Chapter Five

  There was a strange energy in the air when Aaron awoke, and he could not figure out what was so different. He was trying to focus on his early morning meditation, but was struggling to clear his mind. There seemed to be an almost constant hum that he could not shake and it was very distracting.

  Aaron sat upon his meditation pillow - the plush purple surface was easy on his knees and aided his focus - in a secluded part of his bedroom, the various fabrics hanging around arranged like a thin screen. Meditation was a private affair, and as such there were usually curtains hung up to give the dragon meditating a secluded little area to focus on clearing their thoughts. While some dragons would set up incense, he did not have access to his fire yet so he could not light it without flint. As a child, he was not quite trusted with doing so, especially with the fabrics being a bit of a fire hazard in his particular situation. Many had specific meditation rooms that they had more customization they could do, but since he was using a meditation corner rather than a room, it was too risky to have candles or incense burning near the pillow.

  Sighing with a furrowed brow, Aaron gave up on finding any form of inner reflection for the morning and got off of the meditation pillow to get ready for the day. It was about that time anyways; Tairhn was already most likely on his way to fetch him. He stopped in front of the mirror to fix his toga fabrics from how it had adjusted during his meditation. He would end up changing back into his travel clothes from yesterday, the simple pair of brown linen pants and an altered shirt that allowed for his wings to slip through easily, but for now he could stay in his temple clothing.

  As expected, a light knock at the door brought him from his thoughts.

  “You may enter,” Aaron called out, grabbing his brush to run through his hair, needing to get it pulled back into a ponytail for training to be easier. After yesterday's dunk in the lake, he had decided it was best to keep his hair out of his way until he was more practiced.

  Tairhn entered, holding the door. “Aaron, Astrius has called us to his office. Are you ready to go or do you need a few moments?”

  “Just as soon as I finish putting my hair up; after yesterday’s fiasco, I’d rather keep it semi-contained.” Aaron walked past him into the hallway, Tairhn closing the door behind them. “What does he want? He’s usually busy with morning duties this early, isn’t he?”

  “He did not say, but it must be important for him to prioritize this meeting.” Tairhn had been wondering himself, but Astrius had not given him a chance to pry earlier.

  Aaron shrugged, more focused on what the strange energy in the air was. Tairhn seemed unbothered, and Aaron had to wonder if it was just him. “Can you not hear that?” he asked, wanting to claw into his own skull just to get the humming to stop.

  Tairhn paused in their walk down the hallway, “Hear what?” He hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary, but with Aaron’s lineage, who knows what the boy was picking up.

  Aaron stopped beside him, pausing to take in the sound briefly, his ears twitching as he focused on it. “There’s a sound like a hum but… warmer? More insistent, maybe?” Aaron frowned, trying to find the words to describe it properly. “Almost like a desperate calling, but that sounds ridiculous right?”

  “I wouldn’t say it is ridiculous. However, I’m afraid I don’t hear anything like that. How long have you been hearing this?” Tairhn knelt down to the child’s height, looking him over briefly just to make sure nothing seemed off.

  “Just since I woke up this morning…” Aaron trailed off, frowning. “Actually, now that I think about it, that might be what woke me up. I couldn’t even meditate, I kept trying to clear my mind and that sound just kept calling to me.”

  Tairhn thought quietly for a moment, wondering if this had anything to do with why Astrius was so insistent on such an early meeting. “Well, why don’t we ask Father Astrius about the sound you are hearing? Perhaps he has an explanation?” He offered gently, hoping a healer wasn’t required. They had to be cautious with who treated the boy, and Astrius had yet to find a steady doctor the priests could trust with his knowledge.

  “Alright,” Aaron sighed softly, annoyed they couldn’t fix this right away but if Tairhn was correct and Astrius had answers, there was no need to delay.

  Tairhn smiled, gently guiding the boy along.

  “Are we going to go flying again today?” Aaron looked up at Tairhn, wondering what the schedule was going to be like after speaking with Astrius.

  “No, we’re going to begin trying to focus your magic. I want you to be a bit more practiced before I then take you outside the city to learn to transform back into your dragon self. You were hatched in that form, but once you reached a certain age, your body changed into this. Now we have to teach you the ability to go back and forth between forms, as one may have an advantage in combat over the other, depending on the situation of course.”

  “Magic? I’ve seen the priests do some basic magic, but nothing that seemed useful in combat.”

  “Ah, and that’s where you’re just inexperienced, little one,” Tairhn chuckled, “You see, there’s many ways to use magic, and while some may use them for basic things around the home, there are ways to adjust them for combat. That’s my goal is to teach you to think on your feet. Your magic is less restricted than us mortals. We have to spend years learning how to manipulate magic into doing what we want, and even then it can be exhausting. You can learn to use your magic in ways that we could never even imagine, but that’s why it’s up to you to find out how to do that. It’s a matter of experimentation, but that’s for later. Come now, here we are.”

  They had just arrived outside the High Priest’s office, and Aaron cringed as he noticed the noise had seemingly gotten louder as they had walked down the hall. Tairhn knocked gently, only opening the door once he heard Astrius call from inside.

  Aaron hesitated to go inside, the humming practically vibrating inside his skull. With some gentle guidance from Tairhn, he stepped inside while Tairhn shut the door for privacy. Astrius was sitting at his desk, and stood when they both entered, the three bowing respectfully to each other. Astrius sighed, rubbing his temple.

  “I am sorry to bother the two of you this early but last night I was called upon by Lady Io.”

  Aaron’s ears perked slightly, and he looked up at Astrius. “My mother? Why?”

  “She had a gift that she wanted me to deliver to you. It is not something you will be able to use right away, but it is something that will help us guide you through the next steps, so I thought it important to handle matters immediately.” Astrius pulled a key off of his belt, going to the wardrobe in the corner. As Astrius came closer, the energy pulsating from the closet grew more insistent.

  Astrius unlocked the closet, opening it only for a bright light to fill the room, everyone flinching slightly having been caught off guard. The light slowly died down, Tairhn and Aaron finally able to see Astrius coming back to his desk with a pulsating object that Tairhn recognized immediately as a scale.

  “Astrius, is that what I think it is?” Tairhn turned his attention back to Astrius, who nodded.

  “Io has gifted Aaron one of her scales. She says it is to transform into a weapon he can use to fight the titans.” Astrius placed it gently on his desk, and the three gathered closer to look over it.

  The hum that originally had been almost painful before had now cut back to almost sounding reassuring. “Master Tairhn, this is the humming I heard.”

  “Hum?” Astrius looked down at Aaron, confused. “What hum?”

  “It seems poor Aaron was woken by an ongoing sound, one that was rather intrusive. He said he couldn’t even meditate this morning.” Tairhn said, still looking over the scale.

  Astrius smiled, glad it wasn’t anything serious. “Yes, well that would make sense. I did not think about whether this would affect him in any way, but I’m glad there’s no need for concern.”

  “I agree, that appears to explain everything. Since this scale came from your mother,” Tairhn turned to Aaron before continuing, “it must have some form of sentience and was calling out for you. Astral energy in the Mortal Planes doesn't quite react how we would expect it to.” Tairhn scratched his chin thoughtfully, watching the gentle pulsating cause the scales color to shimmer iridescently.

  Astrius nodded, “Yes, I would suspect it is very much alive, not in a sense that we would understand. Aaron, this scale will take the form of a weapon that suits you most. All you must do is place your hand upon it, and it will connect with you.”

  Aaron hesitated, watching the scale. He wasn’t afraid, but his heart was pounding. In a way, this was his first interaction with his mother, even if this wasn’t entirely her. Aaron reached for the scale.The scale’s glow began to intensify again, and caught off guard, Aaron flinched back. Was the scale responding to his presence?

  Aaron pushed the hesitance from his thoughts, grounding himself from the upset. He reached forward once more, gently touching the scale. It felt so massive in comparison to his child sized hands.

  The light began to fill the room again. Everyone flinched as both adults were able to feel the same hum that Aaron had described earlier to Tairhn. The scale began to float over the desk, the light consuming it and removing any semblance of shape. The light itself was bending, expanding, and constricting, trying to choose a form. It was mesmerizing, like the molten metal a blacksmith would use.

  The light finally began to dim down as it lowered back to the desk. As everyone’s vision started to return, they watched as the mass seemed to take its final shape. It had turned into a sword, still glowing enough that no one could make out the details of the sword, but the shape was obvious. The glow slowly dissipated and revealed the finer details of the sword. It was a single solid piece of metal, which was highly unusual for a blade. Since this sword had come from the Astral Planes, the laws of mortal weapons did not apply to it.

  The blade was simple, no runes or markings. However, it retained the iridescence of the scale. The hilt shared the same shimmer. A dragon's head married it to the blade, and the blue energy that matched Io’s eyes danced in and around the dragon’s own carven sockets. The weapon felt alive, pulsing with energy.

  The three were speechless for a moment. Tairhn was the first to speak, clearing his throat, “Ah, a blade fit for a champion. This is good, we can begin training specifically for sword based combat.”

  Aaron was still stunned. He reached out to touch the new weapon, still far too large for his hands.

  The sword glowed faintly from the contact. Flashes of stars and galaxies invaded his mind causing him to flinch back. It had not hurt, but it had been rather alarming.

  “What’s the matter, Aaron?” Astrius didn’t think anything bad would come from the sword, not with the scale coming directly from his mother, but he didn’t know what to expect as nothing like this had occurred with his brother Ra.

  “It… It showed me something.” Aaron looked at it, brow furrowed out of confusion. “I’m not sure what I saw. It was like the night sky but…. I was surrounded by it rather than just gazing up at it.”

  “Ah, that would be the Astral Plane, young one.” Tairhn placed a hand on Aaron’s shoulder reassuringly. “For us mortals, all we see is a great bright light. But those with Astral blood, such as yourself, you will see it as your mother would.”

  “How do you know what the Astral Plane looks like?” Aaron looked back up to Tairhn, who simply chuckled.

  “I asked your mother to describe it to me once. I have studied Astral beings quite extensively to be able to help raise your siblings properly so I felt it necessary to learn whatever information I could.” Tairhn looked back at the newly formed sword, gleaming as it rested on Astrius’s desk. “It is quite a beautiful weapon. Only a fraction of your mother’s energy, but clearly more powerful than anything in this realm.”

  Aaron reached out once more, placing his hand on the hilt again. As it had before, various images filled his mind and he felt a warm energy flow from the weapon up through his arm. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but it felt almost reassuring, caring even.

  He moved his hand to position it properly to try and pick the sword up, but Astrius grabbed his wrist. “Not yet, little one. This sword is much too large for one of your size to even think about lifting.” Astrius picked the sword up himself and the glow seemed to instantly disappear, and he grunted as he had to put the sword back down from how heavy it had become in his grasp.

  “How unusual. It seems the sword can recognize its proper master,” Tairhn mused, scratching at the underside of his chin. Astrius scowled, but heaved the sword up once more, using both hands this time, and carried it back to the closet.

  After locking the weapon back up, he turned to the two still standing by his desk. “For now, this will stay here locked away for safekeeping. Once you have gathered your strength, and can handle holding it, then you will be able to use it properly.” Astrius went to sit down again with a sigh.

  “Unfortunately I have some business to attend to, so we had to keep this short, but I can assure you that the sword will be safe where it is. Only you two and I know of its existence, let alone the location. I will try to find a way to have a scabbard made to house the sword properly, but for now, you should focus on your studies.”

  Tairhn bowed gently, “Of course, thank you for your time, High Priest. We shall begin properly training with sword techniques once I am able to obtain a practice weapon for him. I will spend today looking for one that will work for Aaron. In the meantime Aaron, I will teach you some basic magic exercises to practice while I am gone. Come, let’s leave Astrius to his duties.”

  Aaron bowed to Astrius as well before Tairhn guided him out gently by his back. “What magic will I be learning?” He looked up to his mentor, having never actually seen any magic. The priests didn’t actually use any full magic, the closest they got to using magic was their fire breath. Even the enchantments on the statues in the temple were set by others, not the priests themselves.

  “Well, that’s an interesting question. You see, there is no particular type of magic. Magic is all energy, and learning to use it is simply learning to manipulate what already exists into doing your will. For example, say I were to focus on water magic. Perhaps I could take the moisture from the air, and manipulate it to form together. I could even freeze it to create ice. For today, I simply am going to teach you how to find the energy. We will start with something simple, perhaps creating a ball of light,” Tairhn trailed off contemplating what might come most naturally to Aaron. He didn’t expect him to struggle with magic, not with his lineage, but he still needed to start somewhere.

  Tairhn led him out to the gardens, specifically to the same willow tree they had rested under and gotten to know each other better when they first met. Aaron seemed to feel comfortable there, especially with the willow hiding them away from any prying eyes. Even though Tairhn was his mentor, a lot of priests still spied on the young boy, simply from Astrius wanting multiple eyes on him at all times for safety.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Tairhn groaned as he moved to sit, he wasn’t exactly old, but he was at that age that his knees sure weren’t happy any time he needed to get on the ground. Aaron, however, plopped down immediately, filled with childlike energy.

  Even with how young Aaron was, Tairhn knew that the bloodlines of gods grew at a much faster rate than mortals. Aaron may have only been a few years old, and looked to be about the human age of 8, perhaps as old as 10, but Aaron was close to going through a massive growth spurt. He had seen it before in all of his siblings, and with the blood of a demon, he wouldn’t be surprised if Aaron grew even faster than they had.

  Aaron wasn’t quite aware of just how different his lineage made him. He had some small idea, obviously having a goddess as a mother meant he would be different, but he hadn’t quite picked up on just how different yet. Tairhn knew based on previous timelines that he was probably going to start puberty soon, meaning Aaron was going to sprout up so fast. He contemplated on finding a tailor that he could work with, as Aaron was going to need bigger travel clothes as time went on. The toga fabrics were long enough that he could get away with wearing them but tighter fitting clothes such as the pants and shirt he had been wearing the day before would need to be updated regularly until he was fully grown.

  Aaron sat there cross legged, feeling a bit confused. Tairhn had been so lost in thought he hadn’t realized they had been sitting in silence for some time. He coughed, clearing his throat, and held out his hand.

  “As I mentioned earlier, it’s about manipulation of what is around you. There are a few exemptions, as an example, light coming out of nothing is quite difficult, but possible. Even in darkness, there is always something you can use to create light. Most mages take years learning how to do so, but because of your bloodline, you have the ability to call upon the light much easier than most. I want you to hold out your hand, and try to focus on bringing light together in one location.”

  “But how do I do that?” Aaron looked at his palm, not sure how light was supposed to just appear.

  “It’s about the energy your body can produce. When you find your focus, you’ll feel the magical vibrations and you’ll understand what to feel. Magic will be slow to start but as you get used to how it works, you’ll notice you become more confident and faster to produce the same results.” Tairhn fell quiet for a few seconds to focus, allowing a small orb of light to form above the palm of his hand. Aaron stared in awe as he hadn’t seen actual magic yet.

  “Now, I’m going to be spending today looking for a few things to get us prepared for the next few years,” Tairhn continued. “We will need a basic starting sword, most likely a wooden training sword, just for you to begin. As you grow, we may need to get bigger ones, but for now I’ll find a child’s starter sword. For the time being, I want you to stay here and continue working on your focus. Even if you find you produce a light orb, I would suggest letting it extinguish, and continuing to summon them, as the more consistent you become, the faster your skills in magic will be in combat.”

  “What if I can’t make one?” Aaron asked, a bit nervous about learning these new skills.

  Tairhn laughed, much louder than he usually was so he caught Aaron by surprise. “Oh child, I’m not worried about that in the slightest. You have astral blood in your veins, and demon blood alongside that. Magic should come to you quite naturally. If you were a Vishani, or perhaps even a normal dragon, yes, you may not succeed right away, but I suspect you will have some success even if you struggle a little when starting.”

  “Once you are able to create the light orbs continuously, we’ll then work on stamina and extend how long you hold onto the magic energy. As time goes on, you’ll then learn to use that knowledge for other styles of magic.” Tairhn said, knowing this was going to be a long process regardless of how naturally things came for the child. Training was not something to take lightly, especially when it came to such powerful beings as Titans. He had never been up close and personal with one before, but most people who had didn’t come back to tell the tale, so it was vital that Aaron be as prepared as possible for such a fight.

  Tairhn placed his claw on his knee, standing once more with some effort. “I’m going to the market to gather the things I expect will be useful to us. Don’t feel down if you don’t succeed right away, just keep focusing until you find that connection with your energies.” He smiled down at the child reassuringly, who nodded back to him. It was clear Aaron was eager to learn, even if he wasn’t quite confident in his abilities yet.

  Aaron looked back down at his hand as Tairhn stepped away. He didn’t quite understand what Tairhn had meant, he assumed these lessons would be more hands-on but he didn’t realize he had to find his energy himself. Now that Aaron thought more on it, it didn’t seem like this was something that Tairhn could teach him anything useful until he found that flow. Aaron looked back up to watch Tairhn disappear back into the temple for a moment before returning his focus to his hand.

  Aaron’s brow furrowed and he tried to find what Tairhn had mentioned. He had mentioned some form of vibration but Aaron couldn’t feel anything like that. He took a deep breath in, letting it out a few seconds later before focusing back on the palm of his hand. He tried to find something that worked, imagining a ball of light in his hand like Tairhn had, he tried to feel something in his palm, even the slightest tingle. But nothing seemed to be coming to him.

  He groaned, frustrated. It had only been a few minutes but that small amount of focus to a child felt like hours. Aaron tried to remember what his mentor had said, the first try wasn’t going to necessarily be successful after all. He took another few deep breaths to calm his annoyance, closing his eyes to let the wind flowing through the leaves calm him.

  Aaron’s ears twitched slightly while his eyes were closed, picking up a faint hum. Was it his sword calling to him again? No, the sound wasn’t quite right. It was a different sound, not something that was calling to him with urgency but something that seemed constant. Aaron wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t closed his eyes as his vision was taking up some of his awareness. The visual clutter being gone seemed to allow him to open up his mind more, similar to how it was when he meditated.

  Now that his sword had quieted down, maybe Aaron could find meditation peace. He changed his seating position to one on his knees, sitting back over his legs as he usually would on his meditation pillow. The ground was much harder under the willow, but with the trees in the gardens blocking out most of the city noise, it was still a peaceful location. He kept his eyes closed, letting one hand rest on his thigh while the other stayed outstretched as Tairhn had shown him. Slowly, he began to focus on his breathing rather than on his hand and let thought slip from his mind.

  Almost too quickly, that hum filled his mind, barely registering the faint sounds of the world around him. The winds through the tree branches seemed to fall silent, even what little city going sounds from the market outside had gone. Only the hum remained. One final breath, in and out, and there was a brightness that started peeking through his eyelids.

  Aaron opened his eyes, focusing back on his outstretched palm where a small orb of light was hovering. He gasped, losing his focus for a brief second and his hand flinching out of surprise, causing the orb to disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

  His heart pounded, the excitement rising. He had done it! It was so brief, but he felt the magic. Aaron understood now what Tairhn had been saying. Instead of visually focusing on his palm, he tried just breathing gently while gazing forward, deadpan expression as he worked to get his heart rate down back into that meditative rate.

  Aaron could feel that same vibration beginning to flow down his arm, swirling around his hand. Nothing was visually there, but he could sense it. In his peripheral vision, he could see a brightness begin to build again, slowly swirling around his hand and building up in his palm.

  His heart skipped a beat again and the magic seemed to start fizzling out almost immediately. Aaron took a few slow, steady breaths to get back into his previous state of mind, and the magic that had been gathering seemed to stabilize once again. He allowed the magic to continue flowing down his arm and the light began to expand to beyond just the orb in his hand. Soon the very magic he was feeling physically began manifesting, the glow swirling down his arm into the orb as it began to grow.

  The willow Aaron had been sitting under began to have a soft glow emanate from its leaves, reacting to his magic. He felt himself lose focus briefly due to how beautiful the tree seemed to be with the aura flowing through it. This time, the orb did not disappear. His magic had stopped building, so the orb was now stagnant, but it still remained hovering over his palm. Aaron turned his attention from the tree to the orb he had summoned, peering into it, trying to take in any detail there might be, but it was just that, a simple ball of light.

  “Aaron?!”

  The concerning shock of the voice brought Aaron out of his fixation, and he jumped slightly, looking up to see Astrius holding back the limp branches of the willow. He looked back to his hand, where the orb had spontaneously disappeared once Astrius had taken his full focus. Aaron’s wings drooped slightly but turned back to Astrius.

  “I’m sorry Father, I was just doing as Master Tairhn instructed-”

  “Where is he though? Isn’t he supposed to be watching you doing this? The shine from the tree began to brighten the area outside, people in the city could have seen that!” Astrius looked exceptionally frightened, and Aaron wondered if he had done something wrong. He thought he had been supposed to be doing magic, so shouldn’t Astrius be proud he had already started picking up on it?

  “I-I’m sorry sir, he had to step away to purchase a few things from the market. He told me to keep practicing, I didn’t expect anything to happen so quickly-”

  Astrius interrupted him once more, stepping back to motion for him to follow outside of the willow’s branches. “I understand if that’s what he wanted you to do, but it should still be under supervision. You almost drew attention to yourself, and it’s far too early for anyone beyond our priesthood to know about you.”

  Aaron pushed himself up off the ground, his ears lowering just mildly. There wasn’t much movement to his ears but since they were longer the slightest muscle change made it seem like such a big difference to his demeanor. Astrius realized the child was feeling chastised and he put on a calmer face after a few breaths.

  “I apologize Aaron, of course it’s a wonderful thing to see your magic come so naturally to you. My concern is simply for your safety, but I suppose that was an overreaction on my part.” Astrius placed his hand on the child’s shoulder, kneeling down to his height. “I hope you understand that I can both be proud of you and worried for you at the same time. You are very precious to this world, to all of us, and to lose you soon would be devastating.”

  “I know…” Aaron said softly, trailing off as he looked at his feet.

  Astrius sighed softly, hoping that going forward Tairhn would be able to keep his magic under control, but for now, he guided Aaron back into the temple. “Why don’t you practice a little bit in your room while you wait for Tairhn? Since your mother is a goddess of our world, your magic can influence the world around you when you aren’t in full control.”

  Aaron nodded quietly, separating from Astrius to go back to his bedroom. Astrius watched him leave, knowing he could have had a better reaction, but it was different than when the priests were raising Ra. They could not risk losing Aaron, after all, the world needed him too much.

  Astrius stopped a passing priest, asking him to deliver a message to the guards standing outside the temple. Astrius wanted to have a conversation with Tairhn before he returned to his pupil. Leaving Aaron alone even for a few moments was a slippery slope when it came to training. If Aaron learned too much freedom, he might take matters into his own hands and make a poor decision. Especially with him coming up to those years that would begin puberty. Aaron might be growing faster than a mortal child would, but within a year he was going to be a full fledged teenager, and they were not known to make good choices when given options.

  In the meantime, Astrius had temple duties to attend to. There were no planned services today, but he had guidance to offer to any who came seeking his wisdom. There was a separate side room off the main area of the temple where he could have private secluded conversations with various visitors about any problems that ailed them. He usually would spend a few hours each day there, more on days when he did not have any morning or afternoon services planned. Which was more often than not, as most temple visitors weren’t there for services they offered, but they were there to offer silent reflection to their deity of choice.

  Astrius spent a few hours that afternoon there, but shortly after he finished with his last visitor, a priest notified him that Tairhn had returned and was waiting in Aaron’s room.

  He sighed, wishing to speak to him privately but with Aaron having taken to Tairhn, he might feel excluded. Astrius made his way to the child’s room hoping that he could convince Tairhn to take a walk with him.

  Tairhn had been listening to Aaron about how his magic training had gone, glad to hear that the boy had been successful, but concerned that Astrius had reacted in such a way. He praised the boy gently, who smiled a little bit more. Tairhn made note that he would have to talk to Astrius about how much he was sheltering the boy.

  Almost immediately after he had that thought, a knock came at the door. Aaron hopped up and ran to the door, but after opening it to see Astrius, his demeanor lowered again slightly and his gaze dropped.

  “Hello again, you two. I’m sorry to bother you, but Tairhn if I could borrow you for a few minutes to discuss some things? Perhaps a walk in the garden?” Astrius asked gently, hoping this wouldn’t take long as it seemed like Tairhn and Aaron had been busy.

  “Of course. Aaron, please continue your magic lessons, but this time try adding a motion to it. Try to move the orb from your hand to your other. I’ll be back shortly so we can continue together, but I have faith you’ll find this one as naturally as you did earlier.” Tairhn smiled reassuringly down at the boy, who nodded to him and went to sit on his meditation pillow once more. Tairhn grabbed the door, shutting it behind him and following Astrius down the hall.

  “So, I gather you heard about his magic attempts earlier?” Astrius started, leading Tairhn out to the gardens as the sun was beginning to set. There was a warm light over the gardens as the sky began to change color for the transition from evening into night. Soon stars would begin to peak out as the sun went over the mountains to the west.

  “I did,” Tairhn said softly, keeping his tone even. “I also heard that you interrupted his first attempt in a rather scolding manner.”

  “I was concerned about someone seeing his magic. Imagine if a passerby had seen the glow coming from the gardens, they would begin asking questions. We cannot risk-”

  “Yes, yes,” Tairhn interrupted, waving a clawed hand dismissively, “You keep saying we cannot risk this and that, but this child will be more afraid of fighting a Titan if you keep treating his achievements as a bad thing. We need a confident champion, not one who will shy away out of some fear.”

  Astrius huffed, annoyed. “I can understand your concern but my priority is to keep this child alive until he can fight a Titan. This means protecting him from what can happen, whether it does or not is another.”

  “Yes, and my duty is to teach this child, which I am beginning to think I will struggle to do if you keep intervening. When I arrived back, it was obvious the child had taken a blow to his self esteem. Aaron was laying in his bed, holding his hand over him, just letting the magic swirl around his hand. He hardly even acknowledged me when I arrived, I had to pry his success out of him.”

  “Well if you hadn’t left him alone, this wouldn’t have gotten out of control!” Astrius said a bit harshly, his voice raising enough to gather the attention of two nearby acolytes. They hurried off back into the temple as Tairhn sighed gently.

  “Perhaps you’re right… Then it’s settled. I shall not leave the child again. I will instead take him with me, even to go shopping.”

  “You cannot take him into public so often-”

  Tairhn held up his hand, stopping Astrius. “It will not be that often but he needs to get out of the temple. I will be sure his disguise stays in place, but I will not allow this child to be hidden away and not get to experience life. He will be a champion, but I want him to grow up healthy and of sound mind. I will not allow you to intervene in his training methods, or should we discuss moving him to a secluded area away from the city?” He suggested, knowing Astrius would not even think about agreeing to the child permanently leaving Ophicys.

  As he expected, Astrius balked at the idea, opening his mouth to say something only to close it once more to think quietly to himself for a moment. Finally, he nodded.

  “Fine. I shall be watching but I will have no hand in how you train the child. If it seems that he is being put at risk however, I will step in.” Astrius said pointedly. Tairhn simply nodded in agreement.

  “Very well, then if you will excuse me, I have a pupil to teach.” He bowed, excusing himself from Astrius, leaving the High Priest in the gardens alone. Astrius looked up at the sky as the orange of sundown began to slowly turn to that nightly blue-black. He sighed to himself, heading back inside as well, wondering if he was truly being too paranoid.

  Tairhn made his way back down the halls to Aaron’s room once more, knocking gently to notify Aaron he was coming in before opening the door. Sitting on his meditation pillow, Aaron had both his hands out, clearly still trying to focus on moving the orb he had summoned, but so far he had had no such luck.

  “Still working hard, I see.” Tairhn mused as he stepped inside, shutting the door once again.

  “I can’t seem to get it to move… it’s a lot harder to make it do anything than it is to summon it.” Aaron sighed, extinguishing the orb in his hand so he could place his hands in his lap, looking rather dejected.

  “Even with your lineage, you’re bound to not get it right the first time. You have been working rather hard today so it could also just be exhaustion preventing you from finding that sweet spot with magic manipulation.” Tairhn went to sit beside him on the floor, holding out his own hand to summon an orb as he had earlier.

  “The key to moving magic at your will isn’t to force it but to allow it to find a natural flow. Instead of forcing the orb to move to my hand, I am focusing on adjusting the flow.” Tairhn explained, as his orb slowly lifted out of his hand in an arch moving to his other. There was a small trail of energy that seemed to flow behind the orb, but once it was fully over his other palm the orb returned to its spherical shape.

  Aaron watched on in awe at the movement, before summoning his own ball of light again. Taking a deep breath to ground himself, he focused on the energy that he felt flowing down his arm into the orb of light, and tried to focus on moving the energy flow from one hand into the other.

  Slowly, the orb deformed as the flow stopped going into a focal point and began to flow up in a bit of a wiggly arch. Aaron felt his heart skip a beat again like earlier, and the magic that was flowing started to dissipate. He calmed his breathing even with his excitement growing, returning to focusing on the flow of energy. The energy started gathering properly again and as the magic began arriving at his other palm, it slowly swirled and reformed the spherical shape it had been earlier.

  Aaron let out a childish squeal of excitement, and almost instantly the orb vanished. Tairhn chuckled, smiling at the sweet innocence of a child’s first lesson in magic. He remembered the days of his first lessons fondly, but returned his attention to Aaron. “You did so well, little one. Eventually you will be able to keep the orb formed, if you wish. Magic can take many shapes all just depending on how you can imagine its usage.”

  Rather suddenly, the child flung his arms around Tairhn’s neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Master!”

  Tairhn was caught off guard, but he relaxed, smiling tenderly as he wrapped his own arms around Aaron. Instinctively his wings came with, wrapping the child close for a reassuring hug. “I’m very proud of you, such progress after only one lesson. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can accomplish.”

  He pulled back, opening his wings again to let Aaron out of his grasp. “For now, the sun seems to have finally set, and I think it’s beginning to get late for you. Get some rest, magic can be quite draining until you have practiced enough to build up stamina. Of course, your energy will eventually allow you to practice magic for much, much longer periods of time, but as little as you are, your energy stores are quite low right now. Go get ready for bed, and tomorrow we’ll begin some sword practice. I’ll show you the practice sword I purchased for you earlier, and we can go over basic form.”

  Aaron pushed himself up and went to his dresser to grab his nightgown. As he was still quite small, he didn’t sleep in pants yet, but as dragons got bigger some would ditch the gowns and switch to either sleeping nude or wearing a pair of sleep trousers. Tairhn groaned as he stood again, feeling it in his knees. He grumbled to himself about being too old for this, and considering he had already raised six children of a goddess. It was anyone’s surprise that he was still able to move with such energy, even if the goddess had gifted him a longer life.

  Aaron darted behind a privacy screen, a simple wooden one with intricate carvings lining each panel. Considering the toga he had been wearing, it did not take long for him to change, only getting stuck briefly getting his wings through their respective holes out of the sheer excitement he had just experienced.

  Tairhn pulled his blankets back to prepare the bed, and Aaron, having finished changing, jumped into the bed and pulled his covers back up. Dragon beds were firmer than most, but they still had plush pillows and blankets as they felt nice against their scales. Aaron’s bed was no different, although it had been built into the wall to create a bit of a cave like effect for Ra previously. Dragons often liked the confined space when sleeping, and it was quite common for beds that weren’t built into walls like this to have bed posts for various curtains to hang. Aaron’s bed had some fabrics that would hang loose during the day as well, just attached to the wall instead of any bed posts.

  Tairhn undid one of the ties to his bed curtains while Aaron adjusted onto his stomach. Dragons often slept on their stomachs simply from their wings not feeling comfortable in certain bed mattresses. There were a few made that allowed their wings to rest in a different position allowing for back sleep, but most dragons just enjoyed stomach sleeping.

  Aaron hugged his pillow tight as Tairhn tucked the blankets in around him, and he stroked Aaron’s hair gently, thinking back to what he had told Astrius earlier.

  “Earlier when I was speaking to Father Astrius,” Tairhn sat beside Aaron on his bed, continuing, “I promised him that I would not leave you alone again. I meant that. You will be at my side, except for when we sleep and even then I will be across the hall. I want you to know I’m always here for you, and I should have taken you to market with me instead of leaving you to practice on your own.”

  Aaron smiled gently, already feeling the exhaustion from the day’s training getting to him as his eyes began to droop. “It’s okay Master, I know you want the best for me.” He nuzzled deeper into his pillow, beginning to drift off.

  Tairhn smiled gently, getting up once more to undo the last curtain tie to let the fabric fall shut. “Good night, little one.”

  “Good night, Master.”

  As Tairhn left, shutting the door behind him quietly, he thought about how much progress Aaron had made already. Every dawn would bring new opportunities, and based on what he had seen, Aaron was going to go to bed every night having tried his best, and that was all he could ask for.

  Io willing, Aaron would be ready for the Titans when the time came.