Daniel's Early Days: A Young Wizard's Story

Ch.31 Power in the Air-Before Daniel became a powerful Mage, he was just a boy. Follow him from the beginning as he receives his powers,embarks on many adventures,and learns what true power really is.

Daniel considered being smart by arguing that gas fuels fire better than air, but there wasn’t any point in being glib. Besides, the ominous foreboding rolling off Pearl was hard to ignore. It crept over him and clung to him mercilessly like a wet, heavy blanket. He took a deep breath to clear his mind and the air around him that seemed to have darkened considerably, even though the sun was still shining.

            “Ok,” Daniel thought aloud, trying to think it through. “How about I just stick with Air, that seems harmless enough.” Pearl made a snorting sound that Daniel would have expected to hear from a horse. Although the sound was only in his head, she threw back her small metal head as if her metal frame was actually capable of making that sound.

            “It is hardly harmless. Wind can be a very powerful thing Little One, and do not underestimate it!” She jumped on the open page commanding his full attention. “However, you are wise to stick with Air,” she continued, her voice softening. “It is the less deadly of the two. Plus, your Father and Grandmother can bolster your skill with their own knowledge.”

            “Didn’t you breathe fire?” Daniel wanted to know. “I mean…when you were in your own body,” he finished awkwardly. Pearl seemed to have an unusual aversion to something that he assumed was a fundamental part of being a dragon. He had hoped she would be excited to help him work with fire. Albeit, with her being a spirit residing inside a metal dragon figurine he doubted that she could breathe fire anymore.

            “Of course,” she retorted indignantly. Her sharp rebuke felt like a slap to Daniel, and he visibly recoiled from her. “Of course,” she repeated gently, her words like a whisper in his mind. “That is why I know how dangerous fire can be. I would hate for something bad to happen to you or your loved ones.”

            “Alright then, let’s put Fire on the backburner right now,” he said with a smirk. He used a favorite expression of his mother’s and hoped the pun would amuse Pearl, or at the very least distract her from her thoughts of doom and gloom. He raised an eyebrow at her when she didn’t respond, trying to make a point with his facial expressions.

            Still, she was silent for a moment; just staring up at him ominously. “Alright Little One, you are absolutely right; enough of that.” She hopped off the pages and back to the garden wall. She completed a tight one-eighty, made possible by the many ball joints connecting her metal pieces, and settled herself on her haunches facing Daniel.

            “So…should I read it?” Daniel wasn’t sure why he was asking permission per se, but her demeanor was beginning to make him feel anxious. Was working spells really that dangerous? Usually his mother was as overprotective as it got, and right now Pearl was surpassing her reticence tenfold.

            “Well, normally I would say go for it, but I get the feeling that you do not quite have a handle on the strength of your power yet. Perhaps you should stick to silent reading.”

            His eyes flicked unbidden toward the first line, and he quickly scanned it before turning back to Pearl. “It looks like it is only a spell for wind, that doesn’t sound so bad.” 

            “Ever hear of a tornado,” Pearl countered.

            “Aw, come on Pearl. I don’t think my mother would have given me free reign of this book if it was that dangerous.”

            “I do not think that your mother realized you would be able to call up fire without practice, or so much as uttering a single word,” she pointed out.

            “And, I put a stop to it just as easily,” he reasoned. As soon as he saw the fire was a problem for Pearl he extinguished it with only a thought. Pearl didn’t answer, but she nodded her head in concession.

            Eagerly, Daniel allowed his eyes to return to the page. Slowly and silently, he read through the wind spell. By the time he had arrived at the last line he could already feel the light summer breeze picking up.

            His dark curls were lifted and swayed back and forth erratically like the wind wasn’t sure which direction it was heading. A tingle of sparks coursed through Daniel’s blood, and he relished in the heady feeling of using his magic.

            Daniel looked to Pearl, and although her eyes were only metal he thought he glimpsed a proud gleam on the surface of those black orbs. “Now, concentrate,” she instructed. “Control it.”

He finished the last line in excitement, and felt a release that left him feeling giddy. The wind picked up heading in a northwesterly direction, and pulled his hair and clothes with it. Only this time, the pages of the book were unaffected. Somehow, the wind didn’t seem to touch the compilation of pages in his lap. Undisturbed by this anomaly, Daniel closed his eyes savoring the electric feeling of the magic coursing through him and out into the world. The wind buffered his skin and collided with the heat of his magic, resulting in delightful goose bumps.

Daniel sensed Pearl’s movement before he heard it. When he opened his eyes, she opened her wings wide, and Daniel instinctively knew what she wanted. He called up more wind and directed it under her outstretched wings. The sudden gust picked up her tiny metal frame and whisked her high into the sky.

Pearl never once flapped her wings, she simply glided blissfully. “Well done, Little One,” she sent to him from high above. Daniel beamed and sent her higher. When she was nothing more than a dark smudge against the vast blue sky, Daniel drew the wind back and down causing her to turn and dip slowly back toward the earth.

Butterflies fluttered up in Daniel’s stomach like he had just taken the sudden dive in the air with Pearl. His heart pounded in sudden realization. She was sharing this experience with him, but in his exhilaration the wind picked up throwing Pearl backward slightly.

Daniel winced at her shock, and scolded himself for losing control. Quickly, he closed his eyes and slowed his breath, effectively calming the rough wind and his wild heart. With his eyes closed he could feel the wind current high above his head and the way it affected the small metal dragon.

He experimented with rising and dipping her in a weightless crescendo. Pearl enjoyed it immensely, but Daniel reveled in it. Amidst his magic euphoria and the bliss of sharing the flight with his personal talisman something was tugging at the back of his mind causing his concentration to waver. He tried to put it out of his mind and concentrate on the task at hand, but it was insistent and he knew better than to ignore it.

Daniel brought Pearl down in a steep dive causing his heart to leap into his throat, and a small cry of excitement tore past that. When Pearl was close enough to see clearly, he plateaued and slowed her decent he used the wind to hold her aloft the garden wall he was sitting on before lightly bringing her down to the stone. Pearl spread her wings and gave him a graceful bow, but Daniel’s attention was elsewhere.

            Daniel shifted his weight and craned his neck to peer around the stone abutment he had been leaning on. His entire family was making their way over to him, and they seemed to be in a mad hurry.