The Dragon Kitten

Lady Opaline

The Kingdom of Panamalandia

        Lady Opaline was an amazing friend. Over only a few weeks time, they had become nearly as close as twin sisters.

        Each morning, they would awake to the knocking on Opaline's door. The door would open as a group of maids would scurry in with their morning meal. Karina began consuming gemstone after gemstone, and had grown to a nice size, so her gem intake decreased for health reasons.

        Opaline and Karina would then do something interesting.

        "So, we've got some options for today." Opaline announced in a silly voice, just like she did every morning.

        Karina giggled.

        "We can visit the knights,"

        "You'd sure tighten up their performance." Karina snickered.

        "Oh, hush." Opaline rolled her eyes. It was true. Opaline was one of the most gorgeous and desirable ladies in the whole kingdom.

        "We can make you a lady."

        Karina stuck out her small, pink tongue.

        "Guess not." Opaline laughed.

        "And lastly?" Karina prompted.

        "Or.... I could teach you magic."

        Karina just stared at her, tilting her head slightly down and holding eye contact.

        Without a moment's hesitation Opaline said, "You want to learn magic."

        "Yup!" Karina laughed.

        Opaline rolled her eyes and strode across the room, where three large bookshelves were lined up against the wall. She looked up and down one until her gaze rested on a small, burgundy book. Her eyes glowed turquoise briefly and the book floated in a controlled manner to a marble reading stand in the middle of the room.

        Karina smiled in awe.

        "Now," Opaline announced, her eyes glowing again. The book flipped open to a ruffled, old, yellowed page. "This is how we all start."

        Karina's jaw dropped open in confusion. Her brows knit together and she frowned. 

        "Kidding!" Opaline yelled, sending a small jet of frost at the book. The book froze and broke into small shards of ice. 

        Karina let out a breath of relief.

        "This is what we really use." Opaline fetched a scarlet book with her magic again and placed it on the reading stand.

        The book was big, but to Opaline it could fit in the crook of her arm. Karina, on the other hand, would struggle to hold it.

        Opaline flipped to a nice, creamy colored page and guestured to Karina. "Do you know how to read?" She asked her

        "Well, I can read cat-speak, but I've never tried dragon-speak." She said, a little disappointed.

        "Then I guess I'll just have to teach you." Opaline smiled sympathetically. She pointed to the first letter on the page. "Intro," She said slowly, sounding out all the letters.

        Karina nodded. narrowing her eyes in concentration.

        "To," She continued.

        "Magic!" Karina exclaimed, astonished that she could read the next word.

        Opaline froze. "Keep reading." She insisted.

        Karina shifted forward to see the book a little better. "A manual for first-time magic users." She worded out slowly. "Chapter 1, Finding your Inner Power." She sat back and looked at Opaline with a confused expression.

        "H-h-how?" Opaline stuttered. Karina shrugged.

        "Maybe, because I'm a cat-dragon, I have the speech patterns in my head already."

        "You're incredibly intelligent. How old are you?" 

        "Two months old."

        "Karina, you'll go places."