The Unlikely Hero

Chapter 26. Trained by the Enemy

I bit my lip in concentration as I carefully poured a bright baby blue potion at the base of a huge rock. I took great care not to splash it upon myself as I had little wish to go up in flames. According to Ralph's instructions, I should set the potion on fire and the reaction would cause an explosion. This was actually our fifth attempt. All the previous ones had some minor... drawbacks. I frowned as I thought back to the one that burst in flames in my hands as soon as I uncorked the bottle. Ralph claimed it must have had an unforeseen reaction with the fresh mountain air. I was merely glad I was on good terms with fire and it decided not to burn me too badly. Elek would have had a fit if he had seen me all scorched and black from fumes. I sighed as I watched the last droplet of the blue goo sizzle down to the ground. I missed Elek. He was a good friend. Is a good friend. And will remain as such, despite his obvious hatred for demons and relentless pursuit of my imminent death. Huh.

These days, I was slowly coming to terms with my newfound race and, strange as it may sound, it was Pete's lesson that had helped me. I had heeded his advice and decided to just let it go. He was right, after all. I had always held back as my fire affinity would scare other people. Even back in the Academy, the teachers would look at me funny and the other students would whisper and giggle behind my back. I tried to not let it get to me, but it did, nevertheless. There were only a few fire-unrelated spells I could do proficiently and I had worked night and day to learn them, pushing myself to the very edge of my capabilities. On the contrary, fire came easily to me, too easily. According to the Academy teachers, fire was the hardest to control out of all the elements. There were few magicians that could specialize in this fiery element – it simply did not listen to their calls, not to mention that fire magic was frowned upon and deemed to be of demonic origins. To me, however, fire always came unbidden. I would often wake in bed, flames hovering above me, dancing around as if inviting me to play with them. Whenever I did, it would throw my family into a hysterical fit. No wonder they were happy to give me away to the Academy.

My strangely comforting, yet, deadly fire. As a child, I was intrigued. In my teens, I became afraid. And only now was I coming to terms with it. Curiously, the fire seemed to know that. I had woken up last night with fire bouncing and leaping in my room as if in celebration. It was a sight to behold and for a moment I had freaked out. But then I realized, it meant no harm, not to me, anyways. Friendly fire? Now I've heard of everything, I had mused back then. I had wondered if it was my demonic blood or my new status as a dragon that caused this strange relation and then decided I did not care. I would take what was given without much complaint. A curse or a gift, it was a skill of mine now and I would put it to good use.

The parting words of Tanek the Bubble also taught me to accept things as they came. It was hard knowing I could not change what happened and if the future I was to see in my visions would be as bleak as the past, it was the last thing I'd want to observe. Yet, there was little I could do but come to terms with it and I had decided to cross that bridge when I came to it.

Smiling in determination I nodded my head and took a step back to survey my work. A large blue puddle was stretching along the rock, fizzling and sputtering, bubbles rising and popping constantly. Eyeing the slightly hostile looking goo suspiciously, I drew back slowly, musing if this one was gonna blow up in my face somehow, too. I wondered why Ralph's concoctions seemed to constantly backfire in the weirdest of ways. A few days ago, the elf had gleefully given me a bag full of various potions of his own making claiming they would be irreplaceable in a battlefield. I did not have the heart to tell him I was too scared to try them out.

Having backed away from the target rock sufficiently enough, I looked around for a place to hide. No way was I gonna blow it up while standing in an open field. I was back to the same rocky mountain I had met Pete previously at. It was the day we were supposed to meet but I had no idea when. He never specified the time, the arrogant bastard.