COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 9: The Phantom of the Rock (Part 1/3)

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I'm screwing around with a graphics tablet, thought you'd all enjoy a snippet of my two day suffering in trying to figure out how it works.

I'll come back when I learn how to shade.

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          After discussing how they were going to feed the dragon, Truvius left to go and visit the stables for some tips, forcing Káel to stay and keep an eye on the creature. It was sleeping on its back, with its broken wing stretched to the side, and its barbed purple tongue hanging out.

          He grimaced at the thick string of drool growing on the floor, distracting his thoughts while he removed his necklace and dropped it on the night stand. As he pulled the flat rock out of his pocket, he failed to place it on the nightstand, staring at the object, as eerie as it was useless, in heavy ponderment. 

          Rocks.

          He hated them all. 

          Six giant ones with teeth had given him the scare of his life, a small, insignificant pebble had proved to be of more use than him in front of the pissiest teacher in the universe, and now this one. The one he'd grabbed simply because it reminded him of his mundane home, held in its bland shell a world of mysteries. 

          And he wanted nothing more than to avoid each and every one of them. 

          Káel sighed, the stupid rock was gluing Mr. Mudelin's pebble to his brain, and the countless disappointed scowls he faced after failing to accomplish Lumi's equivalent of two plus two. The fireball had finally worked in the forest, so maybe he could levitate a simple rock. Or did a bloodthirsty unicorn have to be chasing him?

          Káel muttered the phrase at the rock, and it bounced a couple centimeters. He tried again, sighing in frustration when it went half as high. Just as he went for a third attempt, the pillow a couple feet from him shifted, the snoozing dragon cracking its eyes open with a massive yawn and lazy stretch. 

          Without a second thought, Káel instinctively slid his feet in, lifting his heels in preparation to pull his shoes to safety, in case the dragon decided it was hungry. It didn't acknowledge Káel's presence until it rolled onto its feet, and even then it gave him an impassive stare, licking its paws for an after nap wash. 

          Keeping the clawed puffball in his peripheral, Káel went back to the rock, bouncing it a third time with dismal results, only this time it was followed by a snicker. He stopped, slowly dropping his gaze to the dragon's slitted eyes as it watched his cupped hands in intrigue. He squinted, muttering the spell and scowling as the dragon snickered again.

          "What? Let's see you try it," Káel challenged, dropping the rock in front of the dragon's paws.

          The dragon pompously groomed its face, before effortlessly levitating the rock above its head and dropping it in Káel's lap. It looked at the rock, then at Káel, and snorted.

          Káel narrowed his eyes, he wasn't about to be outdone by a haughty little dragon, not a chance. He snatched the rock off his lap and tried again, the rock went an inch into the air and dropped immediately.

          The bouncing chuckles of the dragon were even louder. It couldn't hold its laughter anymore at the incompetence of the human in front of it.

          Káel gave the rock a vehement glare, and muttered the phrase for it to levitate. The rock floated stably in the air inches above his hand, but that wasn't good enough anymore. "Just go up," he growled, flinching at the surge of energy that crawled through his chest.