by Corin, G.
Ramaeka watched him leave feeling slightly numb. Was it possible he wondered, dragons in an alliance with humans? And which dragon was he talking about. A hand shook his shoulder pulling him away from his thoughts. Stripe indicated his plate of food.
“Keep eating Ra, you’re going to need your strength.”
Though he wasn’t hungry, Ramaeka forced himself to keep eating. Never thought I’d see the day where I didn’t feel hungry he thought faintly amused.
“What are the three of you going to do now?” Amar asked.
“We should fight,” Stripe replied immediately. “Help stop this from happening again.”
“No way,” Shady said flatly. “We’re thieves not warriors.”
“What do you think Ramaeka?” Amar looked at him.
“He’s too young to fight,” Stripe dismissed instantly.
What did he think? Ramaeka wondered to himself. To tell the truth he was thinking that he never wanted to see what he had seen today again, he just wanted to leave with his friends and pretend it had never happened. But you’ll know it’s still happening, the annoyingly persistent voice in his head pointed out. And that was the problem really; it was time he started acting like a real dragon, and fought for what he believed in. He would have to tell them what he was, and soon he thought as he looked at his friends sad, tired faces. But not today.
“I want to fight,” he said interrupting Stripe and Shady’s argument.
They all looked at him in surprise.
“You’re too young,” Stripe said. “If we go to war then you’re staying here where you’re safe.”
Ramaeka stood up to his fullest height. “I am not your son or your little brother, I am your friend,” he told Stripe fiercely. “And I can make my own choices, I want to fight and make sure that this does not happen again and to make sure that it doesn’t happen to you and Shady and Amar and everybody back in Talok!”
He glared down at them. Shady tugged on his arm and pulled him down.
“Touching as that is, we are not going to fight.”
He waved at Stripe to be quiet.
“I’m the only one old enough to fight anyway, the rest of you are all under eighteen. But we’re not fighting, we’re thieves not warriors. I know you love waving that sword of yours around,” he said scathingly to Stripe who glared at him. “And maybe you’re decent enough at fighting one on one with someone who isn’t going to try and kill you, but this is different. There are no rules. And if you run off you’ll be risking my life and probably Ramaeka’s because we will follow you. Do you think you could live with yourself if one of us dies?”
He stopped and stared at Stripe until he hung his head. Really that was going a bit far thought Ramaeka a little shocked.
“That’s a bit unfair,” he told Shady.
“No he’s right,” Stripe interrupted him dejectedly. “I can’t risk your lives. I’m going to get some air.”
He walked dejectedly out of the building; Shady followed him a moment later.
Ramaeka suddenly remembered Amar.
“What are you going to do?” he asked curious.
Amar smiled tiredly.
“Follow you.”
“Me?” Ramaeka asked in surprise.
“Yes, you my friend.” He stood up and stretched. “Come, let us find somewhere to rest.”
Ramaeka didn’t think he would be able to sleep that night but as soon as his head hit the ground he was gone. He woke abruptly to find Shady standing over him. As he sat up Shady passed him his pack.
“We’re leaving if you still want to travel with us,” he said abruptly before walking away.
Ramaeka leapt up and followed him to where Amar and Stripe were waiting. Shady led the way through the grim rubble of the streets and out of the city.
“Where are we going?” Ramaeka asked Stripe in a whisper.
His friend frowned down at the ground before replying.
“North-west, up towards the capital.”
He sped up and joined Shady at the front. Ramaeka turned back and took one last look at the ruined city before following his friends into the night.
Chapter Seven
By nightfall the fallen city could no longer be seen as the fields gave way to an eerily enclosing forest. The dampening effect of the trees was only exacerbated by the unnerving silence amongst the group.
Usually Ramaeka and Stripe would be joking around, racing each other or trying to trip the other up. Amar would walk gracefully behind or beside them, occasionally pointing out something of interesting or disappearing for awhile before returning with some strange plant or fruit for them to try. Shady would be out in front, scouting and pretending to ignore the rest of them, but dropping back to make a sarcastic comment or observation every now and then.
Now they walked single file, Stripe in the lead followed by Shady, Amar and finally Ramaeka himself. He wondered when they would stop for the night, they had been walking all day without break and it was already getting dark. I’ve done more walking since I met Stripe and Shady than I’ve done since my father let me live as a baby, he thought in disgust stopping to adjust one of his boots. Horrible human torture devices he thought fiercely, he didn’t care what the others thought, he was going barefoot from now on. Tying the offending items to his pack, he turned to find that the others had disappeared. He quickly hurried after them. The trees were immense in this forest, tall, dark and forbidding. Ramaeka rather got the feeling that this was an ancient forest, and one filled with a lot of wild beasts. Not that he was worried of course, he was an earth dragon. Generally he got along with anything that grew and most beasts would be scared off by the scent of a dragon, but his friends might not be so lucky.
Climbing a small hill, following the group’s scent, he looked down into a surprisingly open glade. A small stream trickled down through its centre from the forest covered hills. His friends were quietly setting up camp beside the stream, gathering dry sticks and grass for the fire. He limped down to the water and flopped down to examine his feet. Despite his tough hide the horrid boots had given him blisters. He dunked them into the cold stream with a sigh of relief and lay back. After a few minutes Amar joined him, rolling up his breeches and putting his feet into the stream as well. They watched the fading sunlight playing over the clouds in silence.
“Do you know what this forest is?” Amar broke the silence.
“No, but if feels old and grumpy,” Ramaeka replied with a yawn.
“Yes, it is one of the first forests made when the worlds were created,” Amar said quietly. “Sometimes you can even meet some of the Avari still roaming here.”
“The Avari?” Ramaeka asked genuinely curious now.
Amar flicked a pebble into the stream. “The animals, the first of their kind were created before even Rama existed and are both powerful and dangerous.”
“That can’t be right,” Ramaeka objected. “Rama created everything in the beginning.”
“No in the beginning there was nothing and everything. Then there was darkness and light. There were many beings created before Rama was born, he is the last of the first.”
Amar stared at the passing clouds, still illuminated by the faint light of the descending sun. Despite his exhaustion, Ramaeka’s thoughts churned, had Rama really created all nine hundred and seventy-two worlds and their peoples then? That was the tale, though only four hundred and twelve worlds had been discovered by Amarian travellers.
“Come,” Amar tugged at his arm. “Tonight I will teach you to shape magic for use in battle.”
Immediately distracted Ramaeka nodded eagerly and followed him to where Stripe and Shady were sitting by the small fire they had built.
“Here,” said Stripe gruffly, passing Ramaeka a small pot. “Put some of that on your feet, it’ll help.”
“Thanks,” he replied with a meek smile. “Amar said he’d teach me how to use magic in battle tonight if you want to join us?”
He felt strangely formal, having to
ask Stripe, who usually just leapt in anyway.
“After dinner, it’s my turn to cook tonight.”
Ramaeka nodded then sat and opened the pot Stripe had given him. It smelt almost like mint and something else that tickled his nose. Concentrating he tapped his magic. It was becoming easier and easier to do so as he learnt how to use and control it the way Amar did. He looked at the pot again; there was definitely a glint of magic in it. This was probably expensive stuff.
He scooped a little bit out and dabbed it over his aching feet. The pain disappeared almost instantly and he sighed with relief.
“That’s good stuff,” he told Stripe, watching as the swelling on his feet went down.
“I got it in the very south of the country from some monk,” Stripe explained as he dropped several herbs into the cooking pot and stirred. “Cost a fair amount but it was worth it.”
Ramaeka hummed in agreement.
After dinner, once Ramaeka had cleaned up, Amar gathered them together for their first lesson in magical combat.
“It is easy to draw upon your magic, but to create a weapon of pure magic with any real strength you will need to be able to hold the form at all times, even once you have thrown it.”
He stopped and held out his hand palm up; incandescent white magic began to swirl over top of his palm. Once it was the size of his fist he stopped.
“You need to compress it, make sure it is completely solid,” he said concentrating on the ball of magic which darkened, tightening in on itself.
“The more compressed it is the more powerful, the more explosive.”
He pulled his hand down leaving the magic ball floating in midair.
“You see if you can control your magic, you can send it anywhere. You can make it dodge and chase until it impacts with your chosen target.”
The ball of magic skimmed away from him, twisting around Ramaeka, who squeaked in surprise. Amar smiled and with a wave of his hand sent the ball flying into a moss covered boulder across the clearing. The ball exploded with an eye watering flash. When the smoke cleared Ramaeka saw that the rock had completely disintegrated.
Stripe let out a whistle and walked over to examine where the boulder had been.
“You can make them as small or as big as you wish,” Amar continued blithely. “But you must remember your magic is also the force that keeps you alive. If you use it all, you will kill yourself.”
He looked them over; Ramaeka raised his chin, he wasn’t afraid to try this.
“If you are ready shall we make an attempt?” Amar asked.
“Definitely.”
“Absolutely.”
“I’m ready!”
He smiled at them. “Very well, there are three smaller rocks over here. Line up in front of one, they will be your targets.”
Eagerly Ramaeka bound over to stand in front of a rock. This was going to be simple he thought smugly, after practicing the same thing with fire magic, throwing pure magic would be easy. Technically it was really the same thing. He held out his right hand and concentrated on pulling his magic into his palm. He was surprised to find that his magic seemed to have grown somewhat. Amar was right, the more he used it the more it grew. He pulled some of it to his palm; soon he had a lumpy ball the size of a small orange.
“Good,” Amar’s voice murmured in his ear. “Now make it solid.”
Ramaeka pushed down on the wispy ball with his mind. Immediately power squished out the sides as if it was a cake filled with cream. Scowling, he pushed the sides in too. Now he had a square of magic, which was still leaking in small strands, he yanked at one of the escaping strands and pushed it back in. Several other strands immediately started floating out. Struggling he kept pulling them back in while trying to concentrate on keeping the magic on his palm. This was much harder than the fire spell, with that you just released a stream of fire magic, none of this making a ball nonsense. A yelp beside him caused him to lose concentration and he watched in dismay as his square, wispy magic ball disappeared. He sighed and turned to see what had happened with the others.
Stripe was sitting on the ground holding his hand over his cheek. Amar crouched beside him and pulled his hand away to check his wound.
“Just a small scorch mark,” he said calmly. “Put a dab of that cream of yours on it. You do not need to hold it so close to your face.”
Stripe grumbled as he got to his feet, he looked up and saw Ramaeka grinning at him. He smiled sheepishly, and then winced as it stretched the raw burn on his cheek. As he dabbed ointment cautiously on his face Ramaeka glanced over at Shady and sniggered. Following his gaze Stripe laughed. Shady’s ball of magic had somehow grown tentacles which were reaching up towards his face. He danced around trying to avoid them before finally dropping it, yanking his hand away and jumping backwards as it hit the ground with a bang.
Stripe and Ramaeka howled with laughter, as Shady stared in shock at the small crater in the soil. The miserable ball in Ramaeka’s stomach unwound as the tension between them melted away like snow in the summer sun.
“I didn’t know you could dance so well,” Stripe choked out.
“Shut up,” Shady growled. “Don’t see you doing any better.”
“He is correct,” Amar said unconcerned, “He is the only one who has managed to disintegrate anything so far. Perhaps you two should try again.”
Still sniggering the two of them turned back to their rocks. Ramaeka pulled on his magic again; it seemed to come through even faster. He tried to squish it into a ball shape but once again threads of magic kept attempting to drift away.
Think he told himself sternly, there’s got to be a way to tighten it up. You’re a dragon not a human, the voice in his head informed him; you shouldn’t even be doing this in your lesser form. Shut up he growled, scowling at the floating mess in front of him. Wait perhaps that’s it he thought suddenly. I’m an earth dragon, and earth is compressed, maybe if I treat it like that in my mind.
He closed his eyes firmly and imagined the ball as a tightly packed ball of earth.
“Good, now let us see you move it,” Amar interrupted him.
He opened his eyes to see a solid ball of magic floating in front of him. Ok don’t lose it now he told himself. Keeping a tight hold of it with his mind he slowly and painfully floated it towards his rock. Slowly inch by inch it moved closer until it hovered above it. Too tired to hold it any longer, Ramaeka let it go. It dropped onto the rock and exploded; he yelped and held up his arm to cover his face as chips of rock zipped through the air.
“Well, that was interesting,” Stripe commented.
Peering over his arm Ramaeka saw that his rock had shattered rather than disintegrated.
“That is why you need to control the ball until the moment it connects with the target. Ramaeka’s ball started to lose its shape and intensity in that last moment because he dropped it, therefore it caused the rock to explode rather than disintegrate,” Amar explained.
“How is this useful in battle though?” asked Stripe serious once again. “It’s taken us four hours to make two magic balls each.”
Amar held up his hand, balls of energy flooded the air around him. Gently he waved, making the shimmering lights swirl around him.
“As you get stronger and learn more, it will become much faster. Eventually if you keep training you will be able to control hundreds at the same time, and call them up in an instant.”
He gestured deftly drawing the magic back in to his skin.
Ramaeka would have been more impressed but he felt as if he was the one who had been shattered, not the rock. He groaned and walked over to his bed bone tired.
“I think I’ve had enough training for tonight,” he told them flopping on to his blanket. His right arm suddenly cramped with an almost crippling pain. I’ve really over done it he thought clutching his arm. However after a few moments the pain subsided to his relief. Shady walked over and joined him, crawling into his own blankets.
“Just one more go,”
Stripe said firmly. Ramaeka watched as he drew on his magic. He had trouble shaping it struggling to keep magic from escaping out the sides or from the top. He probably can’t concentrate properly with everything that has happened Ramaeka thought, he could certainly understand that. Finally Amar told Stripe to stop and get some rest. The last thing that Ramaeka saw before he drifted off to sleep was Stripe sitting staring into the fire, shadows playing on his face.
By the time they awoke the next morning gloom had once more settled over the group, the levity of the night before forgotten. Several times they passed soldiers heading in the opposite direction. Each time Ramaeka watched as Stripe’s gaze followed them until they were out of sight. He wondered if one morning they would just wake up to find Stripe gone. I’ll still follow you, he told the Stripe in his mind fiercely.
As they walked Stripe continued to try and get his magic into shape on his palm. At one point he was concentrating so hard that he walked into a tree. Normally Ramaeka would have laughed his head off, but today he was so depressed and worried about his friend he couldn’t even muster a smile. The ancient forest seemed to be closing in on them again and Ramaeka was sure that at one point he saw a huge hairy animal watching them from afar. Finally, sick of the air of despondency hanging over the group, he stopped in a small sunny glade and dropped his pack.
“What are you doing?” Shady asked frowning.
“Stopping for midday meal,” he told him. “We might as well, we’re all tired and we’re not in a hurry to get anywhere.”
Shady and Stripe both hesitated but when Amar sat down, they both dropped their packs as well. As they sat down, Ramaeka walked into the trees.
“I’m going to find us something to eat, make sure you stay here,” he called back to them ignoring their protests.
After only a short trek through the dense undergrowth he was lucky enough to scent two rabbits. He stalked and killed them both in almost record time, apologising to their spirits as he skinned them. As he started to head back, he heard voices coming from somewhere off to his right. Curious he followed the sound taking care to make no noise himself; there was no telling what was out here. It was almost half an hour before he finally found the source in an area where the trees thinned into one of the strange sudden openings. It was as if it had once been carefully cultivated though it had obviously been abandoned for a long time. Two women were standing beside several apple trees, pulling ripe fruit from the branches to fill their packs. One of the women seemed to have purple hair, fascinated Ramaeka crept closer. The other woman was blonde and, with a pang, Ramaeka thought of Alekra. It seemed so long ago now since he sat in front of her cave and talked to her.
