More training

NOELLE'S POV,

Nolan and I share a quick lunch and then it is already time to meet with Zeus. He is waiting for me in the gardens. I find him sitting next to a big fountain surrounded by rose bushes. He looks at me seriously, ''Hello Noelle, I thought it would be good if we have a little chat first today. We need to figure out what magic you already master and what you still need to learn.''

I go sit next to him and nod in agreement.

Zeus takes a breath, ''So according to the words you spoke on the night Hades returned you would be able to master all your ancestor's magic. Witch magic is very different in every witch so we can presume you should be able to master all the different magic kinds there are in the Realms. Please tell me what you already can do?''

I take a moment to think, ''Well I have practiced quite a lot of water magic in the Sea Realm. I can let the water do anything I want with just a thought.''

Zeus looks satisfied, ''We will see today how your water magic is and if we can maybe teach you some more. Now besides that, I will be able to provide teachers with weather magic and healing magic. However, it will be more difficult to teach you mind magic and fire magic considering this is only done in the Under Realm. But I suppose that is a problem we have to think about later.''

He stands up and walks to a pond on the left edge of the gardens, ''You can train here with the other magical talented from the Sea Realm. I will check in later.''

I look at the pond and decide to make some little sea horses from water bubbles while I am waiting.

''That is cute,'' a big redheaded woman says to me. A group of 15 other people from the Sea Realm joins us. My seahorses scatter to the ground because my concentration is broken.

''Why don't you let the real magicians practice?'' The big lady says meanly.

I am too exhausted to pick a fight right now, so I sit back and watch them practice. They take big leaps of water out of the pond and throw them over to each other with flowing movements. After that, they start to make waves in the pond, and I stand up to go look closer. I try to walk past a blond man when he puts out his foot so that I fall into the water. ''Hahahah,'' I hear them laugh when I stand up from the water soaking wet. I feel my anger boiling up and with one thought I let all the water get up in a wall behind me. The laughing quickly stops, and they look at me with big eyes. I let the water come at them and they start running.

''STOP!'' I hear Zeus's voice say with authority. Without any effort, I let the water stop in front of them and then let it leap back into the pond.

''If you are going to behave like children we won't stand a chance,'' Zeus says grumpily.

He continues, ''You could all learn from Noelle's magic control, and I am sure you could show her some moves she hasn't done before.''

He gives me a strict look, ''I will talk to you later, that was all for today.''

I feel a bit ashamed I have let myself go so easily. When he has left all of them except the red woman come running at me.

''How did you do that without using your hands or spells? Could you teach us?'' They all speak through each other with excitement.

The red woman walks to me, ''Give her some space.''

She holds out her hand, ''Seems that I misjudged you, my name is Ella.''

I shake her hand, ''I am used to it.''

Ella looks at the rest of her group, ''Tomorrow we are going to practice some shift shaping magic at the big pool in the mountain. You are welcome to join if you want?''

I nod, ''I will thank you.''

They walk away and I walk towards the entrance of the garden shortly after. I see Zeus is already waiting there for me.

''I will walk you to the dragon practice grounds,'' he says.

''Your control over your magic is outstanding, however, your control over your temper could use some practice.''

I look at his face, but I see he is smiling at me and doesn't seem angry which is a relief.

''Yeah, I suppose you are right, but at least they respect me now,'' I reply.

Zeus stops me for a moment, ''Just be careful that you don't confuse respect with fear. When you are extremely powerful it can be difficult to find the right balance.''

I look into his eyes, ''Thank you, you have given me something to think about.''

We continue walking and I ask, ''Why are there so many warriors but only a few magicians?''

Zeus takes a deep breath, ''Unfortunately, a lot of the magicians were killed during Hella's rule. Gabriel saved as many as he could.''

A question suddenly pops up in my mind, ''I have never asked you what kind of magic you can do?''

Zeus chuckles a bit, ''I am afraid it is not that impressive like yours. I can do a little bit of all but nothing as powerful as you or as rare as Gabriel's lightning. My strength is my brain, I have read everything about magic there is to find, and I almost know every spell there is.''

I give him a little push, ''Well that sounds just as talented and useful to me as just power.''

Zeus smiles, ''Thank you, Noelle, you are too kind.'' Then he points at a big open space where a lot of dragons are waiting, ''I will leave you here, but I see you at dinner.''

Gabriel is waiting in the middle of the training grounds with Dagahra laying at his feet. I see at least 50 dragons; one is bigger than the other but none of them are as big as Thorn.

When Thorn sees me he gives a big shriek and runs towards me. The whole ground shakes from his big claws. He gives me a nudge with his head that makes me fly in the air but then he catches me with his claws.

I laugh, ''Hah Thorn stop it you silly brute.''

He looks at me with his big eyes and I pet his golden scales. Gabriel walks towards us, ''Thorn is like a different animal since he partnered with you.''

He looks at me warmly, ''It's good to see you I hope today wasn't too heavy.''

I can feel my stomach jump when he looks at me like that with his icy blue eyes. ''I think I will regret it more tomorrow than today, but I will manage,'' I answer.

Gabriel looks at the bruises that start to show on my body from this morning's training, ''I believe you are right; I promise this training will be a bit more fun. You can go stand next to Fury there the orange dragon on the left."

A small girl with black hair nods to me when Thorn and I stand next to her. Gabriel's voice echoes over the practice ground, ''WELCOME EVERYONE, YOU HAVE THE HONOUR TO BE CHOSEN BY ONE OF THE DRAGONS TO BE PARTNERED. IN THE COMING WEEKS YOU WILL BOND WITH YOUR DRAGON SO THAT IN THE END YOUR MIND WILL BE ONE. BESIDES THAT, I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO RIDE YOUR DRAGON AND HOW TO MAKE IT ATTACK ON COMMAND. TODAY WE WILL GIVE THE NEW PEOPLE A TASTE OF HOW IT IS TO RIDE A DRAGON. EVERY TRAINEE WILL GO WITH A MORE EXPERIENCED DRAGON RIDER. I HAVE ASSIGNED YOU BEFOREHAND SO JUST WAIT TO BE APPROACHED. YOUR DRAGONS WILL FLY WITH US SOLO FOR TODAY.''

I see that everyone around me gets picked up to ride with someone. I wonder who I am going to fly with. Then I see Gabriel coming towards me, ''Would you ride with me, Noelle?''

I nod and take his hand to climb onto Dagahra. Thorn looks at me a bit hurt.

''Don't worry boy soon we can fly together,'' I say to him.

He snorts and watches me closely. I go sit behind Gabriel and put my hands on my knees. ''You better hold me if you don't want to fly off,'' Gabriel says.

I feel my heartbeat quicken when I put my arms around his waist. I can feel his abdominal muscles through his shirt.

''Repülni,'' Gabriel says and Dagahra takes out her wings and runs a few meters before jumping in the air. I grab Gabriel tighter to not fall off. Next to me, Thorn stays close, and all around us dragons lift off.

We fly higher and higher until we are above the clouds. I take a moment to enjoy the sight of the fluffy clouds and the dragons in different colors flying between them. I take a sigh and relax for a moment, but Gabriel has other ideas.

''Ready for some action?'' He shouts. Before I know it Dagahra drops to the ground like a rocket.

''IIIIIIEEEEE,'' I scream and clench myself to Gabriel as hard as I can. It feels like my stomach is about to leave my body. I start to see the ground and just before I think we will die Dagahra gets horizontal and slows down.

I give Gabriel a clap on his shoulder, ''You could have warned me.''

He laughs, ''Where is the fun in that. But look.'' He points at the ground. We are at a big waterfall surrounded by fields of flowers.

I look at Thorn and giggle when I see my big brute smelling the flowers like the big softie he is. We fly over the fields of flowers while the sun goes down. And for one of the first times, I feel like maybe the world is worth fighting for.