A Perfect World

Chapter 22

"You're not afraid of fire, are you?" Temmy asks, holding the jelly-like shell in her hands, in a tone that tells me something is definitely up.

"What? No, of course not, why?" I barely finish what I'm saying before the skin of the potion breaks, the liquid inside washing over me, but I remain dry, as well as the floor around my feet.

"Fire Master Potion. Gives you the ability to control, start, and put out fires almost at will, and only sets what you want on fire. Try it!"

"How does it work?" I ask hesitantly, not wanting to make a fool of myself by doing something that, if I knew anything about magic, wouldn't make sense.

"However you want it to. It's more of a mental spell than anything, but sometimes using gestures helps." She says with an amused smile.

At first, I just form small, candle-like flickers on my fingertips, amusing both myself and Temmy as I flick them around on my hands. Soon, they evolve into softball-sized flames, leaving trails of smoke and tails of fire as I toss them around. I toss one at Claire, dissolving it into smoke before it hits her. I experiment with it until I manage to change the color of the flames, hypnotized by the rolling colors flicking off the ends of the flames in whisps. Temmy throws a hot, purple flame about the size of a rat at me and I put out the lime green flame in my hands to catch it, throwing it back toward her, but not letting go. It takes the form of a Chinese dragon, flying around the room, then coming back to me and melting into a ball again.

the Fates seem confused and surprised, staring at me like I had done something wrong. I let the flame go out and ask with a nervous laugh, "What did I do? Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?"

"You've never seen a real dragon, have you?" Mascherry asks in a tone that I can't place.

"No, I guess not, but they aren't real. I mean, if they were we'd have documents of them."

"We need to take them. Now." Chay says in a firm, almost joking, voice.

"Fine, but we can't stay long. Matanakia probably won't appreciate us dropping in so unexpectedly, especially with these particular guests." Temmy says.

"Matanakia is a pack leader, I take it?" I say, not meaning to say it out loud, but seeing no reason to take it back now that it had been said.

"Matanakia is the Alpha of the Tidedian Clan, and he lives in the forest on the south side of the mountain with his mate, Nania, and the female Alpha of the Clan. He doesn't care much for mortals unless he can eat them, but if you're with us he won't hurt you." Chay says brightly.

"I personally would like to get some sleep before we meet dragons, and it sounds like arrangements should probably be made first, so I vote we wait until morning at least," Emory says, a smoky snake twisting quickly up and down her arms.

"I second that," I say raising one hand, the other occupied by a green flame tipped with gold, the center twisting around just right to seem to create the form of an egg.

"Aye," Claire says, fidgeting with a pink stone.

"If you're going to see dragons, you may as well meet the other Makafi that live around here too," Temmy says, a tiny blue flame dragon crawling up through her wavy, red hair to perch on her head, before gliding down to the ground and clambering up my pants and shirt to rest on my shoulder. It vanishes with a wave of Temmy's hand.

"Makafi?" Claire asks, setting the gem down.

"It roughly translates to 'Great Beast' or 'Powerful Protector'. It is, more or less, just a more respectful, praising term for creatures like dragons and griffins," Mascherry clarifies for us, "You girls should probably get some sleep now."