Chương 81: The Shape of the Storm

Drakehaven became considerably quieter after midnight. The settlement never reached true silence; the distant scrape of construction materials still occasionally sounded whenever the wind shifted something Kaelu had failed to secure. Therma had apparently discovered a particularly comfortable place somewhere in the Exchange House and produced an intermittent trill that carried surprisingly far through the night. Even so, compared to daylight, Drakehaven felt almost empty.

Aegis sat near the peak of the cottage roof with his knees drawn upward and his arms resting loosely across them. From there, he could see most of what Drakehaven had become. The Dragonscale Ward surrounded a settlement large enough that the original cottage no longer dominated it. Nearby, the foundations of new houses stood beyond the familiar yard. Behind the cottage, the beginnings of the Coordinator's Obelisk rose from its elaborate tidestone foundation.

Aegis stared at it for several minutes before hearing someone climbing through the cottage window beneath him. Kindle emerged onto the roof with considerably less grace than Aegis would have expected from someone who had once possessed four legs and claws. He pulled himself onto the shingles, pushed messy black hair away from his face, and looked toward Aegis.

"You know Orion will complain if he discovers you're sitting up here." Aegis glanced over.

"I am a Storm Dragon. I am permitted to sit dramatically above our territory whenever I please." Kindle crawled higher and sat beside him.

"That wasn't what I meant."

"I know. He's more likely to worry about you if he finds you not in bed."

"If he's going to worry, it'll happen even if I am in bed." Aegis snorted.

"That is remarkably wise."

"Big brother has had practice…" Kindle leaned back against the roof and looked across the settlement with him. For several moments, neither spoke - a refreshing trait Kindle possessed. Aurelia would have asked whether something was wrong within thirty seconds. Orion might have interpreted a midnight rooftop gathering as evidence of an imminent crisis. Kindle could simply sit and let silence persist for a few moments before diving into the deep end.. Eventually, however, his amber eyes shifted sideways.

"You've been staring at the same building for a while." Aegis looked toward the unfinished Obelisk.

"I am contemplating."

"That explains why it looks painful." Aegis gave him a wounded look.

"I am capable of deep thought."

"I know," Kindle's expression remained perfectly flat.

"That's why I said it looked painful." Aegis laughed despite himself. The sound traveled across the roof before fading into the quiet settlement.

"Everything is changing quickly." Kindle followed his gaze.

"That tends to happen around here."

"I mean us," Aegis adjusted his position on the shingles.

"Aurelia can take considerably more Weave from me now than she could when we first began cultivation practice. I still possess vastly more, obviously."

"Obviously."

"But she improves almost every time. Garrick reached the Second Seal. Orion can place defenses outside Drakehaven without physically remaining there. Roy is turning entire stretches of wilderness into roads and treating problems that should require hundreds of workers as matters of engineering."

"And dragons keep appearing."

"Exactly," Aegis lowered his hand.

"There was a time when nearly every sufficiently large problem eventually became mine." Kindle looked amused.

"You enjoyed that."

"I still enjoy it. If something enormous attacks Drakehaven tomorrow, I would be delighted to smash it."

"That sounds more like you."

"If the weather becomes dangerous, I can still alter it. If Aurelia requires more Weave, I have more to spare than anyone else. If a building must be moved and Roy refuses to solve it properly, I remain capable of lifting it." Kindle raised an eyebrow.

"Roy would say moving the building is solving it properly… Though Roy is frequently incorrect." Aegis smiled, but the humor faded quickly.

"There are simply fewer things that require me." Kindle became quiet. Aegis recognized the expression almost immediately - Kindle had heard something entirely different from what Aegis intended.

"I know what you're going to say." Kindle looked toward him.

"Do you?"

"Yes," Aegis pointed directly at him.

"You believe I am concerned that once they stop needing my strength, they will stop needing me." Kindle did not answer immediately. Aegis shook his head.

"I am not." The certainty in his own voice surprised even him. Kindle watched him carefully as he continued.

"You are perhaps the most convincing proof imaginable that such a concern would be idiotic." Kindle frowned.

"Thank you?"

"I mean it affectionately."

"That somehow made it worse." Aegis ignored him.

"You lost almost everything that originally made you useful to them… And what did they do? They did everything imaginable to keep you. They nearly tore themselves apart trying to save you, and they accepted what you became without hesitation once there was nothing else to change. I would have to be exceptionally dense to watch all of that happen and then fear they might discard me because Orion learned to summon a watchtower." A pause, then Kindle finally nodded.

"Fair."

"I know I belong here," Aegis looked over at him.

"That is not what troubles me." Kindle shifted his legs and settled more comfortably.

"Then what does?" Aegis considered the answer. It had been easier to feel than to explain.

"I do not know what someone should do with strength when strength stops being required every moment. I like helping them and being able to protect Drakehaven. I like that Aurelia can use my Weave when hers is insufficient. I even enjoy Roy approaching me with some absurd problem that apparently requires lightning."

"That part sounds unhealthy."

"It is usually entertaining," Aegis smiled faintly.

"But if every answer I possess is simply more power, then eventually that becomes a poor answer." Kindle looked toward his own hands.

"I thought I needed something useful too."

"I know."

"And eventually I decided I needed something I actually wanted." Aegis nodded.

"The forge."

"That's one option," Kindle glanced toward him.

"You could do the same."

"I could," Aegis considered it.

"Though I do not think that is my answer either." Kindle did not appear offended. Instead, he looked thoughtful.

"Because you wouldn't rest if you couldn't help."

"Yes," Aegis looked outward again.

"I do not feel burdened by that. If anything, it feels wasteful to possess so much and decide the best use of it is waiting around until something sufficiently large needs to be struck." Kindle made a small sound of acknowledgement. The conversation settled again after that, though not before Kindle glanced toward the wooded darkness beyond Drakehaven.

"There's someone else here who seems to have already decided what to do with too much strength." Aegis followed his gaze, though he immediately understood even before that.

"Uncle." Kindle nodded. Uncle had always been a difficult creature to understand. Even when Aegis understood one of his choices, that rarely meant he understood why Uncle had chosen it. Kindle looked toward him.

"You should ask." Aegis smiled.

"I believe I will." Kindle began shifting toward the edge of the roof.

"Tomorrow." Aegis frowned.

"I was considering it now."

"He's probably asleep."

"He is Uncle."

"That does not mean he doesn't sleep." Aegis considered that, then reluctantly stood.

"Fine." Kindle descended toward the window. Aegis followed after one final look over Drakehaven. ─── 🐲🐲🐲 ─── Uncle left for his morning walks shortly after sunrise. Aegis had noticed the routine weeks ago. Uncle rarely announced where he was going, and nobody appeared particularly concerned by the habit anymore.

He simply woke up early, took his walking staff, and wandered beyond Drakehaven for anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple of hours This morning, Aegis intercepted him before he reached the northern gate.

"Uncle." The older man turned.

"Aegis. Have you finally decided to join me in appreciating the great outdoors instead of flying over it?"

"I appreciate the outdoors regularly."

"From several hundred feet above it."

"That is where the best outdoors resides." Uncle chuckled. Aegis gestured toward the woodland path.

"May I join you?" Uncle studied him for half a second longer than necessary.

"Of course." They walked. Aegis remained in human form, matching Uncle's pace despite having to shorten his stride considerably. The morning air was cool enough that mist still clung to low patches of grass, while sunlight filtered unevenly through the trees ahead. For several minutes, Uncle said nothing; Aegis eventually realized the silence was deliberate. He had asked to come, so the first words therefore belonged to him. This book is hosted on another platform.

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"How do you watch them struggle?" Uncle's staff paused for the briefest moment.

"That is a rather large question for this early in the morning." Aegis did not laugh as they continued walking. Instead, he simply looked toward him.

"You possess the ability to solve many of the problems they face. You could have solved most of them before they understood there was a problem at all." Aegis avoided saying more. There were things he knew about Uncle and other things he suspected, but that was not the point of today's walk. Uncle kept his attention on the path and took several more steps before answering.

"If I solved every problem they encountered, what would Roy become?" Aegis frowned.

"Roy."

"Would he?" Uncle tapped his staff against a root before stepping over it.

"If everything he required appeared the moment necessity demanded it, would he have pushed his abilities as far as he has? Would he have spent nights studying the limitations of his Class? Would he have learned how to build around what his Skills cannot do?" Aegis considered that.

"Perhaps not."

"And Orion?" Aegis already understood the direction.

"If someone stronger always arrived first, he would never have needed to become the Protector he is becoming." Uncle nodded.

"Aurelia would never need to discover the limits of healing if I ensured nobody around her crossed them. She would never understand her own reserve if mine stood behind every mistake."

"And Drakehaven?" Uncle smiled faintly.

"If three frightened siblings had known from the beginning that some greater creature would always ensure their survival, perhaps they would never have built any of this." Aegis could not immediately argue. Uncle continued walking.

"Strength has a strange way of making itself necessary."

"What does that mean?"

"If I solve a problem once, everyone remembers that I can," Uncle's voice remained gentle.

"The next time something similar happens, relying upon me becomes reasonable. After enough repetitions, preparing another answer begins to look wasteful." Aegis pictured Roy abandoning an engineering problem because Uncle could simply provide the missing material. Or Orion deciding there was no need to improve a defense because Uncle could appear if anything breached it. Admittedly, he disliked the thought. Uncle glanced sideways.

"Protecting someone is not always the same thing as helping them grow. Sometimes keeping someone perfectly safe merely keeps them small." The words settled heavily. Aegis understood the principle, and he also understood why Kindle had thought this conversation might help.

"Does it not bother you?" Uncle's expression changed, though only slightly.

"Yes." Aegis looked toward him as he continued. Uncle's smile had disappeared.

"I dislike seeing them injured. I dislike watching them frightened, exhausted, or uncertain. Restraint is not pleasant merely because one believes it wise. There are moments when I wonder whether I should intervene sooner… And moments when they overcome something I nearly solved for them, and I wonder what would have been lost if I had." Aegis listened.

"There is no perfect rule," Uncle looked toward him.

"I leave them as much room for choice as I believe I safely can. Some days I will undoubtedly judge that poorly." That answer satisfied Aegis more than perfect certainty would have. Uncle didn't lack wisdom, but he understood the cost of his own philosophy. Aegis nodded slowly.

"I understand." Uncle smiled.

"I thought you might." Aegis looked ahead.

"But I disagree." The smile remained.

"I thought you might do that as well." Aegis blinked.

"You did?"

"You are not particularly skilled at pretending agreement."

"That is because most people eventually discover I am correct."

"An enviable talent." Aegis ignored the teasing.

"The world is not going to wait for them. Velkaryn already knows Drakehaven exists. They know enough to be dangerous even if they do not know everything. Bellhaven knows. Ironvale may know soon. More people will come. More dragons will hatch. Their Seals are advancing." He glanced toward Uncle, who had returned his gaze to the trail.

"How long until hiding becomes impossible?" Uncle did not answer, though Aegis did not need him to.

"That is my problem with waiting," Aegis concluded.

"I am not asking you to wait."

"You are asking them to learn naturally."

"Yes."

"I do not believe they have enough time." Uncle's expression remained calm.

"That belief can become dangerous. Once you decide someone must grow faster, it becomes easy to justify deciding how they should grow. Pressure becomes instruction. Instruction becomes direction. Direction becomes dependence."

"I am not proposing that I solve their problems."

"Not intentionally. That distinction often becomes less clear once one possesses enough power to make the easier path available." Aegis slowed as he considered the words, though Uncle did not. For several seconds, Aegis watched his back as he pondered the lack of accusation in Uncle's words. Once he had, he hurried to catch up.

"I still disagree."

"I figured as much." Uncle waited after that, giving Aegis room to speak. Aegis finally understood his own thoughts clearly enough to say them.

"If solving their problems would make them weaker, then I do not want to solve their problems - I want to make them better at solving them. I have strength, Weave, and perhaps centuries of life. Why should the only purpose of those advantages be waiting until something becomes too dangerous for everyone else?" Uncle's gaze became difficult to read.

"Perhaps."""I could help them learn faster - not give answers." Uncle remained silent for several steps, then stopped. Aegis stopped with him.

"You are describing a very difficult line to walk."

"I know."

"Do you?" Aegis frowned. Uncle rested both hands against the top of his staff.

"If you become their accelerant, you will need to learn when assistance is creating capability and when it is replacing effort. The stronger you become, the harder that distinction may become."

"I may get it wrong."

"You will." Aegis blinked. Uncle smiled faintly.

"So will I." That took some of the sting from it. Aegis looked toward the forest.

"I still want to try." Uncle nodded.

"I suspected you would."

"You think it is unwise."

"I think portions of it may be." Aegis waited for more, but Uncle offered none.

"You are not going to stop me?"

"No. You are allowed to be wrong."

"That is a very irritating answer."

"It is also an important freedom." They walked several more minutes in silence. Aegis did not feel that he had defeated Uncle in an argument. If anything, Aegis suspected the older man remained convinced that restraint was the safer path. For the first time, however, Aegis understood that they did not need to share an answer. By the time Drakehaven came back into view, Aegis already knew what he needed to do first. He had spent months thinking primarily about what his strength could accomplish.

Perhaps it was time to understand what his strength actually was. ─── 🐲🐲🐲 ─── Lilly was halfway through breakfast when Aegis sat down opposite her. She looked up from her bowl.

"I haven't even finished breakfast yet." Aegis frowned.

"I have not asked anything."

"You approached me with purpose."

"I frequently have a purpose." Lilly took another bite as Aegis leaned forward.

"Can dragons learn magic?" Her spoon stopped. Aegis smiled.

"I finally surprised you."

"I was considering whether the question was serious."

"It is." Lilly lowered the spoon.

"Dragons use magic constantly."

"That is not what I mean," Aegis held one hand out.

"I can move Weave through myself. I can summon lightning, shape storms, transform, and produce effects that would require human Mages to spend years studying."

"Yes."

"I do not understand most of what I am doing. My instincts know, but that isn't the same as me understanding." Lilly leaned back as her attention sharpened.

"Most dragons do not care. When you can produce a lightning strike powerful enough to kill an ordinary Mage, spending six months learning how the Mage produced a weaker version tends to seem unnecessary." Aegis considered that.

"That does sound stupid."

"It often is," Lilly admitted.

"So what are you actually asking?" Aegis glanced toward the breakfast tables around them. Others were beginning to gather, though most conversations remained elsewhere.

"I want to learn structured magic. Being powerful and understanding power are not the same thing. The family cannot rely forever on whatever Skills the System decides to grant us." That earned another pause. Lilly's expression changed slightly as he continued.

"We should understand Weave itself. How it moves. How spells hold together. Why one shape works and another fails. How to build effects instead of merely receiving them." Lilly studied him for several seconds.

"You want to become a Mage."

"No," Aegis grinned.

"I want to become a dragon who understands Mages."

"That may be worse."

"It sounds better."

"It would to you." Aegis waited. Lilly finally set her bowl aside.

"Fine." His grin widened.

"You will teach me?"

"I will determine whether it's even something you can learn. That information is just as valuable to me as it will be for you."

"That sounds like teaching."

"It is an assessment," Lilly said.

"Follow me." Aegis obliged. The two passed by those gathering to receive their portions as they headed behind the college and Obelisk construction site. The open training area behind the cottage was normally where Aurelia practiced cultivation with Aegis, and where Lilly had worked on the siblings with their spells. Lilly stood several feet away, still working through her food. Aegis faced her.

"Show me." Lilly lifted one finger, and a thread of Weave appeared. There was no dramatic glow or tremendous gathering of energy. The strand simply moved through the air. It then began to curve, and within seconds, the Weave formed a perfect circle roughly the width of Lilly's palm. Aegis waited.

"That is it?"

"That is what I want you to try." He stared.

"There is no spell?"

"Nothing," Lilly dismissed it.

"Make one."

"That seems insultingly easy."

"I expect you will find a way to make it difficult." Aegis raised one hand. Weave gathered, though it was immediately too much. The air around his fingers brightened as a dense mass of energy condensed between them. Lilly sighed.

"Less." Aegis reduced it. The energy crackled as storm-blue light flickered through the gathering Weave.

"Without lightning."

"I am not intentionally adding lightning."

"I know." That somehow made the correction worse. Aegis concentrated and extended the energy into a line. The line thickened as he attempted to bend it farther, and the entire shape collapsed inward and discharged with a sharp crack. Lilly did not move. Aegis stared at the empty air.

"That was unexpected."

"It was extremely expected." He tried again. The strand curved more cleanly, but then the upper half widened until the circle resembled a poorly formed egg. Lilly tilted her head.

"Is that supposed to be round?"

"It is becoming round."

"It is becoming something." Aegis dismissed it. The next attempt remained stable for several seconds before storm affinity crept into the lower edge and caused the entire formation to vibrate. Aegis growled. Lilly looked amused now, though not openly - but Aegis could tell.

"You are enjoying this."

"A little."

"This exercise is beneath me."

"Then complete it." Aegis glared. He tried again, but it immediately exploded.

"Excellent demonstration."

"Silence."

"Your control is terrible."

"I possess exceptional control."

"You possess exceptional instinct. That is different." Aegis stopped. Lilly pointed toward his hand.

"When you produce lightning, you are not constructing the effect piece by piece. You decide what the lightning should do, and whatever draconic mechanisms you possess handle much of the rest." Aegis looked toward his fingers.

"With structured magic, there is no instinctive correction," Lilly traced a circle through the air.

"The shape is the shape." Aegis understood. His next attempt began differently. He gathered almost no Weave, which felt ridiculous. He routinely moved more energy accidentally while stretching after sleep. The urge to correct every imperfection by adding more energy came immediately, but he resisted. The upper curve stabilized, the two ends nearly touched. Aegis felt lightning stir, but he pushed the storm affinity away. The circle closed for a couple of seconds properly, then collapsed. Lilly nodded once.

"Better."

"That was almost perfect."

"It was almost a circle." Aegis looked toward her.

"You are extraordinarily difficult to impress."

"That is intentional." Time continued to pass until Aegis stopped counting attempts. The exercise became stranger the longer he practiced. More Weave actively made the task worse, and instinct introduced affinities he did not want. For perhaps the first time in his life, becoming more forceful was consistently the wrong answer. Surprisingly, Aegis found that fascinating. The circle began forming more smoothly. Lilly gave fewer instructions each time, and eventually stopped speaking entirely.

Finally, it began to stabilize. After several failed attempts, the circle remained for several seconds. His eyes widened.

"I did it." Lilly looked at the circle, then at Aegis.

"You are a dragon." Aegis frowned.

"That is your response?"

"You possess extraordinary sensory awareness of Weave, an enormous reserve, instinctive circulation, and a body naturally adapted to magical energy. I would be concerned if you failed for several days." Aegis stared.

"You are impressed."

"No." Aegis grinned. The circle remained floating above his palm, tiny and useless. He could not remember the last time something so small had pleased him this much. He dismissed the rune gently rather than allowing it to collapse. Lilly noticed.

"Again." Aegis smiled.

"Gladly." Drakehaven would still have its Storm Dragon when overwhelming strength became necessary. Aurelia could still borrow his Weave, and Garrick could still test himself against him… But those things were only what Aegis could offer now. He had time to become something - something more useful in ways that made everyone around him stronger too. A second circle slowly formed above his palm, with greater ease than the first.