The Silver Reckoning

Chapter 28: Breakthrough

Silver narrowed her eyes in concentration, focusing on the large mass of metal floating in front of her. It moved like water, constantly shifting and changing its shape. She hadn't mastered the art of keeping it completely solid yet, but if anything it was better to keep it constantly moving than still like a statue. So she kept it like that, wings slightly spread, completely still, seeming to be waiting for something.

She was in the clearing outside her cave. A familiar silvery light surrounded her and along with it the same freezing of time she that had become so familiar. The trees were in mid-sway and there was a bird sitting on a branch, staring at them for what had seemed like hours. In front of the dragoness were four large boulders, each about the same size as her. They seemed unnatural in such a green area.

Silver blinked, and at that moment the boulders were suddenly in the air, falling toward the ground. She let out a growl of surprise and her metal bubble moved with surprising speed. It warped out of its shape, becoming a long whip-like blade that pieced the air around it. The blade smashed into the first bolder, running right through it, and continued onwards, moving like a snake in the air. It pieced the next boulder, leaving a line of elronium behind it so that each rock was connected to the last.

As the metallic blade cut through the middle of the last rock and Silver quickly pulled its movement to a stop, the end expanding into a cap so the boulder wouldn't slide off the end. She looked into the air with a small grin, seeing what she had done. Each of the four boulders was hovering, trapped in the air by a thin stream of elronium that connected each one, looking similar to the shape of a crescent.

"Well done Silver!" exclaimed O'hen, who had been sitting behind her the entire time.

She looked back at him with a grim smile, before turning backwards with a sigh. That had been surprisingly easy, but then again, the more she learnt about her powers the easier everything became. She knew how her metal worked, how it moved, how it flowed. It had had become as much part of her as her tail.

The time dragon tilted his head, "You seem rather... stoic today. What's up?"

"I'm surprised you don't know already," Silver replied, sitting down on her haunches and yawning loudly.

It was the morning, an unusual time for the two of them to be training, but Silver had decided that it would be better for her that morning. It helped keep her mind from the horrors of the previous night. Fighting always did that. One had to focus on everything and anything around them, and you couldn't afford to be distracted by meaningless thoughts.

"So they've started then," he guessed, "The nightmares."

She nodded, sitting down on her haunches and yawning again, shaking her head, "Yeah. They have."

He smiled softly at her, walking over and sitting down as well, "You just need to remember that they aren't real."

"How long will they be going for?" she asked, "Because if he is as determined as he seems to be I'll be getting a lot of sleepless nights."

"They will continue until you either gain control of your mind, or until he does succeed in breaking you," stated the time dragon, looking at her and tilting his head.

"Oh," she shivered softly. When Eldawin said he was going to break her, she didn't expect him to do it slowly, over months, "Is... is there anything that'll help me fight back?"

O'hen thought for a moment, "Have you ever heard of lucid dreaming? Its basically when you take control of you dreams and you can do... well... whatever you want while in the dream. Against Eldawin it will be difficult, but if you are able to gain control of your dreams that'll be a massive step forward in controlling yourself as well."