Wings of Arian (17 page)

Not sure if that was a yes or no, Emane relaxed his head back against the wall and tried not to think about anything regarding a telepathic pegasus or a certain beautiful girl that he held in his arms as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Nine

VISIONS

KIORA WAS HAVING HER first dreamless sleep in some time. No dragons or merserpents or feelings of doom. Just much needed rest. She could have slept longer if it wasn’t for the pain gnawing away at her stomach. She moaned and twisted to the side hoping to relieve some of the discomfort.

Emane jumped. “Are you okay?”

Sitting up, she looked around and her stomach did a strange nervous flip realizing Emane had held her while she slept. “Fine,” she said brushing the hair out of her face. “Still a little tired…and starving.”

“I know,” he groaned stretching himself out like a cat. “I’m starving too.”

“I don’t suppose any food has appeared?” She peered around the cave, hopeful.

“Is it supposed to?”

She shrugged, “Stranger things have happened.” Pushing herself up, she asked, “Is Arturo still here?”

Emane nodded his head in the direction of Arturo who still had his head tucked under his wing.

Arturo
, Kiora thought,
How do we find some food?

I was sleeping, Kiora
, he said without moving.

I’m sorry.

A sigh whispered at her mind,
Summon it.

Summon it? I thought I had to know where things were before I could summon them.

He pulled his head out from under his wing, tired and annoyed,
Yes and no. If you want something specific, like your book or Emane’s sword, you need to know exactly where it is so you get exactly what you want. If you summoned a sword you could get any number of swords. If you need food, there is any number of apples on a tree. Summon what you like and the general idea will come.

Really?Yes. Be cautious, the larger the item the more magic it requires.
He tucked his head back under his large wing, indicating the conversation was over.

“What did he say?” Emane asked.

“He said I could summon food.”

“Summon it?” he asked scrambling to his feet. “Like you did with my sword?”

“Yes.”

“That was really amazing, by the way; buying time and putting in right into my hands,” he shook his head. “Amazing.”

“Thank you.” She blushed with a bit of confusion. “He says if I summon what I want, the general idea should show up. Here goes nothing.” She closed her eyes concentrating on dinner.

“Kiora?”

“Emane, I can’t do this and talk at the same time.”

“I just… don’t do too much. That’s all.”

Kiora was surprised at the gentleness of Emane’s tone. Peeking at him through one eye, he had turned away from her shoving his hands in his pockets. Closing her eyes again Kiora imagined apples and peaches. Fresh cream, roast chicken and finger potatoes. She had to reign in her thoughts, and her stomach, from summoning enough food to feed a kingdom.

“Wow.”

She opened her eyes to see apples and peaches, roast chicken and finger potatoes sitting on the ground. Unfortunately cream was running over everything. “I will need to remember to summon the cream in a dish next time.”

Emane and Kiora sat down to eat, devouring the feast she had summoned. Food had never tasted so good. She picked up an apple and stared in shock at the large bite that had already been taken out of it. Realizing what had happened she began to laugh.

“I think I just summoned this out of someone’s hand,” she said, holding the apple up to see.

Emane almost choked on his chicken, imagining some poor man getting ready to take a bite out of his apple when it vanished.

***

Kiora awoke from her second nap of the day feeling well rested, and best of all, full. The food she had summoned had tasted better than anything she could have imagined. Then again, she could have never imagined being that hungry. She smiled to herself, remembering Emane’s eyes getting a little bit wider as he watched how much she was eating.

I need to go Kiora.

She jumped as Arturo’s thoughts entered hers.
Why?
Her stomach knotted at the thought of him leaving her.

I need to meet with Eleana and Aleric. Things have changed, and so must we. You have things to do here as well.
He looked over to the book she had summoned earlier.

But what if something happens?
She thought.

I will be back soon Kiora. You are well protected here
, he said, addressing the fear she hadn’t vocalized. He stood up and walked closer to her.
And even if you weren’t, you have already become quite powerful, Kiora. Do not underestimate yourself.

That’s what you all keep telling me,
she thought with a hint of sarcasm.

Kiora
, Arturo shouted it into her mind with all the force of a reprimanding father,
you are
more than what you know
. Turning, he walked out of the cave entrance spreading his wings on the ledge.

As the sun hit them, the opalescent colors of Arturo’s wings bounced off and around the surrounding stone. She was reminded of the first time she saw him standing in the forest, back when she was innocent and ignorant of magic. How much things had changed since then.

With a heavy heart she walked over to the small desk on which the book of Arian sat. She pulled the chair closer and said, “Light.” The candle ignited just as it had upon her first visit here. She stared at the book, not sure where to start.

“I don’t know what I need to know first,” she said under her breath.

A hand on her shoulder nearly startled her out of her chair.

“Emane! You scared me half to death.”

“I guess I don’t need your fancy bubbles to sneak up on people, do I?” he smirked.

She laughed in spite of herself.

Emane looked over her head and noticed the book on the table. It was glowing a bright blue and humming. “What is wrong with that book?”

Sighing she said, “It’s telling me there is something I need to learn.”

Emane shook his head. “This magic stuff is nuts! How about you start learning whatever it is you need to learn and I will start practicing with the weapons the Guardians gave me. That is, if you could get them for me.”

“Oh, of course.” Picturing where they had left the chest of weapons in the Hollow, she willed them to come to her.

Emane yelled in pain. “Ow!”

Her eyes flew open to find that chest had landed directly on Emane’s foot. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Kiora said jumping up to help. Emane pushed while she pulled, it slid off his foot and hit the floor with a thud.

“Emane, I am so sorry!”

“It’s ok Kiora,” he said through clenched teeth. “I just need a few minutes, go work on your magic.”

Biting her lip she backed away, she felt terrible.

“Kiora! I will be fine.”

She turned reluctantly, walking slowly over to the book. Plopping down in her chair she set her elbows on the table, dropping her head into her hands.
Show me what I need to know
, she thought.

The book opened and the pages flew by stopping abruptly.

Controlling Visions

Perking up a little she leaned in closer.

Visions of the future almost always come without being asked, although it is possible to achieve them upon request, it requires a great deal of skill. Even then, it rarely works.

Visions of the past or present can be requested by one who knows what he is doing.

You must control the vision. If you do not the vision will control you causing blackouts and loss of consciousness.

She read that line over again. Blackouts? She didn’t know that could be controlled. Grabbing the book with both hands, she focused in on that paragraph and read on.

When a vision is coming you must learn to focus the vision out rather than in. When you allow the vision to pull you inside your own mind you will lose consciousness, making yourself vulnerable in any situation. To focus the vision out, force the image to appear before you. This way you can watch it as if it were happening in front of you. At the same time you will still be aware of what is around you, as well as retain control of your limbs.

Kiora was getting excited. Her visions were terrifying. Mainly because she blacked out every time one happened. She needed a vision, to practice. She scanned back up the page to visions of the past or present.

To obtain a vision of past or present happenings you need to concentrate on the event that you are wishing to see. Relax and allow the magic to take over. The magic will follow what it is you are asking it to do.

Biting her lip, she set the book back down on the table in front of her. Settling back into the chair she closed her eyes. She needed to decide what it was that she wanted to see. Morcant! She was still worried about him, wondering if Aleric was able to help him or not. She thought back to that time, watching him disappear behind her as she rode to safety. It took a few minutes, but soon she could feel a familiar feeling— the rushing of the vision sucking her down and into herself.

No, no!
She thought. She pushed as hard as she could trying to push the vision back out and in front of her, but it was no use, she was gone. She could feel herself fall off the chair and slam her head into the floor of the cave. Then it was all gone and she was back above Morcant’s home watching Aleric move around the dragon’s wounds, trying to evaluate them.

“
Morcant hold still, I am not finished.” Aleric was telling the giant beast lying on his side.

“Is she ok Aleric? This is all my fault.” The giant dragon moaned in agony.

“She’s fine, Arturo has taken her to safety. And yes, this is your fault.”

“Aleric!” Kiora shouted in objection, but it was no use. He could not hear her.

Morcant let out a horrible sound that sounded like a mix between a roar and a cry of agony.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, taking her out of the Hollow,” chided Aleric.

“I didn’t think Dralazar would be watching for her yet. It’s so early. And a dragon’s thread is usually a good mask of magical threads.”

Aleric put his hand on a particularly deep gash in Morcant’s side trying to heal it. After a minute he shook his head.

“It’s no use, Morcant, I have to get you to Eleana. I can help some, but I am not a healer. Not for this size of a wound anyway.”

“It’s alright.” Morcant stumbled slowly to his feet. “I am feeling better than before” His head still hung in shame.

Aleric put his palms with his hands facing the ground and started to rise into the air. He floated gracefully onto Morcant’s back. Once on his back, he summoned what looked like a rather large chair and with magic somehow got it to stick to his back. Kiora’s mouth hung open

“I wish I would have thought of that!!” grumbled Kiora.

Morcant spread his giant wings, moaning in pain before he took off.

She could feel it slipping, the vision was ending. The land started trembling.

Then she was back. Emane had a hold of her and was shaking her.

“Kiora, Kiora!” He looked frantic.

“What?” she managed to murmur.

“You’re back!”

“Yes.” She blinked her eyes once before the pain rolled over her. Her head was pounding like she had taken a hammer to it. Reaching up she felt some fabric wrapped around her head that was wet and sticky. She pulled her fingers down and looked at the red liquid on her hands.

“What happened?”

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” Kiora tried to push herself up. “What happened?”

Emane took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself down. “You fell off the chair and hit your head on the cave floor. You cut your head pretty badly, I bandaged it the best that I could.” Leaning back on his heels he asked, “Did you have another vision?”

“Yes,” she said pushing up on her elbows. “I was trying to learn to control them. The book said I could ask for visions—”

Emane interrupted her, “You did this on purpose?!”

“Yes.” She frowned at his tone sitting up the rest of the way. “It said—”

“You asked for a vision and didn’t have the sense to get off the chair first!” “Emane—” “I can’t believe you!” he nearly yelled, getting to his feet. “Are you trying to get yourself killed Kiora! Would it be that hard to think about things before you do them?”

Kiora bit her lip trying to hold back the tears. Not only was her head throbbing but now Emane was yelling at her.

“Honestly, Kiora, you are going to...” He stopped mid sentence before turning on his heel and stalking off to the other side of the cave. Picking up his sword he began running drills with his back to Kiora.

She took a deep breath and pulled herself back up onto the chair, the chair legs screeching against the rock floor.

Emane paused, “Kiora,” he said through clenched teeth. “If you are going to try again could you at least move to the floor?”

She was struck with the desire to sit there just to spite him, but out of regard for her own skull if nothing else, she moved to floor sitting cross-legged.

It was hard to pick a moment out of the past when she could pick anything she wanted. Then an idea struck her.
Arian!
She wanted to see the author of her book. She thought back to him writing the book in this very cave. And soon she could feel the vision coming— the black sucking feeling pulling her deep within herself once more.

“No, no,” she groaned again, trying to push it out. The blackness halted, wobbled and started to move outward. Figures began materializing in front of her.

“Yes!” she said excitedly. That split second of lost focus was all it took, the blackness rushed back in on her and she was gone.