The Candlestick People

Chapter 6

 This is where I started. Want to know how this ends? Me too. I wake up in a grove of white trees with black stripes. I realize that they are Ashen trees. I look around. There is a small orb lying on the ground next to me. I peer at it. It is luminescent green, red, blue, purple and yellow, and seems to have something inside it. I inch closer to see it better. I pick it up, and it suddenly blasts into a million pieces. As I am showered with the shards, I feel something move in my hands. I wring my hands. I hear a sudden voice cry inside my head. I stand up quickly. Who's there? I ask. I heard you in my head!

Susan? Is that you, finally? The voice asks. You do know you have to name me, right?

No! What are you, then? I ask.

I am your familiar, a dragon. And you just threw me.

Oh. Sorry, uh... Wow, I have to think of a name for you. I apologize. I go over and pick her up. She has red and has gold on her head and wings, and her claws are pearl white.

Yes. Now, where are we? She asks.

I draw myself back to the conversation. We are in the woods. Why do you ask? I reply.

We need to find our way to - Quiet! I hear someone coming! She warns.

Who? I ask

I don't know, so be quiet and hide! She reprimands me.

Okay, sheesh. I purse my lips.

I hide under a bush nearby. I hear crashing over to the right. I duck.

The crashing gets closer and closer, then finally, someone walks into the clearing. "Okay, Susan, you can come out now," a voice says.

What should I do? I ask.

He knows your name. You might as well go ahead. My friend replies.

How do you know it is a 'he'?

They think different, the dragon says

You can hear his thoughts?

No, just the feel of them. Now go.

I inch out of the bush. I look at the boy.

"Hi again, Susan," Sawyer says. He grins. "So where's your familiar?"

"Here. You always pop up at the most random times, Sawyer," I pull her out of my hair. She somehow managed to climb into it.

So you know this Sawyer.

Yes.

How? She says slowly.

He has a crush on me and left me notes. Then he went into my bedroom.

Wow. It makes sense that you didn't mention this before, she says sarcastically.

I had a lot on my mind, okay?

Fair enough, she answers.

"What's her name?" Sawyer asks.

"I don't know yet," I reply. "Hey, why did you say that before?" I ask. I might as well get some answers out of him now.

"What?"

"That you were surprised I could see you," I inform him.

"You know how your Candlestick was blown out?" he asks insensitively.

"Yes."

"When it was blown out, you came here instead of dying." He affirms.

"How did your candle come to be blown out?" I say pointedly.

"That's not- Oh. Sorry. I was rude," he apologizes. He looks at his feet, blushing. He looks like he is fighting a smile

"Yes. I noticed." I say airily. "Us girls notice these types of things." I laugh.

He laughs back. "That was masterful backhanded teasing right there," he says.

He's right, you know. You are a master. I think we are going to get along quite well. Ashlic grins, which is reasonably hard for a dragon.

Thanks. "Well, so where are we? And what happens when your candle is blown out?" I ask Sawyer.

"You come here. If you "die" for, let's say violent reasons, you do die. Anyways, we are in the Familian world," he says proudly.

"Ah. And where's that?" I ask, smiling.

"Oh. Sorry. You know how we used to be in Canle?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"When your candle blew out, everyone thought you died, but instead you came here. This is where you go after your candle dies. Now, you have a familiar, instead. Apparently, yours is a dragon," Sawyer explains.

I think for a moment. "Where's your familiar?" He smiles at me. His eyes go distant for a moment. I hear rustling. I look to my right, where the rustling is coming from. I see a fox come out of the brush and it walks up to Sawyer, brushing against his leg. He barks, startling me. He is a soft red, with green eyes.

Sawyer translates, "He says that you are lovely." He smiles. He looks at the fox. "This is Figi. Figi the Fox. But, if you want him to be able to talk to him without me translating, you need to go to Gunther," he says.

Ask him who that is.

I already was going to. "Who?" I ask him.

"You'll see," he says, looking smug. "Come on." Fiji runs ahead and looks back at us. Sawyer runs at lightning speed to him. "Well, you coming?"

"How did you run so fast?" I gape.

"When you get a familiar, you get traits from it, like how you can turn into a dragon, a human, or a mixture of both. I can do the same with a fox. I'm in my human form so that you get used to it." He instantaneously grows ears and a tail. "See? You try."

Do you know what he's talking about? I ask Ashlic.

Yes. Imagine yourself as you dreamed of like a dragon. She instructs.

Did you know about that? I ask.

Yes. Now imagine.

I close my eyes and concentrate. It's not working.

Now say my name.

Ashlic. I feel a force of power rush through me. I feel myself grow as I become larger. I look down at Sawyer. Then I look at myself. I am huge! I have a long tail with feathers at the end of it. My immense wings are the sky in the morning. My golden talons are as sharp as swords. I launch myself in the air as Sawyer shouts for me to come back. I fly as high as I dare and dive straight at him.

He jumps back a few feet. I change back into a human and start laughing at him. "Hah!" I change into a mixture. "Wait. Sawyer, why does this feel more, well, normal?" I probe.

"Stop laughing! I've never seen a dragon before, much less such a magnificent one. Anyway, your dragon is a part of you now, which is why you're used to this form more. Because you are half-dragon," he says.