Blaze

Mitus and Pearl are on me in seconds. He forces me to lay down on my back. Pearl begins dancing forming rain clouds over me while crying. Mitus' hands are on my throat glowing white with blue tints here and there. He moves one hand to my chest while keeping the other on my neck. I'm in excruciating pain that is very oh so very slowly subsiding. I'm slowly loosing consciousness from not being able to breath though.

Well kid. I guess you found my hiding spot.

That voice. It's that fire dragon!

"Come on!" Mitus yells keeping me conscious. "I'm not loosing you!"

I take a gasp of air once something in my chest is healed enough to be open again. I begin to breath faster and faster.

"Slow breaths." Mitus says taking deep breathes in and out slowly.

I try my best to copy his movements. Every so often I start breathing fast when I remember what just happened and how I almost stopping breathing all together. Through teary eyes I see Mitus still breathing slowly and his voice continues to tell me it's going to be alright.

"Kem, is he alright?" I hear Sonja's voice cut through the glass orb. 

"He is breathing on his own now. What the heck was that?!" He demands an answer from me.

I try talking.

"Not yet." Mitus's voice is low and firm. "Breath."

I focus on just breathing. Closing my eyes I can hear the commotion around me. The silvery white hair girl, Elbereth I think, is crying in Amaya's arms. Everyone is quiet outside of Sonja and Kem exchanging small updates of my condition. Kem touches my head and I open my eyes to see green light admit from his hand as he chants a short chant. I start to feel more less pain.

"I'm almost done." Mitus tells us.

With the pain subsiding, I can feel the uncomfortable part of being soaked to the bone from Pearl's rain. I can't help but shiver.

"We should probably get him by the fire." Arata says.

"And more clothes. How many outfits is this guy going to go through?" Amaya asks.

"This is going to sound weird." I choke the words out. "But can someone knock me out?"

I could feel everyone staring at me.

"That's got to be oxygen deprivation talking." Mitus says.

"No. I-" the words won't come out. 

But I swear I can talk to that fire dragon if I'm not con-. Maddie's tail comes down on my head before I could finish my internal thought.

🐉□🐉◇🐉□🐉◇🐉□🐉◇🐉

And you're back.

That will hurt later. 

There is an easier way to reach me than by nearly dying or having that earth dragon beat us up. Even though she might have enjoyed that.

She might have. So what's this easier way? But first... how, what, where are we? 

Just like that Pearl asking all the questions.

This whole magic thing is new to me alright?

Fine I will give you a pass since you did technically help me live on.

Live on?

Yes. You see I may be an eternal fire dragon but I do age. Humans gave us the name because we can live for a century with ease. Thanks to our long lives humans thought we could live forever. Sadly that is not the case. Thanks to the name people hunted us thinking our horns, teeth, heart and other parts held powers to defy aging. We were hunted down til I was the last one remaining.

That's...

Awful, miserable, horrendous...

Lonely. No wonder you kept flinging me off the mountain.

.... It was lonely. If it wasn't for that Gretchen and Guy it would have been quieter.

Guy?

I flung him off the mountain a few times too but somehow he kept crawling back. Spewing something about a boy and dragons coming to see me. Every few years he would come and find me. Sometimes just to sit in silence and other times he would try to have a conversation. 

That was... nice of him? 

Looking back now, I am grateful he visited. The silent visits were better though.

For the visits he was silent on, was there by chance a fire?

...Now that you mention it, there was.

When he showed up when I was dying of poison he completely blanked out when he gazed into the fire.

You're telling me I could have had more silent visits from him if I made a fire?

Probably.

Fry me in lava. Oh well.

[The blackness shifts with rays of light.]

Oh shoot you never told me what this place is.

I don't have much time to explain it either since you didn't reach me the way you were supposed to.

Then give me a crash course.

When you want to see me you need to be in a state of mind where you want to seek me. 

Redundant much?

Shut it. You need to meditate or be in a sleep like state to find this place. It is like a halfway conscious for us to talk to each other. If you get good at it and we strongly bond, before full transfer, then we may be able to talk while your conscious. Now that my powers are slowly awakening in you, you will be feeling a little different. Some parts might develop faster than others. The spitting up fire thing only happened thanks to that master pet situation you, well technically we for a bit, are in. From here on out your body will change to be able to handle the fire. It will take a few years though. So take it easy.

[More light floods in causing me to stir.]

Wait! What name did Gretchen give you?

*He chuckles.* Blaze.

🐉□🐉◇🐉□🐉◇🐉□🐉◇🐉

I wake to Pearl staring right into my soul. Again I will deny screaming or squealing.

"He lives!" Pearl tells the rest.

I'm inside the house by the fire covered in a new robe and blanket. Sheldon is curled up beside me with my left hand resting on top of her. I give her a gentle squeeze to thank her for staying by me.

"Maddie filled us in on what's happening." Sonja says through the orb. "Turns out the eternal fire dragon is residing within you?"

"Yea. I guess he is. I talked to him." I say. "He said something about it taking years for his powers to develop or something."

"That settles it then." Sonja states.

"What are you thinking?" Kem asks.

"We plan this attack on Gilton and Tundra to go down in two to two and a half years." She says happily.

"That means you will be imprisoned for-" Kem is cut off.

"Not imprisoned my dear brother. I come and go as I please. You saw for yourself earlier. Oh and I found a massive library in this house and must get my hands on some of those books!" Sonja pleads.

"This isn't some camping trip. We have to get you back." Kem pleads back.

"Yes it would be nice to over throw Gilton right now but none of you are ready for a fight. Look at poor Ragon and you all heard Maddie's story of their so called fight with fire dude. Do I need to tell them what happened the last time you all tried taking me on? Hmmm?" Her face and voice are confidant in her stance against them.

"Please don't embarrass us." Kem begs completely giving up the fight against her.

"Then we all agree, we plan the 'over throw the kingdom' plan before my heart spell stops working. In the mean time you all have a lot of training and I have a lot to learn around this mansion." Sonja says with a smile.

"Sounds like we can have a good plan hammered out. I'm in." Arata leads the rest into agreeing with Sonja.

Kem and I are last.

"I think waiting a little is the best call." I say.

"I hate to admit it but yes. It will be best to wait. Especially since you have dragon powers that need honing." Kem says reluctantly.

"Does this mean I won't see that fire dragon again?" Asks Pearl. "I wanted to ask him what his name was."

"Blaze." I speak up. "Your granny Gretchen, gave him the name Blaze."

"That's a good name." Pearl smiles.