————— 

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.

————— 

          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.

          The rock happily consented to his request, and went as high as it could, before denting the ceiling and dropping to the ground in front of the dragon. It sniffed the rock, then looked up at Káel with narrowed eyes.

          Despite his shared confusion, Káel took up a cocky smile as he relished in the small dragon's face. "Go on."

          The dragon scoffed out a puff of grey smoke, scooping the rock in between its jaws, and whipping its head up so the rock went flying at the ceiling. The dragon then gave Káel the best imitation of his smile as it could, and pushed the rock at him with one of its paws.

          "Cheater," Káel scoffed, scooping the rock off the ground to look at it.

          "Careful with that please," a voice cooed.

          Káel and the dragon simultaneously whipped their heads to the sound of the voice, and upon seeing someone standing there the dragon jumped with shock onto Káel's bed and burrowed underneath one of his pillows. Meanwhile, Káel gripped the rock and poised to chuck it, his pale face and fear twisted mouth screaming anything but intimidating.

          It was a man, which would have been enough to give Káel a heart attack. But the stranger had gone overboard on the spook spectrum hiding in a full-faced plain white mask with an unnaturally long smile curving from cheek to cheek, and narrow crescents for eye-holes. He was also wearing a tight crimson trench coat, and a matching broad brimmed hat with a long purple feather drooping over the left side. 

          Káel couldn't see any visible weapons, but his sudden appearance and out of place dress code kept him on his toes. Not to mention, the only skin showing was parts of his ears peeking through his hair, and his neck, both of which were unnaturally pale.

          The person quickly raised his empty hands and backed away. "Woah! Let's all just calm down a bit!" he blurted, his head slowly tilting as he dropped his arms in disappointment. "Who are you anyways?"

          "Who am I?" Káel stuttered, almost answering the question before thinking twice. "Screw that! Who the hell are you and why are you in my room?!"

          "English huh? That's a strange language," the man said, throwing off the thread of conversation while he adjusted his gloves and hat. He turned his head to Káel who was still ready to chuck the stone at him. "Relax, you called."

          The dragon popped its head out from under the pillow and snarled, while Káel slowly dropped his arm in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

          He pointed at the rock in Káel's hand. "You summoned me..." He turned to the small dragon, his voice a mocking sneer. "Or was it your pet?"

          The dragon shot out from its dark sanctuary, the hairs on its back puffing up as its ferocious hisses clogged up with spit and hoarse growls. Káel shuffled away from the enraged creature, holding up his blanket as a poor defense while he shot the man cautious glances.

          "Ah yes, I almost forgot," the man taunted. "You can understand every. Tinsy. Little. Thing. I. Say." He bent down and pushed his face at the dragon until it cowered back into the pillows, ignoring Káel who had pulled the covers up to hide his shoulders like a bewildered child. "Too bad you can't talk back kitten."

          "P-please don't hurt him." Káel's voice was barely a mutter as he tried to swallow his stutter, blurting out the rest of his sentence in stricken panic as the man turned his head. "He's not my pet, I'm just taking care of him."

          The man got up and did a quick stretch. "Relax! I couldn't hurt him or you even if I wanted to." He stuck both his hands in the nearest wall and wiggled them. "See? I can't physically touch anything. You summoned me, you didn't release me, my physical form is still in there." He motioned towards the rock. "So please be careful with it."

          Káel shot the small rock a strange look, his wide eyes trained on the tall stranger as his knuckles flushed white from clenching the blanket. "So you're stuck in a rock?"

          If the man's face was visible, it would have been an unamused frown. "It's quite spacious in here, unfortunately I can't invite you in..." his voice piped up to an enthusiastic cheer. "But I must thank you, I haven't talked to someone other than myself in ages!"

          Káel blinked, swallowing the dry lump in his throat. 

          The rock was definitely cursed.

          They exchanged a moment of awkward silence, the man's shoulders shaking in silent laughter as he noticed Káel's trembling fingers. "Relax. Albeit suddenly finding a mysterious stranger standing in your room is terrifying, I can't hurt you." He shrugged. "Probably wouldn't even if I could."

          Káel narrowed his eyes, lowering the white cover with his pounding heart still going strong. There was something sinister in the way he said probably, but something biting at the back of his mind told him he would've been dead without even spotting the man if he intended harm. Now the main question flooding his thoughts centered around what exactly he was staring at. His list was short due to his lack of knowledge surrounding Lumi, so he pulled on a blindfold and tossed out the first thing that came to mind. "Are you a Garaean or something?"

          The man sat on an invisible chair and crossed his legs. "Do I look like a Garaean?" His voice hinting Káel should know better.

          "I dunno, what's a Garaean look like?"

          "Like you... Only, higher quality I suppose," the man said, occupied with the dragon that sat growling under the stack of pillows.

          Káel tried to slowly push his pillows off the dragon, quickly retracting his hand whenever a fluffy white paw came shooting out. After missing its target multiple times, the dragon changed tactics and shot its head out from under the pillows, catching the side of Káel's hand in its jaws.

          Káel screeched a symphony of ow's as its glossy white needles tore through his flesh, trying in vain to shake its mouth off his hand. The dragon refused to unhand him, all the while rudely growling at Káel with its mouth full.

          He stopped his struggle when he could feel the fangs ripping down deeper with every shake, squinting painfully at his captor. "Could you please let go?"

          The dragon stopped growling. This human was strange, whenever he tried to bite someone they always smacked him for it, they didn't politely ask him to stop. Looking at his face for a couple seconds, the dragon came to a conclusion. 

          The boy was some sort of imbecile.

          "Come on, let go of my hand," Káel said, lightly trying to pull his hand out of the dragon's mouth.

          It opened its mouth, and Káel pulled his hand out with a whimpering ow, holding the dripping wound away from his white covers. The dragon snorted, catching Káel's glare so it could lick its lips with an overdone grimace of disgust, hopping off the bed and slinking into the corner of the room.

          "If I don't taste good, then stop trying to eat me," Káel retorted, inspecting all the little swelling gouges in his hand. A burning pain was already shooting through his tendons and stabbing at his shoulder, forcing him to blow on his stiffened knuckles to cool the pain.

          "Why don't you just heal it, instead of crying about it?" the man said, arms folded as he watched Káel shake his hand back and forth like a fan.

          Káel scoffed, doubling his speed as he squeezed his eyes shut with a sharp sigh. "Because, unlike you people, I can't magically heal any wound I come across. In fact, I probably have to get a Tetanus shot now." He stopped for a split second, wiping the fresh droplets of blood away before they flung everywhere.

          "Sure you can!" The man jumped to his feet cheerily. "Here I'll give you an example, just hold the rock and repeat after me. Pletez Kzchanbri."

          Káel looked at the rock, and then at the man and frowned. Despite his blatant doubt in the man's confusion, he couldn't help but grab the strange rock. "Uhh, Pletez... Ki... shanbri?"

          Nothing happened, and the man dropped his shoulders. "Seriously? How did you mess it up? I said it a foot from your face, the heck is a Kishanbri? It's Kiz-shan-bri."

          "Ok, ok," Káel said, stopping the man from further scolding. "Pletez Kzchanbri."

          The man nodded, waving his hand carelessly at Káel as he turned to stare at Truvius' textbooks. "Oh yeah, it might zap a little."

          "Huh? I don't-". Suddenly, Káel felt like he'd been shot in the back by a full powered taser, his shoulders locking as every muscles in his body screamed in a unified cry of pain that passed quicker than the prick of a needle. "A little?" he groaned, blinking away the tears trying to escape while he fell flat on his bed.

          "If you don't mind my asking, why did you look like you got attacked by an army of shrubs?" The man glanced over his shoulder at the dragon. "Did the dragon have a hissy fit?"

          "Actually, it was a uni-" Káel went dead silent when he heard the soft click of his door, he'd completely forgotten Truvius' existed. He shot back up and stuffed the rock in his pocket. "Quick! Hide!" he hissed, waving his hands at the man to go away.

          The man didn't budge, instead he tilted his head with confusion and waiting for Truvius to enter the room. Truvius was carrying a string of bunnies over his shoulder, and stopped in confusion, giving the room a quick scan and cocking an eyebrow at Káel's flustered face. "Hide? From what?"

          Káel looked at the man, and then at Truvius, repeating the action a few times, before the man decided to clear things up. "You know he can't see me right? Only the ones who summon me can see me."

          "Oh, uh. The dragon's awake."

          The dragon looked at Káel with a 'that was seriously pathetic' stare, then walked over to Truvius, sat down, and opened its mouth as wide as it could. Truvius cautiously dropped one of the dead bunnies in its mouth, and the dragon snapped its jaws shut, crawling under Káel's bed with it's food.

          Truvius noticed the lack of scratches on Káel's face and frowned. "How did you find the nurses quarters and get back here so fast?"

          "I ran,"Káel quickly replied, his wide eyes locked onto his confused roommate.

          The man quietly applauded Káel's horrible response with a string of slow claps.

          "It's on the other side of the school, you must be one hell of a runner. Then again... you did outrun a unicorn. A dopey unicorn, but still, a unicorn." Truvius pulled the string of bunnies off his shoulder and chucked them at Káel. "The dragon's your responsibility, let's go get supper."

          Káel stuffed the rest of the bunnies in his closet, and departed with Truvius for supper. The man walked behind them, making small remarks at the people they passed, or the ones they talked to. Multiple times, Káel almost made the mistake of responding to him, but thankfully made it through.

          The unicorn incident had already spread like the plague among the students, along with the fact that he was keeping a 'vicious' dragon in his room. A large group of his classmates forced him to retell his encounter with the Queen, which he did, only with a boring tone he made sure to keep constant throughout the tale. To his despair, this didn't deter any of his classmates, and they continued to talk to him like they weren't complete strangers minutes before interacting with him.

          After a bit, Káel came to the conclusion that Ray wasn't going to show up, and excused himself from the table. It was irksomely ironic that Ray always showed up when he didn't want to talk to him, but as soon as he had a question, the blonde turned into a ghost.

          Káel came through his door to find the dragon in a strange manner. It had taken every pillow it could find, dragged them to the middle of the room, and sprawled itself across the mound with it's drool covered tongue hanging out of its mouth.

          Káel grabbed the two bottom pillows and gently slid them out without disturbing the dragon, tossing the pillows back on Truvius's bed and sighing.

          "At least he isn't on your bed anymore," the man cooed.

          Káel narrowed his eyes at the man. "Who are you anyways?"

          "Who? Me?" He placed his hand over his heart. "I'm your friend of course." He braced his hat with his hand while he bowed courteously.

          Káel raised his eyebrows at the man's strange gesture. "No, I mean your name."

          "Oh, that..." The man scratched his head. "I forgot it."

          Káel squinted and the strange dodge. "You forgot your name?

          "It was more or less a punishment by my people." The man twiddled with his purple feather. "I did have an old friend who called me a phantom though."

          "A phantom?"

          "The Red Phantom."

          Káel snorted, grimacing at the tacky sounding name. "I'm just gonna call you Phantom."

          "Good enough I suppose," Phantom replied, while Káel searched his closet for a clean pair of clothes.

          He found his old school uniform - minus its hideous overcoat - folded up and placed on the top shelf. Curiously, he grabbed and sniffed it. It was clean, even the rips from those freaky Molves were gone. 

           Káel gave the closet a quick skim, and after finding nothing out of the norm he decided to pin the blame of his tampered clothing to sneaky maids, or the closet itself. 

          Guess these are my PJ's now, Káel thought, walking into the study room out of Phantom's line of sight. That guy was pretty creepy no matter how you looked at him, with his singsong tone of speech, and flamboyant fashion sense. So, Káel didn't feel like getting changed anywhere near him, wondering how he was going to get rid of the new guest relatively peacefully.

          It was too early to go to bed, but Káel didn't care much and forced himself to doze off anyways, the thought of another day in this school haunting him well into night.

Don't forget to:

COMMENT/CRITIQUE/(VOTE IF YOU WANT)

Next update:

5/11/2018