Dragon Dreams

Chapter 35: Outmatched (2/2)

Ferenor also admitted to feeling some soreness after the long flight, which Nyraz quickly addressed with an herbal concoction. He may have regretted bringing it up upon tasting the bitter remedy—his face scrunched comically when he forced it down. But I was familiar with the healer's skill, confident he would feel better in no time.

"Can you teach me magic?" he asked me out of nowhere; we were lying down in the grass to digest our large meal. "You promised, remember?"

Tenaya snorted nearby, amused. "You want him to teach you magic?"

"Yeah!" The blue dragon was undeterred. "Ayreth taught me how to hunt and fly too." He rose energetically to his feet and trotted over to nudge me with his snout.

His prodding got me to roll onto my feet as well. "Okay, okay," I said. "But Tenaya's right though. Anyone else, especially Rofar, would be a better teacher."

"That's for sure," Tenaya mocked again.

I was about to tell her to lay off when I remembered something. "Hold on," I said, "there's something that I do know better than Rofar. The symbol magic."

"Oh," Nyraz piped up, "could you show us that? I'm quite curious about it, to be honest."

"Well...uh..." I hesitated, not sure that I could manage to do anything without the symbol stones, not to mention I was still new to practicing the magic.

"Come on," the lilac dragon encouraged. "I want to see it too."

After a pause, I relented. "Fine, I'll try. But I need something first." I looked around. "Do you have anything I could carve into with my claw?" I asked. "Something flat maybe?"

Nyraz helpfully provided a thick, flat piece of tree-bark she used for pressing herbs. I set the tip of my talon to the wood and began my crude work. Slowly, I engraved the only symbol I really remembered, the one for ice magic that Ares had shown me first. The rough, slightly crooked result gave me doubts that this would work at all.

"Don't stand too close," I warned as I placed the piece of bark on the ground and faced the trees on the other side of the clearing. "I haven't practiced this very much. And it may not even work."

The others backed up, but curiosity still flared strongly in their athkan. I placed a paw on the symbol and tried to focus my mind. The rune appeared in my vision again, dancing and sparking, as I channeled the magical energy into building my ice-breath. Then it released.

A deafening crack split the air; my scales were lashed by a blast of cold. White fog obscured my vision for a moment, lingering after the magic died away. My eyes widened when it evaporated to reveal the aftermath across the frost-covered clearing: a large tree wholly crusted with silvery crystals, and knifed clean through from top to bottom by the force of my breath magic. The smaller section of the tree I had cleaved away toppled to the earth with a thunderous impact. After that, only silence.

I turned to stare at the other dragons, my own mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. The results were far beyond what I had expected and had the effect of thoroughly impressing Nyraz and Tenaya.

"So," I quipped, "that worked."

"No kidding," said Tenaya.

The power of the symbol magic hardly needed more explanation after my demonstration. I further explained for Nyraz's benefit that the Vrost dragons could multiply their power by working in cooperation, like I had experienced myself on the volcano.

"This only confirms the worst," said the turquoise dragon, shaking her head. "It might be an even more difficult fight than we had thought, and with so little time to prepare. I'm no warrior, but you have my word that I will stand against Ares with all my strength. I know the council will decide the same."