Flipping through the pages, Kade turned white. Every picture was of something that he had believed to be a myth. These were his nightmares. But, here they were in this book as real as he himself.
As real as my dragon, he thought. He turned his attention back to the book and continued reading, trying to find anything that would give him more information. After turning to the last page, he closed the book and sat staring at it.
Kade took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself. Knowing he could not do anything about it now, he got up and slowly crossed the room to the hiding place and put the book back. He moved to the window, considering what to do next. Kade inhaled sharply as he remembered the cooking meat.
Running out of the house at full speed, he skidded to a stop next to the fire. The dragon was still next to the fire pit, doing its fair share of drooling. Kade avoided stepping in the slime as he worked his way around the fire. He reached out and took ahold of the spit, and then jerked his hand back instantly from the heat. The spear dropped back into the “Y” shaped brackets, almost bouncing out and into the fire.
Kade blew on his hands and started looking around for something to grab the spit with. Seeing nothing, he raced back into the cabin and returned shortly with towels wrapped around each hand. He grabbed for the spear and maneuvered it off the fire. The smell of the fresh meat, as the grease dripped into the fire, was almost enough to make him take a bite before it cooled.
The dragon was on its feet, watching him intently. Kade could feel the heat from the spit start to come through the towels. He quickly leaned the spit against a boulder and shook the towels off his hands. A part of the meat dragged on the ground. Kade was certain that the dragon would not hesitate to devour it, even with a little dirt seasoning. He looked at the dragon, and once again, it had that questioning look that said, “Can I have some?” as more drool hit the ground.
“You can have some when it cools down,” Kade said and then paused as he laughed at what he had said. “You must think I’m pretty strange, huh? Why would a fire breathing dragon need his food to cool?” Kade asked and chuckled. The dragon looked at Kade and then back to the meat.
Picking up the knife, Kade quickly carved out a large chunk for himself. Next, using the towels once more, he picked up the spit and dragged it over to the dragon. He put his foot against one side and pulled the spit out. The dragon sniffed the sizzling food and quickly eyed Kade as if to ask permission to tear into it.
“Go on,” Kade said, indicating the meat. “Eat,” he prompted as he pointed to the food with the knife. The dragon sniffed the savory food as the succulent smell of the meat made its stomach growl loudly. It smelled the food several more times and then tore into it hungrily. For reasons Kade could not put into words, he felt affection well up in his chest for this creature that could be so incredibly fearsome, but at the same time, be so gentle. He smiled as he enjoyed watching the dragon devour its food. It was uncooked in the center, but the dragon did not appear to notice or care.
Kade returned to his food and took a huge bite. He closed his eyes and savored the flavor as he felt the juices run down into his stomach. Right then, he could not recall anything ever tasting so good. He ate until he felt like he was going to burst. He prepared to toss his unfinished meat away when he got the feeling of being watched. He slowly looked up to meet the dragon’s gaze.
“How would you like to finish mine?”
The dragon gave a grunt that Kade took for a yes so Kade, not thinking, held the meat out to his friend. The dragon lunged, fastening its teeth into the meat with a crash but did nothing more. Kade jumped back, quickly checking to see if he was missing a hand. Seeing as everything was still there, he relaxed and looked back at the dragon.
“What’s the matter? Go ahead, eat,” Kade said, swallowing hard, waving the dragon away with his still attached hand. It paused momentarily and then lay down, chewing eagerly.
Starting to feel tired, Kade moved over to the dragon and slid down its side while leaning back. It finished its food in no time and then curled around him slightly. It craned its neck to look at him and then rolled just a little so its feet were not under it but not going over onto its side, either.
Kade found himself staring up at the sky, watching the clouds drift.. He reflected on the first meeting with his new friend and smiled. He felt the dragon twitch, waking him from his daydream. He tried to ignore the movement but the dragon continued to swing its head around, trying to reach its back. Kade looked over his shoulder and watched as the dragon tried several more times. He got to his feet and watched the dragon with curiosity.
“What are you doing?” Kade asked as he moved around to the dragon’s other side. It swung its head around again, but it was clear that its neck was not meant to be that flexible. It tried and tried to reach the spot right between its wings but to no avail. Kade walked up, pushed the dragon’s head out of the way and stood on his toes. If the dragon was not already lying half on its side, he would not have been able to reach. But, as it was, he was able to hit the spot, which was evident when the dragon’s eyes rolled back slightly and its eyelids half closed.
Kade could not help but to chuckle at how silly the dragon looked as it stretched its neck out and tilted its head. As if this was not enough, the dragon’s lips started to twitch. Kade could take it no longer and started to laugh. The more he thought about it, the more he found this to be one of the most amusing things he had ever seen and started to laugh even harder. Pretty soon, he was sliding down the dragon’s side and laughing so hard his sides ached. The dragon swung its head around, watching Kade, confused.
“I am sorry, my friend,” Kade said with tears in his eyes, “but you do look funny doing that. I am glad I could help,” he said, starting to get control of himself. “But, that nose thing you do and the way you stretch out your neck,” he added and started to laugh again. His laughter came to an abrupt halt when a blast of rancid dragon’s breath hit him full in the face. He coughed hard several times as he surged to his feet, struggling to breath while his stomach threatened to empty itself right there.
“Blood and ash! We should do something about that breath of yours,” Kade said, breathing through his sleeve again. He chuckled and then calmed himself to relieve the pang in his side.
“I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just that…” Kade said and then let it trail off, not wanting to start laughing again, almost failing. He turned to walk away and tripped over the knife that was stuck in the ground. He went down with arms flailing. As he lay there, he heard the dragon huff several times. When he looked up, he could have sworn that the dragon found it amusing. Its mouth was slightly open in what almost looked like a smile, but that just could not be.
“OK, I guess we are even,” Kade said as he scrambled to his feet.
The dragon sniffed the air and licked its lips. It lifted its nose higher as if trying to orient on the scent it had caught. It got to its feet and searched the area. Kade watched with growing curiosity.
“What are you looking for?”
The dragon, after several more short sniffs, stopped as it appeared to be analyzing the air. After a few more short sniffs, it turned and headed in the direction of the well. Seeing what the dragon had its eye on, Kade smiled and plodded after, wanting a drink himself.
The dragon sniffed the edge of the well several times and then stuck its nose over the side. Finding no water immediately, it moved to the other side and tried from there. Frustrated at finding nothing, it huffed and clawed at the edge.
“Okay, okay, I got this,” Kade said as he put his shoulder into the dragon’s chest and pushed it back. He turned and cranked the handle to bring the bucket up, then dumped it into the trough. The dragon drank this before the bucket hit the water on the way back down. Kade cranked up four more buckets before he decided it was enough.
“Okay, we are not going to get into this habit,” Kade said as he patted the dragon on the shoulder. “You will, most definitely
, be finding your own water,” he said as he took a long drink from the bucket.
“Dragon, I have more work to do,” Kade said as he looked at the window to the den. He was apprehensive when he thought he should be excited. He shook his head slightly and turned to go but stopped as he glanced back at the dragon.
“I have to come up with a name for you. I can’t keep calling you dragon. What would you like for a name? A beautiful silver dragon like you should have a beautiful name. Let’s see. What can we name you? Dragon…dragon…hmmmm how about Draden? No, that does not have a good ring to it. Let’s see. Dragon…hmmmm what sounds like a dragon name? How about…Rayden? Hey, now that has a good sound. You like that?” Kade asked as he looked into the huge, golden eyes. “Well, since you are not complaining, we will go with that. Okay, Rayden it is,” Kade said as he patted the dragon on the shoulder.
Kade pointed to his chest and said his name. Then he pointed to the dragon and repeated “Rayden” several times. The dragon seemed confused so Kade repeated his actions. After ten minutes or so, he got the strange feeling that the dragon was starting to understand. It was as if there was some sort of connection being formed.
“Well, sooner or later you will get it. You are a smart one, so it will come,” Kade said and turned for the cabin.
He walked in and made the sharp, right turn toward the den. After disarming the trap, he stopped in front of the precious hidden books. The bookshelf still hung open. He contemplated closing it after each use but decided it was not an issue at this time.
“Now, what should I learn?” Kade asked himself out loud. But, the Lightning Calling was already on his mind. “It would not hurt just to take a look at it,” Kade said as he slid the book out. He set it on the table and sat. Making sure to disarm the trap first, he gingerly opened the book. After a few moment of consideration, he decided to put Zayle’s insistence that he focus on the smaller callings ahead of his desire to learn the powerful callings. He decided he would come back to the Lightning Calling later.
“Now, what do we have here?” Kade asked as he read to himself. “Silence, eh? And, what is this?” he asked as he unfolded a small note that had been wedged in the crease of the book. There were just three words written on it in Zayle’s hand. It read simply, Kade’s next lesson. “Okay, I guess I know what I am going to work on now.”
Kade glanced over the page and sighed, not really interested in working through another boring lesson. A stab of guilt made him grimace as he sat down and looked the calling over. Not understanding why Zayle chose this for his next lesson, he leaned forward, putting his fists under his chin and began to read.
When he finished, Kade stood and leaned over the book, trying to memorize the motions. He practiced the moves while referring to the book over and over again. Finding the calling more difficult than he expected, he considered dismissing it and moving on to something more exciting. After a moment, he leaned back over the book and continued.
Kade studied for hours, always working to add the next move of the calling to what he had already learned. Occasionally, the dragon would put its massive head up to the window, looking in, giving Kade an excuse to take a break from his lesson. But, no matter how many excuses he could come up with, he always knew he had to return to his study.
Kade worked on this calling well into the night before deciding to put it away until the next day. If one wrong move would not end up with him possibly losing his hearing permanently, then he would not hesitate to try, but he did not have that luxury. Without Zayle there to save him, the first time he performed the calling had to be perfect.
Kade awoke to another dead animal at his doorstep. He was happy to prepare their meal and then return to his studies. After most of the day was spent practicing, he felt it was time to try. His heart started to pound just a little harder as the excitement of performing a calling for the first time hit home. He stood with his eyes closed as he practiced the moves in his head over and over. After visualizing the calling for several minutes, he felt he was ready.
Okay, here goes, Kade thought. He felt his stomach twist into a knot. He performed the steps perfectly and called on the Divine Power. And, with that, he felt the power fill him and then the whooshing feel as it left his body. He looked around, feeling odd. The sense of being alone washed over him.
“Okay, that should have…” Kade started to say but stopped, his eyes going wide. “Hello,” he said, tapping his ears, not hearing his voice. At first, he tried to remain calm. Then, realization that the Master Chosen was no longer there to save him made him swallow hard. He felt panic. It was now up to him to correct his blunder. He shook his head and even opened his jaw wide, as if to pop his eardrums, but of course, nothing helped.
“NO,” Kade felt himself say. He could sense the vibrations in his head as he spoke. He quickly returned to the book and read through all the steps. At the very end, he read where he was supposed to have intoned a word. He was so focused on getting the moves right, he forgot the easiest part of the calling. He hit himself in the head, frustrated with such a stupid mistake. Kade struggled to stay calm and think.
There has to be something that will fix this, he thought as he scanned over the page. He quickly flipped through the book but found it almost impossible to stay calm enough to focus. Kade stopped flipping pages when he read the top of one page with one single word. It was simply titled: DEAFNESS. Reading over the calling, he found it to be identical to the Silence Calling, but one had an incantation where the other had none. The discomfort of being completely deaf was making it difficult not to panic. He turned it sideways and read all the scribbles in the margins. As he started to stand, his eyes caught the number 57 scrawled at the very bottom, in the crease, where it was almost unreadable.
Kade sat down and forced himself to take deep breaths. It had to mean something, he thought to himself. He looked at the book only a moment more when it occurred to him to check and see what was on page 57. When he flipped open to that page, he found a one word title on the top of the page that simply read, HEAR.
A flood of relief poured through his body and he quickly read over the calling. There were just a few simple moves and the word, HEAR in the language of the Ancients. Knowing that it was difficult to get the moves of a calling correct on the first attempt, Kade studied for hours until he was sure he had it perfect.
He closed his eyes and went through the motions in his head. Feeling confident that he had the calling memorized, he opened his eyes and called on the Divine Power while performing the moves. As soon as he finished the last step, he intoned the word “hear” in the familiar language of the Ancients and felt the energy flow smoothly out of him. He held his breath, waiting for the results. Nothing happened. He could feel sweat forming on his brow.
I know something happened, he thought. I felt the power leave me.
Kade looked around the cabin for anything that may have changed but found nothing. He checked himself and was relieved to see he was all there. Shaking his head, he returned to the book. Reading over the calling again, he prepared to try once more.
It is almost impossible to get this wrong, he thought. He moved away from the book and then returned to lean over it, checking one last time. Moving to the middle of the room, he went through the motions, drawing in the energy as he intoned the word. He let the Divine Power flow once again.
“Okay, I know something must have happened. I felt it. I felt the calling work. It had to have worked. What did I do wrong?” Kade felt himself say in frustration.
Starting to wonder if this was even the calling he needed, Kade sat down at the table and forced himself to study the page. This time he noticed a small note at the bottom. The note simply read: Allow a small amount of time for the calling to take effect.
“So, maybe I did do it right,” Kade heard himself say. He slumped in the chair, feeling immense relief. “It worked,” he said just to hear his own voice.
The dragon came to the open window and looked in to s
ee what Kade was doing. Rayden huffed a few times, trying to get Kade’s attention. The Apprentice Chosen flinched at the first huff and smiled, happy he could hear it.
“What is it, Rayden?”
The dragon just stared at him. Quickly losing interest, Rayden laid down next to the window. It made Kade smile the way his dragon was always there, waiting for him to emerge from cabin. He sat down and looked at the window, seeing that most of the light was being blocked, but there was enough light to read by. There always was.
“Well, it looks like I got two callings right on the first try. Zayle would have been surprised to see that,” Kade said with sarcasm.
Returning to the calling for silence once more, Kade readied himself to perform it. Seeing as the moves were identical to the Deafness Calling, he expected this to be flawless, but he was taking no chances. He was tempted to scrap the whole idea of this calling once more, but his eyes landed on the note he had previously read.
If the master wanted me to learn this, there had to be a good reason for it, he thought.
While trying to focus on the calling, the sound of an insect interrupted his concentration. He tried to ignore it, but it was impossible since it seemed to be right there in the room. Kade put his hands on the table, preparing to stand when the sound stopped. He relaxed and returned to visualizing the steps needed for the calling. Just as he was starting to focus, the insect started up again.
“Blood and ash!” Kade said, swearing as he sat back hard in his chair. He stood up and stalked around the table, expecting to find the annoying insect right there. He scratched his head in confusion and then heard the sound again. “The kitchen?” he asked out loud and went in search of the bug. Several long seconds of standing still produced no insect. Just as he was turning to go back to the den, the noise started again. He narrowed his eyes, sure the sound was coming from outside, but how could that be? He walked out the back door, tracking the annoying bug.
The Divine Apprentice (The Divine Series) Page 10