Chapter 2
The Legends
"The Evil One? The Evil Child? You mean, you've never heard the legends?" I shake my head. She sighs. "Well, Shakra, there is our problem. She had no clue why magic is banned."
Everyone looks to him. He stands tall. "Well, tell her," Chira says, "and then send her home."
"Alright, Kara," he huffs, "magic was used extensively back in the time of Mikklo." He pauses. "Do you know who Mikklo is?" I nod.
"She's the white dragon that helped keep the world safe." I say, my voice loosing its meek tone. "Her and her group, that is."
"Good, good. There was only Mikklo at first. Then she met Sycavry, and went around with him as friends until they discovered the prophecies. Not the same ones about us, but ones about her. They told of a time of great evil that was fast approaching, and that she was to seek out four eggs, one for each element."
"I thought they were all related and born at the same time," I say. He laughs.
"Yes, yes, the crazy mixed up version. No, Kara, no mated pairs were related, nor were they all born at once. They all found one mate in the group, their soul mate, and it was perfectly fine because only Cynder and Zoreal were related."
"Oh," I mutter, having no clue who Zoreal is, and only vaguely remembering that Cynder was a good dragon.
"Anyways, on Mikklo's journey to find the eggs, she encountered Cynder. Cynder was a dark, bad dragon who pillaged and hurt dragons. Mikklo raced Cynder to get to the first egg, Sifirious, a young dragon who had abilities to control air like no other. Cynder almost got to the egg before Mikklo, but luckily she didn't.
"Cynder fought Mikklo multiple times as Cynder tried to get the golden egg of Sifirious before he hatched and took a liking to Mikklo. Mikklo and Sycavry barely managed to keep her at bay until the golden dragon hatched. Knowing it would take a year for him to fledge, because that's all it took when dragons had magic and blood in their veins, she hunted Cynder until she found the lair."
"The lair?" I ask.
"The lair in the Rocky Mountains, in America. She found Cynder there, and was prepared to fight to the death."
"But I thought Cynder was on Mikklo's side," I finally insist.
"Yes. When Mikklo entered the lair, she found out that Cynder had once been a child in a decent family, but had been stolen when the dragon who became known as the Evil One murdered her parents."
"Oh, how sad," I mutter. I couldn't image what I would do if someone killed my parents.
"Indeed. But the good news is that Cynder put down her vile plots and took up arms beside Mikklo. They returned back home to the egg and Sycavry. With Mikklo's hands full of the egg that was soon to hatch, Sycavry spent a lot of time with Cynder. They became mates, but had no children, not with the time of great evil coming and more eggs to find.
"So they all set out, finding the next egg, the water egg, deep in the sea. By then, Sifirious had hatched and was close to flying. He took the egg under his wing and watched over it at Mikklo's home of North America. Once the egg hatched, the water dragon was named Aquarius. She flew a few weeks later, for she was scaled like I am.
"The band of four dragons continued on their quest to find the eggs, but was soon slowed down when they passed over a town on fire. They swooped in, Sifirious choking it with lack of oxygen and Aquarius tackling it with water. Sycavry and Mikklo went into the fire and rescued all they could, taking them out of the flames. Many lives were lost, and those alive had to move.
"Mikklo discovered the Evil One had arrived. Mikklo hurried around, until one day encountering Jumper, a griffin who led them to the fire egg. Jumper could travel time, and brought a scroll from many years ago. It told Mikklo where to find the last egg. She told Jumper goodbye, and watched Jumper leave to travel years back.
"Once the fire egg hatched, the young scaled dragon was named Fergirious. But the Evil One wanted him in particular. He was kidnapped. The Evil One harvested his immense power to control the fire before letting him go, and used her powerful abilities to rally forces. Fegirious was lucky and made it safely back to Mikklo somehow. Mikklo and Sifirious, who had shown the greatest magic abilities of them all, split. Mikklo took Fergirious and Cynder, while the golden dragon flew off with Sycavry and Aquarius.
"They each went on their missions. Mikklo and her group found the last egg foretold of, the earth egg, and raced back to her home, where she met Sifirious, who had gathered a large amount of raptors and dragons willing to fight. They told the raptors to stay and guard the unborn earth egg, and flew off.
"Mikklo and her group flew long and hard, trying to find out more about the Evil One. They did find her, and they found her with a mate. The mate had a child already, from a previous female. The child's name was Zoreal."
I gasp. "But then…"
"That's right. The Evil One's secret mate, Kareal, killed his first mate and almost his daughter, sparing his son. Mikklo's group fought Kareal as the Evil One made her escape with her egg."
"Her egg?" I ask.
"The to-be Evil Child, who was cursed by her mother. The Evil One had cursed the egg so it would not hatch until she wanted it to, and would die if she wanted it to incase it fell into Mikklo's hands.
"Zoreal helped fight his own father. They slay him, and saddened deeply by the dragon's death, then went back to Mikklo's home…or at least what remained of it."
"You see," Fire says, taking over the story telling, "The Evil One knew of Mikklo's home. By the time Mikklo got home, everything was ablaze."
"The Evil One had set everything one fire," Shakra tells, "left her weakest forces there to fight, and had stolen the earth egg. The raptors and dragons took care of her weak forces, but not before the Evil One had gotten away.
"Fergirious demanded going after the egg, but Mikklo insist they rebuild her home and help the wounded first. By then, though, Aquarius and Sifirous had found they were mates, and knew the pain Fergirous must feel for his loss of his soul mate. They offered to go hunt for the egg with him, and they did.
"So, the three young foolish dragons set out during the night while Mikklo, Sycavry, and their mates rebuilt the home and healed the wounded. The three young dragons managed to find the Evil One. She was channeling the earth eggs powers to control the earth into her egg when they pounced. The Evil One, much stronger and more powerful, captured them all. She poured their powers into the egg.
"Mikklo was quick to find them missing after the wounded were cared for and safe in her home. Despite her not sleeping for several days to help out, she flew off with Sycavry, Cynder, and Zoreal left behind, helping care for the poor dragons with gashes and broken bones.
"A full week went by, and Mikklo did not return."
"She had been captured too, my prince?" I guess. Shakra nods. "I know the rest now. The Evil one poured Mikklo's energy into the egg, overloading it. The shell exploded, releasing the most powerful dragon hatchling. But she couldn't do any regular magic, or so I've heard."
"That's right," Shakra says. "Do you know what she could do?" I shake my head. "Manifest whatever she pleased, from unlimited forces, to all the elements, to new organs for herself. She was, in a sense, immortal because she created new body parts when old ones began fail."
"So she might still be alive?" I gasp out.
"Yes," Chira says. "She is alive somewhere, probably in America." My eyes widen. "And we doubt she follows the 'no magic' rule."
"But then, we need magic, don't we my prince?" I ask, "To fight back?"
"Perhaps. No one has seen her for over seven hundred years. People assume she's gone. The king assures us his army is strong enough to take out one little childish dragon, even if she is in existence."
"But…my prince, you just said she could summon armies for herself."
Shakra sighs. "Maybe the king's enormous ego can keep us safe." Fire laughs.
"Well," Fire says, "that's why we need magic. Some things say it will return, secretly, right before she attacks. Some other legends claim she's dead, and still others say she's good now. But the most haunting one claims she is to attack once magic is thoroughly feared. Which is about now." My eyes widen in fear.
"Holy crow," I mutter. Everyone nods in agreement. I look down, thinking about the new information, and watch a small beetle fight to get over a piece of grass.
"So you see, that's all we are trying to do," Shakra says. "We want to uproot magic and plant it back in our lives."
"Okay," I give in. "You've got me. I won't tell." He nods.
"Then it's time to take you home." He says. "Fire? Air? Will you?"
"Sure," Fire says.
"Why not?" Air agrees. They summon a huge hot thermal for us three to ride on, sweeping me off my feet. "Come on, Kara. Let's get you home."
"Oh, Kara?" Shakra says as we drift away. "My name is Shakra, not 'my prince'." We are too high to respond as his fading voice finishes his sentence.
We all ride on the thermal and wind currents as the fluffy warm air holds us high.
"So, you really won't tell?" Fire asks, sounding like a hatchling that let a silly secret out of the bag instead of a fully fledged dragon that does magic.
"Yeah. If anything, I would try to do some myself. You know, so I can understand it more so I'm not so skittish when someone so much as mentions it." Fire scowls.
"I'm not so sure…" her voice trails off.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because," Air explains, "the punishment is so severe, and you don't even have someone to teach you."
"Well, you're using magic, and who taught you?"
"Shakra, but he had too, because the scrolls said I was supposed to learn."
"Scrolls?"
Fire changes the subject. "Well, Shakra can't teach you and you can't do magic without a teacher."
"Okay then," I counter, "who taught Shakra?"
Fire opens her mouth to respond, then closes it. "Shut up and fly." I laugh.
"Well, if Shakra can learn without a teacher, then it is possible. So I might try."
Air sighs. "You don't even know the first thing about magic."
"I know stuff." I lie. They look at me expectantly, and I say something random. "I know it flows through everything, even rocks and sand, and I know it's like blood to the entire world. The world has to have it, even if dragons left it behind."
"Well, okay, you know one little thing," Fire says. "Just…don't do anything stupid."
We reach my home and they take away the hot currents. I fall straight to the ground.
"Sorry!" Fire whispers before flying away, southwest instead of southeast, straight to the town my father works in, the town that holds the kings castle.