Dragon of Three Colors

Chapter 10

I try to concentrate on the bond between Aurora and I but something seems wrong. What am I not doing right? I'm following the headmaster's instructions. "Sit down and get comfortable. Your first lesson will require little to no distractions and the first one we can avoid is being uncomfortable." I'm sitting down on the ground, my legs are bent in front of me and my hands are resting on my knees. I'm about as comfortable as I can manage. 

"Take some even breaths and clear your mind. Concentrate on the bond between you and your dragon. It should be represented by a blue colored strand. Once you have a firm grasp on it then you can focus on strengthening it." I've cleared my mind and followed his instructions. The only problem is, there are several blue strands. How do I determine which one is Aurora's? A startled yelp brings me out of my trance and onto my feet in an instant. What I see however, is far from bad.

Axel has his hand outstretched and a small sphere of water hovers just above his open palm. His eyes are lit up with joy and the headmaster watches him with a small smile. "Very good Axel. Most people use the first day to strengthen the bond with their dragons. Very few will test the bonds powers so soon but you seem to have decent control so far." They turn to me and I feel myself stiffen under their gaze. "Now then, Ms. Soleil  you appear to be experiencing some difficulties." I freeze. They know my last name? The only one who knows my last name is Storm. How does the headmaster know?

"Um, I can't seem to grasp my bond with Aurora. It's like I can't tell which strand is hers." The headmaster's eyes narrow and I can only guess that they are furrowing their brow. "Ms. Soleil You should only see one blue strand." I think back to the feeling of the bonds in my mind. "It's not organized that way in my mind space. There are so many blue strands that it's like wading through an ocean." The headmaster cocks their head to the side. "How very peculiar. You should only feel the bond between your dragon and yourself. Unless..." They trail off at the end, getting sucked into their own thoughts. I lean towards them in anticipation. "Unless... what?"

The headmaster breaks from their thoughts and faces me. Their eyes are lit up like they have an idea. "Ms. Soleil, if you could please sit down here. Nightfire, I need you over here as well." Nightfire wanders over to us and plops down, stretching out his neck and laying his head back down on the ground near us. "Now then, I'd like you to go back into your mind space and try to connect with Nightfire. It may help if you reach out and touch him." Connect with Nightfire? I can't connect with another person's dragon... Can I? I think back to a couple days ago. I was able to hear Anvar and Nightshade speaking in the mind space and I'm not their rider. I thought it was normal for people like us to be able to speak to everyone's dragons. Then again, if that were true I would have heard Sandstorm, Nezar, Balam, and all of my friend's dragons as well.

I breathe in deeply and relax, placing my hand on the end of Nightfire's snout and smiling when he lets out a hum of contentment. I close my eyes and go into the mind space and scan the area finding one bond that glows slightly brighter than the rest. Just like last time, my mind felt slow from wading through the tendrils of the other bonds. They would stick to me then quickly faze through my "body", returning to its place in the sea of bonds. Once I got to the brightest bond I tapped into it finding out it was Nightfire's bond. It must be glowing because of the physical contact. I focus on slowly making it stronger until I hear a voice in my head.

"You were right Khuzaimah. I can feel it now. She is bonded to me as well. Not as my rider but I do feel some sort of close connection with her."

"Hmm, just as I thought. She has a rare ability that lies deep inside. It's been so long since one like her has shown up that I was beginning to think it was all a myth."

Was that the headmaster's voice? I must be hearing Nightfire and the headmaster while they converse in their minds. But I wonder if I can...

I back out of the conversation and scan the area of bonds. My bond with Nightfire caused another connection to grow as well. A new, purple colored strand had wrapped around Nightfire's bond. As I inspect it I discover that it was a connection to the Headmaster. It shines brighter than the rest of the bonds but not quite as strong as the bond with Nightfire. Physical contact must focus the connection, and bonding with a dragon must allow you to access a bond with their rider.