Chapter 29 The Dragon Guide
Lorik’s steadying grip slipped as he stepped back. His eyes never left mine. Watching me with an unreadable expression, he picked up four books from the floor, handed me three, and kept one. I grabbed my books and gazed at him, my body silently shaking.
“Sorry,” I said, looking at the floor. “I wasn't looking.”
“Don’t apologize for what’s not your fault.” He met my gaze. The weight of his words was unmistakable.
Lorik studied me before continuing. "How's your ankle? I heard you fell. Tried to rope a magma dragon from its wings, did you?"
“How do you always know?” I shot back, sharper than intended. “Yes, my ankle’s healed.”
“Next time, don’t try to apprehend a magma dragon with your flame ropes. That might work with regular fire dragons, but magma dragons are stronger, even if they’re illusions,” Lorik said flatly, seriously. “Still, very impressive. With more time, which you will have in your trials, you will pass.”
I raised an eyebrow. Was that a compliment? The air felt thick with unspoken things as a long, silent moment held between us. I fidgeted awkwardly, uncomfortable, while Lorik seemed at ease, his posture calm and his expression carefully composed, revealing nothing.
“Well, I’ll let you go. You were in a hurry.” Lorik added, intending to turn around. My heart started pounding just at the realization that he was leaving. Was it that I needed more answers or that I wanted his presence even though I asked him to stay away? Either way, I whispered:
“Wait,” I grab his strong forearm. Lorik met my eyes again, his mouth half-open, and he was clearly willing to say something, but he didn't. I let his arm go and added:
“How did you know where I was yesterday? You told my friends I needed space and that I was fine swimming in the river.”
“Would you rather I hadn't told them? Your wild friend might have called the Emberkeep guards, only to find you swimming in your underwear.” Lorik smirked. I blushed because he had seen me in my underwear. Again. The blush quickly became intrigue.
“Were you spying on me?” I asked, tamping down a smile.
“No.” Lorik’s tone was dry. “When Soehl panicked, I knew you were off hiding, processing.”
He swallowed, hesitated, and continued as if choosing his words. “So I remembered where you went to recharge last time. I portaled myself to the meadows and looked for you. I found your books. I found your trail to the river.”
Lorik remembered what I’d told him about recharging with nature, as my father had taught me. I opened my mouth, then closed it. I didn’t know whether to be mad or grateful. He was looking after me. I was speechless.
“For someone who speaks all the time, you are definitely speechless,” he said, lifting one eyebrow.
“For someone so silent, you’ve said plenty lately.” My retort came fast, sharper than I expected.
“People who are silent are people who once got burned for talking too much,” Lorik said with almost sadness. He looked in pain, as if he wanted to say more but didn’t.
“I hear you will keep my secret,” I said, tilting my head right. It was obvious I was speaking beyond the magical trace secret.
“And I hear you will keep mine,” Lorik responded with a half-smile.
And I was. Lorik had shown me his secrets without ever asking me to keep them, without worrying about being exposed.
He was trained as a healer, and he could mind-bend without touch.
His power was beyond anything I had seen.
I wondered how much he was hiding because it was clear he was.
“I need to go, I am running late for my Sky Terrace practice,” I said.
Lorik just pushed his massive body aside to let me pass. I walked past him without saying another word. I didn't look at him again. I needed to stay away from him, for real this time.
Later that night, after practicing, doing many drills on my own, and hitting the mats with Tran and the other first-years, I lay down in my bed to finish my readings. Soehl was with
Jan, so I had the whole room in peace and quiet. I took my books from the nightstand and laid them out in front of me. I needed to decide which one to finish.
Then I saw a book in my lap that I hadn’t picked myself. The cover had four dragons, one blue, one red, one green, and one violet. The title read: “The Traditional Guide to Dragons, by Violet Kru.”
I hadn’t studied ancient dragons so deeply in my life. But I certainly didn’t recognize this book as a typical or traditional, for that matter, guide for dragons. Perhaps this was the book Lorik was reading, and he gave me the wrong one by accident.
I opened it with intrigue; this seemed more interesting than reading more about the stars and the moon or more of Velvet King’s history.
As soon as I opened it, a handwritten note slipped out. It had been tucked in the mysterious book. It read:
“Princess, you don’t need to embrace the Dragontail legion in every aspect. Your mind, logic, and strategy are your biggest strengths. Study dragons for who they are to succeed in how to hold them enough to win your ruby.
PS: You are special.
L.D.”
The book swap wasn’t an accident after all. Lorik wanted to help me succeed in my trials. Perhaps his confession in the Sky Terrace wasn’t empty. For someone as silent as him, when he spoke, it might mean something.
“Stop!” I screamed. “What am I doing, Solvir? He is still a Moonveil!”
I realized I was speaking to myself, but that was enough to stop my spinning head.
Soehl never came that night. I spent hours reading the Dragon Guide.
It was fascinating. It got into details I never imagined.
For example, you could tell a dragon’s age based on the roughness of its scales, not the length of its horns.
That surprised me. Apparently, after a century, the horn length plateaus, and growth almost stops.
This makes scale roughness a more accurate way to determine age.
The eyes of the dragons were always painted as blue, their original color without taint of the green eyes when they bounded with the wildweavers. Those green eyes like those that taunt my nightmares often at night ever since I went beyond the veil.
I wasn’t sure where Lorik had found this book. It must have been ancient. Our study of dragons has been limited for centuries. Another of his secrets, but I was glad he shared it.
The knowledge would help me find weaknesses in any type of dragon Headmaster Marvek would cast. His illusions were based on true data: strengths and weaknesses to compare to those beyond the veil.