The Emerald Staff (22 page)

“What?!” Etyran said, as the relevance of
Faedra’s statement sunk in. “Oh, that’s just bloody great, he’s
going to kill me this time. I would never have agreed to bring you
here if I’d known.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. And,
anyway, I only found out yesterday, so it doesn’t really
count.”

“Doesn’t really count!? Are you out of your
mind? You know what the king did to me last time and I was only
trying it on with his daughter, not letting her risk getting bloody
killed!”

“Oh, calm down! What he doesn’t know won’t
hurt him.” Faedra retorted.

“Calm down? Calm down? You’re a bloody
princess and I nearly got you killed.”

“No, you didn’t. It was my choice to come
here not yours, remember?”

The sound of someone clearing their throat
eventually got the attention of the two arguing so they shut up and
turned to look at Draconis.

“I have no desire to start a war with the
fae, Princess. You will come to no harm in my realm.”

Faedra cringed at being called a princess.
That whole dynamic hadn’t even had the slightest chance of sinking
in yet and it made her feel very uncomfortable.

“Thank you,” she replied, “but I’d prefer if
you didn’t call me Princess. I’m really not.”

Draconis inclined his head. “Oh, but I’m
afraid you are, little one. So you better get used to it. Anyway
you must have come here for a reason. Why did you risk your life to
seek an audience with me?”

Faedra shuffled her feet for a moment trying
to find the right words to use. Then she took a deep breath, lifted
her chin high and forced herself to look into the eyes of the
creature that almost took her head off just a moment before.

“I have come to ask you if I may borrow
something of yours,” she started. “You see my father has been
kidnapped…”

“The King of Azran has been kidnapped?”
Draconis interrupted.

“No, the man I grew up thinking was my
father. He is kind and loving and he’s all I’ve got left after my
mum was killed by redcaps when I was six.” Faedra bit back a tear
that stung behind her eye. “It’s a long story but Vivianna found
out about me, got in a major jealous rage and kidnapped my dad as
revenge. She has given me a week to hand over this or she’ll kill
him.” She showed him the amulet to which he raised an eyebrow in
recognition.

“I can’t hand over the amulet for obvious
reasons, so I need to try and rescue my dad but I don’t have much
time left.” She dug out the time-pebble from her pocket to prove
her point.

“Little one, what could I possibly possess
that could help you rescue your father, and that you would risk
your life coming here to borrow?” Draconis asked.

“She took him with the ruby staff.”

Draconis lifted his head in surprise. “No,
that is not possible, the ruby staff was destroyed along with my
brother.”

“I assure you, Sir, it is very much in one
piece, I have seen it with my own eyes. The only way I can find my
dad is to borrow the emerald staff, and I’ve been told that belongs
to you.”

Draconis paced back and forth a few times,
rubbing his chin with one of his claws. After a few more paces, he
stopped in front of Faedra and lowered his head until it was level
with hers.

“You are correct, I do possess the emerald
staff, but as you also probably know, dragons do not lend their
possessions without getting something in return. I will let you
borrow the emerald staff but you must first do something for
me.”

“Anything,” Faedra blurted without thinking
of the possible consequences her words could hold.

“I need you to retrieve an object for me from
your world. I did something very foolish in my younger days and it
turns out that foolishness could cost me my kingdom. You see, I
lost my mate. My brother Savu killed her many years ago, so the
hope of producing another heir is remote, but I did produce an heir
about nine hundred years ago. Actually it is just an egg until it
incubates and it cannot do that unless the temperature is very
high. So I am fairly certain that it is still viable, temperatures
do not get hot enough in the World of Men.”

“You want me to find an egg, that could be
hidden anywhere in my world?” Faedra’s heart sank. Needle in a
haystack was an understatement in this instance. “How did it end up
in my world, anyway?”

Draconis gave Faedra what she thought was a
sheepish look, if it were possible for a dragon to look
sheepish.

“I lost it in a bet.”

“You did what?” Faedra and Etyran exclaimed
together.

“I told you I was foolish,” the dragon
shrugged it’s enormous shoulders. “But I can give you some
information that may help you find it.”

“Nine hundred years on, I doubt it,” Faedra
mumbled to herself, losing any hope of borrowing the emerald staff
by the second.

“I lost it to a man named Ralph de Gael.”

“That’s it? All I have to go on is the name
of a nine hundred year-old man? Can you at least give me some idea
of where in the world he may have lived?”

Draconis looked thoughtful for a moment. “I
remember he had just inherited a castle at the time.”

Faedra closed her eyes in defeat and blew out
a sigh.

“Find me the egg and you can borrow the
emerald staff.” Draconis said as he turned his back on them and
walked towards the other end of the room, dismissing them as
effectively as if he had shown them the door.

Alaris stepped forward and motioned for them
to follow. Faedra’s feet felt like lead as they followed the blue
dragon back towards the gateway to Azran.

Once they stepped through the swirling
doorway into Azran, the Gatekeeper greeted them on the other side.
Up until that time, Faedra hadn’t given a thought to how they would
get back to the entrance. It was hard enough to get in, but surely
the alarm would have been raised by now and the redcaps would be
even more alert than before.

“You are still alive then,” the Gatekeeper
noted, unsurprised by her re-appearance.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Faedra
questioned.

“I was pretty certain, yes. I would never
have allowed a full-blooded human through the gateway, no matter
how compelling her request.”

“Thank you.”

The Gatekeeper inclined his head.

Faedra turned to Etyran, her expression
weary. “How on earth are we going to get out of here? I hadn’t even
given that a thought until now?”

Etyran opened his mouth to answer but the
Gatekeeper beat him to it.

“If I may offer my assistance,” he said.

They turned to look at him, waiting in
anticipation.

“There is another way in and out of this
cavern, one that those nasty little creatures know nothing
about.”

“There is? Where?” Faedra asked.

The dragon looked up, and Faedra and Etyran’s
gaze followed. The cavern was immense, Faedra couldn’t even see
where the ceiling was.

“But how are we going to get up there?” she
asked out loud then turned to Etyran. “You can’t fly can you?”

Etyran shook his head.

“I can,” the Gatekeeper stated.

Faedra’s eyebrows jumped a notch as the ruby
red dragon turned his body towards the two travelers who were
looking stunned.

“On you get,” the dragon stated as he
crouched low.

Faedra flung a nervous look in Etyran’s
direction before he pulled himself up and straddled the enormous
scaly back just in front of its wings. He then turned and held his
hands down for Faedra.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she mumbled
as she took hold of Etyran’s hands and was pulled up onto the
dragon’s back to sit behind him.

“Hold on,” Etyran whispered.

“Ready?” the Gatekeeper asked.

“Yes. No.” Etyran and Faedra said at the same
time.

Faedra let out a little squeal as the dragon
took off. She grabbed hold around Etyran’s waist before she had a
chance to tumble backwards and roll down the dragon’s tail, and
clung on for dear life. She didn’t quite know what he was holding
on to, as the dragon’s scales were smooth as silk, but Etyran stuck
to the dragon like glue, even against the strong force of the
dragon’s wings sending them skyward.

Faedra couldn’t quite believe the height of
the cavern, it seemed never ending. The soft whoosh, whoosh of the
Gatekeeper’s wings as they beat rhythmically seemed to calm her
raging nerves, and, after a few moments, the dragon slowed and came
to a stop on a ledge high above the cave floor. For the first time
in what seemed like an age, Faedra could see the stars again. It
was still nighttime outside so they still had the cover of darkness
to protect them.

“This is as far as I go, I’m afraid,” the
dragon said.

“Thank you,” Faedra replied.

“You are welcome. Good luck in your quest,
little one.” And with that, the dragon turned and launched himself
off the ledge. Faedra watched him glide downwards until she could
no longer see him, then turned and took a good long look at where
they were. She never thought she would be so grateful to see the
stars twinkling above or have the cool night breeze caress her face
as it did at that moment. She looked down from the craggy outcrop
they were standing on and could see tiny dots of light down on the
ground, she assumed they must be the redcap’s torches.

“How on earth do we get down there?”

Etyran pointed down the side of the mountain.
“See that little dot behind the piece of rock that juts out where
the entrance is?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s Faen, so all we need to do is
get his attention, then he can fly up here and get us.”

“And that’s your plan?” Faedra retorted
sarcastically.

“Yep.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Etyran put his fingers in his mouth and blew
out an ear-splitting whistle.

“Are you crazy?” Faedra said in a harsh
whisper. “You’ll draw every redcap’s attention for miles. Do you
want to get us killed?”

“Settle down, little lady. Yes I’ll draw
their attention, but they can’t fly and Faen can. He’ll get up here
much quicker than they will.”

“But he might not be quick enough to get me
somewhere safe and then come back for you.”

“He won’t need to come back for me.”

“What do you mean?” Faedra asked, eyebrows
forming a frown. “We can’t just leave you here.”

“Yes, you can, and you will. I’ll make my way
down the mountain, they won’t be able to see me, remember?”

“You’re not coming with us?”

“No, my place is here for right now. I want
to keep an eye on those creepy little blighters.” He gestured with
his head in the direction of the redcaps. “Still have no idea what
they’re doing here.”

Faedra looked down the mountain and saw some
torches clustered together that started to move up the
rock-face.

“We need some of those light balls of yours,”
Etyran instructed. “He’ll never find us on the side of this
mountain, otherwise.”

Faedra nodded and, a moment later, a couple
of blue orbs were bobbing above the palms of both hands. Etyran
blew out another shrill whistle, while Faedra waved her hands about
creating pretty neon patterns in the inky night sky. A few moments
later she could see pearlescent wings flapping in the distance.
With each beat they brought their owner closer and closer, guided
by her light show. Faen eventually reached the ledge, and the two
took a step back so that he could join them. He landed gracefully
on the craggy outcrop.

He took one look at his Custodian and grabbed
her, wrapping his arms around her in an unprecedented show of
relief and joy. Faedra let out a startled squeak as he almost
knocked her off balance with his enthusiasm. She reciprocated the
hug, her emotions a mixture of shock at his unusual display of
compassion, and relief that he was by her side again.

Etyran took a step back and averted his eyes,
deciding that his feet were all of a sudden much more interesting
to look at.

“Thank Kernunnos you are okay,” Faen
whispered as he pulled back and looked at the stunned face of his
charge before wrapping her in his arms again.

“I told you I’d look after her, mate,” Etyran
piped up.

Faen released his grip on Faedra and turned
to his friend. “Thank you, my friend. I owe you.”

“Nah, don’t mention it. We had fun, didn’t
we, girlie?” he aimed his question at Faedra who raised her
eyebrows in disbelief. She decided it best not to answer.

Faen gave her a curious look. “Where is the
emerald staff? Did Draconis not have it?”

Faedra blew out a disappointed sigh. “Oh, he
had it alright, but he’s a dragon, and, apparently, dragons don’t
lend their possessions without getting something in return.”

“What does he want in return?”

“He wants me to find an egg.”

“An egg?”

“Yep.”

Etyran turned his attention over the ledge
they were standing on. “Mate, she can fill you in on the details on
your way back, but, right now, you have to get her out of here.” He
could see the trail of torchlight snaking its way up the side of
the mountain. Faen peeked over the edge and nodded. He then turned,
scooped Faedra up in his arms and moved to the edge of the ledge.
“What about you?”

“Don’t you worry about me,” Etyran replied
with his signature roguish grin. “You need to go find that
egg.”

“Thank you,” Faedra said, giving him a long
meaningful look that spoke volumes.

In an uncharacteristic gesture, Etyran
inclined his head in a very old worldly manner. “My pleasure,
Princess. Now go find that egg and rescue your dad.”

Faedra gave him a mock evil stare before Faen
launched them off the side of the mountain.

“You told him about your heritage?” Faen
asked as he flew them away from the mountain.

“In a roundabout way. Draconis could tell I
was half fae just by sniffing at me, which was lucky, coz he was a
few seconds away from killing me for being human.” Faedra was
actually quite thankful, at that point, that she was the product of
a fling between her mum and the fae king, though she was still
having a hard time digesting the fact she was a princess and, even
more so, that her half-sister hated her guts enough to try and kill
her.