?
Finishing off the food offered by the old one. I decided to investigate why the feelings I got from the two were so similar and yet so different. Looking towards the old one who was enjoying a container of hot liquid, I felt power, but it was hard like it was trapped and might never move again. The younger one was weaker, and while it still felt solid, it also felt almost eager to move and change, it felt right.
While I was examining them, the younger one seemed to have lost all fear of my presence approaching where I lay while the old one made noises at him. When he got within one of his arm lengths of me, I could feel what I needed to do.
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Torin
"Loosen your control of your mana and stand just a little bit closer." Delia instructed
Walking a little bit closer, I was about to ask her how to loosen control, when a massive force slammed into me. Falling to my knees, I could faintly hear Delia telling me to just breathe. "Easy for her to say" I thought, my mana was running wild and my body felt like it was on fire. With an effort of will I forced myself to take a single halting breath before falling forward as the darkness claimed me.
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?
Sensing the power within the young one respond to my presence, I mentally gripped his core as if I had done this a thousand times. Pull, Twist, Loop, Turn, Pull, Twist, Loop, … I came to moments later, feeling the immense satisfaction of fulfilling a need that had been driving me for so long. I noticed the young one appeared to be asleep. Had I really been working for that long?
"well that was dramatic" The old one remarked.
The meanings of the words came to me unbidden. I could understand her now? That was strange, I did not think anything had changed. The real problem was how to respond, I did not think I could make the same sounds as her.
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Torin
I coughed and sputtered as I woke to the feeling of cold water on my face. "Did you have to use water, that is really unpleasant." I grumbled while using my shirt to wipe the water out of my eyes.
"Would not wake." a voice said
"I would have if you had tried shaking me first." I said hotly while still trying to clear my nose of water
"Will shake next time."
"That would be nice" I said finally looking for the source of the voice, but I could only see Delia and the Dragon sitting nearby.
"It's good to see that the two of you can communicate." Delia said humor evident in her voice
I wondered for a moment who else she was talking about before paling with realization. I turned to the Dragon and said "On second thought, please don't shake me."
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"well as much as I would love for us all to stay here and chat, we still need to get to Roseport." Delia said "Lets get back in the cart, we can talk on the way."
I nodded and moved towards the cart before pausing as something crossed my mind "Hey dragon, what should we call you?"
"Known as Ozias" He said
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Ozias
The journey to what they called the city of Roseport was fairly short and I amused myself by asking about the names of things like their cart, horse and a multitude of other things, until I could tell that Torin was getting tired of it.
Soon the great carved walls of Roseport loomed in the distance, intricate stone artwork depicting battles of the distant past. As we moved closer, one in particular caught my eye. The image showed a young man standing on the back of a dragon in flight as he used Warcastings on the armies amassed below.
"Who they" I said trying to send the image I referred to.
"Oh that's Othelin and Umbris" he said "I don't know much about them, but every kid has heard the story of how they singlehandedly broke the armies of Emperor Gendwic II." his expression darkened a bit "and how the Selurians betrayed them."
Soon we reached the gate, the guards were clearly on edge at the sight of me, tensed as if preparing for a fight. Taking a large step forward I wondered if I could just push past them, they did not look strong enough to stop me.
"Just let him through, I will vouch for his good behavior." Delia called from behind me
The guards immediately backed away as they noticed Delia and snapped to a salute with their arms crossed over their chest "Yes Guardian!" they said respectfully
Walking through the gate, I was struck by the smell, a disgusting mix of old fish, urine and other filth. That along with the constant sounds of chatter and rush of people overwhelmed me. I began turn and try to find a clear space as I picked out who might be a threat in the crowd that was starting to form around me.
"Enough!" I heard from behind me, as Delia strode forward making the crowd back up several feet. "These two are my guests and are to be treated accordingly." She stated before saying in a much lower voice "Follow me and be quick about it, I may already have been gone too long."
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Torin
I could still feel the sharp edge of panic from Ozias as we quickly moved through the streets, and soon I could tell we were heading into the upper class district. With wider streets and far enough from the fishmongers to dampen the smell, it felt like we were in a different city altogether. Delia led us towards a small but well kept manor. As we entered the building I could feel the mana density spike, Delia practically bolted towards the nearest chair. The moment she was seated, I could feel the chaotic ebb and flow of mana start to organize and flow towards her.
Beads of sweat began to drip from her brow as the exertion took it's toll, and I realized she was trying control all the mana in the entire city. She gasped in pain for a moment before moving towards to the door with a slight limp. "The mana is resisting me, a storm is coming." She said with another gasp "Watch close, this is our true duty."
Running back out the door to follow her, I watched as the world itself turned against us. Delia stood there alone drawing the worst of it towards herself. The skies going from clear to stormy and roiling, and the ground beginning to split and lift up. With a surge of power Delia shot a bolt of mana into the clouds before spinning to slap the rising earth back into place.
The wind whipped around like a hurricane, small pieces of wood and stone ripped from houses stinging my skin like tiny javelins. Turning to look back at the sky Delia sent a dozen more bolts at different parts of the clouds before causing them to explode dispersing the chaotic mana holding them together. She raised a slow shaking hand and clenched her fist forcing the air itself to freeze for a moment before slowly releasing her grip.
She looked back towards me with a weary smile "This is our burden."