Master's Mind (The Dagger of Dragon Rose Book 1)

It is said that the barrier between worlds is thinnest there - Cera

“No!” Cera screamed as Taren was pulled from her grasp. “Where is he, where is he where is he?”

Shaunna was instantly at Cera’s side. “What happened?”

Cera looked at the dark elf, her glowing blue eyes blazed with fear. “I lost him.”

“Cera, you didn’t.”

Cera brought her hands up as if to ward off a blow. “No, it wasn’t my fault this time. Something grabbed him from me.” Grabbing her shoulders with each hand, she began to rock back and forth. “I can’t locate my crystal. Shaunna, I’m scared. It feels like a piece of me has just... vanished.”

Pulling Cera into an embrace, Shaunna marveled at the warmth of the crystal skin. As she began to rock the crystal girl in her embrace, Shaunna began to run her fingers through Cera’s crystal strands of hair.

“It’s all right, Cera,” Shaunna said soothingly. “You would know if something destroyed the crystal. It will turn up. We’ll just have to wait.”

Worry began to fill Shaunna. Cera had been known to accidentally transport people to the wrong location, but she had never lost them before. The dark elf woman just stood there holding the crystal girl, hoping she could follow her own advice.

The lone pine tree stood on the summit of the mountain, straining to stand erect against the power of the wintry winds. The falling snow swirled in the strong gales, creating phantom images that skulked across the bleak landscape. The ground was covered with a thick blanket of snow that was broken in an asymmetrical pattern by a smattering of boulder formations. The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon, forcing already freezing temperatures to rapidly plummet.

Young Taren Elloy huddled under the sheltering branches of the tree trying to preserve what little warmth he could. His clothes were wet from the brief time that he had spent in the storm trying to locate adequate shelter. He had tried to conjure a fire using magic, but the flames did little to assuage the cold that was seeping into his being. He had even tried holding the Sun Fire orb, but the heat burned his freezing fingers and he dropped it. He had to hurry to grab the orb and place it back into his pouch before it sank into the snow. So he sat under the large tree unsuccessfully attempting to stay warm. He was wet, he was freezing, and he was quite sure that he was going to die on this mountain top.

He looked out into the fading light that could just be glimpsed through the storm. The wind seemed to be stronger, and the snow falling harder than before. The shelter of the tree wasn’t much, but at least it was something. “I should probably wait until morning.”

He tried once again to conjure a fire to warm himself. The incantation was difficult to speak through his chattering teeth, but he was finally able to conjure a small magical flame that rested in his hands. The heat from the flame burned his frozen fingers, but he held onto it. It didn’t take very long for his fingers to warm up to the point that the flame no longer hurt, but the flame did nothing to warm the rest of his body.

He sat there shivering violently in the cold of the darkening night, the little flame resting in his hands. He didn’t think the flame did much much until a deluge of snow covered him, extinguishing the flame and thrusting him back into the intense cold.

When he finally dug himself out of the snow, both of the moons were high in the sky. The moonlight glittered on the snow, lighting the area enough for him to see his surroundings.

The first thing that he noticed was the storm seemed to have passed. Snow no longer fell. The second thing that he noticed was the fact that the wind had not died down. He needed to find new shelter, as the one that he had found was now buried in deep snow and no longer fit to protect him.

A large pile of boulders stood nearby. They didn’t seem to be able to offer much in the way of shelter. There was a sheer cliff that fell away close by. A light flickered in the distance, conjuring images of a fire’s glow. Thinking that a fire would be his best chance for survival, he decided to go and investigate.

He took his first step and promptly sank to his waist in the deep snow. Shaking his head, he began to trudge through the snow. The effort, along with the cold, quickly took its toll. It took every ounce of strength to keep moving. Ice had formed between the feathers of his wings, causing them to droop downward at odd angles. His wings dragging through the snow didn’t help his progress.

He’d been walking for hours, when exhaustion finally overtook him. As he trudged through the snow, his foot struck something solid. He was not able to keep his balance and fell forward. His head hit something solid as he fell into the deep snow causing intense pain to shoot through his head. Stars erupted before his eyes, hanging there for mere moments before falling unconscious.

When he woke, Taren found himself covered in snow. From the color of the sky, the sun was either just rising or beginning to set. It was difficult to tell because the clouds hid the sun from view. He had no idea where he was, and no way to get back to where he had come from, because the snow had obliterated any trace of the path that he had taken through the darkness the previous night.

He stared at the surrounding area, completely unimpressed by the bleakness. There were no trees or shrubbery of any kind. He couldn’t even see the tree that he had used for shelter the night before. The snow was deeper than it had been yesterday, and it was getting deeper by the second. The temperature was beginning to drop rapidly, indicating that the sun was setting and night was beginning to gain its scheduled dominance over the land.

Taren was shivering. His clothes were completely soaked through, and they were beginning to get stiff in the deepening cold as the water in them froze. He was beginning to fear for his life again in this harsh barren land when he heard it again.

“Taren, where are you?” It was a strange triple voice.

He glanced up to see a faint light hovering in the air several feet away from him. He did not wait to see what was going to happen this time.

“I am here!” He called out to the voice.

The light did not seem to notice his hail, it just began moving away from him again.

Taren wasted no time in following the light. He didn’t care where it was going to lead him; he was going to die in this weather if he didn’t find shelter.

He followed the leading light for what seemed like an eternity in the blackness of the snow storm. The cold and wet conditions robbed his muscles of their strength, making it difficult to take the necessary steps that would propel him forward. He fought the lethargy that was caused by the freezing temperature, until he was no longer able to fight.

His strength spent, Taren tumbled down a steep slope.

“Taren, you must get up.” It was a more familiar voice this time. “You can’t die here. I need you.” Shaunna’s face gleamed in a soft white light.

“I can’t continue.” Taren couldn’t believe he was saying these words. “It’s just too hard.”

Shaunna was replaced by three women that Taren felt he should know. “Taren, you must get up. We cannot get home without you. You need to open the doors at your end.” Taren opened his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but he was once again covered by several inches of snow. It was still dark when he sat up to survey his new surroundings.

Just in front of him was a large opening with a bright light emanating from it. This light was different than the light followed. it was brighter, and somehow more permanent.

He roused himself sufficiently to get his legs moving again. Within moments he was in through the opening, standing in front of a roaring fire. His clothes and hair quickly began to steam in the heat of the blaze, and he took advantage of the opportunity. Stripping off his wet clothes, he laid each piece on a rock around the flame to let it dry. When he was completely nude, he laid himself out to dry as well.

As the warmth enveloped him, he slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When Taren awoke the next morning, the fire was still burning just as intensely as it had been the night before. His clothes and feathers were dry. While he dressed he took the time to examine his surroundings.

Three identical archways stood in the cave. One stood on the wall opposite the cave entrance. The other two stood opposite each other on the side walls. They we were made out of a type of rock that Taren recognized as blood granite. It was a hard rock, not easily found, but highly prized for its magical properties. It was usually used in the making of magical portals.

In the center of the fire stood a dais with some sort of emblem on it. Taren couldn’t tell what the emblem was through the flames.

For some reason, the dais in the fire held Taren’s attention. There was just something about it that seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“What is this?” he wondered aloud to himself.

The words that the three woman had spoken in his dream came back to him. “You need to open the doors from your end.”

His gaze was brought immediately to the three arches. They were lifeless and not able to be used for any kind of magical transportation. He was absolutely baffled as to how he was supposed to open the doors, so he thought out loud, as he so often did.

“What am I supposed to do?” He was almost surprised as words began to form in the fire. “Oh no, not again.” He shook his head in disbelief.

By Sun Fire’s light, shall the doors be opened.

Taking the orb in his hands, he moved closer to the fire. The flame didn’t diminish in size, but he did notice that he couldn’t feel the heat as intensely as before. Hesitating a little, he remembered what Grathius had said after he had saved them all from the ghosts that surrounded the ruins of the castle. “I took a chance, and it paid off, that they would be too frrrightened of passing thrrrough the firrre. They werrre afrrraid of getting burrrned.” Taren was suddenly able to sympathize with the spirits.

Putting his courage to its sticking point, Taren strode purposefully towards the fire, not stopping when he reached the fire’s edge. He half expected to be burned as soon as he touched the fire. What he got instead was a feeling of total peace, a peace that he had not felt in a long time. The warm flames embraced him as he walked towards the altar.

As he reached the dais, he was finally able to see what was there. A small altar sat atop the pedestal with a similitude of the sun emblazoned on it. In the center was a spherical impression. Taren took his cue and placed the Sun Fire Orb into the divot.

As soon as the orb was placed upon the altar, the fire leapt into the air. It then split into three equal parts and flew to the arches becoming the magical energy they needed to work as a magical transportation system.

No sooner had the portals been activated than a woman stepped through each. All three women appeared identical appearance, except for styles of their hair and their manner of dress. They looked at each other, then at Taren.

They all exclaimed as one, “It’s true!”

The four siblings stood looking at each other in awe as the weight of realization settled upon all of them in various degrees. One of the women, the one wearing tight pants that stopped at her mid thigh and a tight shirt that showed her middrift, sank to the floor, a look of total disbelief on her face.

“I... I didn’t want to believe him. It’s impossible that it could be true.” She looked at the other three in turn, noticing the similarities in the features. “It is true. I’m a princess?” She looked around again, hoping that someone would tell her that her disbelief was justified.

The girl in the flowing white gown walked over to her sister who sat on the floor. “You must be Tarea.” She smiled as she spoke. “I am Saria.”

The last girl, the one wearing a simple brown dress, walked over to the other two. “I am Morganna. It’s nice to finally meet all of you.”

Taren felt as if he didn’t belong here. He didn’t want to interfere with the sisters’ reunion, so he began to walk out of the cave.

“Taren, where are you going?” Saria called. “You haven’t seen us in twelve years, and you are just going to leave?”

“I just...“he replied as he walked toward his sisters.

“Well, don’t just...” Tarea replied as she stood and walked over to him. “Come here.” She pulled him into an embrace.

The other two sisters walked over to their siblings and joined in the long overdue embrace.

The four were so intent on each other that they didn’t notice the cave around them dissolving into nothingness.