— You still haven't told what it's like to be an almakin, Garo-lin – he changed the subject, laughing at the way she had spoken: a strange mixture between the pronounced almaki mode of speaking and the sung way of the vilashis, who was stubbornly returning.
Even fumbled by this inconvenience, she thought a little before answering. Her village did not escape from Almakia's general thought that the almakins were superior beings. Even for her childhood friend, it might not be a good idea to talk about all their arrogance and how she was treated at the Institute.
— It’s good – she said simply, hoping he would not ask for details.
— And who exactly are those your friends? You said they are Dragons, but-
— Do you know what Dragons are? – she interrupted him in surprise.
— We go to Routes and we know some things, yes, Garo-lin – he seemed a little offended by her reaction. – I know that Dragons are important souls and there aren't too many of them.
— There are five, actually.
— And you know them all?
— Yes – she replied, swallowing the sadness that had almost come loose.
— Unbelievable!
And it was her turn to laugh. To hear someone else, apart from herself, speak it was something extraordinary. And this exclamation also made her think differently: it was really unbelievable that she knew the Dragons.
And for a moment she dared to feel proud of it.
But she soon realized that she was being an idiot and that, in fact, wasn't something to be proud of.
— Who are these who are in the village?
— The Dragons of Lightning and Fire. They are from the Fire Capital, where the Institute is located – responded quickly, hoping that he wouldn't be interested in knowing more.
— And the green-haired girl?
Clutching herself on this hook to divert the conversation altogether, Garo-lin set herself to talk extensively about something she felt comfortable with, which would certainly be more fascinating than the Dragons:
— Her name is Kidari and she came from Overseas, a very distant place! She's also in the Institute and studies with me, almost in the same situation as mine: she's a handler, even though she is not from an almakin family – she preferred to hide the fact that she was the Kodo Princess, even though she had not accepted that fact yet.
— You must be very important there, Garo-lin. Meeting people like this.
— Me?! Important? – she kicked a rock on the way. – I'm not very important... it was just... a combination of factors.
— That... the one with the hair that looks like crooked claws, with an angry look – he began awkwardly, gesturing to explain who he was talking about. – Who is he?
Garo-lin remembered her mentor coming down from the mombelula when Garo-nan had hugged her and made a point of separating the two while scolding her for jumping dangerously from the creature. Even though she did not understand the delayed scolding, she felt that she would be able to give one of those flaming punches to the dragon right there if it were not for the fact that there were so many witnesses around. Garo-nan seemed to have been struck by the way he had acted, and he had surely come to the same conclusion, that almakian was not a good person.
— It's the Fire Dragon. He is my responsible outside the Institute and isn't usually friendly, as you may have realized. So you better help me tell people to be careful what they say to him.
— So you should have said that from the beginning, Garo-lin! They must be with my mother now, and she hasn't changed anything the way you knew her.
— You-your mother?! – she almost gasped, startled, and immediately began to run the rest of the way that was missing.
***
Garo-lin ran all over the village, begging with all her might that the Dragons had not done any nonsense during that time.
Garo-nan's mother was not exactly the kind of person who would please them. She liked to talk and often talked too much. They could very well interpret something she said as offensive, and after that she did not even want to imagine the consequences.
But when she reached the Godan's house through the back door, pulling off her boots anyway, throwing them on the stone steps, running into the conference room, and opening the door almost breaking with the impact against the slot, she encountered an unlikely scene: the Dragons were not only fully behaved, each sitting in the best possible way within the vilashi style, as they looked like extremely educated people, perfectly performing their visiting role.
She took a deep breath, trying to recover all the air she had lost, and leaned against the side of the door, letting herself slip until she fell to the floor lined.
— Ah, if it is not our Garo-lin! – Godan's mother just lacked clapping hands to demonstrate her contentment, getting up expertly and going to greet her with a hug. – Why were you running like this, girl? Miss me?
— Hello, Mother Godan – she greeted, letting herself squeeze, only now realizing that the attitude she had had was from someone who had invaded the house.
Kidari waved her enthusiastically, her mouth full of muffins, while she wet one of them in her glass of juice, to her foreign taste. The Lightning Dragon just stared at her and did not look as pleased with the snack as his protégé. The Fire Dragon was restless, as if he thought he should get up or not, clearly showing that he could not stand it anymore.
— Garo-nan! – Godan's mother shouted at her ear, dropping her soon after and going to greet her son, whom she had lost to her friend in the race, a conquest of her with the training of the last days. – Where were you? We have important visits!
— I was with Garo-lin, mother – he informed, taking off his shoes to enter the house.
— Oh, yes, good boy. Come here – she pulled both Garos by the arms and laid them on the table, so that they would sit side by side. – Now be good kids and talk to our special guests! – she messed up their hair and then asked the others: – Aren't they cute? Not so long ago the two of them ran together through the village, and look how grown up they are now!
— Mom! – begged Garo-nan, while Garo-lin thought the idea of sticking under the table a bit tempting.
— Our Garos were born on the same day and therefore have the same name – she said. – If we wanted to find one, it was just looking for the other, they were always together. When Garo-lin left, my Garo-nan cried for a long time.
— Mom! – he almost threw himself on top of her, to stop her from continuing, and cast an unsightly glare at Garo-lin.
Kidari laughed, as if it was a fun scene, while her mentor just took another sip of juice, summing up his interest in the subject. The Fire Dragon stared at her, to the point that Garo-lin felt uncomfortable with it. What did he want?
He would probably pay attention to every shameful detail about his childhood that Garo-nan's mother could release, to use against her later.
— Your friends have told me that they are almakins of the Fire Capital, Garo-lin. You could make some colorful explosions for us tonight, wouldn't you? Kids would love it! Everyone would love it! It's a unique opportunity!
Colorful explosions? Ask the Fire Dragon to make colorful explosions for vilashis from the Inland Valley? Only the thought was totally out of character.
Garo-lin thought quickly of an excuse and began to shred it:
— I'm sorry, Mother Godan. But we can't use our almaki without-
— It will be a pleasure – the Fire Dragon's voice cut off hers, and Garo-lin stared at him.
Then he gave that satisfied smile of those who made something, and she was sure that he would be in more trouble until the end of that night.
Chapter 13 – Gu-ren tomatoes
— What?! – Garo-lin almost choked to hear the order of her superior.
— It's impossible for her to do this in an hour, Kris! – Zawhart tried to put some common sense inside his friend's hard head.
— Of course, it is possible! – the Fire Dragon replied in a tone th
at made it very clear that there was nothing that could make him change that thought. – I'm her mentor and I know very well what is possible or not! If you want colorful explosions in this festival, she has to do it!
After promising Mrs. Godan that they would have colored explosions that night, the Fire Dragon dragged Garo-lin out of the log fortress on a hill just above the village, and there he declared that they could train without anyone bothering them. Zawhart still tried to follow him, with Kidari following in his footsteps, to persuade his friend that this was absurd, but the leader seemed convinced that he could easily.
And, faced with the declared stubbornness, the Lightning Dragon gave a defeated and impatient sigh, calling:
— Kidari Dema, Go back to the books. We can't waste time playing games like them.
— There are no games! – Dul'Maojin growled. – Really! I'm teaching here!
— Yeah, yeah – Zawhart replied as he left without actually listening.
Kidari looked imploringly at Garo-lin, saying without saying that she did not want to study, not now, when there were so many new and curious things in front of her. But Vilashi had no way of worrying about her friend at the time, being herself in trouble.
How could she learn how to make colored flames in less than an hour? Besides being superior, did her mentor now go mad?
But crazy or not, she could not escape. Especially after Mrs. Godan had run to the front door of her house and spread that novelty to the whole village. Laughing out of the other side of her face, Garo-lin watched the children run around celebrating and any thought of saying did not die before she even graduated.
— Here – Dul'Maojin said, throwing her something he took out of his coat pocket.
If Garo-lin did not have a good reflection, it probably would have hit his forehead. Fortunately, he had managed to react when the object was already close to his face, taking it with his hands.
— This is from Benar, don't break! – he reported rudely, while Garo-lin turned in her hand what looked like a glass ball. – Move the smoke inside with your fingers.
She had seen the Wind Dragon playing with that ball in the Dul'Maojin Fortress, but she had never been interested in knowing what it was. But now, having it in hand and being able to see it so closely, she had an impression of how it worked.
As soon as she pressed her fingers on the glass surface, it was large enough to fit perfectly into her hands – which was quite relative, since it would fit in only one of the hands of the Wind Dragon –, the smoke inside was gathered in the ten points, forming small accumulated spirals.
— This is used as training by the Wind Family – he explained. – As the wind is something that we can’t see, this ball is fundamental for the practice of the little ones who are still having notion of handling... it isn't something vilashi as you deserve, but it is a quick way to learn – then, realizing that she only held the object, not knowing how to continue, he sighed in annoyance and looked around, looking for something that could help her understand. – Your village, this party you are making – the dragon pointed down where it was possible to see people moving in the center, intent on hanging the lanterns in the center tree before it darkened. – They have instruments, don't they? Or you, besides not having sidewalks, don't have music?
— Of course! We-
— Handling colored flames is much like playing an instrument – he cut her off immediately, as if the question and the answer made no difference in the context. – No matter what form it has and what it produces, you need to keep a rhythm and vary the tones. The rhythm is your almaki, the colors are the tones. If you trust your almaki, you can focus on shaping. Imagine that this sphere is like an instrument. First, turn the smoke on fire and then mentalize and visualize a color for each finger. The second step is to change these colors, and the third is to move them... – he stopped, noticing something. – Why are you looking at me with that stupid face?!
Garo-lin recovered herself and tried to disguise her astonishment. She could not let the dragon see how impressed she was with that explanation.
Unlike the previous training, this time he had been bothering to illustrate, not only had he taken simple steps and had demanded that she be able to handle perfectly. Even as he spoke impatiently, as if he were being forced to do the worst thing in the world, she understood what she should do.
— Any almakin child can use this ball, vilashi! – he growled, folding his arms and looking uncomfortable. – It doesn't take a first-rate almaki to make colorful explosions! Will I need to make drawings so that... AAAAAAH!
He couldn't finish. Something ran up and crashed against his knees, knocking him to the ground.
— WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT- – but the dragon did not finish what he was going to say.
When he was able to lift his head and see that what he had hit him was a boy who gasped furiously, with his feet on the floor in a pre-attack position, Dul'Maojin stared at the child in a threatening way. Garo-lin held her breath and almost dropped the ball. Definitely, two vilashis would disappear in that moment of Almakia.
— Mio-lin! What do you... – a girl came soon after, calling for the boy. – Garo-lin?
Forgetting the terrible end she had for her and the boy, Garo-lin recognized her sister, and for a moment hesitated, wondering if she could drop the ball to run to her. But the Dragon rose quickly and stood in front of him, warning:
— We are in the middle of a training here! Go away!
Mira-lin stared at him, trying to understand, since she had probably only recently arrived in the village with her class and had not been able to hear much about the novelties. Then she held the boy by the shoulders and apologized:
— We're going down, then.
— No! – Garo-lin asked, instinctively.
Not knowing what to do, Mira-lin looked from the dragon to her sister.
— Stay – he ordered, not looking like someone who really agreed, and then added, specifically to the boy: – But don't disturb!
In response, the little one showed his tongue to him in a clearly offensive gesture.
— Mio-lin! – the girl rebuked him, but that was not enough for the dragon.
— Is that so, little vilashi? – Dul'Maojin raised a hand sharply in front of him.
In a way that Garo-lin could not explain, in half a second, she dropped the ball and threw herself in front of her brother, staying in the dragon's attack field.
— Don't touch him! – she threatened him, staring at him in a way that told intensely what she would be able to do without her brothers needing to know everything the situation involved.
The Fire Dragon was silent for a moment, facing the deadliest gaze he had ever received in life, even this one coming from the yellow eyes of a vilashi. Then he replied:
— Don't confuse me with you, vilashi! – and moved his hand one, two, three times, producing three small flames with each movement, one of each color. Then he picked them up in a quick gesture, tapping the palm of his other hand, and what came out of it was the combination of the three in a flame in the shape of a mombelula. He bent down to keep up with the boy, and held out his hand to him. Marvel at what he saw, as if he were bewitched, Mio-lin left behind Garo-lin and approached. When he was almost touching the flames, the dragon crushed them with one more slap, and that formed several miniature mombelulas, that left flying around. Without wasting time, the boy began to chase after them, trying to grab them.
— Unbelievable! – Mira-lin exclaimed, delighted with what she had seen. – You're an almakin like my sister! – and then ran after the boy, accompanying him on the hunt for the glittering mombelulas.
Garo-lin could not believe it. Was it an absurd dream of hers or the great Fire Dragon making a demonstration of almaki for her insignificant vilashis brothers?
When he got up and stood beside her, watching those two jumping in the grass, she had to ask:
— Are you going to teach me how to do that?
The dragon did not an
swer. Once more he stared at her in silence, as if suddenly he saw something interesting in her. And it was with a shock that Garo-lin realized she was smiling. Smiling with that gesture that had left her brothers happy. And so she had spoken to her mentor with the same ease and openness she spoke to Garo-nan.
Then, trying to act as if that had not really happened, she picked up the ball on the floor and changed the question, trying to disguise the embarrassment:
— I mean, can I do something like that?
Dul'Maojin ran a hand through the unfortunate mess of his hair, in his usual attempt to make them worse than they already were, and revealed as if it were something simple:
— It's a Family Secret.
That statement struck her with a heavy impact that canceled her movements. Had the Fire Dragon just used a Family Secret to entertain her brothers?!
— Secrets shouldn't be revealed – she murmured worriedly.
Would the Dragon be so irresponsible as to show the Dul'Maojin Secrets to anyone?
Understanding the tone she had used and practically reading her thoughts, he defended himself:
— I don't do this always! A Family Secret can't be revealed to anyone! – and, perceiving the contradiction of what he had said, he tried to amend. – It's not like you matter, vilashi! It was just a combination of favors! Go train! Now! – and turned away from what she had already classified as his usual bored pose, trying to hide his hands in the pockets of his coat so as not to run the risk of using his almaki again.
Even she did not understand all that had just happened, Garo-lin watched the brothers walking down the hill, with Mira-lin waving and shouting that she would talk to her later, probably in a hurry to tell what she had just seen to others... very well! Now everyone would be expecting at the very least colorful explosions in the shape of mombelulas, and that was beyond even the vision of her mentor's possible.
Knowing that whining would only make her lose more time, she turned her attention to the training ball, pressing her fingers to gather the smoke in points. No matter how crazy it is to try to learn how to make colorful explosions in less than an hour, the possibility of using her almaki in the same way the Dragon did was tempting and it was not hard to take that chance.
Almakia_The vilashi and the Dragons Page 17