Chapter 7

It has been almost four months since I came back and starting learning magic. I have nearly mastered healing magic to a degree far greater than my mother's ability, so she had taught me a few other things. This mainly had to do with breathing fire and hunting. She even went so far as to make me cook my own food. Although that made me really good, I'm not entirely too pleased with her snickering every time I turn food into ash on accident. My father will be home soon, so I'll have to be ready for whatever training he has in store for me. After another few hours of hunting and grilling, the familiar creaking of massive wings made me smile. He's back! I watched him land in the cave with a mixture of joy and regret. I'm not sure what mother meant back then, but it does kinda worry me. He smiled back and tapped my wing with his. I had come to the conclusion that this was their form of a high five. "Something about you seems different...is your mana pool larger than before?" Mana Pool? What's that?

"Mother has been teaching me magic! Look, I can breath fire and use healing magic!" I let my claws glow and puffed out opal flames simultaneously.

"Awesome, but has she taught you to combine them yet? Or light yourself on fire to enhance your power?"

"Uh...no, she didn't even mention those."

"Perhaps another time then. I need to speak with your mother. Where is she?"

I cocked my head. He wants to speak with her? "She might be at the hot springs right now." He nodded to me and left. Must be something important for him to go so quickly. All I know of her location is her mentioning using up the water's heat before it was gone, then disappearing. They'll come back eventually though, so I'm not all that worried. I stared out the cave as he flew away, watching his graceful flight. I had asked my mother about the green dragon Xyon mentioned, and her eyes had filled with intense fear. She had wanted to know if I'd seen that dragon, her tone sharp. I said no, that I'd heard of it mentioned by other animals on my trip. All she told me of the dragon was that it was an enemy of all creatures alive and was to be avoided at all cost. Never said why, just to stay away from that dragon. Maybe she'll explain more when I'm older.

I messed around until nightfall, practicing magic and jumping off ledges to get rid of my fear of heights. It's getting dark...shouldn't they be back by now? I paced in the cave fussily, upset by their long absence. Where are they? Are they okay? I'm not going to be an orphan again, right? I passed out from exhaustion sometime in the middle of the night, only to wake up and discover they still weren't back. I continued on, forcing myself to eat and practice magic. At some point near noon, I discovered I was crying nonstop. I wasn't making any sound, just blinking and having tears stream over my face. It was then that I realized the trauma from my previous life hadn't gone away...but gotten worse. I found it getting harder and harder to breathe or stay still, even my hunger had vanished. There was almost a cloud of despair and terror surrounding and following me constantly. That's right...I had been abandoned before. They had gotten attacked by a mugger which resulted in my mom's death. After that, my dad fell apart and forgot about me and her by going to bars without end.

After consuming too much alcohol, he died in his sleep, on a park bench. Of course, I had been staying home the whole time. The first night I'd had a friend staying for a sleepover, so I wasn't bothered by it. But, after they left, it eventually dawned on me that I was still alone, that my parents hadn't come back yet. I waited patiently like they'd taught me, but that got nowhere. In fact, it was close to two months before social security showed up and took me to an orphanage. A lady with cruel eyes told me the whole story without any restraint, even though I was only six years old. To me, I don't feel like I ever had parents in the first place...I don't even remember who they were. All I know is how they left me and died. I gasped when I noticed the sun was setting. No, no, no...please don't leave me again! I curled up in a fetal position and buried my face under my paws. I couldn't sleep from the stress and just remained frozen like that, hoping beyond hope it wasn't happening again. I faintly remember a rush of air, the soothingly cold touch of icy scales, and the rhythmic beating of a giant heart.