Gemstones

Whistling

As November came to an end, and December came rolling in, I fell into a lazy pattern. I would wait until Topaz wasn't home, and then sneak Alex into the house. When he returned, he would climb out my window with a kiss every night. I would hang out with him behind lockers at school, everywhere we could that Topaz wouldn't see. Christmas was fun, we spent the day at Hope's house with her family, getting to enjoy the human holiday. January was when things began to change.

I glance at Alex sitting at the table behind me as I make dinner for Topaz and Rose. I look down at the Tikan food in front of me, made of ham, cheese, and different types of vegetables. "What are you making?"

"A family recipe" I say, waving the spoon at him. He takes it from me, licking it up and down. "ALEX!" I shout, pulling the spoon away from him. "I still needed that" I cry, pouting like a four year old. Alex comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

"I'm sorry baby" he grumbles, his chin resting on my head. I smile, knowing that he was joking when he did it. Things have been like this lately, no one bothering us, even Nadia left me alone for a bit. Just us. After I finish making the food, Alex comes upstairs to my bedroom with me. We cuddle on the bed watching TV, my head tucked into the spot where Alex's shoulder meets his neck.

Downstairs, I hear the door open fairly loudly. "Shit" I say, jumping off of Alex. I developed sort of a pottymouth. Mostly Alex's fault. I hear footsteps come up the stairs, and I begin opening the window. Alex presses his ear against the door just as the window swings itself open. That's when I hear it. The whistling. I slam the window shut, and turn to Alex, "ALEX GET AWAY FROM THE-" I turn to an empty room, the door flung open.

"ALEX!" I shout, running down the stairs. The front door is open, a trail of blood leading from the wall to outside, then disappearing. "Alex" I whisper, dropping to my knees, tears flooding my eyes. Topaz arrives home with R.Q. just then, and they see the blood on the floor.

"Amethyst! Are you alright?" Topaz asks, running over to me.

"They took Alex" I say, looking up at Topaz with puffy eyes. He doesn't look angry, even though he just found out that I was home with Alex alone. He looks at me with understanding, and I look behind him as Hope runs inside with us.

"Let's go" He says, standing up while holding my arm, pulling me up with him.

"Go? Go where?"

"Tika. Hope is coming too"

...

We stand in front of the stone archway, one of the many portals to Tika. "Are you sure about this?" I ask Topaz, looking over at Hope.

"Positive" Topaz replies, taking my hand. I take Hope's hand, and R.Q. hangs onto Topaz's leg. We walk together into Tika. I cry out in pain when we reach the grassy hills, my limbs molding, lengthening, my bones cracking and bending. I let out a sigh when everything stops, and I stand up, flinging open my wings.

"That's sooo much better" I say, looking over at Topaz. It's safe to say Topaz is one of the most beautiful dragons in Tika. His blue and green scales are perfectly shaped, sparking in the sunlight, and he is huge. His wings are about the size of me. Rose is tiny. She is about the size of half of Topaz's leg. Hope gapes up at us, and I chuff.

"Don't be scared" Topaz says to her, lowering his head. He breathes on her and she reaches up her hand. "You're so... beautiful"

Told you.

"Thanks" Topaz smiles, and she hugs his head. "We need to get moving- uh- you can let go" Topaz says as he picks up his head, Hope still hanging on. Her legs are dangling in the air as Topaz chuffs with laughter. I smile at the two of them, watching as he places Hope on his back. Her entire body is about the size of his paw.

"I'm guessing they're keeping him in the palace" I point out, looking at the tall castle that was once white. Now it's black, darkness seeping out of it. Topaz nods, looking around. "We need a disguise, something that will make us look not like dragons"

"I can help with that" I gasp as I look down, spotting Nick. He is with the redhead from before, and they are holding hands.

Topaz growls at the two of them, his scales tapping against each other in defense. "No, it's ok. We want to help. Sorcerers don't accept gays. We want to help the dragons" Topaz looks at them wearily, and I smile.

."As long as you don't kill us, it will work"

.....

"Fairies? Really?" Topaz looks down at his tiny body and his sparkly green wings. "I'm way too sparkly..." he mumbles to himself.

"Topaz, you were sparkly before too"

"But before I was big and manly" He whines. Never had I thought that I would hear tough Topaz whine.

"Stop complaining. We have to hurry before they do anything to Alex. Like kill him" I worry aloud, images of Alex being torn to shreds by magic filling my mind.

"Don't worry Amethyst" Hope says, and I smile at her.

"Hope... I need you to stay here and guard the portal. It's not safe for you in the castle" I say, and Hope makes a face. She doesn't argue, and sits down in the grass. I take one look at Topaz, and then the three of us zip toward the castle.

...

"You two check the upper floors, I'll check inside of the dungeon" I whisper, using the fairy magic to become invisible. I zip down the hall past servants, even some dragons with magical collars.

I find the dungeon and fly quietly down the stairs. All of the cells are empty. I fly back upstairs. What if we're too late? Time in Tika moves much faster than it does back on the earth plane. I gasp. Calculating in my head, I gasp once more. Alex has been here for almost 6 months now.

I fly to every door I see, looking for Alex. I stop when I hear shouting. "IT'S THE MISSING DRAGONS! GET THEM!" I suddenly see Topaz and Rose fly down another hall, guards hot on their tails. Great. I continue the search for Alex, and then stop again at a locked door. I peek through the keyhole, wanting to cheer when I see Alec sitting on the bed, staring at his hands. I shove my body through the keyhole, but it get stuck when my butt hits the keyhole.

"Crap" I say aloud. I look up at Alex sitting on the bed, his hands encased in shackles. "ALEX!" I shout, trying to propel my tiny voice. Alex looks up, squinting his eyes at the door. He walks over to me, squatting in front of me.

"Amethyst?"

"Can you help me out? My butt is stuck" I say, and Alex grabs my tiny arms, pulling me out. I hug his nose, happy that he's alive.

"You're so..... Tiny" I smile at him, turning my fairy body back into a human.

"It was a spell. I'm not actually a fairy" I say, wrapping my arms around Alex. His skin his cold, and I try to disregard the shadows under his eyes.

"What took you so long?" He mumbles against my hair, and I step back to look at him. "I had to figure out where you were first" I say, looking at his shaggy hair. "You need a haircut" I say, pulling on a particularly long piece.

He places his forehead against mine, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. He holds me tighter, as though he thinks I'll slip away from him. "Alex, right now we sort of need to focus on getting our asses out of this castle. You can hold me later, I promise" Alex opens his eyes, chuckling a bit.