14. The Gift

Eight months have passed since Diane's death. Rory went on working with Stevie on her day to day tasks as they changed over to helping out Rory and her family as the King asked of her. Rory's siblings moved to a room in the west wing of the palace to be closer to Rory and the twins while their father was away.

"Hey Rory how are you doing?" Stevie asked.

"I'm doing okay."

"So I heard that your birthday is coming up soon." Stevie smiled.

"Who told you?" Rory sighed.

"Delilah."

"Please do not make a fuss over my birthday... I really don't feel like celebrating this year," Rory avoided her best friends gaze as she continued her task of folding as she spoke.

Henry and Sawyer were out in the palace grounds with Rory's siblings playing hide and go seek. So that gave Rory and Stevie some much needed time to talk.

"I understand... but can I atleast get you a gift?"

"You know that's not necessary..." Rory trailed off.

"Well it's too late because I already got you a gift," Stevie said as she walked back to her room.

Rory followed her friend. She was curious of what her friend had gotten her. Rory was ready to scold her best friend for spending too much on her, like she always has. Stevie walked over to her closet and bent down and grabbed something from behind the shelf that held her shoes. It was already wrapped but from what Rory could tell it was long.

"Here... I hope you don't mind that it is a few days early," Stevie smiled as she held out the gift in front of her.

Rory took the package and was surprised at how heavy it was. She unwrapped the present and revealed a black sword with a red gem on the pommel of the hilt. The scabbard which covered the blade was also black and covered decorated with red gems. She un-sheathed the sword to reveal a beautiful black metal.

"Stevie it's beautiful!" Rory smiled.

~¤~

James was hiding out in a cave with the last two surviving members of the campaign. The rest of the squad was taken out by the dragon that had been terrorizing the outskirts of the kingdom. They had already evacuated the area of all surviving citizens.

When James campaign members were sleeping he snuck out of the cave. he figured since he had no one to look after he would be able to focus more on the battle at hand. He looked around for the Dragon that was terrorizing the town and didn't find it.

"Show yourself!" James shouted holding his sword in the air.

"No need for violence, Sir James," a deep voice spoke

'am I losing my mind?' he thought.

"No James, my name is Egor... and I have been trying to discuss peaceful terms with you for the past few months now! Have you not heard me?"

"No? how can I hear you?" James asked as he looked all around him frantically searching for the mysterious voice.

"James you come from a long line of Dragons kin... a lot of the kingdoms have fought hard to eradicate the Dragons kin they have persecuted your family James... your family saved you and your mother she took you into hiding when you were very young... do you remember?"

"Yes... I remember mother telling me about our family when I was little but I didn't really think any of that was real until now..." James put his sword and shield down as Egor flew down in front of him.

"James I need you to know that by being a Dragons kin you and your family are at risk so it is imperative that you do not let anyone know of your gifts."

"What gifts?" James asked.

"Well the first is being able to understand my language, Draconian, and with dragon blood running through your veins you are able to connect to Dragons... tame them in the terms of human... if you spare me I will be able to protect you and your family."

"Won't protecting you now risk exposure?" feeling lightheaded, James sat down in his spot.

"You will tell the king that I surrendered myself to you... and that you were able to get me to submit to you... it is normal for average humans to gain control over Dragon kind by brute force but it is no easy task... with the wounds you and your men have gotten will help sell this story... but James you heal quicker than normal human due to the dragon blood."

"I trust you Egor... what other gifts do my kin have?" James asked curious of his ancestry.

"Among being able to heal quicker and the ability to communicate with me some of your ancestors have been able to possess magic abilities such as the ability to heal the injured as well as other powerful magic, but that trait is usually given to the females of your line... has any of your daughters begun to show any powerful magic? They might not even know that they are doing it."

"I'm not sure... if it were to be any of my girls it would most likely be Rory... she excels at anything she puts her mind to."

"It is very possible that Rory might have access to magic... we should keep a close eye on her to make sure that her magic, if she has it, does not control her."

"Is my daughter in any danger to herself?"

"Yes James, if she does not learn to manage her magic it could not only be dangerous to her but to the people around her... if she isn't taught the proper way to harness this powerful form of magic the whole kingdom could be in danger... that is all a possibility if she is the one with the gift of magic."

"So how do we teach her?"

"During the purge of the Dragon kin line many of the grimoires were burnt... I will be able to help to some extent but I do not know of all of the spells that can be used or of many ways to harness magic if the few I do know do not work..."

"Egor how did my ancestors become kin to Dragons?"

"One of your ancestors, Osgar, came to the Dragons in hopes of saving his dying daughter... back then humans and Dragons lived in peace amongst each other... so when Osgar came to see my grandfather, Irsoig, he granted him some of his blood to make into a medicine to heal Osgars daughter... what my grandfather didn't expect was the consequences of his actions... with that act of kindness fueled your entire line of ancestors with our blood thus binding your family to the dragon kind... your ancestors daughter was able to find ways to harness the magic she was granted through the blood she was given and she taught her children the same... as the line continued it was harder to keep this a secret and when the other humans found out of the powers your family was given they sought out the Dragons and asked to be bestowed this same power and when my kind refused the humans turned on my kind and your family... your family separated into different parts of the land, but eventually they were found and killed... many of my kind was slaughter by the humans who sought after the magic and few are alive today... my grandfather did not regret his act of kindness since he and Osgar had a great relationship and when war broke out your ancestors fought alongside of the Dragons to keep both of our kind alive... I share the same sentiment as my grandfather... I hope that you and I can work together to find the remaining Dragons left in this world and save our kind from going extinct... I also know of a few surviving members of your line that might be of help to our cause to help your children harness their magic abilities if they possess grimoires from their specific line it might contain the information that we need."

"I have family that survived?" James asked.

"Yes.. as I said your ancestors separated according to their intermediate families... husbands and wives of your line took their children and tried to hide in the various corners of the land... last I knew there was at least one surviving line of your family... they were able to succeed in hiding their true family history and live a normal life and continue the line and knowledge they possess... but I'm not sure exactly where they are James so we will have to find out where they are ourselves."

"So the men in my line do not posses magic abilities?" James asked.

"It is very rare if they do... and I am able to sense these type of things...James you don't posses these abilities... but it is possible your sons might or that your children's children could... I will know more when I am able to sense your children... we are too far for me to be able to now... but it is usual for the first born to posses magic abilities regardless of gender... your daughter Rory is your first born yes?"

James nodded in response.

"Then our biggest concern should be her safety... until we know that she is safe we should hold off on finding your surviving family until then."

James was quiet for a moment.

"We should head back to the kingdom as soon as possible... but Egor... what do we do about the two men that have survived?"

"Tonight you will go back to them and in the morning you and I will stage a battle and in the end you will overpower me and the three of you will take me back to the capital of the kingdom to show the King the vicious monster that killed your men... and that is when you will convince the king that I can be of use to the Kingdom after we show him that you are in control of me, but you must head back to your men James before they discover you are missing," Egor warned.

With that, James picked up his sword and shield and started walking back toward the cave he and his men took shelter in.