The Consequences of Meeting a Dragon

Thenio stood inside the newly remodeled practice room, staring ahead of him in utter disbelief.

He'd been half convinced that Casturi was playing some kind of cruel joke when she'd said that she and Jasel were there to deliver training equipment for him. And when she told him that they were done setting up and Jasel wanted him to come test it out, he was fairly sure that he was about to look like an idiot for showing up downstairs in his training clothes only to discover that there wasn't any acrobatics equipment in sight.

But it was true. It was really there.

Foam mats and blocks. A balance beam. Hanging rings. Metal bars of various heights. Ariom had even dug out a large space in the floor in order to install a trampoline.

He'd dug out a lot more than that, actually. The whole floor of the room was at least ten feet lower than Thenio remembered, and there was now a staircase leading down from a small viewing platform by the entrance.

Thenio probably would have spent the next hour gaping at the scene if he hadn't been distracted by the conversation going on next to him.

"If you were planning to surprise him you really should have told us," Jasel said, frowning at Ariom. "Casturi had no idea she wasn't supposed to say anything."

Ariom wasn't meeting his gaze. "I wasn't really trying to keep it a secret. I just...hadn't mentioned it to him yet."

"You hadn't mentioned it?" Jasel looked incredulous. "What are you saying? In order to make this happen, you had to ask the general for help, coordinate with me, and reconstruct half your basement. And you're telling me that somehow, with all of that, you didn't bother to tell your assistant what you were doing? Even though he's the one you were doing it for?"

"I told him a couple of weeks ago that I'd help him get some acrobatics equipment," Ariom said defensively. "It's just that the topic hasn't come up again since then."

"Hasn't come up...?" Jasel echoed. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence while he gave Ariom a long, evaluating stare. "No. I don't buy that. It's not just that it didn't come up. It's that you were too embarrassed and didn't know how to say it, so you've been avoiding the subject. And Thenio here is too polite and soft-spoken and didn't think it was his place to ask too many questions about what you were doing. Isn't that how it really went?"

"What are you talking about?" Ariom looked affronted. "Why are you assuming something like that? How would you know?"

Jasel pointed at his own chest. "You're looking at the guy who taught Emberhawk how to fly. I know because you're acting just like your father. This is exactly the sort of thing that Riomel would do."

Ariom glowered at him.

Jasel raised an eyebrow. "What? You're mad about that? Yeah, I know. You hate hearing your father's name. The general told me I shouldn't mention him. But you know what? I'm a military trainer. I don't go easy on my students. When you're teaching something as dangerous as aerial combat, going easy means your students won't learn what they need to know, which means that someone's going to get hurt. So I'm sorry, but I'm not in the habit of coddling people. You're a grown man, Ariom. You're a grandmaster enchanter." He pointed at Thenio. "And most of all, you have someone's life depending on you. It's about time you learned to stop running away from things you don't like."

"You—" Ariom's expression twisted. His face, which usually had a pale, greyish tint to it, was suddenly a normal skin tone, which Thenio realized must mean he was flushing in anger.

"But I didn't come here to lecture you about your poor social skills," Jasel went on, cutting off Ariom's response. He turned and walked over to Thenio. "Come on. Come get warmed up. I want to see you do some exercises so I can check your form."

Thenio hesitated, glancing uncertainly at the fuming Ariom. Would he get even angrier if Thenio did what Jasel said? Would Jasel get angry if he didn't? Was he going to lose his chance to get acrobatics training because the two of them were fighting?

"Don't worry about him," Jasel said, reaching over to pat Thenio on the back. His voice was much gentler than it had been a minute ago. "He's just playing hedgehog. Getting angry because he doesn't know how else to react. He'll be fine if we just leave him alone and let him calm down."

Thenio wasn't entirely convinced, but he finally decided to follow Jasel over to the edge of the largest floor mat.

He wished the familiars had come down with him....

After eating his fill of fruit and having Thenio clean the sticky juice off his face and paws, Iggy had snuggled into the soft feathers on Casturi's back and fallen asleep. Thenio had offered to move him, but Casturi seemed happy to lie down on the grass under the tree and take a nap together.

It was a pleasant scene. Enough so that Thenio had made a detour on his way back from putting the snack things away to go get his sketchbook so he could make a few drawings of the dozing pair.

But the atmosphere would probably be less tense if they were here. Ariom was always easier to talk to when Iggy was around. The little dragon seemed to have a sort of softening effect on him.

"This equipment is a little different from what we use over at the military training centers, since we're mostly dealing with wind magic users there," Jasel said as they walked, apparently following his own advice of ignoring Ariom. "I had to put in a custom order with our supplier for you. I went over to your former school to see what their acrobatics classes and facilities are like and then tried to get something similar to what you're already familiar with. I also brought over a couple of toys that we used to use for training beginning acrobats back at the circus Casturi and I worked for. We'll get to those another day, though, after you've brushed up on the basics. Ariom put them in storage for now."

"That's...you really didn't need to go to that much trouble...."

Jasel shrugged. "The general asked me to take care of your acrobatics training. So I'm taking care of it. Making sure you have the best equipment for your needs is part of my job as a trainer. I'd do the same for any of my students."

"Yeah...but...." Thenio fidgeted uncomfortably. "I mean, I appreciate it. I really do. It's just...is it really worth it?"

He looked around the room. All that equipment would be expensive even if it wasn't enchanted. And if it was.... Thenio felt a chill when he thought about what the total cost might have been.

"I get that the military takes responsibility for kids with potentially dangerous magic, and they're helping me out because of that. But I'm not even training to become a combat wizard or anything. I've only ever done acrobatics for fun. Is it really okay for the military to spend this much on training equipment for me...?"

"Oh, they didn't pay for it," Jasel said easily. "The military pays my salary, of course, so they're technically paying for your lessons. But General Obarin is the one that paid for all the equipment."

Thenio's eyes went wide. "What? General Obarin did.... Are you serious? Why would he...?"

It had been shocking enough to learn that Sunfall, the famous battlemage-turned-general, had ties to the Denifor family and had helped Ariom get approved to be his caretaker. But a national hero like that was actually buying equipment for a nobody like him?

"Ah, that reminds me. There was a letter I was supposed to deliver to you along with everything else." An envelope appeared in Jasel's hand, and he handed it to Thenio. "There you go."

Dazedly, Thenio took the envelope and looked at it. It was addressed to him. He stood blinking at it for a moment. Then he broke open the seal and pulled out the letter inside.

Thenio,

Let me begin by apologizing for greeting you for the first time via a letter, rather than in person. Much as I would enjoy meeting you, I'm afraid it will have to wait until you're less vulnerable to outside magic, since my own struggles with magic instability have made it difficult for me to keep my magic power under strict control.

But I've been keeping up on your progress through the reports I've received from the Stability Center, as well as hearing a little about you from Bero and Ariom. I understand things have been very difficult for you, and I'm sure you're still feeling a great deal of uncertainty about your future.

As I mentioned, about twenty years ago I developed a severe case of magic instability myself. I would have died from it if I hadn't been lucky enough to form a contract with a familiar who's able to help me keep my magic power in check. And I've watched far too many friends and colleagues go through similar things.

I know as well as anyone how out-of-control and helpless magic instability can make you feel. How it seems like your own body has turned against you. The frustration of not being able to do the things you want to do. And the fear of not knowing whether your situation will ever improve.

That's why I wanted to do what I could to help you continue your acrobatics training. It's important to have activities you enjoy. Something to work toward and look forward to. Something that gives you a reason to hold on for one more day. If acrobatics can be those things for you, even to a small extent, then I think it's well worth the investment.

Bero told me you seem to be uncomfortable receiving expensive gifts. If it makes you feel any better, you can think of this as a selfish action by an old man who's tired of seeing instability patients give in to despair and wants to avoid the unpleasant experience of seeing it one more time.

I hope you enjoy the equipment. I look forward to seeing the results of your training someday.

Fight well.

Kalion Obarin

Thenio simply stared at the letter for a long time, unable to say anything.

"Why...?" His voice broke. He swallowed and looked up at Jasel, feeling lost. "I don't understand. Why is everyone being so kind to me? I know they think my magic might be valuable someday, but...right now I'm basically useless. More than useless...I'm dangerous. And I'm probably not even going to live that much longer.... So why...?"

Jasel's brow furrowed at the question, and he regarded Thenio for a long moment before he answered.

"Because that's what people in the Magic Corps do," he said finally. "It's what people like the general do. You might not be aware of this, but a lot of the children the military takes in are in pretty rough shape when we get them. They come to us because they've had trouble learning to control their magic power, so most of them have had accidents of some kind, where they hurt themselves or others. That often leads to them being rejected by the people around them. I think you know a little bit about that kind of thing."

Thenio's face contorted, but he didn't say anything.

"For kids like that, their trainer is also their adoptive parent. That's why the people in the Magic Corps are such a close-knit group, much more so than the other military branches are." Jasel nodded in Ariom's direction. "To the general, Ariom is like his adopted grandson. Because he and Ariom's actual grandfather trained together under his great-grandfather. And then the general went on to train both of Ariom's parents. So he basically considers the Denifor family to be his family."

"What, really?" Thenio remembered Bero saying that General Obarin was a family friend, but he'd had no idea they were that close. Especially since Ariom seemed to have such a serious aversion to anything related to the military.

"Really. And now Ariom has taken you in. So doesn't that make you part of the family, too?"

Thenio blinked. "Does it?"

"Well, I think the general thinks so, at least. And, incidentally, I also trained Ariom's father later on. So that makes me...what? His adoptive great uncle?" Jasel chuckled a little. "That's one of the reasons I got this assignment. Besides the fact that I have more experience with non-magic acrobatics than most of the other trainers do."

Oh. Was that why Jasel had been acting so casually toward Ariom, even though they'd just met? Because he felt like they already had a connection?

"And speaking of Ariom's father..." Jasel went on. "You're worried that you're not useful enough to be worth investing in? You should have seen what Riomel was like when I first met him. It was at the start of his rehabilitation period, after he'd been in the Stability Center for a while. The guy was an absolute basket case. He'd lose his temper and start attacking people at the slightest provocation. And he was already a fifth rank sorcerer at the time, so even with suppression bands on, his attacks were no joke. There were plenty of people who thought he was a lost cause and ought to just be locked up somewhere for the rest of his life."

A fifth rank sorcerer? And Ariom was only third rank. No wonder Jasel wasn't intimidated by him getting angry....

"But he must have gotten better, right? Isn't he on the first squad of the Central Division?"

Thenio had heard the name 'Emberhawk' before, although he hadn't known that he was Ariom's father until today. He seemed to prefer staying out of public view, so he wasn't one of the more popular battlemages. All Thenio really knew was that he was a firestorm mage who specialized in aerial combat. But being on the first squad meant he was one of the top battlemages in the country, just one tier below the demon hunters.

Jasel nodded. "Much better. He's still pretty touchy, but he's nowhere near how he used to be. Now he's more like...." He glanced in Ariom's direction. "Well, he's a lot like Ariom. But worse." He laughed. "If Ariom is a hedgehog, then Riomel is a full-on porcupine. But both of them are pretty soft underneath the spines. Anyways, the point is, even somebody like him came out of his slump and eventually turned into an excellent battlemage. So don't give up on yourself so easily."

Thenio looked down at the floor, not sure how to respond to that.

Jasel reached out and lightly tousled his hair. "Well now, let's see what you've got. Show me what kind of exercises you've been doing recently."

Ariom watched in silence while Thenio went through a series of exercises under Jasel's supervision. They started with a stretching routine and then moved on to some simple acrobatics moves, like handstands, cartwheels, and flips. After that, Thenio started trying out the different pieces of equipment. At this point, his lack of recent practice started to show. But with a little time and some corrections from Jasel, his movements gradually became smoother and more confident.

Ariom frowned as he watched Thenio swinging on one of the metal bars. If he was being honest, he really wasn't comfortable having an entire acrobatics center in his house. He didn't like the idea of watching Thenio train like this every day from now on. And he especially wasn't happy about having Jasel come here to give lessons on a regular basis.

He hated the military. He hated acrobatics. He didn't like any of this.

But....

Looking closely at Thenio's face, Ariom let out a small sigh. The kid was clearly having fun. He'd been hesitant at first, but now that he was starting to get into it and relax, he was looking happier than Ariom had ever seen him before.

They finished up with the bar, and Jasel said something to Thenio, gesturing toward the trampoline. Even from across the large room, Ariom could see Thenio's eyes light up.

So that one was his favorite, huh...?

The boy went eagerly over to the trampoline and leapt lightly onto it. He bounced around a little, probably testing out the feel of it. Then he moved to the center and started jumping in place, slowly getting higher and higher.

In spite of himself, Ariom started walking over to watch more closely. Something had changed about the atmosphere around Thenio. He'd obviously been enjoying the exercises he'd done before. But there was something...different about this.

Thenio seemed to have decided his jumps were high enough because he started doing different moves in midair. First a simple backflip. Then a somersault. Then he started to twist and spin in various directions, sometimes tucking his arms and legs in and sometimes stretching them out. The motions were remarkably graceful—even more than his earlier moves on the bars and balance beam had been. And he somehow managed to land precisely in the center of the trampoline each time he came down.

Jasel was simply watching quietly, not giving any advice or corrections like he'd been doing earlier. After a while, he let out a small sigh and called out, "Hey, that's enough for now. I know you're having fun, but don't overdo it."

Thenio shot him a reluctant look but obediently came to a stop. He was breathing heavily and looked rather flushed and sweaty, but he was still smiling as he got off the trampoline.

"Well done." Jasel gave him a nod of approval. "You must have practiced trampoline work a lot in the past, to still be able to do it this well. I think we'll end it here for today. I know your body's not in great shape right now, so it's better not to push too hard. Why don't you go clean up and change clothes? Then we'll talk about your training schedule."

Thenio nodded and started toward the training room entrance.

Then he saw Ariom standing there and paused. "Um...Ariom...I...."

"I know," Ariom said quietly. "I saw the look on your face when you were jumping just now.... You don't need to say anything." He sighed and looked away. "Remember to write a thank you letter to General Obarin later, all right? Maybe include a drawing or something. He likes little things like that."

"Ah.... All right. I will." Thenio resumed walking but paused again after a few steps. "And...thank you..." he added quietly, his voice slightly hoarse.

Ariom didn't respond. He heard Thenio's footsteps move past him and fade away as he left the room.

There was a long pause.

Ariom finally looked up and discovered, to his annoyance, that Jasel was watching him. "Well? What do you think?"

Jasel glanced back toward the empty trampoline and let out a long sigh. "I think it's a crying shame he doesn't have a wind affinity. That kid was born to fly...." Then he looked back at Ariom and grinned. "And I think you're making some progress, even if you're still a bit rough around the edges. At least you don't throw fireballs at me when I make you angry."

Ariom scoffed. "What good would that do? You're a wind mage. You'd just blow off a fireball. If I wanted to throw something at you, boulders would clearly be the better choice."

A few days later, Kalion returned to his office after attending a meeting and discovered a large, sealed envelope lying on his desk.

That was strange. His secretary usually opened his mail for him and went through it to sort out all the useless drivel that the nobles were always sending.

Curious, Kalion picked the envelope up and looked at it. Seeing the sender's name, he understood how it had made it to him unopened.

'Ariom Denifor.'

That was even stranger. Ariom never sent him anything. He wouldn't even send reports on Thenio directly, insisting on submitting them through Focilo instead. Ornery kid.

Kalion sat down at the desk and pulled a letter knife out of one of the drawers. He carefully slit the envelope open and pulled out the contents: a folder made of stiff paperboard, and a smaller envelope with 'General Kalion Obarin' written on it in a handwriting that wasn't Ariom's but was similarly tidy and elegant. The envelope wasn't sealed, and Kalion opened it to find a folded sheet of stationery inside.

He unfolded the paper and smiled a little when he realized what it was. A thank you letter from Thenio, for the training equipment that Kalion had arranged to have sent over. The handwritten message was quite formal and stiff-sounding, but...well. The boy was only sixteen, after all. And he wasn't from a noble family. He probably didn't have much practice writing things like this.

There was one rather intriguing line, however:

I'm including a small token of gratitude. It's not at all adequate to show my thanks, but Ariom thought you would enjoy it.

Was that what was in the folder? Kalion set the letter down and opened the paperboard. His eyes widened a little when he saw what was in between the stiff layers. Then he broke into a broad smile.

"Hey, Tamon!" he called over his shoulder. "Come out and take a look at this. I think you'll like it."

There was a rustling sound from one of the cubbyholes built into the elaborate climbing tower that covered the back wall of the office. A moment later, a grumpy-looking imp face poked out of the opening. Tamon blinked sleepily at Kalion for a moment and then climbed out and spread his wings to glide over and land on his shoulder.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably. "I was sleeping.... Oh." He had obviously just caught sight of what Kalion was holding. "That's Humerus...and Iggy?"

Inside the folder was a sheet of thick paper with an ink and watercolor painting on it that showed a dragon skeleton with glowing green eyes and a tiny black dragon with orange eyes, building a sandcastle together. It was quite well done. The technique might be a little rough compared to the professional artwork that hung around the Magic Corps headquarters, but Thenio had done a good job capturing the lively, innocent feeling of the two familiars at play.

Tamon stared at the painting for a long moment. Then he sniffed loudly and looked away, sticking his little pug nose in the air disdainfully. "It's deficient in many ways, but...it's a gift, so it's not like we can just throw it out. There happens to be a bare spot on the wall next to my tower, so I'll let you hang it there if you need someplace to put it."

Kalion chuckled and patted Tamon's back. "I understand. We'll put it there."

He reached out and tapped on a small bell sitting on his desk. A moment later, the office door opened, and Nelias, Kalion's secretary, entered the room.

"The chaos magic boy sent me a gift," Kalion told him, sliding the folder with the painting in it across the desk. "Will you arrange to get that framed for me? Tamon really likes it and wants to put it on the wall next to his tower."

"That's not what I said!" the imp protested. "Stop interpreting things however you want!"

Nelias, who was well-acquainted with Tamon's antics, sensibly ignored him and picked up the painting.

"Oh, I see," he said, looking down at it and nodding. "It's a picture of his best friend, so it's no wonder he likes it."

"He's not my best friend! Humerus is my rival. He's a sneaky, conniving little skeleton who's always trying to steal my food!"

"Yes, yes. We know." Kalion lifted the imp down onto his lap and rubbed his head to shush him. Then he turned back to Nelias. "Thenio seems to have quite the artistic streak. Bero said he spends a lot of his spare time drawing magic beasts. He seems to like them almost as much as they like him."

"He does seem to be an interesting boy."

"Yes...he does." Kalion looked thoughtfully down at Thenio's letter, still stroking Tamon. "That boy might grow up to do some amazing things one day. If we can keep him alive long enough, that is...."