The Hidden Power

The Spellcaster embraced the Head and they stood like that for several seconds.

"You look well, Celestina... Fabula, you too, " Liam looked out and shouted one last phrase to the snake.

It showed its wriggling red tongue in response.

"What's new in the world, Liam? How long has it been since we've seen each other?" The woman asked.

"Let's talk inside the barrier, I don't think my companion feels safe."

Celestina put her hand on a thread that vibrated in a menacing tone, and Liam and Cal were able to fly inside the barrier. Zhu-Er seemed to be familiar with the snake and walked merrily beside it, occasionally talking to it and getting a response.

Barely moving away from the barrier, they encountered a flock of small dragons frolicking carelessly in pursuit of some snorting beast. The dragons were all of the same species-a diminutive copies of the ones that flew across the sky.

As he followed his new acquaintance, he barely dodged a flock of little ones raising clouds of dust behind them. When the fog cleared, Cal saw a square of identical domed buildings.

"Soldiers live here, " Celestina explained. "And closer to the forest is dragon territory."

"We'd like to see,» Liam asked, and the woman nodded. After skirting the half-sphere camp on the right, they headed toward the forest and walked for about half an hour before they stopped.

Cal stared at the primordial world in all its glory: huge creatures scurried about as far as the eye could see. Some were lying around with big eyes squinting, some were arguing, and some were pulling branches and young trees.

"This is the nesting period. Unfortunate of course, we won't be here long, but about twenty females are ready to breed."

"I'll notify the Protective Society to send help, " the Head nodded.

"You'd better stay away from the nests, stay close to me, " Celestina said, plotting a route.

Cal saw all he wanted to see, and though these dragons couldn't talk like his Legion, they looked intimidating. The color of their skin resembled rain-soaked earth, something between gray and black.

According to the humans' attitude toward them, they were lower-ranked dragons, from which combat squads were formed for a massive attack.

Also, their particular skill, the eruption of spiritual flame, suggested that they were bred as cattle specifically to fight the Swarm. But Cal wasn't sure yet. Besides, these dragons had no masters, and how they were managed, the apprentice hoped to inquire later.

Somewhere nearby, a serious quarrel broke out between the two giants, and they tried to burn each other. However, it didn't work out.

"Hot Guys, " thought Cal, and walked closer to Liam.

But after a moment he fell behind again, staring at a dragon that was completely different from the others. It was smaller and of a different species, so the apprentice didn't notice it right away. The peculiar dragon appeared nearby because of that quarrel. It growled at the instigators in a condemning manner and forced them to disperse.

He was seen to be respected and feared by the other dragons. They gave way to the dragon, bowed their heads, and stopped fighting. Cal looked up so much that he unwittingly got in the way of this dragon, and the next moment they met up close.

The dragon struck the ground with its powerful paw and, scattering the earth and rocks, left a deep furrow in it.

Cal froze in horror, not knowing what to do. The Dragon expected him to flee or die immediately on the spot, but Cal could do neither. Then the Dragon came close, hovering its nightmarish muzzle right over Cal's face so that saliva from its fangs dripped onto his clothes.

"Gross, I'm going to die, " thought Cal, and he didn't budge.

The Head and the Spellcaster, who was watching from the side, did nothing to help their apprentice. Liam deliberately kept the woman from interfering, trusting his inner gut. Meanwhile, the looming beast breathed in the scent of the feisty little man and suddenly snorted.

Smelling him already consciously, the dragon began sneezing and backing away. Cal stared at him dazedly, then lifted his foot off the ground and walked toward the dragon. Seeing the man approaching, the dragon was taken aback.

He had already realized that the scent emanating from him belonged to another dragon of high rank, and, according to the chain of command, he chose to stay out of harm's way. But the man approached with stubbornness and curiosity.

Cal was torn between his desire to escape and a strange lust inside him that he had never felt before.

He wanted to subdue and humble the insolent man in front of him to the point of a toothache. Common sense told him to run, but a strange, overwhelming certainty dictated that he bring the dragon to his knees.

He took a few more steps toward him and reached out, almost touching the dragon's muzzle. His hand treacherously trembled, but the dragon felt even worse. It felt more and more like the overwhelming aura of the unknown man.

Celestina watched in shock as the Dragon Master bowed to the Academy student and dutifully crouched on the ground.

Liam's eyes glittered feverishly as he did so. Cal, meanwhile, experienced an overpowering sense of peace and confidence inside. Fear had completely evaporated.

He calmly placed a palm on the beast's nose and scolded it for drooling. The dragon shuffled from paw to paw. Seeing its dejected state, Kal decided on the ultimate audacity: he jumped on its back and forced it to go wherever Kal wanted.

When the Master of Dragons (a high-level creature capable of controlling low-level dragons) was out of sight, Celestina finally grabbed Liam by the shoulders.

"Liam, what's going on? Who is this man? Can you tell me? I've never seen anything like this before! The only way to subdue a Master is with training and a suppression artifact, but all the artifacts are used by the army... " She seemed to see something fantastic.

"Impressive, really, " the Head said thoughtfully, still staring where Cal stood. "Didn't I tell him he could do better, that he was special? " It seemed like Liam was talking to himself.

"I have to report this to the general! "

"Go ahead, " the Head replied indifferently.

Later, when the apprentice, distraught with excitement, returned to Liam, the Head dutifully waited for him, standing still.

Looking at his joy at what had happened, Liam asked:

"What did you see? Where were you?"

"Did you see what happened? I made that dragon obey me! What an amazing world where dragons obey humans, even though it's not even my dragon. Is it because it's military?"

"No. The dragon you subdued is the Master. He commands all these fire-breathing dragons and leads them into battle. To tame the Master and make him do his bidding required taming him from birth and subduing him with an artifact."

Cal listened with interest to the story without interrupting, but much remained incomprehensible. Liam continued:

"The Master's only authority is Celestina, his Spellcaster. Today you struck her at the heart of it, do you know why?"

Cal was taken aback. He looked from Liam to the Master walking in the distance, unable to put two and two together.

"You mean I broke every law and every rule by submitting him with my bare hands?" Cal said with almost a burst of nervous laughter.

...

"What?" Cal coughed and crouched with his hands on his knees.

Liam looked at his apprentice with a serious frown. On the one hand, he was pleased with the experiment. On the other hand, Liam had personally doomed them to separation. Looking into Cal's eyes with a completely incomprehensible expression, he turned and walked away.

Cal staggered confusedly to follow. He'd just become a hero, and now he felt like a failure. The Spellcaster was waiting for them at the barrier, pacing from side to side with her hands behind her back.

When she passed Liam and his apprentice, Celestina handed them a scroll. Opening it, Cal read of his transfer to the third unit's training camp.

It allowed him to take a dragon or any other combat animal. The document seemed to have a standard form, with only his name inscribed and the general's seal struck.