Ryxia and her dragon Marzique have grown up together, but for some reason they don’t have the inherent skill of being able to speak mind-to-mind. Can Ryxia solve this problem? Does she want to?
“Seriously? You expect me to go in there? Alone?” I gave Wayde one of my best you-must-be-crazy-looks. He didn’t seem to pick up on it though.
Rolling his eyes, he sighed. “Stop over-reacting. It’ll be fine. Seriously.”
I crossed my arms and shook my head. “Nope. Not going to do it. That woman gives me the creeps.”
“Ryxia, your problem isn’t going to go away on it’s own. She can help you.”
“Who said it’s a problem?” I asked stubbornly. “I don’t think there’s a problem.”
“You said you hated it. You said that yesterday. To me. To my face. You complained for at least ten minutes about it.”
I shrugged. “I was just making conversation. For crying out loud, you don’t have to make such a big deal about it.”
Wayde pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. I give up.”
“Good. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong. I can make it work.”
“You seriously think you can fool the Inspectors? You know they only pick the best recruits to become fully-fledged Tamers. How do you propose passing their tests when you can’t even communicate with your dragon?”
“I said I’ll make it work,” I insisted, my already-dangerously-low confidence slipping another notch. “Marzique and I can do it. We’ll figure out something together.”
He shook his head. “Just be careful what you get Marzique into. You’re not the only one who will suffer the consequences if you get caught. Your dragon will also be punished.”
I wavered at that, half-turning back to the small cottage by the canal. He had a good point. I would never intentionally get Marzique into trouble. We’d been together since we were both babies. She was my best friend, even if we couldn’t communicate in the usual telepathic way. We had a bond – we didn’t need telepathy to understand what the other meant. We could usually figure it out.
However, it was different now that we were training together. We didn’t always understand what the other was doing or how to respond or react. I had to admit, being able to speak directly to Marzique would certainly help us both, but I was afraid that learning the telepathy skills would destroy my unique bond with her. I liked the way we instinctively knew how the other felt or what the other one wanted. Would that instinct be dulled if we could speak directly to each other? Would we be less sensitive to each other?
Wayde put a hand on my shoulder. “Everything changes eventually, Ryxia. You are both going to grow and learn over the next few years. Your bond will change, but that doesn’t mean it will be a bad thing.”
I steeled my shoulders and turned back to the cottage. “You’re right. No matter what happens, Marzique and I will be fine. But telepathic speech would definitely help us both pass these trials.”
He pushed me forward gently. “Go on, then. She doesn’t bite.”
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