Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 24

24

“ Y ou’re wrong! All of you are wrong!” Crystal snapped.

“Crystal, you saw his symbiot. It is not… normal,” Christoff tried to explain but she cut him off again.

“There is nothing wrong with his symbiot! Okay, so it is a different color, but just because it is different doesn’t mean it should be destroyed. You, of all people, should understand that,” she retorted.

“Crystal…,” Edna said.

“No! No… Please. You have to help him. He didn’t hurt me. He’s a good person,” she pleaded, looking back and forth between Christoff and her grandmother.

Christoff released a heavy sigh and shook his head. “This matter is out of our hands. Lord Zoran and the other Dragon Lords have made their decision, I’m afraid.”

Crystal clenched her fists. She wasn’t going to give up. Who cares that Devon’s father was some crazy kook named Raffvin. Just because his dad was a raving lunatic, didn’t mean that Devon was! Her dad had told her about tons of kids that hadn’t been anything like their pathological parents when he was prosecuting them.

Okay, maybe not tons, but there had been kids who were good even though they had rotten parents, she conceded.

She rubbed her hands along her thighs. Maybe she was talking to the wrong people. She pursed her lips together and lifted her chin. If Christoff and her grandmother wouldn’t help her, then she would have to find someone who would.

“They’re wrong,” she stated.

She exited the barn and headed for the house. She pushed open the door. Her mom looked up when she entered, her worried eyes scanning her face.

“Where’s dad?” she asked.

“In Christoff’s study,” her mom replied.

“Thanks.”

“Crystal—”

She paused and partially turned to look at her mom. The last three years had changed her mom, Crystal realized. There was a quiet reserve to her that Shelly never had before. It was as if she were always on alert. Fine lines had formed around her mom’s mouth and eyes, and a touch of gray colored her hair at her temples. Crystal swallowed at the realization that this was the first time in a long time that she saw her mom as a person who had suffered a lot.

Shame and guilt filled her at her own selfishness. She had been so absorbed in her own life and issues, that she hadn’t thought of everything her parents had been going through.

Her mom stiffened with surprise when she walked over and wound her arms around her mom’s waist. Her mom slowly returned her hug. Crystal closed her eyes as tears of emotion burned in the back of them. She couldn’t remember the last time she had initiated a hug.

Probably not since before the accident, she thought with remorse.

“I love you, mom,” she murmured.

A shudder ran through her mom, and the arms holding her tightened. They held each other in silence for almost a minute before her mom took in a deep, shaky breath and released her. Crystal gave her mom a watery smile when Shelly cupped her cheeks.

“Whatever you need, your dad and I will help you,” her mom vowed.

“You always have. I was just too blind to see it,” she replied.

“Not blind… hurting. We love you.”

“I know. I… have to help Devon. He isn’t like those men say he is,” she said.

Crystal leaned into her mom’s hand when she brushed it along her cheek. She missed the connection they used to have before life got in the way. Her mom cleared her throat and nodded.

“Let’s go find your dad. If anyone can get an innocent man off, it’s him,” Shelly laughed.

Crystal felt a surge of hope blossom inside her. The weak, quivering smile on her lips grew when she saw the love and determination shining back at her. Her mom was right. Her dad had never lost a case.

Palace of Valdier

“Come on, Morah. Come on,” Pearl hissed.

“Wait a minutes. I gots to get the bag,” Morah retorted.

“We can’t go until James and Leo gets back,” Sacha said.

“What if we are too lates?” Hope fretted, wringing her hands together.

“We won’t be,” Morah growled with determination.

The girls turned when Leo’s head popped through the hole in the ‘Girl’s Only’ clubhouse that Alice and Adaline had made for them in the large tree. The girls scooted back so he could climb through. A second later, James followed.

“Did you finds it?” Morah asked.

Leo rolled his eyes and snorted. “Of course we founds it!”

“What tooks you so long?” Pearl demanded.

“I had to wait until my mommy and daddy were busy. Every sinces Amber and Jade tried to builds a spaceship, Mommy keeps her workroom locks up,” James explained.

“How did you get in?” Hope asked.

“Prime helped me… and Amber and Jade,” James replied.

“Amber and Jade! Are they going to stops us?” Morah demanded.

“No, we are not going to stop you,” Amber replied, sticking her head through the opening. “James, if you guys are going, you’d better go now. We’ve got the adults covered for the moment.”

James grinned and nodded. “Thanks, sissy.”

Amber stuck her tongue out at her little brother before she disappeared. Morah sighed with relief. Having the help of the adolescent Dragonlings was going to make this mission a lot easier. Ever since they returned three days ago, their parents had been keeping a close eye on them. Honestly, she was amazed that they had been allowed out into the garden with only Auntie Riley, Auntie Tina, and Auntie Melina. Until this morning, it had been all her uncles… including Hope’s two daddies, watching them!

“Follows me,” James instructed.

Morah watched with a puzzled frown as James motioned for Sacha to move to the side. He opened a small panel in the wall of the clubhouse. On the other side was a slide. He climbed onto it and disappeared. Leo grinned at her and went next.

“We are gonna gets caught. My mommy is going to sees us,” Pearl muttered.

Morah peered down the slide, grinned, and shook her head. “No, they won’ts.”

She climbed over the lip of the slide and pushed off. The tunnel slide wound around to the ground, but instead of her landing at the bottom, she kept going into a deep hole at the base. She smothered a squeal of laughter when she landed on a thick, soft pillow… underground. She grinned up at Spring who winked at her.

“Thank you!” she breathed out as Spring helped her to her feet.

Spring giggled. “We dragonlings have to stick together. I’ve made a tunnel all the way to the hedges by the door that leads down to the dungeons. Amber and Jade are working on the security system.”

“What’s about our parts to the plans?” Morah asked, stepping to the side as Sacha, Pearl, and Hope appeared.

“Hope and Sacha will take the tunnel to the left when it forks. That will lead them to the right place, but you’ve got to hurry. Phoenix overheard Daddy talking to Mommy. They have moved Devon’s symbiot to a different chamber. I think they are going to destroy it,” Spring said.

“We gots this,” Hope and Sacha said together.

They both shifted in their different forms and took off before Morah could say another word. Morah looked up when Spring placed her hand on her shoulder. She straightened as tall as she could in the tunnel.

“We are all very proud of you. Just… be careful. Our parents are very worried about the symbiot. I don’t understand why. Maybe because it looks different, but… so does Phoenix and that doesn’t mean she is bad,” she murmured.

“Stripe is good. I knows. I sees into its heart,” Morah said with confidence.

“Go. I’ve got to go pretend I’m you,” Spring replied with a grin as she held up the AI replicator that Amber and Jade had invented.

Morah nodded. She looked at Pearl, James, and Leo. They grinned, shifted, and took off down the tunnel. She shimmered, shifted into her golden dragon and raced after them.

The tunnels were narrow, but surprisingly well formed. From the looks of them, Spring had made and upgraded them over the years. Morah wished her dragon could tunnel the way Spring’s could.

I don’t! Get my nails dirty, her dragon responded with a shudder of distaste.

It didn’t take long for the small group to come to the end of the tunnel. Morah reached up and grabbed Leo and James' hands when they reached down to help her out. They emerged between a low hedge and the set of stone steps leading down.

Pearl placed her fingers against her lips and pointed. Morah peered through the leaves. Four warriors stood guard. She nodded and pointed at the locked gated door that led down to the deeper dungeons of the palace. She had never been on this side before.

James crooked his finger and crawled out from behind the bush, slipping down over the shallow wall, and disappearing from sight. Leo followed James. Pearl motioned for her to go next.

Morah crawled out. A cough made her freeze, and she looked toward the guards. Two of the men were talking in low voices.

“Do you think they will be able to destroy it?” the guard was asking.

“Yes. There is a way. Lord Zoran and the others were able to defeat Raffvin and his abominations before,” the other guard replied.

“I read of their battle in training school,” the first replied.

“There is supposed to be a special stone that can capture the evil. When it does, the Priestess is able to call the symbiot to her and release it back into the Hive,” a third guard said.

“I would love to see such a feat. I can’t imagine the pain that traitor to Valdier will experience when he loses his symbiot,” the first guard said.

“His dragon will go mad. He will beg for death,” the fourth guard muttered.

Morah swallowed and slid down into the narrow stoop. Pearl jumped down lightly beside her with a grin. She was in her cat form.

Morah waited as James unlocked the door. Pearl kept a keen eye on the guards. The click of the locking mechanism made all of them cringe. Pearl shook her head when Morah shot her a questioning look. The guards, deep in their conversation about the torture waiting for Devon and his dragon, missed the noise.

Leo pulled the gate open far enough for James to squeeze through. Morah and Pearl followed James before Leo slipped through and carefully closed the gate. They hurried down the long, dark corridor until it reached a large, round room with passages leading in different directions. Dismay filled Morah as she counted eight different openings.

“Do we know which ways to go?” Pearl asked.

James bit his lip and looked at each one. He walked toward one, only to stop and turn to another. He finally stopped on the third opening and looked at Morah with a confused expression.

“Amber and Jade didn’t gives me a map to here. They just told me where it was,” he said.

“I…” Leo started to say before Pearl interrupted him.

“Even if we each takes a tunnel, we might nots find them,” Pearl groaned.

“We don’t needs—” Leo said before James cut him off.

“My communicator isn’t workings down here,” James said.

“Why doesn’t anyone ever listens—” Leo started again.

“We gots to try. We has to find them before my mommy, daddy, and the others gets here,” Morah replied before she stopped when Leo huffed and walked by them toward the fourth tunnel.

“Leo, where are you goings?” Morah asked.

Leo shrugged and looked over his shoulder. “I’m goings to the chamber. No one ever asked me anythings.”

“What are we supposed to asks you?” Morah demanded.

Leo grinned and pointed. “Where all these tunnels go.”

Pearl frowned. “Do you know where they goes?”

Leo’s grin widened. “Yep! I play down here all the times.”

Morah blinked and stared at Leo. “Why?”

“Because I likes exploring,” he replied with a shrug.

“Oh… okay. We’ll follows you,” she said.