The Test

Tiran gives Ava her second test.

"What do we do?" I asked, slightly panicked, after a moment of quiet, filled with us staring at the creature and with it returning the gaze with its large, unblinking, golden eyes.

"I don't know." Estïqiã replied truthfully. The tiny dragon, no bigger than a cantaloupe, yawned, revealing a little pink tongue and tiny white teeth, looking wickedly sharp.

I'm hungry.

"What?" Estïqiã and I both replied, and looked at each other. When we realized that neither of us had spoken, we turned to the purple dragon on the table. It was staring at us intently.

Well? I want something to eat.

I gasped.

It was speaking somehow, into our heads, communicating telepathically.

"Lizards can't talk!" I blurted out. The dragon's inquisitive face changed into an expression of annoyance.

She just called me a lizard! complained the voice.

Her golden eyes turn to Estïqiã in a pout.

"I can't believe it...." Estïqiã whispers, and her hand reaches out, then touches its head softly. The thing immediately purrs, yes, purrs, and stretches her head upwards to rub against Estïqiã's palm. The elf laughs, and scoops it up, cradling it to her chest.

"Wait!" I cried. "It could bite!"

"She." Estïqiã replied, smiling as she stroked the creature.

"What?"

"It's a she."

"Oh." I was quiet for a moment, until the dragon let out an especially loud purr.

Estïqiã laughs out loud with delight, and looks at me happily.

"Ava, it's the most wonderful thing in the world!" she exclaimed. "It's like she's known me all my life, like we are linked in some way...."

Watching them together, I felt sort of jealous. They felt something that I hadn't ever known, or experienced. Something special, and intimate, with someone else, I hadn't ever experienced. Of course, there were people I loved. Dantaus knew me backwards and forwards, Teresa was like my mother, and Finneaus had somehow become a father figure.

But this was different.

Having someone, not family, who you trusted with your life, who knew everything about you, no secrets, no lies. I knew people usually had someone like this; a close friend, a true friend, who was your confidante, forever and always, through thick and thin.

I'd never had a friend before.

Before Estïqiã.

"ESTÏQIÃ!!!" Tiran appeared out of nowhere, and pointed a trembling finger at the dragon. "Drop it! It can eat you!"

He's not very bright, is he? commented the dragon drily. Tiran appeared to be deaf to her words.

"It's fine, Tiran, really. She would never hurt me." Estïqiã calmed him. "It's just like the legend. She's like my second half, where I wonder how I even survived without her. She's like a part of my brain that was missing all my life."

But now that she has a whole brain! Aw, sorry Tiran, I guess you're the only one with only partial intelligence. came in the purple dragon, flicking out her little forked tongue at Tiran. I laughed out loud, while Estïqiã barely masked hers. Tiran, however, looked at both of us in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear what she said?" I asked, gesturing at the dragon, who was staring at Tiran with evident pleasure in her big, glowing eyes.

"No...." Tiran replied slowly. "But....it is rumored that a dragon magic holder that reached this point in their training, that their pet would communicate with them telepathically, and I suppose that Ava can hear it because you two share some sort of bond that is in the Prophecy."

Pet?! the dragon let out a surprisingly loud and deep snarl, for its age, and looked at Tiran with menace. Using her claws, she dug into Estïqiã's clothing and slid down her leg before the elf could stop her. With an unexpected speed and grace, the dragon approached Tiran, and looked up at him. It looked rather funny; a tiny, but ferocious looking baby dragon glaring at a much larger, and terrified Tiran. With a snakelike speed, the dragon suddenly charged Tiran's leg, grinned at Estïqiã and me, then gave Tiran's shin a pinch.

CHOMP!! the dragon shouted telepathically as Tiran screamed and ran away, away from the little dragon who was trying to 'eat' him. The dragon looked at me ad Estïqiã with a mischievous look, while the two of us clutched out sides and howled with laughter.

Saol peeked in from around the corner, where he had evidently been hiding. His nervous gaze met mine.

"Saol, why don't you come see her? She won't bite." I coaxed Saol, but he shook his head, shrinking back.

"No, no....I can't." he murmured.

"Yes, you can." I insisted kindly. "Are you afraid you'll hurt her?" Slow, hesitant nod. "That's okay, because she's faster than a snake, so you won't be able to hurt her."

"No....I-I know I can. There's something there, drifting at the edge of my memories....." Saol massaged his temples, then suddenly let out a pained groan, sinking onto the couch nearby. I sat next to him, and listened as he struggled to remember. "I....was doing a test. A test of my....readiness, I think. I'm in this room, and I feel calm, like I've been there before, and I know what's coming. A small....door opens, and something comes out."

"What is it?" I ask finally, after a long pause, and Saol growled with frustration.

"I don't know! It was something fast, something to test my skills, something very small, and very fast....." his gaze slowly moves to the dragon.

"Saol?" Estïqiã sounds nervous. "Was it....a dragon?" Saol says nothing, but the look on his face says it all.

"I killed it." Saol whispers, dropping his head into his hands. "Without hesitation. After....I felt nothing. No guilt, remorse, or even pride. I only heard someone's words of praise...."

"Who?" Tiran demanded, who was listening from the other side of the room, opposite Estïqiã and the dragon.

"It was...." Saol hesitated, then his brow cleared. "It was....." Saol suddenly grabbed his head and folded in half. His body began shaking uncontrollably, and I shrieked.

"Estïqiã!" I cried, and she sprinted to her potions cabinet as Saol writhed in agony, uttering brief cries of pain when his throat wasn't choked up.

"Estïqiã!" I shouted, panicked as I tried to hold Saol down.

"I'm out of my sedative potion!" Estïqiã yelled back, equally anxious. As I held Saol down, now with Tiran's assistance, the baby dragon quietly and unobtrusively made her way to the head of the couch.

I can help him. she communicated, and I knew Estïqiã heard it too, because when I turned to the elf for guidance, she nodded.

"Tiran, take over." I ordered my mentor, and lifted the tiny dragon up to Saol's head. His face glistened with sweat, his expression was anguished, and his eyes were screwed shut. My heart hurt to look at him.

Calmly, the tiny dragon placed a small claw on his forehead.

Instantly, Saol's convulsions stopped, and he went limp. After a few seconds of dead silence, his eyes slowly opened, and he looked about. When he saw the dragon, he immediately bolted up and jerked away from her.

"Get it away from me." he whispered, his eyes firmly closed. "I just....I think it would be best if it stayed away from me, until it gets bigger." When I hesitated to act, he added, "Please." I noticed his hands were in tight fists, and his knuckles were white from clenching his fingers so hard.

After a brief goodbye, Tiran left, and Saol helped me prepare a meal, while Estïqiã fed the dragon raw meat.

It ate a lot, to say the least.

"She sure eats a ton." I commented.

"Pandorå." Estïqiã replied, without looking up.

"What?"

"That's her name."

I felt another pang of jealousy.

After dinner, we all silently pitched in to help clean up, before heading to bed, Pandorå with Estïqiã, Saol sleeping on the cot in my room.

I was probably the last one awake that night.

The egg hatching really got to me. Now Estïqiã was this accomplished magic person, who already knew the ancient language and spells, and now had a dragon.

Then there was me, a complete beginner, who knew exactly one word in the ancient language, could do one spell, and had no idea what she was doing.

Quietly, I got out of bed and went to my bag. Rummaging through the pockets, I pulled out the necklace that had changed my life. The gold and sliver shone in the darkness, and it felt warm in my hand.

I pulled back my hair and put the necklace around my neck, comforted by its presence, and crawled back into bed.

And this time, I fell asleep right away.

For the next week, it was study, study, study. Saol taught me handfuls of the ancient language, practicing them all day after day. He said that every few days, we would do a test of some sort on all the spells, but refused to tell me how he would test me.

Saol disappeared every day after lunch into the forest, but no one questioned him, because he was confused and frightened enough as it was, and it seemed that every time he returned, he seemed a little bit more at ease with everyone.

Pandorå grew at an alarming rate every day. On her first day, as previously mentioned, she was only a foot tall. By the second, she was at least one and a half. On that same day, Saol, Tiran and I joined Estïqiã and Pandorä in their daily walk, where Pandorå terrified us all by jumping off the top of the trail leading down the cliff face. Granted, about halfway down, her wings spread out, and caught the air, causing the dragon to glide gently to the ground, but Estïqiã still fainted dead away. In the following days, Pandorå reached the point where she didn't have to jump off cliffs. All she had to do was beat her wings, and she was off.

Estïqiã had begun to create another separate room leading from her room, using her magic to chip into the cliff walls. I now was allowed into her room whenever I liked, so I often went to inspect her progress in the room. With magic on her side, the elf was making tremendous progress, and the room was already the size of the throne room back at Islan, which could hold thousands and thousands of people without getting crowded.

Pandorå's size still increased, and by the end of the week, she was only a bit smaller than Bess.

Speaking of Bess, the small and skittish packhorse became happy and carefree, after a while of daily runs in the forest.

Peeka, who had been happy and carefree in the first place, became even more so. Her coat shone with an aura of grace and speed, and she she was the most intelligent horse I'd ever met. I often spoke to her, while she answered me with her little ways of expressing herself. It was like having a perfect friend; never contradicts, never argues, always listens. Her runs in the morning were significantly longer than Bess's, because while the packhorse's runs were for the exercise, I took Peeka out as a friend, to explore and talk. She was my escape route when the whole magic thing became too overwhelming.

After the week was over, I found myself on a testing day, which had me nervous and excited. I knew I was going to pass; everything Tiran had taught me was dead easy for me, but I didn't tell him that, for fear he would comment on how a swelled ego leads to a miserable defeat or something. He hadn't lectured me yet, but my experiences with Finneaus had taught me that if there's anything a tutor likes to do, it's pointless lecturing.

I woke up earlier than usual, and prepared myself breakfast. Estïqiã and Pandorå were already awake, as usual. Estïqiã was always up first, and Pandorå often woke up with her. I didn't exactly know what time the elf woke up, but whatever it was, it was pretty freaking early.

The two of them were sitting at the table, each with a mug of something. Estïqiã most likely was having her daily cup of coffee, and the light brown liquid in Pandorä's cup was probably hot chocolate. Pandorå had displayed an intense love of all things chocolate, and Estïqiã often made her little chocolate treats. She would never admit it, but she loved spoiling Pandorå.

"Where are you off to?" Estïqiã stirred her coffee before taking a sip.

"Have some chocolate, Ava!" Pandorå warbled in her little voice. She had recently acquired the skill of speaking out loud, and missed no opportunity to show it off, despite her limited vocabulary. She knew words, but didn't quite yet possess the skill of pronouncing them, unless we taught them to her first.

"No thanks, but I think I will have some tea." I pulled down the box of teabags. "After, I'm going to take Bess and Peeka on their runs a little bit earlier."

"Test making you nervous?" Estïqiã put as more of a statement, rather than a question, but I nodded anyway.

"My first test was a couple days ago, and I passed, but even so, each test is going to make me nervous." I explained.

"Oh, you should be. Tiran said he had something extra planned for today." Estïqiã smiled mysteriously. I knew asking for details was futile, but I might as well try.

"What is it?" I asked, breathless with anticipation.

"Can't say." Estïqiã sipped her coffee.

"Oh, please? Don't you want me to know? Tiran will be the one that suffers." I pointed out.

"True...." Estïqiã paused. "Okay, I'll give you a hint. We're going to go face Ekzema soon, right?"

"Right."

"And you need to learn your combat skills, right?"

"Right." I waited for a while, but Estïqiã said nothing, so I gave her a little prompt. "Um, what's my hint?"

"That was your hint. Have fun with the test." Estïqiã stood and dumped her dishes in the sink. As if on cue, Tiran came in through the door. He grinned at the three of us, and tromped over to the table, sitting down immediately, his black curls bobbing.

"Let's get a move on, slowpoke." he prodded me.

"You're early." I commented, and quickly finished my tea. Estïqiã and Pandorå disappeared into their room, most likely to work on the new space. Saol also emerged from my room, offering me a grin and a thumbs up as he grabbed an apple.

"Have fun failing your test." he teased, and disappeared back into my room before I could come up with a smart retort.

"I still have to exercise the horses." I told Tiran, and he smiled.

"No worries. We'll take them out together. I have something a bit.....unprecedented planned." he said mysteriously, going to the stables.

"So I heard." I muttered under my breath, and saddled Bess and Peeka. Tiran took the packhorse, while I took Peeka, who nickered softly.

Patting her neck, I led her out of the caves and down the trail before climbing onto her back. Tiran led Bess on an easy canter through the trees, keeping the lazy packhorse from stopping too often to examine nearby plants and rocks.

We reached a large clearing in the middle of the woods, and I was surprised to see it was an odd sort of clearing. No grass grew in the spot, and the trees and plants stopped abruptly at the edge, forming a perfect oval around the rocks and dirt. Near the center, a rogue flower grew, and Tiran frowned when he spotted it. He snapped his fingers, and the little flower was literally sucked back into the ground.

"Okay, go stand on the other side of the circle." Tiran instructed, and I moved to the left side of the oval after tying up Peeka. Tiran took care of Bess, then went to the right side of the circle.

"What do I do?" I asked, barely able to contain my curiosity.

"Hold on." Tiran smiled, and bowed deeply towards me. "Now you." I began to drop into a curtsy, purely out of habit, but remembered that I didn't have to curtsy anymore. I bowed instead.

"Good." Tiran acknowledged, then grinned evilly. "Now, fight me." Pause.

"Umm....what?"

"I said, fight me. Give me everything you've got. This is a magic battle."

"Tiran!" I rolled my eyes. "I'm not attacking you."

"Suit yourself." his grin grew wider. "Tëñk."

Ancient word for rise.

His hands moved upwards, and two sizable rocks rose from the ground. He flicked his pointer fingers, and the stones went rocketing towards me.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and dove sideways, narrowly missing the rocks.

"Are you insane?!" I screeched. 

"Inktås!" Tiran yelled. Spin.

With his hands, my teacher began to create a little tornado.

"The only way you'll learn is by doing!" he shouted over the wind, and gave the whirlwind a push in my direction. It sped over the rocky ground, and before I could act, it swept me up in its current and moved me a few meters before throwing me down on the ground. My head bumped against a rock, bringing tears to my eyes, but Tiran did not stop.

He threw some more rocks, and I finally held up my hands.

"Füet!" I shouted.

Stop.

The stones halted in midair, then fell harmlessly to the ground. Tiran nodded approvingly.

"Good! You're getting the hang of it." he praised me. "Tëñk!" Several little rocks began to attack me, delivering tiny stings on my bare skin. I tried to stop them, but there were so many, that I couldn't stop them all.

"Pæx!" I cried, or turn, in an attempt to get the rocks to turn and attack Tiran, but the spell only affected a handful. "Lįtm! Drâłś! Åmülek! Hañabóshí!" Fall. Crumble. Ant. Glow. Some of the projectiles fell, crumbled, began glowing (not sure why I said that one), or dropped to the ground, now tiny ants, but the flow did not lessen. I was struggling with figuring out how to put my spells to use, as the spells Tiran had taught me were seemingly random and useless in this situation. 

I could see Tiran standing off in the distance, yawning.

"Come on, Ava!" he yelled. "Use your head, girl! This is making me fall asleep." His carefree tone, so lazy and laid back, made my cheeks flame with fury. Red hot anger clouded my vision as my temper exploded.

Mother had always warned me about my temper.

"Princesses do not lose their tempers." she had told me, after I had pushed a rude noble into the punch bowl, at the tender age of seven.

That night, I had stormed into Finneaus's study, and knocked his things off his desk in a fit of anger, but Finneaus had never gotten mad at me. He just let me wear myself out, carried me to my room when I collapsed, and handed me over to Teresa to let me cry into her shoulder.

"Control your anger, Ava." Finneaus would remind me.

"Anger issues never got nobody nowhere." Teresa would say.

Their words did little to resolve my anger now.

With a yell of frustration, I threw up my arms, and an ancient word came to me, even though Tiran had not yet taught it to me.

"Qûyø!" I shouted.

Shield.

All the rocks began to hit an invisible wall that suddenly surrounded me. It protected me from their blows, and Tiran's eyes widened in surprise, but I wasn't finished yet. Words I'd never heard before were suddenly offering themselves up for my use, swirling around in my head in an angry song.

"Jïego nęcør!"

Come together.

Rocks, plants, and a random assortment of objects flew in from the surrounding wood, and gathered in a pile in the center. My eyes blazed, and I felt stronger than ever as pure energy course through my veins. Extending a hand, I channeled it all towards the shapeless mass and spoke one word.

"Mæžiñg."

Live.

Author's Note

Okay!! That is a LOT in one chapter, but I decided that my chapters are getting too short.:)