Dragon Fey by Mara DragonClaw (top 10 books to read txt) 📕

“You're welcome,” said Aria, this time letting a little sarcasm seep into her voice as well. Jamie handed the sign in sheet over the counter, along with a pen filled with dark green ink made from the ground leaves of a turquoise bush.

A turquoise bush is a relatively small bush that grows to be about two and a half feet tall and bears turquoise colored berries covered in a black web like pattern, causing them to resemble the stone. It’s emerald green leaves can be ground into a fine powder that, when mixed with water, becomes a dark green ink that can be used for many things, from  dyeing clothing to putting in pens. The berries can also be used for dye, but because of it’s consistency it is much less versatile.

Aria signed her name in the first empty slot on the sheet, third from the top. I better watch for those fey while I’m out there. She thought before smiling and handing the pen back to Jamie. She then turned around and was about to walk out the door to continue on with her mission before she remembered something, “Oh, by the way,” she said absentmindedly over her shoulder, “The third step up from the bottom has a slight creak; you might want to get it checked out,” Jamie stared at Aria open mouthed as she walked out the door calmly.

Now, thought Aria, on to business.  

After exiting the Berry Building, Aria made her way around to its back where the exit to the Hollow was located and slipped out; she made sure to grab a basket on her way so she wouldn’t look suspicious. Of course, any berries she picked up would most likely be a cover to bring back when she was done gathering materials so that the other fairies wouldn’t become suspicious of her.

At the moment, Aria was surveying the area for a place where she and Jacob could stay after they ran away. She was debating between a rock outcropping in a clearing about 50 yards away from the west side of the Hollow, and a small cave she had found down by the creek behind one of its many waterfalls, it was only 25 yards off the east side of the Hollow.

The rock outcropping was farther away, but other than that it would offer much less cover when the other fairies looked for them. The cave was closer, but it would offer better cover. Aria thought that cover would probably be more important in the long run, and having water right outside could be useful. But, then again, while her dragon wings were fine going in and out of the waterfall, Jacobs dragonfly wings probably wouldn’t do too well. Because of this, she finally settled on the rock outcropping; hoping that the distance would be enough.

She then started to gather materials. The first thing they would need was food, but she new that Jacob could grow some quickly and easily. The second thing they would need was shelter. Aria managed to find some birch bark that they could use along with the outcropping of rock to form a sort of house-like structure. With much effort, she managed to take the bark over to the clearing where she set it down so that it was leaning against the rocks; she and Jacob could deal with that later.

The third thing they needed was a reliable source of water. That was easy, the creek came around to the west side of the Hollow from the east side where the cave was located. Hmm… What else will we need? Aria contemplated what other things they would need. They already had clothing, and she could easily take tools from the Hollow. Looks like the only thing left are luxury supplies. Aria smiled; she thought that this was going to be fun.

With this last thought, Aria began looking for luxury items. For a fairy, luxury items were things like cotton, spider silk, conca leaves, different kinds of exotic seeds for growing new wood, and every part of a turquoise bush. All these things were much sought after in Hollows all throughout the forest.

She decided to begin her search on the northern side of the Hollow because most other fairies avoided it for fear of whatever lurked in the cave about 146.67 yards away. No one really knew why, but fairy children are taught to avoid “north” from a young age. With a look of determination on her face, Aria set off towards the northern end of the Hollow.

***

Half an hour later, Aria was standing proudly before her gathered items; all of them laid out in the dust inside a clearing she had found in the center of the rock outcropping. During her search, Aria had managed to gather a few tufts of cotton from the remnants of a field from when the forest wasn’t quite so vast still grew, conca leaves that could be dried and used as a spice, and even some petals from a shadow lily that she found growing up from between the bones of a dead deer.

She would have gathered some of the bones, but one, her hands were full, and two, she would have needed time to break them up, seeing as she was nowhere near strong enough to pick up full sized deer bones. Aria’s reasoning was that she and Jacob could always come and get the bones later, seeing as no other fairies were going to gather them on an expedition in that particular direction.

Despite all of the wonderful things that lay before her, Aria’s proudest accomplishment from her search was not in the clearing in the rocks with her; at least, not yet. Aria had managed to find a turquoise bush. They are very rare, and most of the bushes in the area had already been found and claimed by the Hollow. Not this one though. Aria was planning on having Jacob help her take a sprig from it and grow another bush closer to the rocks that they would be staying in.

Turquoise bushes were a big deal because every part of them has a use, and every one of those uses is important. The leaves are used to make dark green ink that most kinds of fey use in pens. The wood is one of the sturdiest in the forest, and is used to make lots of furniture and tools. The flowers are edible, though mostly they are used to treat wing rot; a nasty fungus that attacks the wings of a fairy. If left untreated, it can eat away at them until they are completely gone. The roots can be beaten into a pulp and used as a numbing agent; or they can be dried and ground into a fine powder and mixed with water to create rukblin, a drink that is incredibly popular with older men and teeagers. The berries are the most versatile part of the plant; they can be eaten, used to make dye for clothing, juiced to make a sweet and dizzying drink called weirden, and they can be dried and crushed to make the medicine used to put fey to sleep during medical procedures.

Aria had managed to fly the piece of birch wood into the clearing within the rocks, propping it over the luxury items like a tent. As she stood there, breathing heavily, she heard something.

It wasn’t very loud. In fact, it was barely there at all. The only reason Aria recognized it as anything other than a natural forest sound was because she made it. It was the same noise that her wings made when she was flying. Obviously, she wasn’t flying; but then, what was making that sound? Normal fairy wings didn’t make it, and she was the only one with wings like hers- wasn’t she?

Aria cautiously flew up to the rim of the rocks that surrounded the smaller clearing. As she got to the top, Aria could see that it was around noon; normal berry picking time. From this she figured that what she had heard was just a regular fairy flying by, but that sound still threw her off. She was the only fairy that made that sound when she flew, though when she made it it was much quieter. This was the sound she imagined her wings would make if they were injured…

All of a sudden, a thud sounded from below, startling Aria quite badly. She looked around, confused as to what had made it, before she thought to look down. She crawled farther over the edge of the rocks, cursing under her breath when she cut her hand on a sharp protrusion coming off of one.

As she cleared the edge of the rocks to where she could see the ground, she heard a string of curses not too different from list she herself had just given. When she looked over the edge, she muffled a gasp and pulled back. Then, very carefully, she looked back over the edge.

Standing there, brushing off dust and uttering curses that Aria wished she hadn’t heard, was a boy. And he had dragon wings.

Aria was… even she didn’t know what she was. Maybe I’m hallucinating. She thought to herself, trying to process what she had just seen. It can’t be, it just can’t. I’m the only one.. Aren’t I? She was now sitting where she had been before when she had noted the time of day. Her back against a wall of rock and her arms around her legs, pulling them into the fetal position. She rested her chin on her knees as she thought about what to do.

The boy was still there, and from what Aria heard, he needed a filter. Ever since he had landed- if you could call it a landing- he had been cursing. And it’s all about that “stupid wing”. For her own sake, Aria paraphrased it in her head; he had said it much less nicely.

After she got her breath back, Aria uncurled herself and crawled over to the edge, careful to avoid the sharp stone she had cut her hand on earlier. She peered over the rim of the rocks to see if the boy was more than her brain playing tricks on her.

He was real. Or at least, he was still there. At the moment, he was struggling in a vain attempt to fly. Now that she wasn’t freaking up