Harmoni wasn’t sure what to do. She was used to living with Udo and Aqua, had gotten comfortable in her life here. She’d never really considered what to do if she had to change something as foundational as that.

Fleck was still not totally on board with changing it. They should find Udo and Aqua, and tell them what happened. It was Udo’s home and Ferren didn’t get to kick them out.

But he knew Harmoni didn’t approve of that option. They could also go live with Suzan and Glimmer. Or maybe Rial and Glow, though it was a bit more crowded with them. Or they could go back to the dragon caverns. At least for a little while. The babies they'd rescued would probably be happy to see them. But the dragon caves weren't super good for riders to live in.

True. The caverns were a good size for dragons, not riders. There were also the cracks or ledges that you really needed to be able to fly to deal with, and it wasn't like there was furniture lying around.

‘. . . And you’re thinking of something even bigger than that, aren’t you?’ he asked.

Harmoni nodded. She had gotten away from Ferren. Fleck’s suggestions could keep her away from Xentron City, and the people she knew here. They could give her someplace to live, at least temporarily. But that didn’t really solve the larger problem, did it?

The problem was, despite being young, she had amnesia of about the last 30 years. The problem was, she had an aura of dark magic around her, that far too many people noticed. The problem was, she had a mental block on her memories that she couldn’t feel. That was scary, but it was a little frustrating as well. It was like being blind while everyone talked about what color you were. She assumed. She’d never been blind, so she couldn’t test it. The point was, it was a problem. And it wasn’t going away.

She needed to learn more about magic. And she needed to keep away from people like Ferren and Cembra. So what were her options?

She could tell Fleck was thinking about it. She herself looked around as if the answer would walk up to her, shake her hand, and offer her help. That didn’t happen. But something almost as convenient did. There was a flier in a window. Harmoni recognized it from just over a week ago, the one Cooper took about magic school.

‘That’s it!’

Fleck jumped on the spot.

‘Er. Sorry. It’s just, magic school. We could go to the magic school.’

She dropped down and gripped his shoulders for emphasis.

‘Are you sure you want to?’

Fleck was glad she was finally being proactive about this, and he would follow her into hell itself if she thought that was the best option. But the school was on Iva, right? Home planet of the elves? Moving planets was kind of a big deal, and even if they could get a ship there, it wasn't like they could just hop on a ship and go back if they changed their mind.

'Never mind if I'm sure. Are you sure?' Harmoni asked in her mind.

She was pretty sure the person with fliers for the school had had a dragon. But it wasn't like there were any dragons from Iva. She didn't want Fleck to feel too isolated.

'Are you kidding? That's the cool part.' Fleck did a little dance. How many dragons traveled? Most of them couldn't, on account of being huge. This was a cool chance.

Harmoni smiled, just a little, as Fleck slid around and wiggled his wings.

Then she thought about staying here, about Cembra, and Ferren, and Cyep. Right. Time to get serious.

‘I’m getting that necklace from Rial,’ she thought. The one that would disguise her evil presence. ‘See if you can get our stuff from our bedroom.’

Mostly Harmon’s stuff, but Fleck had some oil for scale shinning as well.

Fleck nodded. He understood. Unlike Harmoni, he didn't need to go in the front door to get to their room. He could fly now. A far cry from the last time he'd been cast out the window.

The two headed off in different directions. Harmoni started off running. She didn’t stay that way. There’d simply been too much traveling on foot today, and getting from the Southern center of the capital to the North-Eastern corner wasn’t short. But she made it, and if Rial had heard anything about her misadventure, he didn’t say. (So he probably hadn’t.)

She considered asking him about the hearts thing, Cyep said it was common where she was from. But she'd also said the cannibalism part was not. Asking Rial about it just because he was the same species seemed . . . uh . . . insulting. Besides, she was on a mission.

But, she couldn’t afford to buy the necklace outright.

Harmoni glanced at Rial, currently ringing up another customer. Glow was watching her with concern, but not suspicion. She turned back to the necklace, and took a deep breath.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘I’m sorry Rial.’

Then she took the necklace to the front, and lied. She told him that she needed to borrow it again, and that she’d return it when she was done. Rial nodded, and let her have it. Telling her he’d charge her according to what she used, when she came back.

‘When I come back. Right. . .’

~~~

“Hathanier is a citizen of Iva. He lives there. He should go back with us to Iva to face the proper trials and punishment. You don't even have real law here.”

“Well that’s all fine and good. But he’s lived on Xentron for the past few years. He’s effected the people on Xentron. He’s effected dragons most of all, almost all of whom live on Xentron. He and his wyvern should be put to work here, making up for their crimes.”

Harmoni and Fleck slowed as she picked up on the, Elvish conversation. Once she and Fleck had met back up, Fleck had used his sense of smell to take them to the right people, the one who’d had the flier for magic school. Apparently, they were at the steps of the Desert Crest’s building.

Amier stood at the top of the steps, blocking the door going in, though probably not on purpose. Argone stood beside him at the side of the building.

“Speaking of the wyvern, how were you going to keep him contained on Iva, hmm? The other wyverns, dragons, and reptiles his size can keep him in line here. A wyvern even came in to apologize about Versith, as if they’re responsible for everything any one wyvern does,” Argon pointed out.

“We have this thing called magic,” the other dragon said.

The other two here arguing were the elf who’d passed out fliers on magic school, and his dragon. The elf had long blond hair pulled into a ponytail, his sharp grey eyes getting exasperated as he argued with Amier. He was tall and thin, but his features were less intense than some elves could get.

His dragon was about the same, large, size as Argone. Both his eyes and body were dark green, but the body was a sort of green you might get in the forests of this planet, while the eyes were an even darker deep green.

This was where their eye sight differed. Fleck looked at the dragon and his mind told him that was green, but it was all one shade, and was about the same shade as any other green he'd ever seen.

“Look, the trials will bear all this in mind. He might just get banished from Iva, and you can do what you like with him. But not going through the proper steps is-”

His dragon suddenly lifted his head a little higher, zeroing in on Fleck and Harmoni. He felt Harmoni tense beside him.

She had slowed to a stop as the four came into sight. Maybe she should’ve picked a less obvious spot to watch, but those four already had a bit of an audience, people who stared as they walked past or people who came to a dead stop. She didn’t think anyone would pick out her and Fleck specifically.

But they had been speaking in Elvish. A lot of people were moving past when they realized they couldn't understand the argument. Even Harmoni struggled a bit with words you didn't hear very often, like "trials." But she was ninety percent sure that was what he was saying.

Well, they wanted to talk to these two eventually, didn’t they? He gave Harmoni a nudge. She lost her balance, stumbled forward, and then walked towards the steps like a normal person. Fleck followed at her heels.

“Ah. You’re Harmoni, yes?” Amier asked, switching to Standard. Right, he would know who she was by now. “Is there something we can help you with?”

He sounded pleasant enough, smiling at her, but she could see the peek of dread behind his eyes. She did tend to bring bad news.

Well, this would be good news for him.

“Uh, I actually wanted to talk to him.” She turned to the elf from magic school. “Sir? You have the fliers for magic school. That’s you, right?”

The elf gave a single nod, a head bow. “My name’s Tolith. This is Asplenium.” He nodded up at his dragon. “I work there as a healer, among other things. Although, we’re not the only magic school in existence.”

Fair enough, but there didn’t seem to be one on Xentron.

“Will you be going back soon?”

Another nod. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Amier. “Whether I take Hathanier back or not, I have to get back to teaching soon.”

Harmoni bobbed on her heels slightly. ‘Right. Here goes nothing.’ “Can I come with you? I’d like to learn at the school.”

Amier’s eyebrows shot up. Now that she thought about it, he’d used magic, right? Had he sensed something wrong with her?

Meanwhile, Tolith just furrowed his eyes. “My ship has limited space. Most people make their way to Iva on their own.”

“Sir, I don’t think that’s always feasible. Especially if you’re coming from Xentron.”

Space travel was expensive in general, but Xentron also didn’t have much of a population. There was no official spaceport, and no one here seemed to build spaceships. They could repair what was here, but those just came from other planets.

Tolith seemed to understand. He nodded, just slightly, to himself. “May I ask, why do you want to learn magic?”

Right. How much to tell him?

‘Uh, you can’t tell him all of it?’

‘I’m going to leave out the part where I make someone explode through my terrifying presence, thanks.’

“I was told there’s a magical block on my mind, blocking my memories.”

Tolith tilted his head. “If you want the memory block removed, I could try. Or if not me, someone could do it, surely.”

“Maybe they can, but I’d like to know what’s going on for myself.” Harmoni shook her head. “I didn’t even know the block was there until someone told me.”

Tolith pursued his lips. “Are you sure you want to do this? Don’t misunderstand. I have no problem helping you, and Edinar is the best place to learn magic from. But learning takes time and patience, and space travel isn’t exactly easy or common either. I don’t want you to become isolated at a school you don’t really want to be at.”

Harmoni nodded. “I understand. But, you had those fliers for Edinar over a week ago? I’ve had time to think about it.”

She hadn’t thought of it until today, but she and Fleck had still considered it on the way here.

“I’d still like to go. If you’ll take me. If not I’ll . . . find another solution.”

“No need to be hasty,” Tolith said. “If you want to come with me, I’m leaving today. But in the evening. Asplenium and I have some more business to see to. If there’s anything else you need to do, I suggest you do it now.”

Harmoni inhaled, eyes getting wider. “Thank you! Thank you, sir. You won’t regret it. I’ll make it up to you.”

“That’s not necessary,” Tolith said, and he even seemed vaguely uncomfortable. But the emotion disappeared, replaced with a gentle smile. “Just make sure you do well in your studies, OK?”

Harmoni nodded.

Argone, meanwhile, had been smiling at Asplenium and Tolith. Asplenium just eyed him, waiting for whatever horrible thing he was going to say.

“You know,” Argone said. “You don’t have much room on your spaceship. If those two are coming with you, I guess Hathanier and Versith are staying here after all."