Dragon Binder: Book One of the Dragonblood Priestess Series (First Draft)

Chapter 12: Memories

At least that is what Yina wished happened, instead she just fell to her knees staring straight ahead.  Her own mother would go so far as to order her death just to make a point.  In the distance she could hear Voren screaming that this was absurd but the words were growing quieter as they ushered him out.  

So this was it, she had one day left.  The only bright side in all of this was that Nyssa would be given to someone else, after they killed her that was.  As horrible as murdering her was, Yina was glad Nyssa would still be alive.  

The strong grip of the guards brought her out of shock.  Wanting to be defiant to the end she stood up and held her head high turning and walking out the guards still holding onto her arms.  As soon as they were outside a dozen more guards joined them as they made the same twisted path back towards the dungeons.  

Yina was shocked to not run into her father even once on the trip back.  They must have removed him from the palace grounds in fear he would do something more foolish then what he did.  A quick mental prod told her that even Nyssa was still out for the count, she was truly alone.  

Halfway there several other guards stopped them, several words were exchanged far enough way so she could not hear them.  Once done the new group took over and marched her off to the dungeons.  This felt quite strange to Yina but what did she know about the procedures guards took when handling prisoners sentenced to death.  

Once in the dungeon the path they took was different, the guards did not go nearly as deep.  That seemed odd to Yina as she was pushed into another solid cell.  Grumbling she took a few stuttered steps before she caught her balance turning to yell back defiantly.  Before she could the door slammed in her face sending her back into her darkness.  

Muttering a few profanities at the door she sat against the back wall calming herself.  She was not one to go without a fight, if she could learn to use her magic she might be able to escape.  None of them truly knew what her magic was.  She had been smart enough not to tell them much only that by using her magic they had escaped the cave.  

Closing her eyes she let the silence around her help, the sound of her heartbeat growing louder.  Yina attempted to pull the magic from her center with all her mental might that she could muster.  It felt like trying to pull a house it was so unwilling to budge.  Trying to stay calm she attempted to push the source of her magic, but the end result was the same.  

"What am I doing wrong."  Yina screamed as she pounded her fist against the wall a small spark erupting out as it made contact.  Staring down at her hand she frowned, how had that happened?  Several more punches to the wall caused zero sparks and she gave up reaching out to Nyssa again.  

"Hello Yina."  The dragon sent back a little lazily.  Pure joy rippled through Yina a she heard her dragon's thoughts in her mind.  

"I am so glad you are awake.  I got a quick question, how do you use your magic?  I have tried all day and no success."  Yina sent.  The young woman wanted to tell her dragon the bad news but was afraid to.  Not to mention the dragon would probably try to free her, which would probably end badly.  

A long pause followed, Yina sitting anxiously hoping to be told a simple solution.  "Hmmm, that is hard to explain.  We dragon's can instinctively use our magic, we do not learn like you humans do.  We have memories of how to use it from our blood allowing it to be used."  She explained.  Yina could feel a puzzled emotion coming from the bond she had with the young dragon.  

This however did not help Yina figure it out how to use her magic at all.  "Well, that is not as helpful as I had hoped."  Yina responded a little disheartened, without her magic she was as good as dead.  

"Let me try something."  Nyssa stated, another long pause stretching out before them.  Pressure started to build in Yina's mind as the time went on until it became painful.  Before she could ask what was happening the world dissolved around her and she found herself in a jungle.  

Looking around Yina found that she was a dragon, her body felt heavy and light at the same time.  Stretching her wings she found how easy they were to move almost like moving her fingers.  Then all control of her body was lost as the dragon started to slink through the jungle.  

No matter how hard she tried to move or stop nothing happened, she was along for the ride.  Several minutes later the dragon spotted what it was looking for another dragon.  Every muscle in the dragon's body tensed, in one fluid motion it pounced slashing deeply into the others wing.  

Rolling back up to its feet a familiar sensation rippled through the dragon.  The area Yina had determined was the source of her magic expanded from the inside out.  Until the dragon's entire body felt just like that area.  With a thunderous roar the dragon released the magic vines ripping up from the ground and snaring the prey.  

Thorns burst from the vines scraping against the scales slowly cutting through them.  Try as hard as it could the snared dragon could not move until the air was crushed from its body.  A bright flash reduced it to a egg.  

With a gasp the memory vanished and Yina was sitting back in the darkness her body shuddering and sweating.  "What in the hell was that."  Yina sent as she groped her own body the drastic change from dragon to human was unsettling.  

"I shared one of my ancestral memories, I was unsure if it would work.  Since you have dragon blood I thought it would work."  Nyssa sent over with a bit of playfulness.  It had been a long shot, one that had worked.  Who knew what mysteries Yina would find out about due to her dragon blood.  

A smile spread on Yina's lips despite her current situation.  "Well only one way to find out."  She sent back as she got back into her meditative stance and forced her body and mind to calm down.  It took several minutes to shake the stress of the memory, being back in such a weak and frail human body was unsettling.  As a dragon she had felt strong enough to take on armies with little fear of losing.  

Once calm she focused on that ball of power inside of her stomach.  Putting all of her mental might into the very center of that ball she pushed out and to her surprise the power easily started to spread.  It did not take long before the energy filled her entire body.  

The sensation was exactly how it was when she was a dragon in the memory.  Every inch of her body was full of power almost pleading to be set free.  Yina held it there letting the sensation take over completely, the power was intoxicating.  She could feel a slight pull on the energy to return back to its normal state.  

Opening her eyes several bolts of lightning were arcing across her body causing the entire room to light up blue.  In front of her stood a man, he was wearing silver plate armor from chest to toes.  Two dragons were etched into the silver plate in gold fighting with one another.  He had pure gold eyes that stood out drastically to his black shoulder length hair.  A small scar rose up and way from his mouth on right cheek.  

With a shriek Yina flung her arm up and released a giant bolt of lightning at the man.  The bolt passed through the man as if he was a ghost, which naturally scared her more, as it slammed into the back wall sending electricity around the entire cell.

Darkness took the two of them as the electricity died and Yina's body no longer rippled with arcs of lightning.  This did not help Yina's fear, she now had no idea where the man was.  Reaching back into that ball of power she expanded it, the process was harder this time more resistant to her.  

As arcs of lightning came back to life around her body she recognized the amused face.  "Commander?"  Standing before her was the commander of the dragon bound of Sastan.  The one man who had not voted to have her executed.  

"So that is your magic, quite fascinating."  The commander stated with amusement.  Crossing his arms as he stated this.  "We have much to talk about Yina, and not a lot of time to do so."