Dragon Valley part 7

...........................Part 7: The Morning Training..........1

“Get up!” Lumin ordered. “A real magician has to wake up before the sun!”2

“What do you want?” Joanna yawned, rubbing her sleepy eyes. 3

“I am going to teach you something about magic,” replied Lumin.4

“I didn’t ask you to!” Joanna said angrily, going back to sleep.5

“Get up!” shouted Lumin. Joanna understood that getting more time to sleep was impossible. She went out of her fire-tent and stood in front of Lumin with anger looking at him. “Alright! Now attack me!” he commanded.6

“Attack?” yawned Joanna, trying to remember the dream she had. Her mind was closed and she couldn’t think of anything and especially not about attacking someone… “What for?”7

“I am going to train you to use magic,” explained Lumin. Lumin waved his magical-stick and the trees surrounding them disappeared, leaving a wide treeless area. “Now attack me!”8

“Umm… Fire arrow,” Joanna said lazily. The arrow did come out her marked palm and did fly towards Lumin but it fell on the ground between them.9

“What was that?” asked Lumin in anger, looking at Joanna’s closing eyes. An evil smile grew up on his face and…10

“Aaaaaaaaa!” yelled Joanna. “Stop it!”11

A ray of cold freezing water launched out of Lumin’s magical stick and landed on Joanna. The ray was so massive and unexpected that Joanna fell down on the ground. 12

“STOP!” she yelled. Lumin pointed the stick down and Joanna jumped up. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she yelled. She raised her hand and shouted, “Fire tornado!”13

Huge, burning fire rose up in the air and started turning around in the form of a tornado. Lumin didn’t hesitate and waved once with his stick. The tornado disappeared.14

“This was very weak,” remarked Lumin. “I need something more powerful.”15

“Damn you! I don’t want to fight! I’m not in the mood!” Joanna yelled.16

“Your enemies aren’t gonna ask you if you are in the mood or not! And now attack!” Lumin commanded.17

“Fire rain!” Joanna said but the cast was deleted by Lumin. His smile was driving her crazy. “Fire arrow! Fire ball!”18

“No-no-no-no-no! This isn’t gonna work!” yawned Lumin. “Listen… Why don’t you try non-word magic? Don’t yell the casts out. And try to change your style. Maybe your element is fire but it doesn’t mean you have to use it every time…”19

“I know no other casts,” Joanna confessed. 20

“How come?”21

“I was a thief for my whole life,” Joanna said honestly. “I never knew other casts…”22

“Hmmm… It’s alright. We can change that. You see… The RedDragons’ magic is very unique. You can use it without any sticks unlike humans that are helpless without these tools.” He waved his magical stick and continued, “The things you are doing are not right. You are using casts when your magic is not about casts. It is about command and wishes. You can just command something… Try it.”23

“I don’t know…”24

“What don’t you know? Just command something! Be creati…”25

“Shut up!” Joanna shouted. Lumin moved his lips but he couldn’t release a sound. He smiled in satisfaction and waved his stick.26

“That was better… huh! But you better not announce your casts. Of course they are more powerful when you are revealing them out loud but when you are not, then there is the surprise factor. And sometimes you cannot express you wishes in words… Just wish for something… Come one!”27

Joanna closed her eyes and though, “A wish huh? Well… I wish I see who you really are!” She opened her eyes and whispered in fear, “Who the hell are you?”28

“That was mean,” said Lumin. He changed in everything. He became very short and extremely thin. His hair became grey-black and his eyes big, green and innocent. He looked a lot like a shrunk grey elf. “This was really mean!”29

“You were using a magical disguise! You are not a human… You are a demon, aren’t you?!” Joanna hesitated.30

“I am a demon indeed,” Lumin replied. “But this doesn’t mean I am evil.”31

“I heard that all demons are evil,” stated Joanna.32

“Actually they are… I’m an exception.”’33

“And your name is Lumin Luminous?” Joanna asked. For some reason she didn’t feel scared from this small demon. She even felt more comfortable to the demon form than his human form.34

“Yep!”35

“And what were you doing in the Castle of Knowledge?” Joanna wondered.36

“I am an extraordinary demon,” Lumin said. “I don’t think only about flesh and blood like other demons do. I am a honorable demon.”37

Something in his speech made Joanna smile. He was so cute – small and helpless. “Why did you use the magical disguise?”38

“Because I know how other races are behaving towards demons,” Lumin answered. “Why don’t you use magical disguise? It would be helpful…”39

“Dignity?” Joanna said. “I don’t know…”40

“So can I still come with you?” Lumin asked. 41

“With only one condition: you won’t use your magical disguise,” Joanna said.42

“But we will have plenty of troubles,” objected Lumin. “A RedDragon and a demon… this is gonna be a sensation! A disaster…” Joanna gifted him with a sarcastic look and Lumin added, “Alright… I’m not losing anything anyway.”43

“Are you really that good at magic? And what was about this training?” Joanna asked.44

“I just know a lot and knowledge is a strong weapon,” Lumin answered. “I wanted to teach you more.”45

Joanna looked down at Lumin – he barely reached her knees. He looked so cute… Joanna smiled and agreed. She felt really comfortable towards this small creature. 46

“Great!” Lumin exclaimed. He started running in circles and suddenly, rose up into the air and started flying around. Joanna heard somewhere that demons could fly but she never saw it. It was really interesting to watch him happy… 47