Chapter 4

Poseidon

Rats scamper away from the disturbance in the alley.

A pair of leather shoes land squarely in a puddle, causing the surface to churn and roil, reflecting insignias.

A silver gyrehawk, its wings bristling as it screams, wings extended in display.

The small crimson cover of the quarry seems to bleed into the wind and blows this way and that according to her movements. The battalion following close behind.

"Cut her off! She's heading towards the main road!"

Or so they thought.

From above, the same crimson cloaked individual made minuscule hand movements from above, hiding in the shadows, staying out of sight.

The form below turns a sharp corner, heading into a darkened alley.

The individual on the roof snaps her hand closed and throws it to the side.

The girl on the ground dissolves into the air as the guards round the corner. They stand there confused for a moment as they scout the passageway. The crimson figure smiles a touch as she extends her hand again. This time towards another alley.

The same girl appears again in another alley. The illusionist on the roof gives a whistle and the guards turn to see the illusion running down the opposite direction.

They hesitate for a moment, wondering how their quarry had deceived them, then they charge down the passage, following the illusion.

The figure on the black tiled roof smiles and lets her illusion run a little father, watching its cloak billow and the guards chase it with shouts.

A hand claps over her mouth and snatches her hand. The cloaked girl lets out a muffled shout as she is dragged over the ledge to the roof itself.

"Gotcha! You're a slippery one, but you can't cast more than one illusion at a time, can you, Misty?"

Misty struggled against the iron grip of the captain of the battalion. This is not the way she would go down.

Quickly, she squirmed enough until she was able to bite down on his index finger.

She didn't stop until she tasted blood.

Cursing for a moment, the captain dropped Misty. Misty scrambled towards a corner which she could use as an advantage, flipping out her switchblade.

"Captain," she said with crystal clarity, "I warned you to never touch me again! Now look at what you've done to yourself! You're bleeding. I can make the rest of your face go along with it if you'd like. Imagine it, captain. You might start a new trend among your men! And it would all be thanks to me, wouldn't it?"

The captain lunged towards Misty, but she backstepped and sliced at his ear, leaving a thin nick where a multitude of other scars lay.

"Nuh ah, Captain. You always pull that same move. Tsk tsk. I'm getting bored by your lack of variation. Six years and you still haven't caught me? What a shame. I think I'm starting to learn all of your tricks."

Suddenly, Misty was in the air, her cloak hanging loosely and dangling by one foot. Her switchblade lay open on the black clay shingles.

"No variation, huh? Have you ever seen this one before?"

"This one is new." Misty said cooly. "You must be strong, mustn't you? I am thirteen after all. Captain, I don't think you know this, but I have a Spirit. You shouldn't mess with me, or I'll send it after you. And you would not like that, would you?"

Misty gestured toward the mark on her face. Three claw marks drawn in with charcoal. Internally, Misty hoped the bluff was enough.

"Spirit, eh? We'll see about that."

The captain scooped up the switchblade and slid down the drainpipe to the ground.

"I got her, boys!" He gave a shout.

"We got her too!"

The rest of the battalion came out of the alley dragging Misty's illusion by the arm. She too, had the mark of the dragon.

"This is the real one." Said the Captain.

"Are you sure?" Asked the one holding the illusion, "They look the bloody same to me!"

"Stab her, you'll see."

Reluctantly the man gave a shrug and stabbed the illusion through the back.

Crimson streamed from the girl and she screamed. Finally, she shuddered as she went limp.

Both the captain and the battalion were speechless.

The Captain holding Misty was the first to speak.

"Did_ could she talk to you?"

"Yes sir, she shouted off a whole stream of curses and begged innocence before we brought her to you."

Misty felt herself dropped to the ground.

A cold knot sat in her stomach as she realized what she had done. She dropped the illusion around the girl and set it upon herself, making her appear as if she had dissolved as her illusions could.

A little girl with fiery red hair and jade eyes looked blankly towards the heavens.

Misty had inadvertently killed her.

She had killed an innocent.

And the child's mother would never know until the captain showed up.

It wasn't right. The girl shouldn't have died for her.

She never expected the guard to do something so drastic.

If she could take it back, she would have done something else.

No one would die for her.

Not again.

Never again.

Misty lowered her illusion and ran towards the girl in a stupor, earning the battalion's attention.

The captain growled at her.

"Now look at what you've done! You did this yourself! You purposely killed her! I have so many pegs on you now, you'll never see sunlight again! Now come along quietly, or you'll join this girl."

Misty only kneeled at the girl's side, hardly paying attention to the Captain. For once, she would do the right thing. For once, she would take the rightful blame. No more hiding.

'No one will have to die for me ever again.'

She felt the weight of the manacles as they were clasped on her wrists and the same feeling as it clicked around her neck.

'No escape. No more mistakes. No more death.'

She heard the sound of someone stepping behind her and a sword being unsheathed.

'No more mistakes. No more death.'

There was a searing pain in the back of her head and Misty cried out as she fell to the cobbled street.

'No more death'

The world blurred and blinked out of existence.

'Veronica.'

...

Frigid cold water splashed over Misty's face.

Immediately, she was thrown out of her stupor.

"Well well, you're awake. Good. You have an important day today."

"Didn't I just get here?" Misty said groggily.

"Sure," said the person, who, as Misty could now make out, was the Captain, "but just because you are a convict doesn't mean you don't have a purpose. It's quite obvious that you are adapt with illusions. The military has much needs of your ability. And that dragon mark didn't bluff. See? It's already washing away, just like your chances of survival."

Misty looked down on her clothes. Sure enough, the black charcoal was washing onto her cape. It would not show on her clothing, for they too were made of leather and as black as night.

"So you're going to draft me? You're just going to send me away as soon as you've caught me? You have no ambitions, did you know that?"

The captain suddenly was nose to nose with Misty.

"I don't think you understand, hostage, I do not get to choose what happens to you, I can only give my input. If I had the choice, you wouldn't even be in ropes, you would be in shackles and placed in the deepest dungeon we have. As it is, like you stated truely for once, you are thirteen. That is old enough to be drafted, no matter what you think."

"And what war or fight am I to be fighting in? Last I heard from local gossip, Jina is not in any current military strife. Why would you need me on the front if there is no war to be fought?"

The captain smiled as he backed away.

"Who said that we were fighting with another country?"

The door gave a creak as it opened once again.

'Elders? What on earth...?'

"You, Misty, are thirteen. We had to double and triple check Conlim's records, but you really are who you say you are. And, as we discovered, you have not undergone your Ceremony. That is why the elders are here. You better pray for a Spirit, Misty. If you fail..."

The Captain leered in again, "Let's say that you'll be out of Conlim's hair for the rest of your days."

Misty shuddered as the Captain backed away again.

The elder's stepped forward and began the Ceremony, skipping the niceties of the legend. Obviously the captain wanted her punishment to come as quickly as possible.

The knife came and went, drawing blood and marking the symbols.

Nothing.

From the door, the Captain smiled as he waved forward a group of guards. They ushered the elders out and snatched Misty by the shoulders, walking her in front of them.

She struggled for but a moment. At least, until the captain came to her.

"Stay submissive, and you won't have to be sent to sleep again. You need all the energy you can get, without trying to fight the inevitable at the same time."

It felt like a dream.

A dream which became the nightmare as Misty was thrown into a thin sheen of water, disturbing the algae which floated at the surface.

Misty whipped her head back towards the door, her short ebony hair sticking to her forehead, but the door was already closed and she could hear the click of a key as it was locked into place.

She was a prisoner now.

Shivering, Misty waded through the mire to a rotting wooden bench on the opposite end of the room.

There wasn't even any light, save for a flickering pattern from underneath the cell door where a torch must be on the other side.

Squinting a little, Misty raised a quivering hand.

A faint pink luminescent ball of light floated two inches in front of her hand and silently burned, illuminating the room a little further.

It was a completely cylindrical chamber, with several levels of rooms above where she sat. This one cell may have been a whole tower before it collapsed.

Misty could now see bits and pieces of wood shrapnel floating around and she shifted, earning a creak from the bench.

Misty shook harder as she felt her mental focus draining.

The light sputtered for a moment, then went dark.

Misty was left alone in the darkness again, with the quiet sloshing of the water lapping against her feet and unknown things swimming across the chamber.

Misty massaged her arm and each finger, which were beginning to cramp from the effort of creating and sustaining the deceivingly realistic illusion.

At least she wasn't always alone.

Misty flicked her finger and a small child appeared in the corner.

The girl with the ginger hair.

The one she killed.

With a choked cry, Misty slashed a hand through it, making it disappear.

She was haunted enough as it was, she didn't need any other ghosts.

Misty brushed back sopping wet strands of raven hair and attempted to recline on the bench.

A crack and the bench collapsed, dumping Misty into the water.

She sputtered as she stood up again. There was no hope of being dry now.

The water lapped at the level of her ankles, seeming to pull her in a certain direction.

Misty leaned up against a cobbled wall, going against the tide. She had slept on her feet before. She could do it again, especially if this was how she was to live from now on.

She looked down at the water again, and her eyes widened.

The level was rising.

It was now at her calves.

Terrified, Misty stomped through the water, trying to get to the door. The water level continued to rise, now at her knees.

She was at the door now, and she pounded on it.

"The water level is rising! I can't get out!"

She got a response.

"Sure kid, nice try. That's a new one. I wonder how you pulled sound illusion off. I've heard it's difficult to master."

"It's not an illusion! It's real! Please let me out! I can hardly stand!"

This was true, the water was now at Misty's chest and beginning to lap at her chin. The water was beginning to spill through the keyhole, but the flow was too slow, it was still coming too quickly.

The guard gave a shout and cursed once.

"What the blazes? You just got me all wet!"

Misty couldn't hear him anymore, she was rising to the second level, treading water as best as she could.

She rose a second floor.

A third.

The roof was just above her now and the water showed no signs of stopping in its increase.

She bumped the ceiling.

With a final gasp of air, she went under.

Her vision was tinted blue green as she gazed around the area. It was surprisingly clear of debris now and she could clearly spot a window on the other side which was made of glass and reinforced with iron bars.

Misty forced herself towards the windows and with a kick, launched herself towards the glass.

She made contact, and the glass cracked. Again, she made a strike, but it wasn't enough.

Misty was losing air. Black spots danced in her vision.

She extended a hand and an illusionary bubble appeared.

It was flickering and Misty was drained enough as it was, but the bubble floated her way and she managed to grab a gulp of air before it flickered out.

Were her illusions getting better?

She smashed at the glass of a few more moments.

The glass shattered.

Water rushed out of the newly created gap and flowed outside.

It still wasn't enough, the water level still wouldn't go down.

This time, Misty was too weak to conjure another illusion.

She stopped swimming and began to sink, bubbles escaping her lips.

The dark spots appeared again, darker than before.

A shadow flickered on the edge of Misty's vision, accompanied by a high pitched ringing throughout the depth of the water.

The sound bounced around in Misty's head as her lungs began to burn for want of air.

A vibration echoed through the tower and suddenly Misty was falling... falling.

Misty couldn't continue holding her breath.

She exhaled her last bit of air and tried to take in new.

Air rushed into her lungs as she coughed.

Misty fell onto her her back, knocking the wind out of her.

As she strained again to bring air in, a shadow draped over her prostrate form.

A shadow with giant wings.

Misty looked up and saw the impossible standing above her.

A giant Blue dragon towered over her, its glistening cerulean scales wet with water and green algae. The wings that Misty thought that she had seen were a pair of delicate, translucent looking webbing which seemed to be made of water. It's eyes couldn't seem to settle on a shade of blue, swirling around a thick pupil which dilated smaller the longer the dragon looked at Misty.

'Who are you, human? Why are you special?'

Misty sat up suddenly and the dragon snorted with surprise.

'Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now.' The dragon said, baring serrated teeth.

"My question is, who are you? How did I get out of the tower? You rescued me! You tell me why I'm special!" Misty retorted.

The Blue dragon puffed up its frill, making his head look twice the size as before.

'You impudent, puny_'

"Tell me! You wouldn't be insulting me right now if I weren't special. You said yourself. You would kill me!" Misty reasoned.

For a few moments, all Misty could hear was the rushing of the water coming out of the tower and the heavy breaths of the giant Blue dragon before her. Finally, the dragon growled and Misty heard its thunderous voice as it looked at something on Misty's arm.

"What? What are you looking at? If you're going to kill me, do it now. I never liked people who toyed with their food before eating it!" Misty hid her arm.

The dragon looked at Misty, inquisitive.

'You cannot see it?'

"See what? The failure that is me? What are you trying to make me see?" Misty was almost shouting.

The dragon tipped its head.

'I wonder...' It muttered softly.

Misty was about to turn and run, but the dragon seemed to sense her thoughts and lashed out a watery wing to stop her.

Misty touched the wing as it curled around her escape. It was cool to the touch and as smooth as the inside of a shell.

Misty felt herself being pushed towards the dragon.

She stood right in front of its nose.

"What do you want with me?" Misty snarled into the dragon's roiling irises.

The dragon said nothing, but slowly exhaled a stream of thick white gas.

Misty felt its warming sensation against her skin. Vapor. Water vapor.

It weaved in her hair and around her face, but, as Misty observed, it settled mostly on her forearms and hands.

The mist settled and began to glow, blinding Misty for a moment.

Just like that, it was gone. Pitch blackness took its rightful place.

'The elders made a grave error during your Initiation.' The voice rumbled in the darkness.

'They did the Ceremony correctly, to be sure, but they left one thing out. Or rather, they brought something in.'

Misty seemed to float in this darkness, the voice of the Blue Dragon all around her.

'The scale of a dragon was used in the blade of the Initiation. The scale of a still-living dragon.'

The voice was silent.

"What would a live scale have an impact on? Why would it affect me? Or you for that matter?"

The Blue Dragon snorted.

'Your impudence is almost nauseating to me. Why do you not see the clear reasoning?'

Misty did not respond. A scale from a still-living dragon? She hadn't know dragons still lived, let alone that the knife the elders had used was made of a dragon's scale.

'Allow me to clear up your ignorance, Misty.' The Blue Dragon growled at last.

'You may not understand that dragons still live, but we do. That is a fact. Our scales are a section of our very being. Our souls if you will. If someone obtains the scales of a living dragon, they can command the dragon as they please or demand tasks of them. That dagger set with the dragon's scale was my own. My scale cut into you, Misty. My essence runs through you, just as your essence was made known to me through my scale. I am bonded to you. A living Draconic Spirit.'

Misty couldn't speak, let alone make a response to what was being told to her. Finally, she worked up the tongue to speak to the enormous dragon.

"So you and I are... are Bonded? Am I Marked?"

Misty looked at her arm for the traced mark. There was nothing to be seen.

'Of course you can't see the Mark. Your Draconic Spirit is alive. Only I can see it.'

"Will I ever see the Mark?"

The dragon paused for a moment.

'It remains to be seen. Nothing like this has ever occurred in the history of the Marked. This could be for the better or for the worse. We shall not know until the whole story is written.'

Shouts echoed from above. Color began to return to Misty's vision again and she saw the Blue dragon bristle.

'They know that I have freed you. We must go.'

"How? Where can we go!" Misty cried.

The dragon made no response, thrashing his tail right and left.

There was a tearing sound and a gash opened in the stone by Misty's side. Water poured out. Misty looked at the dragon skeptically.

"Again? Really?"

The dragon snapped towards her again.

'Would you like to sit in a jail cell permanently?'

"No."

'Then jump into the stone.'

"What!"

The dragon growled.

'Do it!'

All of a sudden, Misty was underwater again. She looked behind her to see the dragon had thrust her in with a sound smack from his tail.

"Not again." Misty thought.

A splash behind her signaled that something else followed her in.

Misty saw a flicker of shadow and a lithe, cerulean form flickered in the corner of Misty's vision.

'You are terribly slow.'

Then Misty was darting through the water on the blue form. As she inhaled to scream, she realized that the water wasn't choking her like before, rather it had the consistency of... air?

The dragon laughed.

'You give the scent of being surprised. I should have expected that of a lower being. I am the lord of the water, what made you believe that I cannot control its properties?'

"But how is it possible? I am no fish." Misty began, but the words were swept away by the current.

'You have much to learn, Misty. In water, words do not travel the way they should as on land. Attempt to speak to me, directly to me. Telepathy, I believe you humans call it. It will be necessary for you to learn it, especially since we are...'

The dragon hesitated for a moment before spitting the word out.

' ... Bonded.'

Misty focused on the swirling of the currents around her, the rainbow colors of the fish swimming by, and the smoothness of the blue dragon's scales beneath her. There was more to the picture, though. Something that was missing. Misty slowed down.

The fish became more lethargic as they too began to slow. The pumping of the dragon's thin wings became a slow drumbeat in Misty's ears. Her heartbeat echoed along with it. She was suddenly aware of another being. A being of pure energy. The energy, Misty realized, was the dragon's.

Misty was aware of her own energy, flowing like the slowed currents around her. Here, there, ebbing and waning. One with the water.

One with the dragon.

Misty reached out and touched the consciousness. As she did, she felt her energy melding with the dragon's. Bleeding in, joining together.

'Is this you? What is this feeling?'

The energy stirred, sensing Misty's.

'I did not think that humans were capable of such feat as this. You will go far...'

'Now answer me, Blue Dragon, how is it that I breathe? I find it rather discomforting.'

'If I was to answer, Misty, you may be in somewhat of a shock... and I must tell you, I find that if a human is in shock or sudden surprise, they tend to expend their voice in a loud shriek, otherwise known as screaming. I find much distaste in hearing such a noise, especially underwater.'

'If you aren't going to tell, I guess I'll have to figure it out on my own, won't I?'

'Yes, yes you will.'

'Fine.'

Misty retreated from the energy of the dragon, slowly drawing herself back into reality.

The fish beside her zipped past and the dragon's wings swished through the crystalline waters.

There was nothing to reflect light with. There were no rocks, the dragon's scales were too dull, and Misty had no mirror.

Or did she.

Still holding the dragon, Misty extended a hand, casting yet another illusion. If she had been able to create actual air within a bubble, why stop there? Perhaps her illusions could assist her once again.

Shimmering in the water directly next to Misty, a standing illusion of herself began to materialize. The illusion held a giant pink shell against her chest, the curve facing towards Misty. The inside of the shell gleamed with a bright sheen, as if it had just been polished, and Misty began to see her reflection within its curve.

Her dark forest eyes gleamed back from the surface, bright despite being clouded with fear. Her thick, short hair billowed in the water, and just below her ears she could see something else.

Something like small slits in her neck.

Misty reached up to where the reflection indicated and she probed the flesh.

Her fingers felt the small ridges of the slits, even sinking into them if she wasn't careful.

She inhaled and water rushed by her fingers into the gaps.

'Gills? What in Xantina's name...'

The Blue dragon gave a sudden jerk, as if to try and buck her off.

'We do not speak that name amongst dragonkind. Silence, Misty.' The dragon growled.

Misty now noticed the same gill markings on the dragon's stout neck.

'You gave me gills?'

'It was the only way that I could bring you this far. No human can hold its breath for as long as we have been under.'

Misty sighed, 'Where are we going anyways? Are you going to eat me after all?' She drawled.

The dragon growled again. 'If I had wanted to eat you, I would have followed through with it long ago with all the simplistic remarks you have uttered. No, we are going to the one place where you can remain safe while we completely understand what has totally occurred.'

'And that is where?'

'You will discover when we arrive. Now quiet, or do I have to silence you myself?'

'Now listen...'

Misty thought for a moment.

'I don't even know your name. How long have we been aquantenced?'

'Already far too long for my taste.'

'Well, I must know your name. You seem to know mine just fine. I deserve the same respect, don't I?'

'To be quite honest, I don't believe the same. You haven't proven yourself yet.'

Misty rolled her eyes and leaned closer to the dragon's neck.

'Well, it seems that you'll be stuck with me for quite some time, so unless you want me to just call you "Dragon" I would appreciate it if you revealed the name you long to keep so secretive.'

'"Dragon" would suit me just fine. I see no reason to reveal my true name.'

'Fine then, I'll give you a name myself. You won't argue with me because you gave me no input.'

The dragon grumbled for a moment, and Misty could feel the vibrations ripple through the water. Misty thought about what the dragon had said earlier.

"I am the lord of water..."

Misty had it.

'Fine, Dragon, I now name you what I wish. You are... Poseidon.'

For a few moments, Misty could hear toning but the swishing of the water and the flow of the water through her gills.

Finally the dragon spoke.

'Poseidon... I rather fancy that name...'

Misty smiled. She then noticed that instead of continuing through the water, they began to rise. Towards light overhead.

'Is this it?' Misty asked.

'Yes Misty. This is where we can take shelter until further notice. I have kept in contact with this group for some time despite my... annoyance with your kind.' Poseidon snorted.

Finally, they broke the surface.

Misty shook her head, causing water droplets to fly in all directions.

Sunlight glistened over the water, causing patterns of light to dance over Misty's leather tunic.

A stinging sensation rippled on Misty's neck. She immediately put a hand up to her neck.

Beneath her fingers, the slits of the gills sealed over and became smooth flesh again.

Poseidon began to swim now, his semi-submerged, lithe form graceful in the mire. Little less than ripples echoed in the wake of his powerful tail.

Finally, Misty was jostled as the dragon began to climb to land, emerald trees beginning to tower before them. The hues of the forest engulfed the duo, bright limes, deep cactus greens, and all the in between. Birds barely chittered, and all that whistled through the forest was the sound of dripping water falling from the emerging Poseidon.

"Now where are we going?" Misty spoke aloud, trying to breathe from the adventure experienced earlier.

'I have told you, Misty, we are going to someone that will try to comprehend the situation for us.'

"Just don't take too long." Said Misty, "I'm already sore from riding your scaly hide."

'And I grow tired of your pricking statements. I wish to find shelter as much as you do, so silence, and let me lead.'

Misty lay down in the crease between Poseidon's shoulder blades, feeling the strong pumping of the dragon's forearms. Light shone serenely through the roof of the forest and Misty could not help but close her eyes as she felt the sunlight on her face. Impossible to think that she had been trussed up only minutes earlier.

Now she was free.

Free with a dragon.

Before she fell completely to rest, Misty had to ask one more question.

"Where are we, Poseidon?"

'We have barely reached the border of Jina.'

"Next to Evtyre? How could we have made it that far? It's nearly another country!"

'You are too tired to comprehend, even if I were to explain. Rest. After all you have experienced, it is well needed.'

Misty didn't need to be told twice. The lull of the crunching leaves and the whistling of the wind through the branches sang a melody she had almost forgotten.

Misty whistled back as she let sleep overwhelm her.