Dragon Dreams

Chapter 20: North (2/3)

"I'll take your word for it."

Rofar looked at me in silence for a long moment. He may not have been meaning to, but he could look very intense when he wanted. This was one of those times. The dim light cast hard-edged shadows on the angles of his face, also changing his horns and spikes into silver daggers. I was a little uncomfortable with his gaze, and my eyes wandered around the clearing. The earth, rocks, and tree trunks looked surreal and dreamlike under the pale, rippling illumination.

He gave a muffled snort, as if he had decided on something, and spoke. "Now that we have a private place to talk, there is something I must ask. What has left you with those markings on your forelegs?"

I was taken aback. It was still embarrassing to remember what I had done. "Oh, it was just a stupid accident," I said, trying to make it sound as trivial as I could. "I slipped and fell when I was walking in the woods, and they got a little scratched."

Rofar's face fell; something like concern emerged in his expression. His tail rustled some leaves as the tip moved thoughtfully. "You know, young one, that your athka betrays what your words do not. It is not good to keep these things from others. What you are really doing is keeping yourself in the dark. I assure you, as your friend, that you can confide in me. What happened to you?"

"I guess lying doesn't work among dragons when the connection makes everything apparent," I chided myself inwardly. My eyes were fixed on the ground, where my forepaws shifted uneasily. I let out a slow breath as my wings drooped in defeat. It was a battle to say the words, my shame leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. "I'm sorry. It's not something I'm proud of. These markings...I did it to myself. It happened because I lost control, because I was weak.

"I had a bad day yesterday. I don't need to relive the details, but I let out my frustration by hunting and killing a deer. There was no reason for me to do it. I just was taken over by these urges to feel...powerful. After I did it, I had all this blood all over me. I tried to wash it off in a stream, and still, I couldn't get clean. So I scrubbed and scrubbed at my scales, then I went a little crazy and used my claws. I got myself calmed down, but I've still got the scratches, as you can see."

"I am sorry that you were so troubled by this." Rofar got up and took two steps to sit back down closer to me. "Ayreth, listen to me. This does not make you weak. You have faced tremendous challenges, and I would not claim to understand how you must feel. But do not let this moment of impulsiveness linger in your memory. Here, may I examine your legs?"

I nodded and held out my foreleg. Rofar bent down to take a closer look, and I felt his spirit wordlessly embrace mine. The blue dragon's athka hummed with compassion, giving my depressed mood a rush of warmth. The shared emotions swept through my body and overwhelmed the cold guilt lodged in my stomach. "Thanks," I whispered.

"If you will allow me," he murmured, "I would be happy to heal your injuries. It will not take more than a moment, and when we reach the clan, there will be nothing to invite questions of the incident. I want you to be able to move on."

"Yeah, go ahead," I said quickly. He was right, I didn't want to face any more questions. It was best to forget it.

My companion held a paw a few inches over my mangled scales and whispered a few syllables I didn't understand. A tingling heat spread across my foreleg, along with an intense itching, but I resisted the urge to move. I was starting to grit my teeth in annoyance when suddenly it was over. Rofar removed his paw, and I stared at scales that looked good as new. He motioned for the other leg and did the process again. It all took less than a minute. "Wow, thank you," I said, realizing how convenient magical healing must be, although I was sure that my treatment was simple due to the minor nature of my injury.

The blue dragon tilted his head, a small smile splitting his muzzle. "As the humans say, do not mention it."

His attempt at the colloquial phrase amused me. "Here's something I was wondering: dragons living in the clan speak the dragon language, right?"

"That is correct."

"How do you know how to speak English, then?"

"Ah, good question. The knowledge was given to me by another dragon who, like yourself, was born human. I think I am more curious about humans than most other dragons. I do not know why, but I have always found them interesting. Whenever I could sit down with one of the former humans, I would always have long conversations about what human society was like. One of these dragons—her name is Nyraz—became my dear friend, and then she chose me as her mate. She is looking forward to meeting you."

I took a moment to internalize the fact that Rofar had a mate who used to be a human. She was definitely someone I wanted to talk to. "So, you took all that time to learn English just because it sounded interesting? I mean, you're really good. That's some dedication."

"Well, when I said the knowledge was given to me, I meant it literally. This brings me to one of the reasons we stopped here. Dragons have the ability to use their athkan for sharing knowledge with others. It has many uses, but allow me to simplify. The ability for me to use the English language was given to me by Nyraz in this way. And I wish to do the same to you, so you will know the dragon tongue."

I could hardly imagine such a concept. Gaining knowledge through magic? It sounded insane, but I was incredibly curious. The thought of learning a new language without any effort sounded incredible. "So, um, you want to do this now?"

"Indeed."

"What does it do to you, exactly? Can you, like, learn anything this way? Don't dragons have schools or anything?"

Rofar shook his head. "It has some limitations. Not all things can be passed on like this, though that would be quite easy, would it not? For it to work, the recipient must possess a kind of foundation into which the new information can integrate. So, in this case, you can already speak and comprehend one language, which is the foundation for the new one. Because of this, you cannot learn completely new things in this way—you must build on what you already possess. To answer your last question, dragons still need to be educated in a similar way to what you are familiar with."

"I see. Do I need to do anything to make it work?"

"Nothing in particular. If your athka remains open and accessible to mine, the process is solely under my control. I will warn you that this is a very complex piece of magic, because a whole language is a vast amount of knowledge. Do not worry, however; it is not dangerous. Though, the magic will take much of my strength, and I will almost certainly faint from its effects. This is normal; nothing I have not done before. You will also experience fatigue and lose consciousness as a result of this. I only want you to be prepared, and not feel alarmed by it. As I said, it is perfectly safe. We will wake up in a few hours with our strength replenished, and we can continue our journey. If you are ready for this, I will begin."

"Yeah. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Excellent," the blue dragon said as he moved to lay down on his stomach. "Please, lie down with me, Ayreth." His nonchalant tone was totally at odds with the weirdness of the situation. He could have been informing me about the weather.

Still, I obeyed and settled on the ground, laying my head down on the carpet of grass. I thought I heard him whispering more strange words, but I wasn't sure. Then, my vision started to go funny. The first thing I noticed was the orb of light dimming above our heads. It was also the last, as blackness quickly snatched me from my waking state.

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