by Kenna Bardot
"But, that’s not what you have to train on. I know we were trying the fire exercise earlier but since you seem stuck, may I suggest a change? Has she tried to fly?" Chett asked as Thorus walked forward and Chett laid a hand on the side of his neck. It was done so casually I could see it was just natural. Not something either of them thought about in much the same way I knew they didn't think of the stones that swirled with color on Chett's forehead or on Thorus' chest.
“No, she hasn't tried to fly." I shook my head, and I felt a thud in my chest. Nerves. I didn't know why I was nervous, but as I looked at Hydra I knew it was her - she didn’t want to think about flying. She didn’t want to fly. She didn’t want to fall.
"Yes. Fly. Do this." He traced a semi-circle in front of him that made Thorus hover over the ground. I copied the motion and Hydra just tilted her head at me. I narrowed my eyes at her and repeated the movement more forcefully and with confidence. Not just in me, but to her. I believed that she could do it. I reminded myself of it. Reminded myself it should be a dance between us.
She flapped at her wings tentatively and hovered over the ground a little. I shot her a smile but felt something run down my spine when she tried to huff out a plume of fire and it sent her careening backwards with a mewling sound. Thorus reached forward to stop her motion but as she was going in the opposite direction, she hit a tree before he could.
I rushed towards her and saw that she had several scales with scratches on them and even one or two that were bent. "Oh, poor baby,” I cooed to her, stroking the scales gently and tugging her into my arms.
"She tried to do too much too fast. A willful one, that is." Chett reached out and a bed of vines grew under Hydra to properly cushion her.
"As a Majele, you can make a healing potion for her, Mireyah. Because her blood runs through you, you should be able to understand how to make her better." Haisley touched a hand to my arm.
"I... can't. I'm not a very effective Majele," I admitted with regret that I hadn't done more to get better at it.
“That’s okay. We’ve called for Jas, so she should be here soon. I’m a Leven but I only function well as a Medic for my own Thorus and Gods and Goddesses. With how old and different dragon magic is, it takes a special connection or a special touch. Those of us who are bonded have a special connection with our own dragons, but Jas can treat all dragons. Special touch.” He looked down at Hydra, whose eyes were half-closed. “How is she feeling?”
“Not too peachy, I don’t think. There’s a lot of pain and discomfort. And I think…” I paused as I tried to remember, shaken when it was like I was in her mind. “I think she remembers too well the circumstances when she came to this world. The way it feels, it doesn’t seem very pleasant.”
Chett gave me a sad smile as he shared a look with his wife. “Kimba. Sometimes, when a dragon’s egg hatches, the mother doesn’t nest and instead flies off to hide. That’s what Kimba did, and Trellis went with her. All we saw were the broken eggshells, but they were gone.”
“Yes, horrible. So horrible.” I bent over in pain, not from the superficial wounds that Hydra had, but from whatever horrid turmoil was turning around in her brain. I struggled to breathe in deep.
“I don’t mean to berate you, Mireyah, but if you used your Majele powers, you could help her.” Chett paused and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look up to where Haisley pointed.”Nevermind, Jas is here.”
With a ground-shaking thud, Jas and Iva landed and barely a few seconds later, Jas rushed up to me. “What happened? Why aren’t we teaching her to do first aid on her dragon?” She glared at Chett and I waved a hand weakly in front of me.
“My fault, I’m so bad at being a Majele, I can’t muster up anything.” I stopped to take a breath, holding a hand to my head. “I don’t even think it was hitting the tree that did this.”
“No, you’re right. Here.” She thrust a bottle at me before she wrapped Hydra in a green light. Almost instantly, I felt a calm wash over me, and I took the potion she gave me as soon as I was able.
When the light died down, Hydra still lay on the bed of vines, but her eyes were shut and I knew she was sleeping peacefully.
“Your Hydra is safe. However, I can’t always be there if you need me and she or you get injured. If you don’t want to have to go through that again, I suggest you work on your Majele. Or, I can just give you a bag of potions and elixirs you can cart around.” Jas gave me a long look before plucking another potion from her bag and tossing it to me.
I caught it and turned it over in my hand thoughtfully. “Do the other Dragon Guards do that?”
She shrugged as she touched a hand to Hydra’s forehead. “Those who aren’t Majele or Leven do.”
“Okay then, I’ll work on it.” And I would, even if I had to swallow my pride and face my fears to do so.
Nine
Mireyah
“Won’t be long now, Hydra.” I looked down at her, and I knew that if she had two legs she would drag her feet. I chuckled. “I know it’s our day off and you wanted to relax but I have to be able to help you out if you get injured again. We both know it will happen again with the nature of our lives, so might as well do something to help.” She flipped her tail to the side so it hit my leg. “Mature, Hydra, really mature.”
I smiled at her, but the grin fell from my face when we reached the entrance to the Majele area in the Western region of Demiorgo. There was a grouping of tall, silver structural sculptures that exuded a strength and fluidity that somehow fit the House of Majele.
Surprisingly, it was the first time I’d been there. From the moment I’d Ascended, I’d been taken to serve in the Northern region. There’d been no cause for me to journey to Majele House.
My heart thudded in my chest with nerves and excitement. In the past, I’d wished that I could just do my duty in the West and not have to go to the North ever again.
But I’d been so scared that the West would reject me just as fully as the North had. Now, I had the Dragon Guard so I felt a lot more strength in entering the unknown.
I walked further into the area feeling a little lost. I hoped that the place would be welcoming, at the least more than the North had been. But instead it felt like a less hostile, slightly more welcoming place. Indifferent, almost. Aloof.
The big Majele estate was a sprawling marble structure surrounded by waist-high fencing, inside of which several Majeles plus a few Nastrojs and Karfis were busy going about their lives. Turning from the busy area, I walked instead to a park where there were an equal number of trees and the same sort of metal sculptures that had been at the entrance to the Majele area.
I wandered around. No one paid me much mind, everyone went about their business. But no one looked at me in disgust or animosity. Hydra, of course, got a few looks but as a dragon, I felt like it was to be expected.
“Are you lost?” a voice asked and I turned to see a young-looking, curvy Majele seated on a metal stool in front of a tiny circular table. On the table sat a board along with a couple of pieces. Like chess, but upon further inspection, not quite. “I’ve noticed you wandering about aimlessly for a while.”
“Noelle…” the slightly older-looking Goddess who sat across from her said in a low tone.
“Oh! Actually…” I trailed off, wary about asking help from a couple of strangers but really what choice did I have?
“Can we help you?” the older Majele said with a small smile. The grin was slightly distracted, and I could imagine I wasn’t such a welcome sight as I barged in on their game.
“I just… I’ve been having difficulties with my Majele powers. Truth be told I haven’t been practicing but the Kald was easy so I simply ignored it.” I watched the frown form in between her brows and fully expected to be turned away.
“You’re the newly-Ascended with the five males and two colors. You’ve garnered a lot of curiosity here in the West especially when the North reassigned you to us. Of course, you’ve become a Dragon Guard have you not?�
� She eyed Hydra curiously, who simply scurried behind me.
“That’s me. I’m Mireyah Dracari, and that’s one of the primary reasons I needed help,” I admitted. “I was afraid to come for help,” I admitted.
“She’s pretty,” the younger Goddess, Noelle, declared as she held out a hand. “Can I touch her?”
“I’m not the one to ask, I’m afraid. She’s a mind of her own.” Hydra opened her snout and bared her teeth. “Hydra, no biting or spewing fire, please.” I shrugged and threw her a smile. “She can be feisty.”
“Well, Mireyah, we can help if you want. I’m Aristela by the way but you can call me Aris. This is Noelle,” the older Majele held out a hand, which I accepted. She surprised me by wrapping a blue light around my hand that caused me an indiscernible discomfort. I yelped and in a pure reaction, I froze my hand until hers froze in mine.
She simply smiled when I did and let go. “How interesting. You weren’t lying. Kald is your first instinct. Even against Majele.” She threw a look at Noelle, who was still very much captivated by Hydra. “How would you say we use our Majele, Noelle?”
"You think of it inside you. Like your blood is making the concoction then it comes out," she said in a distracted tone before asking, "Does she bite?"
I saw the curious way she looked at Hydra who was a bit uneasy at the attention she was receiving - moving away from the curious hand that wasn’t brave enough to reach out and touch anyway. "She doesn’t. At least not yet. How do I know if I'm doing the right, as you say, concoction?"
Noelle retracted her hand as Aris let out a laugh. "You have to think of what your aim is. A Majele isn't simply about poison although that's the easiest way to define it but more it's about changing the structure of something into what you wish it to be whether that's in a good way or a bad way."
"Right," I said, uncertain as I nodded my head slowly. I wanted to tell them that they weren't being very helpful. In fact, their vagueness only made me question just how much Majele I had inside me.
The truth was, if I didn't have the blue in my hair or my eyes, I would have been convinced that I was just a Kald. Some days, I thought that things would be much simpler if I were just a Kald and nothing more. But if there was one lesson I’d learned since my Collection day in Srieburgh, it was the fact that my life was never truly simple.
"I change what something is?" I gave Hydra a look and a very subtle nod and she scurried towards me.
Aris’ face turned thoughtful before she shook her head slowly, "It’s not quite as simplistic as that. More, you think about what you want to change in your target and then that's what you do. You pick one part to change in it rather than changing it as a whole."
"I don’t really understand the difference." And the truth was, I didn’t. How could she make it sound like it was so easy to change something?
"Let’s use a practical example instead as that might be simpler to understand. We’ll take that flower and what we want is to make it a different color. What would you do?" she asked as she pointed at a large white flower with wide rounded petals.
"Best guess? Paint it?" The joke didn’t seem to ease any of the tension as I’d hoped, but they returned my gaze with polite smiles instead of impatience and hatred.
"Well, yes, that sort of brusque approach could work. But that would involve adding to it, which is not quite our domain. Rather what you think about is its lack of color - the white - and then change it in a way where white becomes blue. Does that make sense?” I threw her a blank look but rather than display any frustration she simply laughed. “Let me demonstrate." She held out a hand where tiny numerous wisps of blue bled out and wrapped around the flower, going inside it until it started to bleed red from the inside out.
"A change from the inside, out," she declared. I wanted to applaud the change, something that seemed to difficult to me came so easily to her. She gestured at another flower and nodded at me. "Now, you try."
I walked over and tried to imagine making it blue. Taking the inside of it, what was white and making it blue. Inside going out. I watched as the blue flowed out of my hands before it was swallowed by bronze and the flower just froze. I let out a sound of frustration. "Okay, that was a major fail."
"Maybe it's the Kald. It might have frozen her Majele." I looked up to see that we had drawn the attention of a sharp-looking male Majele. He had a sneer on his face, and I could plainly see the way he looked down at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Hydra’s intent to rush towards him and reached out to stop her before she could.
"Perhaps, Padraig," a voice interrupted, "Mireyah has an affinity to the cold so she has to understand how to allow her Majele to walk beside that coldness." The Majele God tensed up but sneered before walking away.
Noelle’s face lit up at his voice and I had to admit that the sound of it sent a warm sort of familiarity through me. With a little bit of expected awkwardness. In the six months I had been in Demiorgo, I hadn't seen him. While I could attribute it to the fact that I never came to the West, Tate and Ryle never mentioned him. So I had to assume that he had been avoiding any sort of contact with us as well.
"Lathyn!" Noelle rushed over and wrapped her arms around his. “I’ve been practicing. Pretty soon, I can match you head to head.” He gave Noelle a fond but absent smile before he turned to me. It seemed startling that while I had changed in so many ways, he remained the same but for the growing sadness in his eyes. His face hardened as if he noticed my sympathy, and he became more determined to shield me from seeing the vulnerable part of him I’d grown so familiar with in Sylfeshire.
Arrogant, even. The Lathyn I remembered from my Collection Day and subsequent Challenges at Godsvail.
"Mireyah is asking for help to get better at being a Majele. She’s a Dragon Guard," she whispered at him conspiratorially but not very effectively given I could actually hear her. He looked towards Hydra, who had settled in between my feet and nodded. "So I've heard. Congratulations, Mireyah. I see you have a new accessory." He gestured to the circlet on my forehead. “I always knew you were destined for greatness.”
He said it casually, but I’d been around him often enough to see that it was a struggle for him. I wished I could make it easier on him, make him more comfortable somehow, but I also knew he probably struggled being around me.
I’d hurt him. Even if I hadn’t wanted to or it hadn’t been my intent.
He was a wonderful God and a kind and interesting man. It had been a surprise for me to realize that. I knew I wanted to be his friend, and despite our time apart that hadn’t changed.
"Hello, Lathyn." I smiled at him but said no more. As I intruded on what was undoubtedly more his territory, I wanted to make sure that I threw the ball in his court and let him lead how the conversation would go.
I didn’t want to do anything to spread gossip in the House he called home. If he didn’t want people to realize our connection, then I would help keep it that way.
"Still a stubborn cold-loving girl are we, Little Northerner?" He tried to smile through the pain the nickname seemed to cause him, but I felt the tingling of hope nudge my heart. We could get past the pain.
"You know how I love the winter." I shrugged and looked back at the frozen flower. Poor thing.
"You always did." He sent a look at the crowd. "Maybe it’s better for you to understand it more as you would one of the concoctions you did as a human. If you were making a wash with a citrus scent you would add citrus oil. If you preferred something sweeter, honey might be a better idea.” The other Majeles stared at our interaction, undoubtedly wondering why it was so contrived when we obviously knew one another.
I nodded slowly because he had explained it so simply. I related to it in a way that I hadn’t grasped from the others. “Yes, that makes sense. I do understand. But how did you know that I made concoctions like that?” I felt a cold sweat run down my back. I hadn’t believed it then, but he hadn’t lied. Lathyn had truly made an effort for me in a way that seemed al
most underhanded.
“Information is power, Mireyah.” He nodded at Aris as he took a seat beside her. “Who’s winning?”
“I was. But she is getting better. Are you going to help Mireyah instead?” She threw him a thoughtful look.
Lathyn sighed but shrugged. “Perhaps I should.”
“Okay, Noelle and I will go. We can practice inside where there would be less distractions.” She packed up the game quickly before standing and pulling at Noelle who pouted at Lathyn, who was already not giving her too much attention.
She shot me an angry look but allowed Aris to haul her to her feet. Aris turned to me with a smile. “I wish you luck, Mireyah. I hope you get better at being a Majele. Lathyn,” she said and waited until the God turned towards her. “I hadn’t believed it, before but I see it now. Be careful and good luck to you too.”
As they walked off, Hydra sidled up to inspect Lathyn, sniffing at his outstretched hand. “I assume this lovely lady is your reason for finally coming here,” he whispered. “I thought you intended to avoid me forever.”
I watched, a little perturbed, that Hydra allowed him to pet her as I nodded. “I’d do anything for her,” I whispered, but the insinuation that I’d avoided him didn’t sit well. Despite my nerves, I’d never wanted not to see him. “I wanted to give you space. This place is important to you. I didn’t want to intrude on that.”
He turned to study me. “This place is yours now too. You may not be my wife, but you still bear my color. The doors of Majele will always remain open to you, Mireyah.” He stood from his seat, inhaling deeply as he seemed to harden himself back to the powerful political figure I’d first met. “Let’s begin.”
He waved his hand and the flower that Aris turned blue bled color and became white once more. When his blue eyes met mine, I squared my shoulders against the open challenge I found there.
He’d always believed me capable of anything I set my mind to. When others continued to doubt me, Lathyn saw something inside me that was worthwhile.
