Chapter 5

As I looked around the coach, I noticed that I was not alone. A man was sitting in the seat the furthest away from me. He was wearing what looked like a scholar's robe but it was a bit different, it had a crest on it. The same crest as what was on the coaches we were currently traveling with. As I was closer to it now, I could see what was easier. It looked like a tower in the clouds. An odd crest to have for a noble house I thought to myself. The man's robes were in a sky blue color and they looked like they were made of silk. Seeing that, I thought to myself. 'He should have a rich background.'

Sensing my gaze he looked at me quizzically. I just gave him a light smile and decided that looking out of the window was better. All that was passing were fields that were dwarfed by the mountains that were surrounding them all on their sides. Thinking back to the geography lessons my father taught me I worked out that the city must be nearer to the duchy capital which was a few leagues away from the border with the wasteland.

The man on the other end of the coach seemed to get more bored as the journey was going on. He kept on looking at me and opening his mouth to speak then deciding not to and stopping. After another few minutes, he got up and sat down next to me. Then at long last, he tried to speak, "So where are you traveling to?"

In a slightly annoyed tone due to how impolite he was, I said, "I am Adoh it is nice to meet you. What is your name? I'm traveling to the nearby city." I then turned back and carried on looking out the window.

Looking terrible at how he had seemingly offended me so easily he apologized. "I am a mage apprentice heading to the mage tower in the capital. I plan on joining another cavern to get there. That is what this symbol represents. If I was a full-fledged mage I would be in our coaches, not this one." Then he stopped, I was waiting for a minute for him to carry on. Once realizing that he wasn't I looked away again.

Feeling slightly nervous after knowing he was a mage, "So um, mister mage what is your esteemed name?" He looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Why are you being so polite for, you are descended from one of the great clans of the old imperium aren't you?"

I almost laughed out loud, "I descended from one of the great Dragon Lord clans, that's the best joke I have heard yet."

The mage, muttering to himself. "But those eyes." Looking at me, "Did you not know then that golden eyes mean that you are descended from one of the great clans, the great clans who were descendants of the True Dragons. You have one of the five of the strongest draconic bloodlines ever blessed on us without knowing. It is kind of funny isn't it?" I looked at him speechlessly, all I could think was that meant my mother was a great clan descendant. These were the Great clans! The clans which dominated the old empire producing Emperors, the best generals, heroes and not to mention Dragon Lords.

I was still looking bewildered as he carried on. "Seeing as you don't know about that you must not know how to use mana. That's such a shame for someone with a bloodline like yours. We have a while, I guess I could teach you a little, at least how to sense it. So what do you know about mana?"

Looking embarrassed after all I was taught how to write, not how to use magic."Well, the thing is I don't know anything, umm... What was your name again?"

"My name is Lars Embers. Anyway, mana is all around us. It can exist in our bodies well not our real bodies but has to be absorbed. Qi however can be made in our bodies but the art to use that was lost when the sects were all killed forcing the demon forces back when the Imperium fell. We mages use mana by making runes in the air by drawing or writing. The other way it can be used is by using an incarnation of one of the old languages such as Asgardian or old Draconian. But before being able to use it, you need to be able to sense it. This is what I will try to teach you."

He was chucking so much information at me so quickly that I barely could up with it all. Every time I thought that I had caught up he chucked a new term at me. I was glad for the temporary respite of his words. Only to be more confused as he came closer to me. Then to my worst fears, he carried on.

"What I want you to do next is close your eyes and try to feel around yourself with your other senses. I want you to feel the mana moving around. Feel it as it goes by you."

After listening to him I did as he had said. First I closed my eyes. Then I started to try and use my senses to feel the mana as he described at first all I could feel was the wind moving around. Then I tried to use more senses. I could feel the heat of the sun on my face, I could feel the couch bounce up and down showing we were on an uneven road. I could hear birds chirping and the wind making the leaves rustle. But I could not feel the mana. I opened my eyes while letting out a sigh. "

You should not give up so easily even the best mages could not do it on their first try plus you have not gone under a mana awakening which allows you to sense the mana and use it more easily."

Hearing his encouragement I decided that I would try and practice being able to sense as we carried on to the city.

A few days later we were beginning to get closer to the city. I had still not sensed the mana as he had described making me slightly depressed but his words of encouragement helped me make up the will so that I could carry on. Though I had discovered one problem with Lars he would not ever shut up. All he did was talk and talk and talk. I felt like my ears would burst from all of his talking. As he began to talk to me again I decided to listen.

If it was another one of his stories I would just zone out and practice sensing mana. "So when you finally can sense the mana. You will probably work out very quickly it seems red. There is a simple explanation for this, the draconian bloodline you have means, you have a greater affinity to fire. Unlike the stories, this does not mean you can not use other elements but you can just sense the fire mana more easily. So if you want to achieve a true sense of mana don't stop trying to sense it until all you sense is a rainbow of colors when sensing mana."

Then he shut up, which was a well-received change from all of the talking. Looking out of the window again I saw a massive stone wall. I was stunned it was nothing like what I had seen before. Putting my head further out the window I saw the gate through which I would be able to enter the city. It was massive and not only that there were hundreds..no thousands of people moving through the gate and leaving by the gate. I could also see a massive red dragon banner. It was the banner of the dragon duke. The lord of our duchy. It was a red dragon holding two swords on a black background. It was terrifying yet it felt right. Especially when I thought about the dukes' background of being the best general in the kingdom. As I was watching the gate got closer and closer. Due to the mage coaches, we were able to get through the gate quickly. We sped through the streets before arriving at a coach stand.

I made sure I had the medallion in my pocket and got off the couch.