Book 1- The Ark of Time

Chapter 10

"A dragon... Is extremely rare..." The creature approached them. Urging the girl to reach out to it. She pushed through Cyra and Brandon, her hand reaching for the creature's wing. "You're..." Everything else did not exist, it was just them two, standing side by side in the night.
The creature looked at her, its eyes shining in the dim light of the moon, "I am Horace... I can finally reach you, Horatia..." The others watched in silence as they touched, but the moment was cut short when Horatia was pulled out of the window and fell to the ground.
The dragon hoped around, cranking its head down to lick her face, Ruleum and Cyra laughing loudly inside. When the girl got up to pet the creature she looked her in the eyes with a mellowness filling her veins, "How am I supposed to get you inside the house?" The creature pulled back and in a split second, turned into a green snake, making her heterochronic eyes more visible. "You're...!"
"Horatia! Are you alright?!" Cyra ran outside, "Where's the dragon?" Horace turned into a dragon in an instant, "Wha-?!"

An amused look on his face, Brandon watched them interact, "I never thought I would witness a spirit that can shift between forms in my lifetime."
"It sure is rare, probably the first in a few hundred years." Ruleum walked towards the dragon, which soon turned into a snake and began to climb up his leg.
"I would say to get to know your spirit better, but if you don't sleep properly, it will affect you. It's your choice." The blonde watched the boy play with Horace.
Horatia thought about it carefully as the yellow snake rose its head, reaching for the brunette, "I think I'll sleep... I'm exhausted..."

Cyra sat next to her as she fell asleep, the snake curling around the girl's neck and shoulders as she closed her eyes.
"I asked Brandon earlier to make some medicine that could help you sleep better." Cyra turned to the bed stand and picked up a cup with a strange, thick, purple liquid that tasted bitter, "I even checked the recipe, so don't worry, it's not poison..." The woman took the cup away from Horatia and placed it on the bed, "Good night."
"Good night..." She couldn't talk properly, the effects of the medicine tugging her into sleep. Her mind clearing, she slipped into the deepest parts of her mind; a lake, not a ripple to be found on its surface. The blurred images and inaudible sounds tried to sneak in, but that's all they remained as: blurry, inconceivable visions.

When Horatia woke again, the sun outside was high in the sky, so she checked the time. To her surprise, it was well the afternoon when she woke up. The girl jumped out of bed, startled to find the snake that wrapped around her shoulders, "There's a snake!" She slipped and fell, hitting her head on the desk at the foot of her bed.
Heavy footsteps approached quickly, "Horatia?! What's wrong?!"

Cyra burst in, her little brother behind her with a look of worry, "Did you hit your head?" They helped her up.
Horatia nodded, "Yeah, my bad... I forgot about Horace and got frightened when I woke up with her around my neck."
The boy sighed, "You should be more careful! I thought you were attacked again!"
"I will be, but don't worry, I doubt I would be attacked here with you guys around me."
"You should still be careful though! We won't always be around you to help."

That's when it struck Horatia, she was pretty much useless in a fight, she had barely mastered her spells, and she couldn't even fight with her swords, "Yeah, you're right."
Ruleum walked by her side out of the room, "Talking about that, you still have to train, you only started on the weekend so I didn't even expect you to do all of the stuff you have been doing over the past few days." He looked back at his sister, "Hey, can you train her?"
"Me? Why me?"
The boy stopped in the middle of the living room, "Well... You've worked with swords more than anyone else in the house, that's why I'm asking."
The woman thought about it for a second, "I would love to, but my weapon is not even similar to a sword, how am I supposed to train her?"
"Yeah, but like I said, you have the most experience in sword fighting, I can't teach her because I have never properly learnt it, but you have."
Ruleum smiled, trying to encourage Cyra while she thought, "Okay then, since I'm the only one who has learnt swordsmanship, I will do it!" The woman grabbed Horatia's wrist in excitement, "But first we eat!"
"Of course." The girl sat down at the table, feeding herself too much food again during lunch.