Forgotten Magic (Elementals Book 1)
Page 19
“I think I saw something in the flames,” she said slowly.
Brean nodded and rubbed his bearded chin thoughtfully, “What did you see?” he asked and Kiræ explained as best as she could. She paused and stumbled over the details, feeling as if the vision was already fading from memory like a dream sometimes does if you try to cling to it too tightly.
Brean remained silent until she had finished, then he sat back, “It would appear that you have the gift of foresight,” he said looking at her and she looked confused, “it was actually quite a common gift once, used mainly to predict the weather so farmers knew what crops would be best to plant, or when the optimal harvest time was.” He smiled as if remembering a fond memory, “did the room look familiar to you?” he asked turning back to Kiræ who shook her head, “and you didn’t look much older than you are now?” she nodded, “then I think we can safely assume you saw a place that the two of you will visit in the near future.”
“Can I control this ability?” Kiræ asked.
Brean nodded and smiled, “Foresight works, as you have already seen, by gazing into fire and letting the shapes within tell you a story. When you become more confident you can ask a question, hold it in your mind and eventually with patience you will receive the answer.”
“And that’s how people could predict the weather?” Tom asked.
“Exactly, but come now, we have much more to cover this evening, Tom, perhaps you should try again.”
Aurora continued to breathe slowly and deeply as her senses heightened, she heard the thunderous crash of the waves on the beach, heard the raging crackle of the fire and heard the pounding of the snow falling against the earth. She embraced the noise as Draogo had taught her and eventually it quieted and settled, her body acclimatising to the change. She inhaled deeply and became almost overwhelmed by the salt and smoke in the air around her but again she embraced them and they too died away.
Aurora started to feel her dragon self, pulling at her and the desire, the need to be a dragon started to take over but she also felt the pull from her human self and the familiar battle between them. She had tried on numerous occasions to suppress her human self and allow her dragon self to emerge but this had resulted, every time, in her losing consciousness. This time she embraced her dragon self and her human self and she felt a wave of calm wash over her as the two halves of her soul were joined.
Aurora felt a slight tingling across her skin and opened her eyes wide as she felt it begin to stretch. She looked down at her arms, which were now a pale aquamarine and her mouth fell open as glittering scales erupted across the surface. She saw her fingers extend and claws grew from her fingernails, she saw her arms elongate and widen, growing new muscle. Aurora felt her backbone extend as her body grew longer and felt the strange and yet completely natural swish of her own perfectly formed tail behind her. She noticed new teeth had grown in place of those she already had and they were razor sharp.
She exhaled deeply causing a fine mist to sprout from her newly formed snout. Lastly she felt her wings; they had wriggled their way through the skin between her shoulder blades and she unfolded them spreading them wide, turning her graceful, slender neck to look at them as they shimmered in the moonlight. Aurora flexed her clawed feet, swished her tail that tapered to a smooth point, and roared. Draogo stared up at the newly transformed aquamarine dragon and laughed, Aurora roared again.
“Well done,” he said.
“I feel so free,” she told him, “can I fly?”
“Give it a try,” he replied backing away from her, she looked quizzically at him, or at least she tried to, she wasn’t sure what it looked like in dragon form.
Draogo seemed to understand and he smiled at her, “I’m going to join you,” he said and he unfurled before her once again into the deep sapphire dragon that was his other self.
Kiræ had just released the elements after failing to have them follow her commands when she noticed the beautiful aquamarine and sapphire dragons in the mouth of the cave, a small ball of jealousy wriggled inside her.
“That’s amazing,” she breathed and Tom nodded in agreement.
“It truly is an amazing feeling,” Brean said and Kiræ noticed there was a slight longing in his amber eyes.
“Wait,” she said as realisation hit her, “are you a dragon too?” He merely smiled at her which was all the answer she needed, “why don’t you then?”
“Why don’t I what?” he asked.
“Join them?”
“My dear they hardly need an old soul like me ruining their fun.” He watched as Aurora stepped forwards, began beating her powerful wings and was almost instantly lifted into the sky, she’s a natural, Brean thought watching as his son followed her path into the dark sky, and he needs to be careful.
Brean turned back to the twins, “Come now, Tom, I believe it’s your turn again.”
“Brean?” Tom asked, “are you still going to teach us to control earth?”
“Of course,” he replied, “I was going to suggest we focus on earth once your official training with Sir Nyme is complete. The twins nodded and Tom clasped Kiræ’s hand before closing his eyes and focusing on the elements that surrounded them.
Aurora felt free and she felt alive, truly alive, as if the first twenty years of her life had been spent sleeping and now she was now awake. She couldn’t believe she had spent her whole life in her restricting human form. The feeling of flying was even more amazing than she had imagined, she felt a thrill from Draogo chasing her though the flurrying snowflakes, nipping at her tail as she swirled through the air, beating her powerful wings.
She roared again, it was full of pure joy though she wasn’t sure those who heard it would know that. She wanted to see the rest of her kin, wanted to be accepted into the clan. She wanted to play with the hatchlings, to help them fly, to see them breathe, breathe, she hadn’t breathed yet, not truly. She needed to know if she was a fire or an ice breather but she wasn’t even sure she knew how to breathe. Aurora spun round in the air to face Draogo, who stopped abruptly and cocked his head at her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, “but I want to breathe.” He nodded in understanding and signalled that they return to the beach, which she did, though a little reluctantly.
“You’re a natural flyer” he told her once they had landed, “I believe you’ve been waiting for this all your life.” She looked at him in amazement, if dragons could even show amazement, he seemed to know everything she was feeling. “I think you will find breathing equally natural,” he continued and stood next to her in front of the gently crashing waves of the sea. “To breathe,” he explained, “you need to take a deep breath, one that comes from the soul, then release it.” He demonstrated, taking a breath and releasing a thick stream of red/orange flames as he exhaled, they twirled in the night sky, illuminating the two dragons briefly before disappearing, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind them. Aurora took a deep breath and exhaled, nothing happened, she tried again and still nothing emerged but a thin trail of mist. She snorted in irritation.
“You’re not breathing deeply enough,” Draogo said, “try again.” Aurora closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, she felt a cool tingle spread through her and she exhaled slowly, or so she thought. A jet of what looked like turquoise flame shot from her mouth into the night sky, the flames flickered and twirled as Draogo’s had then dispersed into the air leaving a thin mist behind. She looked startled and Draogo roared with laughter.
“Do it again,” he said nudging her with his snout, “aim at those rocks.” She turned and faced a large group of what would have been considered boulders were she in human form and breathed again. The turquoise flame erupted from her mouth and hit the rocks below, coating them in a thin layer of ice.
Her mouth remained open in amazement, but no more icy flame sprung forth, “I’m an ice breather,” she said smiling to herself.
“You’re an ice breather,” Draogo confirmed, �
�we should turn back,” he told her as she looked ready to fly again, “it’s getting late.”
“But I’m free,” she said almost defiantly.
“You must not think of your human self as a prison,” Draogo told her, “your dragon form and your human form are both part of you, you have two halves and both are important, both of them make you whole.” Aurora continued to look defiant, she was reluctant to change back, she wanted to fly again, to be free and have him chase her. Sensing her thoughts Draogo began to shrink before her, he sank lower and lower towards the ground, his limbs getting smaller, his beautiful sapphire skin paling to a deep bronze. The glittering scales that had adorned his body were absorbed back into his skin while his scruffy dark hair and beard sprouted from his scalp and chin.
Eventually when he looked human sized again he rose from a crouched position to stand upright before her.
“Return to your human self, Aurora,” Draogo half commanded and reluctantly, very reluctantly she agreed. She felt inside herself for her two ‘self’s’ could feel the human form tugging at her urgently and she embraced it, as she had before, along with her dragon form.
She felt sadness and regret as her limbs started to contract, her backbone shrank and she saw her claws retract back into her fingers which were rapidly becoming smaller. Her skin also paled and her scales sank into her skin. The ground rose slowly to meet her and she stood from her crouching position to face the now human Draogo. It was then that she realised she was naked.
Chapter 23
Aurora screamed and tried to cover her modesty with her hands; Draogo handed her a cloak, all the while averting his eyes. She grabbed for it and wrapped it around herself quickly, feeling the cold air nip at her exposed arms.
“Where are my clothes?” she demanded staring at Draogo accusingly.
“They’re back in the cave,” Draogo explained turning to her, he had a long piece of cloth wrapped round his waist but his chest and arms were exposed and Aurora found herself staring at his muscular form. Draogo noticed and she blushed.
“Why aren’t my clothes on me?” she asked shivering slightly, “and why aren’t you cold?”
Draogo shrugged and watched her as she continued to shift the cloak upwards as if worried she might expose herself further, he smiled.
“You are aware you just shape-shifted into a dragon.” She shot him a look and he smiled, placed a hand on the back of her arm and began to guide her towards the fire. “Dragons don’t really fit into human clothes,” he explained, “they tend to rip and tear.”
“Are you telling me I’ve just ruined my clothes?!”
“Why do you think I told you not to wear anything important,” he laughed and she scowled at him, “as for not feeling cold, that’s me tapping into my dragon senses, in dragon form you don’t really get hot or cold, so I use it to my advantage, you’ll learn to access it in time.” They reached the fire and he smiled fondly at her, noticed his father had raised an eyebrow at him and released Aurora from his grasp.
“You could have told me to bring a spare set of clothes,” she said scowling at Draogo again, who laughed once more.
“Honestly, I was worried if you knew what would happen you’d be reluctant to change at all.” Her expression softened and she held her hands towards the flames taking care not to let the cloak slip from around her chest.
“Ror, that was amazing!” Kiræ said, “you looked so beautiful.”
“It was amazing,” Aurora admitted, “I felt so free and alive. I would love to meet the other dragons someday,” she turned to Draogo apparently no longer mad at him, “if you’ll let me that is.”
“Of course,” he said a little too quickly and Brean shot him another look, “I mean I’m sure it can be arranged for the future,” he said recovering himself, “after all they are your kin too.” She smiled, feeling her body begin to warm from the fire, then yawned.
Brean looked at the three of them huddled together, “If you are willing, I would like Tom to try and use Elementa Validus once more, I know you’re close to combining the four elements and think it would be useful to see whether you do possess the ability.” Tom nodded and held a hand out towards his sister, who clasped it firmly. He listened to Kiræ’s suggestions for combining the four elements as well as how she finally managed to alter their combined base form. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
As usual he found the elements easily and began by combining air and fire followed quickly by earth. He nudged the three closer to water, feeling the faint resistance he had become used to, but eventually, after what felt like hours of coaxing, the water element combined with the other three.
He sat listening to the vibrations coming from the combined elements, trying to become familiar with them and then he attempted to alter their form. He commanded they change to help him remove the threats around him but nothing happened, and considering there were no threats around him, he wasn’t surprised. He sighed heavily and took another approach.
I’m not sure if you can hear my thoughts, he began and he felt a sudden surge in their vibrations, if you have the ability to change form, could you? there was another surge from the vibrations but nothing happened, they didn’t alter. Tom continued to ask, order and command the elements to alter their base form but each attempt was futile. Eventually he gave up and released the elements slowly, he felt exhausted, deflated and a little envious of her sister and her magic though he pushed those feelings aside quickly.
“What did you manage?” Brean asked.
“I was able to combine all four,” Tom said with a disappointed smile, “I think I even communicated with them, but they didn’t change, I don’t think they could.” He sighed and Brean nodded slowly.
“I suppose that answers our question,” he patted Tom’s arm gently as if knowing what thoughts were racing through the young man’s head.
Tom forced a more convincing smile, “At least we can now focus on Kiræ’s power alone,” he said with just a little too much enthusiasm.
“I think perhaps we should finish for the night,” Brean said rising and rubbing his hands together, “you three had better get yourselves back to your rooms and get some sleep.” They nodded began to walk back towards the city, Tom gave Aurora his shoes, despite them being too big for her and put his jacket round her shoulders as she started shivering again, she wrapped it round herself gratefully.
“What was it like?” Kiræ asked as they left the beach.
“It was amazing,” Aurora replied, “I’ve never felt anything like it, I felt so free.”
“You looked like you were having fun.”
Aurora nodded and grinned at her friends, “Flying is amazing, it’s probably the best feeling I know.”
“What was the change like?” Tom asked curiously.
“It’s an odd feeling,” she said thinking back to her transformation, “it doesn’t exactly hurt, but I definitely felt my body ache.”
“Draogo did say that would happen the first few times,” Tom reminded her.
“I think the reason it felt odd is because it feels wrong and at the same time it feels right, I felt like I was in the wrong and right body simultaneously.”
“Sounds confusing,” Kiræ said as they weaved their way through the quiet, empty streets.
“It is,” Aurora agreed, “but once I changed everything felt natural, as if I’d always been that way, I just hope I’m able to do it again.”
“Surely it won’t be too difficult now you’ve done it once,” Kiræ said.
“I don’t know,” Aurora admitted as the deserted training ground came into view, “but I hope not.”
“You need to be careful,” Brean said sternly turning to his son when the trio were out of earshot.
“Careful?” Draogo asked folding his arms and gazing steadily at his father.
“You know what I mean,” Brean replied an unfamiliar undertone of anger in his voice, “she is young, easily influenced and new to the experience.”
“I have my hands full at the moment.”
Draogo snorted, “If you’re going to lie, at least make it a good one, you’ve obviously seen something important.” Brean remained silent and Draogo smiled in satisfaction, “I thought so, what have you seen? What part am I to play in this game of yours?”
“None of this is a game,” Brean said sternly, “and you know I can’t reveal what I’ve seen, I can’t risk damaging the future.”
“You didn’t seem too bothered when Kiræ saw something.”
“How do you know about that?” Brean asked in surprise.
“You’re getting forgetful in your old age,” Draogo replied smiling, “dragon hearing remember.”
Brean scowled and turned to walk towards the city, “What she saw was ambiguous, it could happen tomorrow or in several seasons.”
“Admit it,” Draogo said barring his father’s way, “you’ve become bored on this land and you’re using these people to alleviate that boredom.” Brean’s eyes flashed and Draogo took a step back, “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, “I didn’t mean to compare you to…him.”
Brean relaxed and his face returned to its familiar serene expression, he put an arm round his son’s shoulders. “I’m not playing with these people son,” he said gently, “I’m trying to correct a mistake I made years ago.”
“But why them? They’re just children.”
“Because they’re her children.”
“And what about Aurora, where does she fit into this?”
Brean smiled sadly, “That I’m afraid is something I can’t tell you.”
Kiræ had decided to take an early morning run to try and remove her frustration; every night she had tried to recreate the protection shield and every night she had been unsuccessful. She now had no problems combining the elements, she was even feeling more confident with altering their form, but no matter how hard she tried, how much she begged, the barrier wouldn’t leave her. Tom had also tried a few more times, Brean had insisted, but had eventually concluded that Tom didn’t have the opposite to her magic.