Secrets of Yden

The following day was Labor Day Monday, and Jon transported to Dragon Isle to tell Quixoran about the time anomaly. He materialized on Dragon Isle near the dragons' nest on the beach. Yden's largest sun was directly overhead, which meant Jon could usually find the dragons napping. But today only Adam, Eve, and the pretty white dragon, Alabaster, were present. All three lifted their heads when Jon appeared. Although drowsy from the heat, the dragons managed to purr a greeting before nodding off to sleep again. Jon gave them each a stroke or two on their scaly heads before leaving them to their naps. As he climbed over the rocky outcropping separating the dragons' nest from the remaining beach, Jon wondered where the rest of the dragons had gone. Had they overhunted the island and flown to the mainland for food?

Ordinarily, he wouldn't have minded the walk from the beach, but after a few minutes of trudging in the hot sand, Jon became drenched with sweat. He transported directly to the dining area underneath the tree house. The place was deserted, but he heard voices coming from the outdoor classroom Jon had named Dragonhenge for its resemblance to the ancient monument Stonehenge.

A cool, dense mist filled the classroom and spilled out in between the thirteen granite obelisk stones and onto the surrounding grass. Inside Dragonhenge, apprentices were fashioning rainbows from sunlight and mist. Quixoran had tied his rainbow up into a huge, multi-colored bow the size of a car. Ronny, who'd always had a knack with water, had created an extremely pretty, narrow rainbow and was skipping rope with it. Max had managed to make a decent-sized rainbow tall enough to walk under, but the bands were only in primary colors. Lora and Linda had tied rainbow ribbons in their hair, while Mo and Finn were weaving an impressive rainbow carpet made of multicolored strands. Ilene and Ian were challenging each other to come up with larger and larger rainbow bubbles. Although he hadn't come to train, Jon couldn't resist. He made a rainbow spanning Dragonhenge, with thirty-two separate colors in it.

"If you're going to be ugly about it…" Jon waved his hand and thirty-two colors became sixty-four. Just for fun, he sketched out a pot of gold at one end.

"Better keep Ian away from that gold," Ilene said as the pot materialized. "He might try to steal it."

"We're Scottish, ye ninny, not Irish," Ian shot back at his twin. "And are ye trying to insinuate I look like a leprechaun?"

"To what do we owe your visit today, Jon?" Quixoran asked. "I wasn't expecting you until the weekend."

Jon's ebullient mood popped like one of Ilene's and Ian's rainbow bubbles. "I need to talk to you."

Jon's grandfather accompanied him to the privacy of the tree house, where Jon described how time had stopped on Earth. As he listened, Quixoran's brow furrowed. "How long did it last?"

"Um, it seemed like forever, but I guess it was just a few seconds. Dad thinks it could have something to do with the magic Guinn possessed when he was sucked into the portal. Maybe his ability to stop time got stuck there."

"I would hate to think that's a possibility. If this anomaly happens again, we need to know if the freezing of time becomes shorter or longer."

"Longer would be bad, right?"

"Very bad."

Jon's throat tightened convulsively. "Could time stop on Earth altogether?"

"Don't worry about that for the moment. It's of little benefit to speculate without more information," Quixoran advised. "In the meantime, keep a calendar of the time and date of each occurrence. We must keep track of the duration, as well."

"I can do that. Can many wizards stop time?"

"It's an uncommon ability, and unfortunately the memory of the one wizard who could tell us about it is impaired."

Another sharp pang of guilt accompanied Jon's general sense of panic. "This whole thing is my fault."

"Don't blame yourself. You performed well in your dealings with Guinn, under extremely trying circumstances."

"But you warned me against copying a magical object."

"By doing so, however, you thwarted Guinn's plans. Do you think it would have been better for Earth to be subject to his tyranny? No, we'll take what comes and deal with it together." Quixoran suddenly smiled, and Jon gave him a crooked grin in return.

"It's funny how you can always make me feel better about stuff."

"I think it's in my job description as a grandfather."

"Before I go, I wanted to ask you about the dragons. I transported to their nest first, and most of Adam and Eve's children weren't there."

"I believe they've flown off to look for mates."

Jon was stunned. "Mates? I thought Efysian exterminated all the dragons on Yden!"

"Wild dragons on this continent are no more, but there are most certainly several nests on the continent of Pytch."

"Wow. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye."

"Take heart. If your dragons survive Pytch and manage to find mates, they will likely return to Ylan Bay next turn to establish nests. There are many islands nearby suitable for dragon habitation."

"Alabaster didn't go with his brothers and sisters."

"He's the runt of the litter, and I suspect he didn't want to leave the nest yet."

"It never occurred to me that after the baby dragons matured they'd want to form families of their own," Jon said.

There'll be no more dragon races for a long while, he thought with a touch of nostalgia. Although he fervently hoped the dragons would be successful on their quest, he missed them already. He also couldn't help but worry for their safety. Is this what it's like to be a parent? If so, he suddenly felt sorry for his mom and dad.

The school year started on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. Jon's life seemed to speed up — as if he was riding in an elevator after the cable had snapped. He'd enrolled in several advanced placement classes and was overloaded with homework before he could blink twice. In a weaker moment he'd also agreed to help with the homecoming dance by painting a tropical theme mural. The dance was about a month away and he knew which girl he wanted to ask. The question was whether or not he had the guts to actually ask Kira. At lunch she was hanging with the cheerleader/football team crowd, unfortunately. He was surprised at how little he actually saw of her during school. Although she smiled at him when he managed to catch her eye, that was as far as it went.

"You know, I'm starting to get a complex," Jon grumbled to Fred and Casey. "How many times does a guy have to save the world before he can get a girl interested in him?"

"It's a common superhero dilemma," Casey replied. "A lot of comic book heroes end up lonely."

"I think it's kind of like a rule," Fred added. "For once, I'm glad I'm a sidekick."

"Yeah, well, my life isn't a comic book, and that rule doesn't work for me," Jon replied. Maybe I need to raise my profile.

The second week of school, Jon brought the portfolio he'd created over the summer to his art teacher, Mr. Emerson, hoping he'd suggest some judged art competition for him to enter. Mr. Emerson was a long-haired, paint-smudged former hippy surfer throwback to the Beach Boys era — but he was a brilliant artist. At minimum, Jon figured his teacher would get a kick out of the more fantastic creatures he'd drawn.

Jon's portfolio included sketches and paintings of unicorns, dragons, an Imp (a flying monkey-creature with razor teeth), a puleden (a stocky beast with a hard ridge for a mane and a prehensile tail), and a watercolor study of three weirdly beautiful seashells Jon had found on Dragon Isle. In particular, he wanted to share his sketch of Kira dressed for battle. With her sword drawn and hair flying, she looked fierce and awesomely gorgeous, which wasn't difficult for her. Although Jon was pleased with his entire portfolio, he was especially proud of the way Warrior Princess had turned out.

"Who's the fox?" Mr. Emerson said when he saw Kira's sketch.

Jon stifled a grin. Mr. Emerson used a lot of funny words like "fox," but he'd just learned to go with it.

"She's a friend of mine — and an expert in combat."

Kira was not only a wizard, but she sliced and diced with the best swordsmen. She could also stomp a towering Cyclops mercenary known as a cygard. Whenever most sane people encountered a cygard, they ran.

Mr. Emerson reviewed the rest of the portfolio, occasionally donning his reading glasses to examine some particular piece more closely. Finally he glanced up. "Jon, your work has me so stoked."

Stoked was Emerson-speak for excited, Jon had discovered. "I'm glad. I was hoping you could help me figure out what to do with it."

"Could I keep your portfolio for a couple of days?" he asked. "I want to show it to Ted Duell over at the Tri-County Museum. He's getting together an exhibit of science fiction and fantasy art, which opens at the museum mid-October. I'm wondering if he wouldn't want to include one of your pieces, maybe in a junior artist section."

Jon was taken aback. "That would be totally, um..." He searched his memory for a word his teacher would understand. "That would be totally radical. Yeah, keep the portfolio as long as you need to."

Mr. Emerson grabbed his digital camera. "Let me get a picture of you for Ted. I want to prove to him you're really only seventeen."

As he smiled for the picture, Jon hoped his stoked grin didn't look too goofy. "I appreciate this, more than I can say."

"Don't count on anything, Jon," Mr. Emerson warned. "Ted is quite picky about what goes on display in his museum, but I'm guessing he'll think your work is far out. What do you call the collection?"

Jon pondered his answer a moment. "It's called Secrets of Yden."

While driving home from school, Jon had to remind himself to stay under the speed limit. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and without realizing it, he kept pressing the gas pedal. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up about the exhibit, but he couldn't help it. Even if the curator agreed to let just one of the smaller pieces into some tiny, out-of-the-way corner of the exhibit, it would be fantastic. Being in an exhibit won't make me into an instant girl-magnet or anything, but I'd be considered a serious artist. An exhibition of his artwork would look good on his college applications, too.

Jon's shoulders crept upward at the thought of college.

For some time, he'd actively avoided the subject of his future. It made him sad to think most of his friends would scatter at the end of the school year. Fred, at least, was sticking around town. He was applying to Cal State Pacific, but if he didn't get in, he was going to take classes at the local community college. Casey had already been accepted early to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brett had mentioned University of Southern California as her top choice, but if she wanted to continue to study magic, she'd have to split her time between worlds. Transporting to and from Yden quietly and privately would be problematic in a dorm.

As for Jon, he'd been struggling to make a decision. His life had changed dramatically since he turned sixteen and learned he was a wizard, and everything would change again next June. College had always been a certainty before, but now he was torn. Either he could finish his apprenticeship with Quixoran, or he could go to school on Earth and continue to train part-time. His parents weren't much help in the matter, insisting Jon decide for himself. Since college applications were due just after the first of the year, he had to decide soon. If only I could hold on to things just the way they are for a little while, maybe I could figure it all out.

Chapter Three