Chapter Twenty-Four: Lilith

Ash felt something press against his face. An impatient thought wriggled through his mind. Ash groaned, all of his muscles feeling like heavy sacks of grain. He blinked his eyes open, and found himself looking into a pair of dark, gleaming green eyes.

Ash cursed, trying to scramble away, his muscles protesting loudly against the movement.

“She means you no harm, Master Lorcan.” Amalia’s voice had a hint of amusement to it.

Before him was a creature about the size of a baby sheep. Unlike sheep, this creature had wings, and scales. Think membranes glistened, reminding him of a dark lavender sunset hitting the surface of a lake. Her, for Amalia had called her a she, scales ranged from the deep purples of a shadow during winter, to frozen lavender.

Her eyes blinked, and Ash could see playful mischief within them. Tiny horns poked up slightly from her head. Her tail, which had tiny spikes near the end, swished over the cavern floor, creating a light scraping sound.

A thought nagged at him, more of a feeling than a thought, of expectance. Ash frowned. The thought didn’t belong to him. The dragon, for she could be nothing else, cocked her head at him.

She was waiting for something.

Ash pointed, “She’s in my mind!”

“It is a part of the bond. You are connected now, you and her. Her presence fills the void between your mind and your elan. You will be able to use techniques now, amongst other abilities.”

Ash raised an eyebrow,

“What other abilities?”

“None I can talk to you about, just now.”

Ash rolled his eyes, because of course she couldn’t.

“This brings up another problem,” he said.

“What would that be?” Amalia sounded like she knew what he was going to say.

He said it anyway.

“If I’m supposed to hide everything that happened here, I’m going to have a real hard time doing that with a dragon following me around.”

Said dragon was sniffing his hand, her thoughts questing through his mind like a curious kitten exploring a new area.

“Indeed, you would. Ask her to change her form.”

Ash furrowed his brows as he laid a hand on the dragon's head. She closed her eyes, letting out a small sound as she nuzzled his hand.

Then promptly bit him.

“Ouch!” Her jerked his hand back. Luckily, she hadn’t bitten him very hard. The dragon's tail swished, and her green eyes gained a smug light, her thoughts dismissive of him.

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“What did she do that for? What do you mean, change her form!”

Amalia was looking at the dragon with a fond expression.

“You’ll find that dragons want many things on their own terms, or not at all. Proud beings, dragons. Very proud. Just ask her to change her form. Go on.” Amalia gestured at him.

Sighing, Ash tried to reach out with his mind toward the dragon.

Hey, if you can hear me, would you please change your form?

She cocked her head, blinking. Then she snorted, and her physical form swirled suddenly as if turned to purple light.

A moment later, a little girl stood before him in a dark violet dress. She looked to be five years old, and adorable with a cute face, and green eyes.

She didn’t say anything, but began walking around, hands outstretched as if she were about to walk a tightrope.

“Oh. Change her form.”

Ash stared. She was a little girl. But she was also a dragon.

Slowly, he turned to regard Amalia,

“Will I be able to turn into a dragon?”

“No, you will not. It doesn’t work that way. At Wyrmhaven she will be seen as my little sister. No questions will be asked this way. We will be able to easily excuse her presence near you as you repaying your debt to me by watching her.”

Ash chuckled,

“What debt are you talking about?”

Amalia arched a single brow,

“It doesn’t matter, does it? The tail is fiction. But maybe you have forgotten all of the training I have provided over the last couple of weeks to not only yourself, but your friends. Let us not also forget that I saved your life.”

She had saved him, even if Ash felt she was hiding something about that night.

“It’s as good a story as any. I’m not thrilled with lying, though. Especially to my friends.”

“You promised, Master Lorcan.” A warning note in her tone.

He waved her off,

“I did. I’ll keep my promise.”

The little girl-dragon stomped over to him suddenly, her black shoes clacking against the stone, sending echoes all throughout the cavern. She stood in front of him, and pointed at her mouth.

“Oh, are you hungry?”

A nod.

Ash looked to Amalia.

“I’ll get the fire going, and some food started. We will stay here tonight.”

___________

“How does she form the clothes? These feel real.”

The little dragon-girl was eating her food, a stew Amalia had whipped up from a pan and ingredients that she summoned from thin air. He didn’t think his teacher, if she could be called that, would answer, but to his surprise, she did.

“She does it with elar.”

“That doesn’t explain how,” Ash replied.

Amalia tapped her nails on her staff, eyes reflecting the firelight.

“It is not an easy thing to explain. Dragons do not have the same relationship with elan and elar that you and I do. For one, her growth is shared with yours. Or in other words, as you grow in power, so does she. Yet, she does not use that power in the same way. Her use of elar is more instinctual, you might say. Dragons were said to do great, unexplainable things with it. In fact, it is how Wyrmhaven came to be.”

Ash leaned back,

“That sounds like a story. Will you tell it to me?”

Amalia considered,

“Very well. I will, but we should see to something before I begin the tale.”

Ash waited, and Amalia pointed at the girl, who’s form shifted once more, becoming a young dragon. She slinked over to Ash and bodily pushed herself onto his lap, curling up.

He smiled, laying a hand on the curve of her neck, happy that she allowed him to do so.

“You must give her a name.”

Ash let out a breath, allowing his hands to trail over her soft scales, admiring their color.

“How about…Lilith.”

“Why that name?” Amalia asked, leaning back.

Ash shrugged,

“I read about a dragon once in an adventure story Aunt Dara bought for me from a trader. The dragons name was Lilith. She was a fearsome, beautiful dragon.”

Newly named, Lilith stretched, and an approving thought echoed within his mind.

He smiled,

“She likes it!”

“Very well. She will be known as Lilith from now on. So then, you have requested a story of Wyrmhaven’s creation.”

Lilith settled back into his lap, her eyes growing heavy as she watched the dancing shadows emerging from the flames.

Firelight swirled upward, coalescing into images.

“To tell it, you must hear the story of Sylvestrus Caledon. The son of the Moon and Sun.”

Amalia’s voice had become whisper soft, firelight twisting as she spoke.