17

"You riled me up on purpose," Sekka struggled to his feet as his body tried to recover the lost mana.

"Just a little," I smirked at him, "It really didn't take all that much. You've been really angry for a long time. Even now you haven't burned off all that anger. My plan us useless if you can't keep yourself composed long enough to fool some elves."

Sekka looked at me funny for a few seconds.

"You feel better don't you?" I cocked my head casually.

Sekka sighed heavily before attempting to stand. He knew he didn't need to answer that question. The ability to see emotions was kind of convenient. I could see hostility before they could possibly act on it. I had one of the ultimate advantages in any fight.

I could tell when my enemy was going to strike long before they did. Then a dark thought occurred to me. Psychopaths supposedly didn't feel any emotions. Their brains were wired differently. A true psychopath would be near impossible for me to read.

I extended my wings slowly as I turned my attention to Ethan.

"Have you tried transforming yet?" I settled casually.

"Transforming?" Ethan cocked his head in a manner similar to the way I did.

"You're a dragon kin," I nodded slowly, "Dragon kin are similar to werewolves. They can take a half dragon form. The werewolves say that shifting is a painful process, but the benefits out weight the negatives."

"The werewolves can barely control themselves when they transform," a tinge of fear made its way to his face.

"The moon boosts a werewolves power, and bloodlust," I flicked my tail dismissively, "They have a much easier time controlling themselves when there is no moon. Besides. You are a dragon kin. Not a werewolf. The first dragon kin in thousands of years. Any, and all knowledge of what the dragon kin were like has been lost."

"Then how do you know I can take a half dragon form?" Ethan countered.

"We all saw you do it," Sekka raised his hand hesitantly from where he was sitting on the ground, "You kind of tore apart over a dozen people with your bare hands. Literally turning them into mince meat."

Ethan ran his hands over the top of his head. Clearly not taking all this very well.

"I went nuts once before, and you want me to do it again?" Ethan looked at me with a fair amount of agitation on his face.

"That was the whole point of bringing you out here alone," I shrugged.

I saw Sekka give me a quick dirty look. The two of us weren't completely alone. It was kind of fun to pick on the kid. I flicked my tail again. Completely ignoring Sekka's irritation.

I didn't have to play by his rules so why pretend that I did.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," Ethan complained.

"We're away from the camp so why not?" I shrugged as I settled where I was laying.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea," Ethan leaned up against one of the pillars, "What if I can't transform or I lose control of myself?"

"It would be a waste to completely ignore a skill you can use," I snorted, "If you fail to transform then we'll worry about it later. If you lose control then I'll contain you myself. Give it a try."

I gestured for him to go ahead. My muscles tensed up as I stood up slowly. Ready for anything. Ethan sat down on the ground. Closing his eyes as he focused.

We sat there silently for nearly an hour patiently waiting for something to happen. Ethan slapped his knees at that point, and stood up to pace angrily.

"I can't do it," Ethan complained, "I don't know what I did the first time. How the hell am I supposed to do it again if I don't know what I did the first time?"

"Once you figure out your trigger you can practice," I didn't expect him to pull it off the first time around, "Once you get some practice in you'll be able to control the form better. You might even remember what you did while transformed."

"You're awfully positive for someone who spends most of his time almost dying," Ethan snapped.

His rage had just flared up like I'd sparked a flammable liquid. It was becoming easier, and easier to understand why I was no longer connected to him emotionally. If I was still hooked into his emotions then I would have flared up angrily with him just now.

"Come on," I leaned down to allow him on my back.

Ethan climbed up without difficulty. Sekka looked at me nervously. He knew I didn't like him on my back. I extended my wings, and reared up on my legs. Grabbing Sekka in my hands before leaping awkwardly into the air.

It really was far easier to leap skyward when my arms were free as well. A few more wingbeats was more than enough to move me skyward with minimal difficulty. I knew that Sekka was probably freezing, but I didn't really care. He was lucky that I didn't make him walk back. I was careful on my descent.

Dropping Sekka less than ten feet to the ground, and landing on the ground lightly with a little aid from the gravity element. The next few days in the camp went mostly undisturbed. There wasn't much time until the military would send some sort of representative. It was just plain stupid to ignore a powerful creature like myself. Especially since I had the ability to create portals.

I'd relayed all of my runic knowledge to Bryce, and Copper. The two of them were doing a great job of squeezing information out of Letty. Apparently Letty had spent some time as a blacksmith, and more time as a inscriber. Bryce had successfully created his first few runic inscriptions. Copper was far better at tracking the flow of the mana, and properly placing the runes.