Dragon's Heart Crystal

DRAGON’S HEART CRYSTAL

By t.j. Gallagher

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2008 ; Ebook Edition 2010; Cover Revision 2016

By Thomas James Gallagher

Ebook ISBN 978-1-4581-8680-5

Cover Design & Artwork by Wil Thomas

Ebook Edition Available at http://www.smashwords.com or at your local ebook distributor

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CHAPTER ONE

TIMOTHY

Kayla… Do you know where we are? Dalton nervously asked his twin sister.

No, I don’t, Dalton, whispering with awe.

Have you seen anything like this before, Sis. And why is it glowing? Do you think it’s dangerous? Dalton wondered.

No! Er, well… yeah. I’ve maybe seen something like this before, but I’m not sure. Glowing things can be dangerous, but I don’t think this one is. I’m sort of glad it’s glowing, at least we can see. It must be nighttime here or something, she answered uncertainly.

Okay, but what is it, Sis? You watch those travel shows and read all the time. You must have seen this thing on one of those shows or something, Dalton added hopefully.

It sort of reminds me of some pictures I saw in a magazine about a place called Stonehenge, in England. It has all sorts of towering stones that look like these, only smaller and they don’t glow. Those tall standing up stones and that long one across the top, I think it’s called a ‘Dolmen.’ It sort of looks like a doorway, doesn’t it? she asked thoughtfully.

A doorway? Yeah, maybe on a barn or something! Look at the size of this thing, and there’s nothing on the other side of the opening. Why would you think it’s a doorway? Dalton asked sarcastically.

Well it just looks like it would be a door or a portal or something. Look at all the symbols and pictures on it, sort of like writing. I’ve seen that on old drawings and pictures of Rome and other places. Look, there on top, in the middle, it’s a picture of a Dragon in a circle. Do you see it? A dragon would be able to fit through here easily.

Yeah, I see it, Sis. So you think it’s a doorway for a Dragon?

No, don’t be silly! That picture might be some marker though, you know, to tell other Dragons this is the way, or something.

You might be right, Sis. I’m going to look at those symbols on that other tall rock, you look over this one and see if you can find anything that looks familiar, Dalton suggested.

Okay, but I don’t see what good it will do. Somehow I doubt if these symbols will tell us where we are or how we got here, Kayla said as she ran her hand over one of the odd pictures. She noticed a difference immediately. D – Dal – Dalton! she stammered frantically. The doorway, Dalton – look! She almost screamed. I can’t see through it anymore! Do you feel that rush of air?

I feel it and see it, too! But I can also hear something moving. I can’t tell what it is, but I think it’s something big!

Kayla was already quivering with fright and lost no time running to Dalton’s side. I think we should get out of here!

Yeah, I think you’re right, Sis. Whoever’s making that noise is close. Let’s go – now!

Before they were able to run, a huge, black and evil looking Dragon came through the opening. Spotting the twins, the Dragon grabbed one of them in each of its huge claws. Dalton and Kayla were squeezed so hard they could barely breathe.

In a deep, grumbling voice, I’ve been waiting a very long time for you Elves. Now I finally have you!

Wh – who are you? W – what do you want with us? Dalton screamed.

Do you not recognize me, Elf? Do you not know of the Dahak? Do you claim to not know me, Elf? he said angrily. Do you not know what you and your sister have done to me, Elf? You have interfered in my life long enough, Elf! I’ve made my choice – you will bother me no more!

The evil Dahak’s razor-sharp claws tore through their bodies, ripping the little Elves to pieces. The children awoke screaming out loud. Shaking violently, with cold droplets of sweat on their foreheads, they clung to one another hoping for safety and some comfort.

Matty rushed into their bedroom, followed by Marge, each taking one of the children in their arms. Holding them tightly, they listened to each child rant against their terrifying experience at the portal. They told of the evil Dahak and the sharp claws tearing them apart.

Listen to me, Dalton, Kayla! You had a nightmare, a really bad dream! You’re both at home, safe, in bed. There are no Dragons or Dahaks or portals. Nothing is going to hurt you here. Your Aunt Marge and I won’t let that happen, okay?

Okay, they said in unison. Aunt Marge gave each of them a kiss as she tucked them back into bed. As Marge closed the bedroom door, we may as well have a cup of coffee, Matty. I won’t get back to sleep now, it’s almost morning.

They quietly made coffee, each contemplating what the children had said. Matty, you’ve taught the twins about magical creatures. Have you ever mentioned a Dahak?

No, of course not! Those things are as evil as they come. I don’t have anything that even mentions them. Heck Sis, no one’s even seen one of them for centuries, answered Matty.

It’s just so strange! Those two kids had the same dream. A dream of an oddly decorated Dolmen and a Dahak coming through it! How do they know about a Dahak, much less a Dolmen? Another strange thing they could see and speak with each other while in the dream! Marge exclaimed.

That worries me, Marge. I don’t know though, do twins dream together like that? They’re so close and they do everything together, maybe sharing dreams is perfectly normal for them.

There is another possibility. The twins might be having some sort of premonition Marge said, concerned. I think I’ll stay up. Not much sense going back to bed now. I would just lie there and worry about the children for the next hour.

You’re right, Marge. I think I’ll bake some fresh biscuits to take our minds off things, want to help?

Sure, why not?

Later that morning, Matty, you have the best looking yard I’ve ever seen around here," her neighbor Lynn said, looking over the patio wall.

Thank you, Lynn, replied Matty. How are you and your husband? Are you still planning your trip this weekend?

We’re fine, Matty, thanks for asking. Yes, we’re still planning to go and we’ve decided to stay until Sunday. Can you keep an eye on things for us?

Sure, no problem. It’s probably a good thing you won’t be here tomorrow, though. The twins will be having their birthday party and it will probably be a bit on the noisy side.

In that case, I’m glad we won’t be here, Lynn said jokingly. But you tell Dalton and Kayla happy birthday for us, okay? We’ll see you Sunday.

Sure will Lynn, said Matty.

Matilda Moore was known as Aunt Matty to neighbors and friends. She owned her home at 1024 Maple Street in a rural suburb of San Diego, California. She had a nice looking red brick, three-bedroom house with white trim and a single car garage separated from the house on the north side by a gated walkway to the back yard. There were good-sized yards in the front and the back of the house and a small strip of lawn on the south side of the house.

The front yard had a low, neatly trimmed privet hedge that ran from the south corner of the house around to the driveway. On each side of the front porch were planters, filled with multi-colored flowers. Flowerbeds also lined the driveway and around the two shade trees in the front yard.

A five-foot tall block patio wall encircled the south end of the house and back yard. Inside the back yard was an eight-foot deep swimming pool with a diving board at one end. On the patio sat a redwood picnic table that could seat six people. The pool and adjoining patio could easily be seen through the sliding glass door in the dining room.

Matty went to extremes to keep her home looking nice. She wanted her home looking exactly as it should for her neighbors. She was often seen planting new brightly-colored flower plants, sometimes on a weekly basis. Of course, she might plant fewer new flowers, but for the occasional accidents of the children and her sister.

Six years ago, Matty had asked her sister, Marge, to come and live with her. Matty had adopted her younger sister’s two-year-old twins, a boy named Dalton and a girl named Kayla. Her nephew and niece promised to be quite a handful to deal with on her own. Marge knew that raising these particular children would present unique problems, but agreed to move in and help as much as possible. Matty slept in the master bedroom and the children shared the front bedroom, so Marge got the back spare bedroom of the house.

Marge also shared the household duties and raising and educating the children with her sister. There was always a great deal to do, even though the twins were old enough to help with the chores. Matty and Marge were great cooks, with Matty doing the baking and her sister cooking the regular meals. At the moment, Marge had a delicious smelling pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions in the oven for tonight’s supper.

Even though Matty did her best to maintain a perfectly normal household, with perfectly normal and well-behaved children, her efforts were a hopeful dream at best. The truth is, this household and the people who live here are very different from their neighbors.

This house is a place of magical mystery and wonderment. Matty, Marge and the twins are, in fact, Elves. Matty and Marge are considered adept Elven witches. Their short stature, light brown hair, blue eyes and pale white skin do not exactly give them away as Elven; but the long, pointed ears certainly do. They magically disguise their ears to all non-magical people. They are formally called Drey Elves, which study the healing arts using herbs, plants, potions and chemicals.

The twins, Dalton and Kayla, are also Drey Elves, with pale white skin, light brown hair and deep blue eyes. They have a thin, almost frail appearance and they too hide their pointed ears by using a spell.

Elves are born with innate magic, which helps them to survive, but most of the Elven magical skills and talents must be learned through teaching, experience and practice. Dalton’s and Kayla’s magical talents are just beginning to develop with age and practice, and their efforts to learn provide much entertainment and some surprises as well.

Dalton would, by magical standards, be considered an Elven Wizard and Kayla would be considered an Elven Witch. Their developing powers are amazing at such a young age. This, in part, is due to Matty’s and Marge’s teaching the children the magical spells and incantations they will need, as well as the use of crystals, wands, herbs and the healing arts.

The children came to live with Matty when they were orphaned six years ago because of the wars. Officially, the Elven—Dwarf Wars ended six-and-a-half years ago after a successful attack by the elves on the last remaining Dwarf stronghold. The Dwarven armies and their Goblin allies were soundly defeated and the stronghold was left in ruins. Those who survived those final days of battle returned to what was left of their homes and families.

The children’s mother and father, Kaitlin and James Summers, were both highly skilled Drey Elves. They were extraordinary medical healers who traveled from one village to the next helping and healing the problems of the many magical creatures they encountered. They did not fight in the wars and did not take sides, as Drey Elves, their only concern was treating injuries and wounds.

Sadly, Kaitlin and James were slain while treating people in a Gnome village. The town was viciously attacked by rogue Dwarves and Goblins, six months after the end of the wars. There are still sporadic attacks by these vicious rogue factors today, which causes even more hatred and more victims.

Marge stepped out of the back door and called, Dalton! Kayla! Time to get out of that pool and get changed for supper, it’ll be ready in a few minutes. Don’t forget to hang those wet suits on the rack in the hall bathroom.

Swimming always made the twins hungry and they hurriedly changed into dry clothes, hung up their bathing suits and headed to the kitchen to eat. Dalton and Kayla had just sat down at the table when Marge began serving up the pot roast and vegetables. She casually asked, How many friends did you two invite to your party so I can plan for snacks and drinks?

Dalton, looking sort of sheepish, said, I only invited my friend, Robert, to come over. I didn’t really want anyone else to come.

Me, too, echoed Kayla. I didn’t ask anyone but my friend, Annie.

What they failed to tell their aunts was that neither one of them had any friends except Robert and Annie in the neighborhood or at school. They quite simply were not considered cool by the other kids.

They were both rather small for their age and so pale it looked as though they never went into the sunlight. They didn’t wear the latest tennis shoes or designer clothing, nor did they have MP3 players or cell phones. The twins simply did not hang out with the right kids and didn’t speak badly about the kids considered to be the wrong kids.

Even worse for their social status, if there could be a worse, was that neither Dalton nor Kayla seemed to care whether they were cool or not, nor whether they fit in the popular crowd or not. This attitude on their part made them equivalent to social outcasts, even though they just finished the second grade.

I have an idea, said Marge. Since you two only invited Robert and Annie to your party, why don’t you phone them and have them come over by eight o’clock in the morning. I’ll take you all to Sea World Park then sometime around noon, we can come back to the house for cake, ice cream and games. Does that sound good? The children loved the idea and after dinner called Robert and Annie to tell them their latest birthday plans.

Tomorrow morning would be Saturday, July 24th, and Dalton’s and Kayla’s eighth birthday! Even though it was a special day for the twins, they wanted to make it a special day for Robert and Annie, too. Dalton and Kayla had planned and worked hard for weeks to put on a magic show at their party to surprise and astonish their friends.

Dalton had prepared and practiced a disappearing act, where he would step behind a curtain, disappear and then reappear someplace else. He would then repeat the process in the reverse order.

Kayla had planned a special performance, too. She would step behind a curtain, but instead of disappearing, she would change her elf form to a mountain lion, called a puma. After she pranced around and hopefully scared her friends, she would return to the curtain and change back into her regular form. Robert and Annie would have no clue that Dalton and Kayla would be performing real magic for them and not some sort of tricks.

Matty had worked with Dalton for the last two weeks practicing in order to be able to teleport himself from place to place. Dalton turned out to be a very good student. He still needed to use a teleportation gem along with a wand, but as his skills develop with experience, he wouldn’t need the crystal. For tonight’s practice, Dalton was teleporting back and forth from place to place to his Aunt’s delight.

Some of Dalton’s attempts at teleportation, at first, didn’t get very far. He would concentrate on where he was going to go; thinking of moving every part of him to that spot and tapping the crystal in one hand with the wand in the other, he said his spell – and nothing happened. He tried and tried and tried again.

Dalton’s first successful teleportation amused the whole family. He was really concentrating hard and had his spot to go to all picked out. He held the crystal tightly in his left hand and tapped the crystal with the wand saying, "suo loco carpet." He disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared naked three feet away! Everyone clapped and laughed as Dalton realized he didn’t teleport his clothes with him. He dressed and tried again and with practice started to get better and better, but he still had a few accidents when he didn’t concentrate. One time he ended up outside in the swimming pool fully dressed, shoes and all. Another time he ended up in Kayla’s shower. Most of his accidental trips placed him in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen and Matty thought this might be due to his constant hunger.

While Matty had been instructing Dalton, Marge had been working with Kayla on transfiguration of herself into another sort of creature. After several weeks of trial and error, Kayla’s efforts were rewarded as she transformed into a beautiful puma. When she changed, she had snow white fur, large blue eyes, very large paws and a sleek long tail that she liked to swish back and forth. Like her brother, she suffered a few minor accidents; like the time she walked around the house for days with white fur on her face. And it took a couple of days more, another time, to get rid of that darned tail!

Transformation required Kayla to be naked before she changed into her animal form. However, this was not a problem for an elf, as they do not consider nudity as embarrassing or as shameful, it’s simply a natural state. In fact, neither of the twins had the usual hang-ups about anything that non-magical kids have.

At first, Kayla thought it was a hassle to have to remove her clothes to transform into her cat form. Once, while her Aunt Marge wasn’t around, Kayla decided to see what would happen if she transfigured fully clothed. She got down on all fours and transformed into a cat. She almost strangled herself and was in serious pain and agony! Her clothes cut off vital circulation and her shoes crushed her back paws! Fortunately she was only in pain for a few moments before she split the seams of her clothing and ripped out her shoes. Her puma form was twice her elf size and her paws were four times wider than her shoes! That was the first and last time Kayla transfigured with her clothes on; and her Aunt Marge was not very happy that she had torn her clothes and shoes to shreds either.

Saturday morning arrived with a delightful aroma wafting out of the kitchen. The smell would have aroused the soundest of sleepers. However, this morning no one was sleeping late and those yummy odors didn’t have a chance of waking Dalton or Kayla. . They were already out of bed and almost dressed when Marge called them to breakfast. Today was their birthday and Dalton and Kayla didn’t plan on missing one single thing their aunts had in mind for them and their friends.

Matty already told the children that she would bake their favorite cake for their birthday – German Chocolate with black walnut and coconut frosting. In fact, the cakes were baking in the oven this morning. Matty had ice cream in the freezer and the syrups and fruit to make banana splits, another twin favorite. She also had root beer chilling in the refrigerator.

The children entered the kitchen and Dalton, who seemed to always be this side of starving to death, said, … morning – what’s for breakfast? Then he plopped down into his usual chair. Kayla said her very ladylike good mornings to both of her aunts, then proceeded to demonstrate to Dalton the proper way to seat oneself at the table. Dalton, like all brothers, ignored his sister’s efforts.

Matty and Marge said their good mornings and wished each twin a very happy birthday. Marge was already filling their plates with bacon, eggs and blueberry pancakes. There were hot biscuits, jam and syrups waiting on the table. Matty poured them cold milk and then removed two round chocolate cakes from the oven. She placed them on cooling racks, then sat at the table joining the others for breakfast.

The children finished their breakfast and put their dirty dishes into the sink. Marge told them to sit a minute and she left the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with two wrapped packages. I thought you two might like to open these gifts ahead of time. These things belonged to your mother and father and I know they would want you to have them when you were old enough to appreciate them. I believe you have proven yourselves mature enough for them. She handed Dalton a small package and Kayla one that was larger.

Both Dalton and Kayla stared at the gifts a few moments before opening them. Dalton opened his gift to find a utility knife that had his father’s name "James" engraved on the side. The knife was one of those multi-tools that changed into a pliers, wire cutter, screwdriver or scissors. Dalton was quiet and somber as he looked at his gift. His flushed skin and wet eyes gave away his sense of loss, but appreciation of the moment as well.

Kayla had watched as her brother opened his gift, then carefully opened hers. She found a slightly worn leather bag that contained many different packages, vials and bottles of medicinal herbs, plants and potions. There were several vials of "Moly," a rare magical herb used to ward off incantations, fight infections and soothe burns. Kayla immediately teared up at the sight of the bag and as she thought of her mother who she would never know, a Drey Elf Healer.

A loud squawk broke the somber silence of the moment as John Paul arrived and landed on the kitchen windowsill above the counter. John Paul happened to be a rather large, jet-black raven who delivered The Daily Seer, a witches’ newspaper, every morning along with the latest gossip. John Paul dropped the paper on the counter as Matty placed a generous piece of fresh bread next to him. John Paul graciously ate the bread as he told Matty he had important news for her.

"Squawk — Timothy captured. Dark druid tricked him. Timothy heard dark druid say things to Kobolds of Dalton — Kayla twins. Tried to warn you he did. Squawk — Druid tricked Timothy, put iron wire on horn — Timothy no escape now. Taken to park zoo— to fake healer. Elves must help Timothy — squawk! Dark Druid told horn glued to Timothy by children as joke — fake healer put Timothy into cage. Tell Dark Druid he put Timothy to sleep — cut off horn. Squawk — you must help Timothy — yes?"

Everyone at the kitchen table was stunned by the news of the little unicorn foal’s capture. Unicorns are magical creatures capable of teleportation unless their horn is wrapped by iron. They all knew the removal of Timothy’s horn would kill the foal. Marge asked, John Paul, can you fly back to the zoo where they are holding Timothy? See if he is okay and tell him help is on the way — okay?

"Squawk — yes. John Paul fly now and back soon with important news." He turned and flew out the window.

Marge and her sister and the twins all agreed quite quickly to mount a rescue mission to save Timothy from the zoo and vet. No one said, but all were anxious to find out from Timothy his news concerning the dark druid and Dalton and Kayla.

The lost child at the zoo, might be a good excuse if they needed to get into some area that is usually off limits. Marge was on top of the planning, changing the children’s birthday adventure from Sea World to Balboa Park Zoo. The twins didn’t mind at all because saving Timothy was the most important thing for them to do. Matty sent Dalton to get the teleportation crystal he was using in last night’s practice session and the wand that she kept in her bedroom. She would need the crystal to teleport Timothy, as he was heavier than she was, even though he was a young foal.

John Paul returned quickly as the zoo was only a few miles away by air. As the large raven flew through the kitchen window and tried to land, Marge noticed him flapping extra hard and making a rather clumsy landing. He strutted around holding his wing out from his side, "Wing hurt — squawk!" Marge checked