Awakenings

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Ash fell from the sky like black snow. Sooty flakes floated carelessly on the wind, keeping the sky dark and overcast while coating everything on the ground in seemingly endless waves of gloomy crumbling powder. It had only been fifteen years since Velthanjantle's resurrection and the town of Orielle, which Bargiss had helped found, was accustomed to such wintry days during the peak of their summer months. Directly to the northeast loomed the monstrous peak of Mount Cambalis, a living volcano. The ground would quiver on occasion followed shortly by a spray of fumes into the air, which would sometimes create a smattering of fresh flowing lava down its side.

The mountain was close enough that Meliahn could see the tiny specs flying around its summit, but not so close that lava would get near her home. She had been taught that Fire Drakes lived up in the craggy steppes near the volcano's leaking peak and even deeper within. Fire Drakes were winged humanoids that resembled dragons in their appearance, with thick scales, horned heads and sharp fangs. These drakes stood like men and were generally a few hand-spans taller, most of whom lived long, reckless lives. Her instructor was an exception to the reckless theory. As a Fire Drake himself, Deris'Myl had taught Meliahn that the fumes of a volcano were to them a drug of sorts. A drug that supposedly made their flame breath more potent, their wings stronger and their scales able to endure more heat, which in turn allowed them to go deeper into the volcano. Deris'Myl did not sound so convinced this was the case, as he had immediately contradicted himself, and said he had only ever received headaches and a heavy weariness after inhaling the fumes.

Meliahn approached her schoolhouse and entered the long stone structure, shook the thick coat of ash out of her hair and dusted her clothes off as best she could. It was hard to tell where the soot ended and her thick black hair began. She popped her tongue in irritation, took a brush from her backpack and stole a few moments to run it through. After a thorough brushing, she pulled a small towel from her backpack and wiped her face off before wrapping the brush in the towel and continuing on into the building. Smear-stains aside, Meliahn was an attractive human female. Full lips, high cheekbones and heavy-lidded, smoky black eyes that matched her hair color were only a few qualities she counted. However, when men approached her, it was difficult for them to see those features. Most men seemed more interested in her trim figure, curvy hips and of course, her firm breasts.

There were two large rooms on each side of the hallway where classes took place, and the giant room at the far end of the building was where the Headmaster lived. He was humble, despite his power in the town, and Meliahn had decided long ago that she not only trusted him, but also loved him as a daughter would love her father. Meliahn had lived twenty-two years, and had known her father although she no longer recognized him as such. To her, Bargiss was a much better role model for the direction she wanted her life to progress.

The hallway was empty today, unlike the standard daily beehive of activity, and she knew the Headmaster was away with the students so she had time to prepare. Playing sick was the easy part. Setting up a surprise was not. Headmaster Bargiss was not easily surprised; he somehow knew everything that was going on around him.

Meliahn paused a moment and let her vision refocus. She relaxed her shoulders and concentrated for a short while before her awareness locked and the air around her began to shimmer. Colorful bands flowed through the air in different patterns that depended on which color she looked at. Blue corkscrewed through the air bouncing off barriers that she could not see and would occasionally become redirected. Red was jagged and sharp in appearance, while both the Orange and Violet were lazy and slow. Violet seemed soft and made of satin as it waved languidly through the air around her, but the Orange seemed strong and heavy, made of sturdier stuff. Every color of the Rainbow Braid funneled through the building and passed through walls and doors as if they were just floating through water, yet they reflected off of other, unseen obstacles. She looked at the door and studied it for a little while before she found a tight bundle of the Red near the handle. Beginning at the doorknob, jagged lines stretched horizontally all the way to the hinges of the door and then again to the top like a giant ribbon gift-wrapping it. Only this ribbon was sharp and could cut like any sword. A few more moments of inspection proved another, much smaller bundle of the Orange Braid sitting idly midair near the top left corner of the door. It was about the same size as a coin but spherical and resembled a horribly bloodshot eyeball.

Smiling, Meliahn reached out with her fingers and wrapped them gently in a twine of the Indigo Braid. Slowly and carefully she tied it into a loop, for Indigo was energetic and as difficult to tie as a satin sash. She allowed the Indigo loop to stretch out of her hand and reach toward the Red ribbon, where it slipped through unnoticed by the eye. Pulling ever so gingerly, the loop tightened around the jagged Red and softly broke its sharp grip on the door. The Red, free again fell away from the door and rejoined the streams of Braid sifting through the air.

Letting the Indigo loop follow the Red away, Meliahn concentrated on a fresh Indigo Braid. She rolled it up tight with both hands and fashioned it into an energized silk arrow then guided it up towards the hovering Orange eyeball. Meliahn smiled wide, leaned her head to one side, and gave the odd little eyeball a wink and a wave before she discreetly popped it with her Indigo arrow. The Orange Braid that had been used to create the eye faded away, back into the ambient flow of magic. So much for surprising Bargiss, she thought.

Contented and pleased with herself, Meliahn smiled and slipped off her backpack and began rummaging through it. She looked past the small wrapped boxes in her bag and found a small padded pry bar and a lock pick. She slid the pry bar under the door and put her knee on it to lift the door slightly. Then she slipped the pick into the lock and listened. After a few moments, Meliahn stopped, pulled the pick out and peeked into the hole. She chuckled before replacing her tools into her backpack and jiggled the handle. The door swung open noiselessly. She shook her head and tried to decide whether it was absent-mindedness or arrogance for a man to go through so much trouble to magically seal a door and not lock it with a key.

The room opened up but seemed much smaller than she had imagined, students were rarely allowed in the Headmaster's chambers. Light shone in from large windows on the left and right walls but the falling soot outside tempered it. The floor was flat white stone and a small, tidy wooden desk sat to the left in front of several standing bookshelves. More bookshelves lined the walls all around the room and a small laboratory was set up in the center, unused but not dusty. Vials, flasks and beakers were set up in neat rows along the sides and center of the lab and even a mortar and pestle were placed almost strategically on the tabletop. Off to the side of the lab nestled a small cabinet with five thick...