Author: Somehow, I'm gonna find a way to write on a regular basis, so if you don't already hate me and have decided not to review anymore (if you could be so cruel) keep reading, the story isn't done. BWAHAHA you will read forever as I post 2 weeks at a time..behold my sinister plot.

Okay, so the next Dragoon has appeared.FUN more personalities to play with and more pasts and futures to torment.MWAHAHA the SECOND part of my sinister plot. I am very pleased with Olandra's weapon, but she also has a few other tricks.
Chapter 7: A Lesson in the Arts

Rey and Olandra sat on the bank of the oasis, the sun was setting rapidly behind them, and the scorching air was beginning to cool down. The new companions had decided to depart tomorrow for Deningrad, Olandra said that it was the last human stronghold against Bellana's forces, and they could think about what to do next there.

The air hung dull, saturated with silence, it seemed to be driving Rey almost crazy, but Olandra was treasuring the silence as if it were golden. Olandra had her hand on her weapon at all times, and was always looking off into the distance on eternal guard. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Rey pierced the air with words.

"So, Olandra" he began, being somewhat afraid that she would cut his head off before he could transform "How long have you been a Dragoon?"

Olandra didn't answer, she merely looked off into the distance some more, ignoring her new "partner".

"Olandra?" Rey broke the silence again. Still he received no response from the statue of a companion. "Fine then" Rey got up and walked around, still close to the oasis.

Drake. Olandra whispered quietly, no one could here even though it wasn't meant for human ears. Drake are you there?

Of course Olandra came back a voice I am always with you, you know that

I know, Thought Olandra I know.

Is something troubling you? The entity inquired Does it have to do with the boy?

Yes, it does She returned I don't understand why you wanted me to join him, he is so immature. Besides, you know about the quest I am on that you swore to help me with.

I am fully aware of our quest Olandra The voice guided but matters of fate take priority over personal vendettas, I believe that you already knew that. Besides, you never know, you may find that in doing this, you will be brought closer to your first goal.

Yes.but Drake She complained Even you can tell that he is not fit to be a leader of just the two of us, let alone another five Dragoons. He is far from ready for that challenge.

Patience Olandra The entity said He is being guided by my good friend Bartham, that boy will become a superb leader, I know that much. Bartham is indeed very wise, he will sculpt the Red-Eyed warrior into the leader Soa meant him to be. For now, you may as well make things easier and not be so cold.

That I can't promise She returned

At least try, he suggested you don't have to bring up conversation, just answer his questions with full answers and be nice.-ish

Fine Olandra conceded.

She removed herself from her slight trance, to find the Red-Eye checking through their combined inventory examining everything.

There may be hope yet for him She thought to Drake

Told you he replied

Shortly afterwards, Rey dropped the one bottle of sun rhapsody that they had and the liquid drained into the sand.

"Oops" was all he had to say. The look on Olandra's face changed to disbelief then pure anger.

Or maybe he is just a bumbling idiot who will get us killed She screamed in her mind. Drake didn't respond, but she didn't expect him to.

Rey caught the look on Olandra's face and started to worry a little bit about the abilities of the ooze that he had just dropped.

"You Fool" Olandra scolded, containing her wrath enough to keep her hand away from her spirit "Do you realize what you have just done?"

"Yes." Rey replied "and no, you see I realize that that was our only bottle, but Bartham didn't tell me exactly what it did"

Olandra clapped her hand against her head he can't be our leader she thought to herself, and once again Drake did not bother to answer.

"Sun Rhapsodies are used to restore magical energy" She stated, peeved but not too pissed "now we basically only have magic for as much as our stamina allows."

"Oh, then that's not too much of a problem then" Rey shrugged. He then went back to the other items, being extremely careful with the rest of them.

Olandra's eyes widened at this "Not too much of a problem?!?! How can you say that?!?" She nearly screamed.

Rey turned back to her "Well, I rarely use magic at all"

Rey turned back to his inventory check and left Olandra dumbfounded. She contained her anger and slowly walked off. As she passed by, she picked up her staff and walked a little ways into the distance, she needed to kill something now, and Drake would be very unhappy if it was Rey.

Geez, what's with her Rey reached out to Bartham Why did she get so angry, it was just a stupid magic potion, it's not like we needed it for healing

You must understand Rey Bartham replied You do not know the conditions of her fighting style. You yourself rely more on fighting skill than magical power, but she may rely heavily on magic or even a balance of both. That Sun Rhapsody would've been helpful if she does fight that way.

Even so, magic isn't even that tiring, I barely felt anything after used that Inferno Punch on that Bone guy Rey excused. Do you honestly think that someone relying on magic to fight would use such a basic spell? Bartham questioned

Basic, why do you say that Rey shot back

You're Inferno Punch was merely a gathering of fire energy into one concentrated blow. That my friend is a basic spell, anyone that uses magic heavily will mostly use much more consuming attacks. Bartham informed.

Oh, okay. Rey stopped at that beginning to feel the stupidity of what he had just done.

Olandra walked back to the oasis looking much calmer and somewhat tired. She walked over to a tree and set down her weapon, then she came over to Rey and handed him some nuggets of gold.

"Put these with everything else" She said, still somewhat peeved at the amateur Dragoon.

Rey looked at the large nuggets with wide eyes "Where-How-What?!?!?!" Words were at a loss for him

Olandra rolled her eyes "When monsters die, there organs transform into nuggets of gold. Remember that, we will be needing a lot of it."

Rey looked at the nuggets, still in disbelief that it had once been an organ for a monster. He put it away with the rest of the items and looked over to Olandra who had just sat down next to a tree.

Dawn faded away and Rey started a fire, using this time as practice for "basic" spells. He sat there, next to the pile of wood for what felt like eternity, his hand outstretched pointing to the pile. In his mind he focused on the element of fire from all around him, much like before. Around his hand, there gathered a small ball of flame like he had done before, that much was easy, the next part is what he kept screwing up on. He imagined in his mind, the flames making their way from his hand onto the small bundle of sticks, and he felt the warmth from his hand fade away. He opened his eyes to see if it had made it's way to the logs, but he had had no such luck.

"Curse it ALL!!!!" Rey screamed as he shot up to his feet. Behind him he heard a slight snicker coming from Olandra. "What's so funny?" He demanded

"That you, the Red-Eyed Dragoon, fated leader of all seven mighty Dragoons, the one that should lead us to victory; can't even light a bunch of logs with your magic" She mocked

"What, it's not like you could do any better" He whined

"Oh really?!?!" The challenge interested her slightly "I'll show you" she rose her hand into the air, palm face up. Above her hand materialized a small ball of black matter. Without even a slight movement, the orb took off zigzagging all around putting Rey into a sense of awe. Again without a movement, the orb stopped over the pile of logs and plummeted downwards sending splinters in all directions.

"I believe I just did better" She mocked.

Rey bit his lip and swallowed his pride, he knew he was beaten, but the hard part wasn't accepting that fact, it was what was to come up next. "Olandra."

"Yes?" she returned

"Could you." This is gonna hurt he thought "teach me how to use my magic like that"

"I don't know." She continued to mock him, having too much fun. "I think that it is quite interesting to see you get mad because you can't"

OLANDRA!! Drake's voice boomed inside her head teach the poor boy. You KNOW that you have to, any weaknesses cannot be afforded if you even want to think about beating Bellana, or even.

Okay okay.I will She gave in.

"Fine, I will teach you, but only because our team will suffer otherwise. Go get some more and then we will start." She said

Rey was surprised by the recent turn of events. "Thank you." He got out right before he went to get some more wood Maybe she's not so bad afterall.

The two sat down in front of the freshly assembled bundle of logs. The sun had long set and the sky was shrouded in darkness aside from the eerie glow of the Moon That Never Sets. Rey looked eagerly to Olandra ready to get his first real lesson in the use of magic.

"Okay" Olandra began "let's begin. Magic in it's raw form is very volatile and can react easily such as exploding flames, or freezing ice that moves along whatever it touches freezing it instantly. This is the magic that channel into our spells; pure, raw, straight magical energy. In that form however, it can only be focused to one specific spot, thus in that form it is used for basic spells. More advanced spells manipulate it to the whim of the caster, that is what makes Dragoon magic special. In order for the magic to be used properly for these more 'advanced' spells; such as a simple fireball or a complex maze burning threads; the magic must be 'ignited' by your will. So, let's begin. Channel that pure fire energy around your hand like you did before."

Rey did as she commanded, the concepts seemed reasonable enough, yet he didn't feel as if he needed to understand the concepts that much. He shut his eyes and began to focus on the pure fire energy so out of nowhere.

"Stop." Olandra interrupted "open your eyes, in mid battle you cannot close your eyes else your opponent take advantage of you."

Rey nodded obediently and once again tried to focus on the energy gathering quickly in his palm. He had never really looked at it before, but it looked dazzling. A red orb of light mixed with orange flames that he saw, but knew it was not the same flame of that of normal fire. This was pure fire magic. Rey could only sit in awe.

"Good" Olandra complemented "The easy part is over, now for the.fun part."

Rey gulped a little and nodded signaling he was ready for the next part.

"Alright, time to get down to business" Olandra stated slightly more stern. "Now, with your soul, set off the energy. Try to provoke it from within you, but also focus on the shape you want it to take and what you plan to do with it after it does. That is the key to full manipulation.you must know your spell before you even initiate it. Plan it well and it will work, now.ignite the energy.

Rey was still lightly confused but he tried anyway. He probed his soul looking for whatever he needed to ignite the flames in the energy in front of him. He searched his inside over and over and over again, each time finding nothing because he still did not know what to look for. He strained himself trying to figure out what he needed but every time he came up empty.

Bartham Rey called out for the dragon not knowing what knowing what else to do Bartham, can you help me? I don't know how to do this, how do I 'ignite' this energy?

I'm glad you asked Rey Bartham's voice filled Rey's mind. As a team we can do this, now.focus deep within yourself. Find the reason you fight, your will to learn this technique. What is it that you fight for? These ideals, these passions.that is what will ignite the magic Rey, that is what will transform this into FIRE!!!

I understand Rey responded

Then why do I fight? Rey questioned himself What do I hold dear? My friends and family are all gone, all those I loved and cared about. The ones I couldn't protect..THAT'S IT!!!I fight to protect those around me, dear to me or not. It is now my obligation as a Dragoon, no a warrior, no.not even; as a human being. That's why I fight now, now I have a purpose

Suddenly the small pool of energy on Rey's hand lit brightly and then transformed instantly into a small sphere of fire. Rey's eyes went wide in surprise.he actually did it, he actually learned magic. Olandra looked pleased with Rey, he had learned quicker than she expected.

"Good job" She said "You got the hang of it far quicker than I imagined. Now, light the fire so we can cook, I'm hungry"

Rey tossed the small blazing orb onto the stack of wood, it lit the wood quickly and sprang up as a blazing campfire. "Alright, so who's hunting?" Rey asked

"You" Olandra said as she laid down and rolled over "After all, I did teach you magic, it's the least you can do"

"Okay fine" Rey returned. He walked over to his sword and began on his way back into the desert. He stopped short and turned back to admire the flame. "Thanks Olandra" was all he said, then he went out to gather food.
Author: YAY!!!! I've finally finished. Now my friend who refuses to review [scowls and eyes turn red] will stop bugging me.for now. Anyway, that is the basics of magic in my world. Soon will be the story of Olandra..YAY twisted pasts BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! {smacks self to regain sanity.temporarily] please review.