Dragonia: The Dragon Stone

Chapter 3

3

Zaviana approached the small field where Naveen and Fraeyn were practicing their magic. She watched with curiosity. Somehow they were able to use the dragon or wyvern scales to focus on the energy inside the air around them. But it was more than that. The scales themselves seemed to have magic imbedded inside of them. Zaviana could reach out and grab all the elements after she’d touched the dragon stone, but these women were able to use the scales to focus on a single element. The color of the scale seemed to be important. Much like blue wyverns could breathe ice breath, the blue scales allowed the wielder to focus on cold and form ice from the atmosphere.

They were developing the knowledge and skill of everyone who could use it, which turned out to be over a hundred people. Naveen and Fraeyn were training the others how to access and use their powers.

When the Dragonia Empire attacked them at Saefron, they’d hoped to outfit all the defenders with the scales of one of the fallen dragons, but as it turned out, the only people who were able to use the scales to create magic were those who already had an extra sensory skill. As far as Zaviana could tell, the sensory skill had been present from childhood for most of the people.

They had hundreds of red dragon scales, but to be more effective, they would need to gather many other scales as well. It would be hard to battle fire with fire.

Zaviana approached Naveen. “How is everyone doing?”

Naveen ran her hand through her hair. “Frustrated. Some are getting it, but others have yet to fully comprehend how to access the elements. They do it more by mistake than actual focus.”

“I see,” Zaviana said. “It’s going to take a while to fully be able to access the power. It took me years to master it. Most of the time, I had to hide what I knew. If I’d learned too fast, the emperor would have made it even worse on me.”

“You can access all the elements, can’t you?”

“Yes,” Zaviana admitted. “When I touched the dragon stone, all the elements were opened to me.”

“That’s what we need,” Naveen muttered.

“What’s that?” Zaviana asked.

“The dragon stone.”

“It’s heavily guarded. It’s not something we can just walk in and grab.”

“I know,” Naveen said. “I’m just frustrated. No matter what we discover to make us stronger, we’re still far behind the empire.”

“Last I checked, the empire hasn’t been using the dragon stone to give anyone power.”

“What are they using it for?” Naveen asked.

“To take power away from the dragons. The emperor doesn’t want intelligent dragons, he wants mindless animals who follow his every command. That’s probably why he hasn’t let anyone touch the dragon stone. Who can he trust to not betray him?”

“But he has it at his beck and call. What if we start winning more battles? He will have no choice but to have people use the dragon stone. The only way we can safely prevent that is to steal it.”

“Stealing the dragon stone.” Zaviana laughed.

“Wait … you said the power is actually that of a dragon? Like, the dragon stone steals the power from a dragon, then it goes into whoever touches it?”

“I believe so,” Zaviana said.

“So, you have the power of a dragon inside of you?”

“Several dragons, I assume.”

“Several?” Naveen asked.

“Well, most of the dragons are red, or fire dragons. I can control more than just fire.”

“I thought the empire only had red dragons.”

“They do,” Zaviana said. “But there were a lot more. However, once Galedar began betraying the dragons with the dragon stone … once he began stealing their power, most of the other dragons fled Dragonia.”

“I wonder where they went,” Naveen whispered.

“I do as well.”

“If the dragons have magic inside of them, can they share that magic with their rider?”

Zaviana raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. We haven’t experienced anything like that yet.”

“It sure would be handy.” Naveen sighed. “Zaviana, can you help with training?”

“I can try. I’ve been watching all of you for a while now, trying to comprehend how you’re using the scales. I have my own scale necklace, but I barely used it before touching the dragon stone.”

Zaviana walked to the center of the field where everyone trained.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Most of you know who I am. For those of you who don’t, I am Zaviana. I can use magic like you … except much more. I don’t need dragon scales to reach my power.”

“Can we learn to do it without the dragon scales?” someone in the crowd asked.

Zaviana shook her head. “No. Something was done to me that changed me. It is the reason I do not need scales. We do not have what is required to replicate that. However, I understand the elements. What I do, I believe, is a little different than using the dragon scales. I can sense the energy all around us. It’s invisible … but it’s there in the atmosphere. I can move heat and cold to create ice or fire, and I can remove moisture from the air to create water. The scales work a little differently, as far as I can tell. There is magic inside of them. I do not know if there is a limit—if they’ll run out—but there is magic inside of them. I can sense it, much like I can sense the elements in the air. What I believe happens, is when you focus on the dragon scale, and the elements around you, they combine to create an element specific to that dragon scale. So if, like most of you, you have a red dragon scale, it gives you the ability to sense heat elements in the atmosphere. It allows you to focus on them, then use its power through them to create fire.”

“How do we control it?” another person from the crowd asked.

“That is the hard part. You need to know what the element is. Just look at the wyverns’ abilities to know what color does what. Then close off your mind to everything but the scale. Let the scale guide you. It will reveal to you the elements in the atmosphere it needs. Now, imagine them going through the dragon scale. It needs the elements for power. Concentrate on moving them inside of your mind into the scale, then open your hands to direct the magic outward. Imagine a small opening in the center of the scale, releasing the energy in a concentrated beam from your hand. Practice this until you can accomplish it with your eyes open. For now, it will probably be easier to leave your eyes closed so you can focus on it more.”

Everyone absorbed what she said, then began practicing. Zaviana noticed an immediate difference after her speech. She smiled. They still weren’t masters yet, but at least now they had some direction.

Devarius approached her from behind. “Zaviana?”

“Yes?”

“How are they doing?”

“They still have much to learn, but they’re improving.”

“Will they be ready?” Devarius asked.

“Eventually.”

Devarius nodded.

“We need to find more scales,” Zaviana said.

Devarius frowned at her.

“Most of what we have are red dragon scales. There are a couple with purple and a couple with blue, but we need more diversity if we hope to use them effectively.”

Devarius nodded. “It would also be helpful if anyone could use the scales, instead of only a select few.”

“It would,” Zaviana admitted.

“Where are we going to get more scales?”

“Well, I would assume either a dragon scale or a wyvern scale would work.”

“I’m not going to be carving scales off our wyverns.”

Zaviana shook her head. “No. I would never suggest that. I just think we should explore this island a little more. Perhaps we can find some scales scattered somewhere, or buried somewhere.”

Devarius raised his brows.

“I know it’s a long shot, but if we could find some more scales ...”

Devarius nodded. “All right, all right. I hear you. I’ll let you be in charge of putting together an expedition team.”

Zaviana gleamed. “It would be my pleasure.”