Ch.37: One Way or Another

Sam

I numb my anger by watching cinders fly from my fingertips. It's not that hard when I'm angry. All I have to do is slowly wiggle my fingers to coax them out. The embers are the only warmth and light in my jail cave, excluding the small hole in the ceiling that with my wings to push me up there, I wouldn't fit. I sigh, I have no motivation to try to see if I'm right either. My stomach yells at me, begging for food, I ignore it. The gate to my cell creak, I looked up to see Lyra with a plate of food and a pitcher. My stomach growls louder than ever, and my anger evaporates along with my embers. It seems as though I've been here for days.

"Lyra." My voice weak and scratchy from not talking, I stand up to greet her and walk as far as my ankle chain nailed into the wall can take me. My ankle is raw from a couple of hours of struggling against it. Lyra kneels to set the plate and the pitcher. 

Hello, Atarah. She smiles kindly and settles on her knees. Her raven hair in an intricate braid with what looks like small roses woven between them, her clear grey eyes, beautiful as ever. She seems to glow, on the inside. Maybe she can control light as I can somewhat control fire. She nods, reading my thoughts I really need to get a grip on my thoughts.

I'll help you guard them, I'll also teach you to learn to control your element. I raise an eyebrow in question, eyeing my hands. She smiles.

"Yes, Atarah. Your flames. You're new, you haven't quite finished your transformation." I'm surprised she speaks out loud, even though it sounds the same as her "inner" voice. It's soft and clean in punctuation and not rough like mine is when I use the telekinesis thing, whatever it's called... But what she said piques my interest. Since Lyra's speaking out loud, I might as well too.

"Transformation? You mean when I got sick?" My voice breaking in all the wrong places, if I didn't know better, I'd say I was sick again. Now that I think about it, my back still really hurts. Lyra swoops her braid onto one shoulder, lifting the pitcher to pour the liquid in the cup.

"Yes. Except you weren't sick, your body was and is in need of energy to complete the worst of the transformation. You're becoming part Draconic. Part Dragon. Your body was changing and compensating for it." A whole kanoodle of things click into place. The better vision, me being tired a whole bunch, I'm guessing my weird mood swings too. I mean I'm not counting the wings because… it's kinda obvious. 

But one seems out of place, I plop a berry in my mouth and raise my hand, palm up. Small embers, some purple and some yellow, flicker up in the air and die quickly. Sending a small wave of warmth between us. Lyra's eyes, as cloudy and bland as they are, reflected the light, making them become the colors of Auroras. Even without me speaking, she finds my one question. She admires my flames or seems to be. Her glazed eyes flicker to me.

"That's the proof of your bond with Emberlynn. Her flames…  they intertwine with yours." She motions towards my hand and a breeze flows around my yellow and purple embers, sending the purple ones towards herself. But something doesn't make sense. Suddenly, I remember what Em said to me when we first met;

Purple to violet is the higher class but most commonly used by the offspring of kings and queens…

The imaginary lightbulb lights up with a ding over me as I make the connection.

"Wait!... Em said when we found out we were bonded that "Purple flames are commonly used by princes and princesses of the dragon hierarchy." So Em is…?" Lyra slowly puts her hands together and makes a very subtle nod. 

Yes, Emberlynn is royalty. She is the daughter of the King, Melek. So your bond with her is powerful. More powerful than all of the other bonds that exist. Bonds with royalty are rare but not unheard of. You are the first of three generations, not counting my bond with Kiran. Just like every other bond, her power is yours, just as yours is hers. But with royal blood, it's much more power. Naturally, a royal dragon is hatched with more power than an average dragon. In her case, she hasn't grown into her power…  Lyra becomes silent, her eyes narrowing. Something I haven't seen her do since the last day I've semi-known her.

"What? You blocked me out. You realized something, didn't you? What was it?" My curiosity jumps at Lyra, wanting her to spill her thoughts. Lyra shakes her head and gets up abruptly.

"I will come back with more food in a little while. Once we get this situation solved, I'll get you to Emberlynn, Atarah." She grabs my plate and the pitcher and heads for the gate, a guard opening it for her.

A thought comes to me, 

"What does Atarah mean, Lyra?" She pauses in the gateway, looks back at me. My vision grows cloudy with light. 

Firelight, by the wavering strobes. And an emergent of purple, partnered with a scream. I get the sight of the back of a girl facing away from me, her pale wings outstretched. Mauve flames enveloping her body, caressing the surface of her skin, not seeming to burn her. Her armor sharpens the light of the flames surrounding her. A heavy breath invades my eardrums, her hair stirs with it. She looks over her shoulder, but her face is obscured by the presence of lavender, even though the fire is bright, it seems to consume the light around it, not allowing me to see her face. Screams bellow out from a distance, we are in the middle of a battle, I realize. Anger fills my mind and I notice that, at the same time, the flames consuming her are raging more, becoming more lively.  She faces away again, with an arm outstretched, the flames explode from her body, in such a fast pace that everything around her except me, or the body I've invaded, gets blown away. Thundering clouds gather above us, lightning strikes in the distance and a bolt that strikes closest to us evolve into a column of sparks and flames. The thicker it became, the more it became an amethyst color. Devouring the flames until the fire cyclone was one individual bright color, the light creating an outline of the girl. I couldn't see the destruction it made because I couldn't move from where I was. But I felt it through our connection or Lyra. As the vision fades away, I see the Mauve column of fire turn black, absorbing every light that there is yet giving out light at the same time.  

The vision releases me and my body relaxes, threatening to bring me to the floor. I look up to Lyra,

It's something that you'll understand later. At that moment you'll understand what your purpose is and you'll strive to fulfill it. My given name for you is just a name that everyone will identify you as. In your future, but it's also not just your future but as well as some around you. And with that, Lyra strides out of the gateway, and down the hall until I can't see her. I shake my head and go back to my corner of the cave, sitting to give my body a moment to stop trembling. I smile a little, she never answered my question. All she did was confuse me more, I shake my head. I'll get my answer one way or another.