Dragon Mage
Chapter 1
I took one step into the room and felt my grandmother's gaze raking in my messy hair, the twin snake-bites placed ostentatiously in my bottom lip, the too big t-shirt that I loved sleeping in and the black tweety bird boxers that I got as a gift from my mom when I was 12.
I flopped down unceremoniously at the table and peered at her from under my thick black fringe. My grandmother just watched me amicably.
Her attitude began to annoy me, in fact everything about living with her irritated me. Don't get me wrong, I USED to love visiting my gran, her house had a certain charm to it, but ever since my mom put me under house arrest here, it's become more like a prison, which I guess is exactly what she intended. Unconciously I began stroking the dragon tattoo that was emblazoned on my right arm.
"That tattoo is going to be magnificent." My grandmother's voice broke me from my reverie. I looked up into her smiling face and was stunned by how beautiful she was. Even at the age of 65 she had an untold youthfulness that danced about her, especially when she smiled. But even with her long (and still completely black) hair, perfectly straight nose and strong defined mouth, the thing that you noticed the most about her was her eyes. They were stunning, large and almond shaped and a pale violet in colour. The longer I stared the more I felt myself being drawn into their strangely warm and immeasurable depths... I shook my head snapping myself out of my daze and quickly looked away before I could be snared by her hypnotic gaze again.
"Guess you're the only one who thinks that." was all I offered as a reply.
I absently started swirling my spoon in my branflakes. I mean, come on! Branflakes?? This was just cruel! Not only was I expected to live in a forest where there was no signal, no malls, no guys, no cars, insane levels of humidity and tons of bugs, now I was also expected to eat this junk? What happened to good ol' Coco Pops, with their oh-so-chocolatey goodness?
Personally I think my punishment is a bit extreme for a tiny little dragon tattoo on my forearm that no-one would ever see anyway...
My gran cleared her throat and looked and me purposefully.
Shit. I guess she'd been saying something.
"You're more like me than I imagined!" she laughed then continued, "Leila, your mother means well, and I'm ecstatic that she sent you to me instead of to some godforsaken boarding school... Lord knows that that woman is uptight, I honestly can't see how she's my child."
I had to smile at that. Grandmama was so different from my mom in all her ways, in fact, they were complete opposites.
"She definitely took after your grandad more, stubborn old bastard he was, loved him to pieces though." she continued, "Both of them, so set in their ways... But you need to remember, she is your mother and you need to respect her opinions as well."
"Yes, grandmama" I replied as a sudden thought occured to me. "Gran, did you ever get a tattoo when you were younger?"
"Don't tell your mother," she whispered to me conspiratorially, "but when I was your age I got a tattoo of a phoenix on my calf." Her eyes were twinkling, "My mother didn't care half as much as yours does. Let's just say it was sort of a family tradition to get tattoos, until your mother came along that is."
"Do you think I could see it?" I gasped excitedly.
She twitched her skirt and exposed her bare leg, Sure enough, there was a beautiful flaming bird entwined around her ankle, up her calf all the way up to her thigh.
"It's amazing!" I whispered emphatically as my eyes trailed the delicate tendrils of the birds flaming body. She winked at me and began to butter some rye toast.
"Why don't you spend today exploring the forest some more, there has to be some part of it you havn't discovered yet." she said with a warm smile.
"Good idea." I smiled back, my spirits considerably lifted. I walked to the sink and dumped my empty cereal bowl in it. Just as I turned to leave I took one last glance back at the phoenix and I could've sworn I saw it turn it's head and look at me. My grandmother noticed my shocked expression and winked at me again. Stunned, I walked out of the backdoor and into the familiar embrace of the forest.
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{{*Currently working out the kinks, so sorry if the versions are constantly changing +peace!+ *}}
