Once Upon a Quest Read online

  “Okay what?” a woman said in the garden below. “Did that man seriously say time is different here?” It was one of the two strangers who spoke. They had just walked out of the Travel Office, and from her spot on the wall directly above them, Tilly could hear everything they said. School was on vacation, and she’d been lounging in the sun hoping for something interesting to happen when the two strangers—a tall, gangly man and a petite woman—arrived.

  They stopped a few paces away from the wall, looking around at the colorful flowerbeds, the water feature near the edge of the Travel Office’s garden, and in the distance, the small town surrounded by giant trees with homes nestled in the branches.

  “Yes,” the man answered. “That is seriously what the travel official said.” He unrolled the map he was carrying and peered closely at it. “Sometimes time moves faster here on the island—which I still can’t find on this map—and sometimes slower, with no pattern to the way it changes. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.”

  Tilly leaned toward the edge of the wall to get a better look at them. Upon closer inspection, she found they were younger than she’d first assumed. Almost as young as she was, perhaps. And, like her, their two-toned hair indicated they were faeries. Tilly’s was blonde and pink—a color she’d always found a little too girlish for her taste—while the two strangers had both been blessed with the beautiful combination of dark brown and warm caramel. And their skin … she’d never seen anything quite like it on a faerie. Bronze was the most accurate description, as it shone with an almost metallic sheen.

  “I don’t care that it’s fascinating, Jayshu,” the girl snapped. “It means we can’t stay here. I thought this island would make a good hiding place, but—”

  “It is a good hiding place. I doubt we’d ever have found it if we’d actually been looking for it. In fact, if I hadn’t looked up at the right time and seen the shimmer, we probably would have sailed right past it and never been the wiser.” He turned the map and examined it from a different angle. “I wonder why no one’s ever been able to chart its exact—”

  “Jayshu!” The girl snapped her fingers to get his attention. “Can you forget about your maps and books for just one minute and listen to me? What if we’re here for one day and out there it’s a week? Or more! They could get to the cave before we do.”

  Jayshu looked up. “Yadira,” he said in a tone far calmer than hers. “They have no idea where the cave is. That’s why they’re chasing us, remember?”

  Yadira groaned and turned away from him. “They’ll probably find us here too. They weren’t far behind us on the sea, so I’m sure they’ll be just as lucky as we were and see this island.”

  “Even if they do, it doesn’t mean they’ll find us. They don’t know we’re here.” He paused before adding, “You didn’t write your real name in that book, did you?”

  “Of course not,” Yadira answered. “But the baron will probably bribe that travel official to give him the exact description of everyone who’s arrived here today.”

  “Then let’s put some distance between us and this office,” Jayshu said as he rolled up the map. He swept one hand deftly over it, and in less time than it took Tilly to blink, the map was gone. With one last glance over their shoulders, he and Yadira left the Travel Office’s garden and took the path that headed into town.

  Tilly rose to her feet, tucked her short hair behind her ears, and hurried along the wall as quickly as she dared. A young man and woman on the run from someone called ‘the baron’? And something about a secret cave? This sounded like an adventure she wanted to know more about. Perhaps if she offered Jayshu and Yadira a safe place to stay, they’d tell her more about it.

  She jumped down, raced along a different path into town, darted past several buildings, and made for the path she knew Jayshu and Yadira were on. She saw them just as they strode into the town, heading for the Crystal Cafe. Tilly hurried to intercept them before they reached it, putting on her widest smile as she neared them. They glanced warily at her before diverting their gazes and walking a little faster toward Crystal Cafe’s open door.

  But they weren’t as quick as Tilly. “Hi there,” she said, stepping directly in front of them. “You guys are new, right? I saw you come through the Travel Office a few minutes ago.”

  Yadira’s expression grew more guarded. “We’re just visiting.” She looked into the cafe and made as if to move past Tilly.

  “Oh, wait, do you need someone to show you around?” Tilly asked, taking a step back before Yadira could pass her. “I can—”

  “No thank you,” Yadira said.

  Tilly’s eyes moved to the other stranger, Jayshu, but he was staring firmly at the ground.

  “Um, okay, so I’ll admit I was sort of eavesdropping,” Tilly said, twisting her hands together. “Okay, I was definitely eavesdropping. I know you’re here because you’re running away from someone, and I thought I might help you.”

  At that, Jayshu finally looked up. His eyes were the same warm caramel as the streaks of color in his hair, but the look he gave Tilly was cold. He glanced away quickly and leaned closer to Yadira. “A trap, no doubt.”

  “I know, I’m not an idiot,” she hissed.

  “No, no,” Tilly said. “This isn’t a trap, I promise. I have no idea who’s chasing you. I live here. I was hanging out on the wall, and I heard the two of you speaking, and I wanted to offer you a safe place to stay. My parents won’t mind. They like meeting new people. I mean, as long as you’re not here because of a prophecy that says you need to take me away to fight an evil magical dictator,” she added with an eye-roll. “Then they’d probably turn you out.” She laughed, a little too loudly perhaps, then forced herself to stop when she realized Yadira and Jayshu were still eyeing her with suspicion. “Um, sorry, that was a joke. The prophecy part. Not the first part. You really can stay with us if you need somewhere to hide. Our house is high up in one of the trees, and we even have a trapdoor in the floor because my dad makes faerie wine that’s a tiny bit stronger than the legal limit, so he needs somewhere to hide it. But the space under the floor is big enough for two people to hide there. I can show you—”

  A shout interrupted her. Yadira and Jayshu whipped around, and Tilly looked past them to see three men and a woman running along the path. “Oh no,” Yadira whispered, stumbling backward into Tilly. “The baron.”

  “Run!” Jayshu said.

  * * *

  “This way,” Tilly told them, already turning toward the door behind her. “It’ll be faster than going around.” She ran into the cafe, where light reflected off the hundreds of crystals embedded in the walls and hanging from the ceiling. She raced between the tables, into the kitchen, past the counter tops—and knocked right into Mrs. Plumleaf carrying a tray. Cupcakes flew into the air and froze before hitting the ground. “I’m so sorry!” Tilly gasped as she pushed past Mrs. Plumleaf. Reaching the door on the other side of the kitchen, she looked back for Yadira and Jayshu. They swerved to keep from running into her—just as bright sparks of magic flew over their heads.

  They gasped and ducked down as Tilly’s gaze snapped across the kitchen. One of the men who’d been chasing them had reached the doorway. Without thinking, she grabbed a knife from the nearest counter, pulled her arm back, and swung it forward. The knife landed with a dull whack in the doorframe, inches from the man’s face. He lurched away from the door, and Tilly spun back around.

  “Come on!” She threw her hand out, shoving the back door open with a blast of magic as she lunged toward it. She raced outside, Yadira and Jayshu right behind her.

  “I think we’ll take you up on that offer to hide at your place,” Yadira said as they ran.

  Behind them, an explosion ripped through the air. Tilly looked around in time to see the cafe’s back door land on the ground. “Actually …” she said, facing forward and running faster. “New plan. You need to get off the island.”

  “But they’ll stop us at … at the Travel Office,” Yad
ira panted as she struggled to keep up with Tilly. “I’m sure … the baron will … have left someone—”

  “There’s another way,” Tilly said. “An unofficial way.”

  She raced between the buildings and gardens, sensing Yadira and Jayshu lagging behind her as she reached the edge of the town.

  “Come on!” she called back to them. “We need to get to that forest beyond the giant trees.”

  “What about … the faerie paths?” Jayshu grunted breathlessly.

  “Can’t access them on the island,” Tilly shouted back. “Sorry!”

  Their pace continued to slow as they passed the trees whose branches cradled dozens of homes. But whenever Tilly looked back, the baron and his companions remained small figures in the distance. Clearly they were just as unfit as Yadira and Jayshu.

  The three of them finally reached the forest. They continued running between the tall, spindly trees, though their pace was far slower now than Tilly would have liked. The trees eventually came to an end, and Tilly slowed to a halt at the edge of a lake. She took a few deep breaths before pursing her lips and whistling the signal to call Quartz. The pegasus lived in hiding here in the forest, since his presence on the island wasn’t exactly legal.

  “I seriously hope … this wasn’t … some kind of trick,” Yadira gasped.

  “Trick?” Tilly turned back and found Yadira and Jayshu bent over, still trying to catch their breath. She was hurt that they still didn’t trust her, but she had to remind herself that they barely knew her. “This isn’t a trick. I’m offering you my brother’s pegasus.” As if on cue, Quartz chose that moment to step out of the trees further along the bank. He spread his wings, tossed his head, then folded his wings neatly against his body before walking toward Tilly. “See? Here he is. He’s definitely big enough to carry you both, so he can easily fly you off Kaleidos. Once you’ve found land, you can send him back. He’ll know where to go.”

  Yadira straightened, her eyes widening. Beside her, Jayshu seemed just as uncertain. “Is that … safe?” she asked.

  “Of course it’s safe. I leave this way all the time. Now hurry up before those people reach us. The saddle will materialize beneath you as you climb on.”

  “Okay,” Jayshu muttered to himself as he stepped forward. “This is like riding a . You’ve done this before. It’ll be fine.”

  “Exactly,” Tilly said. “Just like riding a horse. But way up in the air instead. I mean, not that high,” she added quickly as Yadira’s eyes grew even wider. “Don’t think about that part.”

  Jayshu pulled himself onto Quartz’s back, and the saddle, enchanted to shrink or expand according to the number of people sitting on it, appeared beneath him. He helped Yadira up in front of him, and the saddle adjusted itself to fit her as well.

  “Okay, off you go,” Tilly said, patting Quartz’s shoulder and pushing aside her disappointment that this little adventure was already over.

  But Quartz didn’t move.

  “Come on,” Yadira said, squeezing her legs a little tighter around Quartz. “We need to go!”

  Instead of obeying, Quartz scratched at the sand with one hoof and tossed his mane.

  Then, somewhere behind Tilly, the sound of hurried footsteps over forest debris reached her ears. She glanced back between the trees and saw movement. People running toward them.

  “No, no, no,” Yadira moaned. “He’s going to catch us. Come on, pegasus, move!”

  “He doesn’t know us,” Jayshu said. “Maybe that’s why he won’t leave.”

  Tilly’s gaze snapped back to Quartz. “Maybe.”

  “Then come with us,” Yadira said. “Quickly! We need to get away!”

  Tilly paused for only a second, then climbed swiftly up behind Jayshu.

  “Let’s go, Quartz!” she shouted. He whinnied, launched into the air, and the mighty beat of his wings carried the three of them up and away.

  * * *

  Kaleidos must have been closer to land that day than it usually was, because Quartz reached the nearest beach in record time. Tilly slid off his back the moment he landed.

  “That was fun, right?” she said to the others as her feet sank into the loose sand.

  Yadira climbed down and faced her. “Your aim with that knife was pretty good. You almost hit the baron.”

  “Oh yeah. Thanks. I’ve been practicing ever since—” She cut herself off, remembering she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about helping to defeat Lord Draven. That was something she’d achieved without possessing any skill in the fighting department, but she’d decided to change that upon her return to Kaleidos. She’d taken up magical defense at school, and in private she began practicing with any weapon she could get her hands on. “Um … since … within the last year,” she went on. “My aim’s almost perfect now. The reason I didn’t hit the baron is because I wasn’t aiming for him. I could have, but I didn’t want to stab the guy in the face. That would have been awful. I just wanted to startle him instead. Give us a few extra seconds to get away.” She stopped when she noticed Yadira’s perplexed expression. “Sorry. I talk a lot. I should probably return to the island now. Let you get on with your—”

  “What’s your name?” Yadira asked.

  “Oh. I’m Tilly.” She grinned and stuck her hand out to shake Yadira’s as the other girl introduced herself.

  “That knife throwing thing …” Yadira said, tilting her head slightly as she lowered her hand. “Can you do other things like that? I mean, how good are you with other weapons?”

  Tilly shrugged. “Slightly better than average, maybe?”

  “Do you think you could fight a dragon?”

  “Yadira,” Jayshu said in a warning tone. He’d been stroking Quartz’s side, but now he looked over at his companion.

  “A dragon?” Tilly repeated. “Wow, I have no idea. I mean, I’ve ridden one before, but he was really cool, so obviously I never fought him. And when you say ‘fight,’ do you mean kill? ’Cause I’m not down with that. But if you mean, like, defeat without injuring too badly, then maybe I could do that. I don’t know.”

  “You rode one?” Yadira asked. “And you weren’t scared of it?”

  “No, of course not. Well, maybe a little in the beginning. But I got over that quickly.”

  Yadira nodded. She breathed in deeply, then said, “Come with us.”

  “What?” Jayshu said before Tilly could form a response.

  Yadira turned to him. “We need a third person to help us with the dragon, okay? I’ve been thinking about it, and I highly doubt we can get past the dragon with only two of us. Tilly can help.”

  “Remember what you said after we escaped your house? About not wanting to call anyone we know for help? Not wanting to get anyone else involved?”

  “Yes, I remember that, but I don’t think we have a choice.”

  Tilly cleared her throat. “Um, get involved in what?”

  Yadira stood a little straighter, her chin jutting forward as she faced Jayshu. “I’m going to tell her. You can’t stop me.” Jayshu turned away, hiding his expression. “I’m a maid in a baron’s house,” Yadira said to Tilly. “I’ve been there for eight or nine months, since Lord Draven’s reign ended.”

  “Oh, interesting,” Tilly said. “It’s been closer to a year on Kaleidos.” Then, at the sight of Yadira’s raised eyebrows, she mimed zipping her lips shut and whispered, “Sorry.”

  “Anyway, someone got into his house recently and stole something of great value to him, and he blamed me for it. I had just returned to my home for the weekend—it was only my third time home since I started working for him—when he arrived with his men and a witch to question me. When I couldn’t tell him what I’d done with this thing of great value, he threatened to kill me. I ran, and my cousin, Jayshu—” she gestured over her shoulder “—helped me escape. But the baron has been chasing us ever since, and I think, hopefully—” she turned her gaze to the sky “—we’ve finally managed to get ahead of him.”

  T
illy had a number of questions by this point, starting with: “What is this thing that’s so valuable?”

  “It’s …” Yadira hesitated a moment, perhaps wondering if she could trust Tilly with this information. “It turns things into gold.”

  Tilly’s eyebrows jumped higher. “That sounds like powerful magic.”

  “It is. And the baron is a greedy man who wants to make himself even wealthier than he already is, and with his excess gold, he plans to bargain for things he shouldn’t have. So we need to move this thing before he finds it.”

  “Okay, and is that where the dragon—Wait.” Tilly narrowed her eyes. “You said you didn’t take this thing, so how do you know where it is?”

  Yadira sucked in a deep breath before speaking. “The truth is … I did take it. And it isn’t a thing. It’s a person. Mirradel. A woman the baron was keeping prisoner in his house. It’s her touch that turns things into gold. When I discovered her locked in one of the highest rooms of the house, she begged me to help her escape, so I did.”

  Tilly closed her mouth, which had been hanging open for several seconds now. After another moment or two, she said, “This woman’s touch can actually turn things into gold? That’s incredible. That must be one of those special abilities, right? What are they calling them now? Griffin Abilities?”

  “Yes, I think so,” Yadira said.

  “Wait, what does this have to do with a dragon?”

  “After I helped Mirradel escape, I took her to the furthest place I knew of. A place I’d seen on one of Jayshu’s maps. Then once we were there, we kept going. We went further than anywhere the faerie paths could take us. We found a cave, and I told Mirradel to hide there while I returned home for more food and other supplies. But just after I’d left, I realized the cave was home to a dragon. He was too big to fit inside the smaller cave further back where Mirradel was hiding, so I knew he couldn’t get to her, but he wouldn’t let me back in.”