Dragon of Storms

Chapter 14

Reyna looked between the book, the shell, and her arm in disbelief. She had brought everything into the dining room to compare the Queen's symbol, and found that they were exactly the same. A dragon made of shards, perhaps scales, eating its tail, shrouded in some kind of blue cloud. The princess had no idea what it all meant, so she turned her attention towards the words beneath the painting in the book.

The Queen's symbol (shown above) is the Dragon Queen's personal symbol, and only she and or her direct offspring can bestow it on an individual. The symbol can also be seen on the inside of the Queen's egg, and it can be presumed that her future offspring will also have the symbol on the inside of their egg.

Reyna's eyes flicked through the passage, again and again, until a headache formed between her eyes, but not from reading. "Helios!" Her voice echoed through the empty rooms. He must have scampered off when she started stomping around, probably thinking she was angry at him. "Helios, where are you?" The princess roamed her various rooms, looking under chairs and behind tables. When she came to her room, she went into the closet and got down on her knees.

"Helios, are you hiding in my clothes?" Reyna's head was to the ground, trying to spot his tiny legs between the fabrics, when she heard a scraping from the bathroom.

The princess grabbed a spare candle that was already lit, and went to investigate. After a minute of searching, she came to the deep porcelain tub to find Helios sitting on his hunches looking fairly put out. "You stuck buddy?" Reyna couldn't help laughing at his facial expression. "If I help you, you gotta answer some questions," Of course the deal didn't make sense, as Helios couldn't speak, but he always seemed to answer the question in his own way.

Once Helios reluctantly nodded his little head, Reyna stuck her free arm into the tub, and let him climb onto her shoulders. He instantly hid behind her hair, as if embarrassed. The two went into the dining room, where the book was still open to the Queen's symbol. After Helios hopped down onto the table, she pointed to it. He stared at the symbol.

"Now," Reyna began, she tried to find the best and easiest way to ask her questions. "Is the Queen your mother?" Sky blue eyes met her stormy gray ones. The answer was clear. Yes. It was further confirmed with a nod of the head. "How do you know?" Besides the obvious, there was no way for a baby to know who his mother was, right?

The dragon shifted through some pages, until he came to the exact middle of the book. He sat on his hunches, waiting for Reyna to read the passage. For a few minutes, she stared at him, wondering how he could be so intelligent. When she snapped out of it she picked up the book and read aloud.

"Newly hatched dragons are not in fact newborns. They may be new to the world and not understand many things, but they understand the basics in communication and usually history, as they have been alive for about ten years in their egg. They also have the ability to communicate," Reyna didn't finish the sentence, just read it over and over to make sure she got it right.

"They also have the ability to communicate mentally, should both the dragon and person accept the bond. The first person to do this action with the newly hatched is generally the mother, and it signifies the bond between the two. Said bond will become much stronger than the other people the dragon chooses to communicate this way with. The dragon talks this way, until he or she learns to shift between their human form and dragon form, which can take up to five years."

Reyna stared at Helios while he stared at her. A headache began forming between her eyes. The dragon again pawed at the pages, more specifically the part about the mental bond. "What are you trying to say?" She finally asked, exhaustion filled her. She was tired from trying to understand him, to understand everything that was happening. Helios walked up to her and put his forehead against hers. Again the headache came, but in full force. Reyna's eyes closed.