Orion laughed. He could feel the wings beating beneath him, the air rushing past his face, the shouts below him: ‘You can’t go, Orion Nightsworth!’ and it was exhilarating.
He was free, he really was. The dragon would fly him to the land of Elver, where he would learn how to control Magic and his Signal, as Alguranth, his dragon, had told him back before Orion had freed him from his imprisonment in Luna Lake.
Orion couldn’t remember the last time that he was as happy and free as he was now with the Light flickering around him, riding the dragon he was bonded to and his laughter disappearing into the twilight air.
Orion, the dragon spoke in his head, Shall we go?
“Of course, Alguranth,” he murmured, “I left my home in soul years ago, when I was revealed to have Magic. I’m off to where I belong now.” Orion could feel the giddiness in his body, flowing through his veins and spreading from one spot of skin to another; he was free, he didn’t have to look at his brother and sister longingly, willing them not to ignore him and he didn’t have to avoid his parents and their tales of their grand hero.
Orion knew Alguranth was happy with his response by a brief feeling of contentment that possessed him. Alguranth had been trapped centuries ago by a quartet of sorcerers in Luna Lake, a lake a mile away from his house, and Orion had freed him. The dragon had refused to tell him much about his imprisonment; the only detail he had gotten in fact, was that they were sorcerers and had perished long ago. No matter how much he pleaded for more, the dragon wouldn’t tell him more. His face molded into an annoyed expression. “Alguranth, why won’t you tell me who imprisoned you? I can call up their spirits, if I study Necro—“
You will not. Necromancy is not in your blood, Orion. Believe me when I say so.
Orion frowned, annoyed by the fact that Alguranth was avoiding his question. “You didn’t answer my question. Who were the sorcerers?”
I will not tell you. Vengeance has already been taken on them; there is no need for another to know who they were.
“I’m hardly about to go out and massacre their descendants.” A burst of fire escaped Alguranth’s nose then, a dragon’s version of a snort. “I won’t, I really won’t, Alguranth.” The Light, his Signal, that had been flickering steadied. A Signal was a person’s sign of Magic and was the same as the possessor of Magic’s first display of it. If one did not train their Magic in Elver or by a wandering trained Magic-user, then the Signal would burst out of control. When this happened, the Magic often caused the bearer of it to develop a sickness or, as Alguranth had told him was the case with a powerful person with Magic as the dragon said he was, they would grow insane or die. Orion shuddered, if he had not found Alguranth, then he would have gone insane or possibly have died.
You will. I know it, and I would swear it on my fire. Orion gave a start, and his Light flickered away for a moment. A dragon swearing on their fire was the highest rank of an oath, higher even than a Life Oath.
“Who could it be? I wouldn’t even go and attack my parents, unless they tried to kill you—“
Sleep, Orion, we have a long day ahead of us. The winds will chill you eventually, so now is the best time to sleep.
Orion looked at his dragon in frustration, ignoring the longing his mind felt at the word ‘rest.’ “Why won’t you tell me?”
The dragon gave a noise of amusement. Perhaps I will if you rest. You have not slept in three days and your Magic cannot be your source of energy forever. The people of Elver will teach you that.
“I… I… Fine, Alguranth. I’m—“ Orion felt his eyes drooping, even as he desperately tried to keep them from closing. “I’m—“A yawn escaped his lips. “Fine, Alguranth. I’ll sleep.”
Orion could feel the dragon’s contentment and gave into sleep, using one of Alguranth’s softer scales as a resting spot for his head as Alguranth flew higher and higher, farther away from his family’s farm in Alpine, Arizona than he had ever been before.
*
He dreamed.
“Your Grandfather Apollo was a great man, Orion, as was his wife, Lyra.”
“I know, Mom, but why won’t you tell me why?”
Mira blinked at her son. “Haven’t I told you? He saved your life, as well as mine. He died for it, though, and that makes him a hero.”
Orion rolled his eyes. “But, Mom, why won’t you tell me how he died? And why Grandma Lyra died, even if you never mention her in these tales?”
“Lyra died out of heartbreak, Orion. It is why, even though you would be a hero, you must never do what your Grandfather did; killing yourself to save others.”
Orion looked at his mother in annoyance; he would never do that. He liked his life perfectly fine, except for the fact that his mother kept dodging his questions. Her hiding the truth made it even more appealing to Orion, made him more desperate for the answer. A tint of annoyance crossed over into his voice when he once again asked his mother how his ‘Almighty Grandfather’ had died.
“It’s time to sleep, Orion, dear. Goodnight.” Orion looked at his mother in extreme frustration, his brows furrowed and his mouth set in a scowl. Why wouldn’t she tell him? It didn’t make any sense; it seemed she was just lying for the sake of lying.
“Mom!”
“Goodnight, sweetie,” she said in a chiding tone.
Orion felt the common feeling of frustration rising again, as it always did when his mother wouldn’t answer his questions about his Grandfather. This time, he knew, was different than any of the other times he had asked her since he had been fourteen two years prior. His frustration had reached its boiling point. A stream of Light enveloped his body, the room shook, and white Light fled from his fingertips towards his mother, trapping her where she stood.
“Tell me, Mom. I just want to know the truth!” Orion closed his eyes, only able to see the shining white lights around him and the clouds of deceit, of fiction, of lies, surrounding her.
His mother looked at him in horror.
Orion hated it when anyone looked at him like that, he hated her lies, he hated her.
His Lights mutated her and her lies, the streams of light clawing at her for truth.
She didn’t, she shook her head, she screamed.
He let the Lights close around her throat and—
Orion woke with a start, panicked. ‘It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real, it was just a dream. My Magic won’t harm anyone.’ Content with himself and ignoring the voice that he was lying to himself, Orion fell asleep once more, surrounding himself with his peaceful white Light before he slept.
*
Orion looked in front of him in wonder. They had arrived at Elver, and currently he and Alguranth were on the outskirts of the city, Orion sitting on Alguranth, who was resting on a patch of grass while Orion alternated between arguing with an Elvern official about his entrance into Elver and attempting to peek into Elver, which from the outside was nearly impossible due to large stone walls and the solid golden gate about ten meters away from him. Thankfully, people frequently came and went from the gates and Orion figured that if he was able to tilt his head right, he would be able to get a glimpse into the langs. Orion grinned in triumph when managed to do so as a group of teenagers exited, laughing, and was rewarded with the view of a cobblestone path leading through a lush lawn, where various people flicked their hands and fingers, causing various Magic displays to occur. Orion returned his attention, annoyance clear on his face, to the stout man with beady eyes who had introduced himself as Elder Judd when the Elder coughed pointedly, demanding his attention.
“Why should we let you into Elver? Magic alone is not a reason, and neither is a bond with a dragon,” said Elder Judd.
Orion stepped off the gold dragons back, leveling a glare at Judd. “I deserve to be in there because I do. My Magic is powerful, damn it, and if you don’t let me in, I’ll go insane and I don’t care who, Magic or non-Magic, gets hurt in whatever insanity I have.” Orion looked at him, frustrated. They had finally gotten there, after hours of flying, and he just wanted to lay down in a bed and sleep. A flying dragons back in high altitude and sharp gusts of winds, frankly, did not help with getting a decent sleep.
Orion, calm yourself, murmured Alguranth’s in his head.
Judd looked at him in scrutiny. Orion shifted in impatience, resisiting the temptation to try and peak betwattempting to calm down as his dragon had told him to do and failing. After five minutes of silence, the Elder spoke, “What is your name?”
“Orion Nightsworth.” A flicker of recognition passed through the Elder’s eyes so quickly that Orion wasn’t sure if it had been there at all. Orion frowned when he observed the Elder’s eyes with more focus and saw a trace of fear in them. He shook his head; why was there fear at his name? He had to be imagining it, he decided, it wasn’t possible for the Elder to recognize his name. His family was incredibly against the fact that he was Magical, and they denied it every chance they got.
It wasn’t possible that Elder Judd could even have heard of the Nightsworth name, when Orion knew for a fact that the Nightsworth surname was rare and that his family had never borne a Magic user.
“Nightsworth, you say?” Orion saw Judd’s eyes flicker behind him swiftly. He turned to see Alguranth turn his head to observe what was behind him, as if to see what was Judd was looking at. “I… haven’t heard that name before. Must be a Random, then?”
Orion, with slightly narrowed eyes, replied, “Yes, I’m a Random.” A Random was a Magical person who was born into a non-Magical family.
“You are underage, aren’t you?” Judd said scribbling something onto his clipboard.
“Yes, I am. I’m sixteen.”
Judd looked at him with raised eyebrows. Orion knew that is was because he was short for his age and still had some of his baby fat and had bright blue, innocent eyes. Only his windblown short, raven hair didn’t contribute to the image. He glanced behind him as he saw Judd’s eyes focus behind him, to where Alguranth was, and knew that his golden dragon was sending a Thought to the Elder.
Orion mentally glared at Alguranth, hoping that the dragon would notice. He desperately wanted to ask Alguranth why Judd had recognized his name and what he was thinking to the Elder.
“You may enter, Orion Nightsworth.” Orion beamed when he heard the words, forgetting all suspicions about his name that he had, his Light shining around him as he climbed back onto the golden-scaled dragon and flew into the land of Magic. Below them he saw the lush lawn he had glimpsed at before, the many cobblestone paths where the people of Elver walked, and the small cottages that were lined up before Alguranth descended to where there was a clear patch of grass.
Orion smiled and climbed off Alguranth, completely giddy with excitement.
He was one of Magic, and he was now home.
*
“Alguranth, tell me already. It’s been seven years.” Both lay on a green pasture near the Dragon’s Sanctuary that they had found, the sun shining over the two of them and a feeling of comfort enveloping both. Orion was laying down, shifting between looking at his dragon with concern in his eyes to glaring at the dragon in frustration about the almost decade long argument through sharp azure eyes. He had grown in the septennium of years they had been there, the baby fat having warn out. Orion now had a dark edge to his features, with his cheekbones jutting out and his nose a prominent feature, as it was common in his father’s family, the Stormlight’s. He often used the features when he was angry, the flames he could cause to surround as a Fire Elemental left shadows in his features and Orion knew that he looked menacing enough to make anyone but Alguranth back down.
The old dragon gave a great sigh, and Orion had to quickly cast a Flame-Downing Charm to reverse the flames that flew from the dragon’s mouth and almost burned the grass they lay on. Alguranth was growing old, to Orion’s dismay, and often forgot to quench his flames. He himself was already twenty three and that was old to his terms, though he was nowhere near his death. But Alguranth... He was nearing five centuries old, ancient for a dragon, and it was a surprise that he had lived so long.
I don’t wish to tell you. You would react badly.
“Alguranth, when I first came here,” Orion said, “you told me that you would tell me who imprisoned you as soon as I rested.”
You needed to rest, Orion. You had stayed up for three nights and three days, protecting and shielding me and avoiding your parents. A fib benefited you, in that case.
“Damn it, Alguranth, I want to know. Now.”
I will tell you with my dying breath.
Orion looked at the dragon with flared nostrils; his angry face accentuated by the shadows the fire flickering around his body. He could feel Light building behind the flames, ready to strike as it always was when he was angry. “Do you not trust me? I have proven myself worthy, especially as I’m a Random, and I have trained my Magic. Why won’t you tell me?”
You’re temper has not cooled. Your fire runs rampant. I cannot tell you unless you are with peace, or as my dying breath. I told you once that I would tell you, and I intend to, but Elver is not ready for a sorcerer with your strength and your skills infuriated.
Orion glared at his dragon, his features as menacing as he could make it. Alguranth looked stubbornly back. Both sets of eyes, however different they were from each other, one with a pair of yellow ones with slits and the other pair bright blue,were somehow both looking at the other’s with the same blaze of stubbornness, anger, and annoyance. The two pairs of eyes glared at one another, an unspoken competition to see who could remain unmoving the longest.
Alguranth, tell me, he thought, willing the fire surrounding him to disperse, I will not let my fire burn everything in sight, nor will I let my temper get a hold of me.
The dragon had a despondent edge to his Thought when he replied. It is a trait that is common to your… fam—age, Orion. You will lose your temper. Orion didn’t catch the lapse of speech he made, and went on glaring at the relieved dragon.
I will not, Alguranth, but I will if you do not tell me. Do not be like my mother and her praise of my Grandfather and his death, holding out of her tales how he died, the key to what had made him a hero. Tell me Alguranth, please?
Your mother had reason not to tell you, Orion. Perhaps in a year, you will be ready for the full tale.
Orion broke the unspoken competition by scowling. “Alguranth, you may not live a year. I want to know the full tale.”
Orion snarled and walked out away in a huff, leaving grass trodden and unable to sway in the wind after Alguranth thought his next words: If you had listened instead of spoken, perhaps you would know what the tale is already.
*
He dreamed.
“Who imprisoned you? Tell me Alguranth.”
I don’t wish for you to worry, Orion. You are still young. I will tell you, do not fear.
“Tell me, Alguranth.”
I cannot, yet.
“Tell me, Alguranth.”
Your temper does not permit me to do so.
“Tell me, Alguranth.”
Someday I will, Orion.
“Tell me, Alguranth.”
Orion, calm your flames.
The memories blurred, the “Tell me, Alguranth’s” flickering throughout his mind, each occurrence speeding past Orion’s awareness so quickly he couldn’t absorb many of them.
One fought off the others, though, and Orion absorbed the memory greedily. It was from but a day ago.
“Tell me, Alguranth, please?”
Your mother had reason, Orion. Perhaps in a year, you will be ready for the full tale.
Orion could feel the pieces of the puzzle lining up until one piece remained to be put in to solve the mystery—the truth. Orion could feel the truth attempting to pass the flickers of his memories, stopped by a cloud of something. Orion stepped in, wanting the truth so badly, into the clouds to hear: No, No, No, No, It can’t be, No, No, No, No, There’s another explanation, No, No, No.
The denials screamed one piercing ‘NO!’ as he reached the cloud of the truth. His Light shined brightly, for a moment, and the echo’s of denial stopped.
“Haven’t I told you? He saved your life, as well as mine. He died for it, though, and that makes him a hero.” Orion’s determination faltered for a moment upon hearing his mother, Mira Nightsworth.
“I’m sorry, dear; all the textbooks that have to do with dragons, curses, former attendees here, illusions, elementals, other beasts and history have all been recalled. The leaders of Elver have decided the books need to be reviewed.” A kindly looking witch named June Ashtree peered at a sixteen year old him through round spectacles. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
His Professor spoke. “Dragons are majestic beasts. It is nearly impossible to kill one, considering their power, and you would need more than one person to do so to even try. Imprisoning one, however, isn’t quite as hard, though the wrath of the dragon is why it is almost never tried.”
Another Professor answered his question. “Why, Orion, I thought you knew. I covered bonds between married couples last week. Sometimes, when one dies, the other does too. It’s a strengthened form of non-Magic heartbreak, and it is dangerous. The vow that connects the couple went out of fashion around twenty years ago, in fact, when one died a particularly gruesome death of vengeance and dragged his wife with him.”
“Orion Nightsworth? I know that nam—“ The boy paled and ran. A moment after, Orion was looking around in wariness; he had heard the sound of wings flapping and felt the air gushing around and he knew that it had been a dragon. There was no dragon, though, and the boy was a runty twelve year old, he certainly didn’t know illusory Magic yet.
“Dragons can transport themselves with a flap of their wings, as well as think Thoughts as often as they please. Their Thoughts can be thought to anyone they wish, not just someone they are close to like we are limited to do.” Professor Dora had lectured the Magical Beasts class the longest on dragons, for an entire month. They were important in Elver, part of society the way electricity was with the non-Magic ones.
“Curses are very rare, and oftentimes a strong Sorcerer or Curser has to sacrifice another or themselves for them to last more than a decade. I’m sure you all have heard of the Moonshadow family, a family cursed by a sorcerers own life not to be Magic if they had any admiration for the offender in the family. There… There hasn’t been a Moonshadow since.” Orion, looking back from an outsider’s point of view, could see Professor Thorntree focusing on him with curiosity.
Your mother had reason, Orion. Perhaps in a year, you will be ready for the full tale. Alguranth’s words rang in his mind again, this time the meaning clear.
His thoughts ran wild, he slowly but steadily lowered the last puzzle piece into its slot to solve the mystery. ‘Moonshadow…The recalling of the books….That kid recognizing my name…Moonshadow.”
The truth gleamed brightly in front of him.
Moonshadow.
Nightsworth.
They were the same.
His grandfather, his almighty grandfather, who he had always felt resentment to, had captured Alguranth.
Alguranth had lied to him. Orion felt his fire come to life, burning anything he could. He felt the desire to confront him, the desire to burn him, the desire to let his Light choke him like it did in his nightmares to his mother. The dragon hadn’t only lied about himself and his imprisonment. If what he thought was right, that Alguranth had been imprisoned by his grandfather, then he had known about everything and hid him from the many secrets, the truth.
His family had been cursed.
His family had loved Magic, if the Moonshadow reputation was right.
He wasn’t a Random, he was a Native Magic, an Expected.
He was a Moonshadow, part of a Magical legacy.
Orion woke and, ignoring the haze of fatigue that came, scrambled for something to write on before his dream left him.
*
“I figured it out, you know.” Orion knew he looked terrible, with bags under his eyes and his skin paler than it had ever been. He had been staying up late each night since the dream a week prior, studying and studying the Moonshadows. Through the exhaustion that threatened to take him, he pushed through, using his Light as a motivation and energy source.
You listened, then?
“Why didn’t you tell me that my family was cursed?”
I wanted to wait for you to gain control of your temper.
“I don’t care, Alguranth.” Orion paced in front of him, unsure of his next move now that he was there. “You killed my Grandfather, you were the cause of my abuse at home—“
You were never truly abused, Orion.
“I had my parents scuttle around me like I was a bomb, only talking to me about my damned Grandfather. My sister and brother were ordered not to talk to me, and I loved them, damn it! I love Mimosa and Castor!”
They were simply babes, Orion. You did not love them, I know.
“You don’t know anything, Alguranth.” Orion lifted his hand and slashed it across the air to the right. “I deny my bond with Alguranth, the gold dragon, my caretaker, downfall of the Nightsworth family.” He let his hand fall into a practiced set of movements: a downwards slash, an upwards slash, a horizontal line, a downwards slash, then connecting the five points he had made with his Lights. “So it had been spoken, so it has been done,” he whispered, already feeling the loss of the bond. He could feel his Light shrink away, leaving him alone to mourn the loss of a bond he had cherished. But Alguranth had betrayed him years ago with his lies.
Orion turned abruptly as he felt the first tear well up in his eye and walked from the green clearing, the clearing that he had once felt comfort in with Alguranth, whose eyes he knew were focused on his retreating back.
He knew that Alguranth would die sooner without a bonded one and he knew that he would be shunned for hurting one of the most famed dragons, who was named in the history books as Alceron. The dragon was described as a brilliant, powerful, shining sun, an icon and leader to the dragons.
Orion didn’t care if Alguranth died, or at least he tried to convince himself. He had been hurting for years about his parent’s treatment of him, he argued with himself, of their love and affection given wholeheartedly to his little brother and sister. And now, to find out it couldn’t have been for the reason he had believed in for almost a decade and to find out that it was simply jealousy over breaking the curse was disappointing and terrible and Orion felt his body light with flames again at the thought of it. He felt his Light flare in strong agreement of him, a blinding white light to anyone but him.
Orion was angry, as was obvious by the shadows caused by the incessant flames surrounding him as he walked throughout what he thought had been a wonderful place for seven years. He smirked when he saw people shy away, looking anywhere but him and almost laughed out loud when he saw a young girl, Monica Silverlake tremble at the sight of him. He knew she had to have known the secret since she was an Expected and therefore had been raised hearing of the Nightsworth’s.
Orion’s walls of reasoning and goodness were crumbling, his fire and Light burning and obliterating the strong stone walls. His almost natural goodness struggled against the incensed flames, the main defense against the darkness he knew was present in him was dying and the darkness was streaming out in a dark storm, the storm he had tried so hard to contain and make fade, and Orion found he didn’t really care.
*
Orion! Orion felt his lips fall into a sneer when he heard the voice of Alguranth. You cannot continue as you are, sliding down a slopeto insanity. Your sanity will disappear if you let yourself continue.
“It’s your fault, Alguranth,” he murmured, knowing the dragon was behind him and listening to every word he spoke. “This slope wouldn’t have been accessible to me before you were revealed a liar.”
Orion, listen to me!, the dragon demanded, do you truly want to sink so low as to hurt your family and friends?
“I have no family, and my friends lied to me as you did,” Orion answered easily, picking at his fingernails. Behind the mask, though, he could feel the storm rumbling in his mind, the waves crashing against one another, and the barely-dulled, vast, hurt that he felt riding on the whitecaps.
I won’t tell you what happened with your grandfather unless you climb the slope. Orion could feel Alguranth’s worried gaze set on him and walked down the cobblestone street, refusing to turn around. Alguranth had lied to him, and Orion hated lies.
“I can live without knowing my amazing, great, honorable grandfather did. I’ve been told all these stories for years, and—“
You do want to know, Alguranth interrupted, you have since you first asked your mother what happened. Release your pride, and ask for what you want to know.
Orion turned, his face barely hiding traces of the anger that had been present not moments before. He grinned at his dragon and knew it was obvious that his sanity was leaving him. He could feel it departing and the Light replacing the holes in his mind where his sanity had been. “You’re right, Alguranth. Why don’t you tell me,” he said, a sardonic smile gracing his featured, “why you lied to me?” Orion’s upturned lips and bright, hating eyes disappeared, the mask of anger and bitterness revealed to be but a mask. He could feel tears forming in his eyes and let them run; he wanted his dragon, his former best friend, the one he had been able to trust with anything, to know that he the pain he felt because of Alguranth and Alguranth alone lying to him hurt, more so than his parents could ever.
Alguranth looked back at him with passive eyes, a tint of worry visible in his expression. I lied to protect your family, Orion. They suffered after your Grandfather died, and I do not wish them to suffer more.
Orion could feel the tears, the stickiness they left as they ran down his cheeks. ‘Always running from me, everything is. Either running or hiding and lying,’ he thought. He let the darkness in his soul, his pure, unadulterated anger escaping and the flames burning around him, drying—killing—the tears. “And so you left it for me to suffer, instead? You were my friend, my dragon, and I never lied to you.” He stepped closer to the dragon so they were perhaps five feet away, the closest they had been since the confrontation a week before. “I hate lies, Alguranth. And you, alone, knew exactly how much I hate them and lied to me anyways.”
It was for your own good, Orion.
Orion snarled. The anger was running through him, burning the remains of his walls of reasoning, his want to make the right choice dying, slowly but surely, in an explosion of blue flames and white Light, the smoke it left mutating into raw anger and pain. “Tell me, Alguranth, do you think that I am better off now?” He stepped closer to the dragon, his flames licking the golden scales. Orion knew that the last shard of sanity he had was simply a pinpoint in the conflicting emotions in his eyes.
I do not, now, the dragon thought slowly, I was wrong to hide it from you, and I wish to tell you the full tale, the truth.
Orion gave a contemptuous look at Alguranth. “Go ahead, if you want to.”
Alguranth let a soft haze of fire leave his jaws, a sign of relief. Fifty years ago, I was fighting a witch named Alyssa. She was powerful, and incensed at me for accepting a task. I did not mean to kill her, but I did. Your Grandfather was friends of the husband of Alyssa, and they took it among themselves to destroy me, and they were within their rights unlike you are, since I had caused the bonded of Thomas, the husband, to die. Your Grandfather and two of his friends, Drake and Neoma, and were allowed to help Thomas. They could not kill me, they didn’t have enough power, but they could trap me, and they did so in Luna Lake.
Twenty eight years in the Lake passed before a sorcerer came and found me. His name was Alexander Novak. He could not undo the binding, since it was tied to the blood of the Nightsworth family, but managed to communicate with me. I told him who had trapped me, Alguranth the famed dragon, and he took it upon himself to kill them. He did kill them, except for your Grandfather, who he saved for last.
Orion listened with rapt attention; it was finally the whole truth, without lies for once, he knew.
He killed your grandfather at last, after four years of him hiding, here at Luna Lake. Alexander was going to kill all of the remaining Nightsworth family—your parents and yourself—so gone into his insanity he was then, but your Grandfather took it upon himself to sacrifice himself to Alexander. He tricked Alexander into a deal where his family would remain living, in exchange for his own life, to which your Grandmother Lyra was tied to. The two sacrifices, both willing ones even if Lyra’s was on a technicality, were enough to protect all of you.
‘I don’t like sacrifices,’ Orion thought to himself, his upset growing.
Alexander then used the deaths of the four as sacrifices to seal your family’s fate by cursing them away from the Nightsworth Magic so long as they didn’t hate your Grandfather. He killed himself after, to insure that the next Magic child of Nightsworth would lose his or her control and would destroy and destroy, or so the myth— Alguranth cut off, eyes widening when he realized that he had revealed more than he had wanted to.
Orion snarled, whatever peace that had begun to grow in his mind, the calming waves, the bright but not blinding light, disappearing. “Myth?”
Alguranth reluctantly continued. It was a myth, and while widely believed to be true, there is no way to prove it.
Fire and Light flared, a brilliant display of heat, of red and orange flames licking the pure white Light.“So I was lied to because of a myth? My parents abused me because of a stupid guess?” Orion could feel the anger coursing up through him, the Light glowing brighter and brighter until even he couldn’t see, an even that hadn’t happened since his first sign of Magic. “I’m supposed to lose my control, aren’t I? My Signal is supposed to dominate me,to destroy me?”
Orion, do not let it destroy you. You are powerful, you can beat the Magic, I know. Your Magic cannot dominate you, that was but a myth.
“Too late, Algurath.”
The wall burned, his shard of sanity cracked, the smoke left, and the darkness let loose.
*
Stop, Orion! He ignored his friend Kanerva thinking to him in desperation.
He heard Judd’s voice next. “Orion Nightsworth! Return to Elver immediately!” It was a voice this time, not a Thought, and it rang in his ears. ‘Hear Me Spell,’ he thought. Orion’s hands flew to his ears in instinct before drawing them away, knowing that the spell would cause the words to come to him and cause the noise to echo in ears, and shot a jet of fire in the direction of Elver. ‘If I am lucky,’ he thought, ‘Judd will be caught in the flames and burn.’ Orion didn’t appreciate the fact that Judd was the first that had gone along with Alguranth’s deceit, and had done it so easily. He sent more flames towards what had been his home upon hearing the voices and Thoughts of others.
“Orion!”
Orion!
“Nightsworth!”
“Traitor!”
Come back!
Orion grinned despite the situation, him falling through the sky, encased in a pocket of flames and people, traitorous friends and disliked people alike, screaming at him through various means. The wind tore at his skin occasionally when it fought its way past his flames, but he found he didn’t mind. His Magic was powerful, after all, but the natural wind was more so. But, the alternating chill and heat kept him focused, ever so much, on the present instead of dwelling on the lies, and it made him feel good, alive even.
He felt more alive than he had ever before, even more so than when Alguranth had flown him up to Elver for the first time, with the wind whipping through his short hair and burning his face.
This time, he was fire, Magic and power and he was on a mission back to where he had started.
Home.
*
“Mom.”
A scream sounded, and to Orion it was lovely, yet it made a small part of him, beneath the storm and waves, want to comfort her. She deserved it, he convinced himself, for abandoning her love for him out of fear that hadn’t needed to exist.
The second crack in the last shard of sanity appeared, a perpendicular jagged line to the other, not as deep as the one Alguranth had caused but nearing it.
‘Did she ever love me the way she loves Mimosa and Castor?’ he thought, pained.
“Casper!” she yelled, eyes looking anxiously at the staircase as she backed away from Orion. Orion felt the smirk grace his features again. It was only right that she was afraid of him now, that he had grown and his Magic was trained. Still, as he observed his mother, he felt a weight crash down on his heart, realizing that not a touch of love seemed to exist in her features, especially her azure eyes where fear lurked, drowning any other emotions that could have existed.
“What, don’t you want a hug? I would have thought that you missed me, since you loved me ever so much.” Orion held out his arms and his offer would have seemed genuine if not for the flames creeping up his arms and around his shirt. He smiled at his mother, all thoughts of ‘This is wrong,’ that would have appeared were missing, destroyed in the mental haze of fire, Light, and storm.
“G-Get away from me, Orion,” she stuttered, eyes flickering to the staircase.
Orion looked at his mother, memories playing through his mind of the times after he had been ‘loved’ in the house, of her ignoring him except to talk of his grandfather, their stupid hero.
“Mira? What’s—“Casper cut off upon seeing his son, grown but still recognizable, and his face paled dramatically. “O-Orion. You returned.”
“I did, Dad.” Orion peered at his father, once a handsome, auburn haired man, every inch of his skin portraying friendliness. His father was now a balding man with hunched shoulders and frightened eyes, looking at him with wariness. “Dad, do you know why I returned?”
Casper shook his head and walked in front of Mira, shielding her with his body.
“I returned,” he said in a whisper, “because I found out the truth.” He smiled, the first real, joyful smile he had had since he had pushed past the lies. “You hated me because of the destruction I was fabled to make.” Orion twisted the smile into a sneer, willing for his parents to know how much he had been hurt by the two years of neglect he had endured where each moment had been filled with a longing to go back in time so his Magic wouldn’t be discovered in a brilliant display of Light and anger.
‘If I had never been curious, if Mom had never told me to praise my Grandfather’s death, then I wouldn’t be here.’ Orion pushed the thought to the darkness of his mind, he didn’t have time to regret his curiosity. It would always be a part of him.
“It’s ironic that things turned out this way, anyway, isn’t it? If you had just loved me… “Orion trailed off. A few moments passed before Orion’s impatience took over in a tidal wave of annoyance. “Answer me,” Orion demanded.
“O-Orion, we’re sorry. I do love you—“
Orion felt the third crack into his last, small, shard of sanity he had left appear, it was as if a knife had fallen from a sky and impaled itself on the last shard of his saneness. He could feel the sanity screaming, could see the Light filling the opening the knife had stabbed in and the other two jagged cracks. He felt the anger, wave after wave of it, wash through what remained of his mind.
His mind, a mind where he had been inherently good and strong, had been drowned. The remainder of lucidity, the stone walls, had turned to ashes and transformed to join the storm, the rough waves. Only one piece of land was left in the chaos, a small circle of fertile earth where the shard lay. The Light and water worked together to erode it, to burn it, until the shard was small and only a pinprick of land remained and only Orion’s will to have a relatively sane conversation kept it from being destroyed at his mother’s words: ‘I do love you.’ They rang through his mind, an endless litany of words, until one thought broke the pattern.
‘It’s lies, all lies.‘
Orion had an ugly smirk on his face as he let a stream of fire graze his mother’s wrist, leaving a hard, blistering line. “Don’t you ever say that you loved me.” Both of his parents stepped back in fright, his mother holding her wrist and whimpering and his father attempting to calm her though he was panicked himself, and Orion knew the fear was because he was insane, only a pinprick of sanity left.
Then the waves washed over the last of the shard, and all that was left was the Light and the rolling waves.
Mimosa and Castor, both now eight, had come down.
His mother ran to them, love obvious in her demeanor and in his father’s, who had released the frightful air around him in exchange of one to protect his two beloved children.
“My baby brother and sister, all grown up,” he breathed, walking forward and pushing aside his father with a touch that burned Casper. “Remember me? Big brother Orion? Do you remember?” His mother stood protectively in front of them, pleading with him to leave them alone. Casper joined them, clutching the place where a blistering handprint on his wrist, but still standing protectively in front of them.
Orion snarled, jealously battled anger in a clash of waves and fire came from his hand once more, ready to burn them, burn them all—
And air pushed him forwards, into the arms of this father, and the voice of a dragon he hated more was heard.
Orion. Stop.
Orion jolted out of his father’s arms as if they burned him and spoke angrily. “I don’t care, Alguranth. It’s my choice, now, at what I want to make true.”
Come to the yard and talk with me instead of burning them, your family is not to blame.
“You’re right, Alguranth, you are too.” Orion looked at the golden dragon standing next to the window, his keen ears picking up each word Orion said.
Orion stormed out of the house to confront the gold-scaled dragon there in the yard, thoughts of hurting his parents seeming dim in light of hurting Alguranth—an impossible feat, but it didn’t matter. Throwing open the front door, he walked out and looked at his former most trusted friend and guardian in anger. He didn’t care if anyone could see the blatant Light surrounding him from a mile away, or about the fact that a dragon was in sight of anyone who passed by their house. He was hurt, damn it, and laws concerning people seeing his Magic could go to hell.
“I hate you, Alguranth,” Orion said upon approaching the dragon. Orion knew that Alguranth wouldn’t live more than a year without being bonded to another Magic user, and felt dark joy blend in with the waves of his mind.
Then hate me, not your family. They didn’t do anything.
“They didn’t do anything?” Orion laughed, desperation and madness coloring the cackles. “It was wrong of them to neglect me, to order M-Mimosa and Castor to ignore me.” Orion cursed at himself for stuttering over his sister’s name and looked away from Alguranth to where the sun was setting. The sky lit ablaze with a combination of a fiery red and a flaming orange above the house, saying goodbye almost, and Orion felt his Light grow larger, bigger than it should have been able to. The Light triumphed over the dark waters, shining until only one wave was remaining and white Light shined around it, challenging it and beginning to win the battle.
Orion laughed, the desperation, the jealousy, the anger fading from and the madness overtaking his mind.
A second passed and Orion blinked and suddenly he saw the world through his own flames, the only difference in the setting being that his family was there, frantically trying to escape from him, their son, their neglected brother. Alguranth was still poised in front of him, though his head was turned left, one eye on the Nightsworth’s and the other on Orion.
Another second passed, and the flames dimmed so his blue eyes shined through the heat. “I hate you,” he whispered, eyes focused on his parents.
The terrifying part of it to him was that he wasn’t sure if he meant it or not.
Orion didn’t let his mind dwell on it, utterly unable to when the thought sunk beneath the waves, anyway, and focused on the Light warring against the last, stubborn wave. He could barely feel the blend of intense jealousy and anger or the glimmer of dark joy he felt when he distantly saw the utterly defeated looks on his parents faces. He could only feel the burning of his flames and Light and the feeble attempts of the waves to take over. What he saw through his flames was less intense than a dream, a blur of sensations, of people and Thoughts.
There were the sudden gusts of strong wind that signified the arrival of more dragons.
There was Alguranth, pleading him with Thoughts.
There were many Thoughts, actually. Orion! Orion! Nightsworth! You can’t do this! Don’t—
He ignored them all. The Light was taking over his mind, and he couldn’t help but relax in the warmth it provided him.
Orion smiled, and smiled, and let the Light take him and whatever was left of his mind.
Insanity.
But there was truth, too, that Orion knew that only he could choose the truth.
So insanity and truth were blended.
But over whatever else was in his mind, the insanity and truth, the distant calls to him, the laughter in his mind that he somehow knew was the harsh chuckles of vengeance that belonged to Alexander Novak, there was one thing that shined over all, overtaking and possessing his mind, leading him into the aimless, harsh winds of insanity.
Light.
But hey, I'm trying.
You do a lot of telling when it comes to Orion's emotions. Instead of saying frustrated, annoyed, irritated, contemptuous, etc., show it to us through his actions. You can cut back on repeated words that way.
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