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Chapter 13: Starting to train for the first time
Curious about Akhanta's work, the nightwing leans his head and discovers a drawing of himself. The shapes are a bit crude, but far better than he expected, especially when it came from such a huge being… Watching her until the work's end, Darkstalker is continuously impressed by the great dragoness' dexterity, her claws never failing her will as she adds more and more details to her craft.
With such skill, maybe she and the four others drew on the many walls of their home. Maybe they are all artists? That's sound ridiculous...
Putting down the tablet, the dark blue giant casts a glance at the young one's work. Upon seeing the far smaller text written in his language, she gets more confused as time goes on. Staring at it with utter focus, she really tries to spot something meaningful out of the little lines of letters which are almost all so new to her, only to fail in front of the nightwing. Now, Akhanta starts to understand how the young seer feels when confronted to their tongue.
Feeling less alone as he sees her like that, a small grin forms on Darkstalker's face. Then an idea comes to him, why not talk to you in my tongue? Maybe you'll even learn a bit of it...
Letting go of his own tablet, the young one initiates the conversation with partial, starting to speak with a louder voice to be heard by the finned ears of a giant.
- "You don't know what it means, isn't it?"
Seeing the giant dragoness dumbfounded at the sentence he pronounced, the nightwing starts to say and explain basic words now that he has her full attention. Putting a talon on his body to designate himself, he tells the first one.
"I"
The great one seems to understand quickly as she mirrors his gesture and pronounces the same sound. Satisfied, the young one now points at her to make her learn the word "you", and she succeeds. However, when it comes to think of other words, he is hit by the realization that making her understand them will be far more tedious than he anticipated, so for now he simply stops there.
However, since he does not know what to do after that, an awkward silence starts as the dragoness is left wondering why the little nightwing is suddenly not doing anything, with no more sounds coming out of his snout. Then, curiosity and worry for his state appears in his mind, making Darkstalker inspects himself. But despite having a moment of looking at his body, the nightwing can not draw any conclusion as the numerous blue veins have not disappeared at all, and his skin is still softer than normal.
Watching the scene, Akhanta remembers something and goes to seek an object. Opening a shelf, she takes out some fabric sheets. Coming back, her returning presence instantly draws the nightwing's attention. Unrolling a light blue sheet before him, the enormous dragoness makes sign for him to come.
- "Surik toijyl."
As the smaller one steps on the sheet, he realizes how much wider than him the piece of fabric is, and the huge entity realizes how relatively small he is. Grabbing a knife like tool with edge appears to be the blade of a sword for the young watcher, Akhanta begins to cut a square around the night dragon, bending and moving her gigantic form with fluidity and even grace to avoid bumping into him.
Once it is done, she cuts a semicircle on the right side of the shape aligned with his wings, a soothing noise being emitted as she presses the sharp tool with her claws, before she switches effortlessly to the next task, her body being huge enough she does not have to switch sides for the second cut, as she can have the young one and more under her when she stands on her four unfolded talons.
Finally, she positions herself far behind Darkstalker and extends her talons to cut off a triangular section below his tail.
Retrieving the "smaller" sections and putting them away, the great dragoness then grabs the edge of fabric... Understanding he needs to step out of the sheet, the young one does so without delay. After that, the dark blue being takes her craft off of the ground and puts it seconds later on the back of the little dragon.
Watching the scene with her attentive blue eyes, her crude work is like a dress on the nightwing, despite his simplicity and proportions that may not match that well with him, it might just be good enough to work...
Taking off the clothes from its wearer, the great dragoness then cuts a far smaller piece from a thinner and softer fabric sheet. Fusing the two by apparently burning them in her closed paw, she gives the newly made clothes to the night dragon, who after a moment of hesitation, begins to wear it like she wants to. Tying the dress on his neck with its new part like a scarf, Darkstalker looks decently good.
It does its job at least, and it is better than nothing to protect my softer skin… That's all I can say of good about that. Though I should not complain too much...
Now that the young one is ready, Akhanta goes to the doors with him following at her side, content with himself... Leaving the room, the two dragons start their walk to a place only the grand dragoness knows. And not forgetting to pay attention to her mind, the smaller one marches in silence, suspicious of his situation but not too much as he gets the place they are headed is a good one if more than a bit vast...
Arriving at a unique entrance after walking through more corridors than he ever expected, the Pyramid he finds himself in seeming to be as spacious as the night palace if not more, the nightwing takes the time to watch what is depicted by the carved and marked stone arches and walls. On the double door is represented once again a giant dragon with four eyes and four wings, but oriented to face the gazer directly this time. However, such character has his or her eyes closed.
Is this dragon some kind of divinity? Do the five great dragon have faith in him or her?
Trying to remember what he saw in their mind, the seer stands still for moment, staring but not really at the detailed figure, but despite his best effort, does not conclude much.
Maybe I just hadn't been near them enough, and their faith might not be that explicit… Well, of course I haven't passed enough time with them, and all these events happening very quickly and not really in my favour don't help at all...
- "Darkstalker?"
Hearing his name, the night dragon gets out of his thoughts as Akhanta calls him out, confused as to why he stopped and let her alone. Before he can really react however, the giant dragoness approaches him and quickly understand the reason. Going at his side, she then speaks while looking at the same character as the little hybrid.
"Lieju uthu surh ulinos wein iole Dolmukaran?"
Hearing her thoughts and seeing her behaviour, the mind-reader deduces she musts likely be asking about his interest for what he is seeing, and more accurately, the character being depicted divinely. Hesitant for a moment, he finally answers yes.
- "Ko…"
- "Zhuytias altekel ajek Ankonalmirh."
- "Ankonalmirh?" Replies Darkstalker, surprised and confused by such a name, and barely able to pronounce it for the first time.
- "Ankonalmirh, yl Sazne dolmukaran kes yl ueris iole hute olmiru ythetias tumok."
Realizing the young one's ignorance and the time he would need to be taught about the deity, Akhanta decides to drop the subject and urges him to follow her in the room.
Penetrating deeper into it, Darkstalker realizes such place has a kind of magical and powerful atmosphere, with the cold floor and walls making those who look at them feel smaller, and the many markings glowing from the essences that flow inside. Crystals are also numerous in that vast space, adding to the place's mystical aspect...
Now far enough from the entrance, the great dragoness simply sat down, folding her massive talon until far more of her majestic form touch the ground. And staring at her little companion, she raises a talon and charges it with essences. Gradually, a green flamelike aura forms around her paw, illuminating like a torch the both of them. Now having the full attention of the nightwing, she speaks a single word clearly.
- "Olmukara."
As his sight and mind can not ignore the power being presented before him, the seer now understands the meaning of the word, magic, essences. From her thoughts, he can now make out the purpose of him being in this room with her. To learn and train my powers, my magical essences.
Raising a talon himself, Darkstalker closes his eyes and focuses on bringing his buried energies out. Silence reigns as the dark blue giant watches over her starting apprentice, not making even a single unnecessary noise that could distract him.
Finally, a faint blue fire, little more than a spark, appears on each claw of the nightwing's paw. When he tries to eagerly feed the fire however, the strengthened stream of essences creates a sudden burst at the end, scaring the beginner and leaving only ember at the tip of his fingers.
Still a bit shocked and frustrated, the young one tries again a moment later, pushing the channelling of his essences where he wants to. But this time however, it does not work, the flow does not reform completely, and still does not despite time passing.
Growing frustrated at his powers not working when he remembers using them well in the vengeful moment of his past, something he thought would console him for the loss of his magic and foresight, Darkstalker gives up the subtle and patient approach, choosing instead to break his way through it, his head and paw tensing up…
Feeding his emotions and accumulating anger as he reminds himself of his failures and the miserable fate he got, the nightwing reaches a zenith as he closes his fist violently. Instinctively knowing he needs to let out all this power, the young one punches vertically and opens his claws.
A split second is all it takes for the tightly packed essences to manifest themselves as a lightning bolt striking the ceiling with a roar and a loud Bang as it strikes the stone, reducing it into smaller bits and dust. But the young does not have the time to watch such a result as pain makes him know his paw is far from in good health.
Staring at that part of his body, he now realizes the consequences of his last action. His skin is now tainted with purple, the colour of his blood, and the muscles beneath it are impossible to use without feeling pain, all the while he can smell of something burnt. Seeing the damage he has inflicted upon himself by accident, Akhanta circles the young one and lays down her paw, inviting him to climb on it...
After a moment, Darkstalker accepts her silent proposal and settles on her while trying not to move his wounded part too much, but the pain still remains, and it is not something that can be ignored... As he lays on her dark blue skin, the great dragoness closes her eyes, starting to guide her essences to him... And after a few minutes, both beings are linked enough so her essences can be manipulated accurately below his tender skin.
Slowly but surely, the energy restores the wounded one's skin and under, healing the flesh that did not die from the lightning bolt. In the end, the pain fades away as the nightwing can now easily move his paw, with the only thing left of his burn being a very thin layer of dead matter that sheds away.
- "Thank you Akhanta." Says simply the night dragon, explicitly impressed by such a power of her.
Climbing down to the ground, Darkstalker repositions himself to face her until he is stopped by her giant wing and talon. In a kind voice, the grand dragoness tells him to stay at her side.
- "Kovtur tsekat, uthu eiuf heia reina ysil yth wilute uthu wulen."
Watching the young one laying down, the mystical entity reloads her paw with essences until it becomes visible to the naked eye. Now that she has his attention, the great dragoness does not do anything flashy and impressive like he expected, but instead simply move her infused claws along her whole body.
"Zikos." Is all Akhanta says while she continues her serene movements.
Following the aura of essences with his eyes, the learner lets himself be captivated by her gestures. And as time passes, he sees her essences and their flows inside not just her paw, but in her whole body as well. He can now get glimpses of what her skin hides, of what makes her live.
Her power run through every of her veins, like it is literally in her blood when it moves. Her heart beats very slowly, once every six seconds or more, but each beat is powerful and continuous to maintain the blood flow in all of her being. Her lungs are enormous as expected for a giant dragon, however they do not contain that much essences despite the amount of air that get in and out, strange. Her stomach is the same way, but here it is more because she barely filled it.
Maybe they don't eat that much, their world is in ruin after all, and I have yet to an animal or even just a plant...
Looking just above it and near the lungs, Darkstalker can see and feel the potent energy stored in this pair of organs that are similar in shape to the lungs, and also connected to her throat. Staring at the wings, he can spot so many veins spreading all over the inside of the membrane and muscles, giving the fleshy fabric the capacity of holding essences very well, and to the muscles the power to dictate what the entire wing will do.
So that's why Xamirh was flying so well and fast, they have wings that can channel essences quickly and efficiently. It must natural for them to boost their flight with "magic".
Switching his attention to the dragoness' head, he can see how her three pairs of horns continue deeper in her flesh and guide the flows of her essences, like complex antennas. Gazing at her talons and tail bearing fins, the young one realizes how much power can circulate through each part, forming an immense potential that one can muster.
And finally focusing on the lower half of her belly, the nightwing is surprised to spot such a high amount of essences and poor circulation of them. What he assumes instinctively as her female parts are not damaged nor insufficient. In fact, there are quite a lot of elements forming a complex system, far more developed if he compares that with the anatomy of a normal dragoness, with the central part being the most feel with essences, to the point he can see that part very well from here now that he knows where to look.
You don't seem to be sterile at all, quite the opposite in fact... Maybe you and your kins retain from having children, since I haven't seen even one in here yet, and I doubt there is a better place for them than there...
If that's the case, then maybe you simply have decided not to reproduce…
I suppose it makes, as despite your powers, your world is too little for you to create life and be distracted by the passion and feelings of mating...
Of course! That's why your kins treated me so badly, they far too focused on their goal…
But why can't they just have a child instead of using me. And beside you Akhanta, they don't seem to have parental feelings strong enough to stop themselves from harming one. What makes me so special to them?
Maybe I'm just thinking too much, but that mystery could become very important, and any bit of knowledge is good to have, right?
Coming back to reality, Darkstalker now has a new goal in mind, to find the answer to that question...