Chapter 9
“Who trained you?” Khalid asked as they worked to clear more of the woods close to the dragon’s cave. As he’d explained, when Loraj arrived, a much larger dragon than even Leje had been, he’d need as much room as possible. The trail would be wide enough for him. Other parts of the forest might not, and she really didn’t want him to further topple trees. The dragon may hide himself; he couldn’t also hide the damage that he would do.
“Trained me? I played music with my grandfather and my grandmother would give me books. I don’t think I had any formal training. My mother really didn’t like me learning about things.” She tossed a log into the pile a little harder than necessary. It hit the top, then rolled down the far side. She sighed and straightened it. “Sorry.”
“Do you know why?”
Deanna shook her head. “I can guess. I mean there’s not a lot of black people here and being of mixed race, I know all too well how cruel children and even adults can be. She never talked about it and I never asked. She died before I got a chance.”
“I’m sorry,” Khalid replied. “You’re very talented for someone who has had no formal training.”
She smiled and wondered just how things might be different if she’d gotten that training and from where. Would it have happened somewhere at a school? She’d heard talk of Melody, though if no one knew about dragons… Awareness dawned on her. And that was why Eklan was going to the academy to prepare new dragon mages for their work. Which meant, more dragons were coming? Judging by the young ones, and being told it’d be many years before Kle grew old enough to bond fully, made her wonder just what was happening and what was being prepared for. “Thanks,” she replied at last, realizing she’d been standing there, staring off into space for a while now.
They moved deeper into the forest. Kle found them and landed on a branch not far away, overseeing their work. They stacked the logs in neat piles to come back and get later. This section was nearly cleared, though if she wanted to do a thorough job of working in the forest there was a lot more to do. She suspected this work kept them busy and away from the contractors to discuss things not to be mentioned in mundane company.
“Is it bad that I didn’t get training? And where would that happen?” She sat on an upturned log and voiced her questions aloud. Taking off her gloves, she held out her arm and Kle flew down from the branch to land on it, scurrying to her shoulder. “In my dream Loraj tried to burn down my house.” There, she’d said the scary part aloud.
“Could be a metaphor for things changing in your life.” Khalid set down the brush cutters he was using. “Could be a representation of your fears? I’m not a dream interpreter. Don’t know anyone who does that either, but I also think it doesn’t take special training. Between the tornado and learning about your power, not to mention Leje and Eklan leaving, you’ve had a lot of change. I’ve showed up. Your life is in upheaval.” He shrugged. “It would make sense if it were coming out in your dreams.”
The reassurance in his words should have eased her worry. Everything he said made sense. And yet, the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if the dreams weren’t more reality than she might have thought. The image of Loraj diving through the trees, splintering them before him, just as he reared up and blew fire on her house filled her mind. She leaned forward and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes to block out the image. But it came again and again.
At some point she whimpered and fell off her log, hugging her knees and closed in on herself. The fire roared, sounding like the tornado as it whipped past the opening to the cave.
A hand touched her shoulder.
She shrieked and flinched away, thinking it was debris. No. No. No. The word became a litany in her mind and then spoken as she tried to shove the images from her.
“Deanna!” Khalid’s voice cut through the darkness. “Deanna. It’s not real. It’s safe. You’re safe.”
Safe. The word touched something deep inside her and brought her back to awareness. She opened her eyes, disorientated a moment by the darkness, then she moved her hands and winced as sunlight filtered through.
A hiccupping sob worked its way free of her throat. “Oh god,” she whimpered, pushing herself into a seated position, her arms wrapped around her knees. “I — I don’t know what happened.” She swallowed to muster some saliva.
Khalid offered her water bottle.
She drank greedily, letting the cool water rush down her parched throat.
“A flashback,” he said. “I’ve seen them before.”
Flashbacks. A word she’d normally associated with soldiers or other people who had gone through traumatizing situations. She’d seen a tornado. Had her house damaged, but she was fine as were the dragons. Other than a few belongings and nothing that was heirloom, anything damaged could be replaced.
“Take deep breaths. You’re safe. Know that you’re safe. We don’t have to do anything at the moment, but simply be.”
A yelp, followed by shouting came from the direction of the house.
Immediately, Deanna stiffened. She stared toward the house, wondering what had happened. “I think we better go back.” She stood and wipe her hands on her jeans. Without waiting for an answer, she walked toward the house.
An image of a worker, shaking his hand and frowning as if he’d hit himself with the hammer, filled her mind. The others appeared unconcerned and continued to work.
Deanna breathed a sigh of relief. Kle flapped off to land on a tree as she strode closer to the house. With each step, her resolve and clarity grew. She emerged into her yard to see the workers packing up.
“We’re just about ready to head inside and finish up. I think we’ll finish tomorrow,” the contractor said. “Sorry about the noise. Had a bit of a mishap with a ladder, but nothing to worry about.” He gestured for his men to fold up the ladder and put it on the back of his truck.
“Glad to hear it.” She caught a look from Khalid, something like a cross between sympathy and understanding. I am not traumatized. It was a freak thing. She reassured herself. “Should we stay out of the house?”
“We’ll be coming through with tools and stuff, but otherwise, I think you’ll be fine.” He turned and gave directions to the men working with him.
Khalid guided her toward the front door. “Food will help ground you. Something nice and plain. I saw you had some sliced turkey breast in the fridge.”
“Yes.” Suddenly the thought of a turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on whole wheat bread sounded delicious. She remembered her grandfather making them, slathering them with a broad swath of mayonnaise and a bit of freshly ground pepper. She hurried into the kitchen and helped Khalid get what they needed for lunch. She made herself a large sandwich, then sat down just as the contractors brought rolls of insulation and large sheets of sheet rock into the house.
She bit into her late lunch and the instant the flavors hit her tongue memories poured in. Not of her grandfather, but of her grandmother, small lessons that mentioned magic and fire. Her grandmother sat in front of a candle, lighting and dousing it seemingly at will. She'd seen it as a neat parlor trick, something that could be done at a whim. Now, she realized the control it took and wished she’d asked more.
The weight of what she had to learn kept her silent as she ate. “Will my dreams get worse?” she asked once all the contractors had gone upstairs and her plate sat empty.
“I don’t know. Some mages have very vivid dreams. Others continue to have them. My people have very sharp dreams, even when we’re not dragon mages. Interpreting them can be an important part of our faith.”
“I see.” She really didn’t. Her grandmother hadn’t talked of dreams, at least not the ones that happened when she slept. Neither had her mother or grandfather. Sometimes she’d heard others talk about their dreams, mostly in a joking manner or something abstract that was sure not to come true. “So much to learn.”
“We never stop learning. If you’ll excuse me.” He
went down the hall to his bedroom, and a few moments later she heard the sounds of his prayer.
“We don’t.” Deanna busied herself with cleaning the kitchen, putting things away. She longed to go upstairs and see the progress. She refrained, mostly because she didn’t want to be in the workers’ way. The sooner they finished, the sooner they’d get off her property.
In case Loraj returned. The dragon’s presence hummed in her veins, an impending shadow of fire and darkness that loomed somewhere in her future. Maybe it was that which triggered her flashback to the tornado. She went to her desk and turned on her computer. Later, she’d listen to the frequencies, see if anyone had spotted the dragons or if Eklan had revealed himself to the academy. For now, she opened a file on her computer and typed all the details of her dream she remembered. At some point she paused and brewed herself a cup of chamomile tea to calm her nerves. When she finished, she started a new page and wrote about her flashback. If, as Khalid said, she was dealing with trauma, then journaling or whatever this was would help. She hoped.
The light slid further to the west, brighter than it would have been had the trees not been sliced through by the tornado. The contractors came down the stairs. “About two more hours, maybe three tops,” the foreman said. “You’ll be good as new. Maybe even start picking out paint colors. Have a good evening, ma’am.” He and the men carried out their tools and left.
Paint colors. Something so mundane, the realization that she’d have to repaint the rooms, probably clean the carpet, figure out decorating. It all sounded so normal, so silly to contemplate when dragons were finally emerging into the world. Khalid hadn’t come out of his room yet, though the prayers had stopped long ago. Deciding she needed to see what was happening in other parts of magical society, she brought up the current issue of Radio Arcanum Times and turned on her radio. She may not sort out her own thoughts; she could gather information. A moment later Kle appeared in front of her bay window and she let him in. She also had her own dragon to care for and went to the kitchen to offer him the last two slices of turkey.
Chapter 10
She’d gone into town to distract herself while Khalid stayed behind. The contractors had arrived and left just as they promised. She’d purchased a ten pound tube of hamburger, the cheap fatty stuff that she never ate, but had previously learned the dragons loved. She carried it in a bucket, Kle flying between her shoulder and the bucket handle. “This is for your siblings. I guess they’re your brothers and sisters based on what Leje had said. Even if they weren’t, they deserve the snack too.” She stepped into the clearing only to be immediately surrounded by chattering hopping young dragons.
“Here you go.” She took a large handful of meat and dumped it on the ground, then walked a few paces and dropped a second handful. Somehow, the dragons knew what she was doing and waited until she’d emptied the entire bucket. Then Kle jumped into it to lick up the juices.
Deanna stepped back to watch the dragons enjoy their treat. Hunting season wouldn’t start for several months, though maybe she could talk to Chet about maybe hunting on her property if she got to keep a portion. No need to tell him she’d be feeding venison to dragons, and these young ones looked like they could use some help. Maybe they’d like some offal.
She wished she’d brought her coronet. In fact, she wondered what kind of music the dragons might like. Big fantasy soundtracks? Jazz? Marches? Current hits? She realized her collection of song books was probably woefully out of date and thought perhaps she should go into the music store in town and see if she could find some new ones.
Kle finished licking out the bucket and deciding there was nothing more there, fluttered over to join his siblings in looking for any leftover scraps. She stretched out her legs and watched them. Almost like a group of cats, they romped and pounced on each other, stopping to sniff the ground where she’d placed the treats. She never wanted things to change. Just being here, watching them, imagining that Leje was still deep in the cave doing dragon things, soothed her worry. The threat for storms within the next few days faded beneath blue skies and the songs of birds reclaiming their lives after the destruction to the forest.
Nature recovers, she’d heard her grandmother say that and now she understood. People rebuild. Lives go on. The crunch of dried leaves underfoot alerted her to Khalid’s presence. She caught a hint of his spiced fragrance, noting that a similar warm oak scent had followed her around as she worked more with the dragons.
“We need to work,” he said. “There’s not much time. Loraj is coming.”
“You’re right.” She stood and grabbed the bucket. They walked back to the house, the orange dragon following.
“He’s grown attached to you. That’s good, but if Loraj also bonds with you, it could cause a problem.”
“Great.” Deanna rolled her eyes. “So I learn magic or else Loraj kills me. I either force Kle to quit feeling connected me or Loraj gets mad. He seems like some old grumpy man that just wants his way. Well, he can knock that off because I will not bow to his whims.” Kle gave an enthusiastic rumble as he flew to her shoulder.
“He’s a dragon, Deanna. He can do whatever he wants.” Khalid chuckle. “But you can go try to smash the patriarchy. Good luck with that. The magical realms seem to thrive on it these days.”
Deanna stopped and braced her hands on her hips. “Which is why I want nothing to do with the Musimagium. Everything I’ve heard shows they’re a bunch of stuffy old fools. I hope the dragons know what they’re doing going to the academy. With the way it’s being mocked on Radio Arcanum, by old men I might add, judging by the sounds of their voices, it will be a tough haul. I want to work a different way. I want to show a different way. There’s a lot of lamenting that mages are dying out. Except I bet there’s a lot more magic out there than you think. They just don’t want to go into a society that thinks of them as lesser or chooses not to change.” She paused, realizing she’d worked up a bit of a tirade. “The world has changed not just magical. People have to see that and work with it. Otherwise, they’re going to be left behind. From what I understand, the Musimagium wants to be in control of the magic, maintain their status. They’re going to grow or they’re going to die out.” Without waiting for Khalid to answer, she turned and resumed walking back to the house.
“You’re not wrong,” Khalid said at last. “I’d say give them a chance. Change is hard, but that’s difficult to do either. I’ve seen things in my travels, children killed, families blown apart by warring factions. It’d be so easy to shake them and tell them to get with the times, to understand old tribal wars can ’t drive us and outmoded religious beliefs. But we can’t. I can’t. You can’t. All we can do is try to show a better way. There’s a reason I’m not researching dragons in my home country. It’s too dangerous there to move freely and not get caught up in the struggle.”
“Well, Loraj is just going to understand that Kle was here first. He’s young. He has a lot of growing up to do. But his presence would in no way impede anything and may help me protect the others.” Deanna paused. “It’s almost your prayer time, isn’t it? Let me get my instrument and warm up, then we can work in the backyard. I want to check the weather.”
Khalid nodded and followed her inside. A few moments later he disappeared into his room and she turned on her computer. If storms were coming, she had to be prepared.
Listening to the radio, a different storm brewed. No talk about dragons yet, though the same two guys were discussing the academy. Finally a female voice, sounding older than she was, finally told them to shut up, that they’d done nothing but bitch since the article came out in the Times. If they didn’t send their children there, or to any academy, then they had nothing further to say.
Deanna cheered softly. Conversation turned to other matters, and most of it was boring. She listened anyway, just in case, interested to hear a mix of people who believed as she did, only maybe not so vocal and those more devoted to Musimagium traditions. At some point, Khalid emerg
ed from his room and sat down on the couch to listen.
“So what’s our plan?” Deanna asked to divert herself from the weather. The wind picked up outside and something about the air made her feel the hairs rise on her arms. Her skin grew prickly. She wanted to pull up the radar, but not yet. Later, when things grew closer.
“Continue training. When Loraj arrives, we’ll know.”
She frowned. “That seems rather fatalistic, doesn’t it?” A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. She jumped.
“It’s okay. It’s not supposed to get severe. Just a spring storm.”
Deanna shook her head. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t live through a tornado in a cave.”
“I’ve been in a sandstorm in Sahara.” Khalid shrugged. “But it’s not the same.”
“No, it isn’t.” She turned back to her computer and brought up the radar. Nothing severe showed, though the impressive-looking line of storms headed in her direction. She grabbed her cell phone and moved it closer to her in case there were any notices.
Kle hopped down and flew to the door. He scratched his wing against it.
“You want to go out in this?”
An image of him huddling with his siblings in the cave filled her mind along with the feelings of warm and safe. She understood and opened the door, remembering how secure she’d felt in the cave when the storm had raged outside. “Be safe,” she told him.
“He’ll be fine. And so will we.” Khalid said. He pushed a couple of books across the end table. “Let’s talk magical theory.”
“Really?” Her stomach rumbled. “Let’s get food, then we can talk magical theory.” She made another sandwich because it would comfort her and made a large salad. She took it back to her desk and sat down.
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