Wings of Reckoning

Chapter Nineteen: Art of Dragonessense

   As the vermillion sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of violet, Kass and Angelise found solace within the wooden walls of the makeshift fort. The air was filled with the scent of pine and the crackling of the campfire that Corvin had left behind.

  Kass, still marveling at the pearl-like sword his tail had conjured, felt a surge of anticipation for the next day's lesson Art of Dragonessense. He turned the radiant blade over in his hands, its glow reflecting in his eyes, which were now pools of determination.

  Angelise watched him, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You've come a long way, Kass," she said, her voice a gentle murmur against the night's stillness. "Your control, your strength... you're not the same person who started this journey."

  Kass looked up, meeting her gaze. "I couldn't have done it without you and Corvin," he replied, his voice tinged with gratitude. "Tomorrow, I will learn Dragonessense. Corvin says it will change everything."

   They sat in quiet contemplation, the stars beginning to pepper the darkening sky. The fort, a testament to their resilience, stood strong against the encroaching night. And within its walls, two warriors prepared for the trials ahead, their spirits as unyielding as the earth beneath them.

                                ***************
   When Corvin got back, he brought Elkhorn boar to cook over the campfire, then they ate quietly.

"Kassander, better to get a good night's sleep," said Corvin.

"Oh, okay," Kass said then he went to the fort and laid on his back with wrapped his wings around his body.

  Corvin turned toward Angelise and he said, "Angelise, you need to keep out for that hunter boy."

  She nodded.

   While Corvin and Kass went to bed in the fort, Angelise decided to stay awake. She wonders who is that mysterious boy in the woods. Will they ever see him again? Could he be a threat? If he is a threat, it would be better to be prepared for anything.

                              ***************

   After they ate roasted rabbits and duck eggs for breakfast,
Corvin takes Kass to the local creek where there are no hunters nearby. Kass put on a laced tunic and brown trousers with blue straps that he had worn backward to leave open his wings and his tail after he was bathing in the creek.

  "To keep your dragonessense control, We need to balance out your anger," Corvin said.

  Kass asked when he faced him, "How I can do that?"

  "First, you need to sit down and cross your legs, then close your eyes to clear your head, my dear boy," Corvin ordered.

  "So you want me to mediate?" Kass said when he looked up in curiosity.

  "Yes," Corvin replied. "It will help you with your senses and it will help you to connect your dragon essence and the elements that flow around nature itself."

  Kass nodded and sat down with his folded wings, then he crossed his legs and closed his eyes. His tail curled around his right side

  "Now, Kass, breathe in and breathe out," Corvin said, then he left Kass alone.

   Suddenly, Kass started to hear the birds chirping, and squirrels squeaking. He begins to feel the wind flow through his crystalline body as water fills in his veins. He feels the sun shining on his body and his wings start to radiant. He begins to smell evergreen grass. Kass senses everything. He felt that he had become natural. He's amazed by it.