Susan Morris - The Faerie Locket

Monster Slayers
Lukas Ritter

Aldwyns Academy
Nathan Meyer

Nocturne
L.D. Harkrader

The Faerie Locket
2011 Wizards of the Coast LLC

All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries.

Cover art by Emily Fiegenschuh

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morris, Susan J.
The faerie locket / Susan J. Morris.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-7869-5883-2
[1. Fantasy. 2. MagicFiction. 3. FairiesFiction. 4.
SistersFiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M82875Fae 2011
[Fic]dc22

2010032320

Visit our Web site at www.dungeonsanddragons.com

v3.1

For Axel, who taught me the meaning of unconditional love.

Prologue

V ira Wyvernsting and Jade Farstar pressed themselves against the icy walls of a crevasse in the Dragonsmaw Cave. Their chests heaved as they struggled to keep their breathing quiet. Vira Wyvernsting cocked a slender, upswept ear for sound of pursuit.

But it didnt take the uncanny senses of an elf to hear the snuffling just outside their hiding place or to see the large foottipped with claws as big as Jade Farstarpress into the ice just outside. Then, another foot passed, and the long tail, which scraped along the ground with a hiss.

We cant beat it, Jade Farstar whispered when the creature continued down the far passage.

The villagers are depending on us, Vira Wyvernsting said, looking up at the pixie, barely the size of one of her ears. Dont give up yet. We may be too small to beat it in a contest of arms, but we can still outsmart it. White dragons are notoriously dumb. Well lure it into the back portion of its cave, pretending to be too weak and confused to continue fighting. Then, when its right where we want it, well trigger a cave-in, trapping it!

Thats a brilliant idea! Jade Farstar said, a little too loudly. Her voice echoed off the icy walls, and she clapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. The dragon snorted, and a humongous, yellow-red eye appeared outside the crevasse.

Or we could run! Jade Farstar said. Her wings buzzed as she launched herself into the air.

Quick! To the back of the cave! Vira Wyvernsting said. We can still do this!

The dragon screeched at its discovery, and wicked, cold claws came grasping after them as they darted out from the crevasse, racing for the back of the cavern. The dragons footsteps boomed behind them like orc drums of war. Then Jade Farstar heard the long, raspy intake of breaththe telltale sign of a dragon about to unleash its ultimate weapon.

Oh no! Jade Farstar cried. Its going to breathe!

Jade Farstar and Vira Wyvernsting dived for cover, screaming

Chapter One

J ade woke to the scream of a tea kettle. She blinked, lost for a minute. Light filtered through the sheets strung up around her lower bunk. Ceramic cups clanged, and the tea kettle quieted.

She couldnt even remember having fallen asleep. When had that happened? And moreover, what had happened? Did Jade Farstar and Vira Wyvernsting succeed, or had the white dragon managed to escape the icy cave-in and destroy the village below?

Shedding her blankets, she parted the sheets that transformed her lower bunk into the Dragonsmaw Cave and stepped out onto the floor.

Daylight painted the loft in shades of pumpkin and gold. The round candle shed held last night had burned down to a thumb-sized nub and lay on her bedside table. Beside it, hanging on a tarnished candelabra, was a sunny paper crown.

Jade grinned and swept up the crown and squashed it on her head, hiding the tangled mass of her dandelion yellow hair.

Today was her twelfth birthday. It was going to be the best birthday ever. She could feel it.

She glanced up at the top bunk, but to her disappointment, it was empty, as was usual these days. Still, she had hoped her birthday might be different. Her sister, Vira, was learning to be a ranger, something that required getting up in the early light of dawn.

Learning to be a ranger meant Vira was gone all the time, even on important days like today. It had been hard to adjust at first. But Vira had the chance to learn to be just like her character Vira Wyvernsting, from her stories, and Jade couldnt begrudge her that. Shed jump at the chance to be the real Jade Farstar. But then, Jade would have to grow up to be a pixieor, considering the height of pixies, grow down?and the chances of that were slim. Or so shed been told by her teacher. Instead, her teacher said, she should focus her energy on wizardry school. As if human magic were better than faerie magic.

Her teacher simply didnt understand. Jade just couldnt help but wish she could live in the world of her older sisters stories. They felt so real, so much more vivid than the tiny human village in which she lived. More than anything, she wanted to find a door into that other world. There, she could go on adventures with the faeries, elves, and fey creatures that lived in Golden Leaf forest and forget about chores, about being respectable, and about how her sister had less and less time for her.

It used to be that whenever their chores were done, and sometimes, even when they werent, Vira and Jade would sneak out into the woods into the old tree house to tell stories, or, when it was too dark or cold for that, theyd crawl under the covers of the Dragonsmaw Cave, like they did last night. But lately, Vira had gotten busier and busier and no longer had as much time to tell Jade tales of Golden Leaf.

The enticing aroma of freshly baked bread wrapped around Jade like a blanket when she reached the top of the stairs. She was suddenly ravenous. She descended into the kitchen.

The dragon emerges! her mother said as Jade plopped down at the table. Jade smiled as her mother swept by, pecking a kiss on her forehead. Breakfast is on the tablebiscuits with honey and fresh milk from the cow. Ive got to go to the market. Catch you later, pumpkin! Then, with a swirl of blue cloth, her mother was out the door.