The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 20

“The connection is getting stronger. I’m hearing more of her thoughts, and she can hear mine,” James said to Mr. Day. He ran his hands through his hair, letting his agitation show.

“You knew this was going to happen,” the ghost said. “Ever since what happened at the cave, the two of you formed a bond, and there is no getting rid of it.”

“I know, but I never know which thoughts are really mine,” James said.

“You’ll just have to work through it. It may end up helping you.”

“It already has,” James said. In the past couple of months, they had been searching for the one magical item that could defeat Aevill, once and for all. James and Sara had been attacked several times by dark magic users controlled by him, whether willingly or unwillingly. The connection between Sara and James had been helpful on more than one occasion then, alerting James when Sara was in trouble. So far, the connection seemed to mainly affect James, but he was certain that would change soon enough.

“But what if she sees the dream some time when I’m not careful?” James thought back to the dream that had been haunting him ever since that night in the cave, nightmares that could come true.

“My daughter is strong. She would know what to do. I suggest you tell her about it before she sees it one night in a vision, though. She already knows about the connection, after all.”

James nodded. “That’s true.”

James let his mind wander to Sara. Sara Day had chocolate brown hair, emerald green eyes, and the most beautiful smile James had ever seen. She and James had met when Sara had just been discovering her gifts. Sara was the last person with the Dragon Magic, and was able to control the Dragon Stones, large magic rocks that allowed her to talk to the dragons in the Land of the Dead, as well as giving her the occasional vision at night in her dreams. Shortly after they had started looking for the Stone, Sara started to hear some of James’s thoughts. After making sure it was all right with Mr. Day, James told her about the connection.

Mr. Day spoke again, and James had no more time to think about Sara, at least for the moment. “How has the search been going?” the ghost asked, his whitish glow becoming brighter as the sky darkened gradually.

“It’s been a while since you last visited, but it’s the same answer as last time. We’re not even close to finding the Stone,” James said. He couldn’t hide the frustration he felt. It had been two months since he and Sara had started their search, and they had had no luck. The Stone they needed could be anywhere in the world, and they had no idea where it was. At first, James had thought that they would be able to find it, just by using a simple spell. It hadn’t worked.

“What spell have you been using?” Mr. Day asked.

“One that doesn’t work,” James said, feeling useless. James used magic through songs and music. It hadn’t taken him long to find a song that he hoped could search for the Stone they needed, but it was discouraging to know that his spell, after months, still hadn’t worked.

“I know this Stone is not well known, but maybe you should try looking for magical people that could help you. Even if the person you ask doesn’t know anything, they might be able to direct you and my daughter to someone who can.” Mr. Day looked outside at the black sky. “Get some rest. Tomorrow you and Sara will have lots of work to do,” he said. After saying this, the ghost vanished, the glow leaving with him.

James looked at the clock in the hotel room he was in. It was getting really late. James climbed into bed. “Hopefully tomorrow we’ll actually find something,” he said. He wasn’t sure who he was talking to, but he didn’t care. Faster than he would have expected, James fell asleep.

He immediately wished he hadn’t. It was the same dream every time, and yet James was still surprised every time he saw it.

James wasn’t sure where they were, but it didn’t seem to matter. He and Sara were fighting Aevill, but Sara was distracted. She was battling Cole, a dark magician who had tried to kill Sara before against his will. Sara failed to see the streaks of black magic headed her way, sent by Aevill.

James had to do something. He couldn’t just stand there and watch. He sang his fastest transport song, but he was going to be too late. He wouldn’t be there in time to save her...then his vision went black. You cannot protect her. James felt himself shiver as he heard the voice, the one that brought to life his worst fear.

James opened his eyes, then jumped out of bed. He sang every calming song he knew, ignoring the orange light that glowed around him as he sang. None of the songs helped much. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep Sara safe all of the time, but having that same dream night after night did nothing to console him. James sat back down on his bed. He heard a knock on his door, and Sara entered. “James, you okay?” she asked him. Her green eyes glowed slightly in the darkness.

James had been careful not to mention that fact to her. Because she was a venom dragon, Sara’s claws and teeth glowed when she was in her dragon form. James didn’t tell her that her eyes glowed as well. He had a feeling that Sara wouldn’t like knowing that her eyes glowed in the dark, even as a human.

James smiled, and hoped he was convincing. “Yeah. Just had a dream. Aevill, always being attacked...it’s getting to me.” James wasn’t lying, he told himself. He was only leaving out most of the facts. As he watched Sara, he could not get the image of her battling Cole out of his head.

Sara seemed to buy it. She nodded slowly. “Me too,” she said. James noticed that she was dressed, her hair already brushed. Sara caught him looking and said, “I was thinking that we should get an early start today. Do you know where we should start looking?”

James shook his head. “The other spell I used wasn’t working. I’m trying something different today.”

“Why are you changing the spell so suddenly?” Sara asked.

“If the other one worked, we would have found something by now,” James said. “We’ve traveled all over the place, and still have found nothing. Where are we again?”

“Kansas.”

“Right.” James was glad that Sara was able to remember all of the different places they had gone to. He himself had gotten confused long ago. “Instead of looking for magical objects, I’m looking for magical creatures and people that could help us.” Sara knew nothing of her father visiting James at night, so he adopted the idea for the spell as his own.

Sara still looked doubtful, but luckily for James she trusted him. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go buy breakfast while you get started.”

“Kay.” James sang his favorite song about money, and a stack of twenty dollar bills appeared in his hand. He handed the money to Sara. Neither of them knew where the money came from, and James tried not to think about it whenever he sang that particular song.

“Thanks,” Sara said as she walked out of James’s room.

James looked out the window. The sky was getting lighter, and he couldn’t waste any more time. James closed his eyes and heard thousands of different songs, all sung by people of different cultures, countries, and time periods. James ignored most of the songs, searching only for a song that could help him find people with magic.

When Sara got back, James was still searching. She placed a bag of doughnuts in front of him. “Any luck?” she asked.

“Hold on...” James was getting close. He could feel it. His search came to an abrupt halt as James found the song he needed. “There! Got it!” he said, unable to contain his excitement. It was about time that they got a new lead on the Stone. Wandering around aimlessly had gotten old really fast.

“Great.” Sara reached into the bag and withdrew a doughnut. “I’ll talk to the dragons while you look for magicians that might know where the Stone is,” she said.

Sara was able to talk to the dragons often, with the help of the Dragon Stones. James had never been to the Land of the Dead personally, but Sara had told him about it often. From what Sara had told him, the Dragons Cave in the Land of the Dead was a vast, seemingly never ending cave full of rivers of lava, and mostly dragons.

“Okay.” James wasn’t looking forward to a day full of doing nothing but searching for magicians. Unless he and Sara wanted Aevill to continue to kill and force people to do his bidding, though, James didn’t really have a choice. He envied Sara, who could at least talk to the dragons while she waited for James to find something.

“See ya,” Sara said as she touched a stone on the necklace she always wore. James looked away just in time to avoid the bright blue light that the Dragon Stones gave off when they were touched. The light dimmed, then died completely. James looked back at the spot where Sara had stood. She was no longer there.

James sighed and once again searched for the song he had chosen to use. Now that he knew what he was looking for, the search went a lot faster. Once he had found the song again, James started singing. He didn’t need to worry about knowing the words. Because of his magic, James already knew the words to any song he wanted to sing.

As James sang, the usual orange light surrounded him. He thought about Sara, and why they were deciding to look for the stone in the first place. He hoped that today, unlike all the others before it, they would find something to help them defeat Aevill.

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