Draioct and I awoke in the morning after some much needed rest, the forest resuming its normal sounds. It seems the wildlife had already gotten used to a Dragon being in the Shrine again, birds happily sang and the insects resumed their sporadic chirps and buzzing.

     I looked over to Draioct and saw that he had grown almost double in size. His body was becoming larger than I had imagined. I stood up and stretched and watched Draioct do the same, spreading his wings and digging his claws individually into the dirt, his scales clicked and bones cracked as his back arched like a cat awakening from a nap in the sun. We had no need to speak as we looked around both contemplating where to begin our training.

     We learn to control our abilities at the same time. Everything we learn was stored in both our minds. That at least allowed us to both work on the same things, sharing the knowledge instantly.

     First things first, we needed to get some breakfast, my stomach was growling as if I hadn't eaten in days. We made our way over to the pond to see how many fish were in there. We peered into the water and could see that the pond was incredibly deep, the bottom was hidden in darkest as the depth increased.

     The feeling arose once again within our body; there was something special about this water. Something we needed to pay attention to. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and focused back on the task at hand.

     We circled the pond looking for the best way to catch the fish, making glances here and there to the surrounding trees looking for materials for some sort of spear. We settled on an idea that would kill two birds with one stone. Draioct walked close to the edge of the pond as the fish scattered and hid on the far edge of the water. He knelt closer to the water and pointed his large head towards the fish on the other side.

     We silently focused as he pulled at the energy located in his core and moved it to his mouth, simultaneously pushing the template of electricity onto the blank power. He slowly opened his mouth to reveal electricity dancing about in a small ball, hovering there in the center of his mouth. Controlling the electricity was easier this time now that we knew what to expect.

     He was conservative with the power, only wanting to shock an area of the pond, not the entire thing. He focused on a small group of fish about ten feet away and unleashed a small bolt. It crackled in the air then struck the water, sending bolts beneath the surface searching for something to ground onto. We waiting anxiously as the electricity finished moving through the water.

     A few moments later about ten fish came floating to the surface. I jumped up and laughed in excitement at what he had done. Not only had he provided breakfast but he controlled the element perfectly. I patted him on the back and then dove into the water to begin retrieving the fish. I could feel his toothy grin behind me, smiling at the satisfaction he had in his success.

"What would you do without me." He teased as he dropped the fish onto the shore.

     I shrugged as he looked at me with amusement. He chuckled deeply, our souls filling with joy long overdue. It was like he was a part of me that I had been missing my entire life. A part I needed to feel complete and we had finally been reunited.

     We brought the fish back to the camp and began to analyze what had transpired, in an attempt to gain the most of our learning. We now knew what the element felt like and how to properly push that template onto raw energy. We also learned that we need to be careful with the amount of energy we use as it seems to affect the power of the element directly. I began to finish off the last bit of my one fish while Draioct had eaten the other nine in about three bites. He sat there happily crunching on his last fish, gulping hard and smiling as he looked around.

     We sat there conversing silently to ourselves, the breeze was blowing smoothly leaving the temperature perfect. Draioct was certain that he could fly by the end of the day. I however found it hard to believe that he could accomplish that in one day, but I had been wrong before, and did not personally know how to fly...or have wings.

     We decided to spend the rest of the day building a tower from which he could leap and begin to learn flying. After all, that was how the birds did it. And Draioct was like a bird...well he had wings at least.

***

     We made our way over to the small outcropping of trees located near the pond, they were of average height and diameter making them perfect to build with, yet easy to move. I turned to Draioct not knowing how we would cut these trees down hoping he would give me an answer to our new issue.

     He held up his tail and I immediately understood. He fanned out the ball of spikes on the end to form a flat line of spikes horizontally. He then swiped the tree hard with the end of his tail. It made a whooshing sound as it went by and I was caught off guard by the speed at which he moved his tail. I was again surprised when he cut through the trunk of the tree cleanly, in one swipe.

     The tree creaked as it fell and then crashed as it hit the ground, branches breaking and sending leaves and dust in every direction. With this new knowledge we then made surprisingly light work of the rest of the logs we needed, cutting them and then dragging them over to a clearing in the crater. I took special care to stay clear of the log destroying quills for the rest of the afternoon. If they cleanly cut trees in half I didn't want to see what they would do to soft humans.

     After they were dragged to the right location I practiced my ability to wield electricity with our new found knowledge. I would pull the energy out and mold it into a straight line. The technique took quite a long time, many a stray bird was sadly stunned as I perfected the skill.

     After I mastered the electric sword I would slash downward with a swinging motion I that would cut the branches from the log. After I finished stripping them we began to build the tower. We settled on a log cabin style build where we slightly staggered the edges, giving us a makeshift staircase to the top. After a few hours of work we stepped back and admired what we had built.

     Draioct wasted no time and immediately made his way to the top of the tower. He stood there on the edge and peered into the crater. By the time we finished the tower it rose to a height of about three stories, which is no small distance to fall. I felt in him a slight amount of anxiety which was a new feeling coming from him, it gave me more perspective into how his mind worked. He spread his large black wings making large sails. Their full length was twice that of his body, and the skin was thin and black as pure darkness.

     As he stood there wings open, the breeze caught the skin between the bones and it slightly rippled as the wind caught. Without warning or forethought he jumped from the tower and began plummeting to the ground, he angled his wings and arched his back slowly leveling out until he was gliding.

     He was about fifteen feet over the ground as he banked and maneuvered around the crater, catching gusts of wind that brought him higher in the air. He brought his wings back in an attempt to flap them for the first time. He immediately sank from the lack of wind, barreling towards the ground at an alarming rate. He was unable to bring his wings back down quick enough and fell the remaining few feet to the ground.

     Sheer luck was that he happened to be above the pond when this happen and he fell safely into the water. I ran over to the edge checking to make sure that he was ok. When I made sure that only his pride was hurt, a small giggle left me at the memory of him panicking on the way to the ground.

     He made no eye contact as he got out of the water and made his way straight back to the tower to begin attempt number two. I watched onward with admiration at his determination to master this new skill. I projected some of my admiration to him and felt as his mind responded with further determination.

     The afternoon continued in this manner for the next few hours. Each time he would get slightly better and gain more control over how he flew. He finally made it to a point that he could take off from flat ground under only the power of his own wings, thrusting hard against the ground and kicking debris and dust in every direction. It was a considerable feat for one day of practice.

     By the end of it all he was completely exhausted and sore from the crashes and falls. He made his way over to our camp while I went and gathered fish from the pond using our electric fishing method. I finished bringing the fish over and sat down next to Draioct.

     We sat there silently for a moment eating our fish vigorously before I finally spoke up.

"How long do you think until I can fly on your back?"

     He sat there a moment in silence as he thought. His mind racing over some data, how much I weighed, how sore he was, how much bigger he might get.

"Well I don't have enough lift to carry you as well right now. My wings don't create enough downward force to keep us both in the air. It will all depend on how quickly I grow. Maybe a few days."

     We laid down there under the stars looking up, both contemplating how things may go from here forward as we fell asleep. I laid with my head against his side and felt as his heavy lungs moved up and down as his lungs pulled in air. My eyes fluttering lightly until I peacefully fell asleep.

     I woke up to the peaceful sound of birds in the treetops once again, everything was peaceful and the world felt like it was finally in balance. I sat up and looked around but could not see Draioct anywhere. I stood up and looked in every direction as panic began to set in.

     I ran over to the tower in an attempt to get a better look. As I was making my way up I was suddenly started giggling harder with each step. I became confused. Why would I be laughing and in deep fear at the same time?

     Suddenly I realized it was Draioct who was giggling, which also meant he was fine.

"Where are you?"

     I thought as I made it to the top of the tower.

"Oh you will see soon enough"

     He replied into my mind.

     Suddenly this enormous black wall flew past me. It was so large and fast that I yelled in surprise and fell backwards onto my butt. I turned my head as fast as I could to catch Draioct rocketing back up into the sky and straight in front of the sun. He was absolutely ginormous now. He was larger than the Blacksmiths hut I had grew up in. He was almost two stories in height and double that in length.

     He flew on his side in front of the sun casting a large shadow over the crater, before diving at the ground. I could hear the air whistling as he cut through it.

     He pulled up just in time to land on the ground safely with a large boom, sending dust and debris flying into the air and creating a cloud. He laughed out loud in a now booming and jolly voice, incredibly pleased with my admiration and wonder at his newest form. I jumped down from the tower and rolled as I hit the dirt, silently thanking my new ability to fall from large heights unscathed, and ran over to him in the clearing.

     I jumped on him laughing and punched him in the legs as he faked pain while we both laughed in joy at out new situation.

"You are absolutely massive..... and terrifying" I told him and he bowed and laughed.

"That isn't the best part though" he thought

"WE...can both...fly now!"

     My eyes widened and my heart began racing at the thought of being that high in the air. I turned and ran over to the tower once again and up the steps, my feet practically flying on their own. I got to the top and in four full steps flung myself off the tower and into the air. I fell not even a foot and landed on Draioct's back and was yanked in the new direction he was flying. My stomach dropped as he shot straight into the air and the ground shrank below. The massive tress quickly becoming bushes, then specks.