The Dragonstones Trilogy
Chapter 31

Sara couldn’t have cared less about the ghost’s name than if her life had depended on it. Her eyes closed, along with her ears and all her other senses. She was oblivious to everything but James. Sara didn’t know how much time passed. It could have been years, and she wouldn’t have noticed, or minded.

All too soon, James pulled away. “Sorry,” he said, his eyes still filled with desire. “I’ll go over there,” he pointed to some trees, several feet away from where they were currently standing. He hurried away from her, as if he didn’t trust himself. With every step he took, Sara felt the distance acutely.

Slightly out of breath and disoriented at all the emotions raging through her, Sara walked in the opposite direction, back to her bush bed.

No matter how beautiful or calm the stars were, Sara quickly realized that she couldn’t get to sleep. From the breathing that came from James’s corner, Sara could tell that he had had no trouble at all. Sara envied James, but only for a second. She was still confused at what had just happened, and now was as good a time as any to go over what had happened.

She was trying to figure out the name of the ghost that was following James around, which didn’t seem that much of a big deal to her, but apparently it had been. James had even been on the verge of telling her, but that was when something strange had happened. James had seemed like a different person, like he wasn’t in control of what he was doing.

But the kiss...Sara stopped breathing at just the thought of it. It had been sweet and sincere, just like James.

Sara knew now that there had been times when James had lied to her, but there was always a reason. He hadn’t told her about his magic failing, because he didn’t want her to worry. He wanted to help her in any fight they were in. With his ghost friend, there was a reason too. The ghost obviously didn’t want her to know who he was, so he probably asked James not to tell Sara. As soon as she had the thought, Sara knew that was exactly what had happened.

Sara felt the pull of the Stone, and realized that it would all be over soon. Her story was headed for the climax, the ending final and forever. It would either end with Aevill defeated-Sara refused to think the word “dead”-or with her, James, and everyone else she knew dead, if not six feet under.

Sara jerked her thoughts in a different direction. They were going to win. They had to. To beat Aevill, Sara and James had to not be distracted by anything. Adding a note of finality to her thought, Sara decided that she would pretend that the kiss she and James had shared had never happened.

It was harder than it sounded, Sara realized the next morning, to act normal around someone she had kissed. It didn’t help that James was her first kiss. Every other second, Sara caught herself glancing, or even staring in James’s direction, wondering what he was thinking.

Obviously something similar to what she was, because James’s movements almost always mirrored hers. They barely spoke, and when they did, it was very brief. There soon was an unspoken agreement that they would not talk about what had happened last night, at all costs.

To make matters worse, the pull that they had followed yesterday was gone. Sara and James tried to go in the same direction that they had gone the previous day, but there was no way to tell for sure. All the trees looked the same, along with every rock, bush, and weed.

After about an hour, they both gave up. “What happened to the Stone?” Sara asked sitting on a nearby rock. James sat down as well, on a different rock so that he was facing her. If one good thing came from this, it was something to talk about other than last night.

James shrugged. “It could have moved, but why if it went through all the trouble of leading us to it?”

Sara didn’t have an answer for that. She looked up at James. Today it was sunny, making his light hair almost glow. His eyes were the same bright green as usual, but they weren’t glowing, though they were bright enough to be.

James noticed her watching him. He let out a breath of air, and said, “We’re going to talk about it sooner or later. It might as well be now.” He looked at her. “Last night, I wouldn’t have normally done that, and I’m sorry for surprising you, but not for...the other thing. I meant it. I’ve felt that way about you for a while now, but I was waiting for the right time.” He looked down, his face red.

Sara looked at him in surprise. It was amazing how, at school, he could become friends with anyone he wanted to, but at the thought of a simple kiss, he went bright red. James looked at her expectantly.

“Okay,” Sara said, somewhat glad to be getting this out of her system. “What happened last night was...amazing.” She looked away, already embarrassed at what she was telling him, though she didn’t know why.

They didn’t say anything for a while, only stared at each other. “So what do we do now?” Sara asked.

“We still need to find the Stone, so we should probably get on top of that.” James stood up. “Let’s see if my magic will work.”

After several failed attempts, they resorted to walking in what they thought was the right direction, just as before. Sara could have flown, but she didn’t want to go too far the wrong way. Their conversations were still kind of awkward, but not nearly as bad as before. After a few hours of nonstop talking, things were almost normal between them. Almost.

They decided to stop early that night. Sara found another bush to flatten, and James found a slightly softer spot to sleep than he had the night before. James tried to use his magic again, and Sara was almost ready for what happened next.

It was just like last time. Sara could feel herself on her bush, but she could also feel the ground beneath James. Their thoughts and emotions were the same. Both were thinking of the other, wondering what would happen next. Sara could feel James using magic, trying to locate the Stone. The orange aura glowed around both her and James. They were both disappointed when the song didn’t give them any information.

The feeling of total unity with the other died as James and Sara stopped singing. “Well,” Sara said as the orange aura around her died. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll have better luck.”

“I’ve got a feeling that’s going to be the case,” James smiled, then said goodnight to Sara. As if they were still connected, they fell asleep at the exact same time.

Sara wasn’t sure if it was James’s spell that caused her to have a vision, or if it was just coming to her naturally. It didn’t really matter though, because Sara saw what she saw, regardless of how she had come to see it.

At first, Sara thought it was just a normal dream, full of the same trees she and James had been traveling through a forest of. She was walking, just as she and James had been doing, but this time, James was nowhere to be found. She walked through the woods, until she halted abruptly. Miles away, there was an impossibly large tree. Its trunk was wider than Sara’s house, and it was so tall it went beyond the clouds.

The tree’s leaves rustled in the breeze, and the sun shone on it, casting a golden glow on the tree. This tree was unlike any other, even if Sara ignored its size. Its trunk was covered with anything found out in nature. In some places, there was white bark, followed by a chunk of brown oak. In other places, tiger leopard, and zebra fur grew next to each other as if old friends. Rocks, other plants, and even some florauna sprouted from this tree, along with hundreds of different flowers. For a brief second, Sara wondered why no one had ever noticed this tree before, but then she already knew the answer. This tree was magical, hidden from everything except for Sara and James. With a sudden flash of insight, Sara realized that this tree had waited centuries, eons, for her to have this vision, right now.

Sara. A voice popped into her head, ancient, unlike any dragon’s or any human’s. In that one word, the tree was able to convey all the love and welcome it felt toward her.

The tree spoke again, surprising Sara while doing so. James. This time, the voice was sad, full of pity. Sara wondered why that would be, but couldn’t dwell on it long, because at that moment she woke up.

The sun was shining brightly, and Sara was surprised that she and James hadn’t woken up until now. Across from her, James was sitting up, watching her. “Did you see that?” he asked.

Sara nodded. “Yeah,” she said, panting slightly from the vision. “I know where the Stone is.”

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