51. AURELIA

Chapter fifty-one

AURELIA

" F irst, for the maxz 1 to work, you must physically touch the dragon. This is why it is referred to as Scalebound. It is the connection with your dragon. Your dragon could, however, use the maxz without you, besides Belle," she said, referring to Belle and me. That meant that any other dragon could use its own abilities, but for the rider to use them, they had to be riding or touching the dragon.

Angie was about to show us an example with her dragon–part of the Maimaux 2 breed–which was the color of sunflowers, her yellow scales glowing in the light. Her snout pointed to a sharp tip, almost like a bird's beak.

I remembered studying the Maimaux breed, not realizing it was also the name of the element ‘wind.' I remembered reading about their beaks and how they didn't have any teeth in their mouth until their throat, where there was a pit of razor-sharp teeth along the sides of their esophagus.

Its golden horns stuck out from all angles, jagged edges reflected in the sun's glow. She was at least twenty feet tall, towering over each of us.

Angie reached over to her dragon. " Washailameii 3 ," she said her name, slurring the beautiful word.

Her hands rose to her dragon, its weight settling upon the scales with a delicate precision. As her fingers brushed against its scaled surface, a stirring of wind began. It was gentle at first, but soon gathered strength. Dust, long settled upon the mountain's peak, danced into the air, swirling in wisps of smoke around us, carried upward by the growing tempest. The wind's force intensified, and a flurry enveloping us, distorting my vision as it whipped strands of hair across my face. Amidst the gusts, the taste of dirt filled my mouth, and each breath became a struggle against the swirling chaos.

"What the curses is happening?" Damian swore.

"Her maxz ," I said, "Is wind."

My eyes stung as the wind brushed pieces of debris in them, making me blink hard. The air and wind halted, leaving it rushing back to normal.

"How do you make it work?" Luella asked as she pushed back her curly hair over her ears, hiding the knotted strands.

"Well, it depends on what works best for you," Angie said, smiling at Washailameii .

"How do you do it?" Damian asked.

"I personally think of how I want the maxz to work. I visualize it before it happens. I know others like to say it in their mind or draw in the power of the scaled tongue… Let me ask Abner what he does."

Angie silently looked up at the sky, finding where he was with his dragon. We watched as the three of them in the sky circled, using their maxz of invisibility, shadows, and light.

Within moments, Abner swooped down, his large onyx dragon stampeding when hitting the ground. Gushes of air rose, alerting us of his presence. "You called, GG?" He looked at all of us, worried that there was a situation.

"I was just wondering if you could describe to everyone how you use the maxz ."

"Ahh, yes. I used to draw out the movements on Waimanimet 4 as we would ride. Now it happens the moment the thought crosses my mind." He flew back into the air, not waiting for us to ask any follow-up questions.

"Well, there you go," Angie continued. "Any questions?"

"I'm nervous," Luella proposed, her brow tightened.

Angie smiled over at her. "Just try it! What's the worst that can happen?"

Luella continued to gaze at Tanaleiiman 5 as if they were having a mental conversation.

"It makes it easy that you already know the maxz you are attempting to work with. Think of Aurelia." She looked over at me. "Sorry." She shrugged, no remorse in her voice.

"No offense taken," I said.

Luella shakily started to reach up on her large dragon, her slight frame struggling to make her way up. Her dragon bowed down, allowing her to reach the part behind its ears, where it would be easiest for Luella to hold on to.

"You got this," I said to Luella in her mind. She looked over at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile.

Luella and her dragon flew up into the air without another moment's thought. Her dragon had thinner wings but looked smooth and slick in the air, nonetheless. Her dragon appeared almost slimy from how the sun's rays reflected off it.

They continued to fly up in the sky, nearing the others and their dragons. Luella's eyes were sharpened, pulled to a squint, attempting to focus on the maxz to get it to work.

I thought of how Luella had to make her dragon cry to be connected. I wanted to know the back story. It was disrespectful to ask, as it was such a sensitive subject. Dragons rarely cried, so that made it slightly conflicting.

Small bursts of ice shattered throughout the air, sprinkling like splintered glass. As it shot to the ground, some pieces dissolved back to its liquid state as others thudded; all the Scalebornes cheered in response.

"Scales, I did it!" Luella screeched through our connection, which I assumed was linked to everyone.

"I'm so proud of you!" I responded, nervous to do it myself.

Luella quickly flew back down to where we were standing on the mountain. Her blue dragon swooped down without hardly an effort.

"I did it! I did it! All I had to do was breathe and focus, and then I thought about it! Then it started to rain ice! Oh, my scales, that was amazing!"

"Exactly, Luella," Angie praised her.

"Lia! Now it's your turn!" Luella slipped off her dragon and made her way toward me, with her brown curls and blue streaks bouncing in the air, the sun shimmering on her velvety dark skin. "You just have to focus," she said, reassuring me. She must've known that I needed it more than I did myself. "Just breathe! You got this." She smiled and skipped back to where her dragon proudly watched his rider.

Damian came up to me. "My Queen, look at me." I lifted my eyes to meet him. He grabbed my hands, his roughness in mine. "You got this," he said. Glancing away, nerves burned my veins, threatening to take over. He squeezed my hands. "Think of your kingdom. Think of the Deathlies. Nothing less than killing them piece by piece, you understand me?" I nodded.

"I'm ready."

Angie walked over right as I witnessed Luella climb back on her large dragon and fly back into the air, pieces of ice shards sprinkling the sky as she froze the molecules and the clouds.

"Aurelia, let's start with the first element. This should be easier for you to test since it's your ability. If the maxz is fafshai 6 , then it should be your fire abilities, but elevated." I nodded.

"You ready?" I asked Belle.

"Rasandrea 7 ," Belle confirmed, excitement piercing her voice.

1. Maxz (Mahz): Ability

2. Maimaux (May-maw-ooh): Air/Wind

3. Washailameii (Wa-shay-la-mee): Angie's dragon

4. Waimanimet (Way-mawn-imet): Abner's dragon

5. Tanaleiiman (Taw-naw-lee-mawn): Luella's dragon

6. Fafshai (Fawf-shay): Fire

7. Rasandrea (Rah-sawn-dreh-aw): Ready