by J E Mueller
“It’s so pretty.” Soleia beamed gleefully. “This whole thing took far too long.”
“Agreed.” Aylum laughed. “But I’m glad it happened how it did.”
She looked from him to me. “Well? Details already.” I laughed and told her about the garden walk and the location he picked. “Clever. There’s nothing that could suit you better.” She hugged me again.
“I’m so glad you’re here. Will you spend some time with us tonight?” I asked her.
“Yes, but first I need to find Edelora and Adyana. I’ve been wanting you to meet them for a long time now.” Her eyes carefully scanned the crowd before she sighed and closed her eyes. After a moment she smiled and opened her eyes again. “It’ll be easier for them to just come to me.”
I smiled. “It would be nice to meet your friends.”
“Friends, yes.” She laughed.
Aylum chuckled as well. “You haven’t told her?”
“Like you’ve told her everything yet,” Soleia countered.
“Very fair.” Aylum shrugged as he laughed.
“What am I missing now?” I let out an exasperated sigh. Slowly catching up on dragon things was taking forever.
“Edelora and Adyana are both my mates,” Soleia replied with ease surprising me. “It’s so scandalous back in Arix, but far more common here in Lorias, especially Dustarn.”
I hadn’t thought about being in a relationship with multiple people being more normal elsewhere. Instead, I just nodded. “It would seem I have a lot to learn. I wish you would have told me sooner, but I suppose that getting around school would be very problematic.”
“Indeed. I don’t need drama while I’m away from Dustarn,” Soleia agreed.
“Why not go to school here instead? I’m surprised you’d deal with all our nonsense.” It seemed so odd. “I guess you did say it was due to the prophecy though.”
“Exactly.” She shrugged. “We can talk more on that nonsense another time.”
Soleia motioned as two women stopped next to her. The one closest to her with a series of tight black curls and a softly glowing red and orange gown she introduced as Edelora. The taller one, Adyana, had red hair and more freckles than I was used to seeing. While she gave me a shy smile, she had a very powerful and almost angelic-like presence.
“It’s lovely to meet you both.” I smiled at them.
“We’ve heard so much about you.” Edelora beamed. “How are you liking Dustarn so far?”
“It’s very pretty, the little I’ve seen.” I had really only seen the area around the Palace, a few shops, and this festival.
“If you’re not otherwise occupied, maybe tomorrow we can show you the hillside before the festivities continue,” Adyana offered.
I glanced over at Aylum unsure what our plans were. Did we have any?
“We don’t have any obligations if you’d like to adventure a little.” Aylum smiled.
“It does sound like fun,” I agreed and glanced at Soleia. “Until then, I’m starving. What food can you all show off?”
Adyana looped her arm through mine. “Now that is my specialty. My family has a booth and you must try it. There is nothing better here, save for the sweets.”
Aylum laughed as he trailed behind. “The best sweets are going to be from the Misvale stall.”
“I am delighted to hear our prince has such good taste.” Edelora chuckled as we all walked. “Soleia, you were right about him being relaxed and easy to spend time with.”
“Assuming we don’t steal Kareia away for too long I’m sure he doesn't mind,” Soleia mused.
“Yes, please don’t steal my fiance.” Aylum laughed with ease.
I liked how easily Soleia’s group melted into the one we had already built from school. It wasn’t hard to imagine being fast friends with them. At least I hoped as much.
The food was delicious and there were too many sights to see. We wandered and while many things were captivating I felt more a tourist than not, even with the others wide-eyed right next to me.
It hit me that it wouldn’t be that way forever. This would be my home. It was a strange thought. I had never been too far from home, and sometime in the near future I would be very far away from it normally. The thought of Aylum being a prince hadn’t entirely sunk in either. He didn’t fit the image I had of royalty in my mind. Neither did Delmar. It seemed too far fetched that both of them could be reasonably grounded and just regular people.
“What are you thinking?” Aylum asked.
“Hm?” I didn’t realize everyone was staring at me. What had I missed now? “Just sort of realized this place will eventually be my home. Feels strange now that it’s dawned on me.”
“A good strange I hope.” Soleia nudged me. “I think you’ll like it well enough. Not to mention you can always visit your home.”
“I don’t know if I’ll miss it enough to visit.” I laughed. “But eventually it’ll be nice to see Father.”
“There will be time before we have to return to school if you’d like, or we can wait until the spring break,” Aylum offered.
“We’ll figure it out later. What’s next on the list tonight?”
“It’s nearly time,” Adyana announced simply.
The rest nodded.
“It is! Look at that,” Edelora agreed.
“Time for what?” I asked curiously.
“Our performance.” Aylum smiled. “Want to see a dragon show?”
“How do you do a dragon performance when there are supposed to be humans afoot?” I let my curiosity get the better of me.
“It’s called a high-level illusion act, but there are no illusions and who’s going to believe anyone who suggests that it’s a lie?” Soleia snickered.
“Clever and mischievous. I love it.” I couldn’t help but laugh at how well played that was.
“There’s the one tonight and the one on the final night. You’ll have to stay grounded so no rogue magic can hurt you, but it’ll be fun to see nonetheless,” Aylum explained.
“I’m fine with that. It’ll be fun to see what it’s all about.” I agreed.
“Who is she staying with then?” Soleia asked curiously. “I don’t mind staying grounded.”
“My mother has already offered.” Aylum shook his head. “It’ll be perfectly fine. We really need to use our full form while we can anyway.”
“Too true. I’m glad school is almost done.” Soleia sighed.
Adyana wrapped her in a hug. “Then I’ll have you back all the time.”
“You better not hog her,” Edelora complained.
I smiled. “So when does this start and where do I have to be?”
“Soon enough. Let’s go find my mother.” Aylum motioned back toward the center of the event.
I loved how dragons easily found each other. I really needed to know more about that. I knew Soleia’s was due to a tracking gift, and Aylum had explained something about being able to communicate with his mother, but what things could they all do versus only a few?It was a question for another time. No sooner did we find Verna, the others had to take off, vanishing into the crowd.
Verna smiled and motioned to the crowd quickly gathering around a group of twelve people standing in a loose circle. “Ready to watch? I think you’ll find this part fun.”
I tried to be patient as I waited. Thankfully, that wasn’t too hard. There were still small acts going on around us. I didn’t notice until a voice was being magnified with magic that another member had just joined the circle of twelve.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” her voice called out clearly. “Come one, come all. The first dragon light illusion show is about to begin. Come see the wonders of magic and fire as we invite these illusions to dance before your eyes!” The crowd cheered. “Come see exactly why we are the Kingdom of the Clouds!”
The woman crouched down in the center before glowing gold and shooting herself into the air, transforming into a large, ice-blue dragon. The crowd gasped and clapped at the perfo
rmance, loving the spectacle.
Inviting everyone to watch a group perform illusion magic when there were no illusions was brilliant. The sky darkened drastically for a moment before going back to the normal fading colors as the sunset approached, revealing a sky full of dragons.
The different groups dove and spun around one another, shooting fire and giving chase. Their random drops and quickly shooting up into the sky captured my attention, holding my gaze hostage as I watched in awe. All the dragons wanted to play, just have fun, while the crowd thought it was a show for them.
It felt like a show for me.
I wasn’t sure how long we were watching—there was something mesmerizing about it all. When the sky finally darkened again, the dragons vanishing and the crowd dispersing, I felt an odd sense of loss. It would be so thrilling to fly like that.
“You must be Kareia,” I heard a voice say loudly behind me.
I turned to see a slender woman, a little taller than me scoffing. Verna heard her as well and easily took over the conversation. “Ah, Saelnesia. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. How did your performances go tonight?”
Selnesia gave her a kind smile and a half bow. “Very well Your Majesty. Thank you for asking.” She shot me another disapproving look before turning to Verna again. “I’m sorry for the disrespect Your Majesty, but how can you allow your son to be with such mist? I can smell the human on her and it’s disgusting.”
Verna’s expression turned hard and cold. “That is enough. You are not sorry for your disrespect and will leave us at once.”
Saelnesia turned on heel and left, but not before shooting me a disgusted look.
“Who would have thought being human was such a bad thing.” I chuckled. “If that is all she has against me, I’m doing pretty well.”
Verna smiled tiredly. “She is known for turning anything into something far more dramatic.”
“What sort of performances does she do? That can be very tiring on a team.” I couldn’t imagine a group wanting to constantly put up with that.
“I can’t exactly recall. One is some sort of dance and tumbling group. The other I believe has to do with fire scrying.”
That was surprising. “How can fire scrying be a performance?”
“With the right talents. Nesia is very good at calling on the ghosts of the past, giving the crowd a chance to see someone they lost long ago,” Verna explained.
“I didn’t know it could do that. Is that a dragon only talent?” I couldn’t help but be curious, even more so since it might be something I could figure out. It did take an excessive amount of magic to show images to another through fire, so maybe not.
Verna hesitated, starting to say something before stopping herself. “I believe if you are able to scry with fire you can access that talent. I’m not entirely sure on the details. Sometimes it is best to let the spirits rest.”
That was more than fair. “I can see that being very true.”
“Kareia!” I heard Soleia call as the group approached.
“What did you think?” Aylum asked excitedly.
“It was a lot of fun.” I smiled at them. “It looked like you all had a good time.”
“Diving at the crowd is always a good time,” Adyana agreed.
“Even when they think it’s fake they still get scared.” Edelora chuckled.
“Is any dragon allowed to participate?” I wondered how all of that was decided.
“Almost.” Aylum nodded. “You have to be at least sixteen, and from there it’s the first fifty that make it to the meeting spot.”
“You can guess that it’s mostly younger dragons.” Verna chuckled. “Go have fun. I’ll see you all later.” Verna waved as she took her leave.
There were several more things to see, and as it got darker, the center square had a group come out to play music. In no time, we all got caught up in the songs and dance. It was far too easy to dance late into the night. Something I was more than happy to do.
Chapter Thirty
The next day, we met Soleia, Edelora, and Adyana on a hill. The hills and plains were far more vast than I was expecting, extending farther than I could see. The untamed beauty was breathtaking and I longed to walk along the hills and just be. It was perfect.
“We should do a little talking before we do any real flying,” Soleia commented after a short time walking and gazing.
“What about?” There seemed to be an endless list of things I didn’t know yet, so I was more excited and curious than worried.
Soleia glanced at Aylum before motioning for us all to walk. “Prophecies.”
“Those do sound fun. What’s there to talk about?” I followed alongside her as we leisurely strolled.
“You’ve been curious for a while now how I ended up in Arix and in turn in Valenston. I’ve been hesitant to reveal since it’s complicated,” Soleia explained as she looked about at the sights. “You’re the reason though.”
“How can I be the reason?” That was curious.
“Years ago, I saw you in a vision. It was hard to figure out the location, and why what I was seeing was attached to a person. That last part is not uncommon for tracking. Trackers often find their prophecies directing them to a specific place or group, and sometimes even just a person.” Soleia paused. “The biggest thing to understand is while we get these visions at certain stages, we don’t see the full thing right away. It grows with us. So, I found you, and as we grew up together I started to see the why.”
“What is the why?” I was hanging on the edge wondering why she stopped there.
“Dragon’s have a lot of weird little magics.” Aylum commented. “We have certain bonds…”
Soleia nodded. “Excellent addition. When I first met Edelora and Adyana I knew we were meant to be close. It didn’t hit for a few years that the close would turn intimate. With you though Kareia, I knew we were meant to be close friends right away.”
I chuckled. “That’s actually really sweet magic.”
“It is.” Soleia nodded toward Aylum.
Aylum sighed as he nodded back. “Which is exactly what happened when we first met. I knew right away you were the one, and there was no way of saying that without things getting very awkward, very fast.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “It would have been. Why didn’t you say something sooner though? I’ve known about the strangeness of dragon magic for a while.”
Aylum blushed. “Because it’s never not awkward.”
“And dragons just know and understand without saying.” Adyana laughed.
“So we’ve never exactly discussed it.” Edelora shrugged. “No real need when it's magically understood.”
I smiled at Aylum. “You’re just going to have to get used to telling me. I can’t dragon magic my way around these things.”
“Not yet.” Aylum shrugged.
“What?” That didn’t make any sense.
“Back to what I was saying.” Soleia shrugged as well. “My visions evolved over time. I knew I’d need to defend you. Several odd things kept coming into my mind but none made sense since you, well, by all appearance are human, and certainly smell like one.”
“What are you saying?”
“They, the prophecies, all involved protecting the dragon queen,” she continued before I could speak. “Which didn’t make any sense for several reasons. The human part being the strongest one. Dragon’s don’t tend to join in long term relationships with humans. Not impossible but not likely either. How were you to ever even meet the dragon prince? It was very odd when he just showed up at school as if nothing was amiss.”
“It’s what I do for sure.” Aylum smirked.
“What are you saying? None of that makes sense.” I hated it when they spoke in riddles.
Aylum shrugged, a sly smile crossing his face. “Do you ever feel like you have an abundance of magic and then suddenly it seems to be gone?”
The question irked me. “You’ve asked that before, and then so did
your mother. What is with that question?”
“And you have Nogard. Truly that should have been the most obvious hint,” Soleia added casually.
“Yes? So? What does one have to do with the other?” I stopped walking.
Soleia shrugged. “A lot, and you told me that your parents aren’t really your parents. Your mother stole you away.”
I frowned. “Just come out and say it already.”
“Dragons are odd creatures,” Aylum mused.
“You can’t actually transform your first time without the right magics involved,” Soleia stated.
“Which is awful. There’s so much magical build up all the time. It will quickly lead to Nogard which is not a human thing at all,” Aylum further explained.
My brain seemed to putter out. The gears stalled as I just stared at the lot of them.
“Nogard was titled as such in hopes that those afflicted would seek help. That would notify those who needed to know that a dragon was either stolen away or in a terrible situation,” Soleia said, watching me carefully.
I remembered talking with ‘mother’ about it so many times. There was no cure so she didn’t see a reason to bother with anything. Did she know? She likely did. Father said he had met her out here. Did she just know or was she a dragon too? My head reeled with the theories and information.
“So, you’re saying humans cannot have Nogard. It is only a dragon thing,” I finally stated the simplest part of it all.
Everyone nodded.
“So….” The words fumbled around in my head and over my tongue before I could finally speak. “You’re saying all my problems are dragon problems. Huh.” I turned and walked away. I could hear them all following and I continued to talk. “Aylum, those theories you had, that was likely you inquiring about this possibility.”
“It was, yes,” Aylum agreed.
“And, somehow, I am just lacking the right magic or something?” I couldn’t say the rest of it. How could this all be true?
“Essentially, yes,” Soleia agreed.
I exhaled loudly. “I don’t know what to do with all this information.”
“The nice thing is we can get rid of that Nogard you experience,” Soleia said cheerfully.
