“Dragons (also known as Draconics or Dracos) are pinnacle entities of Arcanic life and exhibit many traits which are unique to their species. Dragonsight is a prime example, which has defied all attempts to quantify. Dragonsight is not compromised by illusion, mirage or obfuscation. Plainly stated, Dragons see what is there, regardless of efforts or environmental effects that might block or reduce their vision. They appear able to observe in greater detail and at greater distance, though there is a relatively small pool of research subjects to determine objectively the full effect of this trait.”

  Kira looked up from her book, carried in the messenger bag that went almost everywhere with her. “So, it sounds like you will have better eyesight and won’t be fooled by tricks and stuff?”

  Oswald gave a gentle smile – not easy with a mouth full of razor-sharp fangs – at Kira’s question. “It is difficult to determine what the eventual impact would be, because I have never perceived the world as you do. I believe it would be a good way to forge the next stage of our bond, mistress. It should not place any physical change on you, but would provide some ocular benefit, as well as confirming whether this variety of connection can be strengthened.”

  Oswald shrugged before continuing. “Although I am learning… no, becoming aware of some aspects of what it is to be a dragon, I do not know the many and varied histories of my kin throughout all places where they reside. The only reason I am even aware of the possibility, Miss Kira, is through the information you have provided from your book.”

  Kira absently ran a hand over the open page, wondering for the umpteenth time at the luck that had bonded her with the dusty old encyclopaedia. While initially it seemed quite boring next to some of the things that her friends and family had gotten from the Weirdness, she had come to appreciate just how important it was.

  It had been key to developing her father’s woven patches, which were arguably the single biggest reason they were still alive. Understanding the threat from the Malicious Rat nest had made clear the urgency of dealing with that problem. She was sure that it would continue to be just as useful and important, and that made her feel good – like she was helping to protect the group and make life better.

  She shook herself from these musings, to find Lara and Oswald regarding her with smiles.

  “Daydreaming, Ra?” Lara asked with a giggle, before turning back to Oswald with an excited look. “So, how do we do this?”

  “From what Miss Kira has managed to discover, it is a simple but somewhat strenuous process. Do you feel ready to attempt this, Mistress?”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” Lara replied with barely restrained eagerness.

  “Then seat yourself in front of me, close your eyes and picture the energy of our attunement within you.” Oswald said as he lay down, propping his chest on the edge of his makeshift car-roof bed. This freed up his forelegs which he flexed in preparation.

  “The energy within is a product of our experiences. Feel it curl around your heart and lungs. Picture as it weaves through your shoulders and along your arms to your fingertips.” As he spoke, Oswald extended his forelegs to the front, eyes closed as he participated in the same mental exercise. “Can you feel it? See it in your mind?”

  “I can’t.” Lara sounded crestfallen. “Why won’t it work?”

  “This isn’t a toy, to be moved at will and posed into any shape you twist it to.” He replied calmly. “I… don’t yet have the words or the understanding to precisely clarify the nature of this energy. But when we grasped those loci and absorbed it, we took control of a tiny part of what felt like an impossibly huge fountain. An influx of power so vast it would be impossible to know or recognise. Beside that, we were the ant next to the elephant, unable to comprehend due to a lack of any frame of reference that would make any sense.”

  Oswald drew a breath before continuing. “If you were able to manipulate the energy within you on your first attempt, you would be a prodigy indeed! Patience, Mistress. All things can be achieved if we find the correct path to follow.”

  Kira watched the exchange, as the pair once again closed their eyes, raised their hands and fell into concentration. With no immediate obvious effect, she dipped into the book on her lap – raising a watchful eye now and then to make sure her dearest friends were not disturbed.

  “What do you think is so secret that we’re not allowed to know about it?” Sarah asked with an annoyed tone to her voice. “Why don’t they trust us?”

  She and Elizabeth sat in the Neals’ front room, looking out of the window toward Oswald’s new lair. While Sarah’s eyes were fixed outward, her friend calmly read a favourite storybook next to her on the sofa. At Sarah’s question, she lowered the book and looked over.

  “What makes you think they don’t trust us?” She asked quietly.

  “Because they wouldn’t let us stay for…whatever they’re doing!” Came the hot reply.

  “They have proved that they do trust us before. Remember the thing with Mrs Creevey's umbrella?”

  “I guess, yes.” Sarah replied reluctantly. “But this is different! It’s not a teacher who might give us extra homework! It’s a dragon secret! What could be more important!”

  Elizabeth was about to reply, when a voice came from the doorway. The girls looked around to see Belinda and Carry stood there, fresh from a chat over cups of tea in the kitchen.

  “Do you girls understand what a proper secret is?” Carry asked gently, leaning on the doorframe to take the weight off her bad knee. “Not an everyday ‘my friend likes you’, or ‘it was me that spilled the biscuits’ secret, but one which could make people do strange or dangerous things if they knew it? A secret that can hurt?”

  The girls shook their heads mutely.

  “I hope you never have to, as a secret like that is very heavy. It isn’t fun, and it doesn’t make you feel special that only you know this thing. It weighs you down and can make being with other people difficult. Secrets… real secrets… are something I hope you can avoid all your life.”

  She took a sip of her tea, fixing the girls with a kindly look. “I don’t mean to scare or worry you, and I know that Oswald is a wonderous thing in the midst of a lot of fear and worry. We understand barely anything about him - and by his own admission he is only beginning to understand himself as well. The connection he has with Lara is a mystery; one they are exploring very very carefully. This is partly to learn what is possible, and partly to help Lara recover from the nightmare she has been through.”

  “So why is Kira allowed to stay with them and we’re not?” Sarah blurted out.

  “Sarah!” Belinda said sharply, before softening her tone. “This isn’t about you - and certainly isn’t that your best friends don’t trust you.”

  Carry hobbled stiffly into the room and sat on the arm of the sofa. “Oswald and Kira’s father have had a long conversation about what he is allowed to share with the girls, and part of the agreement was that anything sensitive could not be shared outside their house. Lara needs to be able to open up and talk freely whenever she feels able - to help her recovery. So Kira now bears some of the weight and responsibility for supporting her to do so.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Belinda stepped into the room. “Just because there is something they know that you don’t, doesn’t mean that you are any less of a friend to either of them. The world has changed and we need to trust each other and work together more than ever. If there is something that you should know, I’m sure they will tell you.”

  Elizabeth nodded acceptance. Sarah looked about to complain but grudgingly followed suit a few moments later.

  Belinda took on the particular enthusiastic tone used around the world, whenever a parent was preparing to give an unwelcome task to their child. “Now, as that is settled, the vegetable patch needs picking and watering, so go and get your rough clothes on and come outside to help with that please.”

  “I… need to get back Mrs Neal – my Mother wanted to… sort out some stuff with me at home.” Elizabeth said with an air of forced semi-sincerity. The girls were still in the phase of being unaware just how transparent untruths were at that age.

  Sarah had a look of utter betrayal as her friend abandoned her to the horror of gardening work. However, she did get up and go to get changed – a low grumbling following her up the stairs and out of earshot.

  Across the road, none of the trio had moved from their positions.

  “Oh noooooo! I almost had it that time.” Lara lamented, rubbing her eyes and flexing her arms out to the side.

  They had been repeating the exercise that Oswald had described for some time, and Lara was having mixed results. She was able to feel the energy within her, but was only rarely able to bend it to her will – and even then only for so long. The following collapse caused it to fluctuate for a short time and gave what she described as a “body wobble”.

  Seeing her friend getting more agitated over the lack of success, Kira put down her book, reached over and squeezed the other girl’s arm.

  “Don’t worry La, you’ve done really well on your first time trying this. Right Oswald?”

  The dragon raised his head, so his long neck was in a comfortable S-shape and nodded. “Indeed Miss Kira. Mistress, be not downhearted that you have not mastered this discipline at your first attempt. I can see your successes, and you have achieved beyond my expectations on this day. I see the energy within you and the control you are exerting has improved since we started. You will succeed, when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you. Both.” Lara almost whispered, her face lowered. After a moment, she looked up with fresh determination. “I’m going to succeed. Now.”

  The others shared an uneasy glance but settled back into their rest. Between them, Lara’s face was set, brow creased with concentration. Oswald looked down in concern, looking over at Kira and slowly shaking his head.

  Kira pulled the encyclopaedia into her lap, focusing on the process that Oswald had described. She flipped the book open and scanned the page in front of her. Finding the start of the entry, she started quietly reading aloud.

  “An attunement nexus is possible between two entities with an existing material bond. The bond is the bridge by which energy is passed from one or both entities to the other. Numerous applications have been catalogued in…”

  Kira did not want to distract the others with useless facts – she wanted to support Lara’s efforts, so scanned down desperately to find useful information.

  “Forming the bridge between two entities is a steady construction rather than a push. The energy within an entity is focused from its base into a foundation from which to build outward to the point of release. Each successive foundation is solidified and maintained while visualising the construction of the next.”

  “See the energy within your core Mistress. Rather than letting it swirl within you, feel it settle and grow still. Feel it grow outward, settle and grow still again. Build it out, through your shoulders, along your arms…”

  Oswald’s voice took on a tinge of excitement, and he lowered his head and forelegs into a relaxed position in front of Lara, swiftly falling into a similar focus.

  Kira hurriedly looked down and read on, struggling to keep her voice level and calm. “Once a solid foundation has been constructed to the point of release, it is vital to continue a steady build of pressure rather than force a ‘burst’ outward. If the bridge has been adequately supported from both sides, energy will flow from the point of release in one or both directions. Care must be taken to ensure that this flow remains steady and controlled, otherwise participants risk being completely drained.”

  Oswald’s normally calm voice suddenly cracked in what might have been shock. “Mistress, I… I feel you!”

  Lara’s arms were touching Oswald’s forelegs, her hands and his claws lightly resting on the other’s limb. Kira could not see any difference there, but tears were streaming down both faces. Rapture was clear on both as Oswald carefully slid his foreclaws up Lara’s arms and gently – oh so gently – laid the pads of his forefeet to rest over her eyes.

  There was a moment of stillness, before Kira felt a concussion in the air. A force like the strike of lightning in a dream. An irresistible power but separated from them like a window to another world. Oswald slumped down, his claws flung wide to avoid falling down onto Lara, who slowly toppled backward into Kira’s desperately reaching arms.

  Next door, Matt looked up from his weaving. Something had jarred his focus and he bent his will to reconnecting with the flow of action that went into his creation. Sitting on a nearby bean bag, Arlee was undisturbed with her book, and there were no sounds of alarm from outside. By common agreement, there was always at least one member of the road’s community looking out over the skies and surrounding properties. They were determined that danger came creeping once again, it would not be without warning.

  Falling back into his focus, he filed the thought for later enquiry, before bending his attention back to the patch taking shape in front of him. To his side fibres of the large feather melded into the threads as they were set in place.

  He had a number of thoughts with this latest experiment. Primarily, he was looking for an effect to make things lighter – to reduce their weight. Arlee’s bag had been instrumental in several of their efforts so far but was restricted to items that would actually fit through the bag’s small opening. If they wanted to move anything larger – vehicles, for example – they needed a way to make things easier to manoeuvre.

  His thought was a patch that could be moved between objects as needed. There were dozens of assorted cars and vans in the road – uselessly taking up space and getting in the way. Many had been damaged in the rat swarm’s attacks, or were locked in place by the failure of their electrical systems. A patch that could be applied to one, moved with it, then removed for use elsewhere would be a very useful tool.

  This explanation that he gave to Arlee was only part of the objective. Privately, Matt was hoping for another outcome as well.

  He wanted to fly.

  Superman, Superwoman, Supergirl – all the ‘Supers’ had a lot to answer for, as a generation of youngsters all looked up at the sky with dreamy gazes. An old towel or blanket flapping behind them as they strove to walk on the air. Matt had been no different, and retained a childlike glee when flying, even for work trips. The view out over the top of the white clouds, free from the bustle and kaleidoscope of colours that made up life at ground level, was one he never grew tired of.

  If he could imbue his creations with the intent of flight, he might turn a childhood dream into reality - and potentially solve their travel problems at the same time.

  He had noticed Arlee looking tearfully at a framed picture of her parents one day. The agony of not knowing their fate - of having no way to determine if they were still alive – ate away at her resolve. She was strong, toughened by their experiences and highly capable. But the helplessness she felt in this matter was corrosive.

  Matt loved his wife and daughter with all his being. He would find a way to bring Arlee peace.

  He just didn’t know whether it was possible yet.

  “Miss Kira, is my mistress… how does she fare?”

  Kira looked up from smoothing Lara’s hair back, the girl’s head resting in her lap. Oswald raised himself up with some difficulty, as if stiff from heavy exertion the day before. His golden eyes blinked, though there was no bright light to dazzle them. After a few seconds, he seemed to recover and gazed down at the girls.

  “I think she’s just sleeping. She’s breathing fine and doesn’t look like she’s hurting.” Kira looked down again. “What happened there? It felt like… like something exploded. Really close, but… far away at the same time.”

  “My mistress exceeded my every expectation or hope.” Oswald said with pride and admiration in his voice. “I believe your instruction was vital to the success of another of our ventures. I am not certain if this would have been possible but for that timely intervention and support.”

  “But what happened?”

  “The same preparation that feels quite natural to myself was presenting her with great challenge. With your explanation, she was able to build the necessary energy to form the bridge – the attunement nexus – with me. I must admit to acting rather instinctually at the end there, but I am hopeful that this has been a success. We shall know when…”

  As if on cue, Lara stirred, body twitching gently. Her eyes remained closed as she spoke.

  “Oswald, Kira, are you okay? It felt like a river running into me and filling me up completely, then I must have fallen asleep. I do feel tired…but very comfortable…” Her voice trailed off as she settled back into Kira’s lap.

  Blushing slightly, Kira reached down to move Lara’s hair from her face. “Can you open your eyes La? Don’t go to sleep - we need to make sure you’re okay.”

  With glacial lack of speed, Lara’s eyelids cracked open and lifted, meeting Kira’s. The once joyful blue eyes were tinged with sadness now, but that could not blot out the golden sparkles flecked across both orbs as they stared upwards into her friend’s face.

  As Kira looked down in astonished wonder, Lara gasped.

  “Oh Ra! If only you could see what I see!”