Chapter 20 Meeting with Aidas
Eloise
One thing I've noticed about dragons is that they don't care about invasion of privacy.
Throughout Elemental Magic class, I was determined not to think that I didn't understand half of the class. The Waterborn Heir had spoken into my mind. He had invaded my mind the same way the parasite in the cave had.
I didn't know much about dragons, but I was damn sure they didn't have that kind of power. Fear slithered into my spine each time the Heir stared at me. I was expecting the wave of magic induced calmness in my mind, but it never came. He didn't speak into my mind again until the class ended.
“We have history next, right?” Aeron asked after Aidas walked out of the classroom. Lidia responded with a nod.
“Another boring subject.” she added with an eye roll.
“I have to go somewhere first.” I had contemplated turning down his invitation during the class but decided against it. He was the only Heir who had been somewhat nice to me. I wasn't eager to see his dark side.
“Where?” Raihn asked.
“Aidas asked me to come to his study after class.” None of them seem surprised by that, despite knowing he hadn't spoken to me physically in class.
Maybe mind-speaking wasn’t as crazy as I thought.
“You can go ahead. I'll meet you there.” But as I said that, I could feel the panic slowly rising in me. Aside from the fact that I had no idea where Aidas' office was, I did not want to be alone. I hoped I hid the last part well.
“We'll save you a seat.” Aeron said as we walked out. He and Lidia headed towards the opposite direction while Raihn stayed behind.
“You can go ahead too.” I gestured to him.
“Are you kidding? You're stuck with me, Erica.” he grinned widely.
I fought the smile that tilted my lips to no avail. For a second, I didn't mind that he had gotten my name wrong. Again. Raihn might not understand how much those words mean, but I was so grateful he hadn't left.
But maybe he wasn't as oblivious as I thought because he added in a rough tone, “Also, you clearly have no idea where Aidas' study is. You will get lost and I cannot spend the rest of the day explaining to Tina why I lost her best friend on her very first day of school.”
For some reasons, that made me smile more. “You think I'm Tina's best friend?”
That made him chuckle. “Oh, not just Tina's. You seem to have captured a lot of people's interests in the few days you've been here.” He threw me a single glance.
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but instead, I decided to let it go. I had a feeling I didn't want to know the answers.
“Can I ask you a few questions?”
“As long as it's not about ‘fucking', ask away.” He grumbled.
I let out a sigh, feeling embarrassed all over again. It was clear he wasn't going to let that go even if I asked very nicely.
“It's not.” I said firmly. “I want to know what The Burn means and The Hollowborns.” I had only seen The Burn in action the day it almost took Aeron. There were still so many things I didn't know about it.
Raihn scratched his head. “Just to be clear, I don't pay attention during history so my information might not be accurate.”
I nodded. I would find the library later and the get the accurate information myself. I just wanted to know what it meant.
“Well, The Burn is kind of like a disease that affect draginkind in general. A curse. It gets triggered whenever a dragon tried to take their shifted forms. When it's triggered, it turns our very essence against us, our fire, burning us from inside out. No ons knows how it started or how to end it.” Raihn explained.
The scene where Aeron was writhing on the floor, his body half burnt flashed across my mind. All that had been because he wanted to take his shifted form. I was suddenly very grateful that I wasn't one of them. I couldn't imagine going through that torture whenever I tried to take my shift.
Something about The Burn seems very familiar but I couldn't remember what. It was ridiculous because the first time I've heard the term was in the dragon lands.
“So how do you prevent The Burn from getting triggered whenever you try to shift?” I asked.
Raihn's face became sad as he gave me a small smile. “The solution is simple, you don't shift like ever.”
I turned to him, lips parted in surprise. There was no way he implied what I was thinking. But then, a lot of things start to make sense. I haven't seen any dragon flying ahead ever since I got here.
“You've never shifted at all.” It wasn't a question but he nodded anyway.
“I've only ever tried to shift once and it was a total shit show.” The heavy sadness on his face was evident that it was more than that.
Shifting, for supernaturals, wasn't an option, it was a necessity. Just like werewolves need to run in their shifted forms to feel stronger in it, dragons need to fly too. It was almost impossible to believe that most of these dragons hadn't experienced the feeling in their whole lives.
“When did it start? The Burn.” I asked because suddenly, I needed to know. h
“About two decades ago, I think. I should be like a year old when it started. Or two. Wait, I don't think I was born.” Raihn said thoughtfully. “You know what, just read the history books. I'm definitely messing the timeline up.”
I didn't get a chance to ask my second question about the Hollowborns before we reached Aidas' office. I had completely forgotten about my nerves on the way here, but now that I had arrived, it returned in full swing.
Raihn placed his hand on the door and tapped it gently. The door flew open and I reined in a flinch. I really needed to learn everything about the basic magic in this place.
Raihn stood by the entrance and gestured for me to go on. I almost turned back, almost ran away to bury my face in a pillow and never get out, but it was too late now. I was here.
The Waterborn Heir was seated behind his large desk, scribbling something on a paper when I walked in. I stood, my hands clasped before me, and waited for him to acknowledge me. He didn't look up from the note he was writing.
I was certain he knew I was there. He had opened the door after all. But still, I didn't utter a word.
After what felt like eternity, he lifted his ink from the paper and the paper vanished. He stood up from behind the desk, taking slow strides towards me. I had no doubt he was doing it to intimidate me, and it was really working.
He stood a few feet away from me and leaned against his desk, his arms folded and his legs crossed.
“Take off your top.” he ordered.
I blinked in surprise. I hadn't expected his odd request.
“Sorry?”
“You heard me. Take your top off.” he said again, slightly agitated.
My mind whirled with different emotions, ranging from confusion, to fear, then anger. I didn't know why he wanted my top off, but somehow, I couldn't feel any malicious intent towards him. Infact, I was feeling the opposite. I felt calm, willing to do what he said.
But there was a part of me that was aware how odd this was. That part vanished completely as the sense of calm washed over me completely. I pulled my top over my head and dumped it on the floor.
Despite that my top half was almost bare, save for the piece of clothing wrapped around my breasts, his eyes never left my face. He didn't seem to be the least tempted to look at my naked body.
For some reasons, I trusted him not to. He really did seem like the kindest of all three of them.
Aidas circled me and halted behind me. The calming energy I felt seem to increase significantly. I had figured out it was his power.
“Tell me what happened in the cave.” Not a question, but his voice was so calm that my fears dissipated.
I began to speak. I told him everything that happened from the moment I woke up to cave's darkness, to when I killed the parasite and emerged from the rubbles. I didn't leave a single detail out.
I've never felt so at peace as I was when narrating my ordeal to Aidas. I didn't just feel calm, it was like he was healing me from inside. Occasionally, I released a noise of satisfaction but he didn't stop. He didn't interrupt me either or touch me. All he did was stand behind me.
“So the cave just answered to you?” he asked.
“Yes.” I muttered, realizing how vague that sounds. “Werewolves have earth magic.” I added, hoping to provide more context.
“Hm.” He said.
I released another loud noise of satisfaction. This one seem to irritate him.
“Can you keep your noise down? Your bodyguard might get a different idea of what we're doing here.”
“What are we doing?” I asked in confusion.
He didn't give me a response. I bit down on my lips every time I felt a wave of his power to keep from screaming. Suddenly, the pleasure was ripped from me as he walked away.
He opened a drawer, picked something, and stretched it out to me. It was an orb, quite similar to the one we used in class today, but different. Stronger. I could feel the magic in it the second my fingers touched it. It seems to call to me.
“Imbue it with your magic like we did in class then bring it back to my office tomorrow at noon. Try not to break this one. It's valuable.” he waved me off dismissively.
Raihn was still at the door when I got out.
“What happened in there?” he asked.
“He gave me homework.” I muttered in response.