The Dracomancer

CHAPTER EIGHT: SHADOWSBANE

Alex made sure to arrive early this time. Felicia arrived about five minutes later, surprised to see that he was already there, and with a flower. She blushed so deeply that even her neck turned scarlet. She obviously wasn’t used to this, but it could be that she had never been given a flower before. She showed Alex the peacefulness of the forest at night, how some of the plants became illuminated when touched, how some of the creatures flew up in a halo of colors. Alex couldn’t help but be amazed by it all. When she was done showing him all of this, they found themselves in their intimate space, and kissed.

The following day, Serena stated that he was done with his strategy lessons, so he decided to go to attack spells early. However, Serena seemed to know what had happened by the way she looked at and spoke to Alex. It made him wonder just how much she knew.
In attack spells, Artemis taught him a water spell, but she seemed slightly distracted. Alex caught her smiling about something at times, and wondered if she knew as well. He tried the spell on the dummy, and tore it off of its stand. Artemis decided to end the lesson early again, but as Alex started walking towards defensive spells, he saw her smile again. He hoped Jaden and Nick had no idea.
In defensive spells, Jaden taught Alex a force shield spell, but Alex noticed that he seemed proud of him for some reason. Jaden definitely knew, but if Nick knew, Alex hoped he had a similar attitude about it. Alex went into Lesser Dragon form before casting the spell Jaden had just taught him, but this time, Jaden made sure to use the first spell he had taught Alex before spitting fire. The fire blast went flying back towards Jaden with no apparent damage to either of their shields.
In what was now Alex’s third lesson, he was tested with the chest again. He figured that if there were wards on it, it was protecting something of great value, but didn’t bother to ask. However, today saw an unexpected development. He saw all of the magical energies stemming from the wards. He had thought that this would be the last art he would master, but it seemed that he was wrong. When he told Serena of this, she cast a spell to remove the wards, then instructed Alex to open the chest. Inside the chest, he found the most beautiful sword he could imagine. The pommel was engraved with a four-pointed star, the double length hilt crafted with a spiral design. The center of the crosspiece was embossed with a sun, the up-curved branches tipped with something similar to ivory. The blade was decorated with intricate blue flame patterns, and looked strong enough to cut through Arabian steel. The sheath could be belted onto his hip and worn as a scabbard, or worn across his back as a baldric. This was a weapon worthy of a monarch. As if reading his mind, Serena told Alex that its name was Shadowsbane, and that its previous owner was none other than Alexstrasza, the deceased Queen of the dragons. Alex knew what this meant. He was no longer the acting leader; he was the official leader. He addressed this thought with Serena, and she affirmed it, saying that he was unofficially their king now. She then stated that his lessons in seeing magical energies were finished, and that he was to begin lessons in swordplay the following day with Jaden at around the time his next lesson in seeing magical energies would begin. She then added that she thought it would be wise if he kept the blade in the chest for safe-keeping. Alex agreed, and left for his next lesson.
In shape shifting, Nick seemed to want to congratulate Alex as he taught him the Dragon form. As Alex had expected, Dragon form took more effort to master than both of the previous forms, but he got it on his second try. However, Alex had a feeling it would take him four or five tries to master Greater Dragon form, and possibly two or three lessons.
In healing and resurrection, Felicia seemed panicked, and Alex soon found out why. She had received a deep wound on her arm somehow, and the blood was flowing like a ruby river. Alex used the same healing technique on her as he had used on the deer the first day, but he didn’t use happiness this time.
“That felt like…love,” Felicia stated, almost questioningly.
“It was,” Alex replied truthfully.
“I love you, too,” she said, lightly blushing.
She then drew Alex in and kissed him, then told him to meet her there again. He would comply. He didn’t want to miss one opportunity to show her how much he cared.
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Serena had scheduled a meeting between all of Alex’s instructors with the exception of Felicia. She wanted it to be as brief as possible, so that Felicia wouldn’t notice. Everyone was here now, so it was time to address the matter at hand.
“I understand that all of you have positive feelings about Alexander and Felicia being together, and the majority always rules. However, today saw an unexpected development, and I could tell that even Alexander wasn’t expecting it. He saw the full magical energies around the chest that stemmed from the wards that Alexstrasza placed upon it with the last of her strength, so I granted Shadowsbane to him.” She held nothing back, as she still retained the responsibility she had acquired from being named acting leader five years prior. “However, I now have positive feelings for them, as well. They’re a good match. Alexander has taught Felicia to be more confident, and she has taught him some of the techniques to heal injured comrades and resurrect fallen ones. She will continue to teach him those techniques, however, I would also like for their more personal relationship to develop. To that extent, I have told her that his progress in seeing magical energies was still gradual, but that he was seeing more of it. I would like Jaden to train him in swordplay after his lessons in defensive spells from now on, but I request that none of you breathe a word of these lessons to Felicia. Artemis, I would like you to instruct Alexander to not mention the swordplay to Felicia until I say it’s alright. Is everyone clear on this?” She asked.
All of them nodded. This was looking good. She just hoped that there would be no miscommunication.