Deanna worked on her side of the path, again thinking about all the training montages in movies where the young sword apprentice hacked away at a tree or thunked arrows into a target. She picked up the smaller branches, clearing an area. They pulled the wheelbarrow down the path, before Khalid stopped her again.
“So dragon magic is heat and fire. It’s important to know this and be able to control it. In an environment like this, that’s extra important. These trees are dry and brittle.”
She nodded.
Khalid grabbed the chainsaw and quickly reduced a broken tree to two large stools. He put the extra pieces in the wheelbarrow, filling it, and then tipped both up for seats.
Deanna sat.
Khalid moved his log to be right in front of hers. He sat and reached for her hands.
She laid her palms in his.
“Close your eyes,” Khalid said.
Deanna complied.
“Now, feel the warmth, not just in the air, but also where our hands touch, from the direction of the dragons.”
His words soothed her. She focused on the sun, its rays penetrating the broken canopy to warm her shoulders and the top of her head. His hands were warm, almost hot, where they touched hers, and in her mind, like a crackling fire, the dragons waited near their cave. Leje shone the brightest, but her son Eklan burned like a small sun, full of fire and energy. He took off, flying into the air and circling twice. She gasped, worried that someone might see him, but he landed just as quickly.
“Focus,” Khalid said. “The dragons have protections, you know. They don’t let anyone see them who isn’t ready to.”
“Then why am I their protector?” The question slipped out before she could stop herself. “If they can hide themselves, then why do they need me?”
“They do not understand the human world. Think of them like boisterous children. Without you here to ground them, to remind them that there are people and consequences beyond their own families and responsibilities, they might do something rash. Could you imagine what a dragon would look like flying over the Grand Canyon?”
She could, and the sight stopped her breath. Loraj’s broad wings would fill the space, swooping down to the river, then back again, with her on his back, laughing and rejoicing at the exhilaration of being free.
That is possible. I do not advise it. Leje’s gentle scolding brought her back to the moment.
“What were you thinking of right now? Your magic flared.” Khalid released her hands.
“I thought of Loraj and I flying over the Grand Canyon.”
“Good. You’re able to tap into your power better than I was at your level of training. But we got to focus.” He stood and grabbed one log, touching it to see if it was still damp from morning dew and the tree’s own moisture. “I want you to think about this log. Imagine a spark, a tiny flame, and I mean tiny, on it. See if you can conjure it since you have such a good connection with the dragons.”
“Eyes closed or open? I kind of feel like they need to be open so I can see what happens and what I’m doing.”
“Good call.” Khalid stepped back, probably farther than a tiny flame warranted.
“Worried?” She arched an eyebrow at him.
“Maybe. But focus. A tiny flame,” he reminded her.
She nodded and stared at the top of the log, seeing a small flame as if someone had flicked a lighter, on the top. A whoosh filled her ears a moment before the entire log burst into flame. Khalid waved his hand at it, putting out the log and rendering it nothing more than a smoking pile of ash. He grabbed the water bottle he’d clipped to the wheelbarrow handle and doused the ashes to be on the safe side.
“I said a small flame.” He turned to face her. “What’d you imagine? A bonfire?” His voice rose with concern.
“A small flame, I promise.” She waved her hands and tiny flames appeared at the ends of her fingers. “Oh, my god. Make it stop. Make it stop.” The flames grew.
“Take a deep breath. I know it’s tough, but calm yourself.” He held out his hands and the flames disappeared. “You’re coming into your power more quickly than most, probably because you’ve lived with the dragons around so you’re tuned into them. Now that we’ve opened the door, it’s like releasing gates on a dam. Everything is pouring through.”
Deanna nodded. She drew long, shaky breaths. “I feel hot. Like I’m on fire.” She waved her arms, then stopped, afraid the flame might return and she’d burn the entire forest down. The scent of burning wood filled the air. She glanced behind her to make sure she hadn’t set off anything in the meantime.
“Keep breathing.”
Khalid’s voice soothed her. “Feel the ground beneath you and the air. You are here, now, and you are relaxed and calm.”
She followed his words, drawing her attention to the soles of her work boots on the loamy forest floor, the leaves damp beneath her. A cool breeze swirled around her, drawing the heat away. She closed her eyes and focused only on her breathing until finally, her temperature returned to normal. When at last she felt like herself, she released a big sigh and then opened her eyes again.
“Wow,” she breathed. “I think I need to walk or something.”
“Good idea. Let’s take this back to the house and see how the workmen are doing. We’ll leave our tools here. We’ll come back for them and for more training.”
She took his words as a promise rather than as a threat. Not that she was ready for more training. Seeing flames leap from the ends of her fingers worried her, frightened her. In the few times her grandmother had spoken about the dragons and their magic nothing like that had ever been mentioned. She remained quiet while he unloaded the logs. The contractors were finishing up, putting the tarp back into place.
“We should have the roof fully repaired tomorrow and the rest of the exterior framing done. We’ll put on house wrapping and that way it will hold up if we get a storm.”
She smiled and say thanks, though another thunderstorm scared her.
“Ready to go back?” Khalid asked, and she knew he asked about more than picking up deadwood.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Good.” They returned to the woods in silence, stopping at the two upturned logs and the pile of ash. Once again, he directed her to think about just a small flame.
Instead of a lighter, which conjured images of touching a match to kindling, she thought only of a small candle flame glowing in the night.
“Very good!”
Deanna opened her eyes to see the tiny flame dancing on a new log. With a smile, she imagined a candle snuffer going over it, and the flame dissipated with only a wisp of smoke behind to mark that it’d ever been there.
Rustling in the undergrowth made her turn. Leje and Eklan snaked their heads through the trees.
It is time. We must go. Leje’s words reverberated in Deanna’s mind and a sense of dread filled her.
Chapter 8
“You have to go now? It’s so soon.” Deanna followed the dragons back to the cave. The smaller ones hopped and fluttered around them, almost as if they, too, didn’t want their mother to go.
My children will care for themselves. You are their guardian. Study. I am counting on you to take care of my children, young draco magus. But I must go to the feeding grounds and Eklan must appear at the academy. We cannot allow them to start without a dragon’s presence. The game here can sustain me for a while, but I need more if I’m to begin another laying cycle. It would not be good for the Musimagium to believe they know everything that happens among magical creatures. Leje rubbed her muzzle softly against Deanna’s chest.
Deanna reached out and scratched the top of Leje’s head. The dragon closed her eyes, a slight purr emanating from her, then took a step back.
“Be safe,” Khalid called.
Tears stung Deanna’s eyes. She remembered curling beneath Leje’s wing, feeling the warmth of her soft scales and how safe and protected she’d been. Facing coming back here without the big dragon seemed
so alone, as if Leje were tossing her adrift among magic she knew nothing about and dangers for which she could not prepare.
Eklan turned and stared toward the southwestern sky. He stepped forward, his slow gait moving into a run that vibrated the ground beneath her feet. A solid flap of his wings sent him skyward. As soon as he cleared the ground, Leje turned and repeated the same movements. The smaller dragons huddled together in front of the cave, cooing and cuddling one another like puppies that had been taken from their mother for the first time. The orange dragon swooped from the pile to drape himself around Deanna’s neck. He licked at her tears.
Kle. The word filled Deanna’s mind along with an image of the small orange dragon. Kle. Kle.
“I understand. Your name is Kle.” She reached up and scratched the top of its head and it rubbed against her hand. She stood there, watching until the sky grew too dark and the dragons vanished from sight.
“We should go,” Khalid said. “The small dragons have already gone into the cave.”
“Okay.” She turned, banging her shin into a stump and cursed. “We should have brought a light.”
“You have light. Take the moonlight. Let it fill your eyes. Like this.” When he faced her, his eyes glowed like a cat’s.
“I’ll try.” Deanna stared at the sky where the silvery moon hung low in the sky. She followed its beams of reflected light, noting how she saw the trees and how the path was a lighter shadow before her. As if someone flipped a switch, suddenly she saw everything from the ragged trees reaching for the sky to the path and even their tools. Without thinking, she bent and put them in the wheelbarrow, then began pushing it back toward her house. Khalid followed.
They walked in silence. She parked the tools by the front steps, then went inside, Kle still wrapped around her neck and shoulders. She sat down in the chair, muscles aching, mind completely tired from using powers that she hadn’t even known she’d had. Her stomach rumbled, and she realized that they’d had only a light lunch of crackers and cheese.
“I’ll cook some dinner, if you don’t mind my meager skills,” Khalid said, heading to the kitchen. “Just rest.”
“Will you go to the Academy with Eklan? It’s in New Mexico, right?”
“It is, and not yet. I believe the dragons have worked with the other magical creatures to make their presence known. Eklan will show up there on his own, I would guess, and not tell them much about dragons. He’ll see how the Musimagium accept him, see if we include them in the academy and then…” Khalid put a skillet on the stove and drizzled some olive oil into it. “If it goes well, I’m sure you’ll know how much they’ll share before anything gets released in the Radio Arcanum Times.” He tossed in some garlic, onions, and peppers. Already his skills seemed to surpass whatever she would have considered meager considering that it hadn’t come out of a box. He tossed in strips of chicken. Her mouth watered.
“So it’s nothing for me to worry about?” She stared at her radio, wondering if maybe she should monitor the frequencies to see if anyone saw two large dragons flying toward the academy. “Do you think people will report dragon sightings?”
Khalid glanced at her as he tossed some spices into the skillet. She didn’t know what they were, but they smelled wonderful. “They’ll stay hidden. Leje will go directly to the feeding grounds. It’s up to Eklan to make his presence known. I’m sure he’ll do that when the time is right.” He tossed everything together in the skillet, then opened a package of pita bread they’d purchased at the store. He cut them in half and crumbled feta into the mix, then stuffed each pita with previously prepared leaf lettuce with cut up cucumbers and tomatoes, topping it with the sauteed chicken mixture. He set two of them on a plate and passed it to her. “Quick food to help you ground. You may find that you’re hungrier than usual while we’re working.” He filled two pitas and took the plate to the couch and sat down opposite her.
She stared at the food, momentarily too exhausted to eat. Only the inquiring noises of the dragon around her neck made her blink and come back to the moment. She handed Kle a strip of chicken. He gobbled it in two bites. She lifted the pita and took a bite, letting the flavors burst on her tongue. Delicious. If training meant food like this, she was all for it.
Kle cuddled close to her, warming the entire bed, so she only needed a light sheet and one of her blankets. Her comforter lay wadded at the foot of her bed, too much with the little scaly inferno sleeping next to her. She’d never slept with a pet. Her mother hadn’t wanted her to have one growing up. To her it would have been yet another mouth to feed. Deanna had listened to other children at school talking about their cats and dogs. Some spoke about livestock. The species didn’t matter, because although she knew she had dragons she couldn’t mention, it wasn’t the same. Kle made up for that.
Her dreams comprised dragons. One dragon in particular, Loraj looming over the house. He stalked through the woods with the grace of a mountain lion, roaring at frightened deer, swatting at the smaller dragons fluttering around him excitedly. When he saw her, he opened his mouth, releasing a huge jet of flame. The entire house burst into an inferno. Except, she had her coronet in her hand and when she lifted it to her mouth, the notes she played doused the flame and tamed the dragon.
Loraj sat, his big tail snaking through the woods. The tip twitched back and forth like a cat, battering some trees that magically hadn’t gotten demolished in the tornado. Small birds flew from the branches, shrieking their dismay. He lowered his head. A deep voice bellowed in her mind. Draco Magus.
Her fingers faltered. Notes slipped and tumbled, a broken, jumbled mess of a song. Warmth flooded her body. When she looked up, her eyes glowed with the dragon’s inner fire.
Yes. You will do.
She awakened with those words in her mind and wondered if the dream had been real or some figment of her imagination. Kle stirred, standing and stretching before fluttering to the window.
“All right.” Deanna stumbled out of bed and opened the window for the little dragon to fly out. Then she shut it and completed her morning routine before following the melodious flute-esque music downstairs.
Khalid sat on the living room floor, his prayer rug rolled up neatly behind him, playing some kind of flute-like instrument. It must be some kind of native instrument, with five holes and one possibly in the back. The melody spanned at least two octaves, and Deanna sat on the next-to-last step to listen. When the song ended, he bowed his head and set the instrument across his legs.
“It’s a Ney,” he said without missing a beat or indicating that he’d seen her there. “It’s a Persian instrument and the longest played musical instrument in existence. My people have been playing it for at least five thousand years.”
“It’s beautiful. I’m sorry if I interrupted.”
“Not at all. I thought perhaps we’d do some playing before the contractors came.” He stood in an efforttless motion. “Let’s go outside.”
Deanna yawned and wiggled her bare toes. “Without coffee?”
“Without coffee,” Khalid confirmed. “But you can put your boots on.” He smiled at her. “I’ll be waiting outside.”
She watched him open the front door, then hurried to slip her feet into socks and boots, then grabbed her coronet. She wiggled her fingers, trying to warm up sleepy muscles. She wondered what music they’d play and even what key his Ney was in if she needed to transpose some of her songbooks. She had quite the collection of old jazz music, curated by her grandparents. The trumpet had been his instrument.
None of that seemed right, and when she stepped outside, she heard Khalid playing in the backyard. She hurried around, seeing in the light what the contractors had done and amazed at the repairs to her house. “What now?” she asked.
“Now, we play. I want to see how powerful you are and how your music works with the dragon energy. You play a brass instrument. That is helpful since it’s aligned with the element of fire.”
“I dreamed that Loraj said I will do,” Dea
nna blurted.
Khalid smiled. “Dreams are good. Reality is even better. It’s up to us to make sure that you will, as he said ‘do’. Now play.”
Once again, Deanna flashed back to afternoons with her grandparents, her grandfather making her go over fingerings and notes as if he expected her to play with the biggest bands of the time. Her grandmother always sat, listening, nodding her head as if the progression of her granddaughter’s musical abilities meant something to her. Books tucked into her backpack when she went back to school, and to her mother, about the ethics of magic and magical creatures seemed like fantastical tales that she shared only with her grandparents. The only time her mother had seen the book, she’d hurled it against the wall, then tossed it in the fireplace to burn saying that such trash didn’t belong in her house. Swallowing the tears that always rose at the memory and focusing instead on her grandparents, Deanna brought her coronet to her lips and played.
She worked through the exercises her grandfather had taught her from memory, riffs and themes from some songs he played. From there, she segued into the first song he’d taught her, improvising on it. By then, the music swept her up into a whirlwind of energy, of leaping columns of flame and bowing tongues of fire, dancing like imps.
The orange dragon landed on her shoulder, not even interrupting the music. Others fluttered nearby in the trees, gathering eagerly, their warbles and trills creating a musical counterpoint, until the surrounding forest erupted in song, both dragon and human. Khalid joined in with his Ney, creating high, trilling counterpoints like birds soaring and fluttering overhead. Had unicorns been in the area, she might have imagined them stepping from the woods.
She sensed, rather than heard, the contractors coming and brought the song down, playing music that reminded her of the musicians who visited her grandfather packing up and going home. Another day, the music said. Time to go home.
The dragons fluttered away, the last to go Kle, rising from her shoulders, skimming the top of her head with his wings, to head back to the cave. She ended on a note, out of breath from the impromptu jam session, and at the edge of her senses, heard the crunch of tires on gravel. “The contractors are coming. We better go inside.” Without waiting, she took her instrument indoors, feeling as if she’d aced some test.
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