Chapter Twenty Four - A Connection?

Reaching forward to the Dragon's scaly chin it didn't feel hard like he imagined more of a soft skin feel which was strange. He could feel the warm breath rush over his skin. He could smell the bad breath. The eyes of the dragon felt like they peered into his soul.

Even if it was a dream he could feel the magic in the air, it was built up like static against his skin. He couldn't take his eyes off the majestic dragon in front of him, as his hand touched the scales of it, a feeling of the magic in the air rushed into his chest and down his arm, connecting him and the dragon.

He saw everything the dragon saw, which was just him in a black world. The only light that was even glowing in the world shone was himself, the light was pouring out of his skin and along his arm and into the dragon.

Only able to guess this was magic he was dumbstruck. The dragon blinked and all of a sudden he was back in his own body looking up at the dragon again in awe. The dragon looked into his eyes, he felt like they had a connection of some sort but couldn't figure out what.

"Come back to me." A deep voice rumbled out of nowhere before the darkness enveloped them and he woke up in sweats. The ring on his chest burning against his skin but whenever he tried to pull the ring away it felt like it got hotter.

His lips were cracked from breathing through only his mouth while he was asleep. Sweat dripping down his back, when he looked outside he saw the sun hadn't yet risen but the moon had gone down.

The room was frozen, he could see his breath in the rooms space. Deciding he needed to have a bath he left the hut and walked out to the lake, grabbing some clothes to change into afterwards. Taking off his armour and letting it fall to the ground.

Taking small steps into the freezing lake, his body shaking a little from the cold but powering into it, by the time the water reached his waist his teeth were chattering. Wishing it was warmer he could only close his eyes and take bigger steps to get the bath over with, the only pleasure coming from it was knowing that he was getting clean.

When the water hit finally hit his chest and covered the ring, he felt it heat up again. A light glowed out from it. The heat making bubbles start to come up to the surface of the lake. Noah closed his eyes and let it heat him up along with the small area around the ring.

As he closed his eyes he was easily able to feel the magic coming out of the ring, small red particles vibrating in the water and swirling around it. He tried to reach out and pull the particles around him alone instead of the ring, willing it.

He could feel the water around him heat to a lukewarm temperature, making it easier for him to bathe and wash. Opening his eyes looking down at the ring he had taken into his had, he thought he heard a thump, a strong beat against it.

Clasping his hand around the ring he could hear the beat louder.

Thump - Thump - Thump

His hand felt like the ring pulsed heat out with each beat, he had flashbacks to his dream and the grey dragon that stood proudly when he first opened his eyes in it.

"Noah! That's the sun rising, go hunt breakfast after that bath." His master came out of nowhere and was only a few metres from the shore of the lake. Standing there watching Noah like a hawk before turning and leaving.

Noah let go of the ring and shouted back, "Yes, Master!"

Losing his concentration of the magic particles around himself, instead of it losing control it was all sucked back into the ring and it was as if nothing ever happened. The water was suddenly freezing and Noah was back to shivering nearly just as fast as the magic had been vibrating.

Quickly getting out and drying off against one of the spare pieces of clothes he brought before putting them on, returning to the house to get a knife and go hunting.

A few hours later -

Noah was plucking one of the two birds he had somehow managed to catch with just a knife, he was making sure there were no feathers left on it for when he cooked it. After stripping it down, he used the metal poles from the previous night to cook it over a fire his Master had set up while he was away.

On his seat, Quin looked at Noah with a piercing glare. Little to Noah's knowledge he was inspecting him with a magic spell, letting him see Noah's bones. To his surprise, they had healed overnight.

Something that not even the greatest healer would be able to do for him overnight, even with the help of the most expensive portions available from the Mage Academies or Dragon Troopers research developers.

Noah was cooking the birds over the fire when he noticed his Masters glare, thinking he was just hungry he offered the other bird to Quin, who turned him down with a pained smile.

"Noah, did something happen to you last night?" holding his hands together and squeezing them trying to keep his curiosity at bay.

After finishing swallowing a piece of bird he did his best to answer his Master, "Well, after I ate the second rabbit I quickly fell asleep. In my dream, there was only a grey dragon and myself. It stood at least 7 or 8 metres tall. It was huge. I reached out and touched it, then I saw myself through its eyes before my perspective changed again and I was me. That was all that happened." Shrugging his shoulder's. Noah kept the cold sweat and ring a secret, he did not want to seem crazy to his Master.

Quin kept quiet, looking at Noah wondering if he was keeping his mouth shut about something but hiding it. Slapping his hand against his knee, "Oh well. It seems whatever happened during the night has healed your hands."

Quickly turning his hands up to face him he noticed it too before asking Quin, "Did you heal it for me Master? This happened the night before as well."

"Ah yes, I was just checking you noticed. We might be able to do some light training after all." Not telling Noah that he had nothing to do with it, but it was something that made him more curious about Noah even more.

A silence fell in the room, the fire crackling was the only thing that was making even a sound. Quin had moved his hand to his chin, scratching it. Noah finished the last of the birds before settling and looking at Quin exquisitely ready to learn more about magic and how it works.

Seeing the enthusiasm from Noah, he couldn't help but laugh to himself knowing he had a good student. He thought about what he could teach Noah before settling on some meditation techniques...