Chapter 3

Lexi went into the pool room and stopped for a moment before putting a smile on her face and saying hello to Bailey and Alana. Bailey helping Alana wash off all the fruit juice and crumbs from Lynn’s pastries smiled back, Lexi kept her frown hidden, even though Bailey was smiling it was overshadowed with some inner emotion that had her very upset and frightened.

“Did you enjoy the story today? Alana” Lexi asked, Alana taking the hand towel from Bailey smiled widely “yes, I had lots of fun today” Lexi grinned “I bet Lynn has some extra goodies in the kitchen she could put in a basket for you to take home for a treat later” with an ohhhhhh Alana looked at Bailey who smiled “we’ll have to go to the kitchen before we go home” Lexi got the impression from Bailey that she didn’t want to go home. Lexi went over and wiped her hands on the towel that Alana had just put down, standing close enough to Alana that she could look her over Lexi’s eye’s went wide and she shuddered. Con came in “you girls ready to head home?” he asked with a smile.

“Con, I told Alana she could take home some extra treats from the kitchen, could you take her to Lynn, Bailey will catch up with you” Con grinned at Alana holding out his hand, Alana followed Con out of the pool room holding onto his hand. When they had left Lexi grabbed Bailey’s arm “you have to tell Zachary that Finbar is bothering Alana, please Bailey” Bailey her eye’s filled with fear looked like she was going to cry “I can’t Lexi, Zachary and Finbar have been fighting about what Finbar is doing with his magic, I’m afraid he will hurt Zachary, Finbar has changed, Lexi, I’m afraid of him, we all are except I don’t think Zachary realizes how strong Finbar has become, I think he would kill us all. I’m keeping Alana with me all the time now, I make sure she isn’t any where near him, she sleeps in my bed at night, since I’ve been doing that he has stopped.”

Lexi frowned fiercely “damnit, we have to do something to stop him for good, Bailey” an ancient book appeared in Lexi’s hand “I found some books when I was putting everything back in the library, this has all sorts of magical spells in it, let me see if there is one for protection, maybe that will keep him away from Alana.” Bailey watched Lexi flipping through the pages, wringing her hands “please find something, please help us Lexi” she said silently to herself, “here’s one, let me try this, damn all this magic scares me witless” Lexi muttered more to herself then to Bailey, Lexi used the spell not just for Alana but for Bailey also fearing that if Finbar couldn’t get to Alana he would turn on Bailey, she watched as Bailey seemed to glow for a minute then the glow left, Con in the kitchen blinked and shook his head chuckling for a minute he thought Alana was glowing, it was probably all the sweets he told himself.

“Ok, let’s keep our fingers crossed that this works, if it doesn’t please let me know Bailey, don’t let this go on anymore” Lexi said giving Bailey a hug, Bailey hugged Lexi back “thank you, I better go now before Alana gets worried about where I am” Lexi nodded following Bailey out of the pool room, she watched them leave with Con, sending the book to her room she went back to the pool room. Lexi finally able to sink into the hot water sighed, she suddenly sat up, Finbar lived at Salvation he could hurt Tabby or Mal, slowly and methodically Lexi started using the spell of protection on all the children and hatchlings, Hellhound, Cat and Billy, then to be on the safe side she used it on Con and her Mother and the unborn hatchlings.”

Collin glanced in the cradle at a sleeping TeeLinn and frowned, he ran his hand over her little body.

“Mar, someone just put a spell of protection on TeeLinn” Mar nodded also frowning as he sat listening to Tabby and Mal chattering about the days story, “the same just happened to Tabby and Mal, better check with Revanche and see about Crispin” Mar told Collin.

“Everyone of the children are under some sort of protection” Collin told Mar a few minutes later “I’m going to find out if Zara had a chance to talk to Lexi” he commented to Mar. Zara entered DeClan’s work room “have you got a minute? we need to talk” DeClan seeing the worried look on her face nodded then frowned “does this have something to do with Lexi?” Zara nodded, DeClan silently asked Collin to join him in his work room. DeClan and Collin sat listening to Zara as she told them what Lexi had said, DeClan got up and started walking around his work room, picking things up and putting them down “I’m going to ask Lexi if she is the one who is trying to protect the children and why, then I’ll deal with Finbar.” Lexi laying on her bed, wondering if she had done what was right, almost jumped out of skin as DeClan asked her if she was the one who had put a spell on Tabby and Mal. Lexi hated it when someone spoke silently to her, it seemed like the words were being shouting through her mind, when she talked to Billy or Cat that never happened their words were always soft and low unless they were upset or excited but even then their words didn’t slam into her mind. “You don’t need to yell” she snapped back at DeClan rubbing her temples “yes I did, I just wanted to make sure they were safe, that’s all” DeClan in a soft voice asked why she had done that, Lexi sighed “because I wanted to know that they were safe from Finbar” DeClan frowned “do you think they are in danger from Finbar.”

Lexi appeared in DeClan’s work room “would you quit yelling I can’t stand it!” she snarled at him, Zara said to the very angry dragoness “sweetie, he didn’t mean to speak so loudly, calm down and let’s talk about what’s going on reasonabl.”

Cat got up and padded over to Lexi, with a deep rumbling purr he rubbed against her, “yes I know, human voices can be very, very irritating at times” she said to Cat, she frowned hearing the tremor in her voice, rubbing her temples with a sigh “I’m sorry Zara, I didn’t mean to get upset.”

Zara smiled hugging Lexi “it’s all right sweetie, did you know even angry you’re a very beautiful dragoness” Lexi frowned and looked down at her paw’s “damnit” she snarled changing to her human. Collin and DeClan exchanged a glance, Lexi sighed and sat down “yes I do think the children are in danger from Finbar, he’s terribly evil and I didn’t want any of them being hurt by him” Zara frowned “you seem even more emphatic about Finbar then you were this afternoon, did something else happen?” They all saw the indecision on her face and the worry, “Lexi?” DeClan said softly, with a sigh Lexi told them about her talk with Bailey. DeClan in an icy dead calm voice said he was going to strip Finbar of his magic and banish him from Salvation, that Zachary no longer had any say in the matter. Collin got up and brushed his hand over Lexi’s forehead easing her throbbing headache away, Lexi closed her eye’s for a minute “thank you” she said with a sigh, Collin smiled “I’ll have to teach you how to do that, as sensitive to sound as you are it might come in handy” Lexi flinched as her father called to her silently wondering where she was “I think you’re right, I do need to know how to do that, I have to go father is looking for me” before she left she touched DeClan’s hand “please be careful with Finbar, Bailey said he is much stronger then anyone realizes” DeClan nodded “he maybe strong Lexi but he has never come up against the power of DeClan”, then sat down with a sigh as Lexi vanished.

“I would suggest you banish Finbar first then tell Zachary, if the two of them have been fighting this will only add fuel to the fire and have Zachary going after his brother with a fury” Zara was sitting staring at the chair Lexi had been sitting in “did you see her dragoness, I’ve never felt such power, such magic, except perhaps the few times I’ve seen Marti’en’s dragoness” Collin nodded “she feels the power and it terrifies her, she sees it as some type of internal fury, she doesn’t realize yet what exactly it is, I think it would be very interesting showing her.”

DeClan stood up and gave Zara a hug “I want you to take Tabby and Mal and go stay at your parents for the night” Zara nodded with a worried frown “you will be careful won’t you, let me know right away what happens” DeClan kissed her softly “I will little one don’t worry I’ve waited all my life for you and the children, I won’t let anything happen, I will not give Finbar even a seconds chance to use his dark arts.”

DeClan and Collin waited until Zara had left with Tabby and Mal then headed for the stables, they found him in the tack room. Finbar put on a face of the servant and doffed his cap “was there something I can do for you? Sire” Collin leaned against the door jam, his arms crossed over his chest, DeClan stepped forward, Finbar suddenly found himself on his knee’s as DeClan waved a hand over his head, Finbar screamed obscenities at DeClan as he felt his magic being sucked out of his body, shuddering as the weakness made his knee’s tremble and his body sweat, over and over again DeClan magically thrashed Finbar until there was not a shred of magic left inside him, all his knowledge of the black arts were gone, swept from him like a wave over a pebble in the ocean.

“I banish you Finbar Weston, never to tread on my lands again for all eternity, forever to be an outcast from magic and all it holds, begone from my sight” DeClan intoned in his icy calm deadly voice, as DeClan spoke, Finbar screamed at him that they had not seen the last of him, that he would return to ruin DeClan and his family, then as DeClan uttered his last word, Finbar vanished with a shout of rage. DeClan turned to Collin “it is finished” Collin nodded “that was well done of you, to make sure he had not a drop of magic left, even if he does try and regain it, it will take him a life time of trying before he realizes that once stripped in a banishment it can never be regained.”

DeClan knocked on the door of the gardeners cottage, it was opened by a cautious Bailey, she looked around fearfully then let DeClan and Collin in “I don’t want Finbar to see me talking to you, I’m sorry you’ve been very kind to us, given us a home, given Zachary a new purpose in life, it doesn’t seem right to repay you by being fearful of talking to you.” Alana sitting at a small table smiled at DeClan and Connor as she ate the extra treats she had gotten from Lynn at Montcliff, “where is Zachary?” DeClan asked giving Alana a gentle smile, Zachary walked through the door “were you looking for me? DeClan” Collin went and sat down talking softly to Alana, DeClan nodded “I have banished Finbar and cleansed him of his dark magic” Zachary looking like an old man bent and tired nodded “it had to be done, had I the ability I would have done it a long time ago” he rubbed his hand across his face “Bailey spoke to me when she got back from Montcliff, I have been searching for Finbar since then, I think I’m glad that I did not find him for I had every intention of killing him, brother against brother, how sad and selfdefeating.” DeClan and Zachary watched Collin with a smile sooth his hand over Alana’s forehead and whisper soft words they could not hear, Collin got up and joined the two “a child should have joy and laughter, not tears and sorrows to hide away inside, she will have no memory of what Finbar has done.” Back in his work room DeClan handed Collin a glass of brandy “so you’re going to try and help Lexi see the magic of the dragoness within” Collin rolled the glass between his hand with a thoughtful look “no one has ever known the parentage of Laurel, Zara has magical abilities, that she really has never taken an interest in exploring, your children have even more magic. Connor has a fair amount of magic mostly healing abilities, Al well her magic is keeping Connor on his toes” DeClan chuckled, “from what I’ve seen of Con’s dragon, he is like his father but Lexi now that’s another story, I wonder if the time in the void accelerated her magical abilities, at times the way she talks and acts she reminds me of an old wise one in a young woman’s body at other times she is a little girl trying to catch up on the joy’s of childhood that she missed, I would like to see more of what she may be capable of.”