Ash sat there paralysed by shock for several minutes, his mind pondered if she was messing with him. But that did not seem in her character. So what did that then mean to him?

  He wondered which was more traumatizing. That the mother he never grew up with, or ever knew existed was alive?

  Or that she might have had an idea what had happened to him before it even happened. Did that mean she always knew where he was and never showed up? If she did know where he was, why did she not come himself.

  Lyra broke his minutes of silence with even colder words of her own. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. I wanted to see how you would react."

  Ash did not know how to feel about that either... Did that mean she was she was trying to show that she could be trusted or that she was trusting him? It could also be that she was lying to manipulate him, he did not really know anything about her either way. So was it a ploy to control him or the truth?

  The words slipped out of his mouth like venom. "How do I know I can trust you?"

  The elf kept quiet for several seconds before saying. "That's the thing about life, sometimes you're not given much to go by. And all you can rely on is your gut."

  To him that did not sound very encouraging, she did not even seem to want him to trust her. He dug his fingers into his thighs trying to suppress all the pent up rage and frustration he felt underneath.

  The nerve wracking thought of not knowing anything about what was going on around him was driving him crazy by the second. The question on what to believe, or who to trust. It felt like the further he went from the ruins of Emberfall the more of him he left behind, he could tell he was changing. And what kind of change that was he had no idea if it would be good to him or not.

  Lyra gently cuddled Snow who was sleeping in her lap, her own eyes and mind elsewhere. She stared at the flames and thought about herself, she winced in pain slightly. Her whole body ached and hurt every second of the day, it was the first time she felt like this. Her body felt unusually heavy, and her joints feeling like they would snap off at any time.

  "What's happening to me?" She asked herself.

  Her body trembled for a second and she exhaled sharply, her eyes rolled to the side. At the corner of her eye she observed Ash, he looked very confused and lost in thought. She wondered if she should have told him about his mother and how it would affect him.

  Before meeting Ash she had never known anyone else to be so stupid and selfless. The few she knew actually knew how to defend themselves in the harsh world they lived in. But Ash knew nothing. He had nothing.

  In a way he resembled her.

  The fire grew inside and swirled around unnaturally, it caught bother her attention and Kip's. The orange flames grew and coiled unnaturally into a long string, before spinning into a weave and changing it's shape and size.

  Kip was the first to talk, and his tone was nothing short of intrigued. But hidden somewhere in his willful gaze was a cold fear. "Remarkable, you're a mage." He looked at Ash who was staring intently into the fire.

  Lyra retained her usual cold look, she faced him and spoke with a shiver in her voice. "What are you doing? You can't control it."

  Ash himself had not realised what he had been doing till he was in the process of it, he watched the flames bend themselves to his will. The weave slowly took the shape of the object in his mind. In a short while hovering above the fire was an orange dragon a foot big, and made entirely of flames.

  Ash started to sweat, his breathing grew laboured as he struggled to hold the shape. Lyra for the first time looked bewildered by the fact that he had just done that. The dragon roared and soon dissipated into ash and smoke, Ash fell forward and gasped for air.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Kip looked at the young boy with puzzled eyes. "You did that? How?"

  Ash tried to sit on the ground with his back to the log and waited for his lungs to breath again before he spoke. "For as long as I've known I've been drawing dragons, I have never seen one but I always felt they were real. Because I dreamt them. I guess I was just thinking of one and the flames did that."

  "I see. The roar of a dragon, is a beautiful and horrible thing." Kip said softly before turning into to face Lyra who just seemed to stare at Ash, quietly. "I suppose there is more to him than meets the eye and that is why he is in your care, am I right?"

  Lyra kept mute.

  Ash could feel a warmth in the pit of his chest, it was faint but he could tell it was there. His mind was still reeling from what he had just done when the ex-scribe spoke again.

  His voice was leveled and deep. "That dragon you conjored was no ordinary dragon, he was DrakkonXebec the king of all dragons. No one aside for a scribe and whoever has a damn scroll over a milkenia old would even remember how he looked." His gaze shifted between the two figures who were also looking at him with interest.

  He continued shortly afterwards.

  "Back then it was a time of peace and prosperity, the world was one. And the one who acted as the representation of that peace was the most powerful being in the world, the primordial creation of magic and chaotic energy. People of the old times believe that dragons were the first gods in the world and they created this world from a great void."

  "After creating the world, there was a riot among the heavens. As every intelligent lifeform does. There was a battle leading to all the dragons being killed off except one. This dragon had to give up it's immortality to save itself, it fell to the earth and rebuilt the dragon civilization. But they were no longer gods, we had new gods instead like the moon goddess, the sun god and others."

  Ash's interest was deeply peeked, his eyes almost slid out of their sockets. This history he was hearing was nothing anyone had ever told him. He wondered if everyone knew this or just the scribe.

  Lyra on the other hand kept quiet, she but down hard on her lower lip to the point the skin was almost breaking.

  Kip continued.

  "There was a last spark of primordial energy within the dragon god which he passed down into his most loved offspring. He entrusted him to keep the world in peace. After the dragon god's passing, DrakkonXebec rose to be the mightiest dragon. He became known as the divine wing of the heavens, and the king of all dragons."

  "The world did live in peace but it was short lived due to the existence of the most dangerous species on the planet. Humans came into play much later in the history of the world, apparently humans and magical creatures never got along. Can you guess why?"

  Ash shook his head softly.

  This time it was Lyra who spoke up, "It was magic, humans packed magic."

  "Someone knows their history." Kip gestured with a straight face a simple nod, before continuing. "While elves were the peak magical species after dragons, with their affinity and deeper connection to magic. Humans were the opposite, we had no affinity for magic at all. What I am saying is not known to the majority of humanity as a whole, it's a secret the scribes keep hidden."

  He paused for a short while to catch his breath before continuing. "Humans were forced to live away from the other races, quarantined if I might say. They were overlooked as a failed species, but humanity was not to be underestimated. The thing humans wanted above any other thing, was to wield magic. To feel that arcane connection to the world the tiger races had, and it was a pipe dream. Seemingly unattainable."

  "Well till the day someone pulled it off, he became the very first human to wield magic. They called him a mage, since humans were not born with an affinity for magic he got his from stealing his magic from the life around him. Killing animals and plants."

  "In the pursuit for power the mage discovered blood magic, he thought humans would finally reach the pinnacle they deserved and be on par with the other species. DrakkonXebec found out and he was furious, he declared this new form of magic forbidden. Let's say the humans did not take it well. They revolted in a great war that devastated the world, the king of dragons had to use the last of his power to take magic from the human lands and divide the world with a massive wall."

  Lyra spoke, this time her voice showing a deep seethed rage. Her words poured out like venom, "You humans killed the king of dragons and half the dragon race."

  Kip shot her a warning glance, "I suspect you elves have your own version of the story, I won't argue with that. The story itself has so many versions I'm sure the truth is well hidden. There's no way to know what is true or not, but I guess the wall is a testament to that."

  He then turned to face Ash who still had the look of confusion on his mind. "The question remains, how does a young man who knows nothing about any of this knowledge how the king of dragon's looks."

  Ash turned his gaze of Lyra, his eyes begging for answers. But she looked away and said nothing for several seconds, after a while her lips parted open and she finally spoke. "Its very unclear with the myths, but the king of dragons had an egg that was barely developed. It was the last ember of his bloodline which he hid and now it has resurfaced, my role is to guide him to the border where a guardian will explain all of this better."

  Ash asked almost put of breath. "Is this guardian my mother?" He watched her hesitate, which was something out of her character. But she gave him a nod of approval shortly afterwards. Ash felt his heart beat harder, the flames surged and crackled for a moment. "Are you telling me that my mother had been alive and around this whole time?"

  Lyra looked at him in silence and said nothing, for the first time in a while she had nothing to say. She could only hope that the silence was enough.

  Kip interrupted them, "Sorry to be a third wheel here but something doesn't add up. Why would the king of dragon's heir be inside a weak little boy? And a human at that?"

  Ash tried not to lose sight of what was important to him, tears began to well at the corners of his eyes. He watched Lyra look the other way and spoke. "Don't look away, I want to look you in the eyes when you answer me." Ash's voice had never been so feral and bold.

  Lyra swallowed hard, and looked at him slowly. Their eyes locked and she could see a burning ember within his eyes, not something supernatural or relating to the power buried in him. But was something very human.

  She only said two words as coldly as she could. "Ask away."

  Ash felt his heart clench tighter and his body trembling, the question on his mind was one he wanted answers for above any other. "My mother, tell me. What is she like?"