The Stone of Salazara (Book 1 of Saga of the Stones)

Chapter 3

 "Finally!" He said, dusting of his clothes. "I was afraid you would never show up and I'd be stuck a dragon forever."

"Who are you?" I asked.

The man smiled. "I'm Mattophew. But my friends call me Matt." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"But King Kansans..... you were his nephew?"

"No, not me personally. I used a TransStone," he said, holding up a small, diamond blue rock. "The real Kansans is in one of the caves in the back of the dragon kingdom. He'll wake up sooner or later, and head back to his uncle. I'm just hoping I don't get him into trouble."

"OK. So, if you're not really a dragon, and you don't really need a cave, why did you need me?"

"There is a prophecy....legend....thing, that a young girl blessed with special powers will be found in a dragon's cave, and have the ability to defeat an evil wizard who will attempt to uncover a powerful and dangerous stone."

I was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, can you explain a little more in detail?"

Matt chuckled. "Yes, just let me wash up and change." He said. He grabbed a bag that had appeared beside him when he transformed, and ran off into the woods.

I sat there, dumbstruck. Prophecy? I was expected to defeat an evil wizard? What was he trying to do, and why was I expected to stop him?

My thoughts were cut short by a rustling sound in the trees. I stood. Matt couldn't have been done washing up already, could he? I heard the rustling again, this time behind me. I spun around. A red squirrel was there. I sighed in relief.

Matt walked out of the woods a few minutes later, now washed and tidy. When he saw the squirrel, he smiled. "Hi, Jem."

The squirrel suddenly started glowing, just as Matt had done when he transformed from a dragon to human. A second later, a young woman with red hair and emerald green eyes was standing there.

"What gave me away?" She asked, slipping what appeared to be a TransStone into her pocket.

Matt smiled. "Those beautiful eyes of course. Plus your fur was the same shade of red as your hair."

Jem blushed slightly. She turned to me. "Is this who I think it is?"

"Yes. Jem, this is Siv. Siv, this is my friend Jem." Matt said.

"Please to meet you," I said, holding out my hand for her to shake.

She did, and smiled at me. "I'm sure you're a little overwhelmed by all this, so let Matt and I explain."

We sat down, and Matt started explaining. Apparently, his uncle was an evil wizard who was power hungry. He was searching for a stone that would give him the power to change into any animal, object, or person imaginable.

"That doesn't sound too bad," I said.

"At first it doesn't, but if you think about it, it is," said Matt.

"If Massadonic gets his hands on it, he could turn himself into the most powerful and influential people known to mankind. He could use that ability to take over kingdoms, continents, and possibly the known world!" explained Jem.

"Oh," I said in a quiet voice. I turned to Matt. "Totally off topic, but why did the king let Isabelle go with such a weird reason? Minerva has been there way longer than her and she hasn't been set free."

"I asked Kamari to let her go. I had a feeling we would need her later. Plus, while I was a dragon she told me about her father, and I thought she needed a chance to find him."

Jem suddenly looked slightly suspicious. "Who's Isabelle?"

Matt smiled. "She was one of the servants in the dragon caves. Don't worry, she didn't steal my heart. My heart's already taken," he said, looking at Jem in a way that made me realize I was going to be the third wheel on this adventure.

Jem blushed and looked away.

I quickly spoke so that the awkwardness on my part would not continue. "Why am I expected to defeat him?"

"Honestly, I don't know," said Matt. "All I know is that the legend is very specific. A girl who is an orphan, is found in a dragon cave, has odd colored eyes, and has a strip of hair that is a different color than the rest. Obviously, a lot of children these days have those odd strips due to the disease that killed many people a decade or so back. Isabelle herself had one. So, I had to look for the other things, such as odd colored eyes."

"And violet eyes are not a normal eye color," I finished. "Right."

"Exactly," said Jem.

"And so I got into the dragon caves, and started searching for a girl that fit that description. Luckily, I found you, so now we can start for Croome. There's someone there that can give us the directions to where the stone is supposedly hidden."

"Croome? Doesn't sound like to pleasant a place," I said.

"It isn't," Jem sighed. "It's a beat up old town, and there's a chance Massadonic has sent someone there to get the directions, or to stop us entirely."

"Great, just what we need."

"Its not even noon. We should start on our way. I think we'll stay the night in the woods, then move on again tomorrow," Matt said.

We walked for the rest of that day, only stopping for quick breathers and food breaks. As the sun set, Jem found a spot for us to camp, and we laid out the sleeping bags Matt had brought. It was too warm to sleep in them, but we used them as mattresses. Jem pointed out constellations that were in the sky, and stars and planets. Soon, we fell asleep one by one.

Next morning we set off again for Croome. Jem gave me a TransStone, a purple one that matched my eyes, and she spent a few minutes teaching me how to use it. After I had managed to turn into a dog, cat, and an owl with no trouble, we started off. For the first hour or so we walked, then Matt decided it was a waste of time, and we flew over the trees as birds instead.

After what Jem had told me about Croome, I was expecting a dirty, messy town with a few ragged people living there.

Boy was I wrong.

As we landed in the woods a few hundred feet before the entrance, Matt looked at us intently. "Stay together. This town is well known for its slave traders, and we are just they kinda people they're looking for."

"What does that mean?" I asked, though I was afraid I already knew.

Jem shivered. "You and I are healthy young women, and Matt's a strong young man. They don't get people like us through town a lot, and they may try and grab us."

"Stay together. Actually, we should probably hold hands so it's harder for them to grab us," Matt whispered. "And if anyone asks, we're three siblings looking for an uncle." He grabbed Jem's hand, and she grabbed mine. Together, we walked through the last stretch of trees, and into Croome.