The Dragon Queen Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: Emily’s Strange Dream

  Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

  Chapter 3: Dragon School

  Chapter 4: The Starlight Inn

  Chapter 5: The Secret Marketplace

  Chapter 6: Journey to the Shadow Lands

  Chapter 7: The Shadow Fountain

  Chapter 8: The Witch’s Castle

  Chapter 9: Trapped

  Chapter 10: United in Magic

  Chapter 11: The Last Egg

  Chapter 12: Back Home

  Copyright

  “AUGH!” Emily Jones jolted awake. Where am I? she asked herself as she glanced around the dark room, confused and afraid. The last images from her strange dream faded and her heart rate slowly settled. Feeling disoriented, Emily flipped the nearby light switch and was instantly comforted as things became familiar.

  She was in her room. In her house.

  Emily tugged her quilt up to her chin with a long sigh. Not long ago, her grandmother had passed away, and Emily and her parents had moved into Grandmother’s house. Emily especially loved the garden out back, and had recently learned how special it really was—it contained a portal to the magical world of Elvendale! She smiled as she remembered the amazing adventure she’d had there.

  And now she was home in her bed. There was no reason for her to be having bad dreams.

  Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to recall what it was that had scared her so much.

  She could still hear the pained roar. Smell the smoke and see fiery breath. Feel the cold wind created by flapping wings. Sense tremendous loss and sorrow all around her.

  Emily’s head hurt. The dream felt so real.

  Instinctively, Emily reached out and grabbed on to the pendant she was wearing. Her grandmother had left her the necklace—it was what had helped her find Elvendale.

  She loosened her grip on the blue stone. Suddenly, the medallion began to glow. Emily blinked hard. Was this a sign from Elvendale? On her first trip there, it had glowed just before she found the portal. But it hadn’t seemed magical at all since she’d gotten back home.

  Emily took another look at the medallion. It wasn’t just glowing—the stone’s face was a rainbow of swirling colors. She bent even closer, practically pressing her nose against it. There was a faint, fuzzy image within it.

  A dragon!

  Emily jumped out of bed. She quickly pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. That suffering, howling dragon had been the creature in her dream. It must live in the land of the elves—and something seemed very wrong. She had to help!

  The sky was dark. Emily’s parents were asleep. But time passed differently in Elvendale. Last time, she’d been there for days, but when she returned home, only a few minutes had passed.

  As she headed to the garden, Emily realized she didn’t have any sort of plan, even for opening the portal, but she knew deep in her heart that she needed to go.

  The moonlight guided her as she ran down the path, the medallion thumping on her chest with each step.

  “I’m coming!” she called out as she reached the old oak tree. The portal was already open—a shimmering, misty blue. Emily didn’t think twice. She ran right through, back into the magical land of the elves …

  The mountaintop was peaceful and bright as Naida, a water elf, gathered herbs in a basket.

  She cut a branch from a yellow bush, and inhaled the scent of its turquoise flowers. They matched her hair. And her dress. And her jewelry. And they smelled amazing. They would be perfect for making lotion for her friends!

  Suddenly, a dragon’s scream echoed through the mountains. “What on earth?!” she exclaimed. Where was that coming from? She paused for a long moment until the cry came again.

  Grabbing her basket, Naida hurried toward the sound, climbing over tree trunks and scrambling through bushes. Finally, she reached a small clearing in the woods—which held a dragon queen!

  “Ohhh …” Naida gasped. The dragon was beautiful—glittering gold with white and blue markings like clouds in a sunny sky.

  The dragon screeched again, sounding intensely scared.

  It was then that Naida noticed the nest behind the dragon. It held five dragon eggs, each a different color. One was turquoise with silver glitter, and Naida blinked as the sun glinted off it.

  Just as she was about to step out into the clearing, a female figure emerged from the shadow of the tallest tree. This was who the dragon was afraid of.

  The figure circled the dragon queen, swinging an enchanted green chain. She whipped it around in the air, and it gave off sparks of magic. Then she lassoed the dragon around the neck.

  The dragon shrieked in protest, louder and more fiercely than before, and tossed her head, struggling to escape the chain. The woman only laughed.

  Naida had been frozen in horror, but then snapped into action as she felt a wave of sympathy for the dragon and her innocent unhatched babies. She didn’t think she could help the dragon, but those eggs were in danger. She had to keep the eggs from being captured!

  She tiptoed around the edge of the clearing as quickly as she could, keeping low, as the dragon continued to thrash. She finally reached the nest and carefully set the eggs, one by one, in the bottom of her basket. Just when Naida was about to grab the last egg—the glittering one—the figure saw her.

  “Get your hands off those!” she shrieked. Naida could see the figure was an elf, but one who was clearly using her magic for evil: an elf witch. The witch levitated the glittering turquoise egg up out of the nest. Naida jumped for it, but it was too late. The witch plucked it out of the air and screeched, “Now give me the others!”

  “No!” Naida yelled back, heart pounding. She saw the dragon’s head was lowered in defeat. “I’ll save your babies!” Naida told her. “I promise!” She ran back through the trees as fast as she could.

  “I’m telling you, that evil witch almost got me. I barely made it out alive!” Naida was teary and shaking. Her friend Farran, an earth elf, wrapped her in a soft blanket while fire elf Azari stoked the fire to heat a cup of soothing tea. They had been planting seeds in the meadow when Naida arrived in a panic.

  “I got your message! I’m here!” Aira, a wind elf, arrived with a gust of wind. She put her hand on Naida’s shoulder, and took a peek in her basket. “Wow. Those eggs are amazing! I want to hear the whole story from the beginning.”

  With a deep breath, Naida repeated what had happened. By the time she finished, she’d stopped shaking, but her grip on the basket was so tight, her knuckles ached.

  Azari shook her head, tousling her wild red hair. “The witch had the dragon on a chain?”

  “Yes! It was like—” Just then, Farran’s squirrel friend Miss Spry approached. She circled the elves, sniffing at the basket.

  “What’s Miss Spry doing here?” Naida asked, pulling the basket away protectively.

  Farran listened as Miss Spry huffed and chattered at him—as an earth elf, he could communicate with her. “There was a fire in her forest,” he told them. “Her home was destroyed.”

  “Her home?!” Azari exclaimed. “Who would burn down the forest? As a fire elf, I am personally offended. That’s not how fire is intended to be used!”

  “How awful!” Aira said.

  “There’s evil in the forest, that’s for sure,” Naida said.

  With a frightened look back at the woods, Miss Spry rushed up into Farran’s tree house, chattering away.

  “Squirrels …” Farran muttered. “How’s the saying go? Can’t live with them—”

  “You aren’t supposed to live with them,” Azari interrupted.

  “Well, true,” Farran agreed. “But until her home is safe again, she’s welcome here.�
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  “What are we going to do?” Naida rubbed her forehead. “The eggs, the dragon queen, the forest fire … What is going on?!”

  “I wish Emily was here.” Aira sighed.

  “Me, too,” Azari said. “I wonder what she would say.”

  “You don’t have to wonder—look!” Farran exclaimed, pointing toward the forest. Emily was running down the path, headed straight for them.

  The elves all rushed to her. “We’re so happy you’re here!” Azari cried, throwing her arms around Emily in a big hug.

  Aira and Naida threw themselves into the hug, too. “How’d you get here?” Aira asked at the same time that Naida asked, “Did you know we needed you?”

  Farran leapt into the group hug, and everyone toppled over onto the soft, mossy ground.

  “Welcome back to Elvendale!” Farran cheered. They all laughed as they untangled themselves, helping one another up. Naida ran to get the basket of eggs.

  Emily touched the medallion around her neck. “I had the scariest dream,” she said. “It was about Elvendale, and it felt a hundred percent real.”

  Naida asked, “Was it about a dragon?”

  “Yes!” Emily exclaimed, startled. “How did you know? It was about this poor, trapped dragon that was so beautiful, all white with—”

  “Blue and gold markings?” Naida finished.

  “Yes!” Emily nodded.

  Azari leaned toward Farran and said, “Okay, this is freaky …”

  “Totally freaky,” Emily agreed. She didn’t have magical powers like the elves. How had she dreamed about something that was really happening in Elvendale?

  She glanced around. It was a warm day, but a chill crept down her spine.

  “It wasn’t just a dream,” Naida said, as if she could hear Emily’s thoughts. She told Emily what happened in the woods and all about the dragon queen. “I saw it.”

  “The dragon queen is in terrible danger!” Aira added with a shiver.

  “Whoa.” Farran pointed to Emily’s medallion. A shimmering blue glow was coming from the stone.

  “Weird, right? This happened at home, too,” Emily told them. “I saw an image of the dragon from my dream in it.”

  “It has more magic in it than just letting you through the portal!” Azari said.

  “Maybe it has other secret powers, too,” Emily said. She lifted the medallion so they could all look into the stone.

  It again showed an image of the dragon queen—an even clearer image than before. They could see the dragon’s pained face in such great detail that Emily nearly dropped the pendant.

  “That was awful,” Naida said after the image faded.

  “Poor dragon,” Aira moaned.

  Farran ran a hand through his dark hair, and said, “I’ve heard rumors about an elf witch. She’s tall as a mountain and covered in warts.”

  “Tall? No way, Farran. You have it all wrong,” Azari said. “I’ve heard she’s got a humongous head, but the legs of a baby chick.”

  “Guys, I’m the one who saw her!” Naida exclaimed. “She was normal sized … just evil.” She shook her head. “Wait! I’ve actually heard and read a lot about this elf witch.”

  “Well, tell us!” Farran exclaimed.

  Naida closed her eyes. “She was an elf who was born with weak powers. When she was at school, she started comparing herself to other elves—her magic just wasn’t very strong, and she became more and more frustrated. But instead of working hard and putting in extra training, she looked for another, easier way to increase her magical powers.

  “High in the mountains above the school is the Shadow Fountain. Legend has it that drinking from its waters will bring great magic. So the elf snuck up to it and drank deeply. Power flowed quickly through her veins—she was no longer weak. But the Shadow Fountain’s water came with a price. Its power was evil, and the elf did not resist it. She became an elf witch. Since dragons have great power, she became interested in them and used her evil power to turn the dragons against the elves—but it ended up turning the dragons against her as well.

  “The witch ran away, and time passed. Everyone thought she was gone for good, but she was really just developing her powers. Recently, she returned and captured the dragons of fire, wind, earth, and water with magical chains—taking them to a hidden castle. If she could harness their power, she could rule all of Elvendale!

  “But the wind dragon, earth dragon, and water dragon managed to break free, returning to the Dragon School. The fire dragon still remains the elf witch’s prisoner and is under an evil spell. And now she has the even more powerful dragon queen, too—and one of her eggs.”

  As Naida finished her story, everyone was staring at her in horror.

  “How terrible!” Emily cried.

  “The poor, poor fire dragon.” Azari sniffled. “Wait—what if the fire dragon is being forced to burn the forest?”

  “That would be the worst!” Aira said. “Let me call Pluma and ask her if she knows anything about it.” She whistled for her bird friend, and had a quick conversation. “Pluma says that Flamy is in the forest.” Flamy was a fire fox that they’d met on their last adventure. “He’s surveying the damaged part of the woods.”

  “If anyone can investigate a fire, it’s Flamy,” Azari said.

  “Being fireproof definitely helps with that!” Farran added.

  Pluma nestled up close to Aira and chirped in a rapid squawk. Aira turned to Naida. “She says that all the animals in Elvendale are afraid.”

  “We have to find the elf witch and save the dragon queen!” Emily said with a hand on her heart.

  Farran was more reluctant. “How about we just return the eggs to their nest? Those other dragons managed to escape the witch. Maybe the dragon queen will escape, too, and come back for them. Besides, do we even know where this elf witch’s castle is?” Everyone shook their heads.

  Just then, a distant dragon scream echoed through the forest, and Emily’s medallion flashed a brilliant blue.

  “That doesn’t sound promising,” Aira said. Glancing at the eggs, she continued. “I don’t think the babies will be able to live without their mother when they hatch.”

  Naida nodded in agreement. “We need to get the dragon queen’s eggs back to her—and free her.”

  “And help the fire dragon, too!” Azari added.

  “It must be the reason I’m here! Let’s do it!” Emily cried. Now she knew why she had been called to Elvendale!

  Farran started to say, “I—” but at Aira’s stern look, muttered, “I’m in.”

  “All of us are in,” Aira said. “But where do we start?”

  “The Dragon School!” Naida cried. “We can get some help with these eggs …”

  The Dragon School was nestled at the base of a mountain. It had a large field, beautiful dorms for the students, nice stables for the dragons, and a classroom building that was way bigger than Emily’s school back home.

  A little dragon soared overhead. Emily shielded her eyes against the sun as she watched it spin in a fast corkscrew dive before straightening out and gently gliding to the ground.

  “Hey, look.” Naida touched Emily’s shoulder. “The little one was tossed into the air by a catapult!”

  “That’s one way to learn to fly fast!” Emily chuckled. She could see the huge catapult across the field. She wouldn’t want to be tossed in the air by that!

  Owls circled the elves, escorting them through the school gates and into the training area. There Emily saw an elf watching the little dragon. He must work at the Dragon School, she thought. The elf sort of looked like a famous boy band singer back in her world. The way he tossed his hair made her wonder if he was about to burst out in song.

  “Miku! Lunch!” he called. As the little dragon flew over, Emily stepped into the trainer’s path.

  “Hi! I’m Emily Jones,” she said to the trainer. “We’re hoping you can help us.” She saw him do a double take at her ears, but he played it cool and didn’t mention them.


  The others stepped forward, too, and introduced themselves.

  “Nice to meet you all,” the trainer said, nodding at them. “I’m the Dragon Trainer. But, unfortunately, I’m not having much luck helping anyone lately.”

  “We heard about the dragons,” Azari said, giving him a sympathetic look.

  “Yeah. Ever since the elf witch captured them, the dragons are all out of sorts. One’s still missing, you know,” he replied.

  “The fire dragon!” Azari told him what they knew already.

  While they talked, Emily looked around. The place felt very desolate. She could see a little pillow bed for Miku in the corner, and four empty dragon beds, which made her sad. Things were not right at the Dragon School.

  Naida showed the trainer her basket. “The witch has two dragons now. I saw her capture the dragon queen, and I was able to save almost all her eggs. We want to try to save her from the witch.”

  Naida passed him the basket, and he examined each egg with an expert eye.

  As patiently as she could, Emily waited for him to say something. She could tell he was frustrated and sad. She knew how that felt—when her grandmother had passed away, she’d felt like there was a huge hole in her heart. Coming to Elvendale and going on an adventure with her new elf friends had ended up being very healing. She wondered what it would take to heal the hole in the Dragon Trainer’s heart.

  At last, he spoke. “Follow me,” he said, leading them into the school.

  They walked down a long hallway, and Emily tried to imagine the school in all its glory. The classrooms must have been filled with dragons of all sizes, colors, and elements, working together …

  They entered a classroom. “School’s in session, but do you see any students?” the trainer asked them, shaking his head. “Trust between dragons and elves is truly broken. It was a delicate balance to begin with—dragons can be trained, but not tamed. They are wild, powerful, and independent. And now the elf witch keeps coming back here, trying to steal the other dragons, making it even harder to begin healing the wounds she caused.”

  “If you keep the eggs,” Farran suggested, “once they hatch, you can train the babies while we rescue the queen.”