Morning After

Kiro opened his eyes to a bunch of white and blue fur all in his face.

"Pft! Pft! Toma! Your fur!" Kiro sat up and tried to spit the fur out of his mouth.

"Master!" Toma jumped at Kiro and started licking his face. Kiro tried to fend him off to no avail.

"Toma! I'm fine. Please, stop. I don't want to drown in your drool." Kiro picked Toma up and held him away from him.

"Sorry, Master. I was really worried about you." Toma looked at him with sad eyes. Kiro sighed and hugged Toma close.

"I understand what it's like to lose someone, Toma. I couldn't let you go through that. My mom passed away when I was sixteen. It really devastated me." Kiro let a tear slip into Toma's fur. He still hurt thinking about it.

"You're awake." Aren came in holding a silver bowl.

"How's the Spirit Elder?" Kiro asked as she walked over.

"Normally it would take a long while for the recovery to finish, but with your amazing mana, it won't be that long. You have a variety of affinities. I think your mana might actually make him stronger." Aren held the bowl out to Kiro. "Drink this. It will help with restoring your mana. It will be a while before you can use big spells, but I can still teach you small things."

"Can I ask you something, Aren?" Kiro took the bowl and took a hesitant sip of the liquid. It was pretty sweet and salty with a hint of bitter Kiro couldn't place.

"You ask a question to ask if you can ask a question? I'm not sure I follow your logic, but ask me anything." Aren sat on the foot of the bed and Kiro almost laughed at how her feet no longer touched the ground. She was so tiny.

"Sorry for the confusion. How did you learn magic?" Kiro finished drinking the strange contents in the bowl and set the bowl aside on a nightstand.

"That's a tough question. First of all, dragons are born with some magic of their own. I learned the Draconis from my mother as did Seva. When Jerule betreyed be, I grew bitter and searched for the best way to make him suffer. I found a witch and she taught me her spells in return for a few scales. It was an easy spell, really. I mix the potion and slrinkle it on the land I wish to infect. The down side is the infected soil only works for about half an hour, but it takes half a day to prepare. By the time I learned the spell correctly, Jerule had alreaded passed on to his next life. I still had hate and anger though." Aren looked down at her hands saddly.

"You lashed out. When something hurts you that deep, it's hard not to hurt someone else. You subconsciously want them to feel your pain. I know the feeling. When my girlfriend cheated on me with my brother, I did the same thing. I drove my friends away, and even yelled at my mom. Thinking back, I was pretty aweful to them. Sometimes you just need someone to understand, feel your pain, and help you out of your dark place. I get it." Kiro leaned forward and held her tiny hand in his own.

"I'll start teaching you tomorrow then. I'm going to take the cures to the village now, though. I'll tell you how it goes." Aren smiled sweetly then jumped off the bed.

"Aren, one more thing." Kiro grabbed her hand before she left.

"W-what?" She blushed deeply staring at her hand.

"Don't tell anyone it was you. Trust me, you never open those can of worms." Kiro released her and laid back on the bed.

"I don't think I've ever heard that idiom before. Get some rest, Kiro. I'll be back soon." Aren grabbed the bowl and left the room set on her mission.