler magic, which was based on principles of basic physics and cancellation, witchcraft demanded sacrifice and was rarely used for benign purposes.
“Witches?” Will asked, clearly already knowing the answer. I nodded grimly and plodded on. Shoving my nose in a bush, I elaborated, explaining the differences in our magic.
“But they’re probably in the middle of the swamp. Don’t worry, I’m sure even witches wouldn’t be able to do much against my ruby-ice and dance-magic,” I reassured him. I retreated from the shrubbery despondently and turned to smile at him.
Will was gone. Again. It was kind of getting old by this point.

I skimmed over the swamp-surface, going recklessly fast considering my hampered sight. Still I sped, straight as an arrow, right towards the source of the chanting. My plan had been forming the entire flight here. I would somehow bargain with the witches for an antidote to cure my brother’s hypnosis. From what I’d heard of witches, maybe I could give them a vial of human blood in payment. It wasn’t like I had any shortage of the stuff.
Eventually, my destination faded into view like a giant slide on a bad slideshow. An oddly-shaped hump resolved itself into a lopsided hut with a circular porch all the way around, supported by beams carved in the shape of chicken’s claws. I had a bizarre desire to laugh out loud at this bit of folklore unmasked.
The witches themselves were nothing to laugh at.
There were around twenty, all different ages, races, and sexes. They all shared the same look of unholy glee as they capered around a black cauldron with what looking like boiling mud bubbling in it. The witches waved tree branches, bunches of herbs, and other unidentifiable objects. The same sorts of things hung in bundles from the porch. Cats, chickens, hares, and toads ran rampant all over the small island of firm ground in the marsh.
The witches ceased their chanting and turned to look at me as I landed and folded my wings. They all wore similar tattered robes, though in all different colors. Green fire crackled beneath the cauldron, lending the witches an unhealthy glow.
“What do you want, drake?” an Asian woman demanded. One small boy began to roll up his sleeves, muttering darkly before being restrained by a dirty girl not much older than he.
“I’ve come to ask for help,” I stated. The witches glanced at each other, but said nothing. “My brother was hypnotized and I want to revive him. I can pay you in human blood.” I blurted out that last before I could stop myself.
The witches began to mutter amongst themselves.
“It sounds as if your companion is lost in our woods,” the Asian witch smirked, leaning on a stick of oak.
“We can fly through your trees and out of here anytime we want,” I assured her. “And she’s a dragoness, not a human.”
“Then how do you intend to pay us with human blood?” An elderly woman fitting the cliché ‘witch’ figure demanded in a crackly voice. I half-expected her to threaten to get me and my little dog, too.
“I have contacts,” I said carefully. I half-unfolded my wings at the looks in the witches’ eyes. “Do you have a potion or something that can cure hypnosis, or not?” The witches considered.
“We want a guarantee that you have human blood, before we even think about helping you,” a teenage African boy declared. I fluttered atop their round hut, safely out of their reach and released Ruby’s spell. There were gasps all around the fire.
“Look! He’s one of us!” A girl cried.
“He has witchfire eyes and a dragon’s ferocity!” A man pointed. “He must be a demon!”
“Hmm, dragon’s blood or witch’s blood is no good to us,” the Asian witch mused, tapping a long fingernail on her chin. “But demon’s blood or human’s blood are both valuable, no matter which he is.” She came to a decision. “Very well. Give us a vial of your blood and we will make you an antidote. Agreed?” I nodded. Not for the first time, I wished with all my heart I could talk. I doubted the witches would consider a nod binding enough.
As I had thought the next words from the Asian witch were, “Well? Is it agreed or not?” I made a slashing motion and pointed to my throat, shaking my head. “What’s that? What’s he doing?” The witch appealed to her companions.
“I think he can’t talk,” one young girl piped up. “Maybe he’s mute.”
“You just keep getting stranger and stranger, boy,” a white man grumbled. “A mute human who can turn into a dragon and do magic? I think we ought to discover a little more about this one.” The witches’ eyes gleamed with malice and several of them stepped forward menachingly. I tensed and raised one arm, ready to defend myself. Too late, I remembered that Ruby had said that witches could hex people over short distances.
“Wait a moment, friends,” the lead witch held up her hand. The group turned to watch as she stepped away from the cauldron. I flinched as she approached the hut, but she went right beneath me and entered the house. We all stared at the door for a minute, blinking stupidly. After a few minutes, the Asian lady returned, holding a bunch of herbs.
She went over to the pot and threw them in. she then grabbed a wooden spoon and stirred the mixture. After a few revolutions, the muddy substance cleared and became a translucent violet color. The steam rising from the cauldron started to smell like salty ocean air.
The witch pulled two glass vials from her robes. One she filled with the clear, purple mixture and put a cork in it. She turned away, faced me, and threw both vials. I snatched them easily out of midair and examined them. I shot the Asian a quizzical look, which she returned with a smile.
“The potion will revive any being from a state of paralysis, petrifaction, or hypnosis. It’s not poisonous in any way. The other,” she gestured to the empty vial in my hand, “is for your end of the bargain.” A silver object flashed through the air, and I unthinkingly grabbed at it.
It was a silver dagger, held safely by the hilt. I shuddered to think of what would have happened if I had grabbed its blade. Well, the message was clear, and I had to do it or I’d be hexed a million times before you could sneeze.
I gritted my teeth and sliced down.
The witches giggled and squirmed in delight as they watched my blood fill the vial. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, but it still hurt like hell. Slowly, drip by drip, I filled the vial. It was with a slightly light head that I corked it and tossed it back down to the waiting witch, who hurried to catch it.
Without waiting to see her reaction, I retreated to the middle of the hut and began to scratch a pentacle in the shingles. I stepped to the edge of the roof opposite the witches and whistled as loudly as I could. The sound would hopefully reach Ruby, but, if not, I decided a little improvisation was called for.
Laboriously, I scratched words into the center of my design.
Four Legs, Four claws, wings and scales, dragon magic never fails.
I finished the words, but nothing happened. So, taking a leaf out of the witches’ book, I squeezed on final drop of blood from the cut on my arm.
At once, all my limbs went numb and I collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. In a flash of light, I was a drake again. I took the vial carefully in my teeth and took flight. I pumped my wings as hard and fast as I could, shooting like a bullet into the fog un-hexed.
As soon as I was out of sight, the witches started chanting again. When I could no longer hear that, I figured it was safe to land. I touched down cautiously in case I was still in the swamp. It was for that reason that I had picked up the potion in my mouth.
Luckily, the ground was firm. I transferred the vial to my claw and took a few deep breaths to expand my lungs.
“RUBY!” I bellowed as loudly as I could. I had no way of knowing if she heard me or not. I wished I could send up a flare or something. Weren’t dragons supposed to be able to breathe fire? Or maybe they used ‘fireball-magic’. It was worth a shot. If I could turn myself into a dragon, surely I could send up a fireball?
I scratched another pentacle in the dirt and thought for a minute. What kind of incantation would one say to create a flare? I felt kind of stupid, but I made something up anyway.
“Fiery breath to scorch the night
Lend to me your flickering light!”
It sounded just as stupid as I’d thought, and nothing even happened. Well, what had I expected? It was just as well. After all, I don’t thing humans were supposed to use magic.
“RUBY!” I roared. I flinched back as the word came out in a gout of flame. It appeared that my spell had had more effect than I had thought. A few leaves caught fire, but the mist quenched them before they could do more than smolder damply.
I thrust the vial back into my mouth and scrambled up the nearest tree. I soon reached the top of the tree. I settled on one of the branches, above the still ocean of black leaves and took the potion from my teeth. I opened my mouth and exhaled.

Description
6
More Than Just Baked Cookies And Old Hags

While we waited for Will to wake up, Opaljewel told me a lot of things. He had been kidnapped, but the Soulless hadn’t been able to find me to ransom me. After a while, they had used him as bait to catch Aquagem and Topazgem. They had then let him go so that he’d find me and tell me and I’d try to save them.
Some things about this story didn’t add up. I asked him why Sunjewel was here if they didn’t know where I was. He speculated that it was pure coincidence. He pointed out that Sunjewel had still had her soul-stone, so maybe she really was just living here with her boyfriend. This sounded unlikely, but I couldn’t think of a better explanation.
“How many Soulless are we up against, Opaljewel?” I asked, steeling myself. I had to know how many dragons might be against us.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Around thirteen,” he estimated. “They’re divided into two flocks: Citrinespike’s flock of six and Tigerlily’s flock of five. In the first flock there’s Citrinespike, Smokyfoot, Peridothide, Jaspertail, Geeneye, Sunjewel, and Greenclaw. Then there’s Tigerlily, Buefang, Crystalspine, Onyxglitter, Jadeclaw, and Quartzscale. I guess, though, now that Citrinespike’s been replaced he must be in Tigerlily’s flock.”
“Wow, and they’re all over twenty? This could be tough,” I mused. There weren’t as many as I had feared, though. This was a small army if an army it was.
“Nah,” Opaljewel laughed. “The Soul-Taker gives them their own names early, but he picks them out for them. Most of the Soulless are just a bit older than we are.”
This was strange and slightly disturbing news.
“How can Sunjewel be a Soulless one and still have her soul-stone?” I wondered.
“Don’t look at me, I was just their prisoner,” Opaljewel threw up his claws. “And now they have Topazgem and Aquagem. We know it’s a trap, but we can’t just leave them!”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Hold on, I think Sleeping Beauty should help us plan.” I reached over to shake Will.
“One sec,” Opaljewel grabbed my wrist. “Who is this human?”
“He’s Will. Let go of me! He’s my friend,” I wiggled out of his grasp.
“But can we trust him?” Opaljewel’s eyes were deadly serious. “He’s a human, Rubygem. We all know what humans are like.”
“Not him,” I defended my sleeping friend vehemently. “Will isn’t like other humans. He’s like a dragon stuck in a human’s body. Will wouldn’t do anything to betray dragonkind, much less me. Accusing him of disloyalty is like… accusing Topazgem of disloyalty!” I triumphantly came up with an accurate comparison. Opaljewel seemed shocked at the suggestion that Will was as close to me as Topazgem.
“But, Rubygem…”
Pointedly ignoring him, I gave Will’s shoulder a vigorous shake. Either Opaljewel had changed a lot in the time we’d been apart, or I had changed more than I had thought.
Will slowly came to. He blinked sleepy, jade eyes and looked from me to Opaljewel to Nick, who was still paralyzed on the couch.
Will leaped up and ran to his brother. No amount of shaking could revive Will’s big brother, though he wasn’t dead yet. I wondered at Will. He was so concerned for his brother, even though Nick had hit him nearly every day since he was six years old. It was almost unnaturally forgiving.
“Will, this is Opaljewel. Opaljewel, Will,” I introduced them, though they already knew each other. “Will, do you remember what happened after we escaped the laboratory?” My mute friend shook his head sadly. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Nick may have been a jerk to him, but he was still Will’s older brother.
I explained events as they had appeared to me. A dim light of remembrance crept into Will’s eyes as the tale went on.
“And Opaljewel was just questioning your loyalty when I woke you up,” I finished. Will sighed and pointed at Opaljewel.
“Oh, I love this game,” I said sarcastically. “OK, Opaljewel…” He sketched a question mark in the air and pointed to himself. “If Opaljewel questions you…”
Eloquently, Will slapped his right fist into his left palm with a loud smack.
“Right,” I gulped, even as Opaljewel began laughing. “I wouldn’t laugh at him, Opaljewel. He’s dangerous even when he’s a human. Did we mention that Will was the one who took out Citrinespike, or that he was a human at the time?” The opal dragon shut up. “So, what should we do, Will?”
I dunno. Do we know where the Soul-Taker is?
He scribbled on a pad of paper he had taken from the coffee table.
“No.”
“I was unconscious when they kidnapped me in the first place and knocked out again when they released me on the Warm Sands Isle. All I know is that wherever they are, there are caves,” Opaljewel shrugged.
That’s helpful. That could B anywhere. Do we know any1 else who might know where to find them?
“No,” I started to answer.
“Not personally,” Opaljewel cut me off. “But the elves know almost everything.”
“Of course!” I exclaimed. “We can ask them for help!”
Where R they?
“They live just east of the Archipelago,” I explained. “Oh, yeah. Whoops. I forgot: they live on the same three islands as the witches. That could be problematic.”
?????????
“Witches don’t like dragons,” Opaljewel told Will in a superior way. “They might let us go if we give them you, though. Witches like having human body parts in their spells.”
“Opaljewel! We are not giving Will to the witches. They’ll probably think he’s one of them, anyway. He looks like one. I actually mistook him for one when we first met,” I admitted. Will glared at me with his witch-fire eyes again. “What?”
So, where R these 3 islands?
Will looked from me to Opaljewel, his face hopeful. Slowly, it dawned on all three of us that we had no freaking idea where to find the elves. That could also be problematic.
“Crap,” I sighed.
“Okay, let’s not panic,” Opaljewel instructed. “First things first. We know that it’s somewhere east of the Archipelago. That’s also where the pegasi and unicorns live, but we actually know where they are. We’ll turn into humans and get a  egasus or two to fly us wherever these islands are. Maybe one of the unicorns will know where they live.”
It was a good plan. It made sense. I wished I had thought of it myself. Will, on the other hand, looked suspicious. He didn’t seem to like Opaljewel at all. Well, they didn’t have to like each other. Hopefully, I’d get this whole ‘casting down the Soul-Taker’ thing over with quickly and they’d never have to see each other again. Though I could tell it was going to be a royal pain until then.

We were all set to fly off and find the elves when I finally got Ruby’s attention. I pointed to Nick. I could practically hear the little wheels in her head grinding away.
“I don’t know, Will,” she gave up. “We’ll have to make Sunjewel take off the hypnotism somehow. We’ll do that the minute we free her from the Soul-Taker, alright?” Dissatisfied with this slipshod plan, I nodded. There wasn’t anything more I could do.
Well, I had my own plan forming that differed slightly from Ruby and Opaljewel’s, but I didn’t tell them that. Why would they care, anyway? Opaljewel didn’t know the guy but clearly didn’t like me, and Ruby just knew him as a jerk. She didn’t realize that it was the hypnotism making him act like that. She hadn’t known him before Raven/Sunjewel came.
I have got to stop calling her Raven. Raven never existed.
Anyway, Ruby magicked me into dragon-hood and we flew off southeast. It was a largely uneventful flight. Ruby made us stop on crags of rock a few times when she thought I looked tired, not that I said anything. These stops were always short because I couldn’t stand the smug look on Opaljewel’s face.
You’re just a weak human; that look said. You don’t even have enough stamina for this quick flight! Along the way we occasionally dove down and caught some fish.
“Hey, Ruby,” I called, at one point, just to break the silence. “What exactly do witches do?”
“Well, they make potions and charms, which are physical things imbued with magic,” my albino friend replied. “But they can also hex people over short distances. Why do you want to know?”
“I just want to know what we’re up against,” I dismissed it. “Just curiosity.” We flew for a while longer in silence.
Then we came in sight of the Archipelago of Dragons, and all thoughts of animosity were wiped from my brain.
The first Isle we passed over was, according to Ruby, the Shattered Isle of Rushing Water. It looked like its name suggested, like it had once been a whole island made of rock, but had been smashed to bits. Now chunks of rock littered an expanse of marshland.
To the north, we could see glaciers sticking out of the water, getting bigger as they got closer to the Crystal Isle of Howling Wind and Frozen Dreams. From this distance, the Crystal Isle looked like a small white hump of ice on the horizon.
To the south was the Isle of Warm Sands and Rolling Dunes. I could see the heat waves shimmering over the desert island.
“Wow, you live here?” I exclaimed, in an ecstasy of wonder.
“Yeah,” Opaljewel bragged, “parts of your lands looked like our isles once, but you all ruined it and now we dragons are the sole protectors of beauty.” Ruby swooped closer and smacked him with her wing.
“Shut up, Opaljewel,” she instructed. “We haven’t even passed over the Emerald Isle Where Dolphins Leap yet. And stop dissing humans. They’re alright most of the time.”
As this went on, we flew over the Shattered Isle. It wasn’t long before I saw the Emerald Isle. It sat majestically in the ocean, like the emerald for which it was named among a sea of sapphires and silver. A lush, tropical jewel, the island was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life. There was no contest.
“It’s so pretty against that sunset,” I nodded at the horizon. The fiery colors of the sky were reflected in the calm waters.
“Hold on, the sun shouldn’t be setting,” Ruby frowned. “Look, the sun’s right overhead! So, where’re those colors coming from?”
“The night is coming over the Emerald Isle!” Opaljewel gasped. “The Isles of Starlit Water, Crags, and Peace are all under perpetual night!”
“You dragons have no idea what’s going on around you, do you?” I asked smugly. “They aren’t under perpetual night, there’s a sort of black mist blocking the sunlight.”
Sure enough, the sky was blotted out by a slowly swirling miasma of blackness. It would have been obvious to anyone looking up, but I guess thousands of years of expecting eternal night kind of influenced their opinions. I was reluctant to fly into that dark, oily fog.
“Um, Ruby, can we, like, go around that stuff?” I suggested timidly.
“Scared?” Opaljewel challenged me.
“I’m not scared!” I bristled. “Who knows how far this stuff goes? We might fly right over the unicorns’ island and not even notice!”
“But who knows how far north it goes?” Ruby countered. “We should just keep going the way we are.” I unwillingly gave in. Ruby had to know more about this than me. After all, she was the Promised One, not me.
I braced myself and flew into the miasma.
It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. It was oily and unpleasant against my scales, but it thinned out the lower you went. It didn’t taste toxic, either.
We flew on.
Ruby told me that the Isle of Peace and Beauty was normally covered in cherry blossom trees and fields of lavender flowers, all centered around a purple mountain resembling Mt. Fuji. Now it looked sinister, sparsely covered with trees and a brooding, jagged peak.
To the north, I could now just make out the Isle of Crags Where Eagles Nest as a hulking range of gloomy mountains rising from the ocean. In the south, the Isle of Starlit Water Surrounded by Tall Trees just looked like a shapeless lump of solid blackness.
We had an uneventful flight all that day, though the black fog wore off after a few miles. Finally, we came in sight of an itty-bitty little island. I swear, if I had blinked I would have missed it. This was the unicorns’ island.
By this time, the sun was truly setting. We spiraled down to land on the strip of sand the unicorns had the gall to call a ‘beach’. The three of us curled up and went to sleep right there. Well, I curled up and shut one eye. I kept the other on Opaljewel until I was sure he was asleep.
I still trusted that everyone in my life would leave someday. And I didn’t trust him not to betray us as he left.

“Here, danger-bad maybe-perhaps, or not,” a string of strange words floated over the small island. I sat up from my place in the sand and saw a huddle of what looked like white foals. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they had tiny knobs of horns in their foreheads and that their eyes were bright magenta.
“Hello,” I greeted them, trying to sound friendly and harmless. They whinnied, but I couldn’t tell whether it was fear or amusement. The group moved restlessly and muttered to each other.
“Dragon-drake, not-never here-home-island,” one danced on the tips of its little hooves and flicked its plumy tail. Once more, I couldn’t tell whether it was scared, excited, or just happy. Their eyes were slightly wistful, like most horse’s eyes. And I’ve never seen a horse smile, so I wouldn’t know if these unicorns were.
“Over-more-than three dragon-drake-dragoness,” another neighed, shaking its head up and down like it was trying to get water out of its ear or dislodge something annoying. Or maybe it was agreeing. Once more, I really was clueless. “Intruders-trespassers-interlopers!”
“No, we came to ask for your help!” I interrupted, not liking where that line of thought might lead. “We came to ask where we can find the elves!”
“Dragon-drake want-know-ask where find-seek elf?” a little foal skipped to the front of the group. This one didn’t have a horn or magenta eyes, and it wasn’t white. It was a baby Pegasus, dark gray with tiny pigeon-wings and brown eyes.
“Um, yes…?” I sort-of answered. These things were hard to follow. And they talked too fast!
“Dragon-drake not want-know-ask!” the little Pegasus nickered. “Dragon-drake fly-leave-go there-home-isle!” I started to understand what it was saying. Strangely, they spoke a weird kind of English: a bunch of synonyms all strung together and really bad grammar. I could do that if it helped them understand what I wanted.
God, I’m so glad Opaljewel isn’t awake to hear this, I thought, opening my mouth to try.
“Uh, dragon-drake want-know-ask where find-seek elf,” I ‘confirmed’. “Where dragon-drake find-seek elves?” The group of unicorns and Pegasi neighed and bucked, probably with surprise at hearing their own language out of a dragon’s mouth.
“Dragon-drake ask-question-inquire Oldie Ollie!” the tiny Pegasus neighed. “What dragon-drake named-called? I Pigeon!”
“Dragon-drake named-called Blackgem,” I replied, hoping the name was simple enough for the equestrian babies.
“Ooh, Black-Gem,” Pigeon’s ears shot up. “Black-Gem dragon-drake come-follow-after Pigeon.” She (I think it was a she) trotted off, her entourage of unicorn foals trailing along behind. There wasn’t any time to wake Ruby or Opaljewel, so I hurried after the gray Pegasus.
She led me to the center of the island, where there was a cluster of adult unicorns and pegasi. Some of the adult unicorns had the same white coat as the little ones, but some were coal-black with orange-red manes and tails. All their horns were spiraling and golden. The pegasi came in all colors and patterns.
There was quite a stir in the herd when they saw me with their young ones. I mean, I was the same size as the foals, but it’s not like I was eating them or anything!
“Pigeon, where found-located-came-across young-small dragon-drake?!” A Pegasus mare the same color as Pigeon galloped up, her eyes simultaneously glaring at me and looking concernedly at Pigeon.
“Mama-Meadowlark,” Pigeon whinnied. “Dragon-drake crawl-slither-climb out of ocean-sea-water! Dragon-drake want-ask-know where find-seek elf!”
“”Dragon-drake, leave-go-fly now!” A white unicorn male thundered. The unicorns began to advance on me with their horns lowered while the pegasi sheltered the foals under their wings.
“Wait-stop-halt!” I yelped. Despite my fear, I thought I was getting the hang of this. “I named-called Black-Gem. I not hurt-harm-threaten you! I want-ask-know where find-seek elf!”
“Black-Gem want-need see Oldie Ollie,” Pigeon put in from her position under Meadowlark’s wings. On cue, an old-looking unicorn stepped forward. It was white, but going gray around its shoulders with age. A gray beard grew from its chin under incongruently lively magenta eyes.
“I am Oldie Ollie,” the unicorn neighed. I nearly dropped dead on the spot. He sounded like my dad! Exactly like a human man! “What do you want to ask me?”
“Oh, thank God!” I cried. “You speak normal English! I might have gone crazy if I’d had to say ‘I want-ask-know where find-seek elf’ one more flipping time!” Oldie Ollie laughed, but stopped and looked puzzled.
“You talk like a human,” he noticed. “What island are you from?”
“Washington DC,” I replied, “is not quite an island, but that’s where I’m from. My friend Rubygem transformed me so I could fly out and find the elves with her. She and Opaljewel are asleep on the beach back there.” I gestured in the direction I had come.
“I thought your name was Blackgem,” an old-lady Pegasus who sounded like my mom stepped up beside Ollie. “That’s not a human name.”
“Nah, I’m Will, Blackgem is my dragon name,” I waved a claw in dismissal of the subject. I intended to find out who these un-horse-like unicorn and Pegasus were and why they sounded like my parents. “Um, why do you speak English so well?”
“We’re transformed humans, too, believe it or not,” the Pegasus sighed. “A dragon-turned-human like you put a spell on us. I doubt even another dragon’s magic could remove it. But this is all beside the point. We cannot help you find the elves, but we can lend you someone who can. This is our daughter, Sparrow Hawk.” A young Pegasus stepped up. She was a glossy palomino and her wings were speckled with brown and were more tan than the rest of her pale gold body. Her mane and tail were white, her eyes were magenta and her horn was shining brass. She was a half-unicorn half-pegasus.
“Hi, Will,” she chirruped in a voice more of a bird’s than a horse’s. “I’m half-and-half, as you can see. I have very good eyes and a very good nose. I’m sure I could help you find the elves.”
“You can come,” I agreed, knowing that Opaljewel would be all over me for this. “But, Sparrow Hawk, are you big enough to carry something for us?”
“You can call me Sparrow,” the sandy horse-thing nickered. “What did you have in mind for me to carry?”
“Me,” I grinned. “Release,” I added, touching my three claws to my forehead. The unicorns and pegasi recoiled in shock as I returned to my human form. Sparrow recovered first and stepped forward to snuffle at my hair.
“You’re skinny enough,” she noted, lipping a strand of my bangs. “I think I can manage.” Ollie and the old Pegasus moved closer.
“He smells familiar,” Ollie murmured.
“He looks familiar,” the old Pegasus added. I smiled. I had finally found my parents. I was sure of it. Now I had to convince them, which shouldn’t be too hard considering that they were actually old enough to remember my face.
You’re Oliver and Janice, aren’t you? I questioned. If they really were my parents, they understood sign language. You had a son called Nicholas. His girlfriend was the dragon Sunjewel posing as the girl Raven Goth and she was the one who spelled you, right?
“Yes, that’s right,” Ollie cried. “Do you know our sons, are they alright, how did you know who we are?”
“James!” Janice screamed loudly enough to wake the dead. “My little boy!” She awkwardly lurched forward and wrapped me up in a hug of wings and her neck. “Oh, how did you ever…? And where did you get those scars and cuts?”
You don’t want to know, I wiggled uncomfortably in her grasp. I guess you really are my mom, huh? What possessed you to call me James?
“We named you after your grandfather,” my dad sounded choked up. “But you introduced yourself as Will. Why…?”
I was little when you left. I couldn’t remember my name.
“But surely Nicholas told you your own name!”
Uh… there’s a long story behind that… I hesitated. I wasn’t quite sure how to explain the whole Nick/Raven thing to my parents. Raven didn’t leave after getting rid of you two. She stuck around and hypnotized Nick out of his mind for years. We only just found out and drove her away yesterday. So then we have to find her cause Nick’s still hypnotized and Ruby’s the Promised One and I said I’d help her bring down the Soul-Taker…
My mom hushed me for a minute while my dad translated all that was said to Sparrow.
“Wow, you hang out with the high and mighty, doncha?” Sparrow whistled. The whistle sounded slightly wrong coming from an animal that looked so much like a horse.
Holy crap, you’re my sister! I dazedly signed. I sat down hard and my mom finally let go of me. She turned and told Sparrow what I had realized.
“I guess so,” Sparrow sounded stunned. “Whoa, this is unexpected.” At this point, Ruby and Opaljewel appeared, running for us. I guess all the shouting had woken them. I stood up and waved my hands to get their attention. We’re all friends here, right? I addressed my parents.
“Of course.”
“Will!” Ruby skidded to a halt in front of me. “What were you thinking, going off like that alone? Why are you human? Hold on, let me spell you…” She did a quick dance and turned me into a dragon again.
“It’s okay, Ruby,” I smiled as soon as I could speak. “Sparrow Hawk says she can carry me and help us find the elves.”
“And it turns out I’m his…mmmph!” Sparrow was cut off as I grabbed her muzzle with my claws, being careful not to cut her.
“Don’t tell them yet,” I hissed. I still didn’t trust that Opaljewel was completely on our side. “Just keep quiet, OK, Sparrow?”
“Fine. Jeez, you’re a pushy older brother,” she grumbled. I turned back to Ruby, who was staring at me. I prayed like hell that she hadn’t heard that last comment.
“This is Sparrow Hawk,” I said shortly. “Sparrow, this is Ruby and Opaljewel.”
“We’re very pleased to meet the dragons’ Promised One,” Dad said politely. I had deliberately not introduced my parents.
“You told them about that?!” Opaljewel rounded on me. “What if they tell somebody, squirt?”
“Who’ll they tell? The wind? And so what if they did tell somebody that they saw the Promised One? Everybody knows that’s Ruby,” I snapped, anger building up inside me. “And, Opaljewel, if you call me squirt one more time I swear I will rip out your intestines and roast them over an open fire, so help me, God.” There was a long silence. Everybody but me shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, there’s a conversation killer,” Sparrow noticed. “You all want to get going?”
“Fine,” Opaljewel stalked away. I wondered what his problem was. I released Ruby’s spell and climbed onto Sparrow Hawk. There was a moment of awkwardness as I figured out how to sit on her without being in the way of her wings. In another second I was settled and we were ready to go.
So we did.

Around ten minutes into the flight, I think we were all sick of each other. I know I was. Opaljewel and Will fought constantly over every little thing and then appealed to me. I tried to be as patient as I could, but it took everything I had not to start yelling like they were. I wondered if this was what it was like to have kids. If so, I was so staying single.
Sparrow was the only one who stayed out of it. Sometimes she would say something to Will and we would change direction but she largely stayed silent. I wondered if she was regretting coming along with us.
I did a lot of wondering during that flight.
I wondered how Will had convinced Sparrow to help us, and why he had been a human when we had caught up to him. I wondered why the unicorns and pegasi had spoken English, albeit a strange type of English. I wondered why Opaljewel and Will had it in for each other and why they had to be so obvious about it.
To stop myself wondering, I tried to come up with a plan for the next few days.
1)  We would find the elves islands and ask about the Soul-Taker. Hopefully, we would avoid the witches and hopefully, the elves would know something.
2)  a. if they didn’t know anything about the Soul-Taker, we’d have to find a different way to locate Topazgem and Aquagem.
        b. if they did know, we’d go there and rescue Topazgem and Aquagem. We might even ‘cast down’ the Soul-Taker while we were at it.
Good. Two simple steps. I thought we could handle that. After an unusually long stretch of silence, I asked Sparrow Hawk how she knew which way to go.
“It’s hard over a stretch of featureless water,” she admitted. “I know it’s somewhere east of here, so I’m keeping us going the right way. Every now and then, you can catch sight of a really strong current. I’m hoping that if we follow the currents, we’ll come across the Whirligig. From there, we head north a bit and we’ll find it.”
“Whoa, hold it right there,” Opaljewel interrupted. “We’re actively trying to find the Whirligig?”
“Well, it’s one of the few bearings we have,” Sparrow whinnied. “What do you think will happen to us if we fly over it? The Whirligig’s only dangerous when you’re in a boat or swimming.”
Will waved his hand to grab my attention and sketched a question mark in the air. I could guess what was confusing him.
“The Whirligig’s a gigantic whirlpool,” I explained. “It never stops and never moves from just south of the elves’ and witches’ islands. I guess it can’t do much to us flying over it, but sometimes sea monsters hang around the Whirligig for kicks. They think it’s fun to spin around in it.”
“If we fly high enough, no sea monster should be able to reach us,” Sparrow sounded assured. I wasn’t so sure, but I trusted to her judgment. Mostly that was because I couldn’t come up with a better plan myself, though.
As if to compound this miserable adventure, the wind picked up. Within minutes, it was raining. This was just perfect. Finally, our short-temperedness seemed to get to Sparrow. Apparently, she didn’t like the rain at all.
Nobody had expected it to go as far as it did.
Opaljewel meanly commented that Sparrow Hawk looked like a drowned rat when she was wet. Sparrow replied that someone who looked so much like an overgrown lizard shouldn’t say things about how other people looked. Will had silently laughed, and Opaljewel saw it even through the gloom of the now-overcast sky. He said that at least Will couldn’t really help looking as bad as he did.
“After all,” he had sniffed. “I bet your mother was dead drunk the entire time she was pregnant.” I was all set to break it up before it got any farther, but I was too late.
Will was furious, but he couldn’t do anything from Sparrow’s back. Sparrow had no such trouble. She threw herself at Opaljewel, angrily kicking and biting him. Startled, he dropped altitude to escape. Sparrow Hawk reared and bucked in midair and pursued him.
I sped between the two of them, shouting and shoving until they backed off. Sparrow flicked her tail contemptuously and flew off in a huff. I couldn’t tell what was bothering her. If anyone should have been mad, it would’ve been Will. I looked over to ask him if he knew what was eating Sparrow.
Will wasn’t there.
Sparrow’s back was empty.

Well, I hadn’t meant to buck him off. I’d never flown with a passenger before, and I felt guilty for not noticing that I had thrown him. The stupid dragon’s comment about Oliver and Janice had insulted me so much that I hadn’t even spared a thought for my brother.
Whoops.
We flew back to search for him. Ruby and I called his name over and over, though there wasn’t much point in it. The guy was mute; it’s not like he could answer. Otherwise, we would’ve heard him yelling as he fell or something.
I was beginning to think we’d never find him.
We kind of didn’t.
It was the sea serpent who did that.
Right about then, it sucked to be Will.

I was pretty darn ticked. I mean, here I was fighting for my life in the middle of the ocean, and they hadn’t even noticed I was gone. Some friends they were.
And then, when they had finally noticed my lack of presence, they flew over me like five times without seeing me. Well, I could tell they were really putting an effort into this. If it weren’t so serious, it might have been funny. As it was, if I survived, I was never letting them forget this.
Ever.
I floundered and tried to tread water, but my limbs were slowly going numb from the icy liquid. Every other breath I took was more water than oxygen. I could feel myself sinking.
Suddenly, something sharp snagged the back of my shirt and jacket. I was yanked upwards, out of the water. My first thought was that Ruby and Opaljewel had finally found me. I was hauled up higher and higher and higher. I realized that I seemed to be beside a huge, green wall of some kind. It was encrusted with barnacles, seaweed, and a multitude of other underwater wildlife.
Abruptly, the wall came to an end in a lumpy bulge the vague shape of a dragon’s head. It took me a minute to notice the protruding, yellowed fangs and the huge, bloodshot eye.
Not Ruby.
The gargantuan mouth opened, hitting me with a blast of warm, damp air reeking of rotting fish. I could see straight down the thing’s throat. I was willing to bet that, shortly, I would be straight down the thing’s throat. Sure enough, the monster tossed me in the air and opened its mouth wider to catch me. I fell towards the waiting teeth.
I slammed into something that didn’t feel like teeth or a tongue. It whipped me away before I had time to register what had happened.
“Hold on, Will, or you’ll fall off again,” I heard a familiar neigh. It seemed that while I could fall off her back without her noticing, a giant sea serpent could get her attention.
I was still feeling slightly annoyed.
But I hung on.
The sea serpent didn’t really appreciate having its dinner snatched away by a flying unicorn. It gave an earth-shattering roar and lunged at us. Ruby, just a tiny white speck in comparison, jumped in between us and the monster. With a flash of red light, the largest sheet of ruby-ice I had ever seen appeared. The monster smashed into it, its massive body coiling up like a slinky.
It threw itself against the ice, enraged. The ice shuddered at the blow. I could tell it couldn’t stand many more hits like that. Sparrow pumped her wings as fast as she could, Opaljewel beside us. Ruby was still behind us, holding up the wall of ice.
“Give it up, Ruby,” Opaljewel yelled over his shoulder. “Hurry up and get out of there!” Ruby didn’t need to be told twice. The ruby-ice disappeared and the albino dragoness skimmed low over the waves as she tried to catch up with us.
Frantically, I gestured upwards. We needed to go higher to escape the monster. He could go a lot faster than us, and the water was his domain. If we got high enough, he might not be able to reach us.
Opaljewel saw me and angled upwards. My sister followed his lead, as did Ruby. We all flew up, but none of us got high enough. The sea monster burst from the ocean beneath us in an explosion of water. A claw reached up and closed around Ruby.
“Ruby!” Sparrow and Opaljewel screamed as the dragoness disappeared into the serpent’s scaly claw. We all swooped around and flew at the thing’s head.
The monster swiped at Opaljewel with its free claw. Coils of its immense body churned the ocean into a white froth as it tried to swat us out of the air. Sparrow nearly bucked me off again and again as she dodged the monster’s attacks. We lost sight of Opaljewel as the monster thrashed.
“Will, how’re we supposed to take this thing down?” Sparrow neighed. I don’t know how she expected me to answer. I doubt I would’ve even if I could’ve. My insatiable Fury was creeping back over me.
I grabbed a firmer hold on my sister’s mane and nudged her ribs with my knee. Instinctively, she veered to the side. I tugged gently on her mane and she slanted upwards. Soon, she saw where we were headed and didn’t need me to guide her anymore.  As we rose, Opaljewel swooped in beside us, screamed that he’d distract the serpent, and zoomed off again. This was fine by me. I urged my sister to fly faster by nudging her gently with my knees and toes.

I was a little surprised when Will was able to convey directions through gentle tugs and nudges, but there was no time for that. I pumped my wings as fast and hard as I could, hoping Opaljewel could keep the beast’s attention away from us.
Finally, our target came in sight. The serpent hadn’t yet eaten Ruby, preoccupied as he was with Opaljewel, who was buzzing around his eyes and nostrils annoyingly.
I squared off with our goal and charged.

At first, all I saw were scales. I shoved my head between the talons, enabling myself to see the plight of my friends. I tried to struggle, but it was hopeless. I could barely breathe, let alone do any damage to the thing. It was just too big.
Then, in the midst of my captor’s thrashings, I caught sight of Will and Sparrow Hawk. They were flying right at me, scarily fast, the palomino’s horn leveled. I braced myself.
There was a sickening thumping, meaty sound as Sparrow hit. The monster’s grip slackened as it shrieked in pain. I took the chance to wiggle free. Sparrow pulled her bloody horn out of its wounded wrist and flew after me.
“How’re we gonna beat this thing?” I yelled.
“I dunno!” Sparrow bellowed back. “I guess I’ll have to stab its heart or throat! You help Opaljewel distract it!” They swerved away and I headed for the beast’s head.

The sea serpent was in pain; that much was clear. Its left eye was bleeding and ruined, and blood welled up from its injured claw. Its immense coils twitched and lashed in spasms of wrath and agony. Its movements churned the ocean into white froth. Its roars sent waves of saliva and rain over us all.
I wished with all my heart that we hadn’t had to chase Raven across the sea.
Sparrow strained to fly faster, but she was quickly tiring. Her hooves weakly bicycled beneath her, as if she was running. I patted her neck and massaged her shoulders as well as I could.
Head down, ears back, red-stained horn leveled, Sparrow flew at the sea serpent.
It saw us coming from the corner of its eye, but it was too late to do anything. It lunged forward to snap at us, exposing its throat perfectly. Warm blood splattered both of us as my little sister slit the monster’s throat with a twist of her head.
With a gargling death scream, the serpent clutched its neck. Like a tree being chopped down, it slowly toppled backwards, glaring hate from its already-glazing-over eye. The body hit with a splash, sending spray into the air almost as high as the serpent had been. Limply, it sank from sight. We circled for a while, waiting for it to come back up and tear us all to shreds, but it really was dead.
By now, Sparrow was nearly frothing at the mouth with exhaustion. I signaled to the others that we needed to find a place to land fast. We scanned the dark waves through the rain for any land at all. I still rubbed her shoulders.
At last, just as Sparrow was sagging dangerously low, we saw a jutting spire of rock. The top was just wide enough for Sparrow to land, her knees buckling as she collapsed. Within instants, she was asleep. Luckily, there was room for the three of us to curl up at her side.

The next day, we took off creakily on sore wings. As we flew, I became aware of a low, rushing sound. After a few minutes, we came across the source.
A huge whirlpool swirled and gurgled beneath us. The white-foamed water zoomed around in ever-tightening circles, making you dizzy if you stared at it too long. I saw a sea serpent the twin of the one we had killed, spinning around the whirlpool. Its hissing whoops were just barely audible over the roar of the rushing seawater.
“I guess that monster we killed was going to or from the Whirligig,” Sparrow Hawk supposed. I shrugged, not really caring. We’d killed that one, so all that mattered now was not getting caught by the other one.
I tried to make Will turn into a dragon as we approached the three islands, but it was hard to dance in midair.
“Hey, Rubygem!” Opaljewel called when the three islands were only a mile or two away. “Why don’t we split up? You and Will can search that island, Sparrow and I will search that one, and we can meet up at the third one at sunset!”
“OK,” I agreed. This way would take less time and stop Will and Opaljewel from bickering all day. I looked over at Will for his approval and was immediately exasperated again. He was signaling to Sparrow: pointing at his eyes, then at Opaljewel, and then at Sparrow herself. Keep an eye on him, he was saying.
Ugh! Why couldn’t those two trust each other for a single minute? Why did Will rely on a flying unicorn we had only just met to keep an eye on my best friend in the world? I couldn’t understand it.
All four of us landed on the middle island and I danced Will into his dragon-shape. Dragons had better sense than humans, and a witch was less likely to attack two young dragons than one young human. So we parted from Opaljewel and Sparrow Hawk and it was just the two of us; just like old times, huh?
Yeah, old times on a creepy witch-inhabited island. Sure.
Tall, black trees towered above us, all but cutting off the bright sun. Cold, white mist reached insubstantial fingers up the trunks, muting what little light came down that far. Above the ocean it had been a balmy 90°F, but under that black canopy, among the creeping fog, it dropped to around 70°F. It was incredible.
The mist didn’t help at all as Will and I trudged through the black forest, searching for any sign of elves. We peered under bushes and between tree roots. We squinted into the branches above us and scoured the ground for a telltale footprint. All the while it was painfully apparent that we could search until sundown and not have seen a fraction of this tiny island no matter how thoroughly we scoured the underbrush.
As we looked, Will grew more and more tense. I guessed he was either worrying about Nick or witches. My patience also began to wear thin as the day went on. I needed to find those elves to find my friends to find the Soulless to find the Soul-Taker so I could cast him down! I couldn’t bear the thought of that toxic-looking gas overtaking my beautiful Emerald Isle.
The silence between us grew thicker and thicker until it was almost as palpable as the fog around us. A feeling of urgency began to gnaw at me, but this feeling had nothing to do with elves or witches. Will was more subdued than usual. I knew I was missing something, but I felt like I didn’t have long to figure out what it was. I turned to confront Will.
“Yah!” I yelped. My front leg had suddenly sunk up to its elbow in mud and water! I yanked and flailed, on the verge of plunging face-first into the swamp. Will grabbed my leg and chest and wrenched me out with a resounding SQUELCH! I sat heavily and took a few steadying breaths.
“Thanks, Will,” I whispered.
“It looks like we’ll have to go around the wetlands,” he answered, surveying the ground ahead of us. “I’ll go first.” We set off once again, more cautiously this time. Our progress was slowed by our need to test the ground ahead of us. It was still painfully apparent that we could never hope to find a single elf under these conditions.
As we tramped onwards, I became aware of a noise. It was so quiet that I didn’t notice it, at first. But then it swelled, and I identified it as a chant.
“By the light of waning moon, give us power
By all things that writhe in the swamp, grant us supremacy
By the thousands of voices crying in torment, give us strength
By green witchfire and haunting witchchant, grant us knowledge
Dig your almighty claws into the earth and make our enemies rue their births!”
I shuddered. Evil witchcraft: unlike dragons’ gentler magic, which was based on principles of basic physics and cancellation, witchcraft demanded sacrifice and was rarely used for benign purposes.
“Witches?” Will asked, clearly already knowing the answer. I nodded grimly and plodded on. Shoving my nose in a bush, I elaborated, explaining the differences in our magic.
“But they’re probably in the middle of the swamp. Don’t worry, I’m sure even witches wouldn’t be able to do much against my ruby-ice and dance-magic,” I reassured him. I retreated from the shrubbery despondently and turned to smile at him.
Will was gone. Again. It was kind of getting old by this point.

I skimmed over the swamp-surface, going recklessly fast considering my hampered sight. Still I sped, straight as an arrow, right towards the source of the chanting. My plan had been forming the entire flight here. I would somehow bargain with the witches for an antidote to cure my brother’s hypnosis. From what I’d heard of witches, maybe I could give them a vial of human blood in payment. It wasn’t like I had any shortage of the stuff.
Eventually, my destination faded into view like a giant slide on a bad slideshow. An oddly-shaped hump resolved itself into a lopsided hut with a circular porch all the way around, supported by beams carved in the shape of chicken’s claws. I had a bizarre desire to laugh out loud at this bit of folklore unmasked.
The witches themselves were nothing to laugh at.
There were around twenty, all different ages, races, and sexes. They all shared the same look of unholy glee as they capered around a black cauldron with what looking like boiling mud bubbling in it. The witches waved tree branches, bunches of herbs, and other unidentifiable objects. The same sorts of things hung in bundles from the porch. Cats, chickens, hares, and toads ran rampant all over the small island of firm ground in the marsh.
The witches ceased their chanting and turned to look at me as I landed and folded my wings. They all wore similar tattered robes, though in all different colors. Green fire crackled beneath the cauldron, lending the witches an unhealthy glow.
“What do you want, drake?” an Asian woman demanded. One small boy began to roll up his sleeves, muttering darkly before being restrained by a dirty girl not much older than he.
“I’ve come to ask for help,” I stated. The witches glanced at each other, but said nothing. “My brother was hypnotized and I want to revive him. I can pay you in human blood.” I blurted out that last before I could stop myself.
The witches began to mutter amongst themselves.
“It sounds as if your companion is lost in our woods,” the Asian witch smirked, leaning on a stick of oak.
“We can fly through your trees and out of here anytime we want,” I assured her. “And she’s a dragoness, not a human.”
“Then how do you intend to pay us with human blood?” An elderly woman fitting the cliché ‘witch’ figure demanded in a crackly voice. I half-expected her to threaten to get me and my little dog, too.
“I have contacts,” I said carefully. I half-unfolded my wings at the looks in the witches’ eyes. “Do you have a potion or something that can cure hypnosis, or not?” The witches considered.
“We want a guarantee that you have human blood, before we even think about helping you,” a teenage African boy declared. I fluttered atop their round hut, safely out of their reach and released Ruby’s spell. There were gasps all around the fire.
“Look! He’s one of us!” A girl cried.
“He has witchfire eyes and a dragon’s ferocity!” A man pointed. “He must be a demon!”
“Hmm, dragon’s blood or witch’s blood is no good to us,” the Asian witch mused, tapping a long fingernail on her chin. “But demon’s blood or human’s blood are both valuable, no matter which he is.” She came to a decision. “Very well. Give us a vial of your blood and we will make you an antidote. Agreed?” I nodded. Not for the first time, I wished with all my heart I could talk. I doubted the witches would consider a nod binding enough.
As I had thought the next words from the Asian witch were, “Well? Is it agreed or not?” I made a slashing motion and pointed to my throat, shaking my head. “What’s that? What’s he doing?” The witch appealed to her companions.
“I think he can’t talk,” one young girl piped up. “Maybe he’s mute.”
“You just keep getting stranger and stranger, boy,” a white man grumbled. “A mute human who can turn into a dragon and do magic? I think we ought to discover a little more about this one.” The witches’ eyes gleamed with malice and several of them stepped forward menachingly. I tensed and raised one arm, ready to defend myself. Too late, I remembered that Ruby had said that witches could hex people over short distances.
“Wait a moment, friends,” the lead witch held up her hand. The group turned to watch as she stepped away from the cauldron. I flinched as she approached the hut, but she went right beneath me and entered the house. We all stared at the door for a minute, blinking stupidly. After a few minutes, the Asian lady returned, holding a bunch of herbs.
She went over to the pot and threw them in. she then grabbed a wooden spoon and stirred the mixture. After a few revolutions, the muddy substance cleared and became a translucent violet color. The steam rising from the cauldron started to smell like salty ocean air.
The witch pulled two glass vials from her robes. One she filled with the clear, purple mixture and put a cork in it. She turned away, faced me, and threw both vials. I snatched them easily out of midair and examined them. I shot the Asian a quizzical look, which she returned with a smile.
“The potion will revive any being from a state of paralysis, petrifaction, or hypnosis. It’s not poisonous in any way. The other,” she gestured to the empty vial in my hand, “is for your end of the bargain.” A silver object flashed through the air, and I unthinkingly grabbed at it.
It was a silver dagger, held safely by the hilt. I shuddered to think of what would have happened if I had grabbed its blade. Well, the message was clear, and I had to do it or I’d be hexed a million times before you could sneeze.
I gritted my teeth and sliced down.
The witches giggled and squirmed in delight as they watched my blood fill the vial. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, but it still hurt like hell. Slowly, drip by drip, I filled the vial. It was with a slightly light head that I corked it and tossed it back down to the waiting witch, who hurried to catch it.
Without waiting to see her reaction, I retreated to the middle of the hut and began to scratch a pentacle in the shingles. I stepped to the edge of the roof opposite the witches and whistled as loudly as I could. The sound would hopefully reach Ruby, but, if not, I decided a little improvisation was called for.
Laboriously, I scratched words into the center of my design.
Four Legs, Four claws, wings and scales, dragon magic never fails.
I finished the words, but nothing happened. So, taking a leaf out of the witches’ book, I squeezed on final drop of blood from the cut on my arm.
At once, all my limbs went numb and I collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. In a flash of light, I was a drake again. I took the vial carefully in my teeth and took flight. I pumped my wings as hard and fast as I could, shooting like a bullet into the fog un-hexed.
As soon as I was out of sight, the witches started chanting again. When I could no longer hear that, I figured it was safe to land. I touched down cautiously in case I was still in the swamp. It was for that reason that I had picked up the potion in my mouth.
Luckily, the ground was firm. I transferred the vial to my claw and took a few deep breaths to expand my lungs.
“RUBY!” I bellowed as loudly as I could. I had no way of knowing if she heard me or not. I wished I could send up a flare or something. Weren’t dragons supposed to be able to breathe fire? Or maybe they used ‘fireball-magic’. It was worth a shot. If I could turn myself into a dragon, surely I could send up a fireball?
I scratched another pentacle in the dirt and thought for a minute. What kind of incantation would one say to create a flare? I felt kind of stupid, but I made something up anyway.
“Fiery breath to scorch the night
Lend to me your flickering light!”
It sounded just as stupid as I’d thought, and nothing even happened. Well, what had I expected? It was just as well. After all, I don’t thing humans were supposed to use magic.
“RUBY!” I roared. I flinched back as the word came out in a gout of flame. It appeared that my spell had had more effect than I had thought. A few leaves caught fire, but the mist quenched them before they could do more than smolder damply.
I thrust the vial back into my mouth and scrambled up the nearest tree. I soon reached the top of the tree. I settled on one of the branches, above the still ocean of black leaves and took the potion from my teeth. I opened my mouth and exhaled.