57. AURELIA

Chapter fifty-seven

AURELIA

T he rain had embedded itself into the soil, making the greenery of the forest a lot brighter. The life of it made me happy, knowing there were still parts of the kingdom that the Deathlies hadn't touched.

We all got up, and everyone circled around on the wooden planks again, eating some wild berries that Luella had found this morning. "Thanks, Lu," I called out, graciously accepting her offer.

"Well, looks like you didn't hate each other enough not to share a tent. I was worried that you would be sleeping out in the rain, Damian," Angie called out, plucking the maroon berries into her mouth. She was mocking us intentionally.

Damian and I looked at each other, and I fought a blush from rising to my cheeks. "Something like that," Damian nonchalantly said. My gaze shifted downward, focusing on the berries in my hand.

"Lia, you excited to train again today? I really want to know what your maxz 1 is," Luella pleaded, bouncing up and down.

"You and me both," I said, unprepared for another long training day. I was worried we would run out of time, but Abner kept telling me it was better for me to figure out my maxz before battling, so I didn't learn it while in war with the Deathlies. An unknown maxz could be unreliable and even dangerous when put in anxious situations.

We finished our berries, and then we were on our way. The closest mountain that we could go to train at was near the one that Clemmy used to live in. The Shamla community. She told everyone that today she would stay back at camp and get some rest. We knew this meant, "I don't want to go anywhere near my old home that rejected me." And I didn't blame her.

Our dragons perched through the hole that was opened up in the trees above us. We mounted them, their wings flapping generously, lifting upward. With one hand beneath Clemmy's chin, she waved at us with the other, closing the hole with vines and leaves as we left.

It was a quick trip toward the mountain, our dragons landing at the base, having us climb the way up. I sighed, exhausted from the previous day. Angie, hopping off Washailameii 2 , made a ‘hmph' sound. "You can't be tired already, Aurelia. We have a long way to go," she said as she grabbed her leather pack off of her dragon, Washailameii . They lifted off the ground, joining the other dragons in the air. They made their way to their top, letting us prove ourselves for the day of training.

Wanting to snap back at Angie, Luella's voice pierced my mind. "Don't let her get to you. Don't let her mood lower yours." My heart softened, thinking that if Luella could overcome Angie's issues, then I should be able to as well.

"Thanks, Luella," I said, swinging my satchel over my shoulder as well, opening it to take out the leather flask of water.

"No problem. They all tend to get more tense after long training days like we've had recently."

We followed Loker, Abner, and Damian as they started up the spiraling trail of the mountain. Glancing upward, my stomach grew queasy noticing how far up it was. We had a long way to go.

Walking side by side with Luella, I asked, "How did you find everyone?"

"Well, it was luck, really. I wouldn't have if it wasn't for Tanaleiiman 3 . He saved me. I was further in the mountains past Zodac. I slipped. It was raining." She started to choke up and paused. "Anyway," she said, changing subjects. "Tanaleiiman swooped in and saved me. My parents had been killed prior, leaving me alone. I was so grateful for Tanaleiiman." She paused again. "Anyway," she repeated. "We were flying and ran into everyone training on one of the mountain peaks. They took us in and we have been with them since."

"How long ago was that?" I asked, noticing that Luella walked closer to the mountain, with her hand constantly along the rock. Intentionally, I stood between her and the edge of the cliff.

"Only a month or two. I bonded with Tanaleiiman about a month prior to that." I realized that the death of her parents must be fresh. However, from the sound of it, most everyone here had experienced something similar to what she had. Parents killed. Left alone.

"I'm sorry," I stuttered. "About your parents."

She gulped, not looking at me. "They weren't my real parents. But they might as well have been," she said, the pain in her voice still fresh. "This is my family now." She turned to me, the water glistening in her sweet golden eyes. "You are my family now, Lia."

I smiled, reaching my hand out to meet hers.

***

After over three hours of making our way up, exhaustion filled our bodies. However, I was ready to find our maxz . We didn't have much time. Everyone else was also becoming antsy, acknowledging that we couldn't spend any more days out before the Deathlies got stronger. We had to defeat them before the pit got deeper, making it even more difficult to get them killed off.

The next step was to go to the castle and look for the connection.

This mountain was more of a spiraled hike, making me nauseous as I swirled around the harrowing terrain, on my way to the top. Tripping here and there, I would barely catch myself. The path to the peak was full of rocks, not meant to be traversed. Other parts were slippery from the damp moss that clung to the sides and the trail.

We reached the apex of the mountain, where all our dragons were waiting. They were playfully nipping at each other's tails and wings, spitting out fire and ice, and creating flurries of wind.

Belle was curled up asleep off to the side. As we approached, her wings shook, her legs stretching as her eyes slowly opened.

Everyone else mounted their dragons and plunged into the thick air. The clouds were still full and sad, the air still muggy from the rain the night before. The sun could not be seen, which was nice for walking up the mountain without the higher amounts of heat, but would be a disadvantage if our maxz happened to be anything to do with light.

Today, Abner would help me, allowing Angie to work with her dragon, Washailameii , for the day. This left him as my teacher, helping Belle and me find our maxz .

Clementine's dragon, Teiimanam 4 , burst with light as it sprung into the air, utilizing their maxz to bring light to the sky, as it was solely a storm brewing before. Clemmy held on tight as they sprung upward, her short and vibrant green hair whooshing in the breeze.

Loker and his dragon went invisible as they surged, following after them. Luella bursted up sending ice shards flinging down at us. "Careful, Luella!" Abner called out as he rolled his eyes.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed before she swooped to the left, flying off not to be seen anymore.

The stormed clouds covered the sky, not a speck of light flickering through. Their oppressive presence smothered any glimpse of the sun. The mists were dark, like a brewing nightmare. As the first droplets of rain trickled down, they danced across my skin, sending shivers down my spine with their icy touch.

Worry shattered throughout my body like untamed glass. Damian must have been able to sense it and came to my side. His touch was comforting; he wrapped his hand around my arm, squeezing it for luck. "Don't overthink it, my Queen." He winked at me. He loosely let go of my hand, not wanting to decipher any of our emotions or feelings at the moment. I needed to focus on training today.

A sudden, firm grip seized my wrist, pulling it into Abner's scrutinizing gaze. He examined my fingernails meticulously, tilting them this way and that, observing the Celestials flitting from nail to nail, their movements dictated by the alignment of the sky.

Without hesitation, Damian's hand darted to where he concealed his dagger, swiftly retrieving it by the hilt. His solid grip of the knife raised up in defense against Abner.

"If you hurt her, I have no problem connecting this to your throat." The blade of the dagger was sharp, but dull with shine from the lack of light protruding from the clouds in the sky. Damian's face was grave with control, ready to put up a fight. I gulped, not knowing how to respond.

"Curses, Damian," he said, releasing the hold he had on me and throwing his hands in the air in defense. "I just wanted to check her fingernails from her connection. I know the Machmuax 5 breed is unreliable and wanted to see what we were working with. I needed to make sure that nothing was different about them. I also know you both are together. Don't you worry. I wasn't trying to steal your girl." Abner stepped further back, his jaw tightening.

"We're not together," I stated. I glanced over at Damian and saw his dagger still up, trying to protect me, but there was an ever so slight quiver that made me know that my response had hurt him. Brushing the thought away, I fixated my gaze back on Abner.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Your connection looks normal. Let's see what ya got, Lia." The tension zipped back through my body.

There was a wave of anxiety that brushed through me, thinking of him and the kingdom that I had tied responsibilities to. The kingdom I was responsible for saving.

"Breathe," Damian approached, his lips grazing my ear as he spoke softly, his words a soft whisper. I took in his words, breathing in and out–letting the anxiety roll out through my deep breaths. Not because of his voice, but because I had to find my maxz so that we could go back and kill them off.

Turning behind me toward Belle, I nuzzled near her snout, pushing my forehead against her scales. After taking a deep sigh, I grabbed the horns along her back and lifted myself into the rider's position. "My Uanai 6 , you ready?"

"I'm feeling that today is the day," Belle expressed, hopefulness radiating in her voice. I wrapped my arms around what I could of her body, the scales textured and rough.

"Me too, little one."

We didn't wait for Abner's instructions. Belle erupted into the misty atmosphere, accepting the raindrops for what they were. I tried everything they taught us to draw the maxz out: my hands, images in my mind, thoughts, anything to bring energy to the maxz held inside of Belle.

We tried light, water, wind, earth, and shadow manipulation. We attempted to try the maxz of force or time, but nothing worked.

Being up in the sky for hours made my legs weak from holding on. My face was wind-stricken and starting to rash, and my fingers became numb with the cold.

"What if I don't have a maxz?" Belle longingly said, concern filling her voice.

"You do, don't worry! We're going to find it!" I said, attempting to cheer her up. However, I had the same concerns. What if she didn't have a maxz ? What if she didn't have any abilities? What if that was what her division detected and kicked her out?

After hours of practicing all eleven elements we knew of, nothing worked. No sparks, no magic, no maxz . What if it was the twelfth element? What if we were doing something wrong? Missing something?

We blazed through the sky, returning to the peak of the mountain. The wind rustled through my hair, tossing it from side to side.

Belle tilted to the left as she swooped down when something happened.

My skin tingled, unfamiliar sensations bubbling across my skin.

One second we were in the air. Next, we were on the ground. Did I blink? Blackout?

"What the Haxnau 7 ," Abner swore, his eyes squinting in disbelief, fixating his gaze on Belle and me. "You just… just…"

"Teleported," Damian finished, folding his arms as a sly grin crept on his face, aimed toward Abner.

"What do you mean?" I laughed awkwardly, knowing something was wrong. Something just happened. And it was not normal.

Abner looked around the sky and the ground in an attempt to find what fueled the transportation. His gaze shifted upward, briefly connecting with something in the sky before returning to rest upon our group.

Raising my gaze to follow his line of sight, I found nothing out of the ordinary in the sky. Only the billowing clouds and the gentle glow from the moon as it was overlooked in the sky, overpowered by the sun and its energy.

"Huh," Abner said, looking in awe and shaking his head. " Waxmau 8 ," which meant moon. This made me look back up at the silver sphere hanging low in the sky. It was peeking out behind some clouds. It was daytime, but the moon still presented itself, its light muted, but still there.

"The lunar, but why didn't anything happen last night? We were flying in the moon. We've flown with the moon multiple times…" I didn't understand. At least not fully.

" Maxzq 9 only present themselves when the dragon and the rider are ready," Abner responded.

I wanted to yell and tell him that I wasn't ready. I didn't know what I was expecting today, but it wasn't that.

Covering my hands over my eyes, I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Lunar? The moon? What else could we do? Did we just transport within the waves of the moon? In its light? It wasn't making sense.

Maybe I did.

Maybe I have been overlooked my whole life, similar to the moon in the sky. Always there, but its power underestimated.

I thought of the moon and how it was always a constant beacon of hope outside of the window of my tower.

Maybe it made sense.

Something that was dark. Only shining when allowed to. Always there. Always waiting.

My gaze drifted away, lost in a haze of thoughts, oblivious to the words being said around me. "Lia, Lia," my name rattled the air like a ticking clock—back and forth and from all directions.

My eyes unblurred, displaying Damian shaking my shoulders. "Aurelia, you okay?" he asked, concern lining his eyes.

"Lia, let's go back to camp, and we will practice again tonight. Don't worry about it. Okay?" someone said as Damian held me by my shoulders. Everyone's voices collided, merging into one. I felt as if I was caving in on myself with the way my stomach felt heavy and sick, bile rising, finding a place on my tongue.

Abner's voice penetrated my mind, connecting to the other Scalebornes. The words were fuzzy. The letters blended, slurring into unfamiliar sounds.

Feeling dizzy, I leaned further into Damian. He picked up my limp legs, cradling them in the crevices of his arms as he took me down the mountain, my vision going black before I could protest.

1. Maxz (Mahz): Ability

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

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

4. Teiimanam (Tee-maw-nawm): Clemmy's dragon

5. Machmuax (Mock-mwah): Connection

6. Uanai (Wah-nay): Everything

7. Haxnau (Hah-nah-woo): Hell

8. Waxmau (Wah-maw-ooh): Moon

9. Maxzq (Mahz-eck): Abilities