"Honey!" Nessie says excitedly "How was work?"
"Ugh, tiresome but rewarding." He replied "Who's that?"
"Oh, honey.....this is Kayda. She's going to be staying with us."
He tips his hat "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise." I say softly "May I be excused please?"
"Sure sweetheart." Nessie said
I get up from the table and go back upstairs to go to the bathroom. I closed the door and looked in the mirror again, hoping something about my appearance would change......nothing, still dirty.
I began to turn on the bathwater and watched as it filled up the tub. Then I go inside my room, pulled out a nightshirt and undergarments and went back in the bathroom.
I take my dirty clothes off and got in the tub, then began to clean myself. Then I wash my hair with some sort of shampoo and conditioner. After bathing myself, I see Elliot and Luna in the backyard with their dad.
"He's trying to get their powers to work." Enchinda said "So far, he's doing pretty good. Right now, Elliot is trying to fly and Luna is.....being Luna for now."
I giggle a little then asked "You think he could help me with getting my powers to work?"
"He might. Come on, let's go ask him, but I gotta warn you, he does push you to your limits."
She takes my hand and guides me to the backyard. It's very big and spacious compared to the front yard. Enchinda asked her dad about including me in the training. He takes one good look at me and shrugs.
"Sure, but be prepared." He says
"Good luck Kayda." Enchinda says before grabbing Luna and heading back inside the house
"So Kayda. Right now I'm teaching Elliot to fly. He's trying to reach the top of that bell." He points up to the unusual, curly tree with the bell on it. "I'm trying to determine whether or not you have wings. So go reach the top of that bell."
I make my way to the tree and looked up at Elliot trying to touch the bell, but failed. He's so close, yet so far. I take a deep breath and jumped....nothing happens. I jump up again......nothing. Elliot gently comes down with sweat dripping down his face.
"I've been at this thing for almost an hour now." He says "But I know it's gonna be worth it."
He jumps and he's back in the air again. So I try to fly again......nothing's happening....not yet at least.
"Hmmm." Their dad says "Maybe we should work on transforming.
We step in the middle of the backyard and I watched as he transforms into a gigantic dragon. His scales are white and gray and he had no wings.
"Now you try." He says as he transforms back into a human
I nod and closed my eyes. The only thing that happened was that a tail came out. I then try again and felt a sharp pain in my back. I screamed and got on the ground.
Nessie and Enchinda both ran outside to me.
"Oh no, what happened?" Nessie asked as she picked me up "Baby, don't push her like that....and why is her tail out?"
"We were working on transformation and her tail came out, then she did it again and this time, she was holding her back."
I wiped my eyes and sniffled "I'll be okay."
"Well at least we know she has wings." He said
I quickly put my tail away and dusted myself off. Nessie takes me inside and puts a couple of ice in a towel. She lifts my nightshirt and sees the two bruises. She gently puts the towel on my back. Elliot quickly ran inside the house and checks on me.
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah.....she's fine." Nessie said "Do it still hurt Kayda?"
"You know mom, eventually her wings are gonna have to come out. No matter how painful it's going to get." Enchinda said "We're learning about this in school now and in the textbook it said that it's gonna come out at it's own time. You shouldn't force it."
"You heard that Kayda?" Nessie asked
I nod my head and sighed.
..........
That night, when everyone was asleep, I had a dream that the villagers were coming to get me, and they succeeded. I saw the sharpness of the sword raising above my head then came down with great force. I quickly wake up and gasped deeply.
The room was cold and the only thing I had on the bed was a very thin cover and my blanket. My body was shivering and I blew into my hands. After the fifth time of blowing in my hand, fire came out.
I gasped and did it again, soon more came out. A smile came across my face as I got out of bed and looked out the window. As I looked out into the village, I began to think about my mom and dad and what it would be like to have successfully escaped.
I sighed and went back into the bed with the thought of me being able to breathe fire. The next morning, I see Elliot, Echinda and Luna all ready for school.
"Morning Kayda" Enchinda says "Why are you still in your nightshirt?"
"My um....parents didn't pack me any." I replied softly
"It's okay," Nessie says while coming downstairs "Because you're going to be spending the day with me today."
