Showl walked in and lifted her armor off the bed, setting it aside on the low table against the wall before he sat down with a heavy sigh, his head hanging as he swept his hand through his white wild short hair.
Ange sat next to him, their combined weight sagging the mattress slightly, she leaned against him unintentionally and decide to stay there. Her head ended up resting on the feathers that showered his shoulders from his cape.
“Let me guess, I’m in trouble,” Ange puffed sarcastically.
She gasped shocked as Showl’s arm enveloped her and hugged her to his side. “Without a doubt,” he teased in a tight voice and Ange realized how difficult it was for him to restrain his true emotions in order to joke with her in attempt to comfort her. “I can’t turn away for one minute without you finding trouble.”
Ange smiled amused, feeling lucky to have such a good friend. “I keep telling you, I thrive in crime.”
“You don’t say,” he snorted, hugging her more tightly. “Only you could bring the Bookmen of Valtor into an uproar in less than an hour, the most patient and trained scholars in the world and somehow you found a way to get under their skin,” he sighed and shook his head amazed.
Ange pushed herself away and he let her go reluctantly as she shrugged with a tight grin on her face as she gazed up into his yellow eyes. “What can I say? It’s a gift.”
Showl scoffed in agreement. “More like a curse,” he corrected with a chuckle.
Ange shrugged, feigning innocent bewilderment as he rolled his eyes at her acting and smiled crookedly which always managed to make her heart beat a step more quickly.
A quiet knocking echoed from the door freezing them both. Ange glanced over surprised then turned back to look at Showl who was suddenly serious and grim.
“Come in,” he answered quietly.
The door creaked open as Asmanth walked in, a bowl of water in his right hand and a lit candle in the other.
“Forgive the intrusion, but I would like to ask a favor of you, Dracoligatus Angeline.”
Ange sat up straight, moving a foot away from Showl as she faced the old man.
“Sure,” she stammered surprised.
He placed both objects on the study desk, a foot apart.
“Come, I have devised an experiment. I have a suspicion I wish to confirm,” he stated calmly.
Ange nodded and stood up and stepped towards the desk as she looked at the dark water lit by the flickering flame of the candle.
“I would like to see you freeze the water,” he stated as he gestured to the still liquid, his eyes foggy.
Ange frowned confused and glanced at Showl who nodded to her to continue.
She shrugged and focused her attention on the liquid, it took only a mere moment to focus on it and create the connection to pull the energy out of the liquid. The small copper cup was quickly covered in a crust of frost as the water chilled into ice and began spiking towards her as its energy was added to her own. She stopped, realizing when she was pulling energy she was also pulling the water towards her if she was not careful to stop the flow.
Showl’s mind was filled with astonishment as he quickly came to her side as the ice began to let out a mist.
“When did you learn to do that?” he asked hushed, his voice strangely dark.
“You mean pull the energy?” she asked, he nodded. “Richard mentioned it today so I tried it on the window.”
As he glanced over, Ange realized it was still frozen over and she gawked shocked.
“It’s…still frozen?”
Showl frowned. “Yes…you froze it far below its freezing point.”
Ange glanced up at him astonished then turned to look at Asmanth who started with a similar dark stare.
“I see Lady Ileana’s concern,” he turned to look at her. “It is not normal for anyone to be able to learn nor perform something so complex without years of training.”
Ange glowered and sighed.
“Now, focus of the flame, make it grow in size and brightness,” he directed.
Ange looked at the flickering flame and focus on it. She extended her mind towards it…but something was wrong. She couldn’t feel it, like something was blocking her from reaching it. She focused more strictly on the fire and snarled, she tried to push past the barrier and realized it was in her mind and as much as she shoved and stabbed at it, she couldn’t move past it. She closed her eyes, trying to see what the barrier was, as she looked she realized what it was in a heartbeat.
“Why are you blocking me?!” she snarled up at Showl.
He gazed at her shocked. “What do you mean?” he asked baffled.
“You’re not letting me feel the fire!” she accused. “Your piece of soul keeps getting in the way, it won’t let me even feel it.”
He stared at her shocked.
“It’s as I suspected,” Asmanth whispered.
Ange whipped her gaze back at the old scholar, confused as he picked up the candle.
“You are without a doubt a thaumaturge, but you are also a Dragonbound. Dragons are naturally attuned to only one element, two or more is rare depending on their linage but they are even less powerful than a dragon that controls a sole element. The very essence that makes you a Dragonbound is preventing you from being a full elemental thaumaturge.”
Ange gazed on puzzled, waiting. Showl’s understanding washed through her as he realized what Asmanth spoke of.
“Only humans, albeit very rarely, have ever been able to control all the elements. So long as you have a dragon’s soul within you, you will never be able to control more than what your dragon can. His soul has no understanding of any other element than the one he was born into and to force it to understand more than what it is capable of would undoubtedly rip it asunder, thus it is protecting itself the only way it can, by blocking any of your attempts.”
Ange continued to stare, shocked as she understood his words, disappointment dawned on her at the revelation.
“A Dragonbound thaumaturge has never been born before, but it explains everything, your quick grasp to use psionics to even your natural control. Your natural power could naturally rival that of your dragon’s, something no other Dragonbound can truly boast of,” he mused as he stared at the flame, its reflection dancing in his dark blue eyes.
Ange stared, speechless.
“You are truly something unheard of, another unforeseen consequence of the bonding…” he whispered ominously.
Chapter 20: Sealed Pages
“I’m sorry about this.”
Ange glanced at Ileana, who had come the next day as soon as Showl had sent word for Asmanth through the rings the ten of them shared. She came through an impressive beam of light as dawn came over the tower and the Bookmen were happy yet upset to see her. They spent the entire morning convening while Ange wandered around looking for Richard who seemed to have simply disappeared which made her worry more as well as anger her for his childish behavior and determination to avoid her.
“Who’s taking it personal?” Ange asked jadedly as she walked up to the circular platform and made her way to the center.
“You know as well as I do that you’re taking this personally,” Ileana replied.
“Well who wouldn’t be?” Ange retorted, meeting the leader’s brown eyes.
She scowled and didn’t reply as Showl interjected.
“It will be alright, no need to be cross.”
“Spend another three hundred years with your powers locked away and tell me how you feel about it then,” she snapped back instantly.
He fell silent as she shot her stare to meet his yellow eyes, his gaze was hard but his mind burned with sympathy through their bond and Ange could feel how he desperately wished for another solution, making her feel terrible about her harsh remark.
She turned to stare at Asmanth, who was leading the sealing ritual. His eyes were apologetic as he uttered a single word that rushed a dark tide of lethargy through Ange.
“Somnus…”
Ange paged through an old book as she sat high above the ground on top of one of the many stone bookcases that circled the large round library. She glanced up at the round ceiling of the first floor, relating the symbols she could see on the roof to the ones in the book as the glow of the blue sol lantern next to her side provided the only light in the dark library. Felis was curled up next to the light, breathing slowly and the only other living thing in the ominous and ancient library with her.
It had been two months since she started her studies in the Tower of Ingled among the Bookmen of Valtor and since her powers had been resealed.
She sighed trying to reach for the core of her energy but once again to no avail, the barrier was still in the way, she could feel the seal, see it in her mind and almost understand it yet it somehow eluded her.
She returned her eyes back to her book and flipped the page, she had snuck her way into one of the restricted archives of the library and ‘borrowed’ one of the many books she was not even supposed to look at. She had been doing this on her free time since a week after the ceremony she couldn’t even recall because she had been unconscious.
She snorted to herself as she began to carefully read through the new page as she kept a vigilant eye from her high perch over the rest of the desolate library.
If Daren could see me now, he wouldn’t believe it. Heck, I can’t believe I am actually stealing books for me to read! She though amused, the idea half a year ago would never have even been conceivable to her.
Contracts and their Connection to the Mind was a book she had taken a keen interest in, it was her fifth time studying through the book and its five hundred old pages.
More like an obsessed attraction. As she admitted the book had a pull towards her just like the attracting force that led a dragon to their Soulbound.
A good portion of the book was actually blank, just as the council had once described but that didn’t stop Ange from trying to figure it out in hopes that it would give her the key to break the new seal she was under.
What was even more interesting about the book was its author, Harfang, Showl’s previous ancient incarnation.
It was difficult enough to try to understand Harfang’s complex and often incomplete explanations as the pages would suddenly be blank in the middle of a sentence, plus sneaking out of her room at night without waking Showl with her thoughts as she mused over the fragmented knowledge. It took a great deal of concentration to block him and read at the same time, she could no longer keep it up without effort since she had been impaired. Plus she could only keep it up a few minutes at a time, so she didn’t risk staying in the library for more than an hour each night.
She took out the small hand watch Asmanth had given her since he had her on a schedule. The copper device fit in the palm of her hand as it quietly ticked, the dials slowly moving beneath the plainly numbered surface. It reminded her of the one she had stolen from a noble’s pocket walking on the street one time several years back, it had been gold and encrusted with jewels, and had been tempted to keep it but instead sold it to Javaris.
It was about time for her to go back to her room and sleep for the night.
She wished she could discuss the book with Richard, but they were still not exactly on good terms. He made a point of avoiding her unless they were required to work together for their studies. He always appeared blank, staring at her coldly which drove Ange into anger and frustration.
It wasn’t her fault she had been born a thaumaturge nor that it was the reason she got more attention from the Bookmen. She was tired of his childish jealousy, and one of these days she was going to beat him for it if he continued. Yet she couldn’t help but feel proud she made him envious, just like the thieves of the Black Owls when her talents started to surface, it made her the center of attention, but in the end it was the reason she had been so well accepted by them and now out casted her from the rest.
Ange froze. A light had appeared in the library among the towering bookcases not far from her position. Felis’s eyes flew open as she twisted around as well, focusing slit eyes on the light as if it were a mouse.
She quickly closed the lantern, the owl-cat quickly disappearing form her side as Ange gently shut the book as she peered cautiously over the shelves in the dark. Her eyes quickly adjusted and she stared confused at the warm yellow light. It flickered and swayed, something no sol crystal did...
A candle? But candles are not allowed in the library…
Her curiosity peeked, she instinctively knew this new person wasn’t meant to be here, no Bookmen would dare bring any source of fire near their treasured library. She quietly stood up and quickly jumped over to the next shelf, glad she was not wearing any shoes or she could have slipped. She glanced at the light as it moved farther down one of the aisles.
Ange frowned curiously and jumped over to the next shelf and the next till there was only one wall of books between her and the new light.
She scanned the dark giant room as she looked towards the wall the light had originated from, a wall that she knew had no door…
A puzzling mystery was in the air, she could taste it. She vaulted over the last space and ended up in a crouch as she peered down the aisle curiously, the light had stopped moving.
She gazed perplexed at the back of a tall woman, caramel hair curling down all the way to her back as her light yellow dress reached towards her ankles, she also wore no shoes.
Ange knew all the twenty-eight Bookmen that resided in the tower, no one else lived here, so who was this woman?
Ange jumped down, her feet making a quiet impact and the woman froze where she had been reaching for a book.
“Who are you?” Ange asked quietly, curious as she stood up straight.
The woman twisted around, the book hugged to her chest as her olive tone eyes stretched wide with shock. She quickly sprinted away before Ange could get a good look at her face, the candle burning out as she ran.
“Wait!” Ange yelled after her and quickly pursued, just as she rounded the corner she paused shocked.
No one was there.
She scanned the bookshelves, between and above, nothing. The woman was gone.
Ange frowned bewildered, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness now that there was no light source. Even with her continually improving vision she could hardly see anything. She walked back to the shelf were the woman had been and inspected the books, her eyes lingering over the empty space. She looked over to the top of the shelf, memorizing the number before she turned away.
A flurry of snowflakes began to play at the back of her mind as she realized Showl was still dreaming and she had lost concentration chasing after the candlelight.
At least he didn’t wake. She conceded as she renewed her attempts to keep her thoughts from disturbing him. She pondered over the mysterious lady as she collected her belongings and returned the book to its original place behind a false wall and wondered how many more secret doors and walls she had yet to discover.
She wondered if the woman had disappeared behind such a wall and walked over to the place the candlelight had first originated.
Nothing, she couldn’t find anything, not a crook or cranny nor a loose stone brick.
Ange frowned at the conundrum as she existed the library and headed for her room upstairs. She started to wonder if ghosts existed, but the idea sounded ridiculous, as absurd as the existence of shape shifting dragons…
***
“Scolaris Bolaris,” Ange interrupted as her professor continued to explain the effect celestial bodies orbiting a planet had on its tides, and thus the weather, seasons, and so forth. She studied science heavily under the tutelage of the Bookmen, as well as philosophy, a subject she found quite bothersome but was apparently necessary for anyone in a leadership position to possess and understand.
Bolaris was the man that had first announced her as a thaumaturge, his grey eyes always held respect when she was around, his bald head and lack of
facial hair made his wrinkles all the more pronounce.
“Yes, Thaumaturge Angeline?” he asked quietly.
He was one of the few Bookmen that referred to her as such even though they had all become aware of the fact that she would never be able to use the full range of her inherit powers because she was also a Dragonbound. Bolaris, Herra, and a few of the other Bookmen had set out to study and find a way to unlock her powers despite this knowledge, they believed there was a way to circumvent the very nature that made her a Dragonbound without severing the bond, something that Phoenix had never even been successful in discovering nor her followers, the Adherent.
It was not like Ange wanted to be disconnected from Showl, much to her surprise. But she admitted it would be nice to be able to control all the elements someday, to be the most powerful Dragonbound to have ever lived…
“Are there such things as ghosts?” she asked absently. “I know it has nothing to with the lesson but…”
“There have been studies and theories,” he answered instantly, more than amicable to sate her interest. “Theories that remaining energy from a deceased being can linger, take shape, and often times be seen by the perceptive, with an imprint of the person’s final thoughts before death and this ‘ghost’ will eventually dissipate as the energy is dispersed. But personally, I do not agree. Why do you ask?”
Ange shrugged and lied smoothly, she wasn’t about to tell even Bolaris she had been sneaking into the library at night and reading forbidden books. “I thought I saw a woman yesterday afternoon in the library, she was young, wore a yellow dress, and had long caramel hair and grayish green eyes.”
Bolaris inclined his head confused with a deep frown. “Have you been sleeping enough or perhaps you are studying too much?” he asked concerned.
Ange scoffed. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “Maybe I was just a little tired.”
“If you feel you are working too hard, do not shy away from asking for a day of leisure.”
Ange tried to suppress a wicked grin, she admitted it was probably easy to manipulate Bolaris to her will, though Showl would never let her get away with it. Strangely enough she didn’t feel as compelled to do so anyways, she felt like she was slipping. She wasn’t the same person she had been five months ago, an opportunist thief. The knowledge bothered her even though she knew others would tell her to be proud of the change, Daren especially would have been overjoyed…
Sky Warriors: Poleuthan's Thief (Sky Warriors Saga Book 1) Page 33