A Dragonlings' Haunted Halloween: Dragonlings of Valdier (2 page)

“I think I’ve found out what Cara and the
women have been up to,” he announced with a superior grin.

That comment got all four of his brothers’
attention. Mandra suddenly sat up in interest. Creon’s eyes popped
open, while Zoran and Kelan both glared at him with keen interest.
The grin on his lips grew.

They had all been trying to figure out what
was going on over the last few months. It was like the women were
determined to complete some huge conspiracy with the way they had
been sneaking around. Amber and Jade’s appearance had been the
first break in trying to figure out what they were up to. He had
finally gotten another hint out of Cara – something called
Halloween. The last clue had come when he had attached a tracking
device to Cara as she was getting dressed after they made love this
morning.

“What?! What have they been up to? Abby
hasn’t let even a hint escape, no matter how much I tried to
persuade her to tell me. She just keeps saying it is a surprise,”
Zoran demanded, standing up.

“It is called Halloween,” Trelon said in
triumph.

“Halloween?” Mandra and Kelan muttered.

“What the hell is that?” Creon growled with
a frown.

“Is it like the Easter, only different, I
think,” Trelon said. “That is all she would say. I know that she
had turned Jade into something called a ‘Jadenstein’ and Amber into
something called a ‘Werewolf’. Personally, I thought Amber looked
like an ugly Vox, but I wasn’t about to tell Cara that! I was horny
and didn’t want to make her mad.”

Mandra lay back down on the mat with a
grunt. “That really tells us a lot, Trelon,” he muttered,
sarcastically. “Kelan, can you ask Paul what a Halloween is?”

Kelan shook his head. “No, he and
Dola
have gone away on a ‘retreat’. They will not be back
for another week,” he replied with disappointment.

“So, how are we going to find out what this
Halloween is?” Zoran asked in a disgruntled voice.

“I planted a tracking device on Cara,”
Trelon answered in a low voice, looking around suspiciously in case
someone overheard him. “She’d kill me if she knew I did it, but I
was desperate! All this secrecy has been driving me crazy.”

“You mean us,” Creon replied with a grimace.
“I swear, trying to follow Carmen is impossible. She caught me
every time I tried and my damn symbiot wasn’t any help.”

Kelan’s brief bark of laughter echoed in the
room. “Carmen! You should try tracking Trisha. I swear, if she
tagged me one more time I was going to….” He paused before a grin
spread across his face. “Never mind, I liked the last time she
tagged me.”

Mandra rolled his eyes before closing them.
“So, where did the tracking device show you she went?” He asked in
a gruff voice.

“Under the palace,” Trelon replied.

“Under….,” Zoran repeated in surprise. “The
only thing under the palace is the old dungeons.”

“That’s what I thought, but I swear it
looked like she went even further down,” Trelon replied, folding
his arms across his chest.

Zoran frowned and rubbed his jaw as he
thought. “I remember a long time ago going down there with father,
but that was centuries ago.”

“What were you doing down there?” Trelon
asked.

Zoran shrugged. “Just exploring,” he
replied. “Father was telling me about the history of the palace. I
was more interested in the old dungeons. I do vaguely remember a
large, wooden set of doors. I asked father about it, but don’t
remember what he said. I had found an old dagger and was more
interested in it.”

“You’re as much help as Trelon,” Mandra
muttered, opening his eyes just enough to shoot Zoran a glare.

“Where is she now?” Creon asked as he rolled
to his feet.

Trelon grinned as the others, including
Mandra, stood up as well. He walked over to where he had dropped
the receiver and picked it up. He glanced over his shoulder as
Creon moved closer so he could see the screen.

“She’s down there now,” he replied.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Mandra
scowled. “I want to know what this ‘Halloween’ is. If it is
anything like the Easter, that means more eggs. I’ve been thinking
about what the younglings did the last time and I think we’ve got a
chance to beat them if we work together.”

“Are you still sore about Jabir hiding and
getting all the eggs?” Kelan laughed.

“No, my son was brilliant in his strategy,”
Mandra boasted, drawing smothered chuckles from his brothers.
“Besides, don’t you want to find out what the women are doing and
see if there are going to be more good things to eat?” Mandra asked
with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course! I had a lot of fun, especially
watching Vox get his ass kicked by Bálint and Roam,” Kelan said as
he grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. “Trelon, I think
it is time to discover what our mates have been up to.”

*.*.*

“What do you think of this, Abby?” Trisha
called out as she finished the last touches to the spider webs that
she had fashioned through the fake trees in the cemetery. “You
don’t think this is going to be too scary for the kids, do
you?”

Abby looked up from the crystal ball that
she was working on. She ran a critical eye over the small cemetery
where Trisha and Ariel were working. Her eyes softened as she
watched as Zohar crawled onto the top of one of the headstones in
his dragon form. She had to admit, Cara had outdone herself this
time. The trees and other special effects Cara and her ‘crew’ of
workmen had created, along with the roller coaster ride was
incredible.

“I love it,” Abby said as she bit her lip,
trying not to laugh as Phoenix nipped at one of the spiders as it
moved. “I don’t think it will be too much. We can leave the lights
on, but if you ask me, I think they will have a blast if Phoenix
doesn’t eat all the spiders first.”

Trisha looked over to where Abby was looking
and had to choke back a laugh when Phoenix turned to look at her
with one of the spiders hanging by its leg out of her mouth.
Phoenix looked bashfully at Trisha and gently replaced the spider
back on the web at her Aunt’s raised eyebrow.

When Cara had shown her and the other women
the huge underground cavern with its beautiful arched corridors,
flowing fresh water spring-fed river, and crystal lit ceilings that
looked like stars, they had all fallen in love with it. Cara’s
excitement of turning it into the ultimate indoor playground for
the kids had ignited all their imaginations. The first few weeks
had been hilarious. Some of their designs had been pretty
outrageous. They had finally decided on one that would be easy to
integrate the different holidays into, especially after the success
of the Easter egg hunt.

The last five months had been a challenge as
all of them worked with a selected group of Valdier engineers that
Cara had met in one of the palace
'
s work
areas. Dulce, the head engineer of the project, had reluctantly
agreed after they all promised to keep it quiet.

“Trelon almost killed me the first time Cara
came into the Repair room,” Dulce had muttered when they asked him
and the other engineers for help. “Are you sure he won’t try again?
I’m rather partial to being able to breathe,” he added as he stared
into the hopeful gazes of the women. “I’m going to get ripped apart
by all of your mates.”

Abby chuckled as she remembered his glum
look. That look had turned to hesitant fascination, then excitement
as they showed him the blueprints that Cara had designed with their
input. Soon, the project took on a life of its own as the men
dreamed up additional fun.

“What’s so funny?” Cara asked as she came to
a slow stop in front of Abby.

She pressed the controller in her hand to
apply the remote braking system for the ride. She shushed at Amber
and Jade, who were sitting in twin golden car seats squealing ‘Go,
go, fast. Go, fast!’ at the top of their lungs. Cara rolled her
eyes, it was their third trip on the ride and the girls wanted to
go again.

“Oh man, that is so awesome, Abby! The head
inside the crystal ball looks just like you,” Cara added as she
lifted first Amber, then Jade out of the car. “Go find Zohar,” she
ordered when they looked like they were going to start crying. The
threatened tears turned to squeals of delight as they shifted and
went in search of their second favorite play toy.

“Those two better watch it. Zoran has been
working with Zohar on how to escape them,” Abby said with a shake
of her head as she gazed around at the finished playground. “You
know, this whole thing is pretty awesome, Cara. I know the kids are
loving it. How do you think the guys will react? I keep wondering
if we should have asked them before we just took over this area. I
mean, what if it was someplace sacred or special?”

Cara looked around in satisfaction. Trisha
was watching as Ariel ran the program for the mechanical spiders.
Spring had joined her sister in trying to catch the roaming
arachnids
, while Ariel tried to avoid the
two determined Dragonlings.

Carmen was talking to two of the engineers
who were testing the animated dancing skeletons. B
á
lint and Jabir were wiggling and dancing with them.
Well, they were trying when they weren’t tripping over each
other.

Dulce was running the program for the
witches, ghouls, and goblins. The funniest part was watching Zohar,
Amber, and Jade, who were now happy, trying to catch the heads
popping up out of the fake kettles. They were bouncing from one
raised top, to the other, as they popped up.

No, this was perfect,
she thought as
she gazed around the vast room.
And the kids were having a
blast.

“Are you kidding? You saw this place
before,” Cara replied with a soft grin as she heard the laughter of
the engineers as they watched the kids playing. “No one had been
down here in ages. I bet the guys don’t even know it is here.”

“So, when are we telling them about this?”
Carmen asked as she walked up to where they were standing. “Phoenix
and Spring have had a terrible time keeping it a secret. Creon
keeps asking me why they are walking around with their fingers
against their lips.” She gave a bashful giggle as she stared at the
amazing world they had created. “I admit, I can’t wait to see
Creon’s face either,” she confessed with eyes filled with
excitement. “Ariel and I loved the Haunted House ride when the fall
festival came to town.”

“That’s the truth,” Ariel agreed as she and
Trisha walked up. They watched in amazement as the kids chased each
other. “I can’t believe how the kids are loving this, even when we
turned the lights out and took them on the ride earlier. Do you
remember Herman Hamilton from high school, Carmen? He screamed so
loud when the ghosts dropped down in front of us that the ride
operator thought someone was hurt and stopped the ride. All the
kids keep saying is MORE!”

“B
á
lint tried to
escape three times last night after I laid him down in his bed. He
kept saying ‘more play, Mom’ every time I caught him. This is
amazing, Cara, thank you,” Trisha added. “The kids are having a
blast. Bálint even cried when I took his Vampire costume off of
him. He loves wearing his cape and jumping off the furniture. You
should have seen me trying to explain to Kelan why Bálint was
wearing it.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Jabir has been just
as bad. He is going as a dinosaur. I swear Mandra thinks Jabir is
absolutely the most brilliant kid in the universe because he goes
around growling and biting everything.”

Cara laughed. “Poor Trelon thought that Jade
had been hurt and called for Symba to come heal her this morning.
He won’t admit it, but he thinks Amber’s costume makes her look
like an ugly baby Vox.”

“Speaking of Vox, will Riley, Vox and Roam
be here in time for our surprise?” Abby asked in concern. “I
haven’t heard from Riley in a few days.”

“I talked to her this morning,” Cara replied
with a grin. “She told Vox if he ever wanted any more kids, he
better get his ass in gear because she promised she would be here
by tonight. I’m not sure if that meant she was going to castrate
him or if she just wasn’t having sex with him again.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you guys that I talked
to Emma,” Carmen interjected. “She, Ha’ven and Alice will be here
this evening as well. She told Ha’ven she wanted to come for a
visit. I swear I never expected to see him so loving and
protective.”

“This is going to be so much fun. I can’t
wait to see the guys’ faces when they see what we’ve been up to,”
Cara said with a sigh. “The kids have certainly been enjoying
it.”

“Talking about faces, I need to get back
upstairs and show mine and Zohar’s face before it gets too late.
Zoran is probably pulling his hair out again. He keeps asking me
where we’ve been and I’m running out of excuses,” Abby said.

She called out to Zohar, who looked up from
where he was sitting on Amber with a triumphant grin on his face
before Jade tackled him from the side. He shifted and squeezed out
from under her grasping arms before her sister could join her. Abby
smiled and opened her arms as he flew towards her as fast as his
little wings could go. Amber and Jade, who had shifted as well,
bounced along the ground after him nipping at his tail every time
he dipped down.

“He is getting better, Abby,” Cara laughed
as she gathered up her two when they realized that Zohar had
escaped them. “The girls are getting better at sneaking up on
Trelon in the mornings. I swear he sleeps with one eye open,
waiting for them to attack,” she added as she followed all the
others up the stairs, babies and Symbiots in tow.

None of the men working on the last touches
to the animations or the departing women saw the shimmering,
slightly drooled on, golden spider hiding in the artificial web
among the tall, spindly trees. A mischievous grin curved the
spider’s golden mouth before it dissolved into an iridescent fog.
Spirally down along the base of the tree to the ground, the flowing
stream of gold disappeared into the shadowy depths of the
underground river.