We came to a cottage hidden among the foliage. It was an exact replica of the cottage where I met Maggie for the first time during my journey through the Willow Woods in Eldoren. The Alkana flew down from a nearby branch, changing in midair to her old fae lady form, and we followed her inside.
The hut smelled of lavender and vanilla, familiar and comforting.
Maggie sat down on a chair by the fire and tried to warm her hands. “Close the door, Prince Tristan.”
Tristan closed the door behind him and leaned against it with Cade beside him. He never questioned how she knew who he was.
“Come here, child.” She held out her hand to me. “Be a dear girl and brighten these flames, they seem to have gone cold.”
I shot a small flame at the fire and it roared to life.
“Much better,” Maggie said as I knelt down beside her on the small fur rug. “The draft does make my old bones ache dreadfully.”
She had told me once that she was over a thousand years old, but I never thought to ask how many years older.
“But Maggie, if you are an Alkana,” I said, “why were you disguised as Rafe’s nurse when he was young?”
The Alkana turned her violet eyes on me. “It was imperative that the Prince of Eldoren trusted the fae and had personal ties that would shape his character into the king he is meant to be. It was all a part of a much larger plan.”
“Which is? The last time we met, you told me my destiny was set before I was ever born, and my choices would determine the fate of all Avalonia.”
Maggie smiled. “You have a good memory.”
I smiled back. “It’s not something you are likely to forget.” She might be a mythical bird woman in her true form, but to me she was still Maggie. “So how is Rafe a part of this plan?”
Maggie chuckled. “I see his impending marriage has not dulled your feelings for Prince Rafael,” she said, flicking a glance at Tristan. “Do you trust them?”
I looked over at Tristan and Cade where they were leaning against the door. Tristan glared at me.
I looked away and nodded. “Yes, I trust them.”
“Good,” said Maggie, leaning back in her chair and joining her hands. “I watched you fight at the temple tonight—you have become a fine warrior, my girl. But I fear the worst is yet to come. Now tell me, what would you like to know?”
I had so many questions, and they all tumbled out of my mouth at once. “The priestess told me to find Abraxas and destroy the book. What did she mean? Is that actually possible?”
“Anything is possible,” said the Alkana. “But the magic of the Book of Abraxas prevents it from being destroyed, except by the one who wrote it.”
“So who was Abraxas?”
“Abraxas,” answered Maggie, her eyes swirling with silver, “was an Elder Dragon, one of the seven dragons in ancient Avalonian legends.”
My mouth fell open. “Abraxas was a dragon?”
Maggie nodded. “The oldest and most powerful of all the Elder Dragons.”
“But why did Abraxas write the book?”
“An ancient Dragonlord bound Abraxas with powerful magic and compelled him to write down all the knowledge of the Elder Dragons in what we call the Book of Abraxas,” said Maggie. “That is how he released Dragath into this world.”
“But the dragons are gone. Defeated by Dragath in the Demon Wars,” I stated what I had been told, glancing at Tristan. “How can we destroy the book without Abraxas?”
Maggie’s eyes turned silver and her voice deepened. It was the voice of the Alkana. “The dragons were indeed defeated by Dragath in the Demon Wars. But there was one dragon Dragath could not defeat.”
I gasped. “Abraxas is alive?”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, the mighty dragon still lives.”
I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the Alkana raised her hand.
“Dragath had the book and the knowledge of magic that could bind Abraxas and take away his powers,” she continued. “Even with the book, Dragath could not kill Abraxas because that is the one thing not written down anywhere: how to kill him. He deliberately left it out when he wrote the book. So Dragath could only bind him using the power of the book and trap him in a magical prison, just as he trapped the fae in the Dagger.”
“So where is he now? How do I find him?”
“The ancient magic that binds Abraxas is very complicated, as the Dark Dagger is. Dragath bound the great dragon in a magical prison in between worlds, a fate worse than death for an immortal. The same magic that can break the curse on the Dagger can also break the bindings on Abraxas wherever he is and summon him.”
My eyes widened. “The Dawnstar!” I said, finally understanding what she meant.
The Alkana smiled, her eyes swirling silver. “Yes, the ancient magic of the Dawnstar is the only way to free Abraxas.”
Tristan, who had been silent all this time, spoke. “I’ve heard the stories of this ancient weapon Illaria Lightbringer supposedly promised the world, but it is only a myth. No one has ever found it in five thousand years. We cannot search for something that doesn’t exist.”
The Alkana turned her head to Tristan. “The Dawnstar is real, Prince Tristan. Just because no one has ever found it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
“Then how do we find it?” I asked. “I don’t even know what this ancient weapon looks like.”
“Right now we have bigger problems. We don’t have time to run around looking for a weapon that can’t be found,” Tristan interrupted. “Someone is after the Fae Codex, and we need to find out why.”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, Prince Tristan, you are right. There are difficult times ahead, and all of you must prepare yourselves for the worst.”
“What do you mean?” The Alkana never seemed to give a straightforward answer. “Why do they want the codex?”
“The codex holds many secrets,” said the Alkana gravely. “But the most important
