“Alright you three. This is a bit unconventional but we can do the demonstration,” Sehren said sitting on the air. He created a cushion for himself and sat cross legged in front of his students.
Sofie, Silva, and Sefirin were all standing together with a bit of space between them all. Sefirin was confident but looked at his sisters and tried to give them confident smiles. Silva’s face was blank, her arms folded and fingers tapping her arms. Sofie was nervously looking at the ground as she went over what she knew about her spells. The ones she tried to memorize and make instinctual.
They had returned to the academy but they didn’t stay for long. They thought about going straight to the castle but Sehren knew that interrupting what was going there was going to cause some other issues. So Sehren advised them to take their exercises to the school grounds proper. Rumors were going to spread regardless so they might as well get their own comfort.
So now they were positioned on an empty field of grass and a downward sloping hill. Their backs were to the forest and a warm breeze was on the air. A nice day. Emerelda was lying beside Sehren, her eyes for Sofie and Sofie alone.
“Who wants to go first?” Sehren asked looking between them all.
“Well I don’t think my sisters are ready to go yet. Maybe some kinda stage fright,” Sehren shrugged.
“Get over yourself Seffy,” Silva rolled her eyes.
“Yeah Seffy. Either of us can go now,” Sofie said.
“Then why not go first Sofia?”
“Fine!” Sofie shouted eyes a bright red.
She marched forward hands curled into tight fists. Sefirin glared at Silver but she scoffed ignoring him. Sofie stood in front of them and bowed her head to Sehren quickly. She looked at them and they turned green as she tried to smile. “I’m Sofie Niess. I’m sixteen and I’m going to demonstrate what I’ve been learning.”
Sehren gave her a warm smile and gentle nod of the head, “Go on Sofie.”
She smiled back and nodded quickly. She looked over at Emerelda and the dragon hummed nodding slowly. “You can do this hatchling.”
Fixing her face into a determined look, her eyes turned orange as she raised both her hands slowly. Chanting slowly, she brought her magic to the forefront of her mind. She focused on it and channeled it. Like she did dozens of times before. It usually took a few tries but this time she got on the first. Filled with her magic she nodded confidently.
Stepping forward she thrust her hands out and created a ball of white light. She floated one in her palm and tossed it back and forth between her hands. She caught it going back and forth between her palms. Rolling it across her fingers she spun it on her index finger.
Turning around she spun making the ball rotate around herself like in orbit. It kept going, spinning faster and faster and then it shot off in the other direction. It flew out of her grasp and straight at her siblings. Silva raised a finger and caught it out of the air.
Sofie’s eyes widened, panicked for a moment. “Is that all Sofia?”
She flicked the orb back at her and Sofie raised her hands a gust of air jumping from her palms to slow it down. Gasping in surprise she caught the orb, the wind surrounding it. She shoved her hand into the ground and ascended straight into the sky several dozen feet keeping the orb in her hand.
She didn’t know how she was doing this but she was confident in it. Her eyes wide she let out a shriek of laughter as she kept going up. Spinning around with the wind whirling beneath her feet she laughed. For the first time ever, she felt in control. She felt confident. Her eyes turned a bright white as she kept spinning.
And just as quickly as it came it fell away. The wind beneath her feet disappeared. She kicked and tried to keep it going but her concentration had snapped. She started to fall like a rock plummeting to the ground.
Before she could collide with the ground Emerelda appeared beneath her. Sofie fell onto her back gently and almost slid off. Emerelda moved her joints slowly and crouched against the ground. With an unfocused look in her eye Sofie reached out for balance, gripping her muscles and scales for purchase.
“I’ve got you Sofie,” she said softly.
“Thanks Em,” she mumbled getting her bearings back. “I messed up. That was my big moment. And I blew it. I really am the worst.”
“No hatchling. You did very well. You should be proud of yourself,” she said. “I enjoyed watching you.”
“Well that makes one of us.”
Emerelda landed gently and stood up. Sofie sat up slowly and slid down Emerelda’s foreleg. She stumbled and fell against the grass but kept both hands up. She grabbed her leg for balance and saw her concerned face. “I’m good Em.”
The air shifted and suddenly Sefirin landed near her and helped her up to her feet, “You okay Sofie?”
“Yeah. Pretty cool right? Light show and some wind and then I come crashing down. Like usual.” She tried to smile but she couldn’t. Her lip trembled and she fought every urge she had to not cry. “I did my best though. Right?”
“You sure did,” he said smiling. “It was really cool.”
“Thanks Seffy,” she rubbed her green eyes. “Bet Silva will do something better.”
Sefirin let out a hard breath and shook his head. “She’ll do something flashy. But don’t pay her any mind. I love our sister but. She’s a handful. I’m working on her.”
“Working on Silva,” she shook her head. “That sounds super fun.”
“It’s something. But I’m your older brother. Sorry I let what was going on with you two just happen for this long.”
“It’s okay Seffy,” she smiled at him her eyes a soft orange. “You’ve been a good big brother to me.”
Scratching the back of his head he laughed, “Thanks Sofie.”
She nodded quickly and got to her feet. She only stumbled once before walking forward. She got more confident in her steps and marched her way toward Sehren. He hadn’t shifted much since before but his face was a little more empathetic.
She bowed her head trying to avoid looking at him as best as she could. “Sorry headmaster. I wasn’t exactly. Impressive. But. That’s what I have.”
“It was a marked improvement over last year Sofie. I’m proud of your growth.”
She looked at him confused. Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly at him. She walked back to the line with her siblings. Emerelda groaned watching her but she went back to Sehren’s side. She lowered herself slowly staring at Sofie who gave her another nod. She hummed and lowered her head slowly getting comfortable.
“After Sofie’s performance, who would like to go next. We’ve been pretty loose about the order of things.”
“Well like I said before I’ll go next,” Sefirin said spreading his arms and coming forward. He turned around and faced his oldest sister. “That a problem Silva?”
“Do you Seffy.”
He winked and came forward facing his headmaster and professor. Bowing deeply he took a step back. “My name is Sefirin Niess. I’m twenty and I’m here to show off what I’ve got. You might wanna step back everyone.”
Sefirin stood up straight, cracked his back, and then closed his eyes tightly. He took a calming breath that he had done before. The magic wasn’t the difficult part. Nor the concentration. It was the transition. Scales covered his body, followed by the wings, and finally, his tail thumped against the ground.
Spreading his arms, he took a step back and his hands and feet morphed. It was so strange changing like this. Craning his neck back and forth he fought his own voice as it morphed from his own to a roar. His brown eyes that he inherited from his mother turned to the same yellow as his father’s. Usually, there was something that kept him tied to his human form but in this moment, he severed that tie.
Silva and Sofie felt the change in the magic and both shuddered their eyes turning a dull green. They looked at one another, united in their concern. But then they heard their brother roar and it snapped them out of their own minds and focused on his glowing form. Even Sehren sat up watching him.
His magic exploded and suddenly where the young teenager was now stood a tall silver dragon. The sudden weight that landed in front of them shook the ground. He was leaning forward on his arms with thick leather wings them, connected between hand and chest. He leaned forward panting, smoke emanating from his mouth. His tail swished back and forth, slamming against the ground and causing small tremors.
They had definitely needed to step back as he was nearly as big as Emeralda. As he stood up properly he looked back and forth slowly. He snarled taking in a deep breath. But then Sefirin grunted and hit the ground with one massive fist and then slammed his head against the ground. He hit it again and again as he leaned back and roared. The roar echoed over the grasslands and then things were quiet.
All at once the magic disappeared. The scales, the wings, the tail, the power. It all disappeared in one fell swoop. One second, he was wreathed in his own magic and then the other he was back to his usual self. Gasping as he barely managed to stay on his feet, he grinned at his teacher and sisters.
He put two thumbs up and shouted before falling onto his back. Both Silva and Sofie panicked rushing over to him and caught his arms before he fell down. They picked him up gently and helped him to stand. “Okay okay. I got it. Thanks.” He shrugged out of their grips and laughed. “I got it. For real.”
“Got what? Got overdoing it and almost giving us a heart attack?” Silva berated.
“Yeah you look like crap Seffy. What the heck were you doing?”
But before he could answer Sehren approached slowly and clapped. “Mr. Niess you continue to impress me. I know that we spoke about the concept and theory of what you just attempted but I didn’t think you’d succeed so soon.”
He flashed him a grin, “Well it was a good book. I read it cover to cover like three times. And I asked dad a lot of things. But for the most part I was figuring it out on my own.”
“Well it seems to be taxing you more than you anticipated. More than I anticipated as well.”
“Yeah. I definitely have to get used to it,” he scratched his head. “I thought whatever Silver passed onto me would be enough but there’s a good chunk I need to bring to the table. I’m beat though. I don’t think I can do anymore today.”
“What are you two talking about,” Sofie asked looking back and forth very confused.
“Our idiot brother is trying to tap into his dragon blood in a big way,” she hit him on the head hard. When he complained she just stared at him, “You’re a wreck.”
She hit him on the back again and this time he flinched stumbling forward. Emeralda took a deep breath and he was pulled forward slowly and wobbled. She hummed slowly and then nodded, “You’re a strange one hatchling. For a moment I thought you were truly one of my kind. More so than the moment that we met.”
“That’s a high compliment coming from a real dragon,” he said eyes wide. “I really did get there then. Thank you!”
She hummed and nodded her head taking a step back. Sofie stared at her and then looked at her brother who was somehow grinning wider. He was excited beyond belief and it was infectious. Sofie giggled and helped her brother forward. “Please don’t get too crazy Seffy. I don’t want to get stuck with just having Silva.”
“I heard that Sofia.”
“Good!” Sofie shouted making a face at her.
Silva walked forward to stand in front of Sehren had returned to his previous position. He crossed his legs and folded his hands together.
“Last but not least, my star pupil,” he said and she all but glowed. “You’ve been working on a secret project for some time. I’m excited to see what you’ve come up with.”
“Thank you, headmaster,” she bowed to him. “My name is Silva Niess. I am nineteen and I will show you the fruits of my personal project.”
She started to raise her hands when light expanded beside them. Silva immediately jumped away and raised her hands forward protectively but she recognized the magic. Her eyes widened and her face broke out into a smile as her eyes turned pink.
“Father!”
Nero stepped through it slowly and brushed his fingers through his silver hair. It had grown long, a pair of bangs in front of his face and hair in a pony tail behind his head. Looking at each of his children he smiled immediately, the grin covering his face. One regular eye and another draconic one staring at each of them in turn.
There was someone else with them though. Whoever they were they were wearing a brown cloak, a deep hood over their head. They were about Nero’s build, a little shorter than him but not by much. A trio of white dogs, nearly wolves, all going up to Nero’s waist, bounded forward each going to a seperate child.
“Hey Fluffy!” Sefirin shouted hugging the massive animal, pressing his face against the purple mark on his head. “How you doing boy?”
Silva held out her hand to as another slowed down. He sat and raised a paw slowly and she shook it before hugging him, “Good boy Fang.”
The third ran toward Sofie and nearly knocked her over with his enthusiasm licking at her face and making her giggle, “Okay Fin! Okay! I know it’s been a while!”
“Down Boys!” Nero whistled and the dogs heeded the call turning back to their master. “Hey kids. Sorry to drop in on the performance review after saying I couldn’t make it,” he waved his scaled dragon arm at them. “But I need to borrow…”
He trailed off as his eyes widened. He stared at Emerelda his mouth moving but he couldn’t get words out. She stared at him and stood up slowly. She blinked slowly, “You smell like the hatchling. And one of my kind. You must be her father. Nero.”
“I am. I thought I sensed something strange. But I would never have guessed it was this,” he whispered. “I haven’t seen a dragon in so long.”
“You’re taking things pretty lightly,” Sehren chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me knowing you.”
“Hey what’s that supposed to mean.”
“Oh, nothing my friend. What brings you out here? And who is your companion?” Sehren turned and gave them a pleasant smile.
“I am a visitor. Who requests the aid of the former dragon rider and hero of the war,” they said and the voice was something strange to hear. It didn’t feel like it came from a mouth. Not the way that it echoed in their ears. “Seeing a dragon wasn’t something that I expected to find. But it is welcome.”
“Oh?” Sehren raised his eyebrow. “Color me intrigued about all of this.”
“I knew you would be. Come on back to the castle. You can join in on the talk with me and Dawn.”
“It’s that urgent?”
“Something like that.”
“What’s going on?” Sefirin asked.
He limped over and stood with his sisters who had their eyes on their father. “Nothing too serious.”
“It seems pretty serious,” Silva said softly folding her arms.
Emerelda hummed as Sofie put her hand on her foreleg. The dragon lowered herself and rested her head near Sofie’s. Sofie gasped and looked at her, “Are you sure?” she hummed and Sofie nodded. “Daddy we want to come with you.”
“What? It’s just official meeting stuff. You guys wouldn’t be interested in it anyway.”
“No daddy you don’t get it. That person with you isn’t who you think they are. They’re a dragon. Just like Em.”
Nero paused and turned to the stranger his eyes turning bright gold. He held out his draconic arm and pointed at the stranger with his claws. Sensing the change in the mood all three dogs turned on the stranger and bared their teeth. “Keeping secrets from the people you’re asking for help isn’t wise. Who are you? Really. Be honest this time.”
They looked at the assorted spellcasters and nodded slowly. “Very well. It appears that my secrecy wasn’t required. I apologize for this. Things have been dangerous for a long period of time and I worry about what is coming next.” They reached toward their hood and pulled back the hood.
Their skin was soft white that gleamed in the sun. The closer they looked showed that it was lightly segmented with interlocking scales from the back of their neck up to the top of their head. Their face was angular, with large eyes slanted down and a smooth jutting of skin for what they assumed was their nose. But their mouth was a thin line below that. Their eyes were a stark white color as they looked back and forth between them.
Everyone’s eyes widened looking at them but they only had eyes for Nero. They focused on him intensely and he took a step back shaking slightly. Almost like he was under some spell. “I’ve had many names through the years,” they said as if answering an unspoken question. “But the one you’ve all known me by is Silver. Your dragon Nero.”
The silence that settled on them was heavy. Nero shook his head and swung his arm at the stranger who caught it, eyes wide. Nero’s face was a mask of rage, his scales starting to cover the rest of him. “I don’t know who you think you are. But you’re bold to use that name in front me.”
“I know it’s hard to process but it’s the truth.”
“No! You’re one of Daze’s tricks!” he put his hand against his chest. “I watched Silver die! Felt her die! I mourned her for over twenty years! I would know if Silver was alive again and even more if she was in front of me! Now stop lying!”
The stranger blinked slowly and lowered her head. She looked at his clawed hand and took it, pressing it against her cheek. Her eyes glowed and Nero shuddered as his eyes began to glow as well. He let out a strangled cry as he began to sink back to his knees.
All three children shouted but Sehren raised his arm to stop them. “Wait children. I believe I know what’s happening. And your father needs this.”
The stranger stood over their father, her glowing eyes focused on him. He was looking up at her his arms slack. And then the stranger sank to her knees. The glow faded from both their eyes and they slumped forward.
Nero panted and looked up at her slowly and she looked at him. Nero leaned forward slowly and pressed his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and she did the same pressing her fingertips against his cheek. Something changed on the air, a smell because the three dogs surged forward running around her quickly and pressing up against her. The stranger smiled at them but focused on Nero.
“Silver?” his voice shook barely holding it together. “Is that really you?”
She smiled giving her head a slow dip, “I’ve missed you little one.”
He hugged her tightly then and laughed. “I’ve missed you Silver.”
The Harlequin Library 