Chapter 15: Chapter 15 – A Visit To The Dragon’s Playground

"Thenio, look! This is the sandbox! We can dig in the sand and make castles and tunnels and ponds and rivers, and then the water comes out over there, and then the rivers have water in them! And the toys can go swimming! We can go swimming, too, if we make a big enough pond. But it's hard to make a pond that big, you know? You have to dig lots and lots! So I mostly just go swimming in the bathtub instead."

Thenio's magic instability therapy had begun in earnest that morning. Bero and Ariom really were serious about examining anything that could possibly be having an influence on his magic, so he'd spent the last several hours answering their questions about everything from the kinds of food he normally ate to his physical training routines to his hobbies and the people he frequently spent time with. They even looked at things like his clothing and art supplies to see if there were any materials in them that could be causing a negative reaction. It was an exhausting process, but they'd done their best to be considerate of his still-suppressed energy levels by giving him frequent breaks in between questioning sessions.

"Do you know how to build sandcastles? I can teach you how, okay? I'm good at building sandcastles! Not as good as Ariom...but he cheats by using magic, so that doesn't count."

Thenio was currently having a break until after lunch, so Iggy was finally able to finish showing him around the atrium. He followed along behind the little dragon, doing his best to keep up as Iggy dashed around, chattering excitedly.

"This is the flower garden, okay? We have lots of pretty flowers! And the vegetable garden is over there. It grows tasty things. Sometimes I sneak one for a snack while I'm playing...but don't tell Ariom, okay? It's a secret. And I helped plant everything! I dug lots and lots of holes for all the seeds to go in!"

Most of the atrium was obviously designed to be a dragon play area. But there were several garden patches in the back along the glass wall. Though judging from the less-than-pristine state of the plants growing there, this garden was also intended more for Iggy's enjoyment than for serious production.

And Thenio was fairly sure that Ariom already knew the dragon was getting snacks here. The tiny footprints surrounding the harried-looking pea and tomato plants were pretty much a dead giveaway....

"There's a greenhouse behind the house, too, you know? There are lots more plants there! But. I'm not allowed to go in there. Except when Ariom takes me to look around. And he makes me wear my leash! He says I might forget that it's dangerous and that I'm not supposed to touch anything. But I won't forget, okay? I won't! I tell him that, but he never listens!" Iggy's ears flattened, and he flicked his tail irritably. "I don't like to wear my leash! But. There are lots of pretty magic plants in the greenhouse. I like them a lot! So sometimes I wear the leash anyways so I can go see them. And Humerus isn't allowed in the greenhouse at all, you know? Not even with a leash! Because he can move things without touching them, right? So Ariom says he'll sneak magic plants and eat them and make himself sick."

That did seem like the sort of thing that Humerus might do. He was surprisingly good natured for a creature that lived inside corpses, but his self-restraint left a little to be desired.

The revenant was currently having lunch in Bero's room. He ate separately from the rest of them. Thenio didn't exactly know why, but Iggy had said something about Humerus being a 'messy eater.' Since revenants ate things that were high in magic power, that probably meant there was something about the process that made magic leak out, so it wasn't safe for Thenio to be nearby.

"We have golems that take care of the plants, you know? They give them water and plant food and pull out all the weeds that sneak in and try to bully them. There are golems that clean the house, too! Only they don't go in your room, okay? Ariom was worried that the golems getting close might scare Thenio's magic, so he told them not to clean in there anymore. And they only come out at night now. Ariom says that most people tell their cleaning golems to come out at night. But he knows I like the golems, so he let them come out during the day. I like to ride them around while they clean. It's fun, you know? But. Now they only clean at night.... But it's okay! Because it's to keep Thenio's magic from getting scared, and that's super important, right? And I can still ride my train around. The train is even better to ride than the golems! Come on, I'll show you!"

Iggy trotted off to yet another part of the atrium. Thenio shook his head helplessly and followed him. He was starting to understand why Ariom had said that half of his work as an assistant was going to be looking after Iggy. Chasing the hyper little dragon around was a job in and of itself.

He could also understand why Ariom made Iggy wear a leash so often. Though it was probably better not to say that out loud....

The train was just outside what Iggy called 'the toy closet.' Thenio thought it looked more like an alcove than a closet, but it did have plenty of toys, which were organized neatly on shelves. Each shelf had a ramp leading up to it–presumably for easy dragon access. There was a small wooden train station built against the wall to the side of the alcove, with a dragon-sized toy train sitting on a track next to it. Iggy ran to the front of the train and clambered into the open locomotive compartment. Then he hesitated, looking at the empty train cars behind him and then up at Thenio.

"The train is too small for Thenio to ride..." he said sadly, ears drooping a little.

"It's okay," Thenio reassured him with a smile. "You can ride it, and I'll watch you." He turned his head to follow the train track, which seemed to wrap around the walls of the atrium. "It looks like the train goes up to the balcony. Is that right?"

"Mmm!" Iggy nodded. "There's another train station up there, you know? And when you get there, you can turn around and come back down if you want to. Or you can keep going all the way up to the ceiling! Riding around up there is super fun!"

"Okay, then why don't you go ahead and ride around up by the ceiling for a few minutes, so I can see how it works? I'll go upstairs to the balcony, and you can meet me there on your way back down and show me the other train station. All right?"

"Mmm! Okay!" Iggy turned and put his front paws on a large crystal that was set into the front part of the locomotive. The crystal started glowing faintly as the dragon infused magic power into it, and the wheels of the train started turning. "I'm going! Bye, Thenio! I'll see you upstairs!" He raised one of his paws to wave at Thenio as the train moved away.

Thenio smiled and waved back as the train picked up speed and headed off toward the other end of the atrium. Then he slowly headed up the stairs leading to the balcony, turning his head regularly to watch the train's progress.

He wouldn't tell Iggy this, of course, but he was actually grateful for a chance to take a break from running after the little dragon for a few minutes. His suppression bands were now set to thirty percent, which was an improvement, but physical activity still wore him out far too quickly. Ariom had said the insulation bands he planned to make shouldn't have these kinds of side effects. Thenio hoped that really turned out to be the case. He felt like a pretty poor excuse for a magic assistant, not even being able to play with his employer's dragon without getting tired out.

He sat down in a chair close to the edge of the balcony, in a position where he could see most of the train tracks that spiraled up the atrium. They were worked neatly into the rest of the decorative metal framework that held up the glass walls, so he hadn't even noticed they were there before now. Not that he'd really had a chance to look around the atrium properly yet, on account of a certain little dragon taking up most of his attention.

The tracks also ran along the front of the balcony railing. When the train reached that section, Iggy lifted one of his front paws to wave vigorously in Thenio's direction. Thenio waved too, thinking it was a good thing the dragon's tail was safely tucked away inside the locomotive compartment. It would be a bit dangerous if he were waving it around like he usually did.

As the train disappeared on the other side of the balcony, Thenio heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Ariom approaching.

"You must be getting a train demonstration." Ariom went to the railing and looked in the direction the train was heading. "I came to call you for lunch. Are the other two still upstairs?"

"I think so. I haven't seen them for a while."

There was a slightly awkward pause.

"I feel kind of bad about you having to do all the cooking," Thenio added, trying to keep the conversation going. "I don't mind helping out once we get through all the testing and things. My brothers and I did most of the cooking at home, since my parents are busy with work a lot. And I know I probably won't really be all that useful to you as a magic assistant, so I should do whatever I can."

"Well, I appreciate that. But don't stress over it. I know you're technically here as my employee, but remember that the military is also giving me a stipend to cover your expenses. I'm not really losing anything by having you live here, even if all you do is play around with Iggy." Ariom's eyes were following the train's progress around the atrium. "He's really happy to have you here. He's been pretty lonely since Toflyn and Sundog moved out."

Thenio wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, and another awkward silence descended over them. It occurred to Thenio that this was actually the first time he'd spoken to Ariom alone, without Iggy or Bero around. Bero had made a few passing references to his nephew's lack of social skills. Thenio hadn't taken it too seriously at the time, since Ariom didn't really seem to have any trouble teaching a scribing class or presenting himself during the meeting at the Stability Center. But maybe he was the sort of person who was fine in a professional setting but had a hard time in more casual situations.

Thenio wasn't exactly a social butterfly himself, of course. But if his guess was right, then the solution was pretty obvious, even to him.

"Um...I didn't get a really good look at Iggy's train," he ventured, breaking the silence. "But it looked like the locomotive is basically a simplified version of a magic car. Is that right?"

Was it just his imagination? Or did Ariom's posture relax slightly when he heard the question?

"That's right." Ariom turned to look at him. "The enchantment matrix converts the magic Iggy infuses into the collector crystal into wind magic, which is then used to generate a propulsion force that turns the wheels. Most full-size magic trains operate on the same basic principle, but they're designed to run off of magic crystals instead of needing constant input like magic cars do. I opted for a direct input design for Iggy's train for a couple of reasons. It helps him train his magic control, for one thing." He glanced back at Iggy's train, which was now circling the top of the atrium. "But more importantly, it's for safety. If he has to keep touching the crystal to make the train run, that means he has to sit still in his seat instead of climbing around on a moving train and falling off or getting his tail caught in the wheels or who knows what else."

Thenio also looked up at the train. "Is it worth all the effort of building something like that for him when he can just fly up there?" he wondered aloud.

"He couldn't fly yet when we first made it. That was why we came up with the idea, actually. Iggy was jealous of Sundog being able to fly up to the top of the atrium. Toflyn and I decided to make a train so that the two of them could ride around up there together. But they kept using it even after Iggy learned to fly. It's hard to really enjoy the view up there when you have to keep flapping to stay in the air. Plus, Iggy just likes toys in general. He keeps asking for his own magic car, too, but I've been telling him he has to wait until he's older. The train is fine because it has to stay on its track, but I'm really not keen on the idea of him being free to drive all over the house. He's good enough at crashing into things as it is."

"That does seem like a scary prospect...." Thenio said with a weak laugh, picturing the little dragon zooming around in a tiny magic car. "Do you have a magic car, then, if you know how to build them? I've seen them around the city, but I've never ridden in one."

Magic cars weren't nearly as popular as golem carriages were. The need for direct magic input meant that only high-level wizards used them. Golems were usually powered by magic crystals, so even people who couldn't use magic could operate one. They were still expensive, though, so most people relied on public trolleys and trains.

"I have one," Ariom said, nodding. "But I don't use it that often. Usually just when I have to drive outside the city. For shorter trips, golems are easier to use and don't stand out as much. And I get a really good exchange rate on magic crystals, so I always have plenty."

"Exchange rate? What do you mean?" Thenio asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I guess you don't know yet, since you haven't been aware that you have a rare magic affinity for very long. Plus, your situation is a little...special. Anyways, for people with unusual magic types, there are always workshops that are happy to trade for your magic crystals. Especially for arcane types, since those are more difficult to convert to. I can give them one of my crystals and get ten to twenty crystals of a more common type in exchange. I have standing arrangements with a couple of workshops here in Kamari."

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Twenty crystals?! In exchange for just one? That was crazy. Thenio had always thought that life magic was the luckiest kind to have. It was the most common of the arcane type affinities, but there was always a high demand for it, so life mages could pretty much earn a living just by selling their magic crystals if they wanted to. But having a void affinity didn't seem too shabby, either.

Of course, people seemed to value Thenio's magic crystals quite a lot, too. But only as research materials. Their structure was too irregular to make them useful for much of anything else.

Thenio sighed a little. One more reason to resent being born with this stupid chaos affinity....

 

---

 

After lunch, Thenio visited Ariom's workshop for the first time. The house was split into two wings, with the atrium in between them. The north wing was the living area, where the kitchen and bedrooms were located. And the east wing was where Ariom worked. After seeing the rest of the house, Thenio had expected the facilities to be impressive, and he wasn't disappointed. It was everything he could have expected from a grandmaster enchanter's private workshop.

On the ground floor, there was an elegant entrance hall that led into a reception room, where Ariom welcomed clients. He referred to this as the 'pointlessly fancy' part of the house, but it was much less gaudy than Thenio's aunt's house was. His mother had always been envious of her older sister's luxuriously decorated home, but Thenio had never been that impressed by it. Ariom's furniture and decor might not be as flashy, but they were probably more expensive and of higher quality. They were definitely in better taste.

Behind the reception area was the magic circuit analysis lab–a large room full of complicated-looking equipment. Thenio recognized a couple of measuring devices that the doctors had used on him during his examinations at the Stability Center, but most of the machinery was completely unfamiliar.

"I won't explain everything to you right now," Ariom said as they looked into the lab from the hallway. "But don't worry–you'll be spending plenty of time in here during the next couple of weeks. I know you already went through a lot of testing at the Stability Center. They gave me a copy of that data. But I'm an enchanter, not a doctor, so the way I analyze magic circuits is a little different. And going through the analysis process yourself will be a good opportunity to learn how it works. I'd probably have you do it for that reason alone, even if we didn't need the information. But today we're just going to do a basic visual examination of your magic."

Ariom led the way up to the second floor. Thenio was carrying Iggy, who had worn himself out playing tour guide and was now quiet and drowsy-looking. Bero followed along behind them with Humerus sitting on his shoulder. They stopped briefly at the magic reference library so that Thenio could look around it. Then they finally arrived at the workroom.

Unlike the rooms on the lower floor, which were clearly designed for visitors to see, this room had a practical, lived-in feeling to it. The walls were covered with racks of enchanting tools and boards with reference charts and enchanting diagrams fastened on them. The desk and long work table had various papers, tools, and raw materials scattered over them–the evidence of work in progress. There was also a large dragon box set into one wall, equipped with a climbing tower, a basket full of toys, various cushions, and even a small water fountain.

This was probably where Ariom and Iggy spent most of their time.

"Put Iggy in the dragon box for now," Ariom told Thenio as they entered the room. "He's obviously ready for his afternoon nap. The hammock in the corner is his favorite spot. Just leave the door open–he can rejoin us whenever he wakes up."

Thenio carried Iggy into the small glass room. There was a woven hammock with a pile of blankets on top of it that was attached to the climbing tower about halfway up the wall, positioned so that it had a clear view through the window into the workroom. Thenio set the sleepy little dragon down on it, and he promptly burrowed into the blankets, leaving his long black tail hanging out. Thenio smiled and gave the blanket lump a little pat before going back out to the workroom.

"Come sit here." Ariom gestured at a chair next to the worktable. Bero was already sitting in another chair facing it, and Humerus was on the table between them. "We'll start by having you show us the magic training exercises you've been doing."

"Weren't those in my records from the Stability Center?" Thenio asked as he sat down.

"Yes, but we want to observe the flow of your magic while you do them," Bero told him. "I haven't seen you use magic at all yet, and Ariom has only seen a little. Here, let me take your suppression bands off for you. It's better if we see your magic at full power."

Thenio held out his hands and watched while Bero unfastened the leather straps. The suppression bands that the Stability Center had given him had conditional magic locks on them that were set to allow any magic user who knew the right procedure to unlock them...apart from Thenio himself. He could understand why they might not trust a sixteen-year-old boy who had a history of causing explosions. And it hadn't really been a problem since he'd never been very far away from a magic user since he’d started wearing them. But...well. Just the idea of it irritated him a little.

He felt the usual burst of energy as the bands came off, and he closed his eyes and waited for his magic to settle for a minute or two before he started going through his usual exercises. By now, he was pretty used to having people staring at him intently while he used magic, since the doctors at the Stability Center had asked him to do similar things.

Having a dragon skeleton with green fire eyes watching him do his magic exercises felt a little surreal, though....

"Good," Ariom said as Thenio finished the last exercise. "Your magic flow is much more stable than it was when I first saw it. Your magic circuit seems to have healed up pretty well." He looked at his uncle. "What do you think?"

"It's not bad," Bero replied, still looking at Thenio appraisingly. "There are still a few residual scars. But he's young enough that they shouldn't be permanent. The growth of his magic circuit looks quite good...no particular problems with the formation so far.... I used to specialize in magic circuit alteration, back when I worked at the Stability Center," he added in response to Thenio's curious look. "Occasionally, people develop stability problems because their magic circuits don't form properly. It can usually be fixed if it's caught soon enough, but it's a long and painful process. So be glad you don't have to deal with that, at least." He turned to Ariom. "Let's take a look at his reaction to ambient magic."

Ariom picked up a short crystal rod from his desk and handed it to Thenio. "This is just a simple magic torch. You've probably used one before."

Thenio nodded. These were frequently used in beginning magic training. They lit up when infused with magic. The brightness varied depending on how much power you put in, so you had to keep the flow steady in order to keep the light from flickering.

"All right. I want you to focus on keeping the light on. I'm going to be deliberately interfering with your magic, so you'll have a hard time keeping it steady. But that's fine. Just relax and keep your magic flow going. I promise I won't let you go out of control."

"Um...okay...." Thenio couldn't help feeling a little nervous at the idea, but he reminded himself of how easily Ariom had kept his magic in check back at the academy and the impressive control he'd shown in making those water birds fly around the kitchen. Everything would be fine...probably.

He took a deep breath and let a small amount of magic flow into the torch, making it glow with a soft white light. Right. Like that. Just keep it nice and stea–.

Thenio suddenly felt his magic surge wildly. The torch flared brightly and then went out as the magic wave disappeared as quickly as it had come. He stared at it for a moment, not quite sure what had just happened. Then he looked up at Ariom, who was standing next to him.

"See?" Ariom said, patting his shoulder. "It was probably a little startling, but you're still fine, aren't you?"

Thenio nodded slowly. It wasn't pleasant, but it was true that nothing really bad had happened. Then he glanced at Bero and was surprised to see a troubled frown on his face.

"Did I see that right...?" Bero muttered. He turned to Humerus, and the two of them exchanged a long look. Then he looked at Ariom. "Let me see it again. Slower this time."

Ariom nodded and looked at Thenio, who grimaced but obediently lit up the torch a second time. He managed to keep the light steady for about ten seconds before he felt his magic power gradually starting to swell. The light grew brighter until it was painful to look at. Then he felt his magic dissipate again, and the light went out. He blinked a few times and then looked up.

Bero was still staring at him intently, his brow deeply furrowed. "One more time. Go a little more slowly, if you can."

Thenio sighed and lit the torch again. This time, the process took much longer. He felt his magic build up for a few seconds, then it relaxed, and he was able to regain control. Then it swelled up again. Then went down. Then went up....

The light finally flared brightly and went out. Thenio spent a minute trying to blink away the spots floating in front of his eyes. He really hoped Bero wasn't going to ask for another repeat....

He heard a sigh and looked up to see Bero close his own eyes and rub the bridge of his nose. "I get now why you wanted me to come take a look at him." He opened his eyes and exchanged another long look with Humerus. Then they both turned and looked at Thenio again.

"What is it now?" Thenio's voice came out a little higher pitched than he'd intended. This whole scene felt horribly familiar....

Bero's expression softened a bit. "Thenio," he said gently. "You know I'm a necromancer. And that I run a spectral beast farm. I have a Class D magic beast handling license, and I've worked with everything from wisps to chupacabras. My familiar is a revenant who lives in a dragon skeleton and loves bad chicken jokes. So it's fair to say that I'm comfortable with unusual creatures, right?"

"Um...right?" Thenio had no idea where this was going.

"Right. That means whatever your reply to this question is, I won’t think any less of you. So please answer honestly." Bero looked directly into Thenio's eyes. "Are you really human?"

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