Akira Rides

by Robyn Wideman

  He stroked his grey beard deep in thought as he watched Akira’s eyelids flicker and close as she settled down on her sleeping fur, using her arm as a pillow. Mage Morgan reached into his large bag of magical objects and tools. He lifted out a glassy globe, wrapped in layers of felted wool to protect its smooth and clear surface. He polished the globe gently, and when it started to glow, he looked into the mist swirling inside the globe. What he saw disturbed him deeply. A village burned, then another. The Dark One’s army was advancing southward far quicker than he anticipated.

  Mage Morgan wrapped the globe back up, placed it gently into his bag. His eyes rested on Akira. Dare he give her the ultimate gift, a most dangerous gift? He had seen into her heart, her memories, and was humbled by her compassion for all living creatures, for he had glimpsed her soul. He saw the pain, felt her pain when she had killed a rabbit and shared with the peasant youth, her friends of low birth. He saw that she cared about the dignity of a girl wanting to do something for Akira in trade for learning to read. He saw her memory of graciously accepting round stones for her slingshot from a small dirty ragamuffin boy, presented in shy thanks for sharing with his brother and their friends, the rabbit she killed, What the mage knew of his daughter pleased him. Her mother was to be commended for raising her daughter admirably in the most difficult of circumstances. The mage smiled when he thought of Lady Shy. As much as parenting was influential in molding a child, it was his learned opinion a child was born with innate qualities that could overcome the best efforts of a parent to make the child an extension of themselves. A free-spirited daughter, such as Akira, was proof.

  The gift he considered giving her, could be argued by others as ploy to make her an extension of himself. Rarely was such a gift given to a novice mage. Oft it was only given on the deathbed of a powerful mage, and given only to those with pure hearts, for it was a power-generating gift that could not be withdrawn once given. The gift could change the balance of power among mages. Even mages were subject to petty jealousies, and the desire for more status, more adulation from those in awe of magic. The gift he considered giving his daughter would make him vulnerable to her. It did not escape his conscience, his sense of fairness, that Akira had trusted him, allowed him into her memories, allowed a stranger, Talana, into her private thoughts and memories. This was on his mind as he sleepily covered himself and Akira with a protective shield, and drifted into dreams. He dreamed of Lady Shy, the beautiful moments they had shared, the beautiful moments that created their lovely daughter.

  When the mage woke in the morning Akira was studying his face. He blinked and thought it fair enough, for he had studied her sleeping the night before.

  “Do I drool in my sleep, daughter?”

  “No, but your nose hairs wiggle and vibrate when your snore.”

  “Me? Snore? You surely jest!” The mage stood and stretched. He turned to Hooter perched on the window sill. “Do I snore?”

  Hooter nodded his wise head up and down, flapping his wings.

  Akira laughed. “See! Even Hooter says you snore! That was a yes if I ever saw one.”

  “I am outnumbered; I concede that I may occasionally snore. Obviously, it is time to trim my undignified long nose hairs.” He smiled benevolently, then his face took on a serious façade. “Until we know Temptation’s intent, it would be wise to resist going near the water this morning.”

  Akira nodded. She appreciated her father stating his concerns without ordering her about. “I agree. Are we working on rock magic today?” Before her father could answer she added, “I’m eager to learn how to bend light to blind my enemy’s eye, to conjure up mists to hide an army. There is so much to learn and so little time. I’m behind years in my accumulation of enchantment and sorcery knowledge.”

  “You are years behind through no fault of your own. There is a way to remedy that.”

  Akira looked puzzled. “We can’t go back in time, or can we?”

  Mage Morgan answered, choosing his words carefully. “We can’t, to my knowledge, go back in time. History is written in stone. We can however change the course of future, for the future is changeable.”

  Akira, now, sat cross-legged across from her father, waiting for, thirsting for understanding, knowledge.

  The mage sat back down on his pallet to speak. “Mages are born with a measure of inherent memories. A babe does not need to be taught to turn and suckle a mother’s breast. It’s instinctive. It is knowledge learned and embedded before the first breath of air is drawn into the lungs of a newborn. So it is with magic instinct with mages. We use magic without thinking, especially if the bloodlines are strong and pure. Your natural instincts were suppressed by your mother, out of necessity, for your own protection, for reasons you now understand. Traditionally we teach novice mages for years, slowly and carefully, so that those who tend to abuse their gifts reveal themselves through their deeds. If a mage is power hungry, uses his magic for evil he will be banished, and those scholarly mages, the teachers of the arts will no longer let corrupted mages be apprentices or students. This method of slowly empowering mages with the ancient knowledges has served us well for many generations.”

  “Is the Dark One the most powerful of the corrupted mages? How did he get so powerful?” Akira unraveled her long dark braids as she listened intently. Her hair, when shook out, spilled in kinky waves down her back and over her shoulders. With her bronzed skin and beautiful blues eyes Akira was as beautiful as any temptress and siren Mage Morgan had ever set eyes upon, knowing well that enchanted beauty often was a clever disguise for evil hearts and black souls desperately trying to fill voids by the sucking of life out of unwary victims. It was rare to gaze upon beauty and know that it, the outward beauty pleasing his eyes, was enhanced by an internal beauty that would never fade with age. He was momentarily distracted by her beauty. Her eyes demanded an answer.

  “Yes, he is the most powerful of the black mages, damn his dark soul. He stole the energy forces of weaker corrupt mages. Seduced others with lies, to willingly give him their powers.

  “How can we stop him? Can we stop him?”

  It seemed like for every question Akira asked, a second one followed in the same breath. She clasped her knees, resting her chin on her knees. She looked like anything but a warrior at that moment. Mage Morgan looked wistfully at his beautiful daughter.

  “Why are you looking at me like that, father?”

  “Like what?”

  “Almost sad. Like you are thinking we can’t defeat the evil.”

  “Oh, my daughter, I was just imagining you as a curious child. I was regretting that I missed your childhood.”

  “Oh. You had me worried. So, there is hope that we can stop the Dark Lord?”

  “We need powerful mages to stop him. I alone cannot stop him. We have allies but I fear we need every bit of power we can gather to defend against him, let alone destroy him.”

  “I regret I’m so untutored in magic father. I will do everything that is in my power to help you stop him.”

  “I know you will Akira, for I have seen your heart. I can do a rare thing, that is only done in desperate times. This thing I can do is frowned upon by my peers, but my faith in you is greater than fear of censure by the Mage Council.” The mage paused to give weight to his words.

  Akira chewed her bottom lip as she concentrated on every word spilling from his lips. What is this thing? This gift? She wondered. It sounds fearful. Is it a weapon?

  “I can gift you, all that I know, all that I have learned from memories and teachings.

  Akira’s eyes widened. She shivered with excitement.

  “You, can in one mystical melding of memories know every chant, every spell I know. Everything I know of rock magic, weather magic, light magic I can share with you. It will make me vulnerable to you, for you will know every secret I have kept, know of every moment I shared with your mother and other loves before your mother. You will know of my failings and weaknesses. I would request, should I gift yo
u all my knowledge, that you will forget those intimate most personal memories. My knowledge can be gifted to you without all the work and due diligence of years of apprenticing.”

  Akira was thrilled and humbled at the same time. “You will still keep all your knowledge and power?”

  “Yes, my memories and knowledge are shared, not lost to you. I can also choose to transfer energy to you, in dire circumstances, but it is better if you gather and store your own energy, so that together, we can be a force to be reckoned with, striking fear into the hearts of our enemies.”

  “Do you think me worthy of such a gift, for I have many failings.” Akira’s eyes pinned her father’s.

  “There are a few tests you have yet to pass before I can in good conscience elevate your powers with my knowledge, for the more knowledge you have, the more power you can attain. But that will have to wait. We must speak with Sky Stalker forthwith. You will need a dragon.”

  A smile replaced the solemn set of Akira’s lips. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Then let us break our fast and walk quickly to Areetrah’s nest. Sky Walker is standing vigil over his mate. Yesterday when he was flying by to stretch his wings, he told me the eggs are starting to wiggle. He expects the little dragons will be pipping today. If we are fortunate we can see them hatch. He did invite us to see the revealing of the babies, but I thought we had little time for such a pleasant diversion.”

  “I think you have earned a break, and we can kill two birds with one stone.” Mage Morgan tried not to look excited about seeing baby dragons hatch. After all, mages need to be unflappable, dignified role models. He waved his magic staff and a table was set before them. A jug of milk, hard boiled pheasant eggs in a bed of steaming greens made Akira’s mouth water. Strawberries were begging to be eaten, small and sweet, looking like small red jewels piled on green leaves that reminded Akira of dark green velvet.

  Akira raised her eyebrows. “Is this not a frivolous use of magic?”

  “Oh, my dear, on any other day I would agree with you, but today may be the birth day of a new hatch of dragons. We can celebrate. For there is enough doom and gloom ahead, we need to stop and enjoy days of blessings.”

  “But what if the dragons don’t hatch today?”

  “Then we shall celebrate again tomorrow. I’m not a miserly mage.”

  Akira laughed. It felt good to laugh. She started peeling eggs.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Areetrah glowed with pride. Her luminous scales reflected the color of the sky. Then as she moved the color of the green meadow nearby shimmered over her scales, turning her impressive body a mesmerizing turquoise color. Her eyes were a deep golden color with copper-colored flecks. Akira approached quietly as Sky Stalker bade her and Mage Morgan to come forward. Sky Stalker’s chest puffed up. Areetrah lifted one wing carefully. Under her wing, two hatchling dragons wiggled closer to their mother’s body seeking refuge from the bright light that shone down on their dull gray-colored bodies. A third little dragon seemed to be resting inside its broken egg shell. When the sunlight touched its damp head, it stretched and wiggled, pushing away the last of the dark green egg shell that had protected it for over a month. A pink tongue darted out of the newest hatchling as if to taste the air. Green eyes blinked against the bright light. The littlest dragon sneezed as a piece of the egg shell lining stuck to one nostril tickled the hatchling’s nose as it drew in its first breaths of fresh seaside air.

  Sky Stalker spoke. “This one has my eyes.” The dragon purred, as he tilted his huge head looking over the hatchling, inspecting it. His great head lowered and he sniffed the small silvery body. Appearing dissatisfied, he nudged the little body gently until it rolled over on its back. “This one is a female! You were right Areetrah, two males, one female.”

  Areetrah broke her silence. “A dragoness’ intuition is most often right.”

  It was difficult for Akira to tell if the dragoness was smiling or not, but her tone of voice implied she was. The dragoness turned her golden eyes upon Akira. “You must be Akira. My mate has told me you are the daughter of Morgan.”

  “That I am,” said Akira. “Your littles ones look healthy, and handsome. Their wings are small. How long will it be before they can fly?”

  “It will be a month before their wings will be large enough and strong enough for them to take flight. My hatchlings often fly sooner than other hatchlings.”

  Akira nodded appreciatively. It was evident the dragoness, like most mothers, was proud and pleased with her newest babies. Dragon mothers apparently were like human mothers, bragging about how their babies learned to walk faster than other babies, bragging that their offspring were more pleasing to the eye than other babies. Dragon mothers had very human like attributes and peculiarities.

  Akira could see the tip of Sky Stalker’s tail twitch as if he was trying hard not to wag his tail in pleasure. It was good thing he could contain himself, for the nesting area of the dragoness was sandy. Mage Morgan stood regally at the edge of the nest. The wide arms of his robe flapped like flags in the warm breeze rising from the cliffs. He held his twisted staff like a walking stick. “’Tis a fine brood you have under your wing Areetrah. I’m curious to see what colors they will take on, if they take after Sky Stalker or yourself.”

  If Akira wasn’t mistaken the sound coming from the dragoness was a soft purring, so much more feminine and soothing than the purring sounds of the male dragon. Suddenly the two dried off babies bumped their mother’s sides insistently. They opened their jaws and startled making mewling sounds. The babies were hungry! The dragoness had no nipples on her underbelly, so how did they get nourishment, wondered Akira. Akira watched with keen interest as their mother burped up a glob of partially digested meat and let her hatchlings take their first meal from her mouth. There was the answer.

  Dragon mothers fed their babies from the contents of their stomachs, like a mother wolf. Akira was transfixed. The babies had hatched out almost the same size of a full-grown wolf. Satisfied, with their bellies filled, the oldest of the babies snuggled up to their mother’s sides, yawned and fell asleep. The mother dragon gently lowered her wing and covered her babies much like a mother hen would do. The moment was tender and sweet. Akira knew it was time to leave the proud family to bask in the glow of a successful hatching day.

  “Thank you for inviting us to share this beautiful occasion,” Akira said. Akira almost forgot there was a second reason to visit the nesting site. She halted her descent from the edge of the nesting crater. “Sky Walker, when it is convenient for you, I wish to meet the daughter you spoke of, the one with …” Akira paused looking for the right word. Suddenly, smiling infectiously she finished with, “… spirited attitude.”

  Sky Stalker lifted one ridge of scales above his eye like a human would lift an eyebrow. “That is a diplomatic way of saying she has a rebellious streak and a mind of her own.”

  Areetrah interjected, “Very diplomatic. You can take Akira with you now if you wish, my thoughtful mate. My belly is full and I shall enjoy cuddling with our crawlers. You have been most attentive.” Akira watched in amazement as the dragoness’ coloring changed so that she blended into the surroundings. It was clear she was dismissing them all.

  Sky Stalker lowered his head saying, “Mount up.”

  “After you” said Mage Morgan to Akira.

  Akira felt the same thrill she felt the first time she climbed onto the dragon’s neck. This time, she walked confidently over his neck to his shoulders and settled herself down between his spine spikes. Eyes sparkling with anticipation, she tried to hide her almost childish anticipation of the delight she would feel as the dragon took flight. Mage Morgan noticed. Refraining from teasing his daughter, he said “Well, let’s get on with it. Time is wasting, and we have much to do!”

  Akira wasn’t disappointed. As the mighty wings of the dragon rhythmically pushed against air, lifting then up above treetops, lifting them above mountain tops and into the clouds Akira’s spirits soared. She
clenched her legs tightly, but not so tightly as she did in her first flight. Her body moved in synchronization with the undulating movement of the dragon’s body. Akira could not help but think about the young dragon she was about to meet. She suddenly realized she didn’t know her name. Why is it that I don’t recall a time her name was mentioned? Akira made a mental note to ask her name when the wind wasn’t rushing past her ears.

  Suddenly, from out of the clouds, Akira noticed when she looked over her right shoulder a large dark shadow coming up from behind them. She tapped her father’s shoulder to warn him they were not alone in the clouds. The mage turned and cursed. He shouted, “Sky Stalker! We have been noticed by a storm vulture!” Sky Stalker veered sideways, turned his neck, to see where the imminent threat came from.

  “Hang on!” he shouted to his riders. The dragon made a rapid ascent into the thicker clouds patches. Akira clenched her legs tight and grabbed a handhold on scales on each side of her. Mage Morgan raised his staff and spewed off a mist making spell. An opaque mist billowed out from behind them.

  The dark shadowy storm vulture disappeared, but it doggedly followed the grey mist looking for his prey, following scent instead of depending on its eyes. Akira heard it shrieking from behind her. She pulled her sword out of its sheath, Mage Morgan pulled an orb out from under his robe. He handed it to Akira.

  A rush of adrenaline coursed through Akira’s veins. Akira resheathed her sword and took her slingshot from her waistband. She began to think like a mage first and warrior second. The orb was glowing but Akira willed a pulse of energy into the magic orb. It grew warmer in her hand, glowing brighter. The shrieks behind her grew louder. Akira realized with dismay there were two different shrieks hurting her ears. Morgan too recognized the second predator shriek.