Saphora vol.1 Retention

by Jaz Johnson

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  Blue flames. Blue flames lined the bottom of her vision as she dreamt. The dream swiftly morphing into that of a nightmare. There she was, in the shadows of her mind, standing in the mists of that blazing fire. Fire that seemed to do no damage to her. Confused, she stood there, watching her limbs in the fire, as the flames licked up her legs. They seemed to curve and dance in slow motion, as were her own movements. She curled her toes in the flames.

  Why doesn’t this burn? she thought as she reached her foot out to the side, letting it slither through the calm flames.

  The sudden sound of a bellowing screech made her duck down and cover her ears. It was the noise from that day. The day she fell. She pressed the palms of her hands against her ears in a desperate attempt to silence the anguish. But it was to no avail. Blocking her ears did nothing to sooth them. It only confused her more. To be able to clearly hear the cries of this beast, and yet feel nothing of the flames beneath her. What madness was this?

  Looking up through her squinted eyes, she was startled when seeing a pair of giant sapphire eyes. She stumbled back away from the eyes, fumbling onto the ground. The bellowing continued as she pushed away. She whimpered, shaking her head as she saw a toothy snout start to open, revealing the claw-like teeth of the beast. Raising her arm up to protect her face, she screamed in terror, thrusting herself into consciousness.

  She sat up in her bed, hand clenching the clothing above her heart. A cold sweat clung to her skin as she fought to catch the breath she felt she had lost. Coming from across her room, she heard a soft, yet firm voice.

  “Bad dream?” came the voice of Hydra, who was sitting in Saphora’s desk chair. Flinching at the sudden intrusion, Saphora’s head shot up to stare wide-eyed at Hydra. A mixture of rage and confusion bubbled up inside her as she decided on which emotion to act upon. Not having the energy to produce either, she sighed, slumping her tense body.

  “How did you get in my house?”

  “Your window was open. What did you dream about?”

  “Why are you in my house?”

  “To get you for training. What did you dream about?”

  A twinge of annoyance ran through Saphora as she looked up to meet Hydra’s calm eyes.

  “Why do you care? It has nothing to do with you.”

  “You’re right,” Hydra nodded. “But it has everything to do with you.”

  “It was just a dream,” she insisted, pushing her blanket from her, suddenly feeling the need for a cool breeze. Hydra frowned at Saphora’s difficult behavior and shook her head in disapproval.

  “You’re guarded,” she accused. Saphora paused, her eyes narrowing at what, to her, sounded like an insult more than an observation. “You want to remember your past? Your family? Your existence?” Saphora merely stared, and Hydra spoke up again. “Do you?” she asked again more firmly. Saphora, with some guilt, nodded her head.

  “Yes.”

  “Then how can you ever expect to do that when you dismiss everything that presents itself to you? Living a mortal’s life up until now, the life you’ve forgotten may seem overwhelming. But it is yours. And whether you like it or not, the fate of the Kiran Kingdom – your home, depends on what you do with that knowledge. So you can either deny your existence like a coward, or start living up to your history.”

  Saphora was silent, having the harsh awakening thrust upon her. Her jaw clenched and she replayed the words in her head.

  “So I will ask again. What was your dream about? It could very well be a fragment of a memory.” Saphora sighed, giving in.

  “Fire.”

  “Fire?”

  “Blue fire. I was surrounded by blue fire. And … being yelled at by this thing.”

  “A thing? What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. It had blue eyes, and … sharp teeth. I didn’t see its face. That’s all I saw.”

  “Arol,” Hydra mumbled with a smile. Saphora’s brows pinched together.

  “What?”

  “What you saw was Arol. He’s your guardian.”

  “No, what I saw was some kind of creature. Not one of you.” Hydra blinked, realizing she had lost her understand of guardians as well.

  “Guardians … Once we have joined our companion, we have the ability to alter our natural forms into one that resembles them.” Saphora scoffed.

  “So, what, you’re saying that you can turn into some giant monster?”

  “Water drakon,” Hydra corrected, somewhat up tightly. Saphora’s face flattened like she was being made a part of some really bad joke.

  “A water drakon,” she repeated mockingly.

  “Yes.”

  “Do it,” ordered Saphora. Hydra’s brows raised.

  “Do what?”

  “Turn into a water drakon.”

  Hydra let out a bubbling laugh as she shook her head at the understated request.

  “My god. I would tear your home apart if I were to do that here.”

  “So do it outside.”

  “Saphora, trust me. I assure you that you will see my natural state in due time. But now is neither the time, nor the place for such a thing.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because there are more important things to do. Like your training. And locating Arol.”

  “And what is Arol, huh? Another water drakon? Oh, or better yet, a fire dragon.”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “He is a fire dragon. Capable of breathing the blue flames that appeared in your dream. I think he was trying to call out to you.”

  Could that have been what she was hearing all those times? That horrid noise? Could it have been the sound of her guardian? Her logic wanted to deny it, but what she was hearing registered all too well.

  “It’s happened before, hasn’t it?” Hydra asked, having been watching Saphora’s shift in body language. “That dream?” Saphora shook her head.

  “No, but … I’ve heard it before. Him – his screaming.” Hydra’s eyes widened.

  “While you were awake?” Saphora nodded and Hydra stood up, walking towards the window to peer out of it. “That means he’s close by. Why does he not show himself?” she asked more to herself than to Saphora. Hydra turned to Saphora, who was now watching her. “Have you noticed a man following you?”

  “A man?”

  “Or maybe a boy. A child. Arol is quite young, if I remember correctly. His hair would be platinum, probably. Have you noticed anyone like that?”

  “Sorry. Until you and Tebias came along, I was the only one I noticed with weird hair.” Hydra blinked, her hand slowly raising to touch the ends of her hair.

  “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “It’s blue.”

  “Yes?”

  Saphora groaned.

  “Forget it. Look, I haven’t been followed by some weird kid with silver hair, okay? It could have been an airplane, for all I know.” Hydra sighed in annoyance.

  “Saphora. From this point on, you need to understand that nothing is out of the ordinary. You need to stop thinking of things like a human, and start understanding them like an Athenian.”

  “And what does that even mean?”

  “That means taking everything and anything into consideration until it has been disproved.”

  A sudden scraping noise on the side of the house caught their attention. Hydra spun around to face the window with palms of water, while Saphora leaned towards the edge of her bed in anxiety. Her heart raced as the scraping grew louder. It wasn’t long before a hand reached into the window, gripping at the frame. Grunting was heard as Hydra readied herself, taking a step forward. And then Maverick’s head popped up into the window frame, his other hand shooting forward to cling onto the wall in the room. Sweat beading his forehead, he smiled, looking around at the two women as he worked to pull himself into the bedroom.

  “Hey guys,” he grunted, before fumbling torso first onto the floor with a long exhaled breath. Saphora s
tared on in disbelief as Hydra lowered her hands, watching with raised brows.

  “Well,” Saphora groaned. “We’ve proven that my secret lays in the hands of an idiot.”