Raela was down on one knee, rubbing her head where the rock had struck her and feeling a lump growing right between her eyes almost like a small horn. Her pride was hurt more than anything else. Firrol, on the other hand, was rolling on the ground moaning loudly.
"What was that for? You hit my right in my damned eye. Owww!"
Callum could not help but laugh at the sight. 'Serves you right for breaking my arm.'
The dragons, Naria and Endross, were standing at their sides, crouched down and growling as if they were going to attack the source of their riders' pain. The struggle could be seen on Raela's face as she attempted to silently reign Naria to no avail. The two dragons crept forward and Callum wondered if they would attack Brenna, but before his question could be answered, Galvorum tensed up and unleashed a tremendous roar that not only made Callum recoil but all three young dragons went silent and bowed their heads timidly as they were made aware of their positions for the first time in their short lives.
Galvorum snapped his jaws once and growled as he bared his razor-sharp fangs before Varyn placed his hand on the dragon's large snout and said, "Easy big guy, they didn't mean anything by it. They are still just hatchlings after all."
"Don't mind him, he just doesn't like it when dragons or people step outside of the established hierarchy," Varyn said in his typically charming way but then his tone changed and became ominous. "You would do well to remember that."
Lyara could be seen subtly shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the current acts of intimidation, but it did seem to serve its purpose as all of the fledglings and their dragons were now standing in a line next to each other with Callum in the center, Raela to his left and Firrol to his right.
"Alright, enough of that," Brenna said cheerfully. "Let's have a little bit of fun, shall we? Before we get started I'll have you two know that Callum here, has set the bar quite high, as he was able to prevent my attack on his dragon, a feat neither of you were able to accomplish yesterday."
Pain could be seen on Raela and Firrol's faces as the memory of their own experiences was brought forth. But after the memory faded a smile was seen on Raela's face and she nodded to Callum, whereas Firrol eyed him angrily, clearly not happy that he had been upstaged by someone that he saw as inferior.
"Let me start by explaining 'what' magic is and how we, as riders, can harness it," Brenna said as she removed her outer robe to reveal a sleeveless, tan shirt underneath. "Dragons are beings that were born of magic, before they came into being there was no magic in this world, but now, after more than a thousand years the land is saturated with it. It is in the ground we walk on, the air we breathe, and in the water we drink, it is all around us."
"Then why can only riders use magic, if there is so much in the world why are we not surrounded by people that can do the same things that riders can?" Firrol interrupted, and although Callum did not agree with his rudeness, he could not help but think that his question was an intriguing one.
"That is where you are wrong child," Brenna continued. "Everyone and everything that is living have the potential to harness and control the magic of this world, but it takes an immense amount of training and dedication to learn how to tap into the source and then to manipulate it to do what you want. There is an academy in Starcia that trains people that demonstrate high potential to wield magic, but we as riders have the highest potential for one reason, the dragons. Magic exists in every single cell in a dragon's blood, the very same blood that now runs through your veins. Now, strangely enough, dragons rarely perform feats of magic, they are capable but it tends to be wild and out of control, often in times of great distress. As riders, we are an extension of our dragon's mind, as they are an extension of our bodies, we exist in a perfect balance." As she finished this sentence, she approached Callum and gently lifted his left arm to show his bond marking.
"We have full access to the momentous stores of magical energy contained within our dragons, and as they grow so does that energy. The issue we face is that our bodies are not nearly strong enough to contain that energy." Brenna then placed to fingers on Callum's mark and soon a tingling sensation could be felt as the veinlike pattern slowly began to appear, spreading outward from the marking. "Through training, we can increase the amount of energy we can handle at once but we must always be aware of our limits. What I am doing now is implanting my magic into Callum, and clearly, he can withstand this level but watch what happens as I increase my output."
Suddenly the tingling sensation became a burning, and everyone could see the orange veins spreading rapidly up his arm and glowing brighter by the second. "As the blood cells in your body produce more energy, they will begin to rupture, eventually the veins themselves will harden and break, leaving you, quite simply, dead."
At this point the burning had become a raging inferno inside Callum's body, he could no longer focus on the words that Brenna was saying. He was experiencing the most intense pain he had ever felt and he screamed out loud as the veins spread over his head and face nearly reaching his eyeballs before stopping suddenly.
"Remember this lesson young ones, else you will meet a terrible fate."
Firrol and Raela stood, staring at Callum, horrified of what they had just seen, whatever he had just gone through, they prayed that they would never have to find out.
Brenna had settled back into her previous position and then continued the lesson. "For more complex magical abilities we draw corresponding runes with our hands to focus our intent, they are not always necessary but without them, you run the risk of a spell going awry, and well, we all know how that ends. For now, you must first learn how to tap into that power before you will be able to begin utilizing it. Lyara, will you do the honors?"
"My pleasure," Lyara said, as she stepped forward towards the group.
"Alright, for starters, it is easier to find your magic the first time if you are in direct contact with your dragon, so all of you, get comfortable and place both of your hands on your dragon."
All three of them sat down with their dragons in from of them and placed their hands on the dragons' sides.
"Now close your eyes and focus, you will know the energy when you get close to it, it feels like a sort of vibration. Callum, you may already know this from what Brenna had just done. Once you find it reach out with your mind and grasp it." Lyara finished by dramatically clenching her fist.
Callum closed his eyes and he could feel himself floating, deep within his consciousness, and then soon he could feel Tyviin's mind blending with his own and he could feel the dragon "pulling" him deep into the center of their shared being. He floated for what seemed like an eternity, surrounded by swirling colors, like small galaxies floating in the black space. Finally, he could see a tiny orange spark in the center of the black space, he began to feel the familiar tingling sensation, and he proceeded to move towards the light. The closer he got, the brighter the orange spark grew and the stronger the sensation became, at its peak it felt like every cell in his body was vibrating rapidly.
When he arrived at the light, it had grown to the size of his fist and was burning, like a tiny sun and he felt compelled to reach out and grab it. When he did there was a bright flash, and then nothing,
Callum found himself once again on the beach but the vibrating sensation had remained. He looked down at his mark to see it glowing a bright orange color and the typical hard veins could be seen slightly spreading outward, he looked to his left to see Raela, a blue-green light shining brightly from the back of her neck.
"Well done you two! You tapped into your magic quickly, do not forget that feeling, as you will need to access it the same way whenever you want to cast a spell." Lyara said before glancing over at Firrol who still seemed to be in a trance. "Well, it looks like we may be waiting a whi…." Lyara was suddenly cut off mid sentence
"Ahhhh!" Firrol screamed, violently waking from his trance, red light shining from his chest under his shirt. His hands had left his dragon and in between them, swirling like a crimson storm, was an unnatural flame."
"Oh! It seems that Callum is not our only extraordinary talent in this group," Brenna said, as she flashed a wry smile. "Firrol, it seems, has found his affinity already."