I wake up with my head On Grey's chest; I raise my head to look at him and smile. We had fallen asleep cuddling, it seems, not that I minded, And I knew my dragon also liked us being this close with him. Now that she had given her permission, we could start getting closer till we finally become mates, but first, I have to meet the council; I know they want to see me now that my awakening has happened.
I get up and stretch as I go to the closet to get dressed as I feel arms wrap around my waist, I lean back and look up smiling. "Sleep well?"
"I always do with you." We gently kiss before I lightly push him away, then go to close the door.
"I need to get dressed for a meeting with the council; then, after that, I probably have more training." I keep the door open enough to talk with him.
"You don't need to close the door, Sendria; I want to see you and marvel in your beauty." He tries to open it, but I smack his hand with my tail.
"Down boy, there will be time later, but I still want to go slow and build up to becoming mates." I close the door before he could respond.
I decided to put on an open-back dress that didn't reach my shoulders, going down to halfway past my knee. I walk out and see Grey looking out on the balcony.
I sit on the balcony beside him. "So, any plans for today?"
"I want to see what the council says first, and you always choose dresses that show off how beautiful you are or how sexy." He lifts me off the balcony and gently kisses me as my feet touch the ground; I kiss back with a slight purr.
We stay there at the balcony for a bit, looking out over the land before I hear a knock at the door. I go and open it, seeing that it was one of the royal guards. I follow him to the council chamber and wait outside for the doors to open.
The doors soon open, and I walk inside to stand in front of the council. I had stood to hear before, but this time I knew why; I also knew that today would be the start of my actual training, and standing in front of the council always put me on edge, even if my grandmother was one of them.
My Grandmother, Saphire Elzax, stood up. "Sendria Elzax, now that you are fully awakened and are of age, you understand why you are here and what the future will hold?"
I nod; I knew very well. I was now going to receive even more training and learn how to control multiple elements at once.
"We would first like to talk with your dragon." Saphire sits down, and I let my dragon come out, letting her control my body. She bowed to them as our eyes glowed.
"Hello council of the dragons, What is it you wish to talk with me about?" I could tell she was nervous, too, in front of all these powerful dragons.
"Now, first thing, we all know how Sendria has been getting close to the Elf Grey. what we want to know is, do you see him as a possible mate?" We are both surprised by this, and I can feel her blush as she looks away.
"um...I only know her from Sendria perspective, but yes, we do wish to one day make him our mate."
They nod, and I could see that Saphire was smiling as she speaks up. "Very well, this can hopefully help our relationship with the elves, but the next order of business is to discuss how your training will continue." But, of course, I had been expecting this since I had my dragon and better control of my powers.
"We will learn whatever we need to, but who will be our teacher? I know you are all very busy." She was correct; the council oversaw much, so we would get other teachers probably.
"Your grandfather will teach you about the elemental magic, and your mother can help you learn to use two at once; beyond that, they can only give advice, for it will be up to you.
I nod; it did make sense, our grandfather is a master mage, and our mother is a light and fire dragon, and grandmother probably wants to give grandfather a reason to stick around instead of going off on his adventures.
We bow. "We understand; we will be waiting for when they are available."
"That is not all; your father will also be stepping up your training and teach you how to incorporate magic into your attacks."
I nod; this makes sense since I had been learning sword skills and magic separately until now.
"Now you are excused; we will call for you if there is anything we wish to discuss." She then looked at some papers, and we nodded and left. Once outside the room, I sighed and then smiled. "Well, maybe I can get some time with grey before-"
"Before what, dear? Our training will be starting now since your grandfather is busy reporting to Semus." My mother had been waiting outside the door and cheekily smiling as she grabbed my arm. "Now to the training rooms, we need to get you using more than just fire."
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We entered the room, and I could see that it was empty primarily; my mother must have sent word ahead since, from what I know, it can get interesting when suing more than one element.
"Now, we will start with light; once you are good at generating it, we will work on splitting your mind." Next, she makes a ball of light energy—the most basic way to use the dragon light element.
I make one as well, but it is smaller than my mother. "I have been practicing but haven't been doing too much since father wanted to train my sword skills and fire."
She simply nods and creates fire in her other hand. "That's ok, now imagine it like I am doing, light in one hand and fire in the other."
I nod and try to copy her, but it seems like I constantly keep doing one or the other. "I..I..why is it so hard!"
"Your thinking about it too hard Sendria, we're dragons; magic comes to us naturally."
I sigh and try again and again. Finally, my mother comes up to me and gets behind me, grabbing my arms. "You are trying too hard; you need to feel it."
I try, but I don't understand what she means till my dragon forces her way up and helps me; suddenly, I have fire in one hand and light in the other. "I..I...I didn't need your help."
I grumble and hear my Mother chuckle. "Your dragon helped, huh? Don't feel annoyed, Sendria, welcome her assistance and get used to this feeling."
I practice for what felt like hours till I could do it on my own.
"Good, now we can get to actually using them tomorrow; for now, you might want to see if your grandfather is available; if not, then just go have fun; I know your dragon is missing Grey." I nod and go for the door, and she was right; we both did..Gods, it will be hard waiting, but we both wanted to make him work for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I look into my grandfather's office and see him working with some potions. "Hey Gramps, can I come in?"
He turns to me and smiles, beckoning me in. "you know you can call me Val, right?"
I nod and hug him. "But father wants me to call you my grandfather."
I look around then sit on his desk. "You know how he is, always so grumpy and wanting things to be formal."
He chuckles and goes over to a bookshelf that had lots of magical items. "He is doing that he believes necessary, and you can't deny that he is truly the Draconis."
"I know, but sometimes that feels like all he is." I sigh and look at the family picture in his office. "I wish we were still back before we knew I had all eight elements..it was easier back then..more fun."
He pulls an amulet off a small stand. "You know, Sendria, I was your age when I realized magic didn't need words..well, a bit older, but still. When I realized I wanted to understand why and why people think we need words, only later I realized it was for the safety of those, who weren't ready."
"I know, Val. Most human mages think they need to use the Draconic language when in truth, it's just willpower. So why bring this up now?" I had known this since I was ten since dragons have a natural understanding of magic and don't fear misfiring like humans.
"Simple Sendria, tell me what the three governing principles of magic are." He sits down and looks at the amulet.
"They aren't principles or rules or whatever. Anyways. The first is your affinity, whether strong or weak, everyone has an affinity for some type of magic, the second is knowledge, the more you know, experience, the more your practice, the better you get."
"Correct, and this is one of the few truths about the magic that is consistent for everyone; this is the same for you."
I nod but still don't understand what he was getting at; these were basic things I learned early on.
"I fear you don't understand the truth of it, Sendria..you don't understand how to feel magic or how to use your imagination."
"Huh? Dragons naturally understand magic, and I practice and learn enough." What was he getting at? I understand everything I have been taught...well, most of it.
"That's it; you naturally understand, so you don't try to know more; you become happy with what you do know. I want you to wonder, explore, feel magic, not just know but to let it flow through you and feel all those elements within you. I don't teach; I guide them to their path. And I will do the same with you."
I finally understand what he was saying; of course, it was this, he is a master and has been self-taught on nearly everything about magic, but he is kind of right...I only practice what I am taught. "So..how should I start?"
"Simple, sit on the floor, and I will put this amulet on you; it will allow you and your dragon to dive within and feel your magic, to understand it on a far deeper level."
I nod and get off his desk and sit on the floor. I feel him put the amulet on me as I close my eyes.
I feel it as I start to go into a trance; it pulls her and me in as we let ourselves go till we stop. I feel her next to me, but I can also feel it all around. The magic was ours, I could feel the elements, but it also felt...strange. I had never been this deep.
"Is this our magic? It feels strange" I try to feel it all, get used to it, but it felt like my mind was being split in six different ways.
"Yes, child, you are feeling our magic. I had slept here for a long time before you awakened me." I feel her around me, like a warm embrace as she spoke; it seemed to help me think.
"How do you handle all this? It feels like my mind is splitting apart." I try to concentrate and not lose myself.
"Let go, child, don't resist but embrace it. This is us, and we must accept what we are..we will not lose ourselves." her words felt comforting, and I slowly did, letting my mind slip into my magic.
I couldn't even tell how long I had been in here; it felt like time had no meaning till I felt something else enter. It fel famliair but foriegn. But my dragon and I drew our attention to it.
"So, Sendria, do you understand what you have been forgetting?" the voice was soft and gentle, yet full of power like it shook my magic but at the same time calmed it.
"Who are you? I don't recognize you." But, on the other hand, my dragon wasn't hostile, so I guess he was ok.
"You do know me, just not like this. I am your Grandfather, Valren. I believe you have had enough time to understand what I was telling you."
I recognized him now. It was his aura I was feeling here now; I was just not used to only feeling it. "Yes, sorry for not recognizing you."
"It is okay, child. You still have not spent much time like this; your dragon is far more used to understanding the world like this."
I look at her. "You normally see like this?" She nods, and the meaning flows into my mind. "So you see like this unless you're in control or looking through my eyes..oh well, that's nice to know."
"Are you ready to go now? There is much for you to learn still, Sendria."
I nod and go with him, flowing out of this state and back to my senses as I open my eyes. "i...I think I understand now. Thank you, Val." I hug him.
I feel his hug back, then take the necklace off and puts it away. "Now, we will start with having you generate pure mana. It is also called energy, or the life force of the world. I am sure you have seen Dylan do it plenty of times."
"Wait, we can do it too!" I was surprised. I always thought Dylan's power was extraordinary; it seemed like it was.
"Don't be mistaken; normally, it can't physically hurt others or do too much with it, Dylan. But, Dylan can make large quantities and shape it."
I nod, now understanding better. He had more control over it but just couldn't use it for magic.
"Now go ahead; you should have an easier time, now that you know what your magic feels like." He sits at his desk, and I sit on the rug again. It had a magic circle on it that I never understood why thou he often had me doing magic in it.
I focus, and at first, I don't feel anything. I usually make fire, but I could feel that something else was trying to come out. "I...I'm not sure what's wrong; it's normally not hard for me."
"Don't try, feel. Let it flow."
I nod and trying again, not using my usual restraints, and suddenly I feel it rush out, but it's trapped in the circle. "Wow..that is..new."
"Yes, you always divided your magic into one thing, but now with it pure, you can release even more...when you channel it into an element or type of magic, some is lost as you make it change. Like this, it is pure, and so there is more of it."
I contemplate what he said then nod. "So channeling it in any way make you lose the magic since some is used for the channeling?"
"Yes, but your affinity helps make it, so you need less magic to use it in that way."
I nod, now understanding why affinity worked how it did. It was easier with your affinity and harder using magic against it for this reason.
"Thank you, Val; I never realized this."
"many don't; now go enjoy your time with Grey; I am sure you both miss him."
I blush and nod before taking off.