“You know I will be alpha. I will be the biggest dragon one day. I bet I get even bigger than Apophis and Nelarth.”
“Size isn’t everything you tuna eater,” said Ovalia.
“Well if size isn’t everything then Kemoth should be alpha,” said Leomaris. “Obviously, he has the most magical powers if he can space shift.”
Kemoth laughed. “No way. I don’t want to be alpha. Besides, Apophis is going to be around forever. Even when you are full grown neither of you is crazy enough to challenge her lead.”
“True,” said Ovalia. “But I might start my own pack, so I can boss you two around.” Ovalia winked at Celine. “Are human boys as easy to manipulate as boy dragons?”
Celine looked at Lyric and then at Ovalia. “Probably easier.”
Lyric wanted to retort but he wasn’t in a position to argue. He loved Celine and would do anything for her, and he’d entered that dumb tournament to protect Sibylle. Maybe he was easy to manipulate. Lyric could feel Kemoth and Leomaris looking at him. He looked at the two male dragons and shrugged his shoulders. “What? It’s not my fault. She’s the prettiest girl on the isle, and she used witch magic on me.”
“Ah, witch magic. That explains everything,” said Leomaris.
Celine raised an eyebrow, but Lyric pretended not to notice.
“Ovalia, Kemoth tells me you are quite the historian.”
“Unlike these two, I paid attention during study time,” said Ovalia.
“I was wondering if you know if I can shift like Kemoth?” asked Lyric.
“That I don’t know. I know that there was a dragonblood and dragon who shifted together, but I don’t know if the dragonblood could do it alone or only with his dragon. But his dragon was a purple-white. It might have had stronger magical powers than Kemoth.”
“Or weaker,” said Leomaris. “White hues aren’t more magical than gold, just different.”
Ovalia nodded. “That is true. That Kemoth can shift at all means his magic is very strong.”
“I don’t know it the potion that I gave you has fully worked yet, Lyric. Maybe in a few days your magic will be stronger. But your healing is definitely working great.”
It was true. For all the damage he’d suffered the day before, Lyric felt perfectly fine. Or course that was dragon magic. But what about his own human magical abilities? Were they still suppressed by the effects of the broggins bark potion? Lyric raised his hand and closed his eyes. He focused on creating a small flame. The same way he’d tried hundreds of times with Azina and had failed every time. But this time something did feel different. He felt like there was energy flowing through his body into his hand.
Lyric opened his eyes, and to his surprise there was a small magical ball of flame about his hand the size of a large walnut. “Oh wow, I do have magic.”
Celine frowned. “What spell are you trying to do?”
“The magical flame spell Azina taught me. Why?”
“That isn’t magical flame.”
Lyric looked at the little ball of blue energy. It looked like flames to him, just not the right color. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Magical flame means actual flames. You know flames that look like fire, not bright blue and that is more of a flaming orb.”
“I know what it is,” said Ovalia.
“You do?” asked Leomaris.
Ovalia looked at Kemoth. “You don’t know what it is either?”
Kemoth looked closer as Lyric’s hand. “It’s a blue magic orb.”
Leomaris grunted his agreement.
Ovalia shook her head. “You two are terrible. Did you ever pay attention to the history lessons?”
“Sure, during the fights, magic talk is boring,” said Leomaris.
“That blue magical orb as Kemoth so eloquently described it, is an aura flame,” said Ovalia.
“What’s an aura flame?” asked Leomaris.
“Are you serious? Osnog the dragonblood who rode Plonveh gold-white. He used an aura flame.”
“Osnog? Wasn’t he the one who made dragons more powerful?” asked Kemoth.
“Yes, he was. At least you weren’t asleep during all the lessons. You both should be ashamed. I should tell Apophis so you have to redo all the lessons.”
“Awww, don’t be like that, Ovalia. That is what we have you for,” said Leomaris. “So, Lyric is like Osnog?”
“No. Lyric is different. Osnog’s aura flame wouldn’t be like Lyric’s because Kemoth is nothing like Plonveh. But the potential is the same.” Ovalia studied Lyric for a minute before continuing. “Lyric, hit me with your orb.”
Lyric looked nervously at the brown-blue dragon. “Are you sure? What if it’s dangerous?”
“If it is dangerous Kemoth will heal me. But I doubt your magic is strong enough to be dangerous to a dragon. Not yet at least.”
Lyric sighed. He pulled his arm back as if to throw a rock then hurled the blue orb at Ovalia. The glowing blue flaming orb struck the dragon and exploded. Little strands of blue energy surrounded Ovalia like a spider web.
Ovalia turned and fired a streak of blue from her mouth that struck Leomaris and covered him in ice.
Kemoth gasped, and Lyric could sense the dragon’s surprise.
Seconds later a glow could be seen inside Leomaris’s mouth as he started breathing dragon fire. The ice around his mouth melted and he stepped out of the ice, as it shattered and fell to the ground.
“Yikes. That was cold. Why you do that to me?” asked Leomaris.
“Because you didn’t listen to your lessons,” said Ovalia. “Besides, you have dragon fire, you can unfreeze yourself. It would take a lot more aura flame to make me strong enough to completely freeze you.”
Leomaris looked carefully at Lyric. “If he hit me, my dragon flame would be stronger?”
“It could make it strong enough to burn a dragon,” said Ovalia. “Too strong to play with, even as a test. My ice is far easier to control that dragon flame.”
“I still don’t understand,” said Lyric as he listened to the dragons discuss the magical orb he’d created.
“The poison used on you, it didn’t weaken your magic, it suppressed it. It might have made it stronger because it was suppressed for so long. What you have is the ability to enhance magic,” said Ovalia.
“I don’t remember Osnog enhancing magic,” said Kemoth.
“He wasn’t,” said Ovalia. “He enhanced strength, and other physical attributes.”
“How did you know Lyric’s magic would work like that?” asked Celine.
“Because his magic is tied to Kemoth’s,” said Ovalia. “Kemoth being a purple, has regeneration and healing.”
“You are both magic freaks,” said Leomaris with a laugh. “It is fitting that you two bonded.”
Lyric smiled. He’d been called much worse, and Leomaris didn’t seem to mean it in a negative way. And so far, it seemed that the young dragons insulting each other didn’t mean much more than it did when young humans friends traded barbs. “That is the first time I’ve been called a magic freak. I’ve been called all sorts of nasty names, but none involved the use of magic. Finally, I am making progress.”
Celine shook her head. “I told you it would happen eventually.”
“Lyric try it again, but this time you should focus on your bond with Kemoth while you are focusing on making the orb,” said Ovalia.
Lyric closed his eyes. He could feel the bond with Kemoth, he focused on the bond, on the feeling of closeness, and he started to imagine the orb. When he opened his eyes the globe was there, but instead of blue it had a purple color with gold specks.
“I knew it,” said Ovalia.
Lyric could sense the excitement in the dragon’s voice, but he wasn’t sure what it meant.
Ovalia quickly explained. “The aura orb was your human magic, which isn’t solely human magic but human dragonblood magic, but that is a different lesson. This time the aura orb was a mixture of magics. Your human dragonblood magic and K
emoth’s regeneration.”
Lyric nodded, but he was still lost. “So, this orb is different? How?”
“It will enhance magic and heal, or against an enemy it can do the opposite. It can weaken an enemy.”
“Interesting. Healing a friend is cool. So, next time I let Celine fight the corca cats and when she gets hit I just heal her.”
“Ha, ha, funny boy,” said Celine.
“That isn’t a good idea. Your magic won’t bring her back from the dead,” said Ovalia.
“Maybe you’re right,” said Lyric. But still the ability to heal others was exciting. He wondered what else he could do now that his magic was no longer blocked. It was a shame he couldn’t show Azina his magic. But at least Ovalia understood what kind of magic he had. Perhaps the young brown dragon could help him learn more. “Can you teach me more about magic?”
“Yes. Better me than Kemoth. Who knows what he’d try teaching you.”
Lyric then remembered why they had come to the dragons in the first place. “There is one thing. I don’t know if Celine told you or not but I’m being hunted. The king has declared me an outlaw and has men searching for me. I don’t know if they will find us or not but it might mean trouble.”
“Apophis has strict rules about harming humans,” said Leomaris. “We can’t hurt them unless we are in mortal danger.”
“He’s right. We can’t attack the humans hunting you. But we can teach you how to use your dragonblood magic. Maybe you are strong enough that you won’t need any help,” said Ovalia.
“I am bonded to you,” said Kemoth. “An attack on you is an attack on me. But it would cause trouble for all of us if I had to join you. Let’s keep training and hope that Apophis returns soon. She can tell us how to handle this.”
26
For three days Lyric trained with the three dragons. Ovalia gave lessons on the history of dragonblood magic and how it could be used, while Celine gave pointers she’d picked up from Azina and Valeria. While Celine wasn’t as adept with magic as they were, she knew more than Lyric.
On the second day Kemoth shifted with Lyric on his back. Kemoth couldn’t fly with Lyric but he could shift. After that Lyric tried to shift on his own but couldn’t get it. On the third day, he managed to shift three feet. But once he did it, it became much easier. He spent the rest of the day shifting over the mountain top, testing his range. He and Kemoth made it a game of tag. And the purple dragon would chase him all over trying to tag him before he could shift again. Lyric was amazed by how the dragon always seemed to know where he was shifting to next. It was like he was reading his mind. Finally, he asked him.
“How do you keep guessing where I’m shifting to?”
Kemoth laughed. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? I can read your mind. I sense what you are feeling and seeing.”
“I wondered,” admitted Lyric. “I couldn’t think of any other way. “
I can also talk to you through your mind
“Woah! What did you just do?” asked Lyric.
“It’s called a mindlink. I can send you my thoughts, and you can do the same. It works best when you are intentionally thinking of sharing your thoughts, but as you can tell I can guess where you go from our connection. I can also feel your emotions, even when we not close. It is why the bond is so special.”
It’s amazing mindlinked Lyric.
I agree mindlinked Kemoth. Let’s go see the others.
Celine was down at the shore with Ovalia and Leomaris. Ovalia and Celine liked sunning on the beach while Leomaris always was up for fishing. His appetite matched his large size. Lyric could’ve shifted by himself to the beach but it would’ve meant several shifts as he didn’t know the area like Kemoth did. By jumping on Kemoth’s back they could shift together right about the beach.
Hoping to the ground, Lyric landed beside Celine. Kemoth took off towards the ocean to join the two dragons who were feeding.
Celine bounced up to her knees. “Yikes. Every time you two do that it startles the heck out of me.”
Lyric grinned as he sat down on the warm sand beside Celine. “I’d say sorry, but the look on your face is priceless.”
Celine punched him in the arm. “Jerk.”
Lyric laughed and rubbed his arm.
“Oh, please. I know that didn’t hurt you. Ovalia told me that dragon magic makes your skin tougher. It happens to all dragonbloods.”
“Damn dragons sharing all my secrets,” said Lyric in a mumble. “But if that is true how come those corca cats could slice me up?”
“She said tougher, not invincible. Corca cats are dangerous, even to a dragon. They are natural enemies. It’s probably why they were attacking us so viciously.”
“Darn, invincible with special healing powers sounded awesome.” It was hard to think of himself as a powerful anything.
“Nope. You are very killable. So don’t go doing anything too stupid just because you can use magic now.” Celine reached over and touched Lyric’s face softly. “How was training today?”
“Good. It comes so easily now,” said Lyric as he waved his hand and created a small magical orb.
“Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. It’s not like you haven’t been training to use magic for months with Aunt Azina. The broggins bark potion was suppressing your magic, that doesn’t mean you weren’t learning how to focus your energy or how to use magic. Just because the results weren’t showing up doesn’t mean the training wasn’t working.”
“I suppose. I just never felt like I was making any progress. At least with the physical training I could feel and see the progress, even if it was slow and painful.” Azina, then Blair, had put him through a grueling training program, but now he was starting to see why they’d pushed him so far. Being dragonblood was a gift in many ways but it came with a lot of challenges, not to mention enemies.
“I was thinking, perhaps I should make a trip home to speak with Aunt Azina and get more supplies. Ovalia is willing to take me.”
Lyric nodded. “That is an excellent idea. We could use more supplies. I am not the connoisseur of fish that Kemoth is. And it would be good to know how everyone is doing. And it would be good to know what Azina thinks I should be working on next. Now that I can finally use her lessons.”
“Okay. Ovalia and I will leave late this afternoon so that we are traveling at night. We’ll head down the coast first so that if we are spotted no one knows which mountain we were coming from.”
“You’ve put some thought into this plan.”
“Yes. Ovalia and I discussed it extensively. Ovalia and the other younglings are under strict orders, but obviously, your arrival changes that. Still, she needs to keep Apophis’s plan in mind. The fewer interactions with humans the better.”
Lyric waved his hand and made the orb dance.
Celine sighed. “I wish I had that sort of magical ability. The power to make an aura orb is beyond me. Heck, it would take a master mage to make an equivalent spell.”
“Really? I wonder why I have such strong magic then?”
“Dragonblood. Your father was a dragonblood mage, so he inherited his human magic, and maybe it being suppressed for so long changed it, but now that you’ve bonded with your dragon, your magic capabilities are at their maximum. You have incredible gifts and it would be a crime not to use them. That is why I need to speak to Azina. She’ll have an idea of what to do next.”
“Well, I am going to sleep while you’re gone. Magic training is exhausting.”
Celine smiled. “Yes, it can be even more draining than physical training. Using magic takes a toll and you must let yourself recharge. Especially with the shifting you and Kemoth do. I don’t know how that works, but I bet it takes a strong magical toll. You’ll need to be careful not to rely on it.”
“It isn’t as bad as you might think. But for longer journeys you are right. If I can see where I want to go it doesn’t take much out of me. But I’ve tried longer shifts where I can’t see the target and that take
s way more energy out of me.”
“Good to know. I’ll mention that to Azina and see what she has to say. But I can almost guarantee that she is going to want you to practice it, lots. And same with your orb. You should be practicing making it into a shield, or using with your staff. Learn how to protect yourself. Maybe get Leomaris to shoot fireballs at you. That would be a good training exercise.”
Lyric groaned. “That sounds like a terrible training exercise.”
Celine slapped him gently on the thigh. “Oh, but think of the pleasure Leomaris will get from it. Besides, you are the dragonblood, does dragon fire even hurt you?”
“I don’t want to find out. You know how hot it is?”
“Actually, according to Ovalia, if a small camp fire was a one, and a huge forest fire was a ten, dragon fire would be at least a twenty or a thirty. And that is normal dragon fire, if you enhanced it, it might be twice that again.”
“That settles it. No fireball training.”
“And if the king sends a mage with fire magic? What are you going to do?”
“I thought we were having a lovely moment, beautiful beach, wonderful weather, but no you gotta bring up mages and fire magic.”
Celine leaned in and whispered in his ear. “But fire is hot, and you are a mage. So it is a good conversation.” She nibbled on his ear.
Lyric groaned. “That is the most insane argument ever, but I can’t argue with your delivery. I’ll practice with Leomaris.”
“Thank you. Now let’s talk about that wonderful sounding moment you were mentioning.”
27
After her introduction to Caritha, Shayla returned to Oakenreach in a daze. All she could think of was the magnificent dragon. For such a large and powerful creature, it had moved with grace, and the way it talked. She’d known dragons were intelligent, but she’d never imagined her conversation would be so human like. If it had been dark out and Caritha didn’t have a deep and rich tone to her voice that no human could match, Shayla wouldn’t have known she was talking to a dragon.
When she was done putting her horse in the barn, Shayla entered the house, or castle as Caritha had rightly called it. To her surprise, Salus was there. The last time she’d seen the old mage was when he’d left for Droll to find her half-brother. “Salus, old friend, it’s good to see you.”
Dragon Magic: Lyric's Curse 2 (Dragonblood Sagas Book 4) Page 14