Chapter Four: The Dream
"Mom! No!" she cried, sitting up in the dark, then rubbed her eyes. "Not again."
Lyuna got up and went outside. "That dream again."
She sighed, running her hands over her face, then heard movement and turned, dropping into a fighting stance. "Calm down." Someone said.
The girl stood up, staring at the figure in front of her. "You." She said. "You are a Dragon Priest. What do you want?"
"I am Mortis." The priest said. "And you are Lyuna Moonlily, Cerabus's rider."
"What do you want?" she repeated.
As he went to answer, Cerabus came out of her stall, growling at him as she stopped next to her friend, then snarled, baring her fangs.
"She is protective of you." He said. "More so than usual."
The dragon flexed her claws, ready to charge, but stopped from the girl's touch. "I see." Mortis said. "She thinks of you as her sister-a very strange bond, but you would give your life for hers."
Lyuna turned to her dragon, calming her. "He won't hurt us." She said to her, then turned back. "Forgive her." She went on. "Cerabus is very protective."
Cerabus snorted, then nudged her gently, growling softly as he noticed the necklace. "That crystal," he said. "May I see it?"
The girl removed her necklace and handed it to him.
"My word!" He breathed. "This is pure crystal draconium."
"My mother gave it to me." She explained. "She said it was special-part of my heritage."
"Heritage?" he repeated. "Hmm." He handed the necklace back and she put it on. "Come with me." He went on. "You and Cerabus."
He turned and went into a stall, lifting a handle and revealing a lift, then got on it, the pair following before it descended. After a few minutes it stopped and they got off, Lyuna staring. "A Dragon Temple." She breathed as she touched one wall, the whole thing lighting up. "I know this." She went on. "This is of the Great War." She noticed the writing below it. "Let's see–'Alongside the 5 Boosters was a crystal dragon and her rider–the Crystal Booster'."
"You can read that?" Mortis asked, walking over. "Even I couldn't translate that. How can you?"
"I am not sure," was the reply, then saw something. Her dragon came over and he set one hand on her head and held up the other, a whitish-blue beam of energy shooting from it and striking the wall.
"A mag-blast," he breathed. "But how?"
The girl lowered her hand. "My mother taught me." Was the reply. "She taught me mag-claw-felt I needed to know."
The priest stared at her in disbelief. 'She knows mag-claw,' he thought. 'With her control she must have started training at age seven or eight.'
He watched as the pair tackled each other, both laughing, then walked over to a box, opening it and taking out a medallion. He closed the box and walked over to them. "Lyuna," he said, "this is for you."
Lyuna got up, allowing him to drape the chain over her neck. She took the medallion and looked at it-a five-pointed star with a green stone in the middle and braided design around the edge. "This has a lot of power." She said, then looked up at him. "Thank you."
As she turned to leave, he aimed a mag-burst at her back as she flipped, catching the stream and reversing the flow, sending it back at him. "What in the Magna Draconis are you doing?" the girl asked, or began to as another shot came at her and she rolled to one side, sinking into the battle as she got to her feet, effortlessly returning the mag-blasts, then jumped into the air, unleashing a mag-fury, shots flying in all directions. As she landed, he ran at her and she spun, sending him flying with a well-placed kick.
"What in dragon's sake is going on here?" a voice asked, Artha coming over with Beau. The girl shook her head, coming out of the battle and looking at him. "How long have you been there?" she asked, seeing the look of horror on the boy's face. "Oh… that long."
The dragon glanced at his sister, giving a questionable growl, which was returned with a snarl and a snort. "Back off Beau," Lyuna said, glaring at him. "She had nothing to do with it."
She looked up, seeing the looks on their faces. "What? What's wrong?"
"Did…did you just growl?" the priest asked.
"'Did I just growl?'" she repeated. "Is that what you said? I was just telling Beau that Cerabus had nothing to do with what was going on."
The girl stared at them. "Uh…didn't I?"
"I think you just spoke in dragon." Mortis said.
Lyuna glared at them, then got on her dragon, headed to the lift and rode it up.
