I’ve been busy writing the third book in my Crystal Keeper Chronicles, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire. Here is a sneak peek into my current draft. The last look was in May 2011. Wanda had her little brother break her crystal pendant. So, she was off to visit master miners and makers of crystal pendants, the dwarves.

A Look Into the third book of the Crystal Chronicles: The Lost Secret of Dragonfire:

There was a sudden flare of light. Then, I saw standing in front of us, a shaggy man as tall as me. He had a long, brown beard, a bulbous nose, and beady brown eyes. His eyebrows were beyond bushy, and he held a torch flooding the corridor with enough light to make the crystals glint in all directions. His cloths looked like a peasants drawing from one of my fairy tale books. You know, long following sleeves, vest, drawstring at the collar, and brown baggy pants. But the most distinguishing thing was his hands. They were large and beefy. It made him look out of proportion. I saw the glint of boots under the cuff of his trouser.

“Welcome to the City of the Dwarves. For a human child, to be this close, you must be a Crystal Keeper and on fairy business. I’m Clarkson. The Watch for the Western Edge of the Dwarf Capital. Be what business ye on?”

I cleared my thought and stood up a bit. I tried to sound official by saying, “I am a Crystal Keeper of the Western Realms of Fairy. You are right. I have come on fairy business. I be named Wanda.” Flashbacks of the visit to the Renaisance Fair came flooding back to me. I pointed down at Brewford. “This is my cat sorcerer and assistant, Brewford.”

And instructor, guide, and general reference for advice. Brewford nodded. His head voice was filled with cat dignity.

“What is it that you wish of the Dwarf Kingdom?” The dwarf folded his arms. “It is my job to find the best resource to guide ye.”

I couldn’t continue with the Faire language. I was going to have to switch to normal talk. “Well, Clarkson, my little brother totally broke my crystal. I need a new one. My unicorn guide said this was the best place to come.”

He answered with a gruff affirmative that ended in a grin. “Good to switch into the informal language. I was never good at it in school, you see. Your unicorn was right. We supply the Fairy World with most of their crystals for Keepers, healing, building, and pretty much anything else that could be needed. If a dwarf knows anything, it’s crystals, stones and the earth. It is our speciality. If you need it, we can mine it.” He gave me a wink and motioned to follow. “I think the Dwarf King would be interested in hearing your problem. Maybe you can help us with ours.”

We did notice a magical imbalance in the paths on the way here Dwarf Clarkson. Brewford had taken the lead in front of me. He slipped right next to the dwarf. If I’m not mistaken, the energy flow is being interrupted. Have you found the source?

“That is the problem Cat Sorcerer. We can’t find the interruption point. If we knew where it was, we could fix the imbalance. It’s as if someone has found a way to divert power from the paths, and it’s starting to affect the roots. We need to find it, or the fairy paths themselves will start to collapse. The Fairy World would be divided permanently from the Real World. The imbalance could destroy both worlds.”

There was a tisk, tisk from Brewford. It is more serious than I thought. You’re right in taking us to the Dwarf King. I’m going to need to ask some questions as well.

This sounded like some kind of Fairy Armageddon. I had to get this straight. “Do you mean, the Fairy Paths would collapse? Be destroyed? How would the fairies travel and communicate?”

It’s worse than that Wanda. Brewford’s head voice actually held a note of concern. The fairy paths connect the World of Fairy, but it is also the conduit for all of the Fairy Magic. Without the Fairy Paths functioning correctly, Fairy World magic will be cut off or worse, fade from the World of Fairy.

“And the World of Fairy,…” I left it hanging in the air as it started to settle into my mind.

“…would die.” Brewford’s words were more chilling than the air around me.

Oh boy. Not good. I hope we could find this Dwarf King fast. I was right that I felt a need to go quickly.

We arrived at the corridor end. It opened up to the glow at the end of the tunnel, and I couldn’t speak. We were in a cavern, the largest crystal cave I had ever seen. The walls were lined with crystals and structures of crystal, stone, and rock. It was beyond cave dwelling and cave man like. It was a catacomb of crystals and caves.

In and out of different level openings, dwarves moved in and out. Some had beards. Some had long walking sticks, carts, baskets, and even small mules. The rush of industry was about this place, and dwarves were everywhere.

“Welcome to Geldenar”, said Clarkson. He waved his hand about and grew with a big smile. “I can tell this is your first visit to the Dwarf Nation. Your eyes are huge. Glad that you seem impressed.”

Look for other sneak peeks and release information for The Lost Secret of Dragonfire through this blog.

**The Crystal Keeper Chronicles are available on Amazon.com as paperback or Kindle editions.
Also available on Smashwords.com.