Adriane picked at her breakfast. The morning had been a blur, between waking up waaay too early, Tasha's excited chattering, and the general confusion from the night before, Adriane had spent the morning in a daze. Thinking way too hard, she almost missed Emily's grumbles from beside her.
The redhead pushed around her breakfast—bulbous purple fruit, sugary pastries, and some strange, edible yellow flowers that tasted sweet and warm—with her fork and sighed.
"Hey, what's eating you?" Kara spoke from the other side of the table, chipper and upbeat. They sat, alone, at a long wooden table with red and gold table clothes and intricately carved chairs. It was a long room with doors at either end, lilac wallpaper peaked out from behind paintings and curtains. Tall, red-and-gold draped windows let in light pink sunbeams that made the air glitter. The room, the weather, it all seemed too perfect.
"My exam was today," she said.
"I'm sure you'll be fine, it's not like you're failing," Kara dismissed.
"Well, no, but..." Emily shrugged, "I really wanted that A,"
"We all have to retake courses sometimes," Kara said before taking a bite of pastry. "Remember when Adriane had to retake one of her sketch courses because she was too afraid to draw nude models?"
Emily sighed, ignoring Kara's comment.
"I failed because my dad was sick and I had to drive out to New York," Adriane rolled her eyes, stabbing her fork into a piece of fruit.
"Whatever, the point is, you shouldn't be stressing. Anyway, we've got bigger fish to fry. Like how are we gunna get the guys alone if we don't even know where they are?"
"Kara, this is literally the worst plan I have ever heard," Adriane said, "why don't we just ask Tasha to take us to the Queen?"
"Yeah, and have them give us the 'oh the Queens busy, ohh she's in a meeting' again?" Kara tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and took a sip from a glass of neon pink juice.
"It was really late last night," Emily said, eyes glued to the food in front of her. "We'll probably see her today,"
"Well, I think-" Kara started, but stopped when a door at the far side of the room creaked open, revealing a grinning Goblin Sorceress.
"Are you enjoying your breakfasts?" Tasha asked, making her way down the table, Lorren followed her in. She pulled out a seat next to Kara and sat down.
"Its... interesting," Kara said, nodding.
"Um, Tasha, I hate to keep bringing this up but, when are we going to talk to Queen Raelda?" Emily asked, pushing her plate aside.
Tasha's smile sank, "I'm afraid the Queen is in an important meeting with the Fairy Kindgom today, but I'm sure she'll be able to see you tomorrow,"
"Oh, right," Emily glanced at Kara, "You said that last night,"
"But there's a ton of stuff you can do around the castle!" Tasha smiled again, "I'm sure you have some catching up to do with your bondeds,"
"Oh yeah," Emily smiled, suddenly, "When's Ozzie coming?"
"Unfortunately Ozzie wont be coming today," Lorren spoke for the first time, standing behind Tasha's chair.
"What?" All three girls said in unison.
"Something very important came up on Aldenmor, but he assured me that he would be here tomorrow morning, first thing," Tasha folded her hands on the table.
The girls exchanged glances, even without their powers, their thoughts were in sync.
"Yeah that sounds great-could you give us a second?" Kara said, holding up a hand.
"Of course, Princess," Tasha said, giving Lorren a look before pulling out her seat and retreating to the far corner of the room with him.
Kara leaned forword, opening her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Emily.
"Something is seriously wrong," Emily hissed, "Ozzie would never leave us stranded here,"
"Unless something really did come up," Adriane offered, "Something serious?"
Kara looked between the pair, "still think my idea's a bad one?" she asked, staring Adriane in the eye.
Adriane snorted, "yes,"
"All for my plan, say 'aye'" Kara said, ignoring Adriane.
"Aye,"
"Aye,"
"Fine," Adriane rolled her eyes, pushing out her chair. She stood, crossed her arms, and leaned on the table turning her fiercest glare to Lorren and Tasha. They crumbled under the stare of the ex-warrior.
"Still got it," Kara winked at Adriane, before waving to Lorren and Tasha.
Their hosts looked at eachother, Tasha shrugged, and then made their way over.
"Oh, Lorren," Kara said, all smiles, "I was hoping you could show me around the castle today," she slipped her arm into his, and he looked instantly uncomfortable.
"Uh," Lorren gave Tasha a pleading look, but she just grinned, "Sure,"
"And Tasha, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you alone? Maybe ask a few questions, get a feel for what things are like on the web now?" Emily asked.
"Okay," Tasha said, nodding, "But what's Adriane going to do?"
"I'm gunna go find Dreamer," Adriane said, "I've got some catching up to do,"
Adriane wandered the halls of the castle for a long time, taking in grand ballrooms and dining rooms. She even stumbled upon the throne room, which was guarded by two large goblin soldiers, and off limits to her. Employees scurried everywhere, carrying laundry, cleaning supplies, or in the case of two official looking goblins, scrolls. Some stopped to ask her if she needed anything, others stared at her in detached awe, too scared to approach. Paintings hung on every wall, and the eyes seemed to follow her as she made her way back to the West Wing, and her designated chambers.
Adriane opened the door, half expecting Dreamer to be inside. The room was empty. She sighed, collapsing on the bed with an 'oof'. She rolled into a sunbeam and stared up at the ceiling, squinting in the noontime sun. Emily was with Tasha, Kara was with Lorren, but she hadn't seen a trace of Zach anywhere. Adriane rolled again, onto her stomach, to stare out the window. She was shocked by how warm it was here, when they were having one of the coldest winters in Pennsylvanian history back home.
Home.
A pang of homesickness hit her like a freight train. She pulled the quartz necklace out from her tanktop to let it hang in the sun, it's smokey inclusions glowing purple. She hoped Gran wasn't too worried. She smiled, thinking of the old woman. A flash of gold caught her eye, and she got up, opening the curtains further to look out the window. Below was a sprawling garden, islands of flowers and trees sectioned off by red and grey bricked walk ways. Sitting on a bench about three walkways down was Zach, his back turned to the castle. Golden light reflected off of his jewel, through the window mixing with purple.
Adriane's eyes widened. She darted out of the room and down the hall before realizing: she had no idea how to get outside. She ran down the hall, looking for an employee. Finally, she found a young girl making her way to the kitchen and she blurted:
"How do I get to the garden outside the West Wing?"
The young goblin looked up at her. She was maybe sixteen, with glasses and long curly hair. She blushed bright purple and pointed, "T-take that hallway, and turn right. You'll see two double doors," she squeaked.
"Thank you!" Adriane said, turning in the direction of the hallway. She just hoped that Zach was still around by the time she got there.
Adriane turned the corner, sure enough only a few meters away were two large double doors. She came to a halt in front of them, releasing a breath before looking around. Somehow she couldn't help but think she wasn't supposed to be leaving. With one last good look, she pulled open the doors and stepped out into the gardens.
To her relief, Zach was still there, sitting on the same bench. She took a deep breath before approaching.
"Hey," she called, walking down a pathway lined with blue and yellow flowers.
Zach jumped, he hadn't been expecting company.
"Hey... shouldn't you be meeting with Ozzie?" he asked.
"Actually Ozzie didn't show, apparently something important came up?" Adriane explained, taking a seat next to him.
"What?" Zach looked confused.
"Yeah that's what I said," Adriane smiled, "Anyway, I saw you out my window," she pointed behind her.
"Ahh, really? Sorry about that," Zach laughed awkwardly, "I had no idea that that was your window,"
"That's okay," Adriane said. "What are you doing out here?"
"I just come out here to think sometimes," he shrugged.
They sat in silence for a long minute, neither quite knowing what to say. All thoughts of Kara's plan pushed aside, Adriane stared at the ground. Words didn't come easy to her, especially not now.
"So what do you... I mean, what..." Zach scratched the back of his head, "What's your life like... now?" he made a face, "That didn't come out right,"
"That's okay," she said again, "It's pretty normal I guess. Nothing magical about it, that's for sure,"
She smiled, and paused, thinking about what to tell him. "I spend a lot of time with Emily and Kara, they're still two of my best friends. And I work at the preserve... oh! I'm in a band. We cover songs at dances sometimes," she said.
"Still don't know what a dance is," he said with a smirk "What else?"
"I go to art school," she shrugged, "It's not very exciting,"
"Art school?" he gave her a blank, confused stare.
"Uhm.. To learn how to, you know, paint and stuff?" she said in the most graceless way possible. She knew better than anyone that there was more to her work than just 'painting and stuff,' but some how the words never came to her, "I wanna be an artist... Like my parents," she nodded.
Zach grinned, "We don't have any schools like that around here," he put out a hand, gesturing to the kingdom, "Tons of magic schools though,"
Adriane paused for a long moment, picking out a single word. We. "How long have you been here for?" she asked slowly, taking in the landscape. She hadn't noticed before, but her window overlooked an amazing view of the kingdom. It was a sprawling city, with buildings made of dark stone bricks, unlike the Fairy Kingdom, where everything was organic and green. Along the outskirts of the city Adriane could just make out the bushy outline of the Goblin Forests.
"Eight months," he stared out across the garden, nodding his head absently.
"But, what are you doing here?"
"Uh," Zach shifted back in his seat, a painful look on his face.
"And—wait a minute, isn't that just before you guys started experimenting with the portal?" Adriane asked suspiciously, scrutinizing his expression with furrowed brows.
"Yeah, I guess it is," he laughed and shrugged unconvincingly "Coincidence,"
"I guess you can't tell me that, huh?" Adriane said with a gentle smirk.
"I'm sorry," Zach shook his head, "The Queen doesn't want us telling you guys anything until she has a chance to talk to you. My hands are tied, this is her kingdom, and I'm just..."
"You're just?"
Zach looked away, staring out into the darkened forests of the Goblin Kingdom, then down at his hands.
"Zach?" Adriane pushed, leaning forward.
He swallowed hard, then fixed her in a stare that made her stomach sink. "Do you wanna go flying?" he asked instead.
Adriane's skin prickled with goosebumps, and her heart raced in a way that made her feel sick. Something was off, and despite the fact that she desperately wanted to spend time with her dragon, desperately wanted to get to know the boy who haunted her sketch books, all grown up, she didn't know if she could trust Zach.
He read her mind and stood, holding out his hand, the other pressed to his chest like she had seen the day before, "Trust me,"
"How can I trust you if you won't tell me anything?" she raised an eyebrow and tentatively reached for his hand.
"Can't," he corrected, pulling her to her feet. "I can't tell you. I would if I could but you're safer if I don't,"
"Safer..." Adriane repeated.
Zach smiled at her, and after a moment asked "So how about it?"
"O-okay," she agreed, catching sight of a flash of gold from his wrist. In the years that the portals were closed, the Dragonstone had changed from ruby-red to brilliant gold, and she wondered what level of mage he was.
"Drake's on his way here," he said. They waited in silence and in mere minutes Drake appeared, landing on one of the red-bricked clearings in the garden. "You remember how to fly, right?" Zach asked as they closed the distance between themselves and Drake.
She greeted the dragon with a hug around the neck and a smile.
"I think so..." she said, watching him climb up into the saddle, before reaching his hand down to help her. Once again, she took his hand and hoisted herself up.
He grinned, "It's all about keeping your legs close to Drake's side, remember to really lean into the turns. Hang on to me if you get anxious,"
Adriane wrapped her arms around his torso. She already was.
"Let's go," Zach pulled his goggles from around his neck, covering his eyes. With that, Drake took off, gusts of wind whipping her hair into a cloud of onyx. Too late now, but she silently wished that she'd tied her hair back.
"Where are we going?" she asked, cautiously lifting an arm from around Zach's waist, and scooped up her hair with her hand. She twisted it into one long lock and held on.
"The Forbidden Forest," he said over his shoulder.
"Hmmm... well, that sounds nice and... menacing," She watched the city speed by below, Drake's shadow sweeping over the rooftops. Children below watched them, pointing at Drake with looks of awe and wonder. The Goblin Citizens had long become accustomed to their Dragon-guardian.
"Yeah, anyone caught there's supposed to get five years banishment," He chuckled.
"Wow, this doesn't sound like a stupid idea or anything," Adriane was nothing if not sarcastic.
"Nahh, the laws haven't been enforced in centuries," he explained, "Some parts are actually pretty popular Rave-Space,"
"Hmmm," Adriane hummed, undetectable over the sound of the wind. "So you've been here for eight months?"
She watched his blonde head bob, nodding. "Yeah,"
"Don't you miss Aldenmor?" she asked.
Zach glanced over his shoulder, "Of course, I... I miss it like crazy," he admitted, out loud for what seemed like the first time.
"Then why don't you go back?"
His back straightened as she felt him tense. "I can't,"
"What?"
"I can't talk to you about that," he corrected himself, but remained tense.
"Oh... I'm sorry,"
"Don't be," he said.
After many minutes of flying in silence, they approached the forests, and Adriane couldn't help but feel oddly attracted to them. She stared down at the green canopies, reminded only of the feeling of Ravenswood's magic. She leaned over, mesmerized by the swirling greens, leaning too far for Zach's comfort. He turned, grabbing her arm, and pulled her back.
"Careful," he said, both hands clutching her shoulders.
"I'm sorry I just..." Adriane looked him up and down, reminded of their first meeting. Perched before her, one leg tucked under the other, shoulder-length sandy hair flying into his eyes. "I must of zoned out,"
"The Goblin forests have a way of calling to people. It's part of what makes them so dangerous," he said, then turned back, "We're almost there,"
Adriane stared back down into the forest, reminded again of Ravenswood, of being thirteen and feeling magic everywhere. Today, she'd barely feel a tickle of magic from Ravenswood. Sometimes, if she focused, and stood very very still, the wind would howl and whistle like a wolf who'd just reunited with it's pack. But then it would disappear as soon as it had arrived, leaving her despondent and chilled.
"Down there," Zach called out to her, from what felt like miles away. This forest really did have a way of mesmerizing a person. He pointed down to a large, grassy clearing partially edged by a rocky cliff-face that dropped down before them. Drake took a sharp turn, spiraling down slowly towards the opening in the trees. They landed with a 'thud' that shook the ground and rustled everything around them.
Adriane slid out of the saddle, landing on two feet as she gaped at her surroundings. The clearing was large, larger than the courtyard of Castle Stark Blut, and floored with green and blue moss. Magical plants and large crystalline rock formations dotted the clearing like glowing, fragrant decorations. A small waterfall fed a large lake, invisible from the air, hidden behind the cliff. The same blue moss clung to the cliff-face. Purple vines hung over the rock-wall, and from the branches of ancient fruit-bearing trees.
Drake hopped from foot to foot, anxiously and awkwardly settling himself onto the ground. Adriane walked around to his front, stroking the bridge of his nose. She gave him a qick kiss on the nose and turned.
"This place is seriously gorgeous," she said, approaching the waterfall. A rock-path wound it's way behind the rush of water, and she hopped onto the first stone. Adriane stared down into the swirling, sparkling water. It was surprisingly deep for the size of the lake, and she could just make out the bottom. Tiny dots of glowing stones twinkling like stars at the bottom of a watery-sky. She wondered if the water would glow in the dark.
"I'm glad you like it," Zach said, following her to the path, but stopped at the edge of the water.
Adriane hopped from stone to stone, stopping in the middle, right behind the waterfall. She dipped her hand into the water. It was warm from the sun and almost bubbly.
"Why'd you bring me here?" she asked, turning towards him.
"You asked me if I missed Aldenmor," he shrugged, pushing his hands into his pockets. "This place kind of reminds me of the Fairy Glen,"
"How so?"
"Those trees over there," Zach pointed to the trees along the edge of the clearing. "They're the same kind as Okawa,"
Adriane stared past the water, to the line of trees that bordered the expanse. She picked her way back across the rocks, stopping before Zach. He reached out his hand to help her across the last jump. Adriane looked at him for a long second, jumping towards the land. She dropped his hand and walked towards Drake.
"You've taken really good care of my dragon," Adriane commented with a smirk.
"You're dragon?" Zach chuckled.
"I am my own Dragon, mama," Drake grumbled in the deepest, most regal voice Adriane had ever heard. She couldn't help but laugh. She sat down in front of him, brushing the scales above his eye-ridges with her fingertips.
"You grew up too fast," Adriane laughed, "I'm sorry that I didn't get to see it,"
Following her lead, Zach plunked down beside her. He watched Drake's expression, ears perking like a big puppy dog.
Adriane giggled, scratching the dragon behind the ears. Then, with a sigh, she pulled her hand away to rub at a spot on her wrist.
"I can't believe this is happening," she said.
"Me neither," Zach said, keeping his eyes glued to a spot off in the distance.
"What do you mean? Adriane leaned towards him. "You're the one that opened the portal..."
"I never thought we'd get it open," Zach admitted, tucking his hands behind his head. He leaned back onto the blue-green carpet of moss, "Besides, if someone told me a week ago that I'd be sitting here with you, I wouldn't believe them,"
Adriane pulled her knees up to her chest. Even in the warm afternoon glow of the sun, she shivered, pushing back a wave of deja vu. "What were things like... after the portals closed?" she asked the question without thinking and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.
Zach raised an eyebrow, glancing at her for a quick moment, before resuming his relaxed position. Eyes closed, one leg crossed over the other. "Things were dark for a few days,"
"Dark?" Adriane flashed on Shade's frightened blue eyes.
"With all the portals closed, nothing was moving. The magic just sort of... stagnated on the web. But, then a few days passed. A lot of the portals reopened within the first day or two. Some of them," Zach looked at her, "Stayed locked,"
"Why did it take you so long to try and get it open?" Adriane asked, her tone accusing.
"You're kidding me?" Zach raised an eyebrow, trying to look calm and indifferent, "That was the first thing we tried to do," his voice cracked.
Adriane's eyes widened as she stared at him.
"Things were chaotic for a while, no one knew what to do. Even the fairimentals didn't know what to do with all that power. You three were supposed to help direct the magic, but without you it was just there for the taking..." Zach paused, staring up at the sky. "Eventually the Legend of the Mages of Power became just... a legend,"
"It doesn't feel real," Adriane admitted, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs. "When I think about it, sometimes it all just feels like a dream,"
"Sometimes I feel that way too... Like, did I really experience the Change of the Web? Did I really know the Mages of Power? Did I..." He trailed off.
"Mages of Power? You keep saying that..."
"That's what we call you," Zach said, smiling.
Adriane smiled too, scooping up a bundle of purple and yellow flowers from beside her, dousing her in a deep, mysterious scent. "Mages of Power..." She said to herself, "I kind of like it,"
"So do I," he said, "It really hits home how strong you guys are,"
"Were," Adriane corrected.
"Yeah... Sorry about that," Zach said, scrunching up his eyebrows in thought, then all at once he sat up, "We should head back,"
"We just got here,"
"I need to talk to Tasha about some stuff," he explained, then turned as if to say something to Drake. Adriane watched him interact with Drake, wandering just what kind of psychic conversation they were having.
"Hey, Zach," Adriane said, standing as well.
"Yeah?"
"I missed you,"
Zach turned, and smiled "I missed you too,"
IT'S DONE. YES. THE CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE. I've been working on it almost nonstop for a week or so. There are a lot of bits that I'm not fond of in this, but a lot of parts that I'm also really proud of. With this chapter I tried to parallel Adriane and Zach's talk by the river in book three, though the scene did come out with a more depressing feel then I planned. I hope you enjoy! As always, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. It seriously just makes me so happy. Thank you so much for reading!
And check out my writing blog: jinorawrites . tumblr . com (remove all spaces) for more Avalon stuff! Right now I'm rereading the series and posting about it as I go!