The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 1

Tafel wiped the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her robe and exhaled as she placed her hands on her hips, arching her back while stretching her neck in a manner that pointed her head towards the sky. By her side, there was a sword with a giant eyeball growing out of it, the tip of the blade planted in the tough ground to prevent it from falling over. On the edge of the swords blade, there was a sheen caused by the sun reflecting off a layer of flowing green liquid.

After closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, Tafel lowered her hands and righted her posture before taking a glance at her sword. That was a good training session, huh, ChiRururp?

The swords eyeball blinked and rolled diagonally upwards to meet Tafels gaze. Yes, the sword said. Wasnt that better than reading? You should train more often.

It was pretty nice, Tafel said and patted the bottom of ChiRururps hilt, which was currently its highest point because it was upside down. She had been spending a lot of time studying the stone tablets given to her by Minerva, but she hadnt made much progress in mastering their contents. The spells within the Tricksters Book, the sealed ancient evil item she had obtained from the cursed dragons evil-sealing tower, werent the easiest to grasp. Without understanding a spells core concept, the rest of the pieces wouldnt fall into place. So far, she had only grasped three techniques, two of which didnt work on Vur because of his sense of smell and sense of small changes in the wind. Tafel grasped ChiRururp and pulled the sword out of the ground. But for now, Ill call it a day.

Place me in the meat section, please, ChiRururp said as Tafels horns glowed silver.

Dont eat everything in there, Tafel said and glanced at her sword. A portal appeared in the air beside her, and she placed ChiRururp through at an angle. Bye!

Use me again soon, the sword said, its voice decreasing in volume as it went deeper into the portal. Bye.

The portal closed, and Tafel dusted her hands togethernot that itd remove any of the caustic green liquid coming out of ChiRururpand nodded at nothing in particular. She took a glance around the courtyard, and when nothing seemed out of place, she opened a portal to the washroom where she wiped her face and changed out of her training outfit. Then, she opened another portal, this one leading to Vurs room on Ed Edwards island. With how accommodating the noble was with his enlarged furniture, Tafel couldnt really blame Vur for wanting to sleep there. Most dragons never experienced sleeping on a luxurious, dragon-sized mattress, and if they had, Tafel was sure theyd give up hibernating on their cave floors in a heartbeat. With portals, the distance wasnt all that inconvenient either: training on one continent, taking a bath on another, and napping on a third, she could do it all in the course of an hour.

Vurs sleeping room was usually completely dark, large black curtains made of a thick fabric blocked out all light that could possibly enter from the windows. When Tafel stepped through the portal, she was a bit surprised to see a red light shining near the head of Vurs bed. In most circumstances, a red light indicated a use of magic. Vur? Tafel asked and made her way around Vurs sleeping body, which was polymorphed into the form of a dragon. She made sure to keep a liberal amount of space between herself and Vur lest he decide to roll over in his sleep. It didnt happen often, but after one incident involving being squished and intense panic, Tafel learned it was better to be safe than sorry.

The red light flickered when Tafels voice left her mouth. It was definitely a strange occurrence, but Tafel didnt find it unusual. There were so many creatures living inside of Vur; she wouldnt be surprised if some of them exited his body at night to hang out or do whatever it was that soul-inhabiting creatures tended to doother than inhabiting souls, of course. Tafel rounded Vurs neck and stopped upon seeing the source of red light. There seemed to be a portal? It was floating in front of Vurs sleeping face, and a nervous-looking rabbit wearing a cowboy hat and tall boots was clutching a black envelope to its furry chest. The rabbit glanced up at Tafel and froze.

Hello? Tafel asked and raised an eyebrow. Was this the spirit rabbit Vur had eaten back on the place called Earth? It seemed to tangible to be a spirit. You are?

The rabbit didnt make a single sound. It remained in place with its body frozen, and if it werent for Vurs breath causing the rabbits fur to sway back and forth, Tafel mightve thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Tafel raised an eyebrow. Rather than interrogating a rabbit, which she didnt even know was capable of speech or not, itd be simpler to ask someone whod know what was going on. Stella? Is this one of your ideas?

What are you talking about? a groggy voice asked. A small head of silver hair with golden deerlike antlers popped out of Vurs snout. The tiny fairy queen crawled out of Vurs body and yawned as she rubbed her eyes with balled-up fists.

Tafel let the fairy queen perform her waking-up ritual without interrupting. When Stella was done, she lowered her hands and blinked before looking around. As expected, her gaze was instantly attracted to the ominously red portal floating in front of Vurs face. Tafel? Stella asked. Arent your portals usually calmer in color? Then, the fairy queens gaze landed on the frozen rabbit. You got Vur a stuffed animal? Its wearing a strange outfit.

That is not my portal, Tafel said. She pointed at the rabbit. And that is not a toy. Tafel glanced at the runes decorating Vurs body. One of you elementals has to know whats going on, right?

A sunlike run lit up on Vurs shoulder. I saw everything, Sheryl said. A portal opened, and a rabbit hopped out. It looked like it was looking for something, but I think it got scared of Vur, and it froze in place. Then, you came.

Tafel raised an eyebrow. I see, she said and grabbed the black envelope the rabbit was holding. It didnt even struggle as the paper left its grasp. I wasnt aware Vur had any friends whod send him a letter through a portal other than me.

Maybe its from a secret admirer, Stella said as she flew towards Tafels shoulder.

A secret admirer? Tafel asked and furrowed her brow. You think Vur would have one of those?

Hello? Stella asked and gestured around herself towards the dragon-sized furniture within the dragon-sized room created by a skeleton with a dragon-sized amount of admiration for Vur.

Right, Tafel said, her face turning dark. I wasnt thinking before I spoke.