Chapter Twenty-Four “Dragon Pup” Arlie

Arlie stepped out of the temple to find Aurora waiting for her. The dragon was in humanoid form, naked as usual. She smiled, “Congrats on passing the first test. Now we have some time for a little training before you must leave for the Blue Temple.”

“Training!?” She squeaked.

Aurora giggled and pulled her along. Arlie barely caught a glance of the twins and the helpless looks they offered. Silently she pleaded for them to save her from the crazy old dragon but no help was forthcoming. Leaving Arlie to be dragged away by the dragon.

Aurora took her into the temple gardens, down several paths and past countless beds of flowers until they came out onto a plaza behind the main structure of the temple. One surrounded by low walls, decorated with flowers themselves. Her gaze however focused on a familiar curved arch rising above the garden. The sweeping arch was a mix of crystal and metal so intricately entwined that one couldn’t tell where the crystal began and the metal ended and vice versa. Ancient symbols were carved up and down the face of the ancient archway. It was smaller than the one back home, but she knew that it was a gateway. If she stepped through it, she could be home in but a moment instead of the weeks it would take by normal means.

Aurora, noting her gaze commented, “Each of the temples has a gate, but sadly for you one must first make a pilgrimage to the temple before they can open the gate. Unlike other gates, they don’t allow anyone who isn’t bonded with the gate to cross to the temple. A large part of why they aren’t in common use. The gate here is more so people can go home after making the journey here, otherwise, the journey is pointless, you know?”

“I guess that will make getting home easy.”

“Perhaps, but you won’t be going home just yet. I did mention the Blue Temple afterall, it's not that hard to reach. You will find the Blue Temple on an Island just to the west of the Ukovan coast. The journey there should be pretty pleasant since you won’t have to leave the kingdom. You can get a boat and basically sail the entire way. You’ll need a bigger ship when you get to the coast, but there are plenty available.”

Arlie blinked, then glanced at the gate. “Maybe I should withdraw more funds?”

“Before that, we have some training to do. I need to teach you how to use your breath.”

“My breath!? What am I? A dragon pup?”

“Dragon Pup Arlie, that has a ring to it don’t you think?” Teased Aurora, before turning more serious, “You aren’t that far off.”

Arlie cocked her head, wondering where this was going. Aurora shimmered, her size suddenly increasing as she took on her full draconic form. Then before Arlie could even react, she found herself carried off into the hills.

Panting for a moment, she turned to glare at the dragon. “What was that for!?”

Aurora turned to a nearby rock, then suddenly unleashed her dragon breath, reducing a large boulder to molten slag. Then she said, “A dragon’s breath is innate, primal magic, it is one of her best weapons and it is a weapon you can learn to wield.”

“No I can’t! I’m not a dragon!”

Aurora giggled, “No but the blood of the Skylords flows through your veins, and Skylords possess a similar weapon. Now that you have unlocked the first seal on your blood, that weapon is now yours to command. So I must teach you, before you accidentally use it on something.”

“Sounds like a fantasy to me,” replied Arlie, having a hard time believing the dragon. Since when did she have the blood of gods in her veins? She was already blessed or cursed by them depending on the way one looked at it, she didn’t need their blood as well.

Aurora chucked, “A’right your turn. Now stand facing the rock, take a deep breath, and let your fire mix in your lungs.”

Arlie blinked and felt her body obey, following the dragon’s instructions without any hesitation. Her lungs burned as a great heat welled up from her core. It hurt, the pain wasn’t entirely unwelcome though, it was strangely pleasant, oddly satisfying and she didn’t know why.

“That’s it, you are doing wonderfully girl, now charge the fire. Let your instincts guide you.”

She blinked and realized she knew what that meant. From deep within she pulled on her lightning and let it mix with the fire in her lungs, changing it.

“Perfect, now let it out, breathe!”

Arlie opened her mouth and roared, charged fire shot forth. A stream of heat and lightning perfectly entwined, it lanced out like a beam tearing into the rock of the mountain. Then as suddenly as the bluegreen, crackling fire came forth, it was gone. Leaving a glowing tunnel into the mountain behind. Arlie just stared, did she actually do that!?

A clawed hand rested on her head, gently ruffling her hair. Seen from another the sight would have been comical, especially given how much larger Aurora was. “That was a good first breath, now let's see if you can do it on your own.”

Arlie didn’t have any words, she just stared at the destruction, before placing a hand to her chest, feeling the heat still lingering in her core and her lips. Evidence that she had in fact used the breath of a dragon, the breath of a skylord. It wasn’t a magic humans should have. Was she really human? Or was she something else?

Not that Arlie had any answers on that. Nearby Aurora curled up, commenting, “Take your time, we can be here all day and night if we have to.”

A shudder rippled down her spine, why didn’t she like the sound of that? She turned to the rocks. Obviously, she needed to do it again. Bringing forth the memory, she tried again but the result wasn’t quite as spectacular as the first.

__________________________

Lily watched the mountains explode again, she’d seen several such explosions since Aurora had dragged Arlie off. She let out a breath, wishing she could have helped her long-time friend and sister. Not that she could have done anything, her mind flashed to the other day when she’d paraded herself naked through Arlie’s family home. Not through her own choice either, but at the whims of that dragon who was so powerful that Lily had found herself controlled as easily as she would manipulate a doll or puppet.

“Still moping by the window?” inquired Rose.

She turned to find her sister entirely naked with some water dripping off her still wet frame and a towel in hand. Lily fidgeted, “It's just that...”

“I know, I’m worried too, but I’m sure that dragon won’t hurt her.”

Another blast and roar shook the mountain, “You sure!? The mountains are exploding!”

Rose shrank a little, “I know, but this is a dragon we are talking about!”

“I know that, but we just let her take her.”

Rose drew closer then pulled her into a hug, no words were spoken they weren’t needed. They were both worried, she could feel it, she knew it with her soul. Both wished they could do something but there wasn’t anything either of them could do and they knew it. The very fact however bothered her deeply.

Slumping to the floor together she finally muttered, “I just wish we could help her.”

Rose looked out to the burning mountains, “So do I. So do I.”

Arlie felt her legs give out as the ground rushed to meet her ass. She didn’t care enough to rub her butt, her arms felt heavy, her lungs burned, and her legs? They were limp noodles and heavy, oh so very heavy. She wasn’t sure she could lift them. Arlie yawned, her eyelids suddenly had more weight than they should. How much mana had she used? Was this exercise in torture over?

Aurora, now in humanoid form again, sat next to her, holding a crystal vial with a dark blue fluid contained within. She held it in front of Arlie’s eyes, “Drink this, you’ll feel better.”

Arlie took it and stared at it for a moment or two before doubtfully tasting the liquid. The moment it touched her tongue, she greedily gulped it down, relief ripping through her. The mana she thought gone suddenly welling up anew, as if she hadn’t wasted it for hours ripping into the side of the mountain with breath after breath of deadly magic. She glanced at the vial in her hand, “A mana potion? I can’t repay you for this!”

Aurora giggled, “I have plenty more, and now we can train longer.”

Arlie groaned, “Gods no!”

She was answered only with an evil grin, “Trust me, you need to master this skill. Sooner, rather than later. It will help you greatly when it comes time to travel to the Yellow temple.”

“Why?” was the only thing Arlie could think to say.

“The Yellow temple lies to the south in elven territory, between us and the temple lie the territories of the dragon clans. You know well how they respond to mages. Learning this spell would help you more than you know.”

“I don’t see how.”

Aurora laughed, “Don’t you see,” she gestured at the ruined mountainside, “Look at what you did. Do normal humans have this ability? No, they don’t, not even a trained mage can use a breath attack. Dragonsbreath and Skylord’s Breath are racial abilities tied to a bloodline. If you used such an ability how do you think the dragon clans would take it?”

Arlie blinked, the gears in her head turning, then she turned red, “... like some... dragon’s child.”

“More like a dragon princess, but you have the idea.”

Arlie groaned, “Great! Making me into royalty? Isn’t there a better option?”

Aurora threw her head back and laughed, “But you are royalty!”

“Me and what throne?”

Aurora produced a book from nowhere, “Well your own family history records that the Contrey line used to rule the kingdom, but if you don’t believe those records. Maybe you’ll believe mine? I’ve recorded every queen to sit on the throne since the dawn of the kingdom.”

Opening the book she handed it to Arlie, revealing a page that revealed the rulers of the kingdom, there right on the page was a list of queens and kings, not that Aurora had mentioned them. The genealogy it depicted was clear, she saw several Greys but what drew her eye was the presence of a Contrey, Queen Amelia Contrey she was listed as being partnered with a Matthew Grey, and she ruled from 217 Third Age of Man to 362 Third Age of Man. It also mentioned her taking a second husband during the time of her reign, that one being Gregory Vir Griffin. The Griffins and the Greys were both rival royal lines and she found it interesting for one of her line to have married a man from both.

Flipping more pages, she found another queen of her line, this time even further back again she had a long rein, Ruling from 1297 Second Age of Fairies to 1403 Second Age of Fairies, during that time she had three husbands and her daughter succeeded her ruling from 1403 to 1519

Looking even further into the past, she found yet another Contrey queen, ruling during the latter years of the Second Age of Dragons right up into the Second Age of Fairies. “I guess we do have more than a few queens in the mix, but I don’t see us ruling as often as the Greys or the Griffins.”

“My point remains, your family is one of the three royal lines, even if your clan usually prefers to keep out of the politics, you share blood with both of the royal lines. The current princess is your niece by virtue of her grandmother Queen Vienna Contrey, your mother.”

Arlie blinked, “Wait! What did you just say!?”