Surviving the Lock Keeper's Game

014: The mage's training

Eleanora was taking her time, with touching Greta. She closed her fingers when it got to close to grazing the scales, Corey kept pushing her arm.

"I don't know if I can do this, Corey. Greta is a great Dane. They have a temper." Her teeth almost clattered with fear, and Corey rolled his eyes. Greta's skin glistens beneath the sun's gaze, as though it bathed her with the heat. She looked at peace.

Disrupting the peace of a sleeping dragon is unwise, but he was confident.

Eleanora was no where near confident. She had bad memories from the earlier times she tried to wake Greta up, and how it never played out well for her.

"Breathe in." Corey places a whispers against the shell of her ear, the mage flushes. Goosebumps erupts all over her skin. She did as he commanded, taking a full gulp of air to fill her lungs. "Now breathe out."

She exhaled slowly. Her eyes remained on Greta, and she summoned all the courage to touch the dragon. Her fingers had only landed on one of her scales, and Greta's silted eyes pried open. Gazing at them. Her nose expanded, puffing smoke.

That was usually the sign Eleanora took as bad. Bad meaning, the dragon was about to burn her with fire.

She clenched her eyes, and pushed back into Corey.

"If you're afraid, she can smell it. You're her owner, you shouldn't be afraid of her."

Corey reached around Eleanora, running his own hands over the dragon's nose. Greta met him half way, peaking her tongue out to lick at his palm.

When Eleanora gained the courage to look at the dragon again, she found Greta was happily lapping at Corey's hand. like he had treats in them.

She had always wanted this kind of bond with the dragon. But she could never figure out exactly what she was doing wrong. And here Corey was, doing everything right. It must be his calling, or maybe humans were natural dragon tamers.

"Come on Eleanora, pet her. Greta need to feel safe with you. She needs to feel like she can trust you before any bond can ever be formed."

She tried her best to nod. Cautiously glancing back at Pamela, who gave her a thumbs up. She sighed, and tried to reach for Greta. The dragon didn't budge, too distracted by Corey to notice someone else petting the area around her mouth.

Corey retracted his fingers, wiping the saliva away. And leaving Eleanora, who hadn't noticed to pet Greta.

Both females noticed his absence only shortly after. Eleanora freaked, and tried to pull back but Corey was there to keep her hand in place.

"Relax. You can do this. You're a dragon mage. Eleanora Aphelion. You take on elite elves, and come out victorious." He praised, using it as a way to motivate her. "And besides, you wouldn't want to be a mage who can't wield her dragon."

Her greatest technique is Greta's fury, has she never used it before?

That would be the peak of disappointment, Corey thought.

Receiving his encouragement, she continued to pet Greta. The dragon was well awake, and just staring at her through her right eyes.

"Now, let's try to do something else. Ask Greta to stand up."

This she could do. Greta obeyed simple commands. Eleanora pursed her pink lips together, blowing a whistle to the dragon.

Greta groan, a rumble of a sound that could be heard for miles. She stood up straight, showing how tall and large she actually is. They'd all seen it, but Corey was still entranced by the majestic beast.

Greta spanned her wings out, stretching them. She bent her neck to look at Corey for what to do. He shook his head.

"Tell her to breathe fire towards the forest."

"What?"

"Tell her to spit her flames in that direction." he pointed the path he was referring too. Great Danes have the ability to change their fires. Their mages should be able to tell them what to do in that moment. A code word for red, blue, purple, green...... etc.

"Don't be afraid of her. Eleanora, I haven't known you for long, but being a cowardice is not something I pegged you for." Corey said truthfully. He thought of her as brave and strong, not this fearful of the core thing that made her a DRAGON mage.

Pamela heard his words, she found herself unable to keep her mouth shut. "How long have you guys known each other?"

Eleanora didn't hear her, she was focused on what Corey had said. Feeling the call signs of disappointment, she made a quick decision to try and order Greta to release her flames.

When they fought, Greta unleashed her fire without anyone telling her to do so. It left Eleanora thinking that was all she needed. Until she saw the other mages and their dragons, spitting out multi colors of fire. That was when she realized her mistake.

"Greta." the Dragon responded the way it always did with her, looking away and padding the floor with her talons. Eleanora breathed deep, to try and chase the fear that Greta might be sensing. She was being watched by two people, if she didn't accomplish this, she would disappoint Corey.

And she feared doing that more than anything. She swallowed for good measure. "Greta," her tone shifted into their language. She laid the order down flat for the dragon. It was neither rude nor soft. It held the type of confidence Corey had seen when Eleanora killed those elves. It was a singular word. "Zacataerus."

NewAge: ZACATAERUS MEANS BURN IN LITHUA

Corey nodded, another thing he had already pieced together. Eleanora turned in the direction of the forest, and Greta glanced at it, then the mage. She parted her mouth, sucking into her throat. The wings on her body expanded, like she needed to fly.

But she didn't. Greta only used them to cover Corey, and the tents before she let out her flames. The trees stood no chance, and Corey enjoyed the real life experience of a dragon breathing fire out. It was magical for him, and enjoyable.

The flames of a great Dane where hotter than Corey expected, he had read about it. But the in person experience could never be compared with fantasy.

"Now stop her!" Corey shouted for Eleanora to her. Greta was still burning, and the lengths her flames reached were far. It wouldn't be long before she set the whole forest ablaze.

"Yumani, Greta!" To their surprise, the dragon heard. She seized fire instantly, and wiggled her body. Eleanora patted her talon, which is the only part she could reach with Greta standing.

"Um guys, the forest is still on fire." Pamela pointed out. Corey gave Eleanora stare, he nodded at her.

"oh." She whistled again, this time patting her own thigh. Greta bent down, and she mounted her. "Up."

Corey got out of the way as fast as he could. Greta flapped her wings, up and down, Corey watched her take off. He couldn't hear what Eleanora said but he knew the second Greta sucked in again, this time releasing a cold breath instead of fire.

The powers of a Great Dane. That was an easy thing to do, he knew that much. He would need to find out what Eleanora needed to command Greta to release other types of fire.

NewAge: SHE RESPONDED WELL TO HER LANGUAGE. DO YOU THINK MAYBE THE BOND OF THE DRAGONS AND THEIR MAGES MAY INVOLVE THEIR NATIVE TONE.

Corey could only blink, he hadn't thought about that part at all. Neither had he noticed it. NewAge was right, until proven wrong.

Greta landed in the patch of the damaged trees, pressing her face down to so Eleanora could get off her neck. The mage returned to Corey with a smile.

"How was that?" she crossed her fingers for a good response.

"You did great." Having no clue what to do, Corey gave her a pat on the head. He felt awkward about it, but he wasn't going to try and hug someone on purpose. That was a mess he didn't fancy.

"That was great!" Pamela cheered. She had watched the whole thing, wondering how difficult it must be to tell a dragon what to do. The language made her bite her tongue as she tried to pronounce it, and strangely she wasn't surprised to find that Corey has a natural talent with Greta.

"We have more to do. And I would like to discuss something with the two of you."

Both women turned to each other, hoping the other had a clue on what Corey was going to say.

"It's nothing bad."

'Depending on their definition of bad. But I have another idea."

NewAge: FOR WHO SIR?

'For Pamela. But it will also help Eleanora. Is there a faster way to create a bond between a dragon and a mage?'

NewAge: YES THERE IS. YOU WOULD NEED THE MAGE TO SAVE THE DRAGON'S LIFE.

I can work with that.